Her Story
About Donna
I'm in sales at Piper Sandler, covering both banks and asset managers. My first responsibility each morning is to understand what's going on in the markets, what happened overnight, and what's affecting the markets so I can be more in tune with what my clients are looking to accomplish. I speak to asset managers about capital raising to keep fresh ideas in front of them. As a firm, we talk to specialty finance, REITs, money managers, dealers, and other large banks. I market the deals we're bringing to market by talking to portfolio managers about deals coming up and what value they might have towards their specific strategy. On the other hand, I also talk to banks about what they're trying to accomplish with their assets, liabilities, and capital. I utilize any one of those levers in our conversations, discussing what types of assets they have on their books, what types of capital they may or may need to raise in the future, what their liabilities look like, and how we can bring them value. If there's any market volatility, we discuss resetting the balance sheet or moving things around, which might involve securities purchases, loan sales, or capital raising.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Donna
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think a lot of what I just said - I think it's being aggressive. It's a very male-dominated field, and I think in order to stand out, you need to be smarter, you need to be more nimble. And laziness just doesn't work. The phone doesn't ring - you have to make the outgoing call. I think what's also really key is acting on opportunities that present themselves. I don't think if you're waiting for things to walk into your path in order for you to succeed, it's a very lazy approach.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Don't react to a situation. Be proactive. You know, take a step back when the situation presents itself and really think about what the different reactions might look like. Sometimes the low-hanging fruit is not always the best.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I think you need to facilitate a network of supporters, both internally at your firm. I would say that you need to develop a good structure of networking internally at your organization. There's always going to be naysayers, and there's always going to be doubters. And I think in order for you to succeed, you need to earn the trust and maintain that dialogue throughout your career. Being a woman in this field is, unfortunately, it remains very challenging - it continues to be a male-dominated landscape. I think the only other comment I would probably add is it's okay to feel uncomfortable not understanding something completely, and asking the questions along the way, so that you're getting better. I feel that, you know, some people are just afraid to ask the questions, and that's never been an issue for me, and as you gain confidence, it helps.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think that there's a lot of people looking to accomplish the exact same thing. You have to be better at it. You have to provide insight, you have to be diligent about follow-up, you need to really be proactive and think ahead of what the challenges look like, so that you can get there first.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I believe that diligence, follow-up, and being smart in terms of how you approach people are most important. I think you need to be smarter, you need to be more nimble. I think in order for you to succeed, you need to earn the trust and maintain that dialogue throughout your career.
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