Katherine Hayes

I attribute my success to perseverance and stubborn stick-to-itiveness. It's about having the grit and determination to get things done because that's the objective you set. I think my generation had to tolerate discomfort and delayed gratification in a way that younger generations don't, because we didn't have everything at our fingertips the way they do now. That ability to push through resistance and keep going, even when things are difficult, has been fundamental to everything I've accomplished.

The best career advice I've ever received is: You know what you need to know, and just follow your values. It's about trusting yourself and staying true to what matters most to you. When you have that foundation of honesty, integrity, and compassion guiding your decisions, you can navigate your career with confidence and authenticity.

Right now is such a timely moment because the baby boomer men are dying before their wives, and so the wealth is really transferring to women for the first time. Women might have the upper hand with respect to the accumulated wealth. This represents an incredible opportunity because women, by their very nature, are more community-driven. If we can empower women to share what they don't need, either through redistribution or philanthropy, we will be able to generate better systems. The challenge is that we are not all going to make it if we can't all contribute to the whole and work together. Nobody can possibly keep up or catch up if we don't create new systems that are more equitable.

The values most important to me are honesty, integrity, and compassion. I also deeply value community, because I believe we all do better when we all do better. These values guide everything I do, both in my work empowering women around wealth and in my personal life. They're the foundation for how I approach creating more equitable systems and working within my sphere of influence.