Her Story
About Medina
Medina Prelvukic is an emerging professional in the finance industry. She is currently an intern at IBM on the pricing team, where her responsibilities include networking with colleagues to understand career paths and working closely with her manager. She previously interned at Orchard Global, an alternative asset management firm. Medina is a student at Fordham University, where she is expected to graduate with her bachelor's degree next spring. She serves as the lead ambassador for the Women's Network at her school and is a member of the nonprofit SEO, Sponsors for Educational Opportunity, where she helps plan events on Wall Street. Additionally, she volunteers with Strive High, promoting financial literacy for elementary-aged students. Medina attributes her success to the women who have come before her, especially her mother, an immigrant from Kosovo who instilled in her that knowledge is power and education is freedom. She values her family, hard work, and building meaningful long-term relationships. The best career advice she has received is to own her power and trust herself, and she advises young women entering finance to be confident in their abilities and firm in their values and morals. She sees opportunities in the artificial intelligence space, having gained hands-on experience and led a company-wide project using AI, while noting the challenge of differentiating through soft skills.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Medina
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would definitely attribute it to the women who have came before me, and who I've seen firsthand struggle. Especially my mother, an immigrant from Kosovo, who instilled in me that knowledge is power and having education is freedom. Seeing her struggles and emerge from that really gave me the motivation I needed.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Best career advice I've gotten was to own my power. It's very easy especially as a young professional to not have as much confidence in myself, but I was told if you have the intellect that got you the job, you have the experiences and the connections, and you don't need to know everything in order to belong. Just trust yourself enough to acknowledge what you don't know and learn it as you go.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Be confident in your abilities is the key. Because you will constantly be surrounded by people who may question you and may secretly judge you, but if you know who you are, then everyone else's perception of you simply will not matter. As long as you're firm in your values and your morals.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Opportunity definitely in the artificial intelligence space. I've been able to gain hands-on experience with new AI applications and led my team in a company-wide project using this AI. AI can be both an opportunity and a challenge because there's talk about AI replacing entry-level jobs, but if you can find a way to add value through soft skills and differentiate yourself, that can make all the difference.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I value my family a lot. They're always the ones that are motivating me to just keep on going. I also value hard work and having a work ethic. I'm willing to put in as many hours or as much time to accomplish what I know I can accomplish. I also value the relationships that I've been able to build, trying to make them long-term and really create value there.
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