Her Story
About Nicole
My career has spanned more than 40 years across multiple industries and many different types of positions. I started on Capitol Hill, then worked for the National Industrial Transportation League, followed by the First National Bank of Chicago. I became a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers where I started an e-learning practice in 1995-96 and built that business from nothing to more than a $600 million worldwide organization, which was probably my most impactful, biggest contribution. In 2002, when IBM purchased PricewaterhouseCoopers' consulting practice, I joined IBM Consulting where I served as a vice president for 17 years in many different roles. I started as the vice president in charge of our human capital consulting practice in the public sector industry. From there, I moved to lead our federal and state and local Social Security practice, then became the North American leader of our social services and human services practice for Canada and the U.S. In 2010, I went to lead the Global Government Center of Excellence for social services. In 2015, I came back to the United States as the vice president in charge of our public sector healthcare practice, and in 2017, I led a new job as the vice president of eminence for the public sector in the U.S., which is when I finished my career. I retired at the end of 2018. My professional life was demanding, intense, and for the most part, satisfying, interesting, stimulating, and in many ways gratifying. Since retirement, I've served on the board of directors for a climate foundation for 5 years, was a strategic advisor to a mental health company CEO for a couple of years, do a lot of volunteer work at my temple learning how to be an archivist, and I'm part of a women's giving circle here in the Washington metro area doing a lot of work to help women-run NGOs trying to do more good in the world.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Nicole
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to resilience, curiosity, dedication to excellence, and an extremely positive attitude. I also had a working mother who was a role model, and I shouldn't underestimate the impact that had on me in terms of thinking about what was possible for myself. I never saw any limits because she didn't see limits, and I think that's really important. When I faced skepticism as a woman in the professional workplace in non-traditional roles, I dealt with that by just really putting my head down and making sure that everything I did was valuable. I didn't try to pay attention to any dismissal, or put down, or being ignored, and I looked for opportunities to serve, to be in service to the people around me. Therefore, when they looked up and wanted somebody to work with, or wanted someone to do something with, they knew that they could count on me. I was that one person that, you know, no matter what challenge you had, you wanted Nicole to work with you, because she got things done and there was no drama. It was just work.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
A good piece of advice that I got was to make sure that you think about upward management. Often, the upper management should be something you think about almost every day.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Excellence in everything you do. Remember to take care of yourself so that you can be the best you can be and be an example to others. I would say the need to be a continuous learner has always been there, but it's probably beyond anything I had to encounter. Now, I mean, it's a very fast-moving industry, it's a very fast-moving world, it's changing constantly, and so you have to, you know, you need to be really comfortable with dynamic change to be in the high-tech business today.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I would say driving for excellence in everything you do. It's been a mantra of mine forever. It has to be, you have to be really focused on doing the absolute, ultimate best, and then go a little bit more. And to always, you know, be paying attention to no matter how small the task is, to just really try to make sure you're doing, like I said, your absolute best, and then a little further. And then, remembering that, you know, we're all human, and that compassion is an important ingredient in everything you do in your life. And, to always try to remember to be an active listener, and ensure that you are acknowledging that your actions have an impact on those around you.
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