Nicole Hagen

Growing up with a twin sister, we were always kind of competitive with each other, so I've always just kind of wanted to see what the sky's limit is. I've always just wanted to see what I can accomplish, and I just am a hard worker in general. I think having a twin sister is very grounding, and the fact that you always kind of want to see, okay, she's doing this, I'm doing that, in a healthy competition-type way. Definitely my family and my upbringing allowed me and inspired me to do everything that I am doing today.

One thing that's always been kind of a guiding principle is that you don't get good from it being easy. You get good from being challenged and really thinking methodically about things, and you gain skills from having to kind of overcome things, not from it just being all a layup right in front of you. This is definitely a hard career, and you definitely feel like you have to say no a lot. There's not the easiest path right in front of you, because you're kind of creating your own journey. I also learned to be very aware of what your skills are and leverage those. I knew coming out of college that I would be very good in a job that required a varied skill set, being very much in front of people but at the same time having the analytical brain. I was methodical in the way that I thought about who I was before I picked my career.

The path might not always be so straightforward, but if you have a goal in mind, you can definitely get there. A lot of people think, oh, I want to be this by this time, and usually you can accomplish that end goal, but it might be more of a roundabout, zigzag exact journey to get there, but you can do it. You just have to have it in mind. It might not be so straightforward.

I think it's always interesting being a woman, or being a female, in kind of an industry that is, one, finance, and then also private equity, because those are just definitely both male-dominated fields. So I wouldn't say that's a setback, but that's something I'm commonly aware of, that when you mix one already male-dominated industry with power, which is additionally male-dominated, that can be kind of a confluence of factors. There's just obviously a gender thing that's apparent, and I'm not viewing it as a setback, but it's just something that I do have in my life.

Definitely hard work, or just work ethic and honesty are the most important values, as well as just showing up with a good attitude. I think everyone knows that we all have different stressors, and we all have different things, but if you can just show up, work hard, and be in a good place with the people around you, that's the most important thing.