Her Story
About Nicole
Nicole Saez serves as an investor relations analyst for the University of Miami's Cane Angel Network, focusing on managing investors for venture capital investments in startup companies throughout the South Florida region. She has been in the investment management field for around two years while completing her studies as a senior at the University of Miami Business School, where she is pursuing a bachelor's degree in finance and plans to graduate next year. Saez is a member of the Girls Who Invest program, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering women in investment fields, and she mentors other girls in the program. Her motivation stems from an Alexander Hamilton mentality, having immigrated to the United States at a young age and recognizing the sacrifices her family made to provide better opportunities, which drives her to approach every day with full commitment. She values authenticity and intentionality in her career, advising others to reflect on their true goals rather than following external expectations, and encourages young women to step outside their comfort zones through volunteering and public speaking to build character and perseverance.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Nicole
01What do you attribute your success to?
My motivation is the Alexander Hamilton mentality. I immigrated here when I was young and my family sacrificed a lot to give me and my siblings a better life. I have to take full advantage of the opportunities that were given to me. I walk into a room and make sure I'm 100% every day because I am very aware that I'm in a position of privilege compared to my ancestors.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice is to be intentional. To be authentic. Sometimes when we're very early in our careers we let ourselves be followed into what everyone else is doing. One has to sit back and reflect. Is this what I want? Is this who I wanna be? Or is this because I've been kind of indoctrinated to think this way? Follow the things you want to do by being authentic and things will come naturally because you enjoy what you do.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Get out of your comfort zone. Do the things that before you would have been scared to do. Go on and volunteer, do that public speaking event, talk in that event, or put yourself out there in a way that normally you wouldn't, and that's where change truly happens. That's where one really transforms into something better, a better version of oneself. By doing hard things. From early on, try to do different things, difficult things, and learn from them, and that's gonna build up character, perseverance, and wisdom as time goes by, especially from a young age.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges yet also opportunities within my generation and field would be artificial intelligence. A lot of firms prioritize the inclusion of AI to make things more efficient, to lower headcount, and that's increased unemployment rates for Generation Z. It's competitive and it's going to be a growing challenge as firms tend to lean in more into AI. But ultimately it'll probably backfire because they need people. AI would probably be one of the biggest challenges coming into my generation's employment era but also one of the biggest benefits because we could utilize AI to be faster, to be quicker, to be more efficient.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Treating others the way you want to be treated. In any company culture, being able to be well-mannered, say good morning, say goodnight, how's your weekend? Be personable. I'm very family-oriented, so anything surrounded family, everything that drives me is my family, and then hopefully a family that I were to create in the future. I've always been very intentional to surround and build a for that.
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