Nicolle Ugarte

My parents. Definitely my parents. My mom is my biggest cheerleader, both professionally and personally. My dad, as well, he's always inspiring me. Well, both of them inspire me to be better all the time, but they also are my support group. They are entrepreneurs back home, so I've always looked up to them, just because they were able to build something for themselves and be successful at it. So definitely just having them as role models, but also having them as a support group of, even if something doesn't go well, my parents are always, they're very positive people, so I think that really shaped my view of the world overall. My dad was an Olympian cyclist for Peru, so he instilled this sports passion in my life. He was the one who was like, guys, sports is very influential, you know, health is wealth. My parents are just everything for me.

The best piece of advice I received was from my first managing director in my first rotation. He told me that when one door doesn't open, it doesn't mean that the opportunity was not there, it's just pivoting. I'd say to always see the glass half full. Always have a mindset of, okay, bad things can happen, but you are the one who decides how to react to things. Do what's under your control. Those are the two points that I always keep with me.

I always say this whenever I talk to either interns or analysts: nothing is impossible. If you set your mind to it, you will achieve that. Sometimes we think it's like, oh, this is too far for me, or I have imposter syndrome, like, I don't think I can make it, or this is not for me, like, I haven't even grown in this country, or this is a male-dominated field, or whatever it is. But no, sometimes you need that little someone to tell you you can do it. So my advice is, if you set your mind to it, it's possible. If someone else could do it, why not you? That's always my motto. And another one that I like is that life is a marathon, it's not a race. So I'd say take the time to get to where you are, you need to do the sometimes tedious things. There are things that I needed to do that were not as attractive, like some things that are very admin-y, so you gotta take life step by step. And I always say, network is your net worth. You have no idea how many, I think I got this because of network. Even roles that are not even posted in public, if you talk to certain people, your names are gonna be said in rooms that you're not. That's only achieved if you talk to a bunch of people. Some conversations will not go the way you want, some will. So you need to knock the door 100 times, and one of those 100 times will open a door for you.

The biggest challenge I'd say is that in the workforce, even last year, there has been more of a hiring pause. I know people have had a little bit more of a tough time entering fields like finance and big banks, and I've seen that trend. I notice nowadays that candidates, in order to be considered or enter the field, they have to achieve even greater things. So I think that's one of the difficulties that I've seen, or trends that I've seen within this field. And if I can give a tip for anyone that wants to, and I always say this, is network is your net worth. You have no idea how many, I think I got this because of network. Even roles that are not even posted in public, if you talk to certain people, your names are gonna be said in rooms that you're not. That's only achieved if you talk to a bunch of people. Some conversations will not go the way you want, some will. So you need to knock the door 100 times, and one of those 100 times will open a door for you.

I'd say discipline. Discipline both professionally and personally, but that also goes hand-in-hand with resiliency. Personally, whenever I train for a race, there are days that are very windy, or when we had the cold weather advisory in New York, I was there running because I knew I needed to train for the marathon. So be disciplined with yourself, even if you don't want to do it, go for it. And also, I hold myself very accountable. So I'd say resiliency, discipline, and lastly, I'd say being caring. I'm very, very strong in that. I always, even in my work, I'm always there to help people. In my personal life, whenever I see someone struggling with something, I'm always there to support my friends, family, or whoever is around me. If you're not caring, then you're not gonna succeed in life. That's definitely one of the key principles that drive my life.