Shelby L. Riggs

I hate to say this, but probably stubbornness. I am very strong-willed, and especially when I'm bad at something, I am determined to be better at it. I think that inner competition with oneself is something to strive to be better, to make sure that when I do produce work, there are no glaring flaws. So, stubbornness to do well, to get better, and then to produce high-quality work.

As a young professional, you just have to really remember that you're at the beginning of your career. I remember getting so stressed early on, trying to assume too much responsibility - not necessarily the day-to-day tasks, but just that mental fatigue and the mental stress. So, even if you're a high performer, a straight-A student, for early career individuals, just take a deep breath, and remember that you've got a long road ahead, and that you've got to kind of pick your battles. This advice really helps me to manage stress and maintain perspective throughout my early career.

Oh, buckle up. The numbers are getting better, we see more women on investment teams, we certainly could use more women as portfolio managers. But when you're working with women, just make sure that you're on their side. It's often that women are pitted against each other. At my firms, in school especially, I do anything I can to build those women up. So, if you see them, even if they're not on your team, if you see them struggling, if you get a piece of work from them that you know maybe isn't up to par, have that intuition to just sit down with them and work it out.

There's nothing worse than feeling like everyone is out to get you, especially when you feel like you may not be doing well at your job, or if you're brand new and don't necessarily have your feet under you yet. So, I would say just be more than allies, be comrades - help lift other women up, and just stay focused, because there are a lot of red herrings, and there can be a lot of placed blame, and you're always wondering why. Just knowing that you're confident in what you can do and producing good work is what will get recognition no matter what.

I think networking has been a little difficult, especially post-COVID and in a world where I'm a first-generation college student. My firm was very small, and while Dallas had a large finance industry, it wasn't where I wanted to be long-term. Right now, I'm focusing on reaching out to people, using LinkedIn, networking events on campus and in the area, and just really trying to get the broader net of a base network in sustainable finance.

Without a doubt, accountability and transparency. I think the work of ESG, especially, and in finance - if you go in trying to hide something, it will come back and bite you. Especially with early days of ESG, being able to say, "Hey, we know that we're not doing this perfectly, but we're doing something that is finacially material and impactful to business owners and consumers" is so much more credible than trying to get away with something. Humility is integral to transparency; acknowledging when you're wrong is essential to both.