Q: You’ve been honored by several women’s business groups as a woman of distinction. How did you develop your award-winning philosophy?
A: When I first started working in New York in financial services, some of the women in more senior roles were harder, and angrier. There was a feeling that you had to compete in a fierce manner in order to succeed.
I watched two people succeed in front of me who were caring, warm, understanding and sympathetic. I recognized that you could be those things and still meet business goals and objectives. I wanted to be that. I wanted to be fun and warm, and I didn’t want to have to change in order to succeed.
There’s no question that I’m at IMA because that’s an environment this company embodies. I am blessed that I have a husband who stays home, but I recognize how hard it is for me even in that environment, where he takes care of emergencies, drop-offs and pickups.
Q: How did you meet your husband?
A: In New York while playing volleyball at a local gym. He was a stand-up comic and had just quit the comedy circuit. He stays home now with our kids, so we have two very funny little boys and one very funny big boy.
Q: Does he do any stand-up here?
A: He doesn’t. Well, let me put it this way, the audiences are far smaller, but they’re very appreciative.
Q: How did you get here, and where did you come from?
A: I grew up in Buffalo. My dad was a shop teacher and an assistant principal, and my mom was a receptionist. I got my undergraduate degree in marketing, and my graduate degree in finance.
In 1994, an organization I had worked with for 20 years asked if I would be interested in opening a service center in Denver. I was recently married, and we lived in New York City. Neither of us had ever been here. I went home and said to my husband Bob, “Do you want to move to Denver?” He said, “Sure, how long can they make us stay?”
We thought two to five years, tops, and that was 12 years ago. Denver is such a fabulous city; it’s got everything we need and want. It allows you to get involved and to be part of the city, which is not always possible in cities that are more steeped in tradition.
When it came time for me to look for a new role, I selected the IMA Financial Group because of its commitment to the community, the quality of the people who work here and their willingness to support my work in the community. We are very lucky, and it was important for me to have an opportunity to give back.
Q: How do you choose your volunteer opportunities?
A: Focus one is working with business consortiums like the Downtown Denver Partnership. The second thing close to my heart is education because of my kids, Matt and Harry. We waited until we were a little bit older to have them, and I recognize that education is the key.
Q: What skills do you bring to your role with the partnership?
A: Any business leader in that environment looks toward what our city needs, what areas we can improve, where we want the city to go and how we get there. One of the large initiatives is the Denver Area Plan, what we want Denver to look like 20 years from now and what kinds of initiatives we need to get there. On an ongoing basis, the partnership focuses on making downtown Denver alive and livable, a place people want to visit, work and live. We recently launched a new website that maps everything downtown has to offer, ExperienceDowntownDenver.com.
Q: Do you still play volleyball?
A: No, but we ski and our kids ‘board. We read every single night as a family. I have a treadmill in the house because I don’t want to go out to the gym. With work, my voluntary commitments and a little travel, any free minute I have is with my kids. There’s not a whole lot of time for too much else.
I’m a mom. I’ll have more hobbies later.
Edited for space and clarity from an interview by assistant business editor Linda Castrone.
