Life Lessons From The Exceptional Women Of The Bay

Their advice:

Kerry Whorton Cooper, 1997 MBA, CEO of Choose Energy:

“One of my most bittersweet memories is from when I was promoted to Vice President at Levi’s, seven months pregnant with my second child. It turned out to be one of my toughest lessons in work-life balance. Initially, it was a mad scramble to build a new team before I left on maternity leave. However, five weeks into my leave I was asked to return part-time in order to deal with a crisis. Well that turned into sixty hours the first week and the ‘part-time’ turned to six months of exhaustion. I reached a heart wrenching low when my son learned to crawl while I was on the phone with bankers one weekend. I became bitter and resentful at the personal sacrifices I had made for the company. Then came leadership change and a new boss, which actually became the turning point for me. My new boss wisely asked me if I was part of the team or not. While that was a tough message to hear, it was exactly what I needed to spur me forward. He turned out to be an incredible boss who taught me a great deal but most importantly: —It’s your choice how hard you work. You need to decide on work-life prioritization and then focus on what’s important to you. Leadership changes can bring great opportunity but you need to let go of the past.”

Gretchen Howard, 2002 MBA, director of global brand solutions & innovation at Google:

“When I started my career I was overly focused on delivering the end result instead of enjoying the journey. One of my mentors gave me excellent advice early in my career to focus on creating trusted, authentic relationships with people. This helped me to prepare for the marathon and not overthink the sprint.”

Kelly L. Close, 1995 MBA, president of Close Concerns:

“One of my proudest moments is the one I look back upon with great relief. I quit my job on the spur of the moment in 2002 when my boss told me that I’d be unable to work remotely to help my father, who had been diagnosed with cancer that morning. I couldn’t remember quitting anything important ever before in my life, and certainly never taking on lots of uncertainty or unpredictability from a career perspective. ‘What do you mean I can’t work from Arizona to help look after my sick father? I don’t know how long he will live and I can do everything I’m doing now and more from my laptop!’  No. No. No was the answer. Apologetic (slightly), but no. I am so very, very happy that my immediate response was an apology, myself, that that day would be my last day. My father lived only three months longer. I had always been part of a key institution, so being without a professional identity and at home, due to that decision, made me very proud, even in the midst of all the fear.”

Shalini Sharp, 2001 MBA, CFO of Ultragenyx Inc., a biotech company:

“Over the years I have gathered my own guiding ‘page of principles.’ They are:

—Treat people honorably. It is the right thing to do, and you never know when you will run into them again.

—Work hard, pay your dues, do your best, and have a great attitude. You never know what experiences you will be able to draw upon later.

—See the big picture. Think about the company as a whole and not just your role, team and function.

—See the small picture. Dive into the details. Get things right. Don’t be afraid of math, science, finance, or technical details.

—It pays to keep your business squeaky clean. Early in my career I worked at a company that was almost destroyed by accounting scandals, SEC investigations, and shareholder lawsuits.

—Follow smart and interesting people. If they believe in you, even better. I had an amazing boss who made me CFO of a public company at age 31.

—Don’t worry if you don’t “look the part.”

—You can’t plan every step of your career. There will be surprises. Put yourself in interesting situations where you can grow and learn. Take a leap of faith once in a while.”

Christina LaMontagne, a 2009 MBA, who is vice president of NerdWallet Health: 

“Especially when young, I think it is important to go to where the most exciting things are happening and where the most brilliant people are shaking things up. My career prior to HBS was spent mainly in Beijing, China. My life after HBS has been lived primarily in San Francisco. In my mind, China is unmistakably the most vibrant and fastest evolving country right now and Silicon Valley is where the most important business ideas are coming to life. I guess I’ve always been attracted to growth, new ideas, and change. In the next five years, I believe the U.S. health care sector will change in phenomenal ways. I’m expecting that change to be led by teams from the Bay Area, and I am inspired to be part of the group of people who will lead our country to a better and more affordable system.”