What’s new?
I worked with a professional communications coach for the first time in my 20-year career. My coach leveraged feedback from select colleagues – both before and after our training – to help me work on my energy management, business presence, and to help refine my leadership voice. Working with a coach was equal parts terrifying, enlightening, and incredibly humbling. It required me to be unguarded and vulnerable, but when it was over, it was extraordinarily gratifying. I was able to show improvement in key areas such as succinctly sharing ideas and opinions, claiming ownership of achievements – which is something many women need to work on – moving from a social to a game face, and developing a stronger focus on my professional priorities.

How are you a champion for change?
I am a founding member of Amplify, a best practices group for private equity business development professionals. Some question the logic behind forming a group made up of peer and competing firms, but our objective is simple: elevate the PE business development role within our own firms and the overall importance of the middle market. Amplify achieves this by leveraging the collective knowledge of our members, collaborating on networking events and sharing deal referrals. It’s a refreshing approach in a competitive, sometimes sharp-elbowed industry.