Elizabeth DeSimone lives in Philadelphia, PA currently working for Insight Venture Partner as a Senior Associate. She specifically works with private equity and venture capital. Elizabeth attended UVA for college and majored in business. She then went to the under grad school for two years during her time as UVA which is called Mcintire School of Commerce. This program set her up for her first job at college at Ernst Young in a consulting role. She then went on to work for two more companies before she got where she is today. In each job Elizabeth got closer and closer to her current job finding aspects she liked and disliked. A big takeaway from her interview was how good she was with people. She understood and listened to people which made them feel important. This is a skill very important in her role.
Speaker: Katherine Bohlman
Title: VP of Corporate Partnerships, Miami Dolphins
Linkedin link: Linkedin
Katherine Bohlmann currently lives in Miami, FL working as the VP of Corporate Partnerships for the Miami Dolphins in the NFL. Katherine knew that she wanted to work in the sports world from a very young age. So, when she got into Michigan her major was clear, it was sports management. Katherine also worked closely with the Migican football team throughout her four years updating statistic and so much more. To get to where Katherine is today she had a shorter path than many. Katherine had done internships, worked with Michigan football, and started a club at her school that caught the eye of many. All of these factors played into a call from the CEO of the Miami Dolphins asking Katherine to come down to Miami. While she was there, she met many executives and was eventually offered her current job. Katherine enjoys working in the NFL and has the goal of being the Chief and Revenue Officer of the NFL.
Speaker: Danica Griffith
Title: Chief Risk officer and Change Officer at PNC
Linkedin link: Linkedin
Danica Griffith lives in Pittsburgh, PA currently working for PNC bank as their Chief Risk and Change Officer. This career is not what Danica set out to first do. She attended Harvard and went into pre- med. After her four years at Harvard, she went back home to Atlanta where she contacted her old head of school at WestMinster where she had attended. Danica then joined WestMinster to coach crew and volleyball and a be a Spanish teacher for a year. She then worked at the school for institutional advancement for the next four years. She then applied to Warden for business school specifically to learn about finance and management. During school she interviewed with Goldman and then went on to work there for 12 years in the consumer and investment management division. Danica then moved to Pittsburgh where she got her current job at PNC bank.
Marguerite Addzick is the founder and CEO of Addison Bay which is an elevated athletic wear company. She currently lives in Philadelphia, PA. As Marguerite grew up she was an athlete mainly focused on lacrosse. When she went to college she was a lacrosse player at UVA. After college she worked at Lilly Pulitzer headquarters for seven years. She loved her time there and what she learned influences some of her current business practices. Marguerite loved her job at Lilly Pulitzer, but had an idea for a brand and knew if she did not do it someone else would. This led her to move on and start her own company As an athlete Margutie was not unfamiliar with sports wear and knew there was a way to elevate it. So, she began Addison Bay. The company is currently six years old and going strong with a bright future ahead of it!
Shannon Vukmir currently lives in Pittsburgh Pa, working for Sitko and Bruno as a partner. Starting off in life Shannon wanted to be a structural engineer which she quickly realized was not the path for her after an internship in high school. After high school she went to John Carroll University majoring in history and secondary education because her mom thought it would be a good backup for Shannon to be a teacher. This is not the path she followed, right after college she came back to Pittsburgh and went to law school. Shannon said she loved law school and greatly enjoyed her time there. As a lawyer now she practices real estate law which is not what she set out to practice but enjoys this type of law.
Laura Ferguson is an anesthesiologist currently working at a hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. When Laura went into college at UNC Chapel Hill, she was interested in math and science and majored in biology. She knew by the end of college she either was going to take the teacher or medicine route. Laura ended up being a teacher for 7 years in high school teaching various science courses. This though was not her final career choice. Laura started rethinking medicine and had no commitments from a family at that time, so she went back to UNC Chapel Hill at the age of 29 to begin medical school. School was four years and in those years she saw different types of medicine. Ultimately she liked anesthesiology the most which is what she did her residency under. Her residency took another four years but she says it was completely worth it. Laura loves her job and even though she brought up the common struggle for women balancing a family and job, she would not change her career if she had the choice.
Vicky King is an entrepreneur and founded Victoria King Public Relations based in Los Angeles, CA, also where she currently resides. They are a global international public relations firm that specializes in representing luxury hotels and resorts. Vicky knew that she wanted to do something involving writing, being creative, and gave her the ability to travel. With that said Vicky went to a small women's college called Hollins University majoring in english and art history. Vicky always knew she would start her own business and many encouraged her to do so. So, when she was working at the Hotel Bellaire she told them she was thinking of starting her own company and asked them to be her first client. They agreed and that was the start to Victoria King Public Relations.