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C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U N E 6 , 2 0 1 6
MOST INFLUENTIAL WOMEN: FINANCE
‘Be an expert at something’ Suzanne Shank
Chairman and CEO, Siebert Brandford Shank & Co. LLC, Detroit Career ladder: For nearly 20 years, Shank, 54, has been CEO of Detroit-based Siebert Brandford Shank & Co., which underwrites municipal bonds and other financial instruments. She helped launch a firm with famed Wall Street pioneer Muriel Siebert and took over its leadership after Siebert’s death in 2013. Shank worked on Wall Street for eight years before that. Her first job after graduating from Georgia Tech was as an engineer with General Dynamics’ electric boat division. Shank has an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Power metrics: Shank has participated in more than $1.2 trillion in principal amount of municipal bond transactions and $800 billion in corporate bond and equity transactions since her company’s inception.
Gretchen Perkins
Partner, Huron Capital, Detroit Career ladder: Perkins, 52, received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Michigan in 1986. Her experience includes 14 years in commercial lending and 14 years in private equity, including eight at Detroit-based private equity firm Huron Capital. Power metrics: Perkins last year held more than 1,000 meetings building her network and seeking deals. She became the first woman named M&A Mid-Market Dealmaker of the Year by Mergers & Acquisitions when the trade publication named her for 2014 and put her on its cover. Huron Capital has 29 employees and $1 billion raised in four funds. Super power: “My network, followed closely by the ability to fall asleep within 60 seconds of closing my eyes. (Not kidding!)” Perkins said she also meditates once or twice a day to control stress and achieve focus. Big win: She was the first woman to be named partner at Huron Capital, in an industry where the business development track seldom leads there. Best mentor: “My mother. She always demonstrated being involved and connected, providing the example for my super power.” Advice for women on success: Join a committee of your industry trade organization and work on projects with others in your field. “Be unapologetic about your family. … It’s part of what defines you.” Quote: “A lot of people can do our jobs, but no one else has your network, and you have to actively build it.” Vickie Elmer
Marybeth Howe
Executive vice president, Wells Fargo-Great Lakes Division, Southfield Career ladder: Howe, 59, earned a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Michigan in 1978. In 1980, she received her MBA from Ohio State University, and one year later, she joined National City Bank in Cleveland. She moved to Detroit in 1988 when she was promoted to vice president. She rose to executive vice president and manager of middle market banking in 2002 and became part of the senior management team of National City Bank of Michigan/Illinois. In 2009, Howe moved to Wells Fargo to manage commercial banking operations and was promoted to executive vice president
Mary Campbell
Co-founder, managing director, EDF Ventures, Ann Arbor Career ladder: After getting a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Michigan, Campbell taught school in Fairfield, Conn., working on an MBA from UM’s School of Business and a master’s in special education from Fair-
Super power: Hiring and retaining top talented professionals nationally. She recently added as partners Henry Cisneros, former Department of Housing and Urban Development secretary; and William Thompson, former comptroller of New York City; and others. “We were looking for what to do in the next phase. They approached me,” she said. (Shank was also listed as metro Detroit’s eighth-most-connected person in Crain’s October 2015 report.) Big win: “Thirteen years after founding the firm, we were faced with the financial crisis. We made the strategic decision to take advantage of the turmoil … by hiring several experienced bankers who were displaced or unhappy. This move precipitated the doubling in the size of the firm and dramatic growth.” It also allowed her firm to break into the top 10 municipal bond underwriters in 2010 “and were the first minority- or woman-owned firm to do so.”
Recently learned: That truly great leaders find a way to harmonize the different parts of their lives and that this harmony has a synergistic effect. She discovered this by reading Stewart Friedman’s book Leading the Life You Want: Skills for Integrating Work and Life. Best mentor: Siebert, who was the first woman to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. Siebert’s big message: “Taking risks is sometimes what we have to do to advance our career.” Quote: “I think that’s critical for me to be an effective CEO to anticipate anything coming down the road for the firm” by volunteering on college and other boards. Advice: “Be an expert at something rather than a generalist at everything. If you’re viewed as the expert, you’re the go-to person, and that’s very important.” Also, education is crucial for all and “can change the trajectory on one’s life.”
“You could be the most talented person in the world, but if you don’t surround yourself with team members who have a shared vision ... you’re never going to be satisfied with where you can go.”
and division manager of the Great Lakes division. Power metrics: Wells Fargo is the third-largest bank in the country with assets of $1.9 trillion. There are 1,500 Wells Fargo employees in the state of Michigan and 270,000 employees worldwide. “We have approximately 2,000 wholesale clients in Michigan with over $6 billion in committed capital.” Howe is responsible for middle market banking operations of 10 Wells Fargo offices in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio that offer services including credit, treasury management, global banking and investment banking. Why the banking industry? “When I was in grad school, I didn’t know what I wanted to do and so I thought, ‘Well, banking would be a great opportunity to learn a lot about a lot of different industries and figure out what I liked.’ ... I thought being a generalist and learning a lot about a lot of things in a very compact time frame would give me more direction. What I found was I really liked the variety of banking — the fact that we deal with all sorts of industries across various-sized spectrums. Every day
is different and every day is a challenge, but it’s certainly not boring.” How she helps other women: Howe co-chairs the bank’s national Women in Leadership Committee and is a member of the Middle Market Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Most rewarding aspects of your job: “Really seeing companies grow
field University. She then worked at the mortgage banking subsidiary of U.S. Steel, and at Michigan Capital & Service, the venture capital arm of NBD Bancorp, the last five years as president. In 1987, she co-founded EDF Ventures, now the state’s oldest venture capital firm. Campbell, 71, and her husband, Brian, who helped Taylor-based Masco Corp. acquire a portfolio of companies, were given lifetime achievement awards in 2011 by Crain’s and the Detroit chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth. Power metrics: EDF has invested in some 70 companies over the years, and its house on North Main Street in downtown Ann Arbor has served as home to various early stage entrepreneurs, most noteworthy of whom were Kalyan
Handique and Sundaresh Brahmasandra, who founded HandyLab Inc. in a spare room there and who sold it nine years later for $275 million. Campbell also claims six initial public offerings of portfolio companies and the sale of Greenplum Inc. for more than $300 million. Surprising facts: Campbell ran her 30th marathon in Boston in April; her first came in Chicago in 2002. In 2014, she did what is called the B2B challenge, running the Boston Marathon and six days later running the Big Sur Marathon in California. Next up: 26.2 miles of the New York Marathon in November. Super power: Campbell says her success was driven by “my passion for people and for learning.” She also credits her ability and desire to hold concurrent positions of com-
Vickie Elmer
and being able to expand our team. So success, you know, really motivates future success, and it’s neat to see companies that we were banking when they were relatively small grow. Maybe they had 50 employees and now they have 250.” Big win: Being promoted to her current role and being part of the senior leadership team for all of commercial banking nationally. Surprising fact: She worked out of her home from 1988 to 1998 while managing National City’s large corporate portfolio in Michigan. At one point, all four of her children were younger than 4 years old. “This was groundbreaking at the time and the lack of technology, etc., made it even more challenging, but it kept me in the game and allowed me to stay engaged so I could take on leadership roles when the time was right." Power lesson: “You could be the most talented person in the world, but if you don’t surround yourself with team members who have a shared vision in what you’re trying to accomplish, you’re never going to be satisfied with where you can go and reach your full potential.” Lauren Shields
munity and business leadership. Community involvement: Board of directors, Greenhills School, Ann Arbor; board of trustees, Northern Michigan University; adviser to the Ross School of Business at UM and the Dolan School of Business at Fairfield University; active with the Ann Arbor Art Center, the Lamaze Association, UM’s Life Sciences Institute and UM’s Cardiology Center. Biggest setback: “To paraphrase a colleague, ‘If you don’t want to deal with financial setbacks, don’t join the venture capital business.’ Investing in early stage companies by definition means you will have failures, as the majority don’t succeed. Best case: Wins will be large as losses likely will occur more frequently.” Tom Henderson