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Nicholas Braden, 34
McKenzie Coco, 37
VICE PRESIDENT, GLOBAL HUNTER SECURITIES
PRESIDENT, FSC INTERACTIVE
PHOTO BY CHERYL GERBER
Investment banker Nicholas Braden explains his transition from Wall Street to Poydras Street as he steps out of a meeting in New York City to take the call on his cellphone. “Daunting. It’s swimming without a life preserver” is how Braden describes his initial impressions of Wall Street, where the Newcomb graduate worked following his matriculation at the University of Pennsylvania’s renowned Wharton School of Business. At Wharton he earned a Master of Business Administration with triple concentrations in finance, public policy and entrepreneurial management. He last worked on Wall Street as a vice president at Citigroup. “There’s a lot of type-A types,” Braden says. “Not a lot of Southern hospitality, so it takes a lot of adjustment for someone born and bred in New Orleans (to get accustomed to New York). It requires an extraordinary amount of discipline.” At Wharton, Braden met his wife, Shirin, a U Penn graduate from Austin, Texas. After school, Braden returned to New Orleans to raise his family — and for what he describes as “an amazing opportunity.” He joined the energy-focused investment bank Global Hunter Securities where he raises capital and advises companies on mergers and acquisitions. “New Orleans is an usual place to do something similar to what’s done on Wall Street,” says Braden, who lives in the Warehouse District. “And when people think of an energy-focused bank, they think it would be based in Houston.” “We’re bringing Wall Street to Poydras Street,” he says. “We’re attracting the talent down here that typically works on Wall Street. We’re making New York-type deals and they’re earning New York-type compensation, but we’re doing it all from New Orleans.” — FRANK ETHERIDGE
PHOTO BY CHERYL GERBER
Upon returning to New Orleans after a stint on the West Coast, McKenzie Coco realized there was a void here that she could fill. “(On the West Coast there was) a lot more innovative online marketing than I had seen in New Orleans,” she says. “I saw there was a real need for people to be able to market outside the New Orleans community, because the New Orleans community had really dwindled after the storm.” In 2009, Coco founded FSC Interactive, an online marketing firm which this year surpassed $1 million in annual sales revenue. The firm provides social media management, search engine optimization, email marketing and other services. Some of FSC’s clients include the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau and Loyola University. Aside from her duties as founder and president, Coco stays involved in the outside community. She currently is chairwoman of the Junior Achievement Rising Stars Soiree and, as a self-proclaimed “bleeding heart” animal lover, she volunteers as a foster parent to rescue dogs. She attributes her success and that of her company to the staff and clients with whom she works. “One thing I’ve been very smart about is you always hire people who are smarter than yourself,” Coco says. “There’s such great talent at FSC, and I feel lucky that I get to work with the people [who] are in my office every day and lucky we have the clients that allow us the freedom and ability to really be partners with them.” — LAUREN LABORDE PAGE 22
Gambit > bestofneworleans.com > october 30 > 2012
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