Panel: Investing In Your Future

Panelists provided valuable insights on how best to manage finances and invest for long-term success. In addition, they addressed what entrepreneurs and CEOs need to be aware of when seeking to buy/sell businesses.

Video: Investing in your Future

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Insights From the Discussion

Panelist: Tracy Holland, Founder/CEO – Potential to Powerhouse
Tracy Holland is a founder, investor, board member and entrepreneur who is an authority on beauty and wellness with a global track record of incubating and launching brands. She has dedicated her career to creating new brands and success stories by spotlighting innovation, amplifying authentic and celebrity voices in beauty and personal care, and nurturing promising talent - especially other women entrepreneurs. Holland’s passion for female entrepreneurs inspired the founding of Potential to Powerhouse and “Success Secrets of Female Entrepreneurs,” a podcast and member digital platform, in January 2021, which brings world-class thought leaders together to inspire and empower the next generation of female entrepreneurs and support them on their path to becoming a Powerhouse.

Panelist: Octavia Goredema, Career Coach & Author of “PREP, PUSH, PIVOT”
Octavia Goredema is an award-winning career coach, author and speaker. At Twenty Ten Agency, she works with companies around the world to help underrepresented employees advance their careers. Goredema is the author of “PREP, PUSH, PIVOT: Essential Career Strategies for Underrepresented Women,” published by Wiley.

Panelist: Alexandra Nechita, Artist, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist
Alexandra Nechita is a world renowned artist, entrepreneur and philanthropist. She exploded onto the art scene at a young age and was affectionately dubbed the “Petit Picasso.” Today, she is globally acclaimed for her monumental paintings and sculptures that live throughout some of the most iconic galleries, museums and public locations around the world. Throughout her 30-plus year career, Nechita continues to be an active advocate for the arts and arts education through her various business endeavors, brand collaborations and philanthropic initiatives.

Moderator: Elaine Rocha, Senior Vice President & Global Chief Investment Officer – AIG
Elaine A. Rocha, Esq. is senior vice president and global chief investment officer (CIO) of AIG, based in New York City. Rocha is responsible for managing AIG’s global investment portfolio and supervising the implementation of the company’s asset management strategies. In addition, she is working on the separation of the Life & Retirement business from AIG. Prior to joining the company, Rocha served as an attorney in private practice, specializing in insurance, complex coverage issues and general litigation matters. She received her B.A. from The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) with an honors program distinction and earned her J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law. Rocha is a strong advocate for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) and a frequent presenter at industry events on DEI, leadership, mentorship and other related topics.

Shared Insights from the Event:
HOW DID YOU FIND INVESTMENT RESOURCES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR WHO TO WORK WITH WHEN RAISING CAPITAL FOR YOUR BUSINESS?

Alexandra Holland: I always I always recommend to entrepreneurs, especially females, to think about what they want to with their money. What’s the goal? How are they planning to invest it? Is there an asset in which they can leverage against the investment rather than taking equity? Money has such a connotation and when we bring investors to the cap table, it’s like getting married. So, when you think about marrying someone, would you be asking them difficult questions? Would you ask them what happens when things get tough?

Octavia Goredema: During the pandemic things were really hard, and I had the fortune of applying for an SBA loan for my business and receiving one. I’d never done that before, and it was a really enlightening process to go through ... really it was talking to other people, learning from what they had gone through, and being open to exploring options.

FOR YOUNG WOMEN LOOKING TO ACCELERATE THE ADVANCEMENT OF THEIR CAREER, WHAT IS THE BEST ADVICE YOU WOULD GIVE THEM TO MAKE PROGRESS FAST?

Alexanda Nechita: As I’m taking much fuller control of my career, I’m seeing that that is that gutsiness is what’s serving me really well. I also think that learning to say “no,” and know that sometimes things have done their job - if they’re no longer serving you and they’re not serving the greater good of the vision, then it’s OK to also wash your hands clean of that.

Tracy Holland: I think when you’re an entrepreneur, you have one of two talents: You’re either a visionary or you’re an excellent executor. I rarely find people who are exceptional visionaries and excellent executers, so I think you have to know what you do well and then partner yourself with someone who can help you execute.

WHAT IS THE KEY TO CREATING TRUE GENDER PAY EQUITY IN CORPORATE AMERICA?

Octavia Goredema: Here we are, more than 50 years after the Equal Pay Act, and women are still being shortchanged in the workplace. And for women of color, the ramifications of the pay gap are even more terrifying. To our managers and the talented people who are going to be our next managers: What are we doing to support their transition into those roles and to make sure that we are embodying a culture of pay equity for all? I would also say to all women: Let’s get comfortable with having conversations about money, talking to one another about what we make, and what we want to make. Having those conversations in our workplaces and not having a culture of retaliation or secrecy really matters.