WIBcast Phoebe Drummond

Zijia Song is an Emerging Markets Reporter at Bloomberg, focusing on covering Latin American sovereign debt and corporate credits. She was born in China and attended her province's school system until her second year of high school. We talk about the culture of academia in China and why she moved to Minnesota and stayed with a host family for the rest of her high school years. During the transition, she went from being an only child to living with six other kids and many pets. After her experience in the US school system, she chose to stay in the United States for college. She worked with a college counselor while home for the summer and decided to attend Boston College. She entered BC as a math major and added a second major in the Communications department after a journalism internship while home one summer in China.

Zijia was accepted to Bloomberg's Diversity Exploration program during her senior year of college. The program took place the last week of senior year, causing her to miss all the senior week activities, but she says it was well worth it. Before joining Bloomberg full-time, she received a second degree from the Global Journalism Program at New York University. She networked with program directors and was mentored on how to best present herself in her grad school application, which is excellent advice she shares with listeners in the episode. While at NYU, Zijia reported on sex work in the Chinese community. She shows her dedication to her work with stories about spending long nights out reporting and building rapport in the community.

She has now returned to Bloomberg in a rotational reporting program. She was not initially interested in business reporting but gives the advice to take opportunities when presented, even if they are different from what you expect/are comfortable with. We talk in-depth about the elements of good market reporting. Because her reporting is read by many traders who have to make quick decisions with significant monetary consequences, balancing speed with credibility is at the core of her work. She pays attention to all aspects of LatAm markets, from specific names, such as an oil company in Mexico, to the political landscape of Latin American countries to inform on debt performance and developments.

She also gives excellent advice on how to find internship opportunities in journalism as an undergraduate and how she advocated for herself to make all of her accomplishments a reality.

Sarah Winglass attended Boston College on an ROTC scholarship and graduated in 2014. She did not come from a military family or participate in ROTC in high school. Still, when applying to colleges, she spoke with a close friend who participated in an ROTC program and was attracted by the broader opportunities connected to the scholarship. This meant that on top of her classes and personal extracurriculars, Sarah participated in Army ROTC-specific physical and leadership training.

She started her career in the US Army in an operations unit in Colorado. Over time because of her high performance, Sarah earned the opportunity to be trained in the Counterintelligence force. She mentions that one of the biggest challenges transitioning to the military - was that she was so eager and excited - that performing a support role was out of character.

She then served on Counterintelligence teams in Washington, DC, and then on an extended deployment in Iraq. She said her deployment was one of her two goals for her military career - the other being company commander. On her deployment, Sarah is very insightful about the renewed sense of dedication and focus toward a mission that thrilled her.

Sarah accomplished both of her goals in her career with the help of mentors along the way. We talk about the organization and trajectory of a career in the military and the traits of successful military leaders. Sarah connects to how many of those skills transfer into the business world. This conversation also highlights Sarah’s experience as a woman in the Army and imposter syndrome in general. We end on an empowering note about how to find mentors to guide you through new missions and business ventures alike.

Hannah McGowan is the founder of a talent and corporate development consultancy. She specializes in cultivating crucial soft skills in individuals and transforming business management strategies to boost engagement and results. Hannah also worked as a childhood counselor for years, and we talk about the transition from personal to professional counseling. This conversation highlights communicating with your managers, shifting career goals over time, and what makes for high performers in the workplace.

After years in sales and counseling roles, Hannah took the leap to start her own business as a talent development coach in 2021. She graduated from Boston College ten years prior and started her career in a healthcare consulting position, where she was promoted rapidly. She said that what contributed to her success was her eagerness to contribute to the business beyond her day-to-day responsibilities. She developed a training program for new hires and realized that her genuine affinity was consulting with individuals over corporates. 

She got her master’s at Harvard’s graduate school of education and served in many counseling positions focused on empowering students. Now as the head of Hannah McGowan Coaching, she is bringing her talents to individuals looking for career and advice and corporates looking for management tools. She specializes in cultivating crucial soft skills for individuals to succeed and adapt across jobs. More than what someone should study/pursue as a career, Hannah is focused on how to make those decisions.

Entering the second year of her business, she is focusing on transforming organizational management strategy to boost engagement and results. We discuss the gap in quality development opportunities and how Hannah builds a strengths-based learning culture at the businesses she works with. 

In this fascinating and thoughtful conversation about creating a sustainable ethos surrounding work, Hannah gives tips for choosing a college major, common traits of high performers, shifting definitions of success throughout your career, communicating with managers, and advocating for yourself in the workplace.

Alisa Fitzgerald is a Municipal Bond Trader at Morgan Stanley. As an Executive Director, she helps build and manage various portfolios. When Alisa was a junior in college, she interned with Fidelity in a trader assistant role and continued the internship throughout her senior year of college and has progressed in title across different firms since.



We introduce what a career as a trader looks like compared to other jobs in finance like Investment Banking or Consulting. Alisa is also part of a buy-side team vs. sell side. She explains that a sell-side trading desk has its own profit/loss statement to strategize for along with servicing clients, but in her job, she buys and sells bonds to fit a portfolio that retail investors can then buy and hold. However, the core understanding of how economic conditions affect bond prices and markets is the same. Even more specifically, she trades Municipal Bonds and explains the nuances of Municipals as an asset class.



Because Alisa has been in trading for her entire career, she has a unique perspective on how external shocks from 9/11 to the financial crisis and technological innovations have changed her job. We will talk about each instance in depth. Because the entire financial industry faced a set of regulations amid a technological boom, Alisa emphasizes the need for adaptability and eagerness to learn in a career.



We will also talk about her career in the context of culture and personality fit, which she believes will always be crucial to a long and successful career - even in a field that seems to be more technical. Alisa explains why the fast-paced and social nature of trading has played to her strengths and gives an authentic look into a day in her life.

Cordelia Meserow is an Associate Director in UBS's Realty Investor practice. She studied English as an undergrad, but with guidance from a family member in residential real estate, Cordelia concentrated on professional opportunities in real estate early on. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, she joined a top real estate investment bank in Chicago that focused on deal-making for real estate firms.



She says the best advice she could have given her younger self as a banking analyst would be to listen first and ask questions. "Having that sense of awareness is hard to cultivate, but being humble and saying you don't know something will get you a lot more points than being too confident, maybe overly so, and making a mistake."



We discuss different real estate investment considerations, from sheer asset types like a mall vs. an office building to owners' risk profiles when buying real estate. An owner can pay more for the newest building in the best location and be sure that the building will attract tenants shortly. On the other end of the spectrum are value-add buyers. "It's really the model of buy it, fix it, sell it." Cordelia talks about the trends in strategy she has seen across her career and the impact of Covid on the commercial real estate industry during the shift to hybrid work models. She has been interested to see that, for the first time, property owners in New York are focused on updating and renovating their spaces. "It's not enough to just own a building in New York anymore."



"It is important to be social at work. Those two things do not contradict each other." Cordelia emphasizes the importance of relationships in any business, and it is fascinating to hear how she has been connected to new clients and has heard about new investment opportunities by prioritizing her business relationships.

Kyleigh Leddy earned a spot on this year's Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the media category for her first book, The Perfect Other. The Perfect Other shares the story of Kyleigh's sister's disappearance and assumed death in 2014 after years of struggling with schizophrenia. Kyleigh pairs personal experience with scientific research to address how mental health is viewed and treated and finding peace amid grief.

In 2019 Kyleigh won the New York Times Real Love essay for "Years Ago My Sister Vanished; I See Her Whenever I Want." This piece is about how grief has changed in the digital era and caught the attention of many big-name publishers. She received multiple book deal offers and chose to sign with Harper Collins. She spent her first-year post-grad writing The Perfect Other.

Kyleigh talks about the influx of messages related to her NYT essay that made her feel called to push through any hesitation toward writing the book in full, and we talk about the opportunities for young writers. The first time she submitted her writing to a contest, she did not even include her name out of nerves. Now, Kyleigh pushes for young writers to put themselves to submit their writing to contests and magazines. As it was in her case, the second time she decided to share her writing, this time with a byline, changed the trajectory of her entire career and life. With platforms like TikTok, there is no limit to the amount of promotional content authors can create for themselves. Her Forbes 30 Under 30 declaration has also aided in getting her name out there. 

We discuss the business behind books in depth and the friction between this tragedy in relation to her career. Kyleigh explains how she decided on her manager and which publisher to sign with. Money, trust, and differing editing processes were all factors in Kyleigh's decision. We also discuss shifts in how authors market themselves and their work. The next step for Kyleigh is turning her book into a video production. Although unsure what the final format will be, Kyleigh talks about her transition from prose and narrative writing to writing for film.

View Kyleigh's work here:

https://kyleighleddy.com

https://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Other-Memoir-My-Sister/dp/0358469341

Year Ago My Sister Vanished. I See Her Whenever I Want - New York Times 2019 Modern Love Essay Contest Winner

When There's No Word Like 'Widow" - New York Times essay published Feb. 11, 2023