Show notes
Shelly had a 30+ year career on Wall Street valuing and investing in public and private companies. Her finance specialties include evaluating companies' financials in order to assess financial health, balance sheet management, and leveraging the capital markets and investor relations to maximize value for stakeholders. She serves on the boards of public companies including Bed Bath & Beyond, and has a LinkedIn newsletter called Schmooze, which talks about business relationships for women.Shelly shared that money was tight while growing up. Both her parents were school teachers and so had a pretty comfortable income, but it was tight for their family of six. In Shelly's words, she had everything she needed but not everything she wanted. Shelly remembers appreciating having her first job, at age 15, which gave her the freedom of summer spending money and financial cushion.Shelly was a gifted student. She started college when she was 16 years old, and attended Columbia Business School on scholarship. She had worked as a journalist before deciding to get an MBA, after coming to the realization that she was never going to get ahead financially on a journalist's salary!Shelly's first job out of business school was doing leveraged finance first at Citibank, then at Drexel, Burnham Lambert. She loved the drama and relevancy of working on deals that were on the cover of the Wall Street Journal the next morning! Later on in her career, she became a frequent guest on CNBC, talking about the auto industry during the financial crisis. She was downsized when the auto industry righted itself, leading to a long period of exploring how her skillset could be used in new roles."I started Schmooze, the LinkedIn newsletter, not because I have great tips on networking, but because I wanted to interview amazing women doing amazing things who had a perspective on business relationships and how you leverage them and how you make them work for you." - Shelly LombardKey takeaways:- Have an emergency fund. Shelly went through a difficult period financially when she lost her job in the aftermath of the financial crisis, while her kids were in college. Thankfully, she had a large emergency fund, knowing as she did the inherent volatility of the financial industry. - Focus on building your network when you’re exploring what to do next. Women often have difficulty with transactional, business relationships. As a generalization, women tend to build relationships based upon shared interests, while men make friends based on what they can do for each other. Shelly started her LinkedIn newsletter, On the Schmooze, so she could learn from women who have a perspective on how to build robust business relationships.- Understand how your skill set may extend to new opportunities. Shelly had defined herself narrowly as a “distressed debt investor,” until she realized that her analytical skills could extend to new roles. She is now exploring venture capital investing, and is a limited partner in a venture capital fund that invests in beauty brands that have been launched by people of color. About the guest:Shelly spent 30+ years on Wall Street valuing and investing in companies. Since then, she has served on the boards of several public companies, most recently Bed Bath & Beyond. Recently, she also launched a LinkedIn newsletter for women about business relationships called Schmooze. Linkedin:- https://www.linkedin.com/in/shellylombard/Webinar: Intro to Distressed Debt Investing Interested in booking a free consultation? Schedule a call.Stay connected:Connect with Laura on LinkedIn@Rotters5 on TwitterConnect with Laura on FacebookSubscribe to my YouTube channelSubscribe to my newsletterGet your free copy of Unlock Your Money Blocks Workbook : Your step-by-step guide to unlocking your blocks to financial freedom.Disclaimer: Please remember that the information shared on this podcast does not constitute accounting, legal, tax, investment or financial advice. It’s for informational purposes only. You should seek appropriate professional advice for your specific information.