Katie fell in love with the industry and worked her way up to Financial Advisor. She then moved to Denver, Colo., to manage a branch office. Intrigued by a future in management, she enrolled in a manager assessment program—but didn’t pass.
Devastated after she got word “I hadn’t made it,” she now can say this: “Failure is part of growing. It’s inevitable if you’re pushing yourself into something new. At some point, there’s going to be disappointment. As difficult as it is to feel the pain of not succeeding, other paths will open up that you never expected.”
Sure enough, they did. One of the management assessors offered her a job in Houston, Texas, where she would go to gain more experience as a manager, overseeing a private wealth office. “It was one of the best moves I ever made,” says Katie, who retook the manager assessment and passed.
After three years, Katie moved again, this time to Stamford, Conn., when her leadership skills were tapped to run her first complex. She relished “my dream job” for four years until another opened up, about four years ago, with Morgan Stanley in Philadelphia. This latest move put her in charge of eight branches and 203 Financial Advisors and support professionals who collectively manage more than $50 billion in assets (as of 4/2022).
“If someone had told me when I first started that I was going to run the Greater Philadelphia complex, I would’ve told them they were completely insane” she laughs.
Today, her number-one goal is developing talent, supporting individuals with the Firm’s resources so that they can be “wildly successful, whatever that means to them.” Katie works hard at being a good listener, getting to know what’s important to each individual, and is inspired by their successes. “That’s why I love what I do every day—coaching, connecting and communicating with people.”
Source: morganstanley.com
