Financial Women of San Francisco (FWSF) Members Honored in 2017

By Sandra Camacho

We’re proud to announce that five FWSF members have been honored in the past few months with awards. The San Francisco Business Times recognized Sarah Friar, Paige Venable and Tracy Teale in their 2017 Bay Area’s Most Influential Women special edition on April 28, 2017. They were also honored at a gala awards dinner on June 14, 2017. Laura Martinez and Kim Pugh were also honored by other professional organizations.

What these women all have in common is drive, passion and a commitment to excellence. Read on to learn more about the honorees and some of their words of wisdom.

San Francisco Business Times, Bay Area’s Most Influential Women:

Sarah Friar – 2014 FWSF Financial Woman of the Year

1. What are three determining factors in your success to date?

First, I believe in taking risks. In fact, most risky things we do with our careers are not really all that risky; it’s just that our perspective is skewed. I like to think about getting an adrenaline rush every day. Second, do what you love—search for the characteristics in your job that you are passionate about and therefore likely to be good at. Better to have one or two strong spikes than be a B+ at everything. Third, pay it forward. Take the time to take the call, provide a short burst of mentorship, make an intro, and give some real-time coaching.  It creates long-term loyalty, will win hearts, and it will make you happier. Fourth (because I’m a Square), be strategic about mentorship. Don’t be passive in asking for input on your career—better decisions are made with more diverse perspectives.

2. What advice would you give to women at early and mid -stages of their careers?

It’s important to lead and not just manage. Leadership is about having a vision. Look at the long-term themes and changes occurring in an industry, and think about how you can motivate people to take risks to meet and thrive within those changes. Great leaders are in the hearts of the people they work with, not just their logical brain. And great leaders cause people to excel beyond their wildest dreams.

Sarah has been the chief financial officer and operations lead of Square, Inc. since June 13, 2012. She served as the senior vice president of finance & strategy at Salesforce.com. Previously, Sarah served as the managing director, business unit leader for technology and lead software analyst at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Research Division. Prior to joining Goldman, she worked as a consultant for McKinsey & Company in both London and South Africa. She is also been a board member of Spark. She has been independent director of New Relic, Inc. since December 2013. She serves as a member of Business Advisory Council at Illuminate Ventures. She served as a director of ModelN, Inc. from September 2012 to May 31, 2015. Sarah holds an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business (2000) and a MEng, in Metallurgy, Economics and Management from the University of Oxford in 1996.

Paige Venable – 2017 FWSF President and Board Member

1. What are three determining factors in your success to date?

• Authenticity; being my most authentic self as much as possible
• Delegation; strategically delegating provides opportunities for junior staff to grow and develop
• Inclusivity: soliciting input and ideas from others allows me to continue to grow and develop

2. What advice would you give to women at early and mid-stages of their careers?

• Principles above apply
• Diversify your skill-set and stay relevant
• Promote yourself, your “brand”

Paige is a managing director in KPMG’s Risk Consulting Integrated Assurance practice in San Francisco. Her primary focus is Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC), Internal Audit; and Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Compliance services. Paige has over 15 years of experience providing Advisory and Audit services to domestic and global clients. Paige was awarded the KPMG San Francisco Office Managing Partner Perpetual Trophy for Volunteerism in 2013; is an active member of KPMG's Network of Women (KNOW) and other diversity programs; and is serving her second year as the co-chair of KPMG’s Advisory Employer of Choice Council. She has been a national instructor since 2004; served as a people management leader since 2005; and has been recognized year over year for mentoring her colleagues. Paige is a Certified Control Self-Assessment (CCSA) and Certified Risk Management Assurance (CRMA) professional and has been a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) since 2004.

Tracy Teale – 2015 FWSF President and Board Member

Tracy is an audit stockholder with RINA Accountancy Corporation, a regional public accounting firm with 60-years of experience serving clients in the Greater East Bay, San Francisco and the Sacramento/Roseville markets. Tracy has extensive experience providing audit and attest services to both for-profit and non-profit businesses in a variety of industries. She assists many of her clients with accounting issues and the design of processes and systems. Tracy also has extensive experience in setting up or modifying accounting systems. Prior to joining RINA in 1997, Tracy worked in private industry as a CFO for 10 years. Tracy holds a Masters in taxation and an MBA from Golden Gate University. She earned a B.A. in Economics from University of California at Santa Cruz and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from University of California at Berkeley. She is a licensed certified public accountant and her professional affiliations include memberships with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the California Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Money Management Executive (May 8, 2017) recognized FWSF member Laura Martinez in their special edition, 2017 Top Women in Asset Management.

Laura Martinez – former FWSF Board Member

Laura is PwC’s US Assurance Diversity Leader. She has 25 years of audit experience and specializes in serving registered investment companies, investment partnerships, hedge funds and private investment advisors. She also serves as the global engagement partner and lead engagement partner for two multinational asset management companies. She is quality review partner on several of the firm’s largest and most complex mutual fund clients. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley and is a Certified Public Accountant in California.

FWSF member Kim Pugh wins award for Meritorious Service in Association for Corporate Growth (ACG).

ACG’s mission is to drive middle market company growth.  Awardees were recognized at the organization’s annual international conference. The organization has chapters in most U.S. cities and in several countries around the world representing 14,500 members and serves 90,000 investors, executives, lenders and advisors.  We asked Kim  to share more about her involvement in the organization and the business areas it covers:

Kim Pugh – FWSF Board Member

1. What led you to become involved in the ACG organization?  What keeps you involved?

I became involved with ACG because of an interest in further developing relationships within the middle market business segment and keeping current with issues involving M&A. What keeps me involved is the quality and breadth of the organization, the relationships and network, and the value of content provided.

2. With the particular organization in mind, what are a couple of business challenges faced?

• Talent acquisition and retention
• Fewer resources than large companies possess to stay competitive (e.g. for big data, social media, product development, etc.)
• Determining and maintaining the appropriate level and type of growth

3. Words of wisdom as pertains to business area covered by the ACG organization?

• Reliable resources that provide relevant data and access to viable networks are key to those involved in middle market company growth.

Kim, founder and principal of YurPath Solutions, has over 30 years’ experience in financial services and other industry groups, with a focus on business process development and customer experience. Prior to launching YurPath Solutions, Kim worked in various positions at Wells Fargo Bank. As a senior vice president, Kim frequently built and managed groups from the ground up and delivered results in areas ranging from customer experience and business development to digital channels and process consulting. While at Mellon Bank, she managed various operations groups and later was a senior product design manager leading cross functional teams to develop new or improved products and systems. Kim earned her Master of Business Administration and her Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, PA.