Page 33 - Investment Advisor - Jan/Feb 2021

financial services, to give it your all. Learn as much as you can.
April Rudin Find a network that can help, with people … who can help you.
The Rudin Group; founder and But don’t say “no” to opportunities.
CEO, 2008–present There are so many times when I was given an opportunity
that I didn’t think I could do or didn’t think that was what I
wanted at that point in my career. I just did it, and it’s helped
Alpine CapitalBank; director
of business development, me … to be well rounded.
2006–2008 Like April said, it’s been about knowing a lot of people. I did
sit next to clients and then also helped lead clients through
strategic initiatives at their firms. It’s been an amazing career,
Kelly Services; global office automation director,
1983–1991 but it’s not something I set out to do.
I talk to college students all the time. I tell them that if you
want a career that’s enriching and that you can be successful
Other activities: Independent director for Lefteris
Acquisition Corp.; board of advisors member for in, look at financial services and look at technology. There’s an
Mirador LLC; contributing writer/blogger for Forbes urgency right now to get more women and people of color into
and The Huffington Post; and co-author of “The this industry. What a great opportunity for us to lift others up,
WealthTECH Book” get them in [the door] and help them grow. Nobody can really
do it alone.
Alma mater: Wayne State University
RUDIN: Sometimes I call myself the original millennial girl,
because I was hired by the president of Kelly Services, a [staff-
is super successful, though she’s now in a very different arena. ing] services company. He asked me one question. “Do you
And she did it with … her friendly smile and didn’t miss a beat. know about the Wang Word Processor and the IBM PC?”
I said, “Yes.” And he said, “You’re hired, because we don’t.
What was your career path in financial services We have typewriters in our offices, and there’s also dictation.
and technology? And what advice would you give All of this is changing in front of our very eyes.”
to others based on your experience? Who did they hire back then? The one who was young.
NASH: When I was in school, I did not think I was going It was my job to go out and find the technology they used
to ever lead a technology organization, let alone even be in to automate their offices. And it [involved] training, testing
a financial services organization. I actually wanted to be a and standards in an area that no one knew very much about
weather [reporter] on TV. So, this was not really my career at the time.
choice, but I fell into it as so many people do. I got an intern- Kelly ended up buying a company that was started by Eric
ship opportunity, and I took it. Becker’s brother Doug Becker. Eric is a founder of [RIA]
My dad knew a guy who ran a brokerage firm in Chicago, Cresset. [The brothers also funded the private equity firm
which [later] … got bought by Stifel Nicolaus back in the 1980s. Sterling Partners.] I’ve known them for more than 30 years.
The family who owned the brokerage firm decided to start Also, I met Bill Gates like 10 or 15 times in the 1980s. We
their own technology company and help [other] brokerage were getting all this media [coverage] from publications like
firms become more automated. Back then everything was still “InformationWeek,” and I was the immediate spokesperson. It
manual. They offered me a role in whatever I wanted to do. was the first time I saw a staffing company become a technol-
There were four people involved. ogy company.
I grew up in this industry, literally, at the same company. But If you fast forward, I relocated to New York, had some dif-
it’s been bought three times, so I’ve had very different roles ferent jobs, took some time off and had my kids. When I was
all three times. Plus, I’ve probably played every role, besides going back to work, New York had the garment center and
development or quality assurance. I was in and led client ser- financial services. I like to buy garments, but I didn’t think I
vices. I was in and led product management. wanted to work in the garment industry.
My advice to others is to take every opportunity given to I started working for a friend whose family was cred-
you. Even if you don’t think you’re ready for a role, take that ited with inventing the multi-family office. I started looking
role because it does lead to bigger things. I had no idea, years around and saw that this wealth transfer was happening. But
ago when I was a client service rep, that I would become CEO the brands in wealth management looked old, stale and tired.
of the company that I was in. I took on a lot of things that I They had a lighthouse, a yacht and accessories, or a picture of
wasn’t comfortable with, but I also had good sponsors and a couple on a beach — like that’s really retirement. I thought to
mentors along the way. That’s so important. myself, “I can do better. Someone can do better.”
I would tell women, especially in technology today and in I went to a friend of mine who was running a large bank and

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 INVESTMENT ADVISOR 31