You’ve also worked in public relations for the luxury fashion industry, which must have been pretty glamorous — and very unlike the world of finance where you are today.

I suppose it was “glamorous.” I was with Nadine Johnson & Associates, a New York-based firm. It was my very first taste of public relations and communications work. Prominent fashion luxury and high-end hospitality brands were clients. This was not public affairs, in the sense that it was not influencing lawmakers or regulators. Our work involved elevating the brands we worked with consumers, but I learned a lot about the power of communications, which is of course an important component of public affairs.

And then to JPMorganChase. That’s a big switch.

One way to understand a move like that is that it goes back in some ways to my fascination with cultural anthropology. I love the challenge of drilling down into a new field, immersing myself in a new subject or environment, and focusing on understanding it. But the move into finance was a little intimidating at first. We’ve all seen the movie The Wolf of Wall Street, right? Well, I figured it must be like that, and I might have to adopt a kind of tough, overly aggressive — and self-protective — attitude that isn’t true to my personality as a collaborative, focused and pragmatically optimistic person in the workplace. But that wasn’t the case at all. I’ve found people tremendous and fearless leaders and mentors here, like Trish Wexler [Council Board member], who have helped me learn so much about the world of banking and finance. JPMorgan is the biggest bank in America, and we finance so many businesses and help power the world. It is a constant learning curve — one that has been transformative for me, for which I am so grateful. This organization is so big that you can find your own support network in it, which I’ve been able to do. It has been a welcoming and supportive environment for me.

Finally, you were a Hogans Fellow, one of the inaugural cohort. What can you tell us about that experience?

I cherish it. There are some mentoring programs where, once the formal relationship is over, you never have any more contact. The relationship ends. But I had — and have — an amazing mentor, Lauren Tyler of Adfero — who was on the staff at the Council for five years and is now chief of staff at Adfero. Lauren is still in my life. We still meet, and she has been a wonderful sounding board for me in my career. I’m so grateful!

Reach Brooklyn at [email protected].