FWSF Mentorship in Action
On 17 September 2015 two of our scholarship recipients, Ruoyi (Roi) Fang and Ami Thomas met with industry leaders in their respective fields. Roi met with Heather Sibley, San Francisco based audit Partner at Ernst & Young and Ami met with Mike Ashton, Portfolio Manager, and head of Pacific View Asset Management LLC’s U.S. Growth Equity team and also with Roger Lee, Research Analyst, and member of Pacific View’s U.S. Growth Equity team.
Heather offered invaluable advice with regard to a successful career in audit by drawing from her own experiences. It was fabulous to observe the conversation – Heather was very gracious and generous and I believe she enjoyed the opportunity to share in this way.
Roi had the following to say:
I met with Heather and Sandra at a cafe along the Embarcadero. Heather talked about her experience in public accounting and shared interesting stories from her work.
I told Heather my concerns about how to deal with work relationships with my future co-workers. Heather gave me very helpful tips about how to achieve good relationships with co-workers and how to make my work life easier. I also learned from Heather that having passion in my career is very important for me — to thrive in and to be happy with my career.
I am very appreciative of the suggestions Heather provided me, and am very thankful for Sandra arranging this meeting for me. I think I am ready to start my career with the help and support from Sandra and Heather.
Ruoyi (Roi) with Heather Sibley, San Francisco based audit Partner at Ernst & Young
Ami’s mentor, Carrie Whisler, has worked tirelessly to help her gain perspective with regard to her future career choices — and that is how Ami arrived at an informational interview with Mike and Roger. Ami was well prepared with her list of questions, and Mike and Roger were very good in helping her structure her thoughts about which industry sector would best suit Ami's career aspirations. Neither one hesitated at the opportunity; their generosity was unsurpassed.
Ami shared her thoughts about the meeting:
Being a mentee in FWSF has been awesome! From the very beginning, my mentor has been helpful, attentive, responsive, and present. When I shared my plan to take the CFA exam, she encouraged me, and even went out of her way to connect me with other CFAs who were also working as portfolio managers.
This led me to my informational meeting with Mike Ashton and Roger Lee of Pacific View Asset Management, LLC. Both had been in the finance industry for a number of years, and each told me about his experience in finance from different perspectives.
Roger was full of life and extremely excited. His enthusiasm brightened the whole conversation and excited me about the possiblities in their pocket of the industry. He spoke about tech startups, finance start ups and the importance of networking and staying close to the news. He also shared how he studied for the CFA.
Mike Ashton was also a great interviewee. His approach was more broad and he really focused on the purpose of work, especially working in the finance field. My biggest take away from him was to focus on what I wanted to do. Be really clear about my goals, and then go after them by communicating them to others. I really appreciated his advice and it will help shape how I think about my career in the future.
Ami Thomas with Mike Ashton, Portfolio Manager, and head of Pacific View Asset Management LLC’s U.S. Growth Equity team and also Roger Lee, Research Analyst, and member of Pacific View’s U.S. Growth Equity team.