Alisa Manjarrez Of ZERA Consulting On How We Should Increase Female Representation in Investment Decision-Making

An interview with Vanessa Ogle

Be fast to listen, slow to speak. Women are known for being great relationship builders. When we asked the Managing Director for J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Stephanie Neely, what rule she broke to advance in her career, she said the key to building authentic relationships was to not talk at people, but to take a moment to pause, hear the real needs of others, and listen without judgment.

Despite progress in many industries, women remain significantly underrepresented in investment decision making roles. This lack of diversity can lead to missed opportunities and less inclusive financial strategies. How can we increase female representation in these critical positions? What impact would this have on the investment landscape? I had the pleasure of interviewing Alisa Manjarrez.

Alisa Manjarrez is Managing Director at Stories Bureau, a B2B creative agency, and co-founder of ZERA Consulting, a company that equips leaders with skills and strategies that advance multicultural women in the workplace. A coach by calling, she aims to inspire multicultural women to step into their power. This meaningful mission led Alisa also to co-found What Rules!? Podcast, where she showcases multicultural women who defied cultural norms to achieve corporate success.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I grew up with a passion for leadership. My parents were leaders and pioneers in music and education in various ways, and I got to see both the rewarding and the lonely side of visionary leadership. I knew that whatever I did in my life, I wanted to support people with big dreams and unique visions. My first big job out of college was working with executive pastors at a design-build firm, where my role was to liaise with architects, engineers, and contractors to help guide big churches in the building process. I learned advertising and marketing along the way to help sell the services of my firm, which eventually led me to work in creative agencies, where I took on multimedia projects focused on business and/or community. I interviewed chefs as the host of a local online food show and worked on brand launches and ad campaigns. In parallel, I went to grad school for organizational leadership and got certified as an executive coach.

For over a decade since then, I’ve worked in both marketing and coaching, doing digital storytelling for Fortune 500s (now as Managing Director of Stories Bureau), and helping visionary leaders become the best versions of themselves. Smack in the middle of all of that, I discovered a unique calling to help multicultural women step into their power. Every month, on the What Rules!? podcast, I ask multicultural women in leadership what rules they broke to get ahead in their career so they can share their stories to inspire others. And this year, with my podcast co-host Dr. Merary Simeon, we launched ZERA Consulting, a company that equips leaders with skills and strategies that advance multicultural women in the workplace.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

In the twists and turns of my career, from construction to marketing to executive coaching, I felt lost. In 2018, I was VP of Marketing at a tech company, doing coaching on the side, and I wasn’t sure if I should continue on the executive leadership track, do coaching full-time, or do something else altogether. It was probably the 98th time I felt like I didn’t fit into any clear career paths. So, I hired a coach! She asked me to look at Linkedin, map out a few different executive tracks based on other profiles of people who “had made it,” and then map out my career path thus far to see if any clear patterns emerged.

Nothing was clear or made sense to me. Until I realized that I never actually applied to any of the jobs I’d had in my career. The jobs were either created for me or I created the positions myself. I remember being deep in thought about this, gazing at the plants on my apartment patio and zeroing in on my bunny ears cactus. You see, when I bought the cactus, it had two, perfectly positioned bunny ears on top. But over time, it started growing other ears in every other direction. It didn’t look how I thought it was supposed to, but it was so HAPPY. It was shining in the sun, growing where it wanted, and I said out loud to myself, “I am that happy cactus! I’m never going to grow the way other people think I should grow or even the way I feel like I’m supposed to grow. But I’m happy. I have created my own path up until now and that’s how it will continue to be.” From that moment on, I’ve felt just right in my career journey, continuing to create my path along the way.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

At the end of my very first day at work at my first “real job,” my boss said, “See you tomorrow,” and I responded, in all sincerity, “Oh, I need to show up every day???” I was clueless! Earlier this year, I had an employee right out of college ask for a six-week vacation during a busy time for us. Some bosses might be offended, but I know from my own experience that not everyone understands 9–5 work culture off the bat. And now as a boss myself, I try to make work-life balance a priority for everyone as much as possible.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

After I moved home from college, I’d see a man named Rene Charest wearing a nice suit at church every Sunday and I’d think, “He looks successful. He must be successful.” One day I went up to Rene, not knowing what he did and said, “If you ever need to hire someone, hire me!” I don’t remember how he responded, because it yielded zero results at the moment, but I’m guessing he just chuckled and kept walking. It was not the best pitch! Soon after, he and his wife were having lunch with my parents and I crashed their party. I was updating everyone on what I was up to, my future plans to be an executive coach, and just chatting about life.

The next day, I got a call from Rene offering me a job. He said, “I have a construction company that builds fast food joints, but I want to start working with churches. You wouldn’t be working with corporate executives, but you would be working with executive pastors if you can help me launch this new side of the business. I’ll send you to get the training you need, and you’ll start working with me right after that.”

From there, Rene taught me how to write professional emails, keep strong eye contact and give great handshakes. He also gave me a voice, not just with our clients (I took the lead on several multi-million dollar projects), but within the company. I was empowered to share my ideas and expand our offerings, which ultimately led to higher revenues. For a young woman in her 20s, this experience was priceless, and I’m so thankful to Rene and his wife Christi, for taking me under their wings and giving me the space and the grace to grow in my career.

Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

When I decided to focus my coaching practice on women in 2018, I consumed as many books as I could about empowering women. My favorite during that time was “Own It: The Power of Women at Work” by Sally Krawcheck. The book jacket excerpt reads, “It’s true that the old rules didn’t get us as far as we hoped. But we can go the distance, and we can close the gaps that still exist. We just need a new way.” Sally was the CEO of Smith Barney, CEO of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, and CFO of Citigroup, before she launched Ellevest, a digital investment platform designed to help women reach their financial goals. As one of Wall Street’s highest-ranking women, she not only faced gender bias and bullying firsthand but also discovered the numerous innate strengths women contribute to the workplace.

Equipped with my findings on women’s exceptional workplace attributes, I set out to help women identify their superpowers one at a time. And I did just that with women from Bank of America, Deloitte, Google, PepsiCo, and more.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

So many incredible women have found their way in and out of corporate America. In the first season of the What Rules!? Podcast, we interviewed 3-time Emmy award-winning journalist and best-selling author, Gaby Natale. When she came to the United States from Argentina after receiving her Masters in Journalism, the only television studio jobs available to her as a journalist were ones that capitalized on the sexy Latina stereotype. So, she created her own studio. And her own show. And essentially, her own rules that led to her success.

On more recent episodes of What Rules!?, we’ve highlighted the stories of multicultural women who are VPs or higher in Fortune 1000s, who demonstrate their ability to own their power in the workplace and defy the rules of corporate America to get ahead. I aim to make the world a better place by sharing these stories. Several of these women are working behind-the-scenes from a public persona perspective, with a myriad of quiet wins. I want to showcase the achievements of Black, Latina, Asian, and all multicultural women who have overcome barriers and achieved great success. These women are not only modeling the way for others, they’re creating the way forward to see more multicultural women in leadership through their rule-breaking strategies. In 2025, we’re hosting our first in-person What Rules!? Leadership Conference, bringing together multicultural women and their managers to build more inclusive workplaces by taking real action to advance multicultural women.

In your opinion, what are the key benefits of having a more gender-diverse team making investment decisions?

Research tells us there’s a strong business case for having women in leadership. Companies are 48% more likely to financially outperform others with less diverse teams. By some estimates, women control as much as $20 trillion in consumer spending each year (Kornferry). According to investment services company The Motley Fool, research has shown that female investors are outperforming males by a margin of 0.5% to 1%, which could lead to tens of thousands of extra dollars over time. Studies also show that women are more prone to long-term thinking in their decision-making, which makes them think less emotionally and more cautiously about their investment decisions.

When you look in a room, and see all the same faces making investment decisions for a company, do you notice? Think twice? For some people, it’s an obvious problem right away. For others, it’s never been top of mind. They assume the most qualified people have been chosen for these positions, and they respect the decisions to put this team in the room. Whenever I talk about bringing more multicultural women into decision-making roles, a relative of mine says, “Who cares what the person looks like! Can they get the job done? That’s what matters.”

And they’re right. It doesn’t matter what a person looks like. Performance does matter. The goal isn’t to hire based on gender or ethnicity alone. It’s imperative that you hire qualified candidates who are overlooked due to unconscious bias. But it’s not just about hiring practices. It’s about supporting the team you’ve hired along the way. It’s about mentoring and sponsoring them, and providing an environment that’s psychologically safe for them to thrive and belong.

When you employ diverse teams, your organization will see increased innovation, employee engagement, and improved productivity. When you don’t have diverse executive teams, it comes at a cost. There is a strong correlation between gender and ethnic diversity in leadership and financial performance of an organization. In McKinsey’s Diversity matters even more: The case for holistic impact, companies with the least amount of gender and ethnic diversity are 66% less likely to outperform financially. The next time you look at your organization’s leadership lack of diversity, consider the cost.

What barriers do women typically face when trying to enter and advance in investment roles, and how can these be overcome?

The barriers women face in any role start at the beginning of their career. The Broken Rung is a term that represents the first rung on the career ladder that’s broken for women. It is “The first step up to manager [holding] women back. For every 100 men who are promoted from entry level to manager, only 87 women are promoted, and only 82 women of color are promoted. As a result, men significantly outnumber women at the manager level, and women can never catch up,” (Women in the Workplace, 2022, McKinsey & Company).

We recorded a series of What Rules!? podcast episodes on how to fix the broken rung for managers, employees, and organizations. If we want to increase the number of women in leadership, and specifically women of color who demonstrate more ambition for career advancement than white women, we have to work together. It’s not just the responsibility of the woman, and it’s not just the responsibility of her managers. Everyone at every level of the organization must participate in mitigating bias, increasing awareness that the broken rung exists, and teaching leaders how to lead in a way that builds inclusive cultures and promotes women.

So what can you do today? If you’re a multicultural woman, find a white male sponsor. Mentors and coaches can work with you to identify a sponsor, but sponsorship should be your priority. Your sponsor will advocate for your advancement when you’re not in the room.

If you’re a manager of multicultural women, build a real, personal relationship with the women you lead. Take an interest in their career growth, ensure they get credit for their work, and talk to them about their workloads on a regular basis. If you are interested in more specific, actionable steps, I invite you to the next What Rules!? Leadership Conference for multicultural women and their champions.

What strategies or initiatives have you found effective in increasing female representation in investment decision-making roles?

Although I highly recommend that women work with coaches and mentors to guide them along the way and provide strategies for career growth, the number one priority for organizations is to train and equip male leaders to advocate for the women in their organizations as sponsors. Sponsors have the power to move a woman’s career forward quickly and place her where she will best serve the organization in a way that also serves her. They can provide opportunities for high-level projects, promotions and have a direct impact on increasing female representation in decision-making roles.

Can you please share your “5 Things We Must Do To Have More Women Direct Investment Dollars”?

We know that it takes organizations, leaders and the women themselves to create more inclusive cultures. To the women who want to direct more investment dollars, here are 5 things you can do to gain influence and own your power, taking stories from women in finance who I’ve worked with or interviewed on the What Rules!? podcast.

1. Think like a CEO. I’ll never forget the advice a former CEO of mine gave me to run my department as if I were him and stop when I got in trouble. It was bold and gave me the permission to make mistakes. A few years ago, I coached 50 female SVPs at a Fortune 20 financial institution as a part of an executive leadership program. The number one thing keeping these women from advancing was that they were busy doing the work instead of thinking about the work. The busyness was burning them out and they were in an endless cycle of hitting a wall, watching their male counterparts advance while they stayed in the same positions, doing, doing, doing. When you think like a CEO, your focus shifts from doing to strategizing. The strategizing leads to working smarter not harder and finding the best people to take on the work that is keeping you so occupied. Sound impossible? Trust me, I heard all the reasons this was not realistic for several women. But you can start small. Begin by setting aside one hour a week to think about your work. Then, keep adding more thinking time to your schedule. Even if it’s 30 minutes at the start of every day, you will see the strategies flow in. You’ll see the shifts that come from that in no time!
2. Be fast to listen, slow to speak. Women are known for being great relationship builders. When we asked the Managing Director for J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Stephanie Neely, what rule she broke to advance in her career, she said the key to building authentic relationships was to not talk at people, but to take a moment to pause, hear the real needs of others, and listen without judgment.
3. Build your professional squad. Having a tight-knit crew who can lift you up when you need it, listen to your rants, read your emails before you press send, and offer sound advice, can be a game-changer for both your life and your career. Managing Director of Northern Trust Wealth Management, Linda Nolan, talked to us on the podcast about how her squad pushed her confidence to new heights. She taps into her squad to roleplay difficult conversations and share knowledge about compensation. When you know your worth, you can practice ways to retain your power in the conversations, even when the answer is “no.”
4. Take risks to win. “If you are conservative about your career over and over again, over the course of 20 or 30 years, the cumulative effect is that you aren’t going to advance nearly as much as the person who takes risks.” — Kathleen Murphy, President, Personal Investing, Fidelity. In a season where I was wanting to move forward in my career but too scared to keep going, I had an incredible coach take me through an exercise where I explored this idea of looking into the future as if I was certain everything would work out. Listen here.
5. Don’t do it alone: Has there ever been a time you thought you needed to go it alone, only to discover the beauty of having other people around to see you through it? We spoke with Partner and Chief Client Officer for RMB Capital, Michele Francisco, to discuss how breaking the rule that you have to do everything yourself in order to be successful just might have the potential to change your whole life for the better. Spoiler alert: during a time when Michele was burnt out, gaining weight, and not herself, she asked her boss for six months off and he gave it to her!

How can companies and investment firms create a more inclusive culture that supports and encourages women in leadership positions?

Three ways they can create more inclusive cultures:

1. Organizations can recognize that women in leadership lead to a better ROI. In 2015, Fortune confirmed that women-led companies perform three times better than the S&P 500.
2. Go where the growth is: a multicultural America. Savvy leaders know that when you lead a company, you go where the growth is for optimum performance. Every day, we are moving closer towards a multicultural America. In fact, 100% of our population growth was from multicultural segments in 2020 (U.S. Census). As stated above, gender and ethnic diversity are key indicators to financial outperformance. Multicultural women
3. Building inclusive cultures doesn’t start with diversity initiatives; it starts with the leaders themselves. When organizations “do leadership different,” they understand that shifting their mindset towards cultural intelligence is the key to growth and innovation. It’s about sharing knowledge and making everyone feel like they belong. And frankly, it shouldn’t be that hard to show kindness to others through addressing work-life balance, paying equally, and acknowledging efforts at work (and promoting accordingly). Yet 1.3 million women left the workforce after the pandemic for these reasons and more. To start creating more inclusive cultures, organizations can train leaders how to create equitable work environments and reward them for their efforts.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

Being a champion of multicultural women in the workplace is such a special role that leaders can take in their organizations. I hope that our What Rules!? Leadership Conferences can bring about the change we want to see: bringing more multicultural women into positions of power. Only 1 in 4 C-suite leaders is a woman, and only 1 in 20 is a woman of color (2022, McKinsey). My hope is that we can equip male leaders with the tools to not do more, but “do leadership different” to pave the way for women to rise. And bring to light those who are already doing an incredible job so we can learn from them. I’ve had many male champions in my career, who have served as mentors and sponsors, and I see the doors that can continue to open up for multicultural women in the workplace.

Our challenge with these events is that they’re passion projects that Dr. Merary Simeon and I put together in addition to our full-time jobs. We’re looking for corporate sponsors, workshop speakers and volunteers for 2025 in Long Beach, CA. If you are interested in being a part of transforming leadership together, please contact me at alisa@zeraconsulting.com.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

I’ve been obsessed with Marcus Buckingham since I discovered Now, Discover Your Strengths. I’ve followed his journey through multiple books, video series and programs he’s built. I met him once in person at a book signing around 2008, and I’m super intrigued by his work overall as a human performance researcher. He’s been a guiding light from afar throughout my journey to becoming an executive coach. I would completely nerd out meeting him for lunch so I can thank him for his “Trombone player wanted” videos and so much more!

How can our readers further follow your work online?

You can follow me on LInkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisam/ and on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/alisa.coach/.

Follow ZERA Consulting on LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/company/zera-consulting/

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

About The Interviewer: Vanessa Ogle is a mom, entrepreneur, inventor, writer, and singer/songwriter. Vanessa’s talent in building world-class leadership teams focused on diversity, a culture of service, and innovation through inclusion allowed her to be one of the most acclaimed Latina CEO’s in the last 30 years. She collaborated with the world’s leading technology and content companies such as Netflix, Amazon, HBO, and Broadcom to bring innovative solutions to travelers and hotels around the world. Vanessa is the lead inventor on 120+ U.S. Patents. Accolades include: FAST 100, Entrepreneur 360 Best Companies, Inc. 500 and then another six times on the Inc. 5000. Vanessa was personally honored with Inc. 100 Female Founder’s Award, Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and Enterprising Women of the Year among others. Vanessa now spends her time sharing stories to inspire and give hope through articles, speaking engagements and music. In her spare time she writes and plays music in the Amazon best selling new band HigherHill, teaches surfing clinics, trains dogs, and cheers on her children.

Please connect with Vanessa here on linkedin and subscribe to her newsletter Unplugged as well as follow her on Substack, Instagram, Facebook, and X and of course on her website VanessaOgle.