Women Leading The Finance Industry: Eileen M Sethna On The 5 Things You Should Do To Increase Your Financial Literacy

It is essential to expose young women to the worlds of finance and the law at an early age. Once young people can see what’s on the horizon and there are women who look like them talking about their experiences in finance, we open doors of possibility.

As a part of our series about “Women Leading The Finance Industry”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Eileen Sethna. As chair of Levenfeld Pearlstein’s Financial Services & Restructuring Group, Eileen Sethna is a trusted adviser to banks, financial institutions, private equity groups, hedge funds, real estate investors, and business owners. A rare hybrid, Eileen is a transactional lawyer with the training and experience of a federal trial litigator. Given her engagements representing both lenders and borrowers, she offers a wealth of knowledge on the current market. When she’s not transacting credit, Eileen is committed to the important missions of Misericordia, serving on its Advisory and Women’s Boards, and to Special Olympics of Illinois, where she serves on the Board of Directors.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us the “backstory” about what brought you to the finance field?

While working in the hotel industry, primarily handling HR and labor issues, I went to law school. My first job as a freshly minted lawyer was with a creditor rights law firm. While I enjoyed enforcement actions before the bench, I craved a jury. So, when I was offered a position to handle jury trials for an insurance defense firm, I jumped at the opportunity. Ironically, this firm eventually acquired another firm that needed a trial lawyer in their banking and bankruptcy practice. While at this firm, I often tried cases related to credit documents. During the recession, I focused primarily on distressed debt workouts and bankruptcy, and once the economy started to recover, I shifted my practice to representing lenders and borrowers in a variety of complex lending transactions. Over time, I have taken what I love about the practice of law — creative solutions to complex problems and advocating for my clients’ interests — and my experience and knowledge in the financing world to establish a robust and successful career as a finance attorney. I pride myself on finding creative ways to enrich the world of finance law and our practice group. An associate in our group recently said that I make things that would otherwise seem mundane into an interesting and important part of the process, which affirmed that I am successfully engaging my team into a unique perspective of the worlds of finance and law.

Can you share with our readers the most interesting or amusing story that occurred to you in your career so far? Can you share the lesson or take away you took out of that story?

While I was representing the debtor in an adversary action in bankruptcy court, as part of our defense, I deposed my client’s former employer, who was seeking financial recovery from my client. As I calmly asked the deponent questions about risk mitigation policies and safeguards, efforts, he stood up and dramatically slammed his hands on the table, leered over the table at me, and screamed, “Does your mother know what you do?” I laughed and calmly replied, “She has no idea. Please be seated.”

Unfortunately, this experience isn’t isolated or all that uncommon when you are a woman working in a male-dominated field, like finance. There are several tactics of intimidation that are used all too often. The lesson for me was the importance of remaining steadfast and calm in the face of these intimidation tactics and to trust myself, my preparation and my knowing.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

I am coordinating an upcoming event for the Chicago Finance Exchange in collaboration with Flowers for Dreams, which donates a portion of all sales to charities that benefit women and children. Because of the pandemic, like many people, I haven’t been able to connect in person as I would like. Through this collaboration, however, I’m gathering with a few dozen clients and colleagues for a virtual floral arranging course. The joy it has created with women I care about has provided me with renewed energy and hope for what the post-vaccinated era will offer by way of reconnection.

As the newly appointed leader of our Financial Services and Restructuring Group, I am responsible for managing attorneys on the team to make sure they are developing at a reasonable pace and that they are accountable to the firm and to themselves. As a result, an important part of my everyday responsibilities is thinking about how to serve constituents in the group in a way that elevates the individual attorneys, our practice group, and the firm.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

Levenfeld Pearlstein stands out for its commitment to culture and prioritization of collaboration. Every intersection a client experiences with our firm is essential to creating an exceptional experience. From conflicts, engagement, services, communication, billing, disposition, it is important that everyone on the team is equally committed to a culture of teamwork, service, and personal attention. I want all stakeholders — from clients to co-counsel to teammates — to feel that their experience with Levenfeld Pearlstein exceeds that of other firms, and to do this everyone needs to be invested.

Before I even joined the firm, it was apparent that Levenfeld Pearlstein embodied a culture of collaboration, with a focus on providing a consistent, unparalleled client experience. This has only become more apparent the longer I have been with the firm. For instance, in a recent M&A deal, we represented the buyer of a business in a private equity acquisition. Because the transaction involved the retention of C-suite management in the target company, it was important to showcase our culture and commitment to an unparalleled client experience not just to our client, but also to the sellers who would continue managing the company going forward. We assembled a robust team of attorneys for a variety of practice areas, including intellectual property, environmental, finance, and M&A. Even though it was a large team, the client experience never felt disjointed, and both our client and the seller praised us for our transparency and responsiveness. In fact, both parties commented that the transaction was “unlike anything they have ever experienced.”

Ok. Thank you for all that. Let’s now jump to the main core of our interview. Wall Street and Finance used to be an “all-white boys club”. This has changed a lot recently. In your opinion, what caused this change?

With the changing demographics of graduate school and more women getting advanced degrees in finance and/or the law, we’re seeing more women in the finance industry. As companies face pressure from their boards and shareholders to work with more diverse law firms, we’re seeing more women leading legal teams as well.

Unfortunately, we still aren’t seeing enough women in positions of ownership, leadership, or authority. I hope to see this trend change. Vice President Kamala Harris cited that 2,500,000 women have left the work force since the beginning of the pandemic constituting a national emergency. That’s over 227,000 women either choosing or being forced to leave the workforce per month. The stakes are high for all working families. So, despite previous advances, it will take significant and intentional effort to recover from these setbacks.

Of course, despite the progress, we still have a lot more work to do to achieve parity. According to this report in CNBC, less than 17 percent of senior positions in investment banks are held by women. In your opinion or experience, what 3 things can be done by a) individuals b) companies and/or c) society to support this movement going forward?

• It is essential to expose young women to the worlds of finance and the law at an early age. Once young people can see what’s on the horizon and there are women who look like them talking about their experiences in finance, we open doors of possibility. I strive to be intentional about sharing my own journey — and I encourage other women in finance and the law to share theirs as well — so that women have a better chance of seeing ourselves in positions of leadership. I’m currently a volunteer mentor with the Alliance for Women, Girl Scouts Project Law Track. During this four-week program, I’ll work with a mentee who is a high school freshman to introduce her the legal industry and prepare her for her role in a mock trial.
• Employers must be committed to developing, training, and building pathways to partnership, ownership, and leadership, as well. It isn’t enough to talk about these things; policies need to be in place to empower women to advance. This will require intentional changes in the way that organizations measure business development, along with other commitments, such as providing sales coaching in conjunction with individual growth plans.
• Finally, we as “finance insiders” need to be champions for other women in finance. This doesn’t mean delegating without guidance; rather, it means modeling leadership while setting others up for success. For instance, I recently asked a new associate to complete a secured financing document. When she told me she was unfamiliar with this type of document and apprehensive about leading a client call alone, I offered to lead the call and walk her through the process of completing the document. Afterwards, the associate said she appreciated the trust I placed in her but my support and guidance was what she really needed. As a result, she now has the tools and confidence needed to successfully lead a client call and navigate this complex financing document in the future.

Let’s now turn to a slightly new topic. According to this report in Fortune, nearly two-thirds of Americans can’t pass a basic test of financial literacy. In your opinion or experience what is the cause of these unfortunate numbers? If you had the power to make a change, what 3 things would you recommend to improve these numbers?

I would recommend prioritizing education and training early and often. While value assignments are part of elementary education, a greater depth into management, account use and ledgering should be included as students matriculate. Additionally, offering information and literacy awareness for credit hygiene to parents, should also be offered as part of building a responsible community with prudent and informed consumers.

You are a “finance insider”. If you had to advise your adult child about 5 non-intuitive things one should do to become more financially literate, what would you say? Can you please give a story or example for each.

As a finance insider, I would hope that the practice points I shared during my children’s upbringing would enrich their intuition. However, I would remind them to (1) live within their means, (2) appreciate the benefit of funding equity, (3) exercise prudence to build responsible credit, (4) earn and execute financial plans through saving and strategic investment, and (5) engage with thoughtful advisors.

Inherent in each of these reminders is the core value to be a good, honest, and kind person in everything that you do. I want my children to stay grounded, humble, and respectful in everything they do — including making financial decisions.

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?

I was incredibly fortunate to be raised by parents who were devoted to — and remain devoted to — giving to others and making the world a better place. With the motto of “to whom much is given much is expected” as our family’s North Star, service projects were a big part of my childhood. I learned early on that service is something that enriches your own life, not just the lives of others. My parents imparted a ferocious work ethic to me at a very young age. When I was just teen, I commuted three hours a day, five days a week, into the city for my summer jobs.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Do well and be good; be well and do good.” This life lesson motto challenges me to continually think about what success and wellness feels like to me. Instead of using the measurements of others, I am continually assessing what success and wellness looks like for me.

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

There are so many issues to which I’d love to bring the most amount of good to the greatest amount of people. If I had to choose one, it would be to restore discourse. I want to encourage people to listen to each other’s perspectives, seeking to understand rather than render dismissive judgment. In doing so, we can proffer civility and create room for thoughtful, balanced progress and, thereby, create the foundation for solving a multitude of problems. We need not, nor should we, always agree; however, we would all benefit from prioritizing listening rather than just “othering” so that we can be the antidote to the toxicity of an egocentric society.

Thank you for the time you spent on this interview. We wish you only continued success.