Mary Petrovich
“I’ve always been in environments where I’m one of a few women. Maybe because I grew up a tomboy, I’ve always viewed guys as my peers, and they’ve always viewed me with respect—but it’s based on performance. It’s not like there haven’t been hard times and discrimination, but you keep going. There has been adversity and challenges, but I find that the longer I’ve gone in my career, the better the situation has become.”
How to do better: “When you think about private equity and investment banking, you have to sacrifice a lot. First, you have to make the decision that you really want to be doing it. Then, there has to be networking that connects women with the senior executives of the company. And there has to be a conscious program to place women with the skill—and the will—in the right roles and nurture them into more senior roles.”
—Mary Petrovich is chairman of the board at AxleTech International and an operating executive at the Carlyle Group. axletech.com; carlyle.com
