Thursday, October 9th, Iona University’s LaPenta School of Business hosted trustee and alumna Monique Jean. Jean is an extremely accomplished leader both in business and law. She is an executive director and a part of the Wealth Management Advisory at Morgan Stanley.
During the panel, organized by Dr. Alison Munsch and moderated by two students, Jean shared insights from both her career journey, personal life, and the lessons she learned along the way. Jean attended Iona University with the hope of becoming a lawyer, majoring in political science and minoring in pre-law. After graduating from Iona, she worked full-time while attending law school, getting married and having children during these years. Jean joked “They say the biggest events in a person’s life are marriage, having children, and buying a new house. I did all three in the span of two years.” After law school, Jean worked at Morgan Stanley for a few years as a paralegal before eventually becoming their very first advisory lawyer. When asked about how being a woman of color has impacted her professional experience, Jean simply responded, “Do not think about it. You may walk into a room and be the first or only of a certain group. Remember that above all else, you were invited there for a certain reason.”
While Jean also emphasized the significance of hard work and perseverance; in fact, Jean refers to herself as “evidence of meritocracy.” She was Morgan Stanley’s only lawyer without an Ivy League education or the proper “pedigree” to work there. She noted that “As a young woman powering through her career, you must be able to balance everything.” Jean’s skills prepared her for other challenges that she would encounter in her career such as the 2008 financial crisis, as well as the subsequent formation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Despite its challenges, Monique mentioned that new regulation can be quite exciting. “It’s fun to practice advocacy in a way that isn’t just sending emails and making phone calls”, she remarked.
After the panel, one audience member asked Jean what advice she would give to her younger self. Jean responded saying “Believe in yourself. When you are invited to a meeting, it’s because they know who you are and recognize your value. Knowing your value is important, but so is preparation.” To illustrate what preparation looks like, Jean invoked the novel Outliers, a research piece that denotes 10,000 hours as the amount of practice required to become an expert at something. According to Jean, everything takes time, especially anything ethically controversial such as Artificial Intelligence. How does one begin their journey to greatness? “Do not be afraid to take the first step. Email that professor or whatever it is. Go ahead and network,” said Jean in a final remark. Jean will continue her work with Morgan Stanley and to inspire her audiences at Iona.
