6 senior women on Wall Street share their best career advice

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Building a successful career on Wall Street is never an easy task.

It can be even more challenging if you're a woman in the male-dominated industry.

"The DNA of the business world is set up for men. Full stop. We need to change the DNA," said Cara Fleisher, a managing director on RBC Capital Markets' loan portfolio-management team and cochair of RWomen USA, an employee-resource group at the firm.

Business Insider spoke to Fleisher and five other senior women across businesses at RBC Capital Markets for advice on finding mentors and sponsors, building a personal brand, and getting ahead on the Street.

One common theme that came up was the importance of finding advocates, and many of the women had male role models and mentors.

Another was the importance of networking and building strong connections in addition to putting in the hard work on paper.

Here's what the Wall Street women had to say:

Cara Fleisher — managing director, loan-portfolio management and cochair of RWomen USA

One piece of advice that Fleisher wishes she'd been given going into finance is to build a personal brand. The first step to doing that, she said, is to focus on one's strengths.

Fleisher also stressed the importance of building relationships.

"Some people intuit this naturally while others need to understand it," she said. "And if they're not good at it, and there are people who aren't, be observant and listen to what you're hearing."

Indeed, she said, successful women often learn to be "multilingual" within their language, meaning being observant and learning to communicate with different people in ways that make them feel comfortable.

Networking, Fleisher said, is important not only because of its potential direct impact on your career advancement, but also because it's crucial for women to feel a sense of community in male-dominated industries like finance.

Fleisher is the cochair of RWomen USA, the bank's employee-resource group dedicated to the recruitment, retention, and advancement of women.

As for weighing her professional commitments with her personal ones, Fleisher, also a mother, prefers the term "work-life management" over "work-life balance."

"You're not going to balance!" she said. "Nothing is going to balance! There will be times when work and personal life will coordinate and dovetail well, but often something will have to give for something else. And you have to be willing to make the decision: What am I going to prioritize today?"

Kathy Kriskey — managing director, head of commodity-investor solutions

Kriskey makes no bones about how hard she had to work when starting out as a young woman in finance. She said that she felt like she had to work twice as hard as the men around her in order to advance.

"I felt the need to be aggressive and take no prisoners and curse as much as the guys did — the real macho act," she said.

But, she continued, "You don't have to do that. To the young women coming in today, my advice is be yourself. Be your authentic self. But be your best self."

Kriskey said that she doesn't want to scare young women starting out on the Street.

"It is hard to have it all, but you can do it, and I want to tell the young women entering the workforce now: Go for it! Live your dream! Do what you love!" she said.

She worked in commodities sales throughout her 20s and early 30s, before taking a seven-year hiatus from finance later in her 30s. When she returned to Wall Street, she brought with her a whole new outlook.

"Returning to the markets, I told myself, 'I don't have to pretend to be anyone. I am good at my job and I am not going to try to be one of the boys,'" she said. "We bring something different to the table, which is equally good, if not better. So no more apologizing and no more trying to play that card."

Kriskey also stressed the importance of setting goals. She said that it can be daunting to think about where you're going to be in 10 years' time, and much more effective to set smaller, short-term goals.

"My advice is to set real, tangible, near-term goals, such as finding ways to add value to your team and your firm each day," she said. "Make your goals specific and build in a consequence if you don't achieve them."

Madonna Park — managing director, communications, media, and entertainment investment banking

Not all of the women felt that they needed to go the extra mile simply because they're women, however.

Park, for example, said, "I've always worked hard and been fairly competitive. I never had the attitude that I was, or should feel, at a disadvantage because I was female."

For her, simply being singularly focused on her work and her career progression has been enough to get her where she is today.

"Yes, it's important to network, but focusing on your core career and making sure you pay the appropriate attention to your job is how you will advance," she said.

Her advice to all young people on Wall Street — not just women — is to always have a goal.

"You need to know what you want, because you're never going to get there otherwise," she said.

On finding mentors and sponsors, Park said, "It's hard to manufacture. Wherever you see opportunities to connect with someone you find interesting or inspiring, you should pursue and nurture those. And on the flip side, if you don't have a connection with somebody and you try to force that, it's more difficult to do so successfully."