Client Service Award
Jillian Griffiths
Partner
PwC
Jillian Griffiths began her career in the audit practice when she happened to have a week free between two audit engagements and was pulled into a due diligence project—helping a mezzanine fund buy a mid-market company. "I loved the work so over the next two years I worked on diligence projects whenever I had the opportunity," she says. She was eventually transferred full time into the Deals practice in 1994 and a consulting career was born.
Today, she is a Partner in PwC's Deals practice based in New York where she provides her clients with analysis of deal alternatives and innovative approaches to minimizing transaction risk, expediting closing and optimizing structures and outcomes. Her experience has included over 150 transactions, across most industries from manufacturing and distribution to retail and services.
Ask her what she enjoys most about the client work she does and she says she struggles to narrow it down to just one. Over the years, different factors have proved to be most fulfilling.
"When I first started, I enjoyed getting to know different management teams, companies and industries. Then I enjoyed helping to grow our Deals practice—when I started, the practice was only about 14 people," Griffiths says. "Most recently, I have enjoyed building teams and working with clients to add value and help them be successful. While at times the hours can be long, receiving the personal phone call or thank you from the client or helping someone else achieve partnership, are the most enjoyable moments."
Personally, she says, one her biggest achievements was running the New York City Marathon in 2011. "I was never a runner and it's truly amazing what are bodies are capable of doing, and, more generally, what we are capable of doing when we put our minds to something."
But that's not the only passion Griffiths has pursued. Earlier in her career she took three months off to go to cooking school. Then, she decided to work in PwC's London office for a few years instead of staying in New York.
As a result of both decisions, she says she most likely delayed her career progression a bit, but says it was well worth it. "While the decisions potentially delayed my partnership, they were two of the best decisions in my life, and in the long run, have benefited me more in my career," she says.
"And while I am certainly flattered to be selected a Women Leader, the most important part is not winning the award, but that we're spending time talking about the success women are having in the profession and using this award as a platform to demonstrate and raise awareness of that success to inspire future women in consulting."
Have you had to overcome any specific challenges being a woman in consulting?
"The Deals business is male dominated. Early in my career, I was very conscious of being the only woman in a room of 10, 20 or even 40 men. I struggled to build relationships at senior levels. I focused on our differences. With experience, I realized there are many similarities and started to leverage those similarities in conversations—vacation, common interests, such as restaurants, running, family etc. This built my confidence to then bridge into more business-related topics."
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