The 2013 Women Leaders in Consulting: Melissa Kibler Knoll

"The bankruptcy profession itself is one where there is a great deal of collegiality between the attorneys, judges, financial advisors, and other professionals, and I truly enjoy interacting with my many professional friends and contacts through client work, involvement in professional associations and other networking opportunities."

For more than 23 years, she has been nurturing those relationships providing restructuring, litigation, forensic, valuation, and related services. During that time, Knoll has provided accounting and financial advisory services to debtors, secured lenders, unsecured creditors and other parties in bankruptcies, restructurings, turnarounds and related litigation.

While clearly there were challenges along the way, being a woman in a male-dominated profession wasn't one of them, Knoll says. "In many ways, it has been an advantage to 'stand out from the crowd' and I've been fortunate to have very proactive and strong mentors—both male and female—who guided my career and provided me with opportunities."

Those mentors helped shape a career filled with milestones, including becoming Partner, serving as president of the American Bankruptcy Institute, and being inducted into the American College of Bankruptcy, all at relatively early stages of her career. And now she can add being recognized as one of the Women Leaders in Consulting to that list.

But her greatest personal achievement is being a mother to her three boys (ages 10, 7 and 4). "Being a working mother has required the ability to compartmentalize and to be focused on the task at hand, whether that is work or family," she says. "I try to reserve as much of the weekends as possible for my family, knowing that during the week I often must either travel or put my work first."

And when it comes to career advice for future Women Leaders in Consulting—or any future leaders for that matter—Knoll says: "Build your resume of technical capabilities and experience, but don't assume that is all you have to do.

"Don't ever forget that excellence and hard work will always be hallmarks of the top consultants," Knoll says. "People want to work with people they like—and people who help make them look good—so be that person."

What does winning the Women Leaders in Consulting award mean to you?

"It is an incredible honor to be selected from such an accomplished group of women. Looking at all the other deserving candidates and award winners is a reminder of how much more I still have to learn, how much better I can be, and how much more I can still achieve. This award is also a reminder that each of us need to embrace our position as role models and strive to help other women to achieve success in their consulting careers."