The 2019 Rising Stars of the Profession: Sylvia Cho

Age: 34

Sylvia Cho is a Transaction Services Principal at Grant Thornton and says she is most proud—perhaps not surprisingly—of the deep and meaningful relationships that she's developed with her clients over the years. "I make it a point to help clients transform value across their business," Cho says. "Most recently, this includes completion of a successful divestiture and carve-out of a $30 billion asset under management (AUM) business."

That's a pretty impressive dollar figure, for sure. Cho says she believes two things have been factors to her success—being bold and standing her ground when she knows something is right, but also being flexible and open to change when needed.

"Keeping an open mind while also being strong in my convictions has allowed me to succeed over the years," Cho says. "A career in consulting is rather unique as it is constantly evolving. What excites me most is the breadth of diverse opportunities that I experience on different projects spanning multiple industries."

But that's only part of the joy. The other part is having the opportunity to work with smart and talented people every single day.

Cho says the best advice she's ever received boils down to two concepts—Always do the right thing and be a great team player. To illustrate this a bit better, Cho likes to quote Ronald Reagan: "There's no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don't care who gets the credit."

And as far as winning a Rising Stars of the Profession award, Cho say she didn't do it alone. "This award is a testament to the tremendous support and mentoring that I have received from Grant Thornton throughout my career."