The 2019 Women Leaders in Consulting: Pam Hrubey

Crowe's Pam Hrubey says she stumbled into the consulting profession by accident after spending time developing a set of skills and experiences in industry. "I had the benefit of working with a large number of consultants over the years, and the people I encountered helped me understand the profession and the possibilities," Hrubey says. "Part of the reason why consulting made sense for me is I really enjoy solving complicated problems. When you get to combine solving complicated problems with working in support of smart and interesting people, what I do is a lot of fun."

And while she may have stumbled into it, her choice is paying off for her, for Crowe and for her clients. Hrubey is a Managing Director in Crowe's Consulting practice, helping life sciences clients around the world solve their privacy and data protection and other risk-related challenges through practical assessment, project plan development, design and implementation of client-specific solutions. 

She co-leads the privacy and data protection-related solutions for the firm across all industries, focusing on assisting clients with understanding the implications of the General Data Protection Regulation and other regulations around the globe, assessing readiness, and developing programs that are responsive to the associated requirements and support ongoing compliance. 

"I spend a good amount of time with clients working on privacy-related matters, so I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with various US states on the privacy front, and to seeing if the federal government will be able to put forward a workable privacy regulation," she says. 

Meanwhile, Hrubey says her greatest professional achievement is seeing the people she's had the pleasure of mentoring do well from a career perspective. "Of course, they are talented, hard-working, driven individuals in many cases, but it feels great to see so many of them be successful, and to imagine that I have the privilege of playing a small part in helping them along the way."

What advice would she give to a female consultant just beginning her career? "Set your sights high," she says. "There is a huge amount of room in this field for hard working, smart women. Ask for help (you don't have to figure it all out yourself). And treat the people around you well. Helping those around you is one of the best ways to help yourself grow. That has always been a great strategy for me."

As far as being named a Women leader in Consulting, Hrubey says she was very grateful when she learned that colleagues at Crowe took the time and effort to nominate her. "Winning, to me, means that focusing on mentoring, something that has always mattered to me personally, matters also to my colleagues, and matters to our profession," Hrubey says.  

Q&A: What's the best advice you've ever received?

"In work and in life you need stamina, and sometimes to have stamina you need to get some sleep. So, the advice, which came from a really smart CEO that I worked with is don't be afraid to get some sleep."