The 2020 Rising Stars of the Profession: Lisa Maus

One of Lisa Maus' earliest mentors, her childhood swim coach, often said: "Success occurs when opportunity meets preparation."  Lisa Maus took it to heart. "I've been presented with some high visibility opportunities throughout the course of my career—facing off C-suite leaders as a second-year analyst during the financial crisis; presenting to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors as a first-year manager at EY," Maus says. "Following my coach's advice, a big factor to my success—both personally and professionally—has been the combination of hard work, preparation, and putting my best foot forward in each of those opportunities."

Maus moved into consulting after spending nearly seven years in the financial services industry. She says she was looking for a challenge and to broaden her technical skillset & responsibilities—a prior co-worker referred her to EY.  

"The shift from industry into consulting was not easy, but the things I found difficult in the beginning are now the things that I enjoy most about consulting," Maus says. "The uncertainty and learning curve as you embark on a new project. The intellectual challenge to develop solutions to difficult and unique problems. The need to adjust and pivot to new clients, new teams, and new topics." 

Maus would like to think of her career as an accumulation of small successes: a positive meeting with a senior executive, mentoring a teammate to achieve their goals, or closing a deal. "While being promoted to Principal two years ago has certainly been my most notable achievement to-date, I think it's just as important to celebrate and appreciate the less noteworthy moments that have happened along the way," Maus says. "I owe so much of my success to my sponsors and mentors that have invested in my potential and supported my career progression. I would also not have reached this point without the incredible team of talented, bright, and passionate individuals that support me."

As far as being recognized as one of the Rising Stars of the Profession, Maus says she is truly honored and humbled to be recognized for the award. 

"In particular, I am so appreciative of my incredibly supportive sponsors and mentors at EY, who continue to invest in my career progression," Maus says. "Most of all, this award motivates and inspires me to lead the way for the next generation of rising stars."

Q&A: What excites you most about your career?

Maus: "The most exciting thing about being a consultant is the requirement to constantly pivot, evolve, and keep pace with a rapidly changing industry.  As consultants, we are at the forefront of the next wave in financial services: driving and influencing transformation of the industry through solutions such as financial resource optimization and early adoption of emerging technologies such as blockchain and machine learning.  It's incredibly motivating to think that the projects I'm working on and problems that I'm solving today will likely be completely different five or 10 years from now."