The 2022 Women Leaders In Consulting: Jessica Marek

Jessica Marek is a director at Riveron in Chicago, where she focuses on developing financial, operational, and strategic solutions for companies facing challenging circumstances or distress. With just over 10 years of consulting experience, Jessica began her career at a Big Four accounting firm as a senior associate and has quickly risen to a director level in restructuring and turnaround services.

Focusing on manufacturing, retail and consumer products industries, she works tirelessly to guide clients through difficult situations while ensuring each organization remains viable. She is an advisor and mentor to both junior and senior staff. Within Riveron, she aligns to priority accounts and major strategic growth initiatives and often contributes to publish thought leadership, shedding insight on relevant industry trends.

Jessica serves on the board for both the regional chapters of TMA NOW and the IWRIC. She is a leader in the community and a member of the Junior League of Austin, dedicated to women's advocacy, voluntarism and community leadership.

What do you consider your greatest personal or professional achievement?

My greatest achievement has been finding balance in my life. Growing up, I left little to my personal or social life, focusing mostly on academics. Things didn't change much when I took my first consulting job and focused primarily on work. I guide clients through difficult situations, including bankruptcies, corporate restructurings and more. In this work, clients often are facing stressful uncharted territories, and I work in partnership with them to drive positive outcomes, which is extremely rewarding. Wanting to continue on this career path, I realized if I wanted to succeed in helping businesses face critical, time-sensitive challenges (such as obtaining adequate cash to fund payroll or filing for immediate bankruptcy to preserve a company's collateral), I needed to find balance, because the long hours and travel were making my work-centric lifestyle unsustainable. It wasn't easy at first, but I gradually prioritized life outside of work, learning to ask for help, set boundaries and develop "smarter" versus "longer" work methods. I grew professionally and became more well-rounded. With a new mindset, I have been able to maintain amazing relationships with my friends and family—and find and marry my best friend—while still excelling in my career. Finding balance represents a huge achievement. Without it, I would have burnt out early in my career or made choices thinking I couldn't have both a personal and professional life. Now, I truly feel fulfilled in all aspects of my life, and the balance has equipped me to be a better leader.

What advice would you give to a female consultant just beginning her career?

For any female consultant just beginning her career, I'd advise her to be vocal and speak up! Opportunities will not always be handed to you if you don't raise your hand and ask for help, tell people what resources you need, and let it be known what you are trying to accomplish in your own career. Sometimes we fear asking for help or resources will make us appear weak, but asking will only enable you to better address challenges and position yourself to be more successful. The same goes for moving up in our careers: we might fear that asking for a promotion makes us look abrasive, but it's quite the opposite. Your colleagues may not even know what you're striving for if you don't make it known. At one point, I needed to clarify how to advance my own career to the next level, taking on more leadership responsibilities, and more deeply engaging with clients. I arranged a series of conversations and gathered feedback from my colleagues and was surprised to hear that my superiors thought I was happy in my existing role and were unaware of the promotional path I desired. Through transparent discussions, I worked with my advocates to get promoted. Had I not spoken up and outlined my goals, several years might have passed before I had the necessary momentum to get to that promotion. Individuals cannot read your mind—so make your desires and aspirations known, and work with your advocates to realize success.

What do you enjoy most about your consulting career?

What I enjoy most about my consulting career is always being challenged, continuing to grow every day through experiencing new situations, and most importantly, having a positive impact on my clients and companies. Being able to continually learn while driving value and helping clients navigate through challenging situations brings me constant fulfillment and motivates me to continue in my consulting career.

What's the best advice—personal or professional—you've ever received?

The best advice I've received when thinking about making a change in my career: don't be afraid! Facing your fears is helpful advice and applies to any changes you might be seeking related to your career journey or personal life. Do yourself a favor and go for it. Especially when it comes to our careers, we can be scared to make a move after already investing significant efforts somewhere. For me, similar concerns arose when I contemplated leaving a Big Four accounting firm where I had clearly formed responsibilities, strong client relationships, and my future pointed toward a rapid promotion track. Despite that, I questioned whether I felt fulfilled. Instead, I wanted to pursue a different path at a smaller, rapidly growing management consulting firm. After several months of contemplation, I finally decided to try something completely new, and seven years later, I'm so glad I made that leap. While new roles can be scary, I applied skills from my past experiences to new client situations and grew individually and professionally. Knowing you can pivot back, don't be afraid to broaden your skillset and experiences. "Sunk cost" fallacies can arise when you've already invested so much time and effort into something, thinking it would be silly to change now and perhaps set your career back, or you don't feel equipped to do something different. By contrast, career changes can offer new experiences, learnings, and skills to solve new problems, ultimately resulting in becoming a better, well-rounded professional and leader.

What does being honored as a Woman Leader in Consulting mean to you?

This recognition inspires me to continue pushing forward in my consulting career while mentoring and leading others, knowing that advocates can be hard to find. When I initially moved into restructuring consulting, there were few women holding leadership positions or female colleagues to turn to for mentorship. This made it extremely challenging to develop my career, which motivated me to become one of those female leaders underrepresented in our field. I channeled my motivation to shape our firm's culture and elevate career development opportunities for women across the firm. To model the path for others, I deepened my professional expertise by gaining industry-specific experience advising retail and consumer products companies, sharpened my communication skills by presenting complex analyses and sharing difficult news with stakeholders, and mastered financial modeling skills as the sole expert in complex cases. In addition, I expanded my management skills and executive presence by holding a leadership position within the Turnaround Management Association, a board position within the International Women's Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation, and by taking on new responsibilities internally by leading a firm wide key account-focused initiative. It hasn't always been easy to lead client engagements and other internal and external initiatives concurrently, but the challenges have been worth it. I am now viewed as a mentor for several colleagues and a future leader within my workplace. This award reemphasizes my efforts to continue driving positive results within my firm, the broader consulting industry, my own career, and by advocating for other women.