Press Reviews
True Stories from Wall Street
Powerful Females Tell How They Got That Way (And Stayed Sane)
By Debra J. Dickerson
More magazine, April 2006, p. 34
If I were ever going to crash a party, Lucy-and-Ethel style, any event thrown by 85 Broads would do. I'm desperate to be one of them, though it would probably take about 45 seconds for these amazing women to see through me and give me bum's rush out the door. Not before getting my life story, though, and not before designing a self-improvement program for me, including triathlons and assertiveness training. These chicks scare me, but in a good way. They've made the kind of mistakes that have cost them marriages, lost their companies millions, personally bankrupted or nearly killed them, only to brush themselves off and head back out to raise more venture capital, or start that new career as a nutritionist, philanthropist or an explorer.
85 Broads -- a puckish takeoff on Goldman Sachs' Manhattan address (85 Broad Street)-- is a network of former Goldman professional women started by Janet Hanson, who has set down some of their stories in More Than 85 Broads (McGraw-Hill). Partly an advice manual, but mostly testimonials, it chronicles the dreams, fears and sheer nerve of ambitious women as they figure out how to carve their place in the world, sexism be damned. Most refreshing, and surprising, is the frequency with which old-school Wall Street men have helped them succeed, not because they were female but because they were good.
This optimistic, energetic book is the one to send your daughter when she graduates from college and again 20 years later, when she' s rudderless and unhappy in her work and life. All the advice on offer here is leavened with so much wit and practicality that it' s irresistible. "Never wear linen," writes Jessica Palmer, a mother of three who now heads risk management for Citigroup. "You will look like you are wearing sackcloth within 10 minutes of leaving your house." Ama Chapman who, to her own surprise, left Goldman Sachs after six fulfilling years to stay home with her twins, offers gimlet-eyed rules for preserving sanity as an at-home mom: "#13. Avoid alcoholic drinks before sundown." And: "#18. Feel confident that you'll be able to return to your career or design a brand-new one if and when you want to." How many of us have the confidence to say that last sentence out loud and mean it?
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