As CEO and co-founder of the top minority- and women-owned investment banking firm in the country, Suzanne Shank is a trailblazer on Wall Street. She is among the most powerful Black women in finance, the epitome of perseverance, and an inspiration for future generations of aspiring leaders.
Today, Suzanne’s name is cemented in some of the nation’s most prominent business rankings—from Forbes 50 over 50 to USA Today’s Women of the Century. But before establishing herself as a powerhouse in public finance, she set out with a simple goal: To honor the work ethic of her parents, both of whom blazed trails in their own rights.
As we celebrate the contributions of Black Americans and women, NP colleagues Jade Turner-Bond and Janelle Walker sat down with Suzanne to discuss her career and her pioneering path on Wall Street.
Tell us a bit about yourself and Siebert Williams Shank.
I grew up as an only child in Savannah, Georgia, with pretty humble beginnings. My mom was a teacher, and my dad was the first Black bus driver in Georgia. I watched my parents work really hard and blaze a trail for our family early on. Through them, I adopted my own work ethic and drive. They taught me how to be fearless in the pursuit of opportunity, how to embrace competition, and how to overcome challenges. If they could do it in the South at a time when there were very few opportunities for African Americans, then I should be able to do whatever I wanted. Education was at the center of my upbringing—my mom taught me to read at three years old, and I used to have to stand in front of middle school classes when I was in first grade to show them that they should be doing better, which wasn’t fun! But I think that’s why I chose engineering as my first career—my counselor said you’re great in math and science, and you’ll be able to get a great job. I later pursued my master’s degree in finance at Wharton and decided to try my hand at Wall Street.
Being an engineer on Wall Street was unheard of for me growing up. But I embraced the challenge, worked hard, and kept my head down. After pursuing investment banking for about nine years, Muriel Siebert approached me to start an investment banking firm together. I don’t think it would have occurred to me to be an entrepreneur or CEO—I was just happy to keep my head down, work on my deals, and serve my clients. It was through that mentorship with Muriel Siebert and with Napoleon Branford, the other partner, who thought I should be CEO, that I pursued that path. I had a one-year-old child at the time and was a bit uncertain as to how I would make it work. But I figured, if they could bet on me, then I should bet on myself. And that’s what I did. In October 1996, we had dinner, a handshake, and started a firm the next day.
What challenges did you face as a Black woman in a male-dominated field?
Women in general face many challenges when building careers and confronting the “glass ceiling”—we’ve always had to prove ourselves and work a bit harder. But as Black women, we’ve heard the term “concrete ceiling” and you face all kinds of things. For example, I used to get on an airplane, and other passengers would ask me for a pillow, or in meetings, someone would ask me to bring them coffee.
While those experiences might have been irritating, they were actually a motivating factor for me—to always overcome and break expectations. I felt I needed to outshine and be super prepared in meetings. I always tried to bring value and be indispensable to my team and my clients. I think the most important thing as you work and develop a track record is building trust. My advice to young people in the current generation is, figure out how to be an expert at something, and make yourself an indispensable teammate—really dig in and be a thought leader.
To be successful in this hard-charging field, you have to get comfortable with the uncomfortable. Things will continue to change, but you have to charge through it, while maintaining strong business and personal ethics along the way.
Every era has some form of challenge. We just have to work harder and never give up, and understand that, decade-to-decade, things ultimately will be better.
Describe some of the mentorship and sponsorship you received throughout your career.
Muriel Siebert was a hard-charging taskmaster and she could hold her own in any room. She didn’t have a college degree, but she drove to New York to get a job on Wall Street. When she couldn’t get a job that paid her equitably to men, she decided to buy a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. It was 1,370 men and her on the New York Stock Exchange. Just observing her was very inspirational to me. We became fast friends—when she was honored at an industry award ceremony, she named me her mentee, and I was shocked that I was picked by her.
I can’t tell you that I did anything to influence those who mentored me, because I didn’t have the foresight. Every opportunity I had for advancement was not something I asked for, but something my mentors advocated for me. I tell young people to do the opposite of what I did. I tell them: “Advocate for yourselves, make sure you’re getting equal pay, and keep your superiors accountable. In that way, you gain respect.” I often wonder, did I leave anything on the table by waiting for the opportunity to come? I think that’s one lesson to be learned that’s different from my approach.
Creating the firm was a journey but one of huge opportunity for me, and I’m just glad others saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself. That is the reason I think mentorship is so important. You can be the smartest and best prepared person, but if you don’t have a mentor, you will not advance in what you’re trying to do.
Mentorship comes in many forms. But it’s important to have someone within the organization looking out for you and providing constructive feedback. I ask our management team to make sure 100% of our junior bankers feel mentored, because it’s so critical to their growth.
What are you most proud of in your professional life?
I am so fortunate to have had tremendous partners—smart, accomplished people supporting me as we expanded the firm.
I’m also proud of the quality of talent the firm has been able to attract. I kept some pitchbooks from our early days—it’s amazing to see how far we’ve come. I sit in meetings grinning from ear to ear because I am so impressed with the work product we’ve been able to put together.
How has the definition of success changed for you over time?
I used to worry about every single deal, and measure success in the monetary value of transactions, or the ranking of our firm. But we’ve done all those big deals.
Now, my goal is institutional success. I want to build a firm that can outlast me and my partners. If you look at history, the success of many of the minority-owned firms hinged on the founders—when the founders went away, the firms went away. I want our firm to remain in play and continue to develop. That would be the ultimate success.
How would you characterize the importance of building diverse teams in public finance and beyond?
As my partner, Henry Cisneros often says, our firm looks like America. We are really diverse, and we believe diversity is critical to our success. When you have people from diverse backgrounds, they bring diversity of thought, and different perspectives. It’s part of our DNA, not just a chapter in our company handbook.
I think it’s a natural inclination for people to hire somebody that looks like them. I strive to disrupt that trend, and explore alternatives. When we hire interns, we don’t always look at the Ivy League schools or the 4.0 GPA students. We really want to give access, because there is a ton of great talent, but not a lot of opportunity for many. Unfortunately, you don’t see a lot of people who look like me in the C-suite on Wall Street. We’re not going to get there unless we feed a pipeline. Providing the tools early is critical.
