Wunderkinds, by definition, are rare. A synonym for child prodigy, a "wunderkind" is someone who succeeds in a competitive or highly difficult field or profession at an early age. For this episode of The Catalyst, I interviewed the woman who was the youngest SVP at Edelman and is now one of a handful of Black C-Suite executives on Wall Street. Who is this wunderkind? None other than Arielle Patrick, Chief Communications Officer at Ariel Investments. 

One of my greatest lessons from my first year in investment banking is the necessity of trust within relationships, so I was in deep resonance with Arielle when she spoke of the importance of cultivating relationships from a foundation of value as opposed to a lens of transaction. Focusing on what we can give to others, as opposed to what they can give to us is really what leads to unmatched success. Achieving this success is simply the outcome of consistently demonstrating, and giving, value which Arielle credits as one of the reasons she made it into the C-Suite in under 10 years—eight to be exact.

With this interview, I had in mind young women like myself who are ambitious, starting out their careers and are seeking inspiration on their journeys. In Arielle, I find inspiration that the success I am working towards is indeed possible. Throughout our conversation, we spoke about our humanities training being helpful background for our careers in financial services, the importance of giving value in relationships, and what young, professional women should think about when considering motherhood. We also spoke of Arielle's passion for art collecting, which relates to the ethos that has marked her entire career: relationships over transactions.