Snow Burns

"Bossypants" by Tina Fey. I'm a mother of two small children and have a really busy job and things are crazy from morning until night, but somehow you adapt in a way that makes you able to do more. Knowing that it's a common situation and not something that I'm experiencing uniquely has been helpful in my professional life.

Best career advice, given or received:

Going into any meeting or interview, your first job is to make whoever is opposite you as you. If you can find a way to connect with them on a personal level within the first 60 seconds, you will have a successful meeting.

Best way to boost confidence before a meeting or event:

I get an adrenaline rush before a big meeting or event and rather than feeling fearful about it, I think of it as a good thing—a positive indicator, and a sign of energy and exciting things to come.

Your No. 1 survival tip for the long nights and travel:

Embrace the hours of 4:30-7:00 a.m. You tend not to get emails and it's a great time for heads-down work as long as you can survive getting up.

If not at home or at work, where would we find you?

I travel a fair amount with my family. In the winter, we ski and in the summer, fall and spring we try to be as far off the grid as humanly possible. So, ideally, you would not be able to find me.

Something you'd tell your younger self if you could go back to when you started your career:

I started my career as an analyst at a hedge fund, after teaching in China, and every single job felt like a long-term plan, and a career in and of itself. I say to myself now that life is long and everything else is pretty short. So even if something feels set in stone, there will always be deviations from the plan. Embrace it and expect it.