From Morgan Stanley investment banking to Managing Director & COO at New Mountain Capital, Laura Holson has built an impressive career in finance. But her journey isn’t just about titles - it’s about taking risks, trusting herself, and asking for help when needed.
In this episode, we dive into:
💼 Her path from investment banking to leading in capital markets
🌍 The unexpected wildlife rehab trip to Namibia that changed her life
🙌 Why listening to trusted advice (and knowing when to trust yourself) is crucial
📈 Lessons from decades in finance and leadership
Plus, how she balances her high powered career with family life in Connecticut and a menagerie of animals.
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[00:00:00.240] - Laura
Have to trust the skills that you've built and up until that point to kind of get you to that next level.
[00:00:10.960] - Camilla
Welcome everyone back to another episode of Shares Not Shoes, an insider's guide to careers in finance. I'm your host, Camilla Love, founder of F3 Future Females in Finance. Shares Not Shoes is a podcast whereby I interview some of my favourite people, all with one thing in common, they work in finance. We lift the lid on who they are, how they came into a career in finance, and arm you with some knowledge about why a career in finance could be a good fit for you. I will promise that all my guests will share some amazing personal stories, will be open and honest and will inspire you. So let's go. I'm really pleased to bring today's guest to you. She started her career at Morgan Stanley in investment banking. She's been the head of capital markets and now she's a managing director and chief operating officer of the credit business for New Mountain Capital. She works in the hottest part of fixed income today, private credit. And I'm very thankful that I get to work with her and her team a lot. She's an animal lover and, and she's an absolute menagerie at home and I'm sure she'll have many stories on that front to tell and share with us today.
[00:01:27.150] - Camilla
And I can't wait. Welcome to Cher's Not Shoes. Laura Halson.
[00:01:32.050] - Laura
Thanks, Camilla. Excited to be here.
[00:01:34.130] - Camilla
I'm so excited to interview you. You know, as soon as I had the connexion with New Mountain and people said, do you know Laura, you need to interview her as part of your podcast, you have been on my list of people to interview. So I'm so pleased that we are doing a Fixed Inc special this this season because I think it's like people like you that show and pave the way for such great talent to come into the fixed income segment of financial services, because I think we could. Fixed income is like the unloved cousin of equities, but it's four times the size and I want to get into that today. So, Laura, tell us in your own words a little bit about you, how you got into finance and you know, who you are, what makes you tick every day.
[00:02:28.220] - Laura
Sure. Well, they gave the business intro of me in the beginning, but yeah, I grew up in Connecticut. I went to the University of Pennsylvania for school. At school I was studying finance and marketing and quickly realised my love for all things finance and wanted to really start my career. So, as you said, went into investment banking and kind of followed the typical path I guess from there where I did two years of investment banking and then moved to the buy side and joined New Mountain Capital really a little over 15 years ago. So back in 2009, which some sounds crazy because it's a long time ago and have been in New Mountain ever since in a variety of roles as you alluded to. On the personal front, I live back in Connecticut now after spending a bunch of years living in New York City and I met my husband at a wildlife sanctuary in Namibia of all places.
[00:03:28.340] - Camilla
Wow.
[00:03:29.370] - Laura
Sounds like a made up story, but.
[00:03:30.910] - Camilla
I promise no, I want to hear all about it.
[00:03:33.580] - Laura
Yeah. And so we met in Namibia and then since kind of moved to, to Connecticut as I mentioned, we have two little kids, almost four year old and a little boy who just turned two and as you said, definitely a menagerie of animals of all shapes and sizes. And so unfortunately we have nobody in our household that says no to animals. So we just keep adding more.
[00:03:58.950] - Camilla
So how many animals do you actually have?
[00:04:01.290] - Laura
I, I don't even think this is a number I want to do disclose because I feel like everyone's gonna judge me. But I have two dogs, we have four cats plus a barn cat and then we have a, a couple of goats, sheep and pigs also. And they don't live in our house, don't worry, they live, they live in a very nice barn that we built for, for them in 2020. And so yeah, so we have a wide variety of creatures at all times.
[00:04:29.540] - Camilla
So what, what made you go to Namibia? Like what were you doing? What were you doing there?
[00:04:36.950] - Laura
Yeah, that is a good question. One that my mum repeatedly asked me when I was venturing out there because I actually went by myself back in.
[00:04:45.120] - Camilla
Wow.
[00:04:45.450] - Laura
It was 2015 and at the time I was still working at New Mountain and I said I love animals and I need to take a little bit of time off from work and get a little bit of an escape. And I've always, I like to volunteer with animals and so I found place that I spent a lot of time researching and trying to find a very ethical place to volunteer with animals because there's a lot of, you know, non ethical ways to do that. But this was a facility I found in Namibia and I went to volunteer for two weeks which was kind of the most amount of time I could possibly imagine ever taking off. And I went out there and volunteered and, and then had a great experience with, with the, the staff and the team there and really got to interface with really preparing meals and cleaning enclosures very Very glamorous things. It was probably the hardest physical labour of my life. But in connexion with all that, I met my husband, who happened to be working there at the time in their finance department.
[00:05:46.280] - Camilla
Oh, wow. So you had a lot in common and not even really knowing about that. So you bonded over a love of animals, but yet you had way lots of other stuff in common.
[00:05:58.430] - Laura
That's right, yeah. So animals and finance, that's kind of a. Maybe a weird combination, but we definitely both have that in common.
[00:06:04.860] - Camilla
And before I move on, what animals in Namibia were they like?
[00:06:09.940] - Laura
They have big ones. Yeah, they have baboons. And in. In Namibia, baboons are kind of considered pest animals. So a lot of times what happens is the. Maybe somebody will see a baboon on their property, they'll shoot it because they don't want it, you know, causing ruckus. But then they see, oh, there's a baby with that baboon, and so there. This place is known for taking these injured, orphaned baboons, cheetahs, you know, et cetera, name your, you know, all sorts of African wildlife and really, as much as possible, trying to rehabilitate and release those animals back into the wild.
[00:06:44.870] - Camilla
Yeah. Wow. So that, that obviously was such a rewarding two weeks, right?
[00:06:49.950] - Laura
Yes, in many ways, yes.
[00:06:52.180] - Camilla
Yeah, good. Exactly. Tick on personal front, tick on animal front, a whole lot of stuff. So tell me, how did you. What made you made the change from the investment banking to the buy side?
[00:07:06.090] - Laura
Yeah, I really loved my investment banking experience. It was my first job out of college. I learned a tonne. It was a great. I think a lot of finance is about really an apprenticeship model. And so in investment banking, I got very quickly into the nitty gritty of preparing Excel models and presentations for pitches. And as I said, I loved it. I learned a tonne. It was a great group of people. And as I thought about the next step of my career, I thought it made sense to explore the buy side and see what that looked like. It was kind of a natural progression. Not to say I was following the crowd, but to some extent I was. It was, you know, the model, at least from when I was in school, was two years of banking and then moved to private equity and really become an investor. And then I'd always been interested in investing, so it was kind of, again, a natural transition for me. So, yeah, so after my two years of banking, I was fortunate enough to end up at New Mountain in the. On the private equity side at the time.
[00:08:06.880] - Camilla
And so how was your time in private equity? There, I mean obviously we're here to talk about private credit, but New Mountain does a very good job at private equity as well, so. And then talk to me about the transition between one side to the other as well.
[00:08:21.330] - Laura
Yeah, I again, I really enjoyed being on the private equity side. It was fascinating to not only go super deep from an underwriting perspective and really diligence companies, but then also to work with them on a, on an operational front, attend board meetings, be a contributor and help brainstorm and really partner with management teams. And that's the philosophy of New Mountain is really is always been around business building and that mentality. So I really again I really enjoyed it. I learned a lot from it and it was more of an opportunity that I saw on the credit side because we, when I joined New Mountain in 2009, obviously the economy was kind of in a weird place and we actually as a firm had started our credit business right about that time and so we were more active on the credit side at that moment in time, even potentially than on the private equity side. And so up front, and this is the way New Mountain is structured, were very much an integrated team. So even though I was a private equity associate, I still spent 20% of my time or maybe even more on the credit business.
[00:09:29.490] - Laura
And that's kind of the way the firm was set up then and continues to be set up today. So I got exposure to an asset class that I had known nothing about. I didn't even know what it was, really didn't know how to think about it. And what I quickly realised was that that style of investing, which I found to be a little bit more 8020 in nature and you're really focusing on the key issues. You're, you're, it's a little bit faster paced from a diligence, timing, perspective. And while I really liked the operational business building side of the private equity business, I actually found that I was more interested in the just the pure investment, the underwriting, the decision making and all of that led me to raise my hand and say as we're building this credit business, I think there's a really cool opportunity for me to be a big contributor to building and helping build our credit business. At the time, which was really only run by two more senior level people, they didn't have any junior or mid level resources. So the combination of factors led me to really want to move over to the credit side.
[00:10:38.610] - Laura
And it was kind of a perfect fit because at the time we were also taking our, our credit business. The first fund public. We did an IPO in 2011, so they kind of needed the help also, so it worked out well. And. And yeah, I've been credit focused ever since.
[00:10:54.900] - Camilla
I want to delve a little bit into your ability to. Where did. Where did that come from? That. The ability to put up your hand and say, hey, I can see an opportunity over here, but doing my job over here. How do you like. Is it. Is it the culture of the team? Is it the leadership that gave you the ability? Is it an internal drive? Is it, I don't know, seeing an opportunity, running for it just because you think you can? Like, a lot of people talk about, you know, imposter syndrome and the inability to, you know, put your hand up necessarily for jobs that, you know, you. You don't know if you can do and other people don't know that you can do them either. What was it that enabled you to do that?
[00:11:43.280] - Laura
Yeah, I think a combination of things, really. You know, I talked about, you know, the typical path of what I had heard about coming in school, right? It was two years of investment banking, two years of private equity. And at that point, most people are kind of forced to go back to business school and reevaluate their lives and figure out what is it that they want to do for the long term. And one of the really great things about New Mountain is that they don't force associates to go back to business school. So as I finished, as I was in my second year of being an associate on the private equity side, I kind of started to think about all the options on the table, I could say, and stay on the private equity side at New Mountain. I could go back to business school and open the aperture further. I could pivot within New Mountain. I could find a different private equity firm and, you know, maybe go there. So I. I really spent a lot of time soul searching because this was the first point in my career where I felt like I kind of got off the traditional path because that traditional path at some point ends, and I had to really think about where do I see myself?
[00:12:49.170] - Laura
And that's a hard question when you're, you know, only, you know, 25, 26 years old and you're really trying to. To figure all that out. So, yeah, I spent a lot of time thinking about it, really trying to assess what is it about these different paths that I like or are appealing to me, not only about the work itself, but about the team, about the strategy, around where I think the future could be, and not only asking myself this, but talking to people that I trust in the industry. You know, I, I went back to some of those relationships that I've built at Morgan Stanley. Peers, but also senior people that I felt like I could trust and get a sense from. And then I also really had to ask myself and trust my gut and really think about okay, if I make, if I raise my hand, you know, for this I have to be committed to really trying to make it work. And you're right. There were definitely plenty of moments where it was scary because I felt like, what, yeah, what am I doing here? I don't know anything about running, helping run a debt business, but you figure it out and you learn along the way and you have to trust the skills that you've built and up until that point to kind of get you to that next level.
[00:14:03.600] - Laura
And but to be honest too, it was part new mountains. Culture is pretty entrepreneurial in nature also. And so that, that helps, right, because they're totally open minded to people moving and evolving and doing different things. And my dad also is an entrepreneur, so I think maybe some of it's just in my blood that I like to try and explore and build. So I think it was a combination of factors.
[00:14:30.570] - Camilla
And so when you take a risk like that, sometimes it's like closing your eyes and jumping just because that's the only thing you can do. Right. And were there times when you had to put up your hand for help or I mean, because you talked about the skills you'd already built. So having the curiosity and you know, understanding your own personal skills, but also you need to also understand what you don't know as well. So how did you deal with that? And building a credit business from scratch is like, is a pretty big deal. Really.
[00:15:08.740] - Laura
Yeah, absolutely. I mean there were, and believe me, there's a big team smaller than where it is today, but there still was a team around at the time that really helped. So I definitely cannot take any much of the credit, but I was a piece of it. And to your point about knowing when to ask for help, there were so many times where I remember vividly there was a holiday weekend when we were trying to build an earnings model for what is now our business development corporation, bdc. And I remember Googling what is a bdc. I didn't even know, which now sounds crazy, but I barely remember Googling it and then being like, how am I ever going to make, make a model out of this? But so I went from Googling it to then calling some of our bankers and saying, okay, do you have Any templates. How can you help me think through the economic model? Will you take a look at. Once I put something together, will you take a look at it before I give it to somebody internally so they don't think I'm, you know, totally out of my mind?
[00:16:11.390] - Laura
So, yeah, there was plenty of, there's plenty of support. You just have to find that support, I feel like, and, and ask questions and not be, not be afraid to, as you said, kind of raise your hand when you need help and, and look for tools that you have to get you there.
[00:16:28.620] - Camilla
Yeah. And then also sort of, sometimes it's also recognising when also things go wrong or you could have done things better or whatever. How do you think about that reflection period? Because obviously when you're having a project like this, particularly in the early days when no one's done it before, there's things that could have been done better. How do you, how do you reflect on that?
[00:16:54.640] - Laura
Yeah, I mean, I, I've always been a strong believer of continuous improvement. And what was our 1.0 earnings model back in 2010? 11 time frame? It's very different than what we use today, obviously. Right. So it doesn't need to be perfect in the moment. I think it needs to be good. It needs to, to be accurate. But reflect. But obviously it's going to get better over time as you refine it, hire other talented people that maybe specialise in certain things and, and even myself. Right. I remember rebuilding this, you know, not to harp on this model, but I remember rebuilding it somewhere along the way. Now that I really understood the economics and now that I thought about, okay, like, this is really where the levers are, this would be a lot more efficient, effective, etc. So I love constantly trying to find better ways to do things. Even though what we had might be working, we can again. I think it's super helpful to continue to innovate, continue to reflect and continue to try to do things better.
[00:17:59.350] - Camilla
Yeah, that growth mindset is really helpful, not only for business, but also personally. I absolutely agree. So I want to just go back a little bit and talk about. So you mentioned starting at New Mountain at a time when financial markets were in a huge state of flux. Tell me what it was like being in working in New York City when the global financial crisis was, you know, at its height. Because I sit there like I was there too, but I was not in New York. And I like, I thought it was a great learning opportunity on how markets work and, you know, what is inefficient and what is efficient and how it turns around and how it needs to be reset. But being on the ground would be an entirely different. Tell me about what you, how you reflect on it and what you learned.
[00:18:49.410] - Laura
Yeah, I mean, the craziest part is when I was living it, I didn't even know just how extreme it really was. Right. Because I had just gotten to Morgan Stanley. I joined Morgan Stanley in 2007. So in the height of all of it, right. So it was total boom mindset. I was incredibly busy on working on pretty exciting M and A activity. There was so much going on and it went from that to all. All of a sudden I again, I have a vivid memory of being at lunch one day and in 2000 cameras late, late 08 or early 09, but being like, am I going to have a job to go back to after life?
[00:19:32.560] - Camilla
Yeah.
[00:19:33.080] - Laura
What do I do if, you know, Morgan Stanley's next? Right. So it was very much highs and lows and yeah, it was. But again, I had no context for it. I was just like, wow, this is a pretty exciting working where, you know, one day you're, you know, you're trying to advise on multi billion dollar acquisitions and, and the next day you're like, wow, I don't know if I'm gonna have a job after lunch. So those highs and lows, I think were pretty exhilarating, particularly so early in my career. I think if it happened now, I might have a different perspective on it. In the moment it seemed pretty exciting, but also, you know, scary. Right. Again, I think I didn't, I couldn't, I didn't have the historical context to put really what was happening back into that. So it was definitely crazy times.
[00:20:24.970] - Camilla
Yeah, but now I'm sure you do, right. So, you know, because it's, you know, 15, 16, 18 years later. So I mean, and then I sit there and think to myself, you know, private credit and how that fits into the, you know, into the, the cycle of business and economics. And then I sit there and reflect on what happened in the GFC and all that sort of stuff. So how do you, how do you look at it from your asset class perspective?
[00:20:55.090] - Laura
Yeah, I mean, it's interesting. Over the last 10 to 15 years, private credit has really exploded as an asset class. It went from something that nobody understood, myself included, to now all that people really want to talk about. It seems people love private credit. The growth of the actual asset class, both dollars that have been raised, but also really the demand for it from private equity firms who I think have realised that it's such an attractive form of financing. Their portfolio companies, I think has led to just this explosive growth and there's a lot of characteristics to it that I think make it a very appealing asset class. So my perspective is it's very much here to stay. It's not something that will ten years from now go away. If anything, it's the other way and it'll just see continued growth from here, but with the backdrop of course, of just the overall M and A market and everything else that's happening in the economic environment.
[00:21:55.220] - Camilla
Yeah, and I wanted to touch on that because why is private credit so hot right now? And lots of people, you know, I mean even this week has been in the news on saying it's a bubble and all this sort of stuff. Why isn't it one? And why do you see such longevity in this asset class?
[00:22:16.880] - Laura
Yeah, I see longevity because again of the value that it offers as a form of financing. There's real reasons why private equity firms, even though they have, even when they have the choice of using the syndicated market, the leveraged loan, more traditional form of finance that they now that they've experienced all the benefits that direct lending specifically has to offer, I think they, and we, and we see this on our private equity side, we continue to make the choice of, okay, we're going to use the direct lending solution because it is more efficient. We don't need a rating from the rating agencies, we less reliant on the market and timing the market. We have more certainty of terms, more certainty of execution and it's more confidential. So I, I mean there's tonnes of benefits. And, and so I think the share shift for direct lending as a form of financing is, is very much going to continue to be a very prevalent one. And then there's other, there's so many other forms, right. Private credit is the overarching term but there's direct lending, there's opportunistic, there's infra debt, there's so many different elements of what private credit really is.
[00:23:31.690] - Laura
And I think people are just starting to see the benefits of, of that. And then from the investor perspective, people like the return profile, right? It's a premium to what you can get in the leverage loan market and it's floating rate, it's $1 risk on, on companies in many cases that are very valuable and you're attaching only a part of the way through the capital structure. So there's a lot to like about it, I think from the user's perspective. But Also from the investor perspective.
[00:24:01.790] - Camilla
Yeah. And I think having that sort of yin and yang in an asset class is really very, very useful for not only the client, but for the investor, because there seems to be much more an alignment of interests to everyone in the. In the segment.
[00:24:17.650] - Laura
Yeah, exactly.
[00:24:19.670] - Camilla
So tell me, why does private equity and private credit sit so well together and why does it work for New Mountain?
[00:24:28.990] - Laura
Yeah, it's incredibly well integrated at New Mountain because for us we're focusing on the same industries for private equity as we do for credit. And so when we're underwriting a sector, that's how we think about it. We're underwriting a niche of the economy, we're becoming experts in the sector by doing tonnes of work outside in, by partnering with bankers, consultants, etc. But also then looking at lots of companies in these sectors and by becoming sector experts. It doesn't matter so much if it's a private equity opportunity and we're investing in the equity of the capital structure or if we're moving up in the capital structure and investing more senior. If we fundamentally understand the sector, we can make very informed investing decisions no matter where we sit in the capital structure. And specifically for credit. You know, as a credit investor, you typically don't get that same level of information that you would when you're investing on the equity side. And so the fact that we can leverage all of that intellectual know how, again, just in the context of understanding the sector, that tells us that gives us a huge head start when we're invest, when we're looking at our next credit opportunity in that sector, because we're not trying to figure it out from scratch.
[00:25:51.910] - Laura
We're already well advanced in terms of our understanding and we can do more detailed work as opposed to high level industry work.
[00:26:01.690] - Camilla
Yeah, it's interesting because most people see it very separately, but actually at New Mountain, I think the special source is the fact that you see it together very integrated as one, which I think is really important.
[00:26:17.820] - Laura
Yeah, absolutely. It's a same fundamental thinking around the industry. Right. It's just a slightly different lens. Right. For equity you're focused on understanding the upside and the downside, whereas on the credit lens you're specifically more focused on the downside. But you still want to understand the upside, you still want to understand what the private equity firm that's buying that business, how they're going to think about the upside and go attack it. So again, having that full picture, as you said, is very helpful.
[00:26:48.630] - Camilla
So I wanted to slightly change tack a little bit and talk about, because lots of people love learning from other people's mistakes. And obviously that is a really big personal learning journey for most people. So can you talk to me about a mistake or a misstep that you've, you've done in your career that you look back on and go, that was actually really beneficial because I learned this about it.
[00:27:15.550] - Laura
Yeah, no, I believe I have many to choose from and make them every day. But you're right, it's important to look at them as learning experiences. But I remember one moment in particular where the firm asked me to consider moving into the capital markets seat for New Mountain. So really sitting between private equity and credit, this was after I'd already moved over to the credit side and they wanted me to really kind of go back in between and help work on our financing for the private equity side. And wasn't so much a mistake or a misstep, but I was hesitant to do that. And, but at the time, again, I kind of ran all my scenario planning in my head, talked to a lot of people I trust, and, you know, ultimately concluded that it was the right opportunity for me. But my hesitance in kind of, at first glance, I think was a little bit of a mistake because, you know, you're heading in one direction and you're thinking, okay, great, like, this is going well. I'm learning a lot. I like what I'm doing. It's all good. But, you know, it's, it's hard to take that risk and pivot when you're feeling like you're on a good track and you're, you know, you're doing what you want to do.
[00:28:33.730] - Laura
And really, I think my hesitance to do it was kind of what you were alluding to before because I'd never done it. I, I didn't know how to do it precisely. And I thought, you know, is this going to put me on a different trajectory that I won't be able to get off of down the road? And the reality is, you know, I think it is really important to take risks in your career and try different things. And the fact that I've done so many different things, I think within the, you know, the broader platform of New Mountain has positioned me even better today because I now understand the picture a little bit better than I would have had I not done that. So again, not, not so much a misstep because I ultimately did it. But my hesitance in the, in the kind of, that first glance, I think was, was something that I try to remind myself that it's important to take those risks, try new things and not be afraid to ultimately make mistakes as you're trying those new things.
[00:29:34.120] - Camilla
Yeah, I think that's a really good lesson to impart on people because particularly when you think you're on a really good track and it's always when you're on those tracks that something left field comes in and you get offered an opportunity that might be a little bit, you know, again, off track.
[00:29:57.800] - Laura
Yeah.
[00:29:58.430] - Camilla
So, you know, being open minded for that sort of stuff, but like, you know, your brains are hardwired to deal with that, you know, have hesitancy for a reason. Right, right. The gut, the gut tells you something but, you know, sometimes it is taking that risk, closing the eyes and jumping.
[00:30:17.850] - Laura
Yeah, absolutely. And somebody told me, someone gave me good advice. They're like, think of this as, you know, you're two years in Frankfurt, you know, in the, in the banking world, right. You might be sent to a random place and, and being asked to open a new office. Right. Like this is that equivalent. Right. It's not moving to a foreign place and setting up a new office, but it's setting up a new function and like it's a short term thing and you'll, you know, worst case you do it for two years and then you come back and, and best case, you do it for two years and you really benefit from it. You learn a lot. And I found that to be a good way of thinking about it.
[00:30:56.240] - Camilla
I always ask about sliding door moments where you make one decision and wish you made another. Or I mean, is that one of those sort of sliding door moments for you? Or you made a decision that you ultimately think is right, but sometimes things get thrown at the same time and you choose one path over another.
[00:31:18.890] - Laura
Yeah. It's funny, I feel like there have been many inflexion points along the way where you have to make decisions, whether it's which, you know, if you're fortunate enough to, you know, have multiple job offers, which job offer do you take, which career direction, you know, do you go in and I don't know, I don't feel like I have made the wrong decision. And that's not to say that I haven't, but I think it's important to own the decisions that you're making and, and get the most you can out of them and recognise that these are not permanent decisions. You can always change course, you can always try something else, but it's important to really, you know, dominate the decision that you've made and, and work as hard as you can and learn as much as you can within the confines of, of the role, the opportunity and the decision that you made.
[00:32:13.290] - Camilla
I think that's great. So one last question on this sort of front is about leadership. And I know that you are, you know, do a lot of volunteering for boards and things like that in that animal vein, coming back to what we were talking about, but also leadership in your day to day job. What does leadership look like today for you and what do you bring as a leader to impart on other people that you lead?
[00:32:46.660] - Laura
Yeah, I mean, I view my job as a leader to really inspire the team to drive to the same outcomes that we're all working together for. So it's kind of a broad way of answering what you asked, but that's how I view my role, is to help give people the tools to inspire them, to help them make decisions where they run into obstacles, to help them navigate challenges and really be there for the team as they execute the roadmap to where we're trying to go. And yeah, I think it's pretty simple, my approach to it, but certainly my goal is to be there for the team and allow them to make the best decisions that they can and as.
[00:33:38.420] - Camilla
Much as possible giving that autonomy, but yet the support that they need to get there. I think that's great. I also ask all my guests this same question and you've sort of alluded to one piece of advice, but what is a piece of advice, the most valuable piece of advice that you've been given and why was it it valuable? Was it at the point in time was the person who gave it to you? What, what's the most valuable piece of advice that you've been given?
[00:34:07.360] - Laura
Yeah, I think the most valuable piece of advice that I got was when I was at Morgan Stanley, somebody that I worked a lot with told me to keep as many doors open as I could. And it's interesting, right, because you're inherently wanting to just kind of get to that next step and really narrow and develop your niche, I think of expertise. But I thought it was really helpful advice that he gave me to keep doors open, keep being flexible around where my career is going to go. Don't have a preset path in mind. Back to my, obviously a very preset perspective of two years. Two years, you know, and so I thought that was very helpful advice and I think again, really did help me as my career evolved.
[00:34:57.620] - Camilla
And how do you practise that today? Because I mean, obviously you've been a New Mountain for 15 years. And for someone who had been with an organisation for over 20, I totally understand. So keeping every door wide open, internally, externally, different ways. I use networking to open doors. I use, you know, friendships, I use mentorships and sponsorships to open doors, even internal to the business, making sure that you are, you know, you spend time with the analysts, with the operational team, with the investment team, with the compliance and legal team, just so that your doors are always open in different ways. How do you do it?
[00:35:47.550] - Laura
Yeah, no, I think that, I think that's exactly right. I was going to say networking is really, I think the key to that. And both, you know, people, I think a lot of times think about networking as just people outside the current firm that you're at, but it's very much internally important too. And, and again, back to what I was saying before about, you know, from a leadership style perspective, I want to maintain the connectivity, the relationships with people internally, externally. So that way if I need something or vice versa, there's very much an open dialogue and the ability to really work collaboratively to solve issues, challenges, again, whatever the case may be.
[00:36:26.770] - Camilla
And I absolutely agree, you know me well enough that I'm quite a loud and vivacious person. Right. So when I come into an operations or compliance and risk team, sometimes people get scared of my big personality. So I actually spend a lot of time with people like that, really trying to understand who they are and what they do and, you know, what makes them tick. Because sometimes it's when the shit hits the fan and you need stuff done, it's those people that you've spent the time really truly understanding that are in critical roles that might not be money making roles or client facing roles that actually make such a meaningful difference.
[00:37:13.830] - Laura
Yeah, no, that's exactly right. I totally agree.
[00:37:16.570] - Camilla
So we're going to come to the end of our podcast very soon. But at the end of my podcast we do a quick fire round. So you have to say the first thing that comes into your mind. Okay. Okay. First one is my friends would describe me as.
[00:37:38.080] - Laura
Hard working.
[00:37:39.760] - Camilla
That's it.
[00:37:40.720] - Laura
That's it. I think. Yeah, I think. I mean, it's funny, right? I feel like my friends think that I'm pretty serious and intense, but also know how to let loose.
[00:37:51.240] - Camilla
I think there's stories behind that.
[00:37:53.780] - Laura
Yeah.
[00:37:56.480] - Camilla
So is it shares or shoes?
[00:37:59.440] - Laura
Oh, shoes.
[00:38:00.440] - Camilla
All day shoes. Yes. Is it best to ask for permission or ask for forgiveness?
[00:38:10.460] - Laura
I'm probably a little bit more conservative on this front. I like to ask for permission.
[00:38:14.360] - Camilla
Oh, okay. On the weekend, I like To.
[00:38:20.460] - Laura
Oh, God. That's a tough question for me on the weekend. I like to work out and unwind and relax, but that never happens. I end up either trying to wrangle my children, my animals, or something in between.
[00:38:36.790] - Camilla
So you go in with one mindset and come out with you.
[00:38:39.480] - Laura
Yeah, exactly. By the time it's Monday. I'm glad it's Monday, let's put it that way.
[00:38:43.880] - Camilla
Yeah, that's funny. Favourite ice cream flavour cookies and cream. That's a good one. That is a very good one.
[00:38:52.470] - Laura
I love Oreos.
[00:38:56.230] - Camilla
Are there packets at home in the cupboard?
[00:38:58.280] - Laura
For sure.
[00:39:01.260] - Camilla
One piece of advice I'd tell my 20 year old self is.
[00:39:09.820] - Laura
That it'll all work out. I feel like if my 20 year old self was very like high strung and stressed about all things career and life and all that, and I probably should have just relaxed a little bit.
[00:39:22.540] - Camilla
Okay. It's all gonna be good. All going to work out. My biggest, hairiest personal goal is.
[00:39:34.170] - Laura
That's tricky. Biggest, hairiest personal goal.
[00:39:40.090] - Camilla
We are at the beginning of 2025, so, you know, who knows what those hairy goals are?
[00:39:45.660] - Laura
I know. I don't know. I don't know that I have one. I mean, this is more of a trivial goal. But I need to stop drinking. Drinking less soda, that's like part of my go to.
[00:39:56.040] - Camilla
Is it Coke or what is it?
[00:39:57.560] - Laura
No, Diet Pepsi. And like people judge me because I'm drinking it at like 7 in the morning, which is bad habit. So I gotta kick that one.
[00:40:07.540] - Camilla
Just put it in the same bottle. Just put water in it. Right. If I wasn't doing this job, I'd.
[00:40:15.150] - Laura
Be a. I would either be on the farm taking care of my animals, or I would be or want to be performing on Broadway, which I don't have the skills to do, but I think that would be.
[00:40:28.730] - Camilla
Ooh. If you were performing on Broadway, what would you like? Would you be singing? Would you be dancing? Would you be acting?
[00:40:35.780] - Laura
I mean, I don't, I literally don't have the capabilities to do any of those things, but I did do a lot of dance growing up, so maybe something in the dance capacity.
[00:40:44.020] - Camilla
So you couldn't be a triple threat?
[00:40:46.270] - Laura
Definitely not. You can ask my children how good my singing was. Says it's not good.
[00:40:51.260] - Camilla
Oh, what, what? Like to Moana or what is it?
[00:40:56.280] - Laura
Yeah, I, I can, I can literally sing you 35 children's songs right now off memory.
[00:41:02.560] - Camilla
So that's funny. Me too. I. I sing my daughter all the Sound of Music to sleep most nights. So I Totally understand. Do you have a special superpower or talent that no one knows about?
[00:41:20.090] - Laura
I wish I could say yes, but not really. I'm a. I think maybe my. My talent, which is not a secret one necessarily, but I'm. I like to organise. So give me, like a project, let me go to the Container Store and go crazy organising, and that's probably my superpower.
[00:41:37.940] - Camilla
Wow. Okay. So your house is just. So is it.
[00:41:41.070] - Laura
I try. It's hard with the kids. And the animals.
[00:41:43.310] - Camilla
And the animals, I was going to say.
[00:41:44.430] - Laura
Yeah. Between all that, it's definitely a lot less organised than I would like.
[00:41:49.960] - Camilla
Second last question. Who inspires you?
[00:41:55.000] - Laura
I think both my parents inspire me for different reasons. My mum, I feel like she did a very good job raising me and definitely inspires me from a parenting skill perspective and helps teach me a lot of patience for parenting my own kids. And my dad, as I mentioned before, was an entrepreneur and really helped, you know, built a business and. And continues to have that mindset, which I think has been very inspirational for me throughout my career.
[00:42:27.040] - Camilla
Yeah. And I too come from two parents who were entrepreneurs and it is ingrained like it is in here. So I totally understand. So the last question is, describe in three words why private credit is the most inspiring career choice.
[00:42:48.560] - Laura
Three words, That's a tough one. I would say private credit is fast growing hyphenated. So that's one word. Sustainable. For the reasons we talked about before, definitely here to stay and flexible. Because it doesn't have the peaks and valleys, I think, of some other careers. It's kind of always. It obviously has moments of more busy, less busy, but it tends to be a little bit more stable from a workload perspective. So I think there's some flexibility associated with it too, from a career choice perspective.
[00:43:31.470] - Camilla
Great. Well, I think that is a fabulous place to end. I have been so privileged to speak with you today. I love the story about going to the capital market side and do you? Don't you. That whole juxtaposition. I love the ability, your articulation of being able to take the risk. I love the way you talk about private credit and why it is the sexy asset class that it should be. I think that that is really inspiring. And the menagerie, I just. I love it. I just love it. And then Namibia, like in the middle of nowhere, looking after baboons and cheetahs. And here you are meeting your lifetime partner. I think that's awesome.
[00:44:19.470] - Laura
Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. Well, this was great. Thanks so much for the great questions.
[00:44:23.490] - Camilla
Thanks, Laura. And I look forward to speaking with you soon. You know the information that is in this podcast? We always talk about finance in this podcast, but it's not financial advice. It's actually really careers advice. If you really want financial advice, I recommend that you speak to a financial planner or a broker and work out your own personal circumstances with that. But this is all about careers advice and how finance would be a fabulous career for.