Sara Gilson
Principal at Freeman Spogli & Co.
Bachelor of Business Administration from University of Notre Dame
M.B.A. from Harvard Business School
Background:
I grew up the daughter of two naval officers and moved every 2-3 years to places including London, Belgium, Japan, San Diego, and Washington D.C. I had attended 7 schools by the time I reached high school! Looking back, I think that early experience taught me to adapt to changing environments, not be shy about introducing myself in a room full of strangers, and exposed me to so many different people, places and ways of living in the world – all valuable skills in my job today as a consumer private equity investor!
My parents retired to Boise, Idaho where I attended a Catholic high school, after which I headed to Notre Dame where I double majored in Accounting and Mandarin Chinese. I had a great time at Notre Dame (go Irish!) and made lifelong friends that are still my close friends today. As an accounting major, I thought I would go the Big Four public accounting route, and spent my junior summer at KPMG in their Sao Paolo, Brazil office and had a BLAST, but ultimately decided Audit was not the life for me. I returned to Notre Dame my senior year to interview for roles in investment banking and consulting and was fortunate to be offered an investment banking analyst role in Morgan Stanley’s Chicago office.
I did not know much about finance or investment banking going in, so those were a tough two years for me, but I developed some wonderful mentors who I still keep in touch with today. I also learned about private equity as a career and jumped into the PE recruiting process. Following completion of my analyst program at Morgan Stanley, I joined BDT Capital, a Chicago-based merchant banking firm founded by Byron Trott – it was a relatively new firm at the time with an inaugural $3bn fund and one office in Chicago (they are much larger today and have offices around the globe!). I loved the experience of being at a ~30 person firm where I knew everyone and felt like everyone had a voice around the table.
Around this time, I met my husband who was studying at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business for his MBA. We got engaged after 8 months and married a year later after he graduated with his MBA and after I finished my two year associate program. Immediately after the honeymoon, we promptly moved to opposite coasts with me moving to Boston to start my MBA program at Harvard Business School while he moved to Los Angeles to begin his post-MBA role. Looking back now, the time flew by, but I was very grateful for his support while I pursued my graduate degree (and I got very familiar with the red eye from Boston to LA!).
During my MBA summer, I interned at Freeman Spogli, an LA-based middle market PE firm that specializes in consumer and distribution companies. I had initially reached out cold to a member of the team who was an alum of HBS in order to get the interview. I had a great 8-week internship and loved the team and strategy and it felt like the perfect fit. I was thrilled to receive an offer to return to the firm full time after graduating from HBS. I have been at the firm five years now and was promoted to Principal last year. I work with four of our portfolio companies and also spent at least half of my time evaluating new investment opportunities.
My husband and I live in Manhattan Beach with our two daughters Dylan (2.5) and Sloane (9 months).
What inspired you to pursue a career in investing?
Coming from a military upbringing, I had no friends growing up whose parents worked in finance or investing, and really didn’t know private equity or investing existed as a career track until I was well into my investment banking analyst role at Morgan Stanley when the whirlwind of PE recruiting started. I looked up to several people I had met in the finance industry but really didn’t know exactly “what I wanted to be” when I grew up. When I saw others in my investment banking class interviewing for private equity investing roles, I decided I would join them, which took a lot of courage at the time, but I am so glad I did. So I have to admit that at least initially, I sort of “fell into” investing, but I quickly learned to love the job, the people I have had the opportunity to work with and the companies I have gotten to help grow. It truly is a fascinating job where you get to wear so many hats and constantly learn about new industry or sectors or trends and work closely with and ultimately lead a team of very smart people. I can’t imagine doing anything else!
How did you think about your decision to go to business school and to come back to PE post-MBA?
As an associate at BDT, I sometimes felt like I didn’t quite have a grasp on the big picture of investing. I felt like while I had managed to “get through” 3-4 years of work as an analyst and associate, that there were a few gaps in some of my technical knowledge that were limiting my ability to truly thrive in my role. I also didn’t know if finance/investing was the right long term career path for me because the hours were long (especially at the junior level, which was all I had experienced), the work was very demanding, and I knew I wanted to have children someday so I didn’t know how those would fit together.
During this time, I was also dating my now-husband who was getting his MBA at University of Chicago. I enjoyed meeting his business school friends, participating in their activities, and hearing about the classes he was taking.
I had taken the GMAT in college, so once I decided to apply, it was just a matter of completing the applications, writing the essays and getting the recommendations. I still remember my husband practicing with me for my HBS interviews with a timer and stopwatch so that I could get my responses down to 60 seconds perfectly! I am so grateful for his support over the years.
When I got into HBS, I knew it was the opportunity of a lifetime and I had to accept it even though it meant living apart from my new husband. It was not easy, but I’m so glad I did it. Without a doubt, I would not be where I am today had I not gone to HBS.
At HBS, I met an incredibly important mentor in my life – Professor Kristin Mugford. She had previously been the youngest female partner at Bain Capital. Kristen started a group for female HBS students called “WII”, or “Women in Investing”. This group is where I met and befriended a wide network of fellow women in investing that are still a close network of professional contacts today that I keep in regular touch with. Such an invaluable resource! Kristen also brought in senior women peers of hers for “fireside chats” where they would detail with specificity exactly how they made it work as senior women and working moms in PE. These exposures were invaluable and really gave me the confidence and skillset and mindset that I too could have a career as a working mom in PE.
I left business school very excited to re-enter the world of PE having found a great firm with the right fit and in a city reunited with my husband and have not looked back.
What do you find most rewarding and most challenging about your current role?
Most Rewarding: I really love mentoring the associates and teaching them the ins and outs of the job and how to develop as M&A professionals, future board members and how to think like investors. PE is an apprenticeship model with a lot of on the job training, so I view training and developing junior talent as an important part of my job description. I also really enjoy helping lead recruiting for my firm and love looking for diverse candidates that will bring a different and valuable perspective to our investment team and board room. Finally, I recently helped establish an ESG committee for my firm as we begin to focus more closely on environmental, social and governance issues within our portfolio companies and at Freeman Spogli as well.
Most Challenging: Although it definitely gets better the more senior you get, there will always be an element of “unpredictability” to the job that ebbs and flows with deal volumes. My husband also works in an investing role, so it can be really hard to plan time away and fully unplug – seems like one of us is always busy. We are still figuring this out, but I try to be present with our kids during the day and spent a lot of nights on vacation catching up on email. I think it makes the times that we do have the ability to unplug that much better, though.
Now that I have two young kids, I also find the travel to be challenging. When I leave for a quick board meeting or two day trip, that means I miss two wakeups and two bedtimes, and I rely on my husband to do this for both our 9 month old and 2.5 year old. Thankfully, he is a pro with kids and really loves it and takes it all in stride, but I know not every dad/husband would be as supportive. To the extent you plan to work and want kids, I would HIGHLY recommend marrying a man who is very good with children as it certainly makes a huge difference!
What have you found to be most helpful in balancing your career and family?
Honestly, I really love having a family and balancing it with my career! I enjoy the “break” in work from 5:30-7pm when I have dinner with my kids and put them to bed and choose to focus on the quality of the time I have with them rather than the quantity. They bring amazing humor, perspective and sweetness to my life and remind me not to take myself too seriously!
My husband is a wonderful dad and partner and does a lot to help with the kids. Recently we did the “Fair Play” exercise and made a very long detailed list of all the tasks that need to get done in a year and divvied them up to share the load and responsibilities. I still don’t think its 50/50 as I naturally gravitate towards doing a lot of the extra stuff, but we are intentional about it and revisit periodically to make sure I’m not overburdened. In addition to many other things, my husband buys all my daughters' clothing and also takes care of taking them to the dentist for their biannual appointments. As soon as I delegate something to him, I remove it from my to do list and trust it will get done!
I would be remiss to not mention our wonderful nanny who is the BACKBONE of our family. She is with us 7:45-5:45 each day and more if needed. In addition to watching the kids, she helps out with laundry, cooking, making beds, packing lunches, emptying the dishwasher, tidying up and taking the girls to all their activities. She also keeps a running shopping list of anything we need which my husband than orders for grocery or Amazon delivery. She also has traveled with us to offer additional support which is super helpful. Finding a good nanny is so key to success as a busy working mom with long hours and travel – I am so grateful for her! You definitely can do it with the right support team in place and in some ways my life is “easier” now with kids than it was before because all my household work is taken care of so in my free time I just get to play with my cute kids!
In terms of maternity leave and after returning, my best advice is to not be afraid to ask for what you need. My firm's official policy was 12 weeks paid leave but I took 16 and 18 weeks, respectively, and my firm agreed to the timing at full pay. I also was very clear about the hours I’d work in the office and when I had to leave to relieve my nanny, noting I’d get back online after my kids were in bed to finish up any work. So far, it has worked really well and my team knows they can count on me. I also have been really intentional about protecting my mornings on my calendar (when I can) so I can spend time with my kids.
What advice would you give to a junior female investment professional early in her career?
First, so proud of you! It's not easy to always be a minority in the room and to not necessarily have role models to look up to. There are so many qualities that make women wonderful investors and the unique perspective they bring is invaluable to the industry.
The “long hours” that are common in the early years do get better and you can maintain better control over your calendar and set boundaries for your family. The hard work doesn’t stop, but the nature of the work changes, and I have found that I enjoy the “senior level” work much more than the work I did in the early years.
Work to develop sponsors who will pound the table for you when you are not in a room. Ideally join a firm where the senior partners are interested in taking active mentorship roles and who will work to develop your skills as an investment professional.
MBAs have fallen out of favor it seems, but I will say it was an invaluable experience for me, and setting the career impact aside, it was a ton of fun! It was a lot of fun traveling to Argentina, Iceland, Cuba, etc. and getting to meet amazing, intelligent people from all around the world!
With regard to kids, I recommend waiting until you are a little more senior when you have more control of your life, but don’t wait TOO long. As a VP, it was possible for me to step away and unplug entirely during maternity leave while as a partner, that would be nearly impossible.
Marry someone who supports you and your career and places it on equal importance to their own. If you plan to have kids, marry someone who also likes kids and will pitch in 100%, regardless of gender norms!
Favorite book, podcast or show?
Shows: Currently watching the new season of Never Have I Ever, the new Game of Thrones spin-off, and Severance!
Podcast: My Favorite Murder (stay sexy, don’t get murdered!), WSJ Secrets of Wealthy Women, Dissect (analyzes rap lyrics), The Tim Ferris Show
Book: Feels like all the books I read now are child related books… just finished Oh Crap, We’re Potty Training and now reading Parenting with Love and Logic. Highly recommend all the Emily Oster books: Expect Better, Crib Sheet, The Family Firm. Another book I really enjoyed was The Road to Character by David Brooks.
Thank you for your time, Sara! To learn more about Freeman Spogli, check out https://www.freemanspogli.com/.
