Laurie
Associate, University of California, Berkeley
Laurie joined Pace Harmon in 2008 after graduating magna cum laude from the University of California, Berkeley with a BA in International Political Economy, with a regional concentration on Latin America. While in college, Laurie was an active member of her Panhellenic sorority and competed on Cal’s women’s Ultimate Frisbee team. On her projects at Pace Harmon, Laurie has worked with a variety of Fortune 500 clients, primarily in the assessment, optimization, and sourcing of telecommunications services. Like many of her colleagues at Pace Harmon, Laurie is a travel junkie. She has enjoyed taking advantage of weekend travel to go skiing in Tahoe, visit Boston, or dine in Chicago. Her current project in Mexico City has allowed her to see even more of Latin America.
A Typical Day at Pace Harmon
“Most days at Pace Harmon take place at the client site. In the morning, I will regroup with my project team to discuss progress and the day’s activities. I dedicate most of the day to completing our scope of work for the client, which may involve developing financial models in Excel, analyzing data sets, or producing PowerPoint presentations. A few hours every day, if not more, I usually spend meeting with the client and/or suppliers. With clients we discuss strategy, provide status updates, or present findings and recommendations. With suppliers, at certain phases of the project, we may spend entire days in negotiation sessions, which I find particularly exciting. On out-of-town projects, we usually end the day with a team dinner at a favorite local restaurant.”
The Kind of Work I Do
“At Pace Harmon, we like to say that everyone wears two hats – one in which we play our client-facing role, and one in which we contribute to internal firm development. On the client-facing side, I am responsible for most of the detailed analytics on my project. Because analysts and associates are the ones that work most closely with the data, we often get the opportunity to present our findings to the clients. At Pace Harmon, I’ve often found myself presenting to a room full of directors and senior vice presidents, an opportunity at Pace Harmon from which I’ve learned a lot, and one which I don’t know I would have found elsewhere. On the internal firm development side, I’ve chosen to be involved in activities such as developing recruiting strategies and writing articles for communications to clients. Being able to tangibly contribute to firm development is a major part of what I love about working at Pace.”
What I Have Learned
“Although I didn’t come from a technical background, I’ve learned a lot about the information technology services we help our clients to manage (like 3G wireless networks, disaster recovery services, and data centers). I’ve learned how to source multi-million dollar deals from beginning to end. However, I think the most valuable skills I’ve learned, which I’ll carry with me throughout my career, are the communication, client relationship, and project management skills I’ve gained through working with my clients and Pace Harmon teammates.”
