Veronica Carrera
Cornell University, Johnson Graduate School of Management
How do you know that you’ve sold yourself? Just have a VC tell you, “I’m still not sure there is a strong need for your product, but you as a presenter, as the CEO of a company, I would invest my money in you anytime.” Not surprisingly, Veronica Carrera came up through the ranks of Bloomberg in sales. Aspiring to both move into executive management and inspire minorities, Carrera is described by Beta Mannix, the school’s associate dean for executive education, as a resource to her peers in the program, truly caring about each classmate and giving of her time. And she does it always with “a smile on her face.” Recently promoted to an execution consultant at Bloomberg Tradebook, Carrera is also a motivational speaker and triathlete.
“I knew I wanted to go to business school when…I listened to a Cornell Professor Risa Mish teach during an info session. She is incredible. When I sat in the conference room and listened to her presentation, she reminded me what I wanted to do all along, which was to pursue an MBA program.”
“If I hadn’t gone to business school, I would be…doing more of the same.”
What are your long-term professional goals? As I advance in the financial service world and become a global executive, I want to find a way to work on building businesses in developing countries- work on the overall strategy and ultimately better people’s lives. Also, I want to make my life’s purpose to inspire minorities- especially our young people and women. I want them to have better access to information and inspire them to obtain more opportunities in life through higher education.
Which academic or professional achievements are you most proud of? I have held many different positions within Bloomberg over the last 15 years. I have been in sales, in leadership roles and now new to the execution consultant role.
When I was in sales I obtained the highest ranking, globally, and found great joy serving my clients. For me, selling has always been about listening deeply to another person in order to make a true connection and add real value to their business. Also, because of my language skills, French, Spanish & Portuguese, I had to learn to discuss the financial markets with these clients and what their needs were in all these different languages, which made my job more exciting.
When a new CEO stepped in, I had the opportunity to present him with an idea I was really enthused about—to co-produce a marketing video with Bloomberg’s TV producer. The CEO let me run with it and the outcome was incredible. The video was very well-received globally and the President of Bloomberg requested to use it for one of his speeches at a community event.
One of the roles I took on was as a manager of a division that dealt with servicing clients who traded through Bloomberg’s Order Management System. I was the first Latino woman to hold this position in this group. While this was one of the most difficult times of my career, I was at the same time privileged to manage a group of people who were fun, dynamic and ambitious. I learned a lot from them.
Most recently, I was offered a position as an Execution Consultant to work with a wonderful group of people who are very smart and experienced. This position will require me to go through a great deal of learning, but I take comfort in the fact that my MBA prepared me well for this challenge.
Who would you most want to thank for your success (and why)? First, I want to acknowledge that my faith in God has always helped me move forward in life and helped me to keep things in perspective. But the person I want to acknowledge and thank is my mother, Victoria Mendez, who died when I was nine years old. She was a single mother and I will never forget all her sacrifices and how much value she placed on my education. When I was little, she would test me daily on each homework assignment to make sure I understood the material and she meant business! She has always been underneath all my desires to succeed. My grandmother, Maria, took care of me after my mother died and also prioritized my education. Since an early age I learned to work hard and to maintain clear intentions to achieve any goal.
Because of my upbringing, I acknowledge that so many people lack the support and resources to succeed. Therefore, my purpose in life is not just to push myself to achieve more, but to inspire and work on behalf of minorities in order to lift them up. I am devoted to providing access to information and breaking the barriers that prevent so many from pursuing higher education. Someone said to me once, there are some things we do for ourselves and some things we do for others.