As Hieu Tran (Cohort 14) entered his senior year at Lakeside School, he began homing in on his possible career paths. While he enjoyed his economics courses, he wondered what his professional future would look like with a finance or economics degree. To find out, Hieu began networking with Lakeside alums to examine different options, but it was a discussion with Rainier Scholars Academic Counselor Asha Hanstad that put him in touch with longtime board of trustees member Zander Doroski. Today, Hieu, now a junior at Wake Forest University pursuing a B.S. in finance with a minor in economics, calls that introduction an inflection point in his life.
Over the last three years, Hieu has been learning about the financial services industry from Zander, an avid investor passionate about democratizing the process. Hieu and several other scholars have participated in calls and meetings with Zander and his investment group to gain firsthand exposure to deal processes. He’s had the opportunity to review pitchbooks and marketing materials, sit in on management meetings, and think critically about investment opportunities while asking Zander, a seasoned private equity investor, about his perspectives on various deals. “It’s like seeing theory in action,” Hieu says. “You can read all you want about financial services, but when you get to be on the email chains and hop on the Zoom calls, all of it is happening right in front of you. It’s like osmosis. You just soak it up so much better.”
The experience of working with Zander has also reinforced where Hieu wants to take his career, which he says takes a lot of anxiety off the table. “You can always wonder, is this really my calling? Do I even find this interesting? But now, I’m right in the middle of it, seeing a wide range of deals within the financial services industry, which I’m looking towards right now as a potential career.”
Hieu acknowledges that having a seat at the table and developing relationships are crucial in a field like financial services due to its high barrier of entry and extended list of unwritten rules. Through his relationship with Zander, he’s met other influential people in the industry, including Daniel Heu-Weller, a senior private wealth financial advisor at Wells Fargo, who has taught him a lot about the dynamics of the industry and the way to build relationships within it.
He has also benefited from Zander’s belief in breaking barriers and philosophy on success. “There’s a certain East Coast prep school and affluent family stereotype associated with the people who succeed in financial services, but Zander really emphasizes the importance of keeping a high level of integrity and being excellent at every step of the process as the key,” Hieu remarks. “Doing that will gain the trust and respect of those around you, opening up doors to massive opportunity, which is much more important than your family’s background or educational pedigree.”
Hieu also credits his Rainier Scholars experience with putting him in the best possible position to do well in his life and career. “I think it’s important to emphasize how helpful and giving the entire Rainier Scholars community is. My mentors there have given me career perspective, lessons on work-life balance, frameworks for making important decisions, and reinforced the values you need to succeed. Looking back, it is crazy how one moment or decision can truly change the course of your life. I call these inflection points. For me, Rainier Scholars was an inflection point. Getting scholarships to attend Lakeside and then Wake Forest were inflection points, and so was my first conversation with Zander, which has led to many more. All of this was thanks to Rainier Scholars, and it has laid the foundation for my career and life ahead through varied experiences, from Romeo and Juliet oratories to investment banking internships.”