Monica Castaneda W'12
Email: Feel free to contact Monica at Monica.Castaneda@bain.com
What did you study at Penn and when did you graduate?
I graduated from Wharton in 2012, and I concentrated in Finance and OPIM (now called OIDD).
What were you involved in at Penn?
In addition to Wharton Women, I was Chair of Operations for Cipactli Honor Society, VP of CAUSA, the Cuban American Undergraduate Student Association, and part of Wharton Latino and PRUSA, Puerto Rican Undergraduate Student Association. I also served as a TA for OPIM 101 my sophomore and junior year.
What was your favorite part of Penn/Wharton?
My favorite aspect of Penn was that there was so much diversity on campus! I was born in Cuba and have lived in Spain and Puerto Rico, and coming to such a large school like Penn, I loved how I was able to meet so many different people with such different perspectives and interests.
What advice would you give to an undergraduate?
Make sure to explore things outside of Wharton. My freshman and sophomore year, I remember focusing a lot on my Wharton classes, but I wish I had taken more opportunities to explore other interests. I remember taking an English Seminar (ENG 270) in the Spring of my Junior year called “Contemporary Latina Literature and Feminism” that I absolutely loved. It was a small group (~10 women) from all the different schools at Penn, and we read different novels by Latina writers and analyzed key themes. The final project was to write our own mini-story! I really loved how different that class was, and it was such a great opportunity to learn something new and step out of my comformort zone.
What has your career journey looked like?
I started out in investment banking - I had met a lot of alumni through Wharton Women and Wharton Latino who were in the field, so I interned in investment banking at Goldman Sachs for two summers before joining the firm full time. After developing this initial foundation, I was able to get a better sense of what I wanted to do as a career - I knew that I liked working with clients, and I realized that I enjoyed the strategy component of the job the most, so after a few years in banking, I shifted internally into the Strategy group at Goldman. I then got my MBA from Harvard Business School and went into consulting. I have been at Bain & Company for the past few years, and I am currently a Senior Manager!
What has been the proudest moment of your career?
What brings me the most joy across both my time at Goldman and now at Bain is seeing the progression of my summer interns into full time analysts. Being able to coach and mentor them is such a fulfilling experience, and I love seeing them grow and develop in the company.
What would you say is the biggest challenge you have encountered?
After doing a few years in investment banking, a lot of my friends were going to private equity, and it was hard to stay true to my interests and be comfortable deviating from the crowd. Deciding to follow my own path and go into strategy was definitely a challenge, but I am so happy I did it.
How has being a woman has affected your career path, if it has?
At the start of my career, I wasn’t really speaking up in meetings, and in my feedback reviews, I was told I needed to be more outspoken. This came as quite a shock to my friends and family because I was such an extrovert in my personal life, and I realized that I was hiding some of my personality at work just because I felt a little intimidated/out of place. Finding female mentors and senior women to look up to helped me shift my mindset and remind myself that I have a lot to offer and I’m here in this job for a reason.
Is there any advice you have for our members as they start exploring career opportunities?
There are always so many events to learn about different opportunities, but instead of trying to attend every session and barely being present, spend your time developing relationships with the few firms that you are really interested in. Building these long-term relationships will help you much more in the long-term than just attending as many events as possible.
What is your favorite thing to do for fun?
I just got a Peloton, and it’s so fun to be able to take classes together with all my friends from Penn! We all live in different cities, so it’s a great opportunity to spend time with each other.