Recruited from a top accounting firm to join Landmark Partners, a registered investment advisor based in Simsbury, CT, Tina St. Pierre ’92 faced both challenges and opportunities. Fourteen years later, she became the firm’s first female partner. 

“Before I made partner, I was behind the scenes in accounting. I wasn’t raising capital and I wasn’t sourcing transactions so I had to work diligently to show people that I could still add value to the firm,” recalled St. Pierre. During her nine-year tenure as the sole woman partner, she never felt ignored, but “being the only female at the table had its challenges.”

Today, as one of two women partners and the firm’s Chief Administrative Officer, St. Pierre oversees 48 colleagues in operations, including finance, human resources, legal and IT. Landmark Partners has more than $25 billion in commitments under management, 135 employees and five offices, including one in London. Opportunities to resolve complex accounting situations – which she relishes – are rare, given her management responsibilities. 

“I hope people will look at me – a woman with a family who is successful in the male-dominated private equity sector - and realize that if they work hard, advocate for themselves and use the skills they learn at Bryant, they can succeed.”

Nevertheless, Bryant’s tax and accounting classes “gave me such a good understanding of financial statements and double-sided journal entries,” she said. “You can solve any problem if you know how to work through it; Bryant gave me the foundation to solve complex problems.” 

Her days are filled with diverse commitments, including evaluating the risks and requirements of establishing a Landmark office outside of the United States, negotiating investors’ partnership agreements and structuring complex transactions. She informally mentors younger colleagues. She tells them, “You have a voice; speak up and you will be heard. We saw your potential when we hired you, but you need to advocate for yourself and promote your contributions.”

A lifelong math aficionado, St. Pierre is passionate about sharing her knowledge. Through her role as a Junior Achievement board member, she teaches basic finance principles to primary school classes. “I help them understand wants and needs; you don’t need an Xbox, but you do need food,” she said. “They’re so fun to work with and help mold.”

Honored to speak to Bryant’s Finance Association and the Smart Women in Finance Association and serve on a Women in Executive Leadership panel, St. Pierre said, “I hope people will look at me – a woman with a family who is successful in the male-dominated private equity sector - and realize that if they work hard, advocate for themselves and use the skills they learn at Bryant, they can succeed.”