Kamala Harris recently shared that her mother always reminded her that, “You may be the first to do many things, but make sure you’re not the last.” Being a pioneer is hard. It means pushing through boundaries and overcoming great challenges, often times alone.
In this episode, Ileana Musa, Co-Head of International Wealth Management and the Head of International Banking & Lending at Morgan Stanley, shares what it was like growing up as a young Latina immigrant in a single parent home and how education and a strong work ethic laid the foundation to achieve her career aspirations. Ileana also shares why staying true to yourself and sharing your authentic story leads to awareness and stronger relationships, which ultimately leads to opportunity.
Highlights:
[03:30] Ileana’s story
[05:16] Decision to pursue a career in financial services
[07:40] Ileana’s daily success habits
[10:10] Building your personal brand
[17:42] Gaining access to influential leaders
[23:30] Overcoming fears and limiting beliefs
[29:43] Executing on your new opportunity
[37:14] Advice on staying ahead of the curve
Quotes:
“It's up to each of us to paint the picture of what the future holds.” – Ileana Musa
“When you give back to other employees as it relates to their development, people take notice, and that ultimately gives you access.” – Ileana Musa
“Think about what you bring to the table and how you can then build a meaningful connection.” – Ileana Musa
“The sooner you fail, the sooner you are going to learn.” – Ileana Musa
About Ileana Musa:
Ileana Musa is the Co-Head of International Wealth Management and the Head of International Banking & Lending. In this role she leads the segment and strategy that focuses on Morgan Stanley’s International Client Advisors and international clients to ensure they have access to strategic investment, cash management and lending solutions, services and thought leadership to address both sides of a client’s balance sheet. Ileana is a member of Morgan Stanley's Wealth Management Management Committee, Wealth Management Operating Committee, Latin America Management Committee, US Banks Management Committee, and the Bank Leadership Committee. Ileana co-chairs the enterprise Latino Employee Network.
Prior to joining Morgan Stanley she was the Global Client Segment and Strategy executive for Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. In this capacity, Ileana focused on international financial advisors to ensure the delivery of a consistent, goals-based wealth management experience for international high-net-worth and ultra-high-net worth clients. Prior to this role, Ileana was head of International Credit & Banking within Bank of America’s Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM) Banking group. In this role, she led the teams that supported and delivered integrated liquidity, cash management and lending solutions and services to financial advisors and high-net-worth clients in Latin America, Asia and Europe.
Ileana held several leadership roles in the domestic, international and affluent banking platforms at Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, where she lent her talent in growing the cross-border wealth management business.
Ileana received her BBA degree, with a concentration in finance, from the University of Miami and an M.B.A. degree in finance from Florida International University. Ileana is fluent in Spanish, is FINRA registered and is Six-Sigma Greenbelt certified.
Ileana was recently named to the Girl Scouts National Board (GSUSA) and sits on the Corporate Advisory Boards of the Association of Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA), Florida International University Honors College and the Cuban Heritage Collection at the University of Miami.
Ileana was named to the ‘Top 100 Most Influential Latinas’ List in 2020 by Latino Leaders. Last year she was recognized to the 2019 MAKERS class of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management as well as being recognized by Latino Justice with the 2019 Latina Trailblazer Award honoring her professional and personal achievements in opening doors and new opportunities for other professionals. Additionally, Ileana was named to ALPFA’s 2019 Most Powerful Latinas in corporate America list for a third year in a row as previously featured in Fortune magazine. In 2016 Ileana was awarded the 2015 Top 10 Corporate Executives of the Year by Latina Style magazine.
Links:
LinkedIn: ileanamusa3