Sheila Frierson’s Computershare career story
Sheila had planned to become an English teacher because of her love for literature but happened to fall into a role in Financial Services and soon realised that she had the skills to progress a different and rewarding career path. By making the most of every opportunity that came her way, Sheila progressed to become a senior leader, one that is passionate about connecting people together.
Sheila started her career as an Administrative Assistant, and it was whilst working in this role that she took the bold decision to make a case and asked to move from Seattle to Los Angeles to fill a need there. Her manager agreed, and it was this type of initiative that later helped to open doors for her into the world of employee share plans.
“I took a big chance at the time asking to move offices and showcase what I could offer. At first my manager was taken aback, but the idea grew on her, and she was invested in my growth - so I moved myself down to LA and took on the role.”
Sheila always voiced her ambition, asking what else she could do to help the organisation, and this is what led to her manager suggesting that she take the Certified Equity Professional certification program (CEP) to help her career progress “I realised at that point that I could probably create a career in this line of business – she was looking out for me and told me that it could be a great thing for me and the company would pay for it . So, I thought…why not.”
This catapulted Sheila into the Employee Plans business and led to her progressing into a Relationship Manager role: “The certifications, plus my work ethic and track record, propelled me into the business, and the rest is history. Right from my early career, getting into client facing roles really just started to cement my place in this business and from there always wanting to grow and a good amount of ambition took hold. I shared with my team what made me successful and became a Team Lead within 5 years of being an Administrative Assistant. I love working with people and demonstrated that by sharing with the wider team what worked well for me in my role. I had people see me as someone they could come to and that helped pivot me into that leadership role.”
At this point Sheila realised that she lacked some of the education she needed to go further and so identified what could take her to where she wanted to go. She studied for an MBA to help her understand the fundamentals of business. “This helped me move to Head of Relationship Management in 2011 which was when Computershare acquired the Bank of New York – this helped me pivot and continue my career”.
“I react well to change; I know change can be scary, but I try to say to people the main thing that will hold you back in life is fear – fear of what is going to happen. You can learn from the past, but you can’t change it. The future hasn’t happened yet so you can make a choice and look at the future and plan for a positive experience. That has always been my motto, sometimes I have to remind myself of that, but we have to plan for positive change and identify what is the opportunity. Recognise what you bring to the table and what you are lacking – does that stand in the way of where you want to go.”
Today Sheila heads up our North America plans business and is looking forward to the next challenge as we move to one global platform and the opportunity this brings in the industry.
Sheila’s key take-aways about Computershare:
Entrepreneurial. Computershare is nimble, always looking for good ideas – if you have a good idea, there are people that want to listen.
Progression opportunities. A lot of people have jumped between business lines and this company gives you that ability.
This is an organisation that really facilitates growth. But you have to bring your ambition to the table. You can’t sit and wait for someone to tap you on the shoulder: start talking to people – get a mentor, get a coach – facilitate how you get there.
Collaboration. This is truly a place of collaboration – valuing employees, valuing their ideas, it’s somewhere you can bring your full self to work.
“The more you peel off the onion in Computershare the more you get introduced to other people and these people have come from entry level positions and grown their career – even our global CEO built his career here. It’s not just a few people who got lucky along the way.”
Our global business has a distinctive entrepreneurial spirit, a caring and inclusive culture, and opens up a world of opportunities that could take you anywhere.