After working for PricewaterhouseCoopers L.L.P. for more than 20 years, New Canaan resident Paula Loop has been named the New York metro region assurance leader.
In the position, Loop will manage more than 3,000 employees, including 300 partners in Stamford, New York City, Long Island and Florham Park, N.J. PwC is an assurance, tax and advisory service provider with close to 169,000 employees in 158 countries.
Loop is one of several recent female appointees by PwC. Out of the top 14 leadership team positions, the number of females on the team has increased from two to four this year. Additionally, this year”™s new partner class is now 25 percent female.
“New York is an incredibly dynamic place,” Loop said. “I feel very pleased to take on this challenge. It”™s a great opportunity to further develop myself. I”™m the first woman to be in this role. It”™s a great opportunity for my career as well as personally.”
Loop said the number of women in leadership positions is continuing to grow, but that women are still far from taking over the majority. There are more challenges for women, Loop said, as women more often need to juggle family and work.
Loop first started working for the company in 1983 in San Francisco. The same year she became a manager in Los Angeles, she got married. Twelve months later she had her first child and eventually left the firm, as part-time schedules were unheard of at the time. Rejoining PwC with a “before-its-time” flexible work schedule in 1997, Loop left the office at 3 p.m. everyday for four years to spend time with her three children.
Loop partially credits her success to stepping out of comfort zones and saying yes to opportunities.
“More often than not, you should say yes,” Loop said. “Even to small opportunities, as well as big.”
Before her newest position, Loop had said yes to a big opportunity of becoming the firm”™s global talent leader. Traveling internationally, she led the company”™s recruiting, onboarding and talent management global strategies. The two years she spent in the position taught her a lot and set her up well for her new role, she said.
But besides having initiative, Loop said it was also important for women to network, which is the goal of PwC”™s “Metro Women”™s Initiative,” which Loop is also a part of.
A lot of women have less time than men because they”™re busy balancing both their work and family life, Loop said. When they”™re at work, they are glued to their desks in order to finish all their work and go home.
“Making sure that you get to know your peers and that they get to know you, is really critical,” Loop said. “You need to demonstrate that you can develop relationships.”
Through networking, women can get together, learn from each other and work together, Loop said. Then employers can get to know your strength and weakness and get to know you as a future candidate for another position, she said.
