During the Westchester Enterprise Development Center”™s annual spring luncheon and microenterprise fair June 11, Lisa Caputo, an executive vice president at Citigroup, fielded questions from former ABC News correspondent Betsy Stark and audience members. The former press secretary to First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton at the White House during President Bill Clinton”™s first term in 2000 founded Citigroup”™s women”™s financial services business Women & Co. Below are excerpts from the conversation at Tappan Hill Mansion in Tarrytown.
On crisis situations at work
Caputo: “It”™s probably not good for my physical health, but I do find it good for my mental health, meaning that you have to stay on your toes, you have to make rapid judgments, you must pivot from topic to topic and issue to issue and I think it requires a unique combination of strategic thinking and tactical execution, which a lot of times, we just don”™t do so quickly and together in the business world.
“A lot of times we find ourselves put into a box of, ”˜Oh well, they”™re the strategy people”™ or ”˜They”™re the analytics people”™ and then you”™ll find the sales and marketing people may be the executional people and I think crises bring forth a unique time for people where I find myself doing both on a daily basis ”“ that yin and yang of strategy and execution.”
On why statistics show women have a harder time gaining access to capital and credit
Caputo: “I think the statistics that I”™ve seen, show that roughly half the women out to get credit actually get the credit ”¦ and when they don”™t have a positive experience in the past with their lending institution, they have a hard time getting credit.
“I think secondly, before credit becomes critical, more women entrepreneurs, and I”™m seeing this now, women are getting financially savvy in making sure they”™ve got the capacity from a business finance standpoint to deal with these issues.
“Third ”¦ it”™s incredibly important to note that women-owned businesses roughly account for 75 percent of all small businesses and by the year 2018, women”™s small businesses will account for roughly 5 million new jobs. I think it”™s why you see more and more angel funders popping up. There”™s an entity called Springboard, which is a boot camp for women entrepreneurs and I think the more we do that to help women who are getting started in small business, I think the better position they”™ll be in to get credit.”
On what she learned from Hillary Clinton
Caputo: “I did learn a lot from her just from observing her in action and still to this day, I don”™t know how she finds an inner strength that she does. She has a laser focus on what she does on a daily basis and maintains an equilibrium about her and a poise and a grace that I find almost superhuman publicly. That”™s not to say that privately she won”™t let her guard down, of course she does, and she”™s very human. But I think she does subscribe to this philosophy, which is I”™m just going to get up every day and do the best I can.”
The Women”™s Enterprise Development Center (WEDC) was founded in 1997 as a joint collaboration between The Westchester County Association, Westchester Community College, Westchester Association of Women Business Owners and the New York State Division for Women. The WEDC provides 15-week entrepreneurial training programs and business resources to women. To date, more than 900 women have graduated from the program. One graduate, Heather Buyers, founder of Walk Live Westchester in Hartsdale, said “the idea of writing a business plan scared me.” She began attending WEDC classes two years ago and graduated in 2008.
Â
