Wall Street alum whose startup raised $34 million says the best career advice came from her mom, 'who never worked a day outside the home in her life'

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Wall Street alum whose startup raised $34 million says the best career advice came from her mom, 'who never worked a day outside the home in her life'

Sallie Krawcheck

Ellevest

"I was a mediocre mother all the way through," says Sallie Krawcheck, pictured.

Sallie Krawcheck raised $34 million for her digital investing platform for women, Ellevest.

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Before founding Ellevest, she was a Wall Street executive and served as the CEO of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, of Smith Barney, and of Sanford Bernstein.

In an interview with The M Dash blog at MM LaFleur, the mom of two said her best advice didn't come from someone in the finance world.

"The best career advice I ever got, would you believe it, came from my mother, who never worked a day outside the home in her life," she told The M Dash.

She continued:

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"I had just had my second child, a little girl, and my mother came up to visit. I was a research analyst at Sanford Bernstein, and we sat outside a restaurant and I started to cry. I said, 'I've got a toddler, I've got a baby, I've got a job, I've got a husband, I can't sleep, we're not sleeping, I'm so tired, I don't know if I can do this.' My mother turned to me, and said in that way only mothers can, 'Well of course you can! You're just going to be tired for a while.' And I thought, 'Oh! Okay! Of course I can do this, I'm just going to be tired for a while.'"

Krawcheck said that when her children were young, she felt the pressure of the "mommy wars" and felt that "I was a mediocre mother all the way through."

But looking back, she said, everyone has to make their own choices around their careers and parenthood. "Who gives a damn?" she asked. "Just get over it. Just live and let live."

Read the full article on The M Dash »