Private Equity Fast Pitch

Our host Jeff Henningsen, president of Lockton companies in Houston and the Podfather of private equity, is speaking on the female committee panel for Wave (Women's Association of Venture & Equity   Wave allows the panelists to discuss three main topics: One - how Diversity, Equity and Inclusion has changed in corporate America and what the future looks like for female executives, Two - advice on beginning your career: including what can be done to revamp your application in the job market and the underlying difference between female and male job applicants, and Three - feeling the fear, but doing it anyway.   We hope you enjoy this extraordinary episode.

Dominique Mielle is a Wall Street veteran with a comprehensive knowledge of corporate finance, capital markets, and the bankruptcy process.  She was a partner and senior portfolio manager at Canyon Capital, a $25 billion hedge fund, where she worked from 1998 to 2018. In 2017, she was named one of the “50 Leading Women in Hedge Funds” by the Hedge Fund Journal and E&Y. After retiring in 2018 she started writing. Her book, Damsel in Distressed: My life in the golden age of hedge funds, was released on September 7, 2021. She is a Forbes contributor on hedge funds, distressed investing and women in finance. One of the only senior women in the hedge fund business, she played key roles in complicated bankruptcies, serving as a leading creditors’ committee member for Puerto Rico, and as a restructuring committee member for U.S. airlines in the wake of the September 11 attacks. She was a director of the board and the audit committee chair for PG&E during its fifteen-month bankruptcy process and emergence, and now serves on several corporate boards: Digicel Group, ReadyCap, Tiptree, Osiris Acquisition and Studio City. 

Kevin McAllister has extensive private equity experience, including opportunity origination, execution, negotiation, and portfolio company support. Prior to founding Access in 2013, Kevin was at Sterling Partners where he was a member of its investment committee and led the Business Services practice (~$2 billion of AUM).    While at Sterling Partners, Kevin led the sourcing, underwriting, and management of Livingston International, FPG and MOSAID Technologies.     Prior to joining Sterling in 2008, Kevin was in the Buyout Group at American Capital. Kevin has also held roles in strategic consulting at Accenture and A.T. Kearney and in business development at a NYSE-listed acquisitive holding company.     Kevin holds an MBA from the University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business (Dean's List) and a BA in Economics from Dickinson College.

Jeffrey Hooke, senior finance lecturer at the Johns Hopkins Carey School of Business, discusses the negative effects of private equity and shares advice for pursuing a career in the industry. He also explores the target audience for his book, offers career navigation tips, and talks about communication dynamics and challenging conventional wisdom in private equity.

Jeff Henningsen, recently nicknamed the podfather of private equity podcasts will be speaking with Scott Kolbrenner, a managing director at Houlihan Lokey. Scott co-heads Houlihans Industrial Services practice with a focus on engineering services. He was recognized by Investment Dealers’ Digest as a recipient of its “Forty Under Forty” award and in 2020, as a contestant on Wheel of Fortune became the highest paid male contender in the history of the show. Scott generously donated the entirety of his $145,000 prize money to Uplift Family Services and Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. Today they’ll be discussing Scott’s 20 years of experience in Investment Banking, the current trends in infrastructure, and his insights on powerful and impactful leadership.

Christopher W. Kersey serves as the Founding Managing Partner of Havencrest Capital Management, and prior to founding Havencrest, Dr. Kersey served as a Managing Member and Partner of Camden Partners Holdings, LLC. From 2011 to 2017, Dr. Kersey served as the Chairman of the Board of Johns Hopkins Medicine International. During that time, Dr. Kersey helped spearhead John Hopkins Medicine International's growth from an emerging pioneer to the established leader in global collaborative health care partnerships by engineering innovative private sector - public sector partnerships with blue-chip institutions such as Saudi Aramco in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, HCL Healthcare in India and Pacifico Salud in Peru. In 2010, Dr. Kersey was elected to the boards of trustees of Johns Hopkins Medicine and the iconic Johns Hopkins Hospital, U.S. News & World Report's #1 ranked hospital in the United States for 21 consecutive years. Dr. Kersey also serves on the boards of directors of the Johns Hopkins Hospital Endowment Fund and Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare (JHAH) — a joint venture based in Saudi Arabia and one of the world's largest population health management initiatives. Dr. Kersey is also a member of the Johns Hopkins Medicine Compensation Committee, the Johns Hopkins Medicine Patient Safety and Quality Committee and the Johns Hopkins Hospital Credentials Committee. In 2017, Dr. Kersey was elected to the board of trustees of the GuideStone Funds, the largest Christian mutual fund in the world with more than $12 billion in assets under management, where he serves on the Investment Management Committee and the Nominating and Governance Committee. Dr. Kersey earned his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree from Stanford University, his Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree from the Emory University School of Medicine and his Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) from Harvard Business School.

Marc S. Cooper is Chief Executive Officer of PJ SOLOMON, a position he has held since 2016. He was previously Vice Chairman from 2013 to 2016 and joined the firm in 1999 as a Partner and Managing Director. Marc S. Cooper is Chief Executive Officer of PJ SOLOMON, a leading financial advisory firm with a legacy as one of the first independent investment banks. In 2016, Mr. Cooper led the transaction in which Natixis, the international corporate and investment banking, asset management, insurance and financial services arm of Groupe BPCE, made a strategic investment in PJ SOLOMON.  The partnership with Natixis provides PJ SOLOMON clients with global advisory services and proprietary access to financing capabilities throughout Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and the Americas. Under Mr. Cooper’s leadership, PJ SOLOMON has significantly expanded and diversified sector coverage and today serves clients across a broad range of industries including Consumer Retail; Financial Sponsors; FinTech; Grocery, Pharmacy & Restaurants; Healthcare; Infrastructure, Power & Renewables; and Technology, Media & Telecommunications. As the former head of PJ SOLOMON’s Consumer Retail Group, Mr. Cooper has advised a long roster of high-profile retailers and brands. Over the past three decades, Mr. Cooper has advised on hundreds of transactions globally, including mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, recapitalizations and restructurings, financings and shareholder activism. Mr. Cooper serves on the boards of the Partnership for New York City and Fedcap, a non-profit dedicated to creating opportunities for people with barriers to economic well-being.  He is also a Trustee of The Committee for Economic Development of The Conference Board. Prior to joining PJ SOLOMON, Mr. Cooper co-founded and served as Vice Chairman of Barington Capital Group where he oversaw its investment banking operations. He began his career in investment banking at Kidder Peabody. Mr. Cooper holds an MBA, magna cum laude, and a BS from New York University.

Mr. Lovette is the founder of Third Coast Capital Advisors and manages the daily activities of the firm with responsibility for originating, advising on, and executing merger and acquisition transactions for clients across a variety of industries. Prior to forming Third Coast Capital Advisors, Mr. Lovette was a Managing Director in the Middle Market M&A group at Banc of America Securities LLC where he led a national effort focused on M&A transactions with values under $150 million. Prior to his tenure at Bank of America, Mr. Lovette was a Managing Director in the M&A/Corporate Finance group at LaSalle Bank and ABN AMRO. In total, Mr. Lovette has over 25 years of experience working with private and public companies on merger and acquisition transactions. His diverse M&A experience includes acquisitions, private company sales, corporate divestitures, portfolio company sales of private equity groups and sales of public companies across numerous industries. Mr. Lovette holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Finance from Indiana University and a Master of Business Administration degree from DePaul University.

This episode features the valuable advice Private Equity & Investment Banking Professionals have given for young professionals and recent college graduates.

Episode 77 features Laird Koldyke, a founding partner of Winona Capital Management which is a Chicago based private investment firm focused on growth investments in branded consumer companies.  Winona Capital manages investments on behalf of high net worth families, institutions and individuals.     Mr. Koldyke has served on the boards of numerous consumer companies including Chipotle Mexican Grill (Chairman) , Einstein’s Bagels (Founding Investor), Wild Oats Markets,  Fat Brain Toys, Petsense, Kjus Apparel, Fusion Academy, and the Laird Norton Company, Mr. Koldyke is currently a director of CYMI, Inc., Monica Vinader, PLC; Rodd and Gunn, LLC , Indie Lee, LLC,  Ancora Beauty and the Desire Company.   Mr. Koldyke holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Northwestern University (1983) and a Masters in Management (MM) from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management (1989).   He previously served on the Board of Trustees of the San Miguel Schools; a Chicago based schools initiative serving crime ridden city neighborhoods; is a former trustee of Northwestern University and is a founding member of the Springboard Foundation, a venture philanthropy group based in Chicago.   He is a board member of Naturally Chicago, the Chicago Lakeshore Improvement Committee and also serves as the ranking Commissioner of the Chicago Park District.   Mr. Koldyke resides in Chicago with his wife Deirdre, they have four grown children.   After rooting each and every summer for as long as he can remember, Laird was ecstatic when the Chicago Cubs broke the curse in 2016.  He roots on.