From the Field to the Boardroom: Unlikely Journeys to Wall Street

Wall Street isn't just for finance graduates. Some of its rising stars come from unexpected backgrounds, blending diverse experiences into successful careers. Take Lamar Cardinez, for example. He once dreamed of playing pro football. When that didn't pan out, he stayed close to sports, interning at Madison Square Garden and working with the NFL. But finance called his name. After an MBA and a stint in investment banking, he joined Blue Owl's HomeCourt Partners. Now, he's working on big deals, like the Phoenix Suns' $4 billion sale. Catherine Kress took a different route. She studied anthropology and psychology, then did fieldwork in Sierra Leone. Later, she researched Angola's energy sector. Her journey led her to BlackRock, where she's now the chief of staff to the CEO. She helps the firm understand global politics and business trends. Jack Levendoski grew up all over the world. He started in engineering, managing offshore oil projects. Now, he's an executive director at JPMorgan, advising on tech deals.Josef Menasche studied chemistry and math. He tried academic research but found it too slow. Now, he's a managing director at Goldman Sachs, working on big real estate and private equity deals. Aman Mittal began in electronics engineering. He moved into digital infrastructure advisory work and has worked on over 15 data-center deals, totaling more than $25 billion. Nikunj Jain studied machine learning and taught math. He interned at Apple and worked for the Department of Defense. Now, he's the head of Asia research at Bridgewater, leading a team that turns regional activity into trading signals. Jackie Shepherd was a Division I golfer. She earned a full-ride scholarship and captained her university's team. She started in accounting but soon pivoted to investment banking. Now, she's worked on roughly $250 billion in transactions at Morgan Stanley. These stories show that Wall Street values diverse experiences. Whether it's sports, science, or engineering, different backgrounds bring fresh perspectives to finance.