Renee Tierney, Senior Vice President and Deputy Chief Compliance Officer at PIMCO, won Excellence in Compliance at Markets Media Group’s 2023 Women in Finance (U.S.) Awards.

How do you measure success?

As a professional, colleague, friend, spouse, mother there are many different hats that I wear, and success looks different from each perspective. As a Legal and Compliance professional, success means protecting the firm while helping business partners to achieve their goals. As a colleague, I measure success based on positive impact to others and both personal and professional growth. As a spouse and mother, success is appreciating, encouraging, and showing up for one another. Creating balance among each of these roles is true success – and a constant work in progress! I try to focus more on the small successes along the journey and worry less about the ultimate destination.

How would you describe your work/management ‘style’?

I am a person who puts my head down and gets stuff done. I can be very singularly focused in that way, for better or (sometimes) worse. In terms of management style, I prefer to lead by example and try to put into practice what I want others to emulate or learn from. I try to be cognizant of, and make an effort to provide explanation and context, so there is appreciation for where or how an individual’s contribution fits into the broader picture or why I am taking a certain approach to an issue.

Who have been the main influences in your career?

My father was a huge influence on my career. I was a business major and was working in a corporate sales role as my first job after college.  I realized that I didn’t love it and the work was not a fit for my interests or strengths. However, I was hesitant to divert my path.  The advice my father gave me was, “sometimes you have to go backwards to go forward.” This was instrumental to changing course. I took a different role at a financial investment firm, even though it was less lucrative and more junior than my current job; pursued law school at the same time; and ultimately found a career that I enjoy.

What’s your advice to the next generation of women in finance?

Sometimes your path is non-linear. Trust in yourself and seize opportunities that come up along the way even if they may not be what you had originally charted as your path. It is ok to go backwards in order to move forward!