Women’s History Month Spotlight: Sarah Musante

In honor of Women’s History Month, we are taking the time to highlight the incredible lives and career paths of some of the women who make up Hightower’s collaborative advisor and corporate community. Throughout the month, we will release a series of video interviews with six of the firm’s female employees and advisors, hosted by Hightower’s Chief Investment Strategist and Portfolio Manager Stephanie Link, and post snippets from those conversations right here on the blog.

Today, Stephanie chats with Sarah Musante, who is head of human resources at Hightower in Chicago. A Hightower team member since 2009, Sarah has seen the firm through all phases of its evolution. She now directs Hightower’s human capital and organizational strategies, and manages recruiting, employee relations, compensation and culture-building initiatives. 

Read on for their conversation, edited and condensed for clarity and length:

Stephanie Link: I wanted to start off by asking you to tell us a little bit about your career path. How did you eventually come to Hightower?

Sarah Musante: It’s a funny story, actually. I grew up on the East Coast and moved to the Midwest after college. I have a degree in animal science because I thought I was going to be a vet someday. That didn’t work out. I also have a bachelor’s in psychology and an MBA. I went into counseling right out of college to put my psychology degree to work at the Mental Health Association of Connecticut. 

Then I moved to Chicago, where I got a job as a receptionist at a hedge fund, and eventually worked my way into accounting. This made me think maybe I should become an accountant, but that didn’t work out either. In 2009, the market was crashing, and the company was letting people go, but Hightower was hiring! The firm was just starting to get its legs, and I came in as a temp to do accounts receivable. 

We were so small at the time that there was one woman doing both HR and accounting. No joke, the day I started, she looked at me and told me she was quitting, and that I should too. I thought, challenge accepted, and quickly pivoted to take over her HR role. 10 days later I onboarded Treasury Partners, which is to date one of the biggest teams we’ve ever onboarded.

From there, it really was about doing anything and everything. I was wearing 15 different hats. I eventually moved into doing just HR, and the department was just me for probably a good five years running the show. I worked my way up and built a team, and here we are!

Stephanie Link: What a story! Hightower is not afraid to go against the grain. Nobody was hiring in 2009, but Hightower was. That’s great. I’m curious, would you say anyone was an influence or mentor to you in your career?

Sarah Musante: Yes absolutely! He was one of the founders of Hightower, Larry Koehler. He was the CFO at the time when I started, and he was my boss for about seven years. Larry is one of the kindest men I’ve ever met in my entire life, and he really left an impression on me in terms of work ethic and leading by example. He never threw you under the bus, he never said a negative thing about anyone. He was the same man every day, whether he won the lottery or his dog died, you knew exactly who you’d be dealing with. 

We are still very good friends. He checks in on me, he was at my wedding. I am embarrassed to say I’ve actually asked him to adopt me, because he’s that wonderful of a human! I reference and think about him often, especially as I lead my team. I am so lucky to have been able to work for somebody that supportive so early on in my career. 

Stephanie Link: That sounds like an incredible relationship. I think new people in the business world often underestimate the importance of having mentors. Men, women, parents, friends – it’s always great to have someone you look up to rooting for you. What is the best advice you have been given by a mentor?

Sarah Musante: So, this wasn’t good advice, and she definitely wasn’t a mentor, but I did learn a really valuable lesson from this experience. When I worked at the hedge fund company, I was looking to build my career. I didn’t want to be a receptionist forever – I wanted to grow in the company. I made an appointment with their head of HR and asked what I could do to make this happen. She looked me dead in the eye and said, “You will be nothing unless you have letters behind your name.” This was less than helpful, very cold. I didn’t realize it at the time, but it lit a fire under me. When I got involved with HR at Hightower, I knew that was exactly what I didn’t want to be.

I didn’t want to be somebody our employees couldn’t come to and talk about their development. I didn’t want to be somebody who put people down. You don’t have to have letters behind your name or graduate from an Ivy to be a productive employee. I think the funny part is that this person had also started as a receptionist and worked her way up. The lesson I got from that experience was to never forget where you come from, always pay it forward and never give up.

Stephanie Link: That’s a great lesson. I’m so glad you didn’t listen to her. What would you say motivates you at work?

Sarah Musante: The people. My job is very people-centered. Hightower is very much to me like a family. I have been here for almost 12 years and having support and leaders that believe in the talent and the people really motivates me. When I started here, we had less than 20 employees. We now have more than 1,000! We’ve never stopped growing and learning, and I am so motivated by that. I’ve never been bored a single day at Hightower. 

To learn more about Hightower’s supportive community, email us at advisorsuccess@hightoweradvisors.com

Hightower Advisors, LLC is an SEC registered investment adviser. Securities are offered through Hightower Securities, LLC, Member FINRA/SIPC.