My Unexpected Path to Risk Management

In college, I was a typical pre-med student, studying biology and psychology and expecting to enter the health care pipeline. I liked understanding the human body through a systems-based perspective. Learning about the human mind and human behavior fascinated me even more. By the time graduation arrived in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic changed my plans. Many people I knew who were working in health care were experiencing severe burnout. I assessed the risks and decided not to pursue this career.

Luck Meets Preparation

Eventually, I found myself working in a laboratory in a non-patient facing, sterilized environment. My work focused on closed-sample handling. It was very procedural and did not require much risk-based thinking beyond basic validation.

It was around this time that an acquaintance reached out about an entry-level strategy and transformation role in their company’s finance department. I initially declined — I had not taken a single business or finance course and assumed my unconventional background would not be appreciated.

Curious though, I reviewed the job description. The responsibilities were project management-focused, something I did have experience with, just not within financial services. I realized the worst outcome was simply rejection. So, I applied and got the job. Little did I know, that application would become the turning point of my career.

I was fortunate to join a team exposed to a wide range of initiatives, from mergers and acquisitions to business-driven and technology-focused projects. I was eager to learn.

I believe you have to try different things before you can confidently say what you love. This didn’t occur to me until I supported a project evaluating controls across our company’s cash flow cycle. I watched stakeholders assess control effectiveness through a very familiar perspective — constantly asking how processes would function if something did go wrong. This was not unlike the study of human systems. At the same time, there was also a human element in the way reviewers asked thoughtful questions and explained the rationale behind them.

It was people, psychology, risks, and systems all intersecting, and this just clicked for me. I wanted to focus on this type of work, and over time, I was able to take on more projects related to assessing controls. 

When to Pivot (Again)

A few years later, I hit a plateau. While enhancing our control environment remained an enterprise priority, these projects slowed in my pipeline. It was time to pivot again. I consistently communicated the direction I wanted to grow in. This wasn’t this first time my stakeholders had heard about my interests; I had been very vocal about my accomplishments and aspirations, long before I was ready to move.

A stakeholder I worked closely with advocated for me, and I transitioned into a new team. I now support regulatory exams, second-line compliance reviews, and internal audits impacting our business units. I serve as a key contact between the business and review partners, coordinating responses and supporting engagements end-to-end. My background in psychology remains relevant, as I build trust on both sides of an engagement — similar to what a mediator does — while translating complex requests into action. 

Upskill With Intention

Stepping into risk management is one thing. Staying competitive is another. I recognize that growth in this field requires building credibility in both experience and knowledge. For me, this means seeking stretch opportunities, staying prepared for when opportunity arises, and continuously seeking new skills. I am currently pursuing the Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) designation to solidify my foundation in internal audit. My long-term goal is to evolve from supporting reviews to eventually leading them.

If there is one lesson from my journey, it is that careers (and life) rarely move in straight lines. Stay curious, put yourself in positions where opportunities can reach you, and trust yourself when it is time to pivot. The path has an interesting way of revealing itself.