Gloria Simpson — Client Service Associate
A love of communications has always been a constant in my life. In the fifth grade, I created my own weekly newspaper for my classmates filled with articles about important topics such as the latest playground repairs, my pets, fictitious horoscopes and the cafeteria lunch menu. While in high school, I was a member of both the newspaper and yearbook staff. When it came time to decide on my college major, Journalism was the obvious choice.
During my junior year of college, several of my fellow classmates were studying abroad and sending detailed emails describing their experiences. I devoured every word of those emails and looked forward to hearing all about their travels once they returned.
From that point on, I knew that my goal after graduating from college with a degree in Journalism was to live and work abroad in a large, international city such as London, Paris or Barcelona. After doing extensive research, I found the Mountbatten Internship Programme, which gives recent U.S. college graduates the chance to live and work in London for one year. As soon as I received my degree, I moved to London to work at the Royal Bank of Scotland in the Marketing and Relationship Management Department.
After my internship ended, I went on to earn a Master’s Degree in Journalism from London Metropolitan University and worked as a Recruiting and Marketing Assistant at the digital media consulting firm Blue Latitude. Living as an expat in London was a truly amazing chapter of my career; I made many lifelong friends from all over the world.
This international work experience prepared me for my new life as a New Yorker beginning in 2012. I worked at the private equity firm Branford Castle as an Executive Assistant and Office Manager. I then worked as a Deal Assistant on the Private Equity Fundraising Team at The Blackstone Group until I found the Client Service Associate role at Daruma Capital.
Being at Daruma reminds me of when I first met my fellow Mountbatten Interns in London. My Daruma co-workers share many of the same characteristics as the Mountbatten Interns: intellectually curious, hard-working and striving for excellence. My position as a Daruma Client Service Associate involves frequent communication with investors, updating our website, maintaining accurate client databases, writing reports and doing extensive research to prepare for client meetings. This role aligns perfectly with my experience in journalism and financial services and my first true calling: communications.