Sandie O'Connor, Managing Director, Chief Regulatory Affairs Officer, JPMorgan Chase

O’CONNOR: A guy who was running the business at the time asked me if I would be willing to consider becoming a trader. People counseled me away from trading. Because girls didn’t trade. Girls sold. And that was the feminine aspect of Wall Street so to speak.

In fact, I decided to trade, and by making that decision and learning how to take risks and manage risks, that’s made all the difference and that market expertise has served me well in my entire career.