Bartiromo: A woman in a male-dominated world

Korri Kezar of the Dallas Business Journal spoke with Fox Business Network anchor Maria Bartiromo about her career.

Here is an excerpt:

During your career, what obstacles have you had to overcome to get where you are now?

When I first started in this business, there were very few women, and Wall Street was a boys club. I went down to the NYSE floor with my microphone and it upset people. They didn’t want me there both because I was a reporter and a woman. There were plenty of obstacles in making sure people trusted me and gave me information.

When I first got down to the exchange, I found out my boss’ boss – Jack Welch, CEO of GE – was coming down to the exchange. I thought “What a great opportunity,” I was going to be the one who showed Jack Welsh the stock and the interest in stock. But as soon as I approached the GE post, this older man said “Run along! This is not for your little TV show, this is business.” You can imagine the knots in my stomach and the way I felt. I took a breath, I said “Don’t speak to me that way” and left. But I came back. And I kept coming back. I decided I was going to make sure I studied and knew my job better than anyone else. The man continued to harass me for years. He just didn’t like me there. When I passed him to get on air, he always made rude comments. But I kept going, studying and working hard. I’ll tell you, over time, that works.

Later, he apologized and told me he was reading my columns.

Read more here.