When Nella Webster O’Grady, principal at Newport Beach-based investment adviser Palo Capital Inc., was honored at the Business Journal’s Women in Business awards luncheon at Hotel Irvine on May 4, she immediately reflected on her career in finance in Orange County. (See profiles of other winners, pages 1, 4, 6 and 11.)
She said she never expected to receive the award, and only tried to lead by example throughout her 40-year career and to be supportive of other women working in finance.
“I felt like a winner just by being nominated,” she said with emotion in her voice during her acceptance speech. She later said that she fought the urge to cry with happiness when her name was called.
Surfing, Math
Webster O’Grady was born in Panama and raised in Guam. She decided to attend Chapman University in Orange because she wanted to bring her surfboard to college, she told the Business Journal with a laugh after the event.
She earned a degree in mathematics in the early 1970s and as a college senior received a job offer from Security Pacific National Bank in Los Angeles.
She worked with Pacific National for 22 years and became a vice president in the trust department, then left in 1993 to develop the Southern California trust operations for Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank.
Webster O’Grady said she would join the trust operations for three more financial institutions—Wilmington, Del.-based national financial adviser Wilmington Trust, and First American Trust and First Foundation Inc., both in Irvine—prior to becoming a principal at Palo Capital in 2009.
She never needed to draft a resume prior to changing employers, she said, because the banks came to recruit her. “Successful and growing companies know that there is talent in Orange County,” she said, adding that they will approach the people they want to hire.
Webster O’Grady also said that she faced a few hurdles as a banker: Many of the female bankers in her early career were too focused on their own goals to notice when an associate needed additional mentoring.
“There weren’t a lot of women role models throughout my career,” she said. “So I promised (myself) that I would become a role model and help everyone improve their careers more quickly.”
She chose to work for locally based employers because she preferred leaders who understood the differences between the economies of Orange County and Los Angeles, she said.
She recalled one national bank leader asking for an explanation of why its Orange County branch lacked actors, movie producers, and directors as clients.
Those individuals live 50 miles away in Hollywood, but only people who live in Orange County understood that hurdle, she said.
Nimble
Webster O’Grady decided to join Palo Capital in 2009, about five years after her husband formed the company, because she enjoyed the freedom of working for a small, nimble firm that could quickly respond to clients.
“I’ve always been an entrepreneurial spirit,” she said. “I don’t really work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.”
Palo Capital is owned by its seven employees and manages about $200 million in assets for clients in 17 states, Webster O’Grady said.
The company started by providing investment advice to family members and close friends.
“And each of the partners invests their own money alongside our clients” to demonstrate Palo Capital’s confidence in the strategy, Webster O’Grady said.
The business grew by word of mouth as clients talked about their investment returns and as Webster O’Grady dedicated her time to local nonprofit groups. “People became interested (in me) and Palo as they noticed my energy and support to the charities,” she said.
Time for Millennials
Webster O’Grady said she has retreated from various nonprofits in the last 10 years but that she has no intention of retiring anytime soon.
“The next generation of leaders needs to take their place in Orange County,” she said.
She said she still feels that women working in Orange County need role models, people to motivate them to take risks, support them during difficult times, and offer techniques to overcome challenges.
“It’s always too early to give up on your dreams,” Webster O’Grady told the audience at the lunch event. “And you’re never too old to pursue and achieve your dreams.”
