Exiled: Veronika Koroleva, gunnercooke
Today’s Exile is Veronika Koroleva, Partner at gunnercooke. Veronika’s Exile celebrates the importance of mentorship and resilience, as well as embracing alternative working models to deal with problems that aren’t quite as unprecedented as we give them credit for.
Welcome to Exiled: The Real Assets People, a podcast where we ‘strand’ a guest on a desert island and ask them who from their professional past, present, and future they’d choose to be stranded with. After all, it’s people that make a profession.
From her past
Rather than any specific individual, Veronika chose the leaders at the forefront of commodities finance in the 1990s. Although the world today looks very different from back in the ‘90s, Veronika believes that we can learn a lot from former dealmakers about how to break new ground in tumultuous times. After all, this isn’t the first time that we have seen geopolitical uncertainty - yet commodities finance leaders have always found ways to keep the world turning.
From her present
Veronika nominated Sara Goulbourne, one of the founders of gunnercooke. Sarah is a female entrepreneur who started gunnercooke 15 years ago as one of the only alternative law firms on the market at the time. Somebody who can take a leap of faith like this, stick with it and become successful would make a fantastic island companion.
From her future
Veronika loves science fiction, and how it shows us all sorts of inconceivable futures. Given the world’s unpredictability, Veronika would rather have a glimpse into a future far removed from our own than pin down one individual. Perhaps some new technology that we haven’t even dreamed of would be the best thing to take into Exile!
Bonus round
To bring some light relief, Veronika threw in a nomination for Tom Lehrer, American satirist, mathematician and musician. She feels that his dark sense of humour and multiple talents would be a refreshing presence in Exile.
To learn more about the ITFA mentoring programme, click here.
If you have a colleague or industry peer who you’d like to hear from on Exiled, email eavie.burnett@exilegroup.com.
