Meet Lucy Rutishauser, Sinclair's "Chief Financial Everything"

Mary Ellen Holden amp160Why financeLucy Rutishauser amp160I have always been interested in economics and financeamp160 I earned my MBA from the University of Baltimore and was lucky enough to have an economics professor recommend me for a Junior Treasury Analyst role at Black ampamp Decker which I landed in 1988amp160 Almost thirty years later after several pivots in my career all within treasury I was just promoted to CFO or as we like to call it CFE Chief Financial EverythingMary Ellenamp160 Why did you choose Sinclair Broadcast GroupLucy amp160In 1998 with my employer at the time moving and having a young family I was looking for a company that I could feel good aboutamp160 I investigated prospects in the region and identified Sinclair as a company with growth opportunities and a good cultural fitamp160 I literally quotcold calledquot Sinclair and suggested that they needed to hire someone like meamp160 They called me back and offered me the position of Assistant Treasurer which was a new role created for meMary Ellen amp160How do you achieve a worklife balanceLucyamp160 From the start Sinclair offered worklife balanceamp160 I worked hard but they also made the effort to accommodate my needs It helped that I had a good support system in place and that I am very good at time managementMary Ellen amp160With media in flux how do you steer Sinclair39s successLucy amp160Sinclair is an industry leader with a strong visionamp160 My role is to make sure that the financial areas remain agile to support the company39s growth strategy and to identify potential pitfallsamp160The analysis and insights we provide inform key business decisionsMary Ellen amp160What are the challenges of being one of two female corporate officersamp160Lucy amp160That is a question that I am frequently asked While on paper it appears that way when you review the organizational structure you will see that we have many womenamp160heading departments or in the No 2 spotamp160 While these female leaders do not appear on public documents they are instrumental to the success of Sinclairamp160 Women are in the flow and making an impact amp160All our people are terrificMary Ellen amp160What makes you well suited for this new roleLucy amp160amp160My success is based on my contributions abilities and the confidence that others have in meamp160 I believe what separates leaders is that they draw out the passion to excel in others and that they know how to build and rely on strong teams I cannot be a specialist in everythingamp160 With the help of my team I am able to grow and focus on the big picture and help inform Sinclair39s business decisionsMary Ellenamp160 How important is mentorshipamp160 Lucy amp160amp160Mentorship has always been important to me and my careeramp160The Assistant Treasurer at Black ampamp Decker was my first manager and mentoramp160 She was tough and had high expectations but helped me to navigate the company and ultimately my careeramp160I do my best to mentor as many people as possible I encourage them to get involved ask questions challenge the status quo and to never stop learningamp160 I maintain an opendoor policy and encourage people to stop by when they have questions or when they are seeking guidance about the company or their careerMary Ellen amp160What is the next frontier for you and your contemporariesLucy amp160Financial roles are expandingamp160This gives the financial team the ability to insert themselves into corporate initiatives across the boardamp160 As a public company our involvement goes beyond ROI as we provide insight and guidance into rules andamp160regulations workflow analysis trending and moreMary Ellen amp160What advice do you have for younger womenLucy amp160Broadly speaking it39s not about just letting your work speak for youamp160You need to be your own advocate by marketing yourself internally speaking up with ideas and getting involvedamp160When I look back on my career I was fortunate that Sinclair allowed me to create my own opportunity back in 1998Mary Ellen amp160 Is there an untapped opportunity for women in broadcast televisionLucyamp160 The big opportunity for younger women is ATSC 30 which is the next gen broadcast platform it is destined to transform the industryamp160Right now broadcast engineers are mostly male this will changeamp160 Women in high school stem and college consumer science programs can help reshape the fieldamp160I wish them the courage to engage in this unchartered frontier as it will present them with a multitude of opportunities as the industry continues to evolveClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this article are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggers

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Meet Lucy Rutishauser, Sinclair's "Chief Financial Everything"

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Meet Lucy Rutishauser, Sinclair's "Chief Financial Everything"

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