Ryan: What’s interesting is that — just right out the gate, you have the extra hurdle of constantly justifying yourself to do your job on the phone… but I’m sure it’s similar in person, at least initially, right?
Jenny: Exactly. First impressions are everything, especially on Wall Street. In the boardroom, there were usually good-looking white men. It was always two-piece suits, three-piece suits… and I would probably be the only woman. Sometimes I’ll be talking, and in a different corner of the table, they’d be talking about something else. They’re not listening to me. They would be saying, “Oh, yeah man, that chick was hot.” I mean, I’m right here … as if I couldn’t hear it, right?
They would talk about chicks and stuff like that, what they did over the weekends, and how many kegs they drank… At first, when I didn’t have the thick skin, I found it so rude … I have the mic — wait until I at least finish. When you have the mic, you need to get respect. I would think to myself, ‘Why are you even sitting in here if you’re talking about this chick, that chick, how many kegs over the weekend, bodies or shapes or whatever that they’re talking about?’
I’ve learned and I’ve grown a very thick skin … at first, I blocked it out. I would be looking at those who talked at the end of the table, or I’d be looking at the ones looking at me, then I would turn around and ignore them. It was childish, but when my skin got even thicker and thicker and thicker, I would play ball. I would say, “Why don’t you tell us more about that chick and how many kegs you guys really drank? Where was this awesome party?” It always shocked the entire room.
The looks on their faces all said, “Did she just …?”
Those are the kind of things I had to deal with, and with more experience, I only became stronger.