Today on Take the Stage, we are shining the spotlight on Ashley Kooyenga. Ashley's career starts with the financial downturn of 2008 and takes her through a series of rapid growth promotions that culminate in her current role with a lower middle-market family equity firm. Her path is peppered with pivots, recalibrations, and even a year-long pause. From investment banker to Director of healthcare leveraged finance at 28, a one-year long sabbatical to travel the world, and now as Director of Business Development for McNally Capital, Ashley shares her take on the most important attributes for finding success, the importance of following your gut feeling, the power of mentors, and more.

Episode Outline and Highlights

[1:00] Ashley walks us through her career that started out amidst a looming financial crisis. Within her career journey she explains her motivations for making the decisions she made and ultimately what drove her to embark on a year long travel-the-world tour. She adds plenty of flavor while explaining her trajectory and decisions made through her advancement. 

[6:00] Ready for goals and structure, Ashley returns home to pursue her long held desire to work for a healthcare operator which leads to a jump back into PE, this time at the firm level.

[10:40] Giving credit where credit is due, Ashley says some of the most important attributes for finding success are: 1) detecting the right team and accompanying support system; 2) being a hard worker and asking the right questions (because the real answers aren’t found in textbooks but rather in the people around you); and 3) taking initiative to make yourself available and being helpful towards others.

[18:00] Golden nugget takeaway time: by trying to do the right thing, listening to your gut and putting the power of leveraging mentors front of mind, the effort/work you do becomes all the more meaningful.

[24:00] How did Ashley’s year abroad make her a better professional? It grounded her and provided an opportunity to take a pause and put things into perspective in terms of being able to add value no matter the path you are on. For her, this was built around relationships and people, creating trust and being helpful.

[30:00] Ashley describes the favorite aspect of her work: that magical matchmaking moment in the beginning of a new business relationship when she realizes that her firm is the perfect partner to the acquisition company to help them keep growing.

Ashley Kooyenga's Bio and LinkedIn 

• Ashley Kooyenga is the Director of Business Development at McNally Capital. Ashley leads the firm’s origination and business development efforts, including sourcing new platform and add-on acquisition opportunities. Prior to joining McNally Capital, she worked in various roles across the leveraged finance industry at Ally Corporate Finance and Cordant Health.

McNally Capital Website | LinkedIn

Important Causes to Ashley

• Chicago Lights
• Compassion International

Connect with Alexis Alvarez on LinkedIn | [email protected]