The PROfile: wiseHer co-founder Lisa Raiche, MST ’05 on growing companies and careers

Experience

GUT-LISTENER-IN-CHIEF 2015-presentRaiche worked in corporate finance for more than a decade, with a single goal. “I wanted to be the CFO. From a training perspective, that’s what I was moving my career toward.” Things changed about five years ago. She turned 40 and revisited her priorities. People all around her seemed to be leaving full-time gigs to start ventures of their own. Then Raiche was passed over for an opportunity she thought she was a shoe-in for. But the real push to make a career on her own terms came from within. Her advice to others: “Listen to your gut. My mom said that for years. Now I get it.” DIRECTOR OF CONFIDENCE 2017-presentA month after that epiphany, Raiche left corporate America and started her own CPA firm. Bodhi Business Advisors helps small businesses become more profitable by offering high-level, CFO-style advising on top of more routine bookkeeping and tax services. She admits that the leap to business owner is not one she could have taken earlier. “Confidence is a big issue for women,” she says. “Twenty years ago, I was afraid of my own shadow.” For Raiche, confidence came with age, experience and overcoming personal hurdles over time. But she urges women to recognize that, whatever their own challenges — particularly the self-doubt of “imposter syndrome” — they are in good company. “If you walk into that networking event, I can guarantee you that 75 to 80% of those women don’t feel like they belong there. Use adversity as a stepping-stone to the next place you need to get.” SELF-PRIORITIZATION MANAGER 2019-presentRaiche puts a lot into supporting clients. “These entrepreneurs are usually working by themselves; they don’t have the management team right there,” she explains. “I provide that sounding board.” But that level of commitment came at a cost. “I was busy all the time, but certain things I wanted to get done weren’t getting done.” Now, she dedicates every Friday to her own company — no client-related work allowed. As Raiche puts it: “You will not get ahead with your business unless you absolutely put time into working on your business.”Education FOREVER UNIVERSITY Graduation date: NeverToo often, Raiche says, women don’t go for great opportunities because they haven’t mastered a certain skill or had a particular experience. “If a job description isn’t an exact match for your résumé, that doesn’t mean you’re not qualified for it. You just might need a couple more skills.” In addition to credentials such as the master’s degree that Raiche earned at Bentley, she urges women to consider less formal routes to learning. Books, videos and mentoring platforms like wiseHer are other options. “It can be something as simple as reading a couple pages a day.”Affiliations CIRCLE OF TRUST “Women typically don’t ask for help,” Raiche says. “But if you’re running a business, you absolutely need help.” In particular, she suggests creating a group of fellow business owners or other professionals to act as accountability partners — people to help track progress toward your long- and short-term goals. They don’t have to be in the same field. And if you can’t find a group, even one other person will do. Raiche checks in with her accountability partner twice a month. “It’s helpful to have someone to say, ‘You were going to work on X, Y, Z this month. Did you?’” NETWORK FOR LIFE Raiche favors a style of networking that can start as early as high school or college. Identify a handful of people to build relationships with, she advises. “Keep light touches with them here and there. Now, with social media, you have that opportunity.” If you’ve nurtured these connections all along, they become a core network you can consult when pursuing an opportunity. “It’s like a team you can always go to.” BENTLEY MAGAZINE | 21

CLASS NOTES

“I do” in the Year of Social Distancing …

The promise “for better, for worse” took on new meaning for couples who married during the pandemic. Jasmin Sultana ’09 of Paris and Jonathan Rousselle said their vows on October 3, 2020, in the French region of Picardie.