MESSAGE 16: CHRISTINE CONCEPCIÓN

Christine

Concepción

Founder and CEO, xipi

Question:  As a leader, what is your message to Americans who are frightened about the future due to the Coronavirus?

Message: Depending on where you are in the country, you may have already been home for weeks by now. You’ve exhausted all of Netflix’s content, you may have attended dozens and dozens of Zoom meetings and, assuredly, you received e-mails from CEO’s saying that these are challenging times. I hate to be another one to say the same thing. But they are.

The truth is that none of us know how to pandemic perfectly. This is uncharted waters for everyone. Some of you may be concerned about keeping your family safe and being able to provide for them. I know some of you have lost your jobs or know someone who has. And all of these things are frightening.

I will offer this - there has not yet, in the history of time, been a time where we did not overcome. You are watching this now likely on a device, a device that thousands of years ago could not even been thought of.

Great companies are built in turmoil and you would be surprised what opportunities make themselves available in hard times.

I am asking you for tenacity. I am asking you for some grit. And I am promising you sunnier days ahead.

I want to say thank you to all of our essential workers. Say thank you to them when you see them. Our drivers - our grocery store workers - of course our health care workers. And I want to say thank you to Anthony and Justin for giving us this opportunity to speak to a wider audience.

Love from New York.

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Christine Concepción is the Founder and CEO of xipi, a fun, easy, no bull, financial literacy gaming and media engine for millennials and gen Z.

Christine is a first generation New York native from the South Bronx, passionate about democratizing accessible education for all. Christine spent years working in entertainment and media creating world wide viral content for Grammy award winning recording artists before pivoting to financial services including, investment banking, consulting and alternative asset classes.

Christine holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a B.A. in Film and Media Studies from Columbia University in the City of New York, Magna Cum Laude.  Christine is also a graduate of Founder Gym, where she was named ‘Best in Cohort’ for Cohort 12, and Y Combinator Startup School.

When Christine isn’t working she enjoys time with her dachshund, fitness, and devoting energy to philanthropic endeavors that are focused on sustainability and human rights. 

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Video and Photo: Courtesy Christine Concepción

MESSAGE 14: ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI

Anthony Scaramucci

Founder and Co-Managing Partner, SkyBridge

Question:  As a leader, what is your message to Americans who are frightened about the future due to the Coronavirus?

Message: I started a series with Justin Higgins, ‘America Will Be Back!, Messages from leaders to Americans experiencing COVID-19 adversity.’

My message is to stay brave, put things in perspective, be resilient, and wake up everyday with a gratitude list. It will help you out a lot.

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Anthony Scaramucci is Founder and Co-Managing Partner of SkyBridge focusing on marketing and business development. Prior to founding SkyBridge in 2005, Mr. Scaramucci co-founded investment partnership Oscar Capital Management, which was sold to Neuberger Berman, LLC in 2001. Earlier, he was a vice president in Private Wealth Management at Goldman Sachs & Co.

In 2016, Mr. Scaramucci was ranked #85 in Worth Magazine’s Power 100: The 100 Most Powerful People in Global Finance. In 2011, he received Ernst & Young’s “Entrepreneur of the Year – New York” Award in the Financial Services category.

Anthony is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), vice chair of the Kennedy Center Corporate Fund Board, a board member of both The Brain Tumor Foundation and Business Executives for National Security (BENS), and a Trustee of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Foundation. He was a member of the New York City Financial Services Advisory Committee from 2007 to 2012.

He is the author of three books: The Little Book of Hedge Funds, Goodbye Gordon Gekko, and Hopping Over the Rabbit Hole, a 2016 Wall Street Journal best seller.

In November 2016, Mr. Scaramucci was named to President-Elect Trump’s 16-person Presidential Transition Team Executive Committee. In June 2017, he was named the Chief Strategy Officer of the Export-Import (EXIM) Bank. He served as the White House Communications Director for a period in July 2017.

Mr. Scaramucci received a B.A. in Economics from Tufts University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

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Video and Photo: Courtesy Anthony Scaramucci

MESSAGE 9: KEVIN MALONE

Kevin Malone

Head of Business Development, North America, ISI Emerging Markets

Question:  As a leader, what is your message to Americans who are frightened about the future due to the Coronavirus?

Message: First and foremost, it's OK to feel fear. I, like just about everyone, have felt a certain level of it over the last few weeks, especially at the onset of this situation. Fear is the first in a series of emotions we inevitably go through when confronting a challenge. However, it's important to remember that fear is generally related to lack of control of the future as opposed to our present situation. What we do have control over is what we are choosing to do with this open-ended time Covid-19 has forced on us. 

The kind of emotional shift we're all going through should propel us to come out of this situation better than how we entered it. A genuine appreciation for life and its fragility, the importance of health and family, and the individual role we each play in determining the quality of the world we live in. As leaders, the same thing applies. Just as we must shift personally, so must business strategies. We must create adjustable paths that move in sync with this new reality and then turn those paths into new ideas.

We will get through this just as we have previous challenges, the key is for everyone to do our part in shaping the outcome and being about something bigger than ourselves. 

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Kevin Malone is the Head of Business Development for North America at ISI Emerging Markets, a firm that provides data and intelligence to global investors.

He co-founded and is a strategic advisor for NorthStar Consulting, a tourism and strategy implementation firm focused on the Caribbean market. He is also an executive member of Revenue Collective, a private membership organization for commercial growth operators.

Prior to this, Kevin worked in the macroeconomic research field as a Director of Business Development at Medley Global Advisors and Roubini Global Economics where he was of charge of new and existing business with hedge funds, asset managers and family offices. 

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Photo: Courtesy Kevin Malone