This week, while in NYC launching The Recipe: A fable for Leaders and Teams, our new book by Amilya Antonetti, I got to meet an amazing woman. Her name is Lynn Tilton – and boy is she making a difference!
It’s not every day that you meet a girl from the Bronx who has worked her way up to not only phenomenal success (her company Patriarch Partners has SEVEN BILLION DOLLARS under management) but who is so “together” that her success comes not from a desire for cash but from a drive to make a difference for others by saving companies and saving and creating American jobs.
Lynn was one of three leaders that AMA Enterprises and CorePurpose honored as inspiring leaders at a private VIP and Media Event in New York as we launched The Recipe. While the book is a story about how teams and leaders come together, Lynn’s LIFE is a prime example of how one woman’s quest to make a difference can affect millions! (You can see more pictures from the event honoring Lynn here. )
Lynn graciously agreed to answer some of my questions about how she has achieved so much. As she spoke, I learned so much that this is actually the first of a three part series I will be running about our conversation in the week to come. It will start here, continue on Amilya.com, and conclude on Going for the Brass Ring, my blog at Fast Company.
So here are some of the first bits that Lynn shared with me…
It started in the Bronx…
My life journey has evolved from my birthplace – Bronx, NY- through the
ivory towers of Yale and Columbia Universities to the male-dominated world
of Wall Street. Today, as the founder and CEO of Patriarch Partners, I
focus not only on the more than 70 companies in our portfolio, but also on
“the Main Streets” of once thriving towns across America, that struggle for
survival in the new economy that has turned its back on the American worker.
Patriarch’s mission is to rebuild America one company at a time and one job
at a time and it has been made possible through hard work, an innovative
spirit and an unwavering quest for truth and light where others see
hopelessness.
The truth is cold and hard but the first step on the path to hope and
salvation. ~ Lynn Tilton, Patriarch Partners
Saving America…Once Company at a Time
My business is founded upon my personal mission…the attempt to save
America, one company at a time, one job at a time. The Patriarch platform
is built upon the premise that each company otherwise would have been liquidated, but
instead saved and rebuilt, is value added to our economy and our nation.
With the restructure and renewal of each of these companies, jobs are
sustained and created. Over the years we have saved approximately 150
companies from the throws of liquidation and 250,000 jobs associated with
those companies.
Who was your inspiration?
My father–his teachings and his values–have long been my inspiration. We
were raised to give back to the world and to others. It is for this reason
that my firm is named Patriarch Partners; in the name of the father. My dad
died my junior year in college but that which he taught me lives on in our
work and the lives of the families who we touch.
Turning Dust to Diamonds
My business and my personal life no longer have boundaries. I am driven by
the cause that this business has become. Knowing the loss of a working
parent while young, I experienced the devastation such loss can bring to the
structure of a family. That loss and the memory motivates me to spare
families from that desolation. In the end, I believe that making money and
making the world a better place are not mutually exclusive options.
If you had 3 wishes – what would they be?
- People standing shoulder to shoulder with common vision and perseverance to
rebuild America. - A world with more appreciation and less expectation.
- A little more calm and sleep for me.
So that’s how we started…
But I have so much more to share. Please stay tuned as the interview continues this weekend on Amilya.com and concludes next week on Going for the Brass Ring, my blog at Fast Company. I’ll be posting the links on Twitter, on Facebook, and through the comments link here on this first part of the series. Just subscribe to the comments here on this post so you don’t miss the great insights from Lynn to come. You can also follow Lynn on Facebook and Twitter. I do. 🙂