Persistence, resilience are relevant in investments, too.

REVA Shakkottai said she has lived by the credo of persistence and resilience throughout her career in investments and finance. And as Neuberger Berman's new regional vice president in the private asset management group, she is responsible for her clients' investment strategies.

"Money management is not just about punching data into an asset allocation model," she said, "but about having a singular focus on helping clients choose portfolio strategies that win over time in virtually any market environment."

She grew up in Pasadena; her father was a rocket scientist. She obtained a bachelor's degree in from USC's Marshall School of Business and her M.B.A. in finance from UCLA's Anderson School of Management.

After graduating, her first job was with investment management and research firm Sanford Bernstein. The job helped prepare Shakkottai for her next post, as a vice president of Bank of America. She spent two years with the bank and learned the various aspects of investment caretaking and preservation of wealth from the banking side.

"I wanted to advise my clients in a more specialized setting," she said. "At Neuberger Berman, I can focus on individualized service. We're a firm with a specialization in money management, but being a Lehman Brothers company, we have all the advantages of a global investment bank."

In her new position, Shakkottai has set three goals for herself: advising younger executives in their entrepreneurial endeavors; letting her clients know how their wealth is working for them; and giving no-holds-barred advice to her female clients.

"Women are starting businesses twice as often as men," she said. "And at least 75 percent of all women will be solely responsible for their finances and purchases at some point in their adult lives. To ignore the importance of this segment of the population is a huge mistake. Women are eager to work with an advisor who will tell them what they need to hear, not what they want to hear, and who will come up with creative financial solutions."

Shakkottai lives in Santa Monica and enjoys tennis, yoga, and snowboarding.