The fifty faces podcast (2025)

13/06/2025

⭐Rob Smith, founder and CEO of the Phluid Project, discusses his journey from Detroit to becoming a prominent LGBTQ+ advocate in marketing. He highlights his career at Burdines, Macy's, Victoria's Secret, and Head of Brands, leading to his entrepreneurial venture, Phluid.

🌈 Rob emphasizes the importance of authenticity in corporate support for LGBTQ+ issues, noting the shift from performative "rainbow washing" to genuine support.

❤️ Aoifinn also asks him what he would tell his younger self...which Rob explains here...

To listen to more, check out the episode https://f.mtr.cool/qypeauoqso

12/06/2025

👉 It's not about listing mistakes, it's about learning how to manage the stress of making mistakes.

Some great advice here from Krishna Mohanraj of Diamond Hill.
He explains of the constant judgement calls throughout the life of an investment, and how these calls may not be perfect but managing the stress of mistakes is so important.

Aoifinn asks what advice he would give people who want to be stock pickers, in how to manage stress...

Listen to find out more!

https://f.mtr.cool/kadjkddltb

Thanks to GCM Grosvenor and Resolute Investment Managers for supporting this series of the podcast. If you're in investment and finance, do not miss out on these inspirational career stories!

12/06/2025

⭐NEW EPISODE OUT NOW
Pride month 2025

Rob Smith is Founder and CEO of the Phluid Project, a brand that recognizes the shifting attitude of Gen Z and young Millennials, merging fashion with community and education. He has served on boards for over a decade, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for Steve Madden, following a career in marketing in which he held a series of executive roles.

🏳️‍🌈 He chairs the development committee for the LGBTA+ Board Directors, is a TEDX speaker and is currently working on his first book.

🏳️‍🌈 Our conversation charts Rob’s career in fashion and how he found acceptance within this community as well as a keen sense for the ability for fashion to bridge the generational gap and tap into shifting psyches in markets. We talk about his work on boards and in the Phluid project, and what it stands for as well as why the current marketing campaign talks about Pride being a March and not a Parade. We move then to discuss the importance of role models at every stage of career progression.

https://f.mtr.cool/lohtuwrzpq

Thank you to Tom Soto and Latimer Partners LLC for supporting production costs of this series.

11/06/2025

⭐ OUT NOW ⭐

Krishna Mohanraj is International Portfolio Manager at Diamond Hill Capital Management, a $30bn asset manager headquartered in Columbus Ohio. Prior to joining Diamond Hill, Krishna spent time at Sanford C. Bernstein and Exelon corporation and prior to that was a product manager and solution architect.

We start by discussing Krishna’s background, starting in South India, how he moved to studying engineering in the US, and working in software and consulting during the .com bubble. He pursued finance in London, covering European equities, before returning to the US to manage a global equity portfolio. He reflects on the role of chance in his career, noting that while he made decisions along the way, crucial jumps happened by accident.

Moving to this current role at Diamond Hill we discuss the importance of teams, and how this is often an overlooked aspect of portfolio management. We look at how he nurtures a team – even from a largely remote base – and how autonomy is key to agency and empowerment.

https://f.mtr.cool/rtolrczwzx

Thank you to GCM Grosvenor and Resolute Investment Managers, Inc. for sponsoring Series 3 of 2025.
GCM Grosvenor is a global alternative asset management firm with a longstanding commitment to supporting small, emerging, and diverse investment managers. For over 30 years, the firm has developed expertise in funding and guiding these managers as part of its broader activity across alternative investments.
With over $20 billion in AUM dedicated to small and emerging managers and $16 billion in AUM dedicated to diverse managers, GCM Grosvenor leverages its experienced team, broad network, and proprietary sourcing capabilities to support their success. Through the Small, Emerging, and Diverse Manager Program, the firm creates opportunities for investors to access a wide range of talent while seeking to drive strong returns and impact. For more information, visit https://f.mtr.cool/itqivbgwjx
Resolute Investment Managers, Inc. is a diversified, multi-affiliate asset management platform that partners with more than 30 best-in-class affiliated and independent investment managers. Its unique platform delivers strategic value through a full suite of distribution, operational and administrative services available to affiliates and partners

11/06/2025

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Tom's deep commitment to community shines through in this episode where we hear about the events of the Palisades fires which led to Tom and his family (amongst thousands of others) being evacuated from their homes.

🏫 45% of Tom's son's school got destroyed, and to avoid a repeat of the zoom environment again (the first being during COVID) , Tom helped source and set-up a new school for children to learn safely and communicatively.

🏳️‍🌈 Aoifinn and Tom also chat about the importance of Pride whilst acknowledging the increased community concerns amidst the political changes.

🌲 We also discuss Tom's continuing work on SAS Earth Energy Technology, a biomass energy transition platform aimed at reducing catastrophic forest fires, and his involvement in starting a new fund with a close friend, with plans to announce the launch in early June.

Check out the episode now which is the first released of our special Pride month 2025 podcast series.

With thanks to Tom and Latimer Partners also for supporting the production costs of this series

10/06/2025

OUT NOW ❤️

✨Taryn Talley is a marketer with over 20 years of experience, who is currently Head of Marketing at an agency Position 2. She has had numerous marketing roles across the digital and traditional spectrum.

🏳️‍⚧️Our sweeping conversation takes us through Taryn’s upbringing and her career in marketing, as well as her experience in transitioning in her 20s and coming out on social media and mid-career and how this was received by her co-workers. We hear about inclusive and less inclusive environments, and about the power of allyship can make a tremendous difference in one’s career experience.

✨Staying on marketing we speak about inclusion and the power of marketing to embrace marginalized communities through intentional inclusion. We stress the importance of action over words.

🏳️‍⚧️We turn then to Taryn’s roots and her spirituality and in the particular the guidance she had from a spiritual guru, which taught her that her validity should come from within, and not from any external validation.

https://f.mtr.cool/petfdpitjg

Thank you to Tom Soto and Latimer Partners LLC for supporting production costs of this series.

07/06/2025

💪What does it mean to be a "Super with Impact"?

⭐It means enabling members to face the future with confidence
⭐It means being a gutsy advocate for a fair and healthy community.
⭐It means pursuing investment excellence with impact.

Listen to our latest episode now, with Debby Blakey , CEO of Hesta, where we talk about her commitment to responsible investment and gender diversity through initiatives like the 4040 Vision. Listen to find out more about 4040 vision and promoting gender diversity at executive levels in Australia.

https://f.mtr.cool/fnmjxbgydp

06/06/2025

What do you do when things are against you? Just keep going 🏳️‍🌈

We have launched our 5th series of our special pride month podcast and have another 6 amazing guests to come!

In our latest episode, Aoifinn and Tom discuss his views on the current state of the rights he was fought for all of his life.
Aoifinn reflects on the role of the Pride Series, and why we are continuing to tell these stories, which are important now than ever.

Check out the episode now on your platform of choice!

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27/05/2025

Climbing the ladder in finance and investment?

Check out our latest series of The Fiftyfaces Podcast for inspiring and empowering stories within the industry!
🌍 In our ten conversations with a diverse range of guests – sourced globally, we go top down, and bottom up – into the weeds, and take helicopter views.

🎙️ Tune in to hear about the technologies in venture capital and climate tech that excite even the most experienced investors who have seen multiple cycles with podcasts featuring Hunter Somerville and Beverley Gower-Jones, OBE on topics of big swing innovation in venture capital and what is on the cutting edge of climate tech.

🎙️Erik Hirsch of Hamilton Lane describes private equity’s evolution, the essential role of data and what lies ahead, while Peter Wilson of Harborvest shares his views on the topic as well as the importance of authenticity.

🎙️Fernando Vinzons, CIO at Chicago Teachers Pension Fund updates us on the fund’s growth and in particular the resilience of its emerging manager strategy, while Dan Gore of Darwin Alternative Asset Management describes the opportunity in small and mid-cap UK firms.

🎙️Rich Byrne seamlessly marries lessons from Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (in which he is a decorated champion) with lessons from the private credit world, while Cathy Bevan, also of Benefit Street, walks us through the evolution of structured credit over the past decade. Staying on credit, Sonali Pier of PIMCO describes her own journey from working as a credit trader into her current role, and we dive into the fascinating and emerging area of NAV lending with a discussion with Tom Doyle of Pemberton Asset Management.

❤️Please give us a follow as we will be launching our special Fiftyfaces Focus Pride series soon, and of course series 3 of 2025 of inspiring investors and their stories: You can find all of our podcasts on The Fiftyfaces Hub, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Thank you Eagle Point Credit and Benefit Street Partners for supporting this series!
With over $12 billion of AUM, Eagle Point Credit Management is a premier investment firm focused on generating strong returns for its clients through sourcing, evaluating and executing investments in CLOs, Portfolio Debt Securities and other credit investments that it believes shave the potential to outperform their respective markets generally.
Benefit Street Partners is a leading global alternative credit asset manager offering clients investment solutions across a broad range of complementary credit strategies, including direct lending, special situations, structured credit, high yield bonds, leveraged loans and commercial real estate debt and equity. As of December 31, 2024, BSP-Alcentra had $76 billion of assets under management.

12/05/2025

and Aoifinn Devitt

🎵Julia provided the music for episodes from series 5 of 2023, from her album"Feel Good about Feeling Bad" and here we throw back to her podcast episode!

⭐She is an associate at Tikehau Capital, the global alternative asset manager, based in NYC. And she is also now a member of AIF Global on the Women Investors' Leadership Steering Committee.

🎵She has trained as an actor, musician and VoiceOver artist. She has been Creator in Residence at Kickstarter, as well as a casting assistant among other roles in the entertainment industry. She studied economics at Pepperdine University.

⭐In her episode at the end of that series, we start with discussing her upbringing, her Ghanaian/Ugandan heritage and the early interest she developed in the arts as a child. We trace this then into her choice of college major and into her early career which saw her rotate through various creative roles.
This was abruptly ended by a tragic set-back which saw her forced into a period of medical rehabilitation and overcoming paralysis, and ultimately led to a pivot into a different career path, which saw her move into alternative asset management.

🎵Now a business development professional we discuss how her training in the arts prepared her for this role and reflect on the role of music as the soundtrack of our lives. Ultimately it all comes down to “attitude, belief and determination”.

07/05/2025

OUT NOW! ✨✨

Peter Wilson is Managing Director at HarbourVest Partners, a private markets specialist firm with over $140 billion in assets across 14 offices. Peter has worked at HarbourVest for most of his career, in a series of roles, most recently as one of two members of the firm’s Executive Management Committee which ran the firm from 2012 to 2024.

In this broadranging discussion, Peter discusses his career journey and the firm’s evolution as well as that of the private equity industry more broadly. We discuss the shift from standardized to bespoke investment strategies, catering to institutional and high net worth clients and some of the more derivative strategies that have emerged, such as secondaries, NAV lending and co-investments.

We discuss the the importance of authenticity in leadership and why pushing outside one’s comfort zone and taking on stretch challenges is so important to continue to grow in one’s career.

Thank you Eagle Point Credit and Benefit Street Partners for supporting this series!
With over $12 billion of AUM, Eagle Point Credit Management is a premier investment firm focused on generating strong returns for its clients through sourcing, evaluating and executing investments in CLOs, Portfolio Debt Securities and other credit investments that it believes shave the potential to outperform their respective markets generally.
Benefit Street Partners is a leading global alternative credit asset manager offering clients investment solutions across a broad range of complementary credit strategies, including direct lending, special situations, structured credit, high yield bonds, leveraged loans and commercial real estate debt and equity. As of December 31, 2024, BSP-Alcentra had $76 billion of assets under management.

The fifty faces podcast

13/06/2025

12/06/2025

12/06/2025

11/06/2025

11/06/2025

10/06/2025

07/06/2025

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27/05/2025

12/05/2025

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