Millie Guzman ’07: A Corporate Trailblazer with Heart

When Millie Guzman ’07 was a child, her mother gave her some powerful advice. “No matter what you do, do it so well that when you’re not in the room, people notice,” Guzman says.

Guzman took her mother’s advice to heart and throughout her career, people have taken notice. This year, she was recognized as a Latina of Influence by Hispanic Lifestyles, a digital media and event production company in Menifee, CA.

In 2021 and 2022, Guzman was named Most Powerful Latinas by the Association of Latino Professionals for America. And twice, she along with her Hispanic-Latino colleagues were featured as part of Morgan Stanley’s Hispanic Heritage Month celebration, landing her image on a billboard in Times Square. “To see your name in lights is pretty amazing,” she says.

Guzman, an executive director and compliance officer for Morgan Stanley, is also co-chair of the company’s Latino Employee Network, an employee resource group for Hispanic-Latinos. “We’re a wonderful network of employees that’s created a great sense of community” she says.

Becoming a Leader

Guzman grew up in the Bronx, the youngest of six children. Her parents were from Puerto Rico, and Guzman spoke Spanish, a language she still uses every day.

Her two oldest brothers worked in the fast-changing world of high finance, and Guzman looked up to them as her role models. “Whatever they were doing was what I wanted to be doing,” she says. “I admired what they had accomplished. They somehow made it in finance in an era when very few Latinos were making it.”

When Guzman began her career, diversity was often about gender. “I operated in a predominantly male work environment,” she says. “If there was another woman in the room, it was ‘Okay sister, we’ve got this.’”

For years, Guzman was part of a team, until one day, she was tapped to take over a team. “I went from being a ‘me’ to a ‘we,’” she says. “I learned what made me excel as an individual wasn’t going to make me succeed as a manager. There was a lot of growing pain in that.”

Guzman had to quickly learn about team building and collaborating.” I had to define myself as a leader, she says. She began reading books on leadership, including Dale Carnegie’s treatise “How to Win Friends and Influence People.”

She looked to leaders she’d admired, including one manager who had a knack for motivating her employees and inspiring their loyalty. “I asked myself, ‘Why is it we will do anything for her? What is it about her?’” Guzman says.

Guzman realized the manager was skilled at paying attention to the details in people’s lives. “She knew everything about you,” Guzman recalls. “She knew if your child had a birthday party or other milestone over the weekend. She knew if you were going to a wedding or a Little League game. She even knew your dog’s name. So, on Mondays, she would always ask you a personal question about what you did. She was very personable, and I loved that about her. An essential part of leadership is to learn what motivates your team so you can engage and align them to the end goal."

Back to College

Guzman climbed the corporate ladder, eventually working at three investment banks. But at the time, she was still 11 credits shy of a bachelor’s which she had been pursuing at night. The lack of a college degree bothered her. Her counselor at CUNY Lehman College, where she’d done the bulk of her undergraduate work, suggested Empire State University.

For a year, she woke up every morning at 3 a.m. to do her classwork while attending weekend intensives. She also had a toddler and a full-time job. “It was a tough year, but “I needed to finish something I had started.”

In 2007, Guzman earned her Bachelor of Science in business management, and economics, an event that boosted her confidence. “In my field, you have to remain competitive.  

A Dedicated Mentor  

Over the years, the demographics in finance have changed. The number of women has increased, and companies are now more diverse.

Because of her own success and good fortune, Guzman feels a commitment to mentoring the next generation. “I always think of that quote, ‘To that which much is given, much is expected,’” she says.

Her mentees come to her in all sorts of ways, and Guzman has a lot of advice to share: Come in and work your tail off. Do things that make you stand out. Write the physical thank you note – it makes a difference. Level-up by always learning new skills.

Her goal is to leave the world an easier place to navigate for the next generation of Latino leaders. “If you can help a young person and give them a purpose, they can become productive members of society,” she says.  “We have to keep moving up, bringing others up and developing pipelines for the future.”