Edie Fraser – Managing Director at Diversified Search Odgers Berndtson

Financial success secret from a successful exec and entrepreneur? Give your money away.

By Taylor Mallory

“What extravagance do you allow yourself?”

On a panel at a women’s conference, famed entrepreneur and diversity executive Edie Fraser was asked this question. One woman replied, “I buy diamonds.” Another treated herself to shoes. Fraser replied, “I buy things on eBay so I can give my money to causes.”

“The principles, values and connections I’ve made through philanthropy have gotten me ahead in my career. Plus, you can’t give unless you’re financially successful, which is exactly what I wanted to do, so it motivated me to earn more,” says Fraser, renowned business writer, co-author of Do Your Giving While You Are Living (with Robyn Spizman), and managing director and chair of the diversity practice at Diversified Search Odgers Berndtson, the largest woman-founded and -owned executive search firm in the country. She is also author of six books and publications on business, women and diversity and sits on countless boards, including that of Make Mine a $Million.

When President Kennedy asked what Americans could do for their country, Fraser heard him loud and clear – and joined the Peace Corps staff. When Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, she became more concerned with domestic issues and worked for a number of causes – from inner-city ghettos to Native American camps – for five years.

While Fraser’s career path was (and has continued to be) charted by her heart, she knew she’d need to earn a lot more to give away as much as she wanted, so she used her business sense (which she shares below) to start her venture into entrepreneurship – eventually founding Diversity Best Practices, where she worked with more than 250 major corporations to promote women and people of color.

PINK: What’s the best business advice you ever received?
Edie Fraser: I asked Walter Cronkite to head up a nonprofit I founded. At first he said yes, but then he met with me to say, “I’m going to disappoint you. I can’t do it now in a presidential election year. I want you to learn to never take on something where you can’t get truly engaged. Don’t get on a nonprofit board unless you can really contribute and make a difference.” That was a major lesson for me. If you’re going to get involved, be able to focus.

PINK: How do you approach the occasional failure in business?
E.F.: Failure makes you stronger if you don’t focus on the negative side but rather on what you can do about it and with it. For example, I just interviewed 10 women who ran for seats in Congress and lost. Some are bitter about losing and how they were treated by the media. One, Siobhan “Sam” Bennett, we recruited to head the Women’s Campaign Forum because of her passion to lead and her positive attitude after she failed, knowing that negativity wouldn’t serve her.

PINK: How do you manage Life/Work balance?
E.F.: By having focus and a supportive family. My husband puts up with my shenanigans because I’m so dedicated – and he’s got his own causes. That makes both of our lives worthwhile. And I bring in friends to help and promote others to lead, because you can’t do it all alone. And that gives me an opportunity to spend quality time with people I love. I do my job first, then nonprofits and family, then myself. I don’t make enough time for me, but that’s the choice I’ve made in life. You’ve got to balance the way you see fit.

PINK: What are your business success secrets?
E.F.: Focus, focus, focus. Go after what you want to do and prioritize. Beyond that, it’s basically about learning what most of us don’t do well – knowing when and how to say yes, no and maybe. Sometimes it’s best to say, “I’ll get back to you.” If you take too much on, you’re overloaded and can’t focus on bottom-line goals. If you’ve got to bill so many dollars a month, you’ve got to focus on that. You can’t give if you don’t get. And you must learn how to truly engage others. Some of us learn that early in life, some late. But if you truly amass the talents of others, particularly young people (I have three just out of college working for me) – their skill sets about tech and research, their passion and enthusiasm – that’s an invaluable resource for your business. Finally, there is nothing more important than building and nurturing relationships.

PINK: What’s the most important lesson you learned as an entrepreneur?
E.F.: When women are in business, you’ve just gotta know the finances – the difference between a cash flow statement, accounts receivable and accounts payable. When my accounts receivable looked good, I wasn’t understanding how that was different from having positive cash flow, and that hurt my business. If you don’t have that expertise, find someone you can trust to help. Same thing with legal advice. You’ve got to find committed people you can learn from.