One To Watch: Nora Mahoney

  Very few women are investment bankers, says Nora Mahoney, vice president and counsel for the past four years at Carleton McKenna & Co., a boutique investment banking firm. Her peers call her ambitious, but not obscenely driven; helpful and kind, but nobody’s fool. Look for more women to enter financial careers in Cleveland if this strong female role model has her way.  

Favorite misconception: Investment banking is “not great” for workplace/home/personal balance. That may be true of larger firms, but not for boutique companies, she says. 

What makes you a Clevelander: “Cleveland is home for me, and the kindness of the community really speaks to me. But when I travel anywhere else, I get confused if the lake isn’t to the north. When I am in Chicago, I never know where I am.”

Hobbies and interests: Mahoney is a passionate vinyl collector. She has digitalized music, but she says “it’s more of an active listening process when you play vinyl.” She is also a member of Baldwin Wallace University’s board of trustees.    

Most people don’t know: “I had an extensive insect collection. I used to study insects, especially beetles.”