Building A Reputation of “Yes”: An Interview with Christina Hamati
Meet Christina Hamati
Ten years of ensuring financial security
Christina Hamati has over 10 years of experience practicing law in the financial services industry, including consulting, training, and writing on issues related to financial planning, insurance, planning for business owners, trusts and estates, retirement planning, charitable giving, and tax planning.
In her current role as Assistant General Counsel at Northwestern Mutual, she supports the company’s risk products (life insurance, disability insurance, long-term care insurance, and annuities) through the entire product life cycle, from product innovation, design, and development to the payment of claims.
Christina is also dedicated to giving back to our Milwaukee community. She currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and serves as a Big Sister for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Milwaukee.
FGPM is thrilled to share Christina’s best advice for young professionals in this week’s Community Leader Interview!
How can young professionals excel in the workplace?
Start off by always saying “yes”!
You never know where a new opportunity will lead. You will build a reputation as someone who is willing to work and willing to learn. You will get more work that way and eventually as you get busier, you will have your pick of things you want to keep working on and things to delegate.
What are your best tips for those that are new to networking?
Don’t place too much importance on it.
Think of it as really no different than building your social circle in other ways – make friends, be curious about people, stay in touch with recurring get-togethers. Don’t be motivated by what others can do for you but be motivated by truly getting to know other people and understand how your worlds intersect.
Why is mentorship important?
You want a sounding board, another perspective and opinion, and to seek out folks like you who have charted a path you admire. From them, you can learn how to chart your own path or get to where they are!
If you are a first generation professional, what does being a first generation professional mean to you?
I’m not a first generation professional, but first generation corporate employee. I am constantly learning things I didn’t know about American, and specifically corporate, culture. I give myself grace when I make mistakes with a simple mantra that I think extends past this context. Instead of beating myself up, I think “I am learning” or “I am still learning.”
and finally, What do you love about Milwaukee?
I love living by Lake Michigan. We are so lucky to have this amazing natural beauty right at our fingertips. I love the architecture. The unpretentiousness. I also love that immigrants have really made Milwaukee special – whether it’s the German immigrants who gave us beer gardens, the Italian immigrants who gave us wonderful Italian restaurants and groceries, the Arab immigrants who gave us fabulous Middle Eastern cuisine on the south side, Asia and Latino food influences, and the summer festivals to celebrate these different cultures, etc.!
Find Christina on LinkedIn.
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