Courtney Moeller explains that she has worked in multiple male-dominated environments (investing, oil & gas, and the Navy) and argues that competence wins respect. She recounts being surprised to be invited to influential “tables,” realizing many men there lacked expertise, and turning that realization into an advantage that increased her credibility.
The investing space is very male dominated. The oil and gas space is very male dominated. The spaces in the Navy were very male dominated. But I think at the end of the day, you're either really good at what you do or you're not. And I think once people are able to see that I'm really good at what I do, it gives me a whole nother level of credibility that I may or may not have had before. And it's funny, when I got into the investing space, there were some tables that I got invited to that I thought, holy cow, how did I get a seat at this table? I'm so honored to be here. And then I figured out very quickly that a lot of these men in that space had no clue as to what was going on. I was so enamored by having that seat and then come to find out that they didn't have a clue. And I've once again turned that around and used that to my advantage.
