This is a YouTube video titled "Key Tips for Progressing in Treasury with Doug Knebel" containing a monologue or talk by Doug Knebel recorded in 2020. The content focuses on career advice and personal experiences related to working in treasury roles, company culture, and investment policies. There is only one speaker sharing insights and reflections on professional growth in treasury.
You have to stay humble. You need to make sure that your interactions with your junior employee there are respectful. And, you know, I think coming into that situation, she and I both knew what the score was. She knew that I was coming in. I made it very clear that I knew absolutely zero about treasury and what we were going to be doing. So I think she understood that and she didn't hold any resentment. Luckily, she was only maybe two or three years out of college. She understood that she wasn't quite yet ready for the position herself. So it's not as though she had any feelings like she had been passed over. In 2011, it was really hard to find a job in Treasury. By that point. I had kind of been bitten by the treasury bug and I knew I had finally found what I wanted to do, where my career was supposed to be. I kind of finally found it. So I really wanted to stay in treasury, but it took a while. But finally I was offered a job in the New Orleans, Louisiana area. And while it was in Atlanta, it at least was closer to my wife's home. She's very close with her family and really didn't want to leave in the first place. So we didn't really quite get back to Atlanta at the time, but we got her back closer. But as far as the company is concerned, it was a much smaller company compared to vwr, but that had a lot of, I think, advantages to it from a Treasury standpoint. When, you know, when you work for a company that's smaller in size, you get to deal with the CFO and even the CEO on a much more personal basis. And it gave me a lot more responsibility as I grew there. So that was a great role for me at Cornerstone. I think anytime you're in a situation like that, even not specific to investments, but just anything that you're being charged with managing that you are coming in the door with zero experience on, like this was for me, I think that the first thing you need to do is just get up to speed with how the company you work for has managed it before. Just get educated on what the policy is. You know, immerse yourself in this case in the investment policy statement. Get a feel for the company culture, because the AVX company culture is very conservative and that bleeds into the investment strategy and policy. So it's safety of investments is absolute, most important aspect of the investment policies. Quite get back to Atlanta at the time, but we got her back closer. But as far as the company is concerned, it was a much smaller company.
