When Mary Ann Korenic wants to accomplish something, little can stop her.

“I think I just thrive on challenge,” said the CEO of The Chicago Trust Company. “Give me a challenge, and I’ll find a way to fill the room.”

The fruits of Korenic’s determination were fully displayed in Wintrust’s Grand Banking Hall at the organization’s first International Women’s Day event, a sold-out celebration featuring a panel discussion with women CEOs and business founders on embracing equity in the workplace and beyond.

We sat down with Korenic to discuss her career, the risks she took along the way, and her insights on improving the workplace for current and future employees.

A career path less traveled

Korenic’s journey to becoming the CEO of The Chicago Trust Company , Wintrust Financial Corporation’s $6.2 billion trust services organization, was far from linear.

“I will not sugarcoat this at all — it was a lot of hard work.”

She picked up that work ethic from her parents: Croatian immigrants who raised her and her three siblings on her father’s carpentry salary.

“It’s certainly shaped who I am today,” she shared, “I didn’t grow up with a silver spoon. I remember sitting in law school and thinking, ‘I don’t have anybody in my family that graduated from college, let alone law school.’”

After finishing law school, she practiced for five years as a personal injury litigator until a colleague encouraged her to apply for a job as a trust officer. “Keep in mind, I don’t have a business degree,” she explained. “You never know what trajectory [you’re headed in], and you never know when someone’s going to tap you on the shoulder.”

Korenic’s pivot into the financial world ended up being a great fit, leading her to trust teams at Northern Trust in Arizona, Fifth Third Bank in Chicago, and Wells Fargo Bank in Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Her career approach has always been to look to the future, continuously asking herself, “What’s the next thing I want for myself?” That didn’t stop when she was asked to work at Wintrust in 2013.

“When I walked through the doors at Wintrust, I said, ‘I’m going to run this trust company.’ It took a lot of hard work, patience, and proving what I could do.”

That corporate ladder climb didn’t come without sacrifice. As her career took off, so did stressful events: a lengthy divorce and custody battle, cross-country moves, a period of unemployment after leaving an unhealthy work environment, and the unexpected death of her ex-husband — stories she openly offered to delve into over a few glasses of wine.

“They say that, in a lifetime, you can go through seven major life-stressful events,” she explained. “At one point in my life, I was going through five of the seven. But I had to show my kids what not giving up looked like.”

Today, Korenic is living a life she’s rightfully proud of. She celebrated her 10th anniversary at Wintrust and her third year serving as The Chicago Trust Company’s CEO. She also recently remarried, is excitedly preparing for the birth of her first grandchild, and dreams of buying a food truck.

“Cooking for others is a passion of mine and a traditional instilled by my mom,” she explained, “I’d love to carry that on into my retirement.”

If she retires, that is.

“I have no intention of leaving unless I win the lottery,” she said. “All my employees, clients, prospects, and everyone I interview know that I truly love Wintrust and what we stand for in all the communities we serve.”

Finding her voice in a male-dominated workplace

When asked to speak about the most significant risks women leaders were taking today, Korenic suggested a change in perspective.

“It’s not ‘what risks we are taking,’” she said. “It’s what we’re not doing that becomes a risk by not speaking up, by giving up. The mentality should be, ‘I’ve earned a seat at the table; now I’m going to confidently ask for it.’”

Finding that confidence took time. Korenic recounted working at an all-male law firm, where her colleagues introduced her as “our lady lawyer.”

“The fear of speaking up held me back,” she said. Eventually, she did address it with one of her colleagues, and the unwanted nickname was no longer used.

“The irony is that a few years later,” Korenic laughed, “that man called me up looking for a job.”

As Korenic continued her career journey and secured more workplace wins, the risks of speaking out grew, but she didn’t let that stop her.

“I had an issue in my career where I had to hire an attorney to represent me,” she explained, describing a bad situation with a former employer, “It was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do in my career. But I said to myself, ‘I’m not just doing this for myself, but to make sure that it doesn’t happen to another woman again.’ And that, too, takes a lot of courage.”

Supporting the sisterhood and acknowledging biases

Supporting fellow women is incredibly important to Korenic.

“I think one of the biggest risks we face as women is not forming a sisterhood,” she noted, “because we’re our own worst enemies sometimes. We get nowhere fast by not supporting each other.”

In her keynote speech for the Women of Wintrust Business Resource Group (W.O.W. BRG), she addressed the issue with a warning: “No mean girls allowed.”

“I faced that in my career,” Korenic explained. “A female colleague downplayed my promotion to CEO. That energy I spent feeling bad about that comment is something I can’t get back. In hindsight, I wish I had confronted her, so this behavior doesn’t repeat itself and negatively impact other women.”

Korenic also discussed the detriments of unconscious biases that affect women, including the belief in gender stereotypes and assumptions about women’s capabilities.

“These biases can also manifest as preferential treatment for women who act, speak, and dress in certain ways,” she said, “and can be especially detrimental in management and leadership spheres. We need to educate everyone on unconscious bias and do everything we can to foster equality and inclusivity throughout the organization. Leaders especially need to speak out and set the example.”

Working to find solutions

“One of my mantras for myself as a leader is to ensure that I leave this place better than it was when I arrived on the scene,” Korenic shared.

She often achieves this through promoting from within, frequently encouraging female colleagues to pursue new opportunities at Wintrust. One of those women stands out to Korenic. “She called me up and said, ‘You know, I wish somebody else would have done this for me a long time ago.’ That’s so gratifying. I love giving people a clear trajectory for their careers.”

Another way that Korenic has worked to improve the path to success for other women, which she is incredibly passionate about, is through her leadership efforts with the W.O.W. BRG. “One of the most exciting things for me in leading that group right now is getting to know so many women outside my sphere here at Wintrust.”

A critical aspect of the W.O.W. BRG and the events the group hosts is that they’re open to all people — not just women — so that male colleagues can learn and grow. “I truly believe our male counterparts want to be our allies,” she explained. “They want to be better.”

Lighting the way for others

As someone invested in helping the next generation of leaders, Korenic thinks a different approach should be taken to mentorship.

“They say you should seek out a mentor,” she noted, “I don’t like that — mentors should seek out mentees.”

Korenic advises women seeking a career path similar to hers, especially those in male-dominated professions, to be “eternal students” and remain passionate, hard-working, and energetic. She also urges working mothers to give themselves grace as they balance their responsibilities at work and home.

“Don’t beat yourself up with guilt for missing out on being a room mom or other activities at your kids’ schools because of your work,” she said. “Your children will remember this later when they realize why you had to work and will be grateful for all you provided them.”

Korenic shared that her two children, a 28-year-old son, and a 25-year-old daughter, have expressed their understanding and gratitude to her in adulthood as they forge their careers.

Korenic’s fervent passion for improving women’s lives at Wintrust and beyond can be seen through her work, and it’s clear that she’s not planning on slowing down any time soon.

“I’m going to go to my grave making a difference, and I believe that is why we were put here in the first place.”

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