Renee Brown made the move from figure skating to investment management in 2000, and the sport she loves now informs her business decisions. Her advice in investing and skating: If you have fallen, just hang in there; don’t bail out.
“I was three years old when I started taking skating lessons.
It was one of the few times I could feel absolutely free, like I was flying. When I was nine, my family moved to a farm in southern Minnesota and lessons weren’t an option anymore.
“I didn’t skate again until I was 22. I dug out my skates and started taking adult lessons. Intellectually, I remembered how to do this, but physically, things had changed.
“I planned on doing this just for me—I wanted to go out and have that sense of freedom again—but I was talked into joining an adult synchronized skating team. Later, after I was married and had a baby, I joined the Minneapolis Figure Skating Club and began competing in U.S. Figure Skating Association [events]. My team got a bronze medal in the nationals in 1994, silver in 1997, and gold in 1998.
“I learned that timing is a matter of discipline. In skating, it’s all about timing and counting. Every count corresponds to something; you know exactly where you are.
“I also developed the ability to get back up after falling. You don’t have time to sit there and feel sorry for yourself. If you don’t get up, 23 other skaters will run over you. In the investment world, 23,000 others will run over you. In the investment world, the market will turn on a dime.”
