BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : DECEMBER 11, 2000 ISSUE
BUSINESSWEEK INVESTOR She Did It by the Numbers It's all about the numbers. At least that's how Nina McLemore sees it. By focusing on the bottom line, McLemore, 55, has climbed high in her business career. Now president of Regent Capital Management, a private equity firm in Manhattan, she started out in retailing and by age 29 was a division manager for May Department Stores (MAY). She quickly learned that to be a successful retailer you must have ''a gut instinct for merchandising and be diligent about analyzing the numbers.'' Unfortunately, most women don't concentrate enough on numbers, so they lose out on business opportunities. Women hold only 7% of the managerial positions that have profit-and-loss responsibility, according to a 2000 study by Catalyst, a nonprofit research organization that works to advance women in business. And it's those P&L positions that lead to the corner office. Financial positions are where women ''can earn a lot of money,'' says McLemore, ''and the more money we have, the more power we have--and power matters.'' She uses her pulpit as chair of the Washington, D.C.-based National Foundation of Women Business Owners to encourage women to pursue financial careers. ROADBLOCK. McLemore's passion for numbers is a familial trait. Her grandmother did the bookkeeping for the family farm in Hazelhurst, Miss., where McLemore grew up. Her mother took charge of the finances for the family-owned gift shop in the same town. McLemore graduated from Louisiana State University in 1967 and went to work as a buyer at a regional department store, D.H. Holmes, that now is part of the Dillard's (DDS) chain. She landed her next job at May Department Stores and quickly rose through the ranks, keeping a close eye on finances there. Says McLemore: ''Your [merchandise] line may look great, but you have to know how to make money.'' That she did. Still, McLemore hit a roadblock in 1980, when she realized the company wasn't prepared to promote a woman to division president. So she left. ''It dawned on me that women weren't going to get ahead simply on their merits,'' she says. McLemore went where she thought she could get ahead. She joined Kayser Roth Accessories--then a unit of Gulf & Western--as president, and she quickly obtained the license to launch Liz Claiborne Accessories in 1980. ''I focused on the bottom line and made money the first year,'' she says. In 1986, Liz Claiborne acquired the accessories business, along with McLemore, who proceeded to make it the most profitable division, based on operating income as a percentage of sales, in the Liz empire. For her compensation, she requested stock options for most of her salary. That was unusual in 1986--especially for the apparel industry--but it paid off big-time. The options helped push her investment portfolio to $3 million in 1992, from less than $200,000 in 1986. In 1988, when the founder retired, McLemore became the highest-ranking woman at Liz Claiborne, and ''made it my business to always speak to the [success of my] numbers.'' By 1992, McLemore wanted to make money for herself--not someone else. But she realized that while she knew how to turn a profit, she didn't know much about corporate finance. So she earned her MBA in corporate finance from Columbia University School of Business in 1995. Then she formed Regent Capital with two partners. McLemore now wants to pass her financial zeal on to other women: ''I want it to be easier on women to succeed today than it was for me.'' She backs her words with her wallet and her time. McLemore invests in businesses owned by women and that promote women into top management. For example, Regent Capital is a major backer of sportswear maker Danskin (DANS), whose chief executive officer, Carol Hochman, is a protege of McLemore's. ''I learned a tremendous amount from her,'' says Hochman. ''She sets very high standards, which has helped me achieve at my highest level.'' McLemore also speaks regularly to women's groups, spreading the gospel of numbers. She's one woman who practices what she preaches. For more on women and investing or to join a discussion in our forum, see hers.online at www.businessweek.com/investor/ QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? E-mail hers@businessweek.com or fax (212) 512-2538 BY TODDI GUTNER _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP					RELATED ITEMS She Did It by the Numbers RESUME: Nina E. McLemore INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online

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