- Sara Naison-Tarajano's sports background shaped her Wall Street career at Goldman Sachs.
- Tennis and a defining moment in basketball taught her resilience and how to deal with pressure.
- Naison-Tarajano also said a growth mindset and discomfort are keys to career success in finance.
Sara Naison-Tarajano is a Goldman Sachs partner who says her rise on Wall Street was shaped by her years playing competitive sports — starting with a defining moment when she was nearly benched from her youth basketball team for being the only girl.
"We won the city championships and another team tried to kick me out of the league," Naison-Tarajano told Business Insider, adding: "It was very confusing."
This was pre-TikTok, but the story went viral in its own 1980s way: It was covered extensively in New York-area newspapers like The New York Times and Newsday. Naison-Tarajano said it was also featured in a three-minute Sesame Street segment.
"It was a big thing, and I was little, I was in fifth grade," she told Business Insider.
Today, Naison-Tarajano is a partner and 26-year veteran at Goldman Sachs. She says sports have helped shape her career, which has spanned investment banking, derivatives, and now private wealth management. She talked to Business Insider about how what she learned from playing tennis and basketball, and fighting for her right to play with the boys, helped carve the path to Wall Street.
From courts to markets
Naison-Tarajano was big into sports like tennis and basketball growing up, thanks in part to her father.
"He felt that it was really important that his daughter have confidence and strength, and he really viewed sports as an incredible outlet for that," she said.
When Naison-Tarajano was 11 (then Naison-Phillips), she was just starting her third year playing on a basketball team made up of kids from Park Slope, Brooklyn. She happened to be the only girl on the team and in the league.
Her team had won the city championship, and when it came time to play the next season, the team they had beaten refused to play against them unless Naison-Phillips was sidelined. The opposing team's coach told The Times he was "not sure she deserves to be playing," and the league considered barring her, the paper reported.
Naison-Tarajano ultimately prevailed in part because her teammates refused to play without her.
"The fact that they said they wouldn't play without me made me feel supported and gave me the confidence to stand up for myself and other girls," Niason-Tarajano recalled in an interview with Business Insider. "My parents were also incredibly supportive and stood up for me."
The experience, she said, taught her to focus on what she could control.
"Because I wasn't as tall as the boys, I focused on the skills I could continue to develop, like being aggressive, playing great defense, and becoming a great shooter," she said. "Even though I wasn't the highest scorer, I ultimately was a starter and got playing time because I hustled, was consistent, and never gave up — all of which I have carried with me throughout my career."
Tennis, however, is where she really found her stride. Naison-Tarajano was eventually recruited to play for Yale and went on to be captain of the university's women's team. One summer, between semesters, a bond trader who was helping her train suggested she had the right personality for Wall Street. She took his advice and started as an investment banking analyst at Goldman in 1999.
Now she says she can see how the characteristics that made her a standout athlete helped shape her success in finance and at Goldman.
"You know how to deal with losing, how to pick yourself up. I also think something that's pretty important is the ability to keep things in perspective and work well under stress and pressure," she said. "For me, I think that's been a big edge in my career."
After starting in investment banking, she spent nearly a decade in derivatives before moving to wealth management. Now, she's the global head of private wealth management capital markets, which means she helps clients buy and sell stocks, bonds, or other investments in the financial markets. She also heads Goldman Sachs Apex, a team that gives ultrawealthy family office clients advice and special investment opportunities.
Key to career success on Wall Street, she said, is to find a part of the business that "genuinely excites you," and figure out how to add value, including by voicing your ideas and taking risks.
"Some of the best moments in my career happened when I stepped outside of my comfort zone and navigated periods of discomfort."
She added: "Always operate with a growth mindset by being open to feedback, asking questions, and seeking guidance and perspectives from your leaders and peers."
