Leisa: Hello, I’m Leisa Holland-Nelson and welcome to another edition of Women Mean Business, where we’re going to take you up close and personal with extraordinary women doing extraordinary things. My guest today is Alie Pruner: Board Director, Partner, and Chief Financial Officer of Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co., an energy investment bank here in Houston, Texas. Welcome to Women Mean Business, Alie.

Alie: Thanks so much, Leisa, for having me.

Leisa: You’ve had extraordinary success.

Alie: Oh, thank you

Leisa: What advice would you give to an upcoming, young businesswoman who wants to achieve the success that you have?

Alie: Probably focus on a few things. One, choose your partner wisely. I’m grateful I’ve got a great husband of 30 years who has been extremely supportive and we have been able to raise our children together, which is fabulous. Two would probably be, enjoy the journey; don’t over plan. I do see a lot of millennials overthinking what their next career step is or what their career is going to be 8 years from now and gosh, who knows, right?

Leisa: Yes, definitely.

Alie: And then, probably the last piece of advice, and follow what I’ve done, is hire your replacement. Hire people who are smarter than you are because as soon as you hire someone who can replace you, that frees you up for new opportunities within your own organization and new assignments. I think that’s important to do as well.

Leisa: Thank you very much.

Alie: Well, thank you.

Leisa: There you have it, great advice from an extraordinary woman. I’m Leisa Holland-Nelson, President and cofounder of ContentActive, Houston’s leading web and mobile design and development company. You can find me at contentactive.com or follow me on Twitter @lhnelson. We’ll be back again next week with another edition of Women Mean Business.