04/22 | Candice Corvetti - Berkshire Partners

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Synergist Senior Sound Bites - April 2022

Candice Corvetti

Principal at Berkshire Partners
B.A. from Williams College, M.B.A. Stanford Graduate School of Business

Background:
Candice Corvetti is a Principal on the Services and Industrials team at Berkshire Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm. She is currently involved with portfolio companies Parts Town and Advanced Drainage Systems. Prior to joining Berkshire in 2014, Candice was an Associate at Madison Dearborn Partners, and she began her career as an analyst at J.P. Morgan. Candice received a B.A. from Williams College and an M.B.A. from Stanford Graduate School of Business. Candice lives in Boston with her husband and three children.

Interviewed in April 2022 by Maddie Conway Yudkin, Synergist NY Co-President.

What originally inspired you to make the jump into investing?

Well I wish I could say it was a well thought out plan, but it was mostly luck. I was a couple of years out of college and working hard in investment banking at JP Morgan, and a colleague introduced me to the folks at Madison Dearborn Partners. I liked them right off the bat. I met Elizabeth Quadros Betten first and immediately thought “wow, this lady is badass.” Can I say that on here? Anyway, I asked her during my first interview "so what exactly is PE?" and (huge credit to her) she didn't just show me the door. She not only took the time to give me a thoughtful answer, but also called me ahead of my second interview to nudge me to study up on LBOs and point me in the right direction on prep. How thoughtful is that?
My decision to join MDP was pretty easy - I could tell they were a group of smart, high-integrity, low ego people, and I sensed that private equity would be challenging, intellectually stimulating and - at the end of the day - a very people-centric business. And that all resonated with me.
And then I had a great 2 years. They taught me a ton. I worked hard to earn their trust and figure out how to add value. And I really felt included and valued by them. That's important. I had some pretty awesome opportunities there too - there's a big luck component to that always but especially early in your career. We made an investment into a software company called Fieldglass with an all-star management team - turned out to be a rocket ship. There was another investment that was a very strategic, bold bet at the time, that turned out to be such a smart move. It was a very fun, very active couple of years, and I am still grateful for how much I learned from the folks at MDP.

Why did you decide to go back into PE post business school?

I actually spent the summer during business school exploring other things and I worked for this absolutely awesome non-profit called Nuru in a rural town in western Kenya. They have a completely audacious and totally inspiring mission of ending extreme poverty in the world. And doing that by creating a locally led, intrinsically sustainable model. I could talk all day about Nuru and the very passionate and dedicated people there. I have so much respect for them and the very direct impact they are having in the world.
It was an eye-opening, very meaningful summer for me, and it reinforced my conviction that even though I have a lot of different passions, my skillset is a natural fit with PE. And even though it's different than the very tangible and direct impact of working in a place like Nuru - I believe investing also gives each of us an incredible opportunity to have real influence and positive impact on the world. As we all know, done right, allocating capital and being a voice in the Boardroom have massive potential for positive impact in the world.

And how did you choose Berkshire?

Location was a big factor – my husband and I knew we wanted to have kids (and we now have 3!) and wanted to raise them with family nearby - so we knew returning to Chicago didn't make sense. And then I went to Boston and met the Berkshire team right after I got back from Africa, and I just fell in love with this group of people. Berkshire is this very special place where people are natural truth-seekers, where consensus-building is like a mother tongue, where integrity and doing things the right way and listening well are the foundation for everything. I've been here at Berkshire for almost 8 years now and the culture, the people, the work - it's far surpassed even my very high initial expectations.
Also I should say – at the time I wasn't really looking that far around the corner on what it would mean to have kids and work in PE. But now that I’m living that, it has been awesome to work at a place where I am not blazing a new path. Jane Brock-Wilson is a phenomenal role model, and I've got Beth [Hoffman] and Marni [Payne] who have shared much needed tips and tricks along the way. And then I also have many male colleagues with kids whose partners also work and they’re doing the same juggle I am. So I have a ton of respect for my peers at other firms who are blazing this path, but I've been pretty lucky to have the way paved for me.

Okay, so what would you be doing if you weren't in investing?

Oh that's a great question… would I have to actually be good at it?! Well as I just said I love my colleagues, so maybe this assumes I could take them with me… I think it would be so cool to be an investigative journalist making podcasts. There's some real overlap with my favorite parts of investing: you get to decide where to spend your time based on what you think is interesting / what has potential, you get to talk to people, you need to ask the right questions and, most importantly, listen very carefully to then pull it all together into a conclusion. And I just love the way the podcast universe has exploded in the past 15 years - there is so much great content, so many new platforms that give voice to really big issues, really personalize things into stories that everyone can understand. And by doing that these really talented creators can open minds - minds of really wide audiences - to different perspectives and have a real impact on the world. So maybe that? Not sure anyone would hire me though!

I'm going to mix it up and ask you your favorite book title. So NOT your favorite book - your favorite book Title.

Ha, now I know you're trying to stump me, Maddie... Let's see. I would have to go with Picnic, Lightening. Talk about telling an entire story with two words - right? Two words and you're right there in that moment. And I know you're not asking for good books, but it is a good book! It is poetry - super funny, super accessible poetry - by Billy Collins. And I'm glad you didn't ask me what I've been reading these days - since pretty much all I read outside of work is "Goodnight Moon" and "The Little Blue Truck", over and over and over….

Anything else that I did not touch on that you would like to share or highlight?

So Maddie are you going to tell everyone that we share the same high school alma matter? (Big shoutout to any other Emma Willard School grads out there!) And that you were asking me questions about PE when you were, what, 18? Talk about a well-thought out plan! But nope, nothing else to add. I'll be surprised if anyone reads this whole thing. Maybe I should send the link to my mom?! On a serious note, though, thank you for all the great work you're doing to highlight individual stories like this. I really mean it when I talk about how much power there is in allocating capital and influencing Board conversations. And I know we both want that influence and those perspectives to be way more diverse and inclusive than they are today, and I appreciate the work you're doing to advance that. Thank you.

Thank you for your time, Candice! To learn more about Berkshire Partners check out https://berkshirepartners.com/

June 2021, Synergist Network

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