Q&A with Masha Gordon, Board Chair, Mountaineer and Guinness World Record Holder

Masha Gordon is a Board Chair, Mountaineer and Guinness World Record Holder. She set the world record as fastest woman to complete The Explorers Grand Slam and entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest woman to climb the Seven Summits after working at Goldman Sachs from 1998 to 2010 in Asset Management in New York and London.

1. How did you start your career at Goldman Sachs and what was your path at the firm? What did you learn during your time here that helped you in the next phase(s) of your career? 
I joined Goldman Sachs Asset Management in August of 1998 as an associate in the Emerging Markets Equities team, literally on the day of Russian debt default. I thought that my career was once and truly over. Turns out, starting during a crisis has its benefits. You learn fast and operate in a less crowded, if deeply unpopular, space. Markets fortunately have cycles. Having developed skills and experience during an emerging markets downturn, I was well positioned to manage my first US mutual fund at a mere age of 28 and spent the next 12 years working hard, learning and growing at the firm.  

GS is my alma mater. The firm’s 14 business principles continue to guide my judgement in my non-executive career. Equally, GS’s meritocratic culture gave me a conviction that most things were possible with courage and hard work and that one’s age was not a barrier. When I started my non-exec journey at the age of 41, I was told I was way too young and unlikely to gain traction in the world of governance. Ten years later, having served on seven boards, I chair two company boards in energy space that still has very few women in that position.
 

2. In June 2016, about six years after you left the firm, not only did you set the world record as fastest woman to complete The Explorers Grand Slam, but you also entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest woman to climb the Seven Summits. Tell us about what inspired you to start this journey and about the ups and downs along the way.  
The truth is, I was not at all athletic growing up. My love for climbing slowly developed in my mid-thirties, following a chance encounter during a maternity leave spent in Chamonix, France. I got ‘intoxicated' by a combination of adrenaline and the joy of starting something new and feeling progress.  

My world record journey today feels like an apprenticeship. It started as a giddy ‘what if’ thought and a preparation for an eventual Everest climb. It ended up being an initiation into the life I live today. The journey has altered my aspirations, long-term health, informed my philanthropy and made me a better leader. The toughest points of the record were not sleeping on broken ice close to the North Pole worried about polar bears or a lack of oxygen on Everest’s South Col. It was dealing with a human factor or geopolitical issues that challenged my moral or a tight seven-month record-breaking timeline.
 

3. In addition to being an accomplished mountaineer and world record holder, you are a mom of two, a chair of two company boards, and a founder of GRIT & ROCK, a charity which aims to advance female attainment in alpinism. How do you balance your time between your many endeavors and what keeps you motivated?  
I am a polymath and a lateral thinker who thrives on diversity of pursuits. This energises me rather than taxes. My investment career helped hone an essential skill of stripping any problem down to a few key drivers to focus on. This helps me to be efficient with my time and decision-making. 

Non-executive portfolio career has a rhythm and space to accommodate my varied pursuits and interests. They are synergistic. Alpine climbs punctuate periods of intense focus on board issues and provide space for me to de-stress by focusing on physical endeavours. When I climb a proverbial north face, I must let go of anxiety over a nagging problem. It is deeply relaxing despite the freezing temperatures and lack of sleep. When I come back, I am re-energised and have a perspective that helps rational thinking.

For me, motherhood and climbing are interlinked. My now teenage son, who was six years old when I climbed Everest and skied to two poles, grew up with a constant presence of adventure. He, fortunately for me, has embraced it and developed into a keen climber. I find that there is nothing more rewarding than sharing a rope with your child and seeing a 14-year-old make risk-related decisions with maturity and skill. We have developed a deep bond and heaps of memories while climbing together at El Cap in Yosemite, ice in the Alps and big walls in Morocco. 
 

4. What is one of the hardest challenges you’ve had to overcome thus far and what is the most rewarding aspect of mountaineering?
Every climb has a crux and a puzzle to solve. This July, when we set off to open a few virgin high-altitude peaks in northern Pakistan, the very first obstacle was getting access to base camp in a valley where no one has ever been. We traced a line on Google Earth that turned out to be an impassible steep canyon. On day one our expedition could have been over. We persevered and eventually found an access via a different valley with two 30-meter waterfalls and a 5,000-meter mountain pass, a terrain that is just about what’s humanly possible to transport 600kg of gear for a month-long expedition. 

Stripping life back to very basic elements makes one feel very awake. Child-like awe of the sunset on a summit bivvy or a huge relief after weathering a storm on a ridge provide extraordinary memories. These are experiences that cannot be arranged or bought. They are earned. And they provide foundation for courage and perspective in one’s professional life.
 

5. As you look to the future, what are your personal and professional ambitions over the next few years?
I find a professional director career a very rewarding one. Governance work is diverse and stimulating. I have been fortunate to be involved in a great variety of company situations ranging from growth to restructurings and working with activist investors. I hope I still have some 20 years of that work ahead of me.

As an alpinist, having started my journey climbing 8,000-meter peaks, I have since developed a strong interest in exploratory climbing. I strive for the joy of solving the puzzle of a virgin peak in a remote place with a potential reward of being the first human on a summit and an honour of naming that mountain.

As a philanthropist, I hope to contribute to breaking an ‘ice ceiling’ for female alpinists and explorers who have historically faced challenges with funding, experience and, thus, attainment. Since its inception 8 years ago, GRIT&ROCK funded more than 30 female-led expeditions. We have seen development of extraordinary talent and hope to continue good work in that space.

6. Have you leveraged your GS network since leaving the firm? If so, how?
I constantly lean on my GS network. Whether it’s advice on geopolitics in Egypt or a high yield issue for a Brazilian deep-water driller, the firm has depth and breadth of expertise and integrity second to none. I was mentored by the former head of GS Asset Management when setting up my foundation and by chance shared an expedition to Mount Vinson in Antarctica with another former colleague. The GS network is truly worldwide in every aspect.