Judy Resnick
American Investment Advisor (1942 - )
- || At The Bottom
1983 -- Judy Resnick had always enjoyed the easy life. Born into a wealthy Los Angeles family, Resnick had always counted on her father to take care of her financially. She married (and divorced) at an early age, but she never needed to work and never wondered how she might pay the bills so long as daddy was around. When he died suddenly of a heart attack, however, Resnick lost her major source of income. Though he left her with five percent of one of his businesses, the income she received was minimal, and after a few years her father's old partners simply stopped paying her. Meantime, her investment broker had managed her small inheritance poorly, trading mostly in options, and he lost a good portion of it by the early 1980s. With two teenage daughters to support and no meaningful work experience, Resnick found herself broke at the age of 41 with no good prospects for a sustainable career. She didn't even have basic typing skills.
- || At The Top
1994 -- Judy Resnick, owner of her own investment firm in Beverly Hills, was honored with Entrepreneur of the Year award, sponsored by some of the largest companies in the United States. Founded in 1989, Resnick-Debney consisted of six employees when it opened for business, but within a mere four months it had paid off all its debts. By 1992, her firm was bringing 39 percent returns on its high-yield portfolios and had expanded to 80 employees; the firm did more than $1 billion in business, focusing on leveraged buyouts and corporate restructurings. Lacking formal training in business, Resnick liked to joke that parenthood had taught her everything she needed to know about running a successful company. "If you can get your employees to play well with others, share their toys and remember the golden rule, you'll do OK." A regular columnist for Forbes magazine, Resnick later authored a successful book on investing and money management, titled I've Been Rich, I've Been Poor -- Rich is Better.
- || The Comeback
Much like Suze Orman, Resnick's interest in financial markets was in part a result of the poor investment decisions her own broker had made. She couldn't help but notice that he continued to make money in commissions even as he squandered what little she'd entrusted to him. "Even I could do that," she told herself. After being turned down for entry-level positions with Merrill Lynch and Shearson Lehman, she met a woman who worked as a broker with Drexel Burnham Lambert. Introduced to the broker's manager, Resnick impressed him with her enthusiasm and received a job offer as a broker trainee. "I don't know what it is," the manager explained, "but you've got something. And I'm going to give you a chance." She quickly made a list of everyone she knew and began calling them. Within her first year, she sold enough Treasury bills and municipal bonds to bring in over $100,000 in commissions. By year three, she had been transferred to Beverly Hills and had proven herself to be one of the top female broker's in the business. In 1988, she sold $200 million worth of bonds. As her business partner Neil Dabney explained, Resnick simply lacked the fear of failure or rejection that grips most people, not even allowing it to "enter her mind." Resnick "believes in herself and those around her [and believes[ that we will succeed even if it looks overwhelming on the surface." Resnick also had a scrupulous sense of honesty. When Drexel Burnham Lambert began pushing dubious bonds on their customers, Resnick refused to play along and decided (with Dabney) to strike out on her own.
