Michele Scafani

Senior Business Development Officer, PNC Business Credit

Michele Scafani is responsible for growing new business revenue and loan volume in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest while managing a team of bankers in their sourcing, structuring and closing activities. Michele has expertise in several areas including asset-based lending, cash flow lending, technology finance and structured finance.

A 25-year industry veteran, she joined PNC Business Credit as a business development officer nearly six years ago. Michele began her career as a senior field examiner for Bank of America and most recently served as National Underwriting Manager for MUFG Union Bank.

She is involved in the San Francisco chapters of the Secured Finance Network and Association for Corporate Growth and has served as a panelist for the Turnaround Management Association.

Michele also chairs a PNC initiative to encourage women to pursue business development careers and serves on the executive committee of PNC ForWARD (for Women’s Advancement, Recognition, and Development). She received her B.A. in Business Economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

What advice would you offer to women just starting out in the industry?

Assume a number of different roles and responsibilities so that you can form a broad experience base. A diverse professional background makes you that much stronger in each subsequent role and opens up more opportunities for you. Be the best you can be in every role you take on as you build your career. 

It’s never too early to start building your network, as strong professional connections will benefit you in both the short term and long term. Find mentors along the way, as their insight and support will be extremely beneficial.  

What do you know now that you wish you knew in the beginning of your career? 

Be aspirational. Early in your career, it can be challenging to see the big picture beyond the next promotion in your current function. Take time out once in a while to look at the overall organization and industry. Determine what you want to do long term – in five, ten and 20 years  – not just for your next role. 

Reaching out to your network also will allow you to understand different perspectives from people in different parts of your organization or industry. Talk to as many people as possible to learn what it takes to get there, then set goals for yourself to achieve the milestones that will lead you to your dream job.

Don’t be afraid to reach out to senior managers for career advice, as you’ll elicit valuable feedback that you wouldn’t normally get in your day-to-day job. Junior level employees, especially women, often are self-conscious about seeking advice from executives and worry about wasting their time. You’re going to find that most of them are happy to provide career advice. 

How do you balance work/personal time? 

Everyone has their own definition of balance. For me, it’s “work hard, play hard.” Ultimately, if you’re passionate about what you do for a living, then it doesn’t feel so much like work. In the financial industry, we all work really hard. I find balance by following my passions on my own time, like skiing and traveling.

What do you enjoy most about your role? Least?

I most enjoy helping our business development officers achieve their goals. I find it fun to collaborate and become part of a solution that enables a transaction and helps a company grow. Every deal has its ups and downs, but I appreciate the challenge of working through issues with my team to find solutions that work for both the client and the Bank – it’s a bit like figuring out a puzzle. 

I also find great reward in mentoring our junior bankers and helping them learn to see the big picture issues as well as the small, critical details of a deal. The time I dedicate to initiatives encouraging women to pursue careers in banking and business development is very important to me as well. When I began my career in this industry, my views were influenced by the very few women in senior roles at the time. I love the quote from the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who said, “When I’m sometimes asked when will there be enough women on the Supreme Court and I say, ‘When there are nine,’ people are shocked. But there’d been nine men, and nobody’s ever raised a question about that.” 

Administrative tasks are my least favorite part of this role.  My expense reports are perpetually late!