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Their streets to success

Advocate, The, March 15, 2005

GAY CORPORATE LEADERS

From coming out to frisky clients, to attracting gay consumers, to selling CEOs on diversity, these white-collar out professionals have seen it all in corporate America--and thrived

PAUL FRENE

OCCUPATION: Financial services representative

COMPANY: MetLife Inc.

AGE: 42

RESIDENCE: Nutley, N.J.

HOMETOWN: Washington, D.C.

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Partner of 14 years, Gene Cavazos

Paul Frene spent nine years closeted at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. As he gained more responsibility, he found it tougher to hide his sexual orientation from his staff and his secretary, who took messages from a frequent male caller--his partner. "I can see now how being closeted does have an impact on your life and the Rile that you devote to covering it up," says Frene.

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When he interviewed for a job in 1999 at MetLife, he came out. Asked what market he would serve, Frene said he planned to offer retirement and estate planning to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender clients. "I'm the gay poster child of MetLife because of my market, and it's a lot better environment to work in," says Frene, who works in MetLife's Baypark Financial Group in Roseland, N.J.

Well-meaning straight peers cautioned him about limiting himself to gay and lesbian clients. "The guidance was, 'Don't focus too much on the gay and lesbian market,'" Frene says. "The idea was that heterosexual couples are going to be more likely to plan together. It turned out that the reverse is true. Same-sex partners need to have a lot of extra stuff--wills, trusts, health care proxies, powers of attorney--because the law doesn't take care of it."

He became a specialist with MetLife's division of estate planning for special-needs children after noticing that his gay clients seemed more likely than straight clients to be caring for someone with Down syndrome or other disabilities.

"When our parents go, we're a little less likely to have children, so we're a little more likely to be the ones to take care of our special-needs siblings," Frene says. "And because it's a little harder for us to adopt, we're a little more likely to adopt special-needs children."

Frene also spearheaded efforts to form a GLBT employee resource group, a 300-member nationwide network he chairs. And he successfully pushed MetLife to offer domestic-partner benefits and serves on the GLBT marketing advisory council.

His partner, Gene Cavazos, works for an advertising company that helps pharmaceutical companies launch new medicines. The couple spends most weekends at their second home in Rehoboth Beach, Del., the seaside town where they met 14 years ago.

Though happier to be out at work, Frene honed a valuable skill when closeted at the Federal Reserve Bank.

"I became such a good listener," he says. "When you're closeted and the question comes up about the weekend, you want to avoid answering specifics about yours. So you're really good at getting the other person to talk. When I sit down and talk with people about finances, it helps that I've developed really good listening skills from being closeted over the years."--Todd Henneman

KEITH POWELL

OCCUPATION: Assistant to the chairman and president

COMPANY: Eastman Kodak Co.

AGE: 35

RESIDENCE: Rochester, N.Y.

HOMETOWN: Virginia Beach, Va.

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Single

Keith Powell recently became one of the highest-profile openly gay executives at Eastman Kodak Co. Daniel Carp, chief executive officer of Kodak, chose Powell for a job that's comparable to serving as the CEO's chief of staff. The company uses the post to groom executives like Powell for its senior ranks. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," says Powell, who had been a finance director. "To be able, on a daily basis, to be with the top two people [in the company], you can't beat that experience."

Powell began the job confidently, not intimidated. That's characteristic for a man who believes in taking risks professionally. Early in his career, Powell and a coworker felt like the manufacturing plant where they worked needed a dramatic overhaul. So they researched best-in-class companies, compared their operations to those, and took their results to the plant manager, realizing that he could have been so angered that he would fire them. Instead, the manager asked them to lead the improvement efforts. The experience helped Powell advance his career.

"I think a lot of people are afraid to take some risks, but it certainly has helped me," Powell says. "I also have been flexible in terms of the assignments I get and where I live. I have lived all over the country. Don't look for titles, or money, or those things as much as for getting experience. Eventually they'll all accumulate to a point where you get what you really want."

Powell graduated from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and then earned an MBA from Indiana University.

Their streets to success

Advocate, The, March 15, 2005

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