Platinum Equity's Club Room Conversation Highlights Firm's Female Leaders

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April 04, 2025

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - To recognize Women's History Month, Platinum Equity recently gave employees an opportunity to hear from five female executives in what will hopefully be the first in a series of conversations where senior executives provide insight and advice for ways to grow within the firm.

Held in Platinum Equity's Club Room, the idea is to tap the minds of the firm's diverse leadership to engage with employees for a shared learning experience.

Partner/Global CFO Mary Ann Sigler, M&A Global Head of Ops Partner Stephanie Barter, M&A Execution Senior VP Katherine Sassine, Office of The Chairman Chief of Staff Kerry Douglas and Detroit Pistons President of Business Operations Melanie Harris shared their varied work experiences before an overflow crowd at Platinum Equity's Los Angeles headquarters.

The first topic was relevant. Although Platinum Equity Founder and Detroit Pistons Owner Tom Gores has long been an advocate for women as he was instrumental in the hirings of Sigler, Barter, Douglas and Harris, only 22 percent of private equity professionals are women.

But the event struck an optimistic tone. For Sigler and Barter, who have both been associated with Platinum Equity for 20-plus years and are currently part of the firm's executive leadership team, the event offered a chance to remind colleagues of how things have changed in once male-dominated fields.

Sigler, who started her career in the 1980s, shared how she had to use different entrances and elevators to some social clubs because of her gender. She doesn't dwell on it today, but she is clear those days influence how she works through roadblocks.

"I hold onto those memories, but I certainly don't want to go back to any of those experiences," Sigler said. "Through our hard work and dedication, business is now very welcoming to all sorts of diversity.

"But anytime there's a block or obstacle, those times taught me to seek out another way. If I can't go this way, I'll find another way to get there because nobody will keep me from getting where I want to go."

Barter recalled how she learned not to require validation from others.

"I found myself often the only female in a room," Barter said. "I started here very young, sometimes the youngest person in the room, and I learned early on that you had to adapt to be successful. You had to be brave, and you had to be fearless.

"I learned early on not to look for external validation from others. I had to trust myself and I had to know that I was good enough. I deserve to be in this room, and our organization clearly signaled that that was correct and true."

Opening doors for others

Platinum Equity has had women in leadership positions since the early days. Barter's first stint started one year after Gores founded the firm in 1995. Sigler joined in 2004. Gores made headlines last year when he spearheaded the search that lured Harris, a former Nike executive, to the Pistons.

Gores' approach led to a long-time working relationship with Douglas.

"I thought it would be an interim thing, and 20-something years later, I'm still here," Douglas said. "I believe that Tom Gores saw something in me, every time we were together, he saw my skillset, he saw that I listened, and I would fill space, when necessary, in whatever way necessary."

She added: "All the leadership here at Platinum Equity stems from what Tom has built. It just speaks to who he is as an individual, and how it just defines Platinum Equity and the culture. He truly is a person who just looks at people, notices skillsets, allows people to show what they have, and you just kind of can carve your own path."

For Sassine, she found success at Platinum Equity through the company's emphasis on teamwork.

"We are operating always as a team and I think Platinum Equity is a special place in that we have expertise in every step along the M&A process from business development, M&A finance, capital markets, the ops teams, the post-close ops teams, no one's ever working alone at Platinum Equity," Sassine said. "I think being successful at Platinum Equity comes down to being able to work collaboratively with your teammates."

Harris echoed those sentiments. As teamwork is important on the basketball floor, it's also important in a corporate environment.

"You have people with diverse skillsets who have different roles to play, all to realize the same goal of winning," Harris said. "Everyone has a role to play."

Platinum Equity CFO Ty Renbarger welcomed employees to kick-off the event, and he explained the importance in his opening remarks.

"I think if you look at each of the careers that are up here, what you'll notice is it's more than they got the job done; it's that they did it right, and they did it well, more than anything else," Renbarger said.

Platinum Equity Head of Corporate Marketing Katie Hulgrave, who served as panel moderator, said Gores asked the marketing team to brainstorm ways to tell the stories of Platinum Equity's women executives, and she ultimately recommended the Club Room event.

"Not only are they incredibly accomplished women, but they are also leaders at Platinum Equity, and I felt their experiences and how they have found success are important and can provide useful stories for our broader employee base to hear," Hulgrave said.

At least one newer employee agreed.

"The panel was amazing and as somebody that is relatively new to Platinum Equity, hearing the powerhouses talk about their career growth and successes at the firm is really helpful," said Senior Associate Brionna LaGrone, who started at the firm last summer.

Following the panel discussion, Partner Johnny Lopez, who has been with the firm since its early days, emphasized how the panel represented the best the firm has to offer.

"We were able to recognize good people, and they're still with us today," Lopez said. "It was great to hear about the challenges they had to overcome.

"They were able to be successful through tenacity and hard work."

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