IPN Spotlight: Laila Assanie (Business Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas)
Laila is a Business Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. In this capacity, she briefs the Bank’s president on regional economic conditions, oversees the publication of various economic updates for the Dallas Fed website and writes the Eleventh District Beige Book— the Bank’s survey of regional economic conditions. Laila conducts research on economic issues and produces articles for bank publications. She is actively involved in performing outreach for the Dallas Fed through media interviews (newspaper, TV and radio) and numerous speaking engagements at a broad variety of events, including business group meetings and conferences. Her work also involves communicating with corporate executives in the construction and real estate industry when conducting survey research. Laila holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Northwestern University and a master’s degree in Economics and Finance from the London School of Economics.
What skills have helped you in your career?
Several skills come to mind, but few are notable. Critical thinking or in other words the ability to work with disparate data and anecdotal information, evaluate and understand it, connect it and then formulate conclusions, including forward-looking views or outlook.
Being able to effectively communicate through multiple mediums is another key skill. This entails not only providing perspectives and clarity to economic data, which can be overwhelming for many people to process, but also being able to tailor your message so that it is easily understood by a wide variety of audiences.
Leading company wide initiatives, managing multiple large projects simultaneously, and developing and maintaining professional ties with both my colleagues in other functional areas of the Bank and those outside of my organization have been valuable to my career growth as well.
What do you wish you had known or done differently throughout your career?
Use mistakes as teachable moments as much as possible. Often when pressed for time, we tend to fix others’ mistakes ourselves. But it is important to take out the time to meet and review together what needs to be fixed and give others the opportunity to come up with the solution and rectify things.
What is next for you in your career?
Continue to leverage my strengths, acquire new technical skills and further enhance my expertise in economic research, particularly in the construction and real estate sector. I am also looking forward to sharing my knowledge and expertise by increasing my involvement in the larger DFW community.
What do you do for continuing education and improvement?
Learning comes in various forms. I am a member of some professional organizations, including the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the National Association of Business Economics and when possible attend their monthly meetings to connect with others in the profession. I regularly read research articles and attend economic forums and conferences to keep up with current market trends. Throughout my career I have taken both technical and leadership courses offered at various institutes and universities, such as the Wharton School of Business and the Center of Creative Leadership. Additionally, being a frequent speaker at industry meetings, I get the opportunity to interact with and learn from other experts in the field.
What advice would you offer to others?
Build a deep network and invest in these relationships throughout your career. For example, a great way to meet people in other areas (within and outside) of your organization is to get involved in volunteer opportunities.
Take on new challenges and immerse yourself in new experiences, particularly early in your career, that stretch your current skills and will help you build new ones. If you see an opportunity or project that you are interested in, ask if you can be involved and emphasize on what you can contribute. It is likely that you will end up working on that project.
Trust your instincts and figure out what you value most in your career, whether it is recognition, flexibility,
independence, and/or creativity, etc.
Areas where you can help other Ismailis:
•Mentoring professionals interested in pursuing a career in economic research
•Conducting economic analysis