John Quinn (Fin’89)
John Quinn enjoyed incredible success in his career with JPMorgan Chase, and one thing he knows for sure is that no one gets there alone.
It’s why, following a 33-year career with the bank, he remains an active mentor and a supporter of important causes, including need-based scholarships for bright students accepted to Leeds.
“Mentorship is a gift that everyone can give,” John said. “I really appreciate the Leeds School and the lessons I learned there, but I also learned so much through my family and mentors.”
John “joined” JPMC the same way many professionals do—as part of an acquisition by the investment bank and financial services giant. His first job out of Leeds was at First National Bank of Boulder, where he met his wife, Naomi, before the bank was bought out. But his early career, he said, included a lot of guidance from leaders who gave him insights and perspective that helped him rise to divisional director for eight western U.S. states, following his work leading Chase Wealth Management, the investment arm of the business.
“I really appreciate the Leeds School and the lessons I learned there, but I also learned so much through my family and mentors.”
John Quinn (Fin’89)
“I was fortunate to have some great leaders and mentors right away,” John said. “An executive vice president at the first bank I worked for took me under his wing, and helped me develop a broader perspective beyond my role.”
John has consistently paid that back by being a mentor to rising stars at the company, as well as supporting causes like ethic and gender diversity in business. Though he didn’t receive scholarships as a Leeds student, he and his wife established the John and Naomi Quinn Scholarship Fund Scholarship Fund “because it’s important to us to help people who don’t have the means to go to the University of Colorado, who did grow up with as much as I had.”
“There’s a lot of very successful alumni from Leeds,” he said. “We should be reaching out to help—we need to be that support system to get people to the next level, whether that’s as students or professionals.”
An emphasis on ethics
Though he’s retired from JPMC, he still serves as a mentor, and is in regular contact with nearly a dozen professionals. While he’s not formally mentoring any Leeds students, he’s happy to share his perspectives on what made him successful: hard work, personal accountability, and honesty and integrity.
The last two points you could actually trace back to John’s favorite Leeds class, which focused on business ethics.
“It was outstanding,” he said. “The professor was a former CEO, and he shared a lot of firsthand experience from his career, which led to great conversations. Something I really enjoyed about Leeds and the faculty were how direct and honest they were with people, with positive feedback as well as where they saw opportunities for criticism.
“At one point in my career, I had 15,000 employees under me. You want to always give that consistent feedback that will help them reach the next level of their career—even if it’s not something they want to hear. That was important at Leeds, as well.”