Beth Lesniak: Women in PE, class of 2024

Beth Lesniak has had an interest in finance and investing since childhood, when she recalls scanning through the stock pages in the newspaper.

“I grew up outside of Chicago in a middle-class setting with absolutely no one in the financial world in my family,” recalls Beth Lesniak. “There was no career awareness or ‘on-ramp’ waiting to be handed to me.

“When I was in the sixth grade, I discovered I enjoyed looking at all the stock price changes in the business section of our local newspaper and watching market reporting on CNBC. My dad owned some stocks and gave me $100 to invest. I chose the stock Alcoa, as I had researched the need and use for aluminum and felt like the demand drivers would be strong. It wasn’t a bad bet (I made a modest amount of money), and I found it thrilling to have a thesis and put money behind it and then reap the rewards.”

Today, she’s enjoying a more sophisticated version of the process as a managing director at Norwest Equity Partners.

“I’ve found myself in a broad range of companies, such as a smelter, out on an oilfield platform, in the protein processing room”

Other early experiences that whetted her appetite for financial services included a stint in high school serving as a trader’s assistant at the Chicago Board of Trade (back when hand signals were used to confirm trades in the “pit”), and co-leading the student investment club at Duke University. She was one of the few women from her graduating class to start out in investment banking when she joined Salomon Smith Barney.

Eventually, she moved into private equity as an investment professional, first at the Riverside Company and then at Grey Mountain Partners, where, she recalls, “I was the only female investor at the firm for my entire 10-plus-year tenure.”

In 2019, she joined NEP. The most senior ranking female investor at NEP, Lesniak has had many achievements on the dealmaking front. She co-led the investment in Red Monkey Foods (a provider of organic spices and seasonings). She led the dividend recap of Marco, “returning all the firm’s initial investment plus incremental return.” And she led the exit of Bix Produce Company, which was acquired by Sysco in 2023. Lesniak currently sits on the boards of Marco and Red Monkey, and previously served on the board of Bix.

“My deal experience consists of growth equity as well as restructuring situations (363, Ch. 11, Ch. 15),” she explains. “I’ve found myself in a broad range of companies, such as a smelter, out on an oilfield platform, in the protein processing room, or watching resistance heaters remove bolts from industrial turbines, to name a few.”