2004 GREAT WOMEN OF GAMING
Proven leader

Maureen Mullarkey

Chief Financial Officer
International Game Technology

 

Being a woman surrounded by men should be nothing new for Maureen Mullarkey. She grew up in suburban Chicago with older brothers. "Whatever my brothers did, I wanted to do," she says. "I also had to learn to fend for myself as the youngest." Self reliance and resiliency were also required skills after she lost her mother as a teenager. "That was defining because we were all in sort of a survival mode," she says. But in Mullarkey's case, there was no boundary between surviving and succeeding.

Going to college in Texas, she majored in geology—another male-dominated field. "If you think gaming has a lot of men, you should see the oil industry," she laughs. "While an unconventional route to finance and gaming, it was good for a couple of reasons. The scientific method helped develop my analytical thinking and related skills. And, most of the students there were men."

Mullarkey began her career in the oil business in the early 1980s. "I was really not satisfied with the professional opportunities," she says. "At that time the price of oil was quite low, which meant good jobs were hard to find."

Now in Reno, Mullarkey decided to finish her MBA at the University of Nevada. "Then, in January 1989, I answered an ad for Revenue Analyst for IGT," she says. "I was actually hoping for an opportunity at IGT. It was not a big company at the time, but it had a big presence in the town."

Mullarkey says that outgoing IGT chairman Thomas Baker was a key mentor for her. "The culture here has always been to promote from within, and to give people 'stretch' projects," she says. "We saw new markets open up in Indian gaming and in several riverboat jurisdictions…we put almost two billion dollars in acquisitions on the balance sheet. It's been a great and fantastic ride."

She's open about the stresses of the job. "It's pretty demanding," says Mullarkey. "But I could not do a job like this without having a great staff, both here in Nevada and worldwide."

In 1996, Mullarkey became the first woman promoted to a vice president position in the company. Mullarkey says the promotion was not completely without its burden.

"I was cognizant that people were watching me," she says. "Which was fine. One of the characteristics that I work hard on is to be consistent in what I say and what I do. I felt the pressure with the realization that I was carrying the flag for others coming up through the ranks as well. When you're out in front and feeling a little different, it is important to be confident of your abilities; but it is also key to make the people around you feel comfortable. Have a sense of humor. Make people relax."

Now, Mullarkey points out, there are several women in vice-presidential roles at IGT. "I am pleased to see more and more women in the VP ranks," she says. "They're across the company in accounting, sales, product management and compliance to name a few. We've had success in promoting women and people of different ethnic backgrounds. And hopefully, other companies are doing the same thing."
Her increasing responsibility at IGT also made Mullarkey a better leader. "I said, 'I cannot do all this work by myself,'" she says. "I've become a good delegator. I put energy into communicating effectively and to understanding those around me."

Following her promotion to CFO in 1998, Mullarkey briefly left the company in 2000—and she's happy to be back. "What I realized then was that I worked for people of very high integrity. And my team…we had a practice of working together, which makes everyone more effective."

One wonders how Mullarkey maintains balance. Despite the demands of her job and her national status as a successful businesswoman—she recently appeared on a list of elite women in Fortune magazine— she has the openness, energy and positive air of a recent college graduate. "It takes time," she says. "You have to be committed to do the work. I've made sacrifices. Anything that's really important in life, you make sacrifices. But I think the most successful people are the ones who have help."


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