Maxine Pollack.

• Author: Heffes, Ellen M.
• Position: Profile - Biography

Having grown up with a father who was an executive recruiter, Maxine Pollack was exposed to jobs and careers early in life--and chose business first, then finance. "It's the financial area," she says, "where you truly get an overall perspective of what's happening in the business."

Title: Executive Vice President and CFO

Company: J.D. Power and Associates, a worldwide research and marketing information firm

Born: Milwaukee, Wis., Sept. 25, 1956

Spouse: Tom Morris, for 17 years

Education: BA in Political Science, UCLA, 1978; MBA with concentration in Finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, 1980

Career Summary: General Foods Corp., White Plains, N.Y., Financial Associate, 1980-81, Financial Supervisor, 1981-83; The following were all in various areas in Southern California: Kal Kan Foods, Business Systems Supervisor, 1983-84, Sales Planning Manager, 1985-86, Sales Development Manager, 1986-87; Denny's Inc., Financial Planning Manager, 1987-89, Director of Financial Planning, 1989-91; McGaw Inc., VP of Finance, 1991-92, CFO, Central Admixture Pharmacy Services Division, 1992-94; Futurekids Inc., CFO and VP of International Operations, 1994-1999; Pink Dot Inc., CFO, 1999-2001; J.D. Power and Associates, Executive VP and CFO, 2001-Present.

FEI Chapter: Los Angeles Chapter, member since 2002

Leisure: My husband and I enjoy travel--I've been told that I take "trips of a lifetime" every year for vacation--and we regularly try new restaurants and different types of food. At home, I like to experiment with new recipes, using friends and family as "guinea pigs." I'm also a big film buff. Each year, I take a sneak previews course offered by UCLA extension where we see advance screenings of likely Academy Award contenders and hear from their creators.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Time Management: I'm very organized and try to set priorities so that I'm focused on the most important issues. I also block time in my schedule at regular intervals during the week to provide some focused work time free from meetings.

Stress Management: I know that regular exercise is the best stress management, but I can't say that I have time (or is it make time?) to follow my own advice as regularly as I should. One reason I like to see movies in a theater is that they are completely absorbing and a distraction from whatever may be causing me stress.

Favorite Book: My assistant gave me 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. I'm reading it...