Luci Hamilton

Law Firm Administrator, Film Festivals Organizer, Former Board Member, U.S.National Committee for UNWomen. Tech fanatic. Lover of Books, Wine, Music & Travel.

[Peter Girnus 🦅 @gothburz]

I promoted Lorna Hajdini to Executive Director at JPMorgan because she understood something most bankers never learn.

Ownership.

Not deal ownership. People ownership. The kind of leadership where you don't just manage a pipeline. You manage the person building it. Their trajectory. Their compensation. Their future at the firm. Their references when they try to leave.

I taught her that. Not at NYU Stern. Not at Harvard. Here. In Leveraged Finance. In my corner office on the forty-second floor with the framed Tombstones from every deal that made this division what it is.

Lorna's handshake could restructure a cap table. That's not a compliment. That's a performance review.

When the complaint came across my desk, I read it twice. Not because it was disturbing. Because it was familiar.

Every behavior described. The direct communication. The after-hours mentorship. The expectation that juniors earn their advancement through demonstrated commitment to the team. That's the playbook. My playbook. The one I handed Lorna when she made Executive Director and inherited a book of direct reports who needed to understand the hierarchy.

"I own you."

I've said it to thirty-one analysts over twenty-two years. It means: I control your rating, your bonus, your promotion slate, and whether the next firm you apply to hears "top-decile performer" or dead air. It's in the HR manual under "direct management accountability." We call it alignment of incentives.

The complainant. A Senior VP in Originations who couldn't close. He alleges Lorna tied his advancement to "pleasing" her. I've read the promotion policy. An Executive Director has full discretion over direct-report advancement recommendations. Full discretion. We designed that authority. It incentivizes loyalty. It builds culture. It creates the kind of deep mentorship relationships that retain top talent.

If he interpreted "full discretion" as something other than what every Managing Director on this floor has understood since the division was founded in 1998, that's a communication gap on his end. Not a policy failure.

Harvard Business School profiled Lorna last month. "Leveling Up with Perspective, Practice, and People." She described a striking level of humility. A palpable hunger for knowledge. She talked about growing personally and professionally alongside her team. About being curious about perspectives different from your own. I wrote her recommendation for that program. I said: Lorna understands ownership the way very few people at her level do.

The profile is still live on the Harvard website. Nobody took it down. That's not an oversight. That's an editorial decision by people who evaluate leaders for a living.

The investigation lasted six weeks. I was consulted on a Thursday. They interviewed fourteen employees. Reviewed badge data. Calendar invites. Email metadata. Found no policy violation.

The complainant declined to participate. He was already on wellness leave by then. Unrelated.

Two witnesses are cited in the lawsuit. They were not cited in the investigation. I am told this is because the investigation's scope was determined prior to the filing.

Scope is important. Without scope, every investigation into a Managing Director candidate with eighteen active deal mandates and a direct line to three of our top-ten private equity clients becomes a fishing expedition that puts nine figures of annual revenue in jeopardy. We are not in the business of fishing.

Lorna remains employed. The complainant does not. His systems access was revoked on a Tuesday. I know it was a Tuesday because I approved the ticket. Standard offboarding protocol. The building badge, the Bloomberg terminal, the health insurance portal. All deactivated within the same four-hour window. He found out when his laptop locked at 2 PM and his key card stopped working at the elevator bank.

The threatening phone calls started that week. "Just wait till you're back in New York, Brown boy." Someone knew his personal number. Someone knew he was out of state. Someone knew the racial thing would land. Those are outside the scope of the firm's responsibility. We cannot police what former colleagues discuss on personal devices during personal time. We did advise him to contact local law enforcement. In writing. Via his personal email, since his corporate account had already been deactivated. I am told he received that email.

People keep asking if I'm concerned.

I thought about him once. The complainant. On a Wednesday, I think. I was reviewing Lorna's Q3 revenue attribution and his name appeared on a deal she closed after he left. His origination work. Her closing credit. Standard reassignment. And I thought — briefly — about what it must feel like to watch your work get credited to the person who.·

Anyway. Revenue attribution follows the active relationship manager. Policy is clear.

Am I concerned?

I built Lorna's career. I taught her how ownership works in Leveraged Finance. I watched her apply those lessons with a level of intensity I haven't seen since my own early years on the desk, back when nobody filed complaints because everybody understood the cost of being the person who didn't understand. If the system produced what that lawsuit describes, then I'm the system.

But the investigation found no merit.

So I'm just a mentor.

[Meidas_Charise Lee @charise_lee]

Everyone should be concerned‼️ you are 100% correct‼️

[Rogue POTUS Staff @RoguePOTUSStaff]

It turns out the biggest set of testicles in DC is on the 74 year old math geek.

[The Dividend Dream on YouTube @DreamDividend]

Yes I can help.

I am uniquely qualified because I’m white, an American, and a marketing/branding expert who is based in the southeast, and has worked in the entertainment and restaurant industry for decades. My job is to identify trends in American psychology, buying habits, and demographic shifts so companies can change strategy. I’ve been the brains behind many Fortune 500/100/50 corporate strategies.

This is about a feeling of loss in America, particularly among white male Americans. The demographics show that white Americans are going to become the minority sometime in the mid 2040s. White male Americans have historically dominated powerful positions in government, business and science but have been seeing women and minorities come into their spaces more and more, which they see as an existential threat.

The recent political movements in America are to try to turn back the clock to when white people were the vast majority, and men ruled the working world. Interestingly, some other male dominated societies and leaders around the world also want to encourage America to adopt this stance.

This brand, Cracker Barrel, is HQ in TN and has locations densely across the SE particularly near highways. Their historical customer has been white rural travelers, as it started originally as a cafe gas station gift shop concept. The restaurant is also relatively inexpensive- this catering to a lower income demographic. Walking into the restaurants are like walking back in time, as the physical locations feel like an old country back woods lodge filled with antiques. The brand has a strongly differentiated rural country feel, and a very simple menu, that has been unchanged since the 1960s.

The challenge the brand is facing a declining core population over time. The very population they serve. A young new female CEO came in and is trying to figure out the strategy long term, and they recently replaced their Nashville based ad agency with one not as familiar with the brand to determine the strategy. They underestimated the response, and likely should have created a longer term brand shift strategy rather than an “all at once” relaunch, given the climate in America and this brand’s unique positioning in it.

Two more aspects fueling it. The ruling political movement in America today excites the base through a strategy called “crisis response,” they always need a crisis to galvanize the base. This fits the bill. Another one is competition. Other struggling rural restaurant brands, like Steak and Shake @SteaknShake lead by a Tehran Iran CEO, have been relentless in fueling this fire because of their need to drive business to their stores, and pointing these brand changes out is one way to get attention and sales. They support the political movement as well.

In summary, there is a combination of factors driving the attention and controversy of this iconic American brand @CrackerBarrel

Hope that helps 💎✨

[🎸 Rock History 🎸 @historyrock_]

Led Zeppelin witnessing their tribute by Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart performing the triumphant "Stairway to Heaven", at Kennedy Center, 2012.

This is why we should always pay tribute to people when they're still alive. The joy and the emotion on their faces are priceless.

[Bill Madden @maddenifico]

This former Christian is spot-fucking-on. 🎯🎯🎯😂🤣👇

[Pearl Jam @PearlJam]

Seaside set for @TheOhanaFest, Night 1! 🏄

[Riley Edwards @RileyEdwardsrom]

On This Day in 2022, DECLAN published in #Audio! 🎧
Narrated by #MaxineMitchell & #LeeSamuels
Full Series In Audio
"An emotional roller coaster ride."
Audible: https://t.co/yweojBHmTd

[Pearl Jam @PearlJam]

You’ve outdone yourselves, Los Angeles! ❤️‍🔥

[Navajo Times @navajotimes]

A Navajo girl from Monument Valley has won a prestigious drawing contest with Google. The sixth-grade student used her Indigenous roots to inspire her award-winning drawing.

https://t.co/PB3mz7YlmT

[Luci Hamilton @LuciHamilton]

Safe travels to your home town, Sir!

[Blue Nose Audio @BlueNoseAudio]

Like being the first to hear a new audiobook?
Enjoy writing audiobook reviews?
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[Luci Hamilton @LuciHamilton]

@audiobooks @TheRealJoeArden @jclarkereads @NarratorMaxine @andi_arndt

[Luci Hamilton @LuciHamilton]

Day light come and me want go home.

[❂ Yübbîę Umoh ❂ @Yubbie007]

@BarackObama Enjoy one of Harry Belafonte’s many memories.❤️✨

[Luci Hamilton @LuciHamilton]

@MeccaLadybug Can't find the page, my Sister when clicking on the link provided.

[Luci Hamilton @LuciHamilton]

@eddievedder @TheOhanaFest Can't mask my disappointment considering ALL Ultimate VIP tickets were already unavailable at 10 a.m. when the portal opened. Saved my hard-earned dollars to give me and my granddaughter this gift on my birthday weekend, but the field is not leveled.

[Luci Hamilton @LuciHamilton]

@TheOhanaFest .@eddievedder Can't mask my disappointment considering ALL Ultimate VIP tickets were already unavailable at 10 a.m. when the portal opened. Saved my hard-earned dollars to give me and my granddaughter this gift on my birthday weekend, but the field is not leveled.

[Aasha Davis @aashadavis]

Wosaaaw…. so glad I have @HilliardGuess to rant with about all things Entertainment Bizznes! 😅 #truth over #BS

[Luci Hamilton @LuciHamilton]

@ErinMallon @jclarkereads @TheRealJoeArden @TEDDYHAMILTON14 The best gift ever!