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32 | TH E M R EP O RT Ali Haralson Ali Haralson EVP of Client Management // Auction.com Ali Haralson, EVP of Client Management at Auction.com, has overcome numerous challenging situations in her life, but none was as challenging as when the company she co-founded lost a large majority stakeholder during the 2008 housing crisis. Through the loss of a product and business they heavily relied on, Haralson, along with her colleagues, developed a new strategy to steer the organization in a new direction. Haralson can remember days where the future of the company looked dim, but together, she and her team worked to develop a plan, which helped the business stay afloat. As Haralson and her team sought to employ creative solutions during the economic downturn, their commitment to the needs of their clients and employees never wavered. At the same time, Haralson and her colleagues cultivated long lasting relationships with partner organizations, which ultimately helped facilitate the sale of the company to one of the partners. Now with Auction.com, Haralson brings this strategic level of thinking as she oversees the acquisition and management of clients, and increases revenue through client retention and growth. Her role leverages her proven experience to enable Auction.com's clients to better mitigate risk associated with distressed assets, resulting in improved financial outcomes and reduced levels of neighborhood blight nationwide. Haralson attributes her strength to lessons she learned from her grandmother, who gave her the tenacity that helps her get up every day and do what she does. Haralson said she takes a little bit of inspiration and wisdom from each of the inspiring women in her life and weaves them together into what she feels is a wealth of personal and professional insight, which she uses in her own role as a mentor to others. Though Haralson acknowledges the challenge leadership roles have traditionally posed for women, she believes that with a strong support system, like the one she has built over the years, women can achieve great success in these positions. It is this forward-thinking approach that enables Haralson to embrace the industry's shift to a more open communication environment where a woman's critical thinking skills are found useful. She remains very optimistic about the future of the industry and encourages industry leaders to take a step back and think about how they can shape and mold the next generation of leaders through the hard-won lessons—both good and bad—that they have learned in the post-crisis era.