The interview below is part of an ongoing effort by McGuireWoods to profile women leaders in private equity (PE) and finance. To read previous profiles, click here. To recommend a woman for a future interview, email [email protected].
Molly Fitzpatrick started at the University of Notre Dame as a pre-med major until an inescapable physical limitation forced a pivot.
“I get very queasy, so I didn’t think medical school was going to go well,” she recalls.
Through other classes, Fitzpatrick found a path that didn’t require a tolerance for blood. She learned how business leaders create jobs, deliver useful products and services, and reinvest in communities. She shifted her studies to finance and eventually earned an MBA at Harvard.
Her first professional steps were in investment banking, where she built valuation models, analyzed mergers and acquisitions, and learned the mechanics of deal-making. The work was demanding, but she thrived on the variety — no two transactions were the same — and the intellectual puzzle of figuring out what makes a company tick.
Fitzpatrick also found meaning beyond the numbers propelling a business. One day she heard a company management team describe how their services enabled premature babies to go home from a neonatal intensive care unit sooner than the best practices of the time — an improvement for babies, parents and the insurance companies or Medicaid paying for the NICU services.
“It is a win-win situation that I look for in healthcare businesses,” she says. “It’s so fulfilling to help these companies grow to serve more people and to save the healthcare system money. That’s what gets me so excited to get out of bed every day.”
In 2011, Fitzpatrick joined Halifax Group as an associate, marking the beginning of a relationship that would define her career. Halifax, a private equity firm founded in 1999, invests in healthcare, business services and franchise industries. Its team is smart, hardworking and, crucially, collaborative.
“We have an amazing, tenured team executing on an established strategy,” Fitzpatrick says. “That is not easy to replicate.”
She spent seven years at Halifax during that first stint, evaluating and executing new investments, sourcing opportunities and partnering with portfolio company management teams on strategy and value creation. After a brief period away — holding roles at Mountaingate Capital and Rallyday Partners in Denver, and including serving on the board of Genesis Research — she returned to Halifax in 2021. The firm’s leadership, culture and consistent, disciplined approach to investing pulled her back.
Today, Fitzpatrick spends her time across two fronts. She works closely with portfolio companies on M&A, organic growth investments and strategic enhancements. She also devotes significant energy to business development — attending industry conferences, meeting with investment bankers and executives, and scouting for the next investment within Halifax’s niche thesis areas. There is no typical week, which is exactly how she likes it.
A guiding influence throughout has been Scott Plumridge, Halifax’s managing partner, from whom Fitzpatrick has been learning since her first day at the firm in 2011. The most critical lesson he imparted? Patience.
“Private equity is fast-paced,” she explains, “but there are curveballs along the way — both in deal-making and in the portfolio — that you have to work through. Excellent investors have the patience to get the deal done, create value during your partnership and exit the investment for an attractive return at the right time.”
Fitzpatrick pays that mentorship forward. When advising newer professionals, she emphasizes intellectual curiosity above all else. Curiosity, she believes, drives the next question during diligence and peels back the onion one layer at a time, uncovering both blemishes and hidden gems. “This is an apprenticeship business,” she says. “Be a sponge in meetings. Listen to every question and answer. Learn how to respectfully ask tough questions.”
Beyond the office, Fitzpatrick has worked with Special Olympics Colorado since 2018 — a commitment inspired by her sister, who has intellectual disabilities and has participated in the organization for more than 15 years.
“I have witnessed how impactful that has been on her — increasing her confidence, being part of a team and competing, and bringing her so much joy,” says Fitzpatrick. “I want to spread that joy as much as I can to others.”
As a mother of two young girls, Fitzpatrick is more driven than ever. She knows her daughters are watching and learning from her example. She is proud to invest in healthcare companies that serve people and communities, but she is quick to credit the support system that makes it possible: her husband, her personal network and Halifax itself, which she describes as “incredibly supportive every step along the way.”
For women considering both a family and a private equity career, Fitzpatrick offers encouragement — and realism. “Support from your personal network and employer is critical,” she says. “They say it takes a village to raise a child, and I now fully appreciate that statement.”