Alexis Faber appreciates both the value and the price of victory. As FINEX practice leader for Willis North America, she heads up the firm's financial and executive risk specialty practice that places about $1 billion of premium in the marketplace and generated double-digit revenue growth in 2014.

She's also a married mother of two who divides her time between her home in Memphis and the brokerage's Manhattan office, and understands well the level of detail—and commitment—that is required to achieve her personal and professional goals.

"My job is incredibly dynamic, and no day is the same," says Faber, whose current position includes a market component, sales responsibilities, involvement with claims and management. In all of those areas, she applies the business and team-leading sensibilities she forged while competing on field hockey, lacrosse and ice hockey teams while in college. She now competes in triathlons, and spends the early hours of the morning training for them.