Women Rocking Wall Street - A podcast dedicated to women in financial services

Episode 67: Being A Modernist in Finance Guest: Georgia Lee Hussey

With training in instillation sculpture and creative writing, Georgia Lee Hussey was focused on becoming a professional artist. However, after 12 years, Georgia decided it was time to try something new. At the time she was living in Portland, Oregon during the sub-prime mortgages phase and Georgia found herself with two mortgages: the first had a 7.5% interest rate and the second had 11.5% interest, and both were variable. She had never been taught about money or budgeting and found herself in a difficult, unstable position. Georgia began reading everything she could about financing and budgeting and found that she loved it. She became inspired to become a financial planner and went back to school to get her CFP.

By the time Georgia successfully passed her CFP exam, she already had some clients, which meant that she needed a home for her business. She looked to a brokerage firm to help and was extremely grateful for all the support that they provided. However, she felt out of place because it was very male-dominated and there was a general sense of inequality. She also quickly came to realize that the institutionalized structures of the industry weren’t going to support her vision. As a result, Georgia started Modernist Financial, which was built on a foundation of creativity and collaboration.

Today, Georgia is working with Jennifer Armbrust, with Armbrust & Co. to create a feminist business model. The basic core of the model is equity and inclusion, and flattening inequalities. Modernist Financial is built on values of inviting and including, investing in people, innovating and iterating, and doing good work well. Georgia is striving to create a sense of partnership and empowerment between her advisors and clients and ensuring her staff can support the innovative advice that they are providing to clients.

If you’d like to learn more about Georgia, visit modernistfinancial.com. Thanks for listening. If you liked what you heard, be sure to hit subscribe, share it with others and write us a quick review on iTunes.

Episode 48: Powering Your BusinessGuest: Jessica Ballin

Jessica Ballin has always been interested in finances. Even back in high school, she started as a bank teller and eventually was accepted into the Carlson School of Management, through the University of Minnesota. When she got there and was asked what she wanted to do, she chose finance, because of her previous experience. When she did her internship, she had the opportunity to learn a lot more about 401Ks. She became hooked and has been doing that ever since. In 2006, Jessica decided to try something on her own and started her own business, 401(k) Plan Professionals. She has worked hard to be where she is and has recently made the NAPA’s Top Women Advisors.

Being a female in the industry, she quickly noticed that it was male-dominated. She found that by really knowing her stuff, she was able to be competitive in the market. Jessica was able to gain respect by talking, listening and showcasing her knowledge rather than just trying to sell, sell, sell. She really focused on teaching her clients and found that she approached worked. Jessica admits that it doesn’t work all the time but it has worked for the most part. Over the last few years, she has refined her process of rehearsing, taking notes and being prepared.

Jessica has a very busy life. Between owning her business and raising three boys, she has found that taking care of herself was crucial in maintaining a great balance. She has made the decision to put her family first and to encourage work-life balance within her business. She also has a great team that are able to pick up her workload if there is something that Jessica needs to handle at home.

Thanks for listening to this week’s episode of the Women Rocking Wall Street show! If you liked this episode, be sure to hit subscribe, share it with others and write us a quick review on iTunes.

Episode 47: Navigating SocialGuest: Sheryl Brown

LinkedIn can be a challenging tool but is so valuable when it comes to networking, building connections and your personal brand. This week’s guest is a Sheryl Brown, a social media maven who is skillful in navigating the social media world. She is by trade an Insurance Advisor and has been in the industry for over 20 years. Today, she has a social media consulting business, not to mention she is in charge of the social media strategy for one of the largest private insurance brokerage office in the U.S. Sheryl has also started a social media non-profit, Social Samaritans. This international organization consists of social media professionals that focus on teaching their communities about social media and how to use it to their advantage.

Sheryl, although now she is a social media genius, admits that she became involved thanks to her kids. She was curious about what they were doing online all the time, and then one night her son explained to her how social media worked. From then on, she has been using it as a tool to connect with others.

Over the last few years, Sheryl has been able to create a strong personal brand using platforms that are free. Her brand, BIONICsocialite, has served her, the companies that she works for and her community. A key to Sheryl’s social media success is to regularly observe what the younger generation is doing. What are they saying and how are they manipulating it to their advantage? She recommends that anyone who is looking to get involved in social media to have a strategy. However, she also recommends that sometimes you follow your gut.

If you’d like to connect with Sheryl, she’s available on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Google+ and FourSquare. Sheryl also has a blog that is a wealth of information.

Thanks for listening to this week’s episode of the Women Rocking Wall Street show! If you liked this episode, be sure to hit subscribe, share it with others and write us a quick review on iTunes.

Episode 40: Plan It! Do It! Love It!

Brrr! Dare I say happy winter?

Now that the cold has come and the days are shorter, perhaps some of us are noticing that we’re not feeling as happy these days. Since we spend a lot of time at work, this probably seeps into our work life, especially with the Christmas holiday countdown on our minds. Perhaps you’ve even found that on Sunday, you’re dreading Monday and have come to the realization that you’ve fallen out of love with your job.

Fear not! My guest this week has a formula that will help you fall back in love with your work. Sherry Jordan has been coaching high-performance executives, small business owners, solo entrepreneurs, and teams for over 20 years to help them realize their goals and increase their results. She is an expert in the field of change and change management and specializes in working with individuals and organizations who are ready to embrace transition and experience a higher level of personal and professional satisfaction.

Sherry has released a new book, Plan It! Do It! Love It! where she outlines how to get back to the basics so that you can move from feeling overwhelmed to living your small business lifestyle. Sherry says that it’s as simple as getting back to the basics and getting in touch with your life priorities. Sherry also highlights five tips to successfully falling back in love with your job. These include: making a plan for the year; examine the role that you’re playing; establish healthy boundaries; surround yourself with positive people, and; remember that your attitude is everything. If you have a positive attitude, great things can happen. Episode eight of The "Women Rocking Wall Street" Show (Nothing Can Stop Her) highlights the power of attitude. Also, if you’re looking for a great read, Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl is the perfect example of how one’s attitude can push you through anything.

Sherry has some great resources so be sure to visit her website, SherryJordanCoach.com, and register for a free e-book that will help you with 10 top leadership tips. Also, she is giving away 25 free Plan It! Do It! Love It! books. To get one, all you have to do is go to planitdoitloveit.com and use the code WRW. Lastly, you can connect with Sherry on Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ or see some additional resources on her YouTube channel.

If you liked this episode be sure to share it with those you think might find this valuable. Also, head over to iTunes and write a quick review if you liked what you heard. Lastly, thanks for listening!

Episode 39: Getting Generational

Welcome back and happy November! This week’s episode of the Women Rocking Wall Street show is a little unique. Last year, I had the pleasure of speaking at an event about the differences within various generations and how to talk to each of them about money in an effective way.

Did you know that there are currently four generations that shape our workforce today? There is the Traditionalist (born 1925 – 1945), which in 2014 made up eight percent of the workforce. This generation is conservative in their actions, and they prefer their communication in the form of the written word (memos). Compare that to the Millennials (born 1981 – 2000), who were raised with technology, prefer to communicate through text messages, are used to having adult-like conversations and want a level playing field right out of college, rather than putting in the time (as the Traditionalists would typically prefer to see). In between those two are the Baby Boomers (born 1946 – 1964), who are the optimists and want to be involved in the decisions and the GenX (born 1965 – 1980), who are skeptical because they’ve seen quite a few people fall from power. Again, these two generations are a very interesting contrast.

Each generation has their way of communicating and their beliefs about money. However, one thing is similar across all generations – people’s relationship with money is personal. The conversation should be based around emotions and aspirations and not around fear, shame and doubt. The goal should be to build a plan and to build a personal relationship rather than a business relationship

“When you have a dream and a plan working together in the construction of a life chapter, you have a ‘mission,’ a circumscribed purpose that defines your use of time and space for the duration of this particular life chapter. People with a mission know where they want to go.”

Frederic M. Hudson

Mastering the Art of Self-Renewal

If people can understand the vision of their future where they can redefine what it means to work and give back to their communities and make a plan that talks about their life rather of their money, they may become a little more engaged around the conversation around their finances.

If you liked this episode be sure to share it with those you think might find this valuable. Also, head over to iTunes and write a quick review if you liked what you heard. Lastly, thanks for listening!