WEBVTT - Lule Demmissie: Investing in Ourselves and Our Communities 0:00:04.320 --> 0:00:06.960 Welcome to Made by Women, a new podcast by the 0:00:07.000 --> 0:00:11.960 Seneca Women Podcast Network and I Heart Radio. At a 0:00:12.039 --> 0:00:14.480 moment when businesses face some of the biggest challenges in 0:00:14.520 --> 0:00:19.000 recent history, we bring you inspiring stories, practical insights, and 0:00:19.040 --> 0:00:22.760 shared learnings to help you successfully navigate in today's environment. 0:00:24.960 --> 0:00:28.319 Every Thursday, Made by Women will showcase the experiences of 0:00:28.440 --> 0:00:32.840 legendary women, entrepreneurs, fierce up and comers, and everyday women 0:00:32.840 --> 0:00:36.920 who found success their own way. Consider this your real 0:00:36.960 --> 0:00:42.080 world MBA designed for the new Now. I'm Kim Azzarelli 0:00:42.200 --> 0:00:48.200 and thanks so much for joining us Today. Smart investing 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:51.440 is a path to empowerment, and lu Lay Demissa is 0:00:51.479 --> 0:00:54.680 on a mission to see that everyone from every background 0:00:54.760 --> 0:00:58.880 has an opportunity to succeed financially. Lu Lay is president 0:00:58.880 --> 0:01:02.680 of ally Invest, part of ally Bank, the all digital bank. 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:05.440 She wants to help get more people on the path 0:01:05.560 --> 0:01:09.520 with secure financial future now. Lu Lay's background gives her 0:01:09.520 --> 0:01:12.760 a unique perspective on financial services. Not only is she 0:01:12.800 --> 0:01:15.720 a woman of color and a member of the LGBTQ community, 0:01:16.120 --> 0:01:18.680 she also took an unusual and fascinating route to her 0:01:18.720 --> 0:01:22.000 current role. In today's conversation, lu Lay is going to 0:01:22.080 --> 0:01:25.000 reveal why money is more than dollars and cents, why 0:01:25.040 --> 0:01:27.680 we need a new definition of investing, and why we 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:30.560 can all benefit from listening to the many voices around us. 0:01:31.760 --> 0:01:39.040 Enjoy my conversation with lu Lay Damasse from ally Bank. Lula, 0:01:39.160 --> 0:01:41.560 thanks so much for joining us today. Thanks for having me. 0:01:41.600 --> 0:01:44.200 I'm glad to be here. So you are the president 0:01:44.280 --> 0:01:47.440 of ally invest which is part of Ally Bank. What 0:01:47.640 --> 0:01:52.360 does your role involve? So? I run the product and 0:01:52.640 --> 0:01:56.880 business that really governs the investing arm for retail investors 0:01:56.960 --> 0:02:00.440 for Ally. So that means individuals who want to trade 0:02:00.560 --> 0:02:03.920 securities for their own accounts, or who would like to 0:02:03.960 --> 0:02:06.520 have their money managed because they may want to have 0:02:06.920 --> 0:02:09.920 an expert sort of hand on it. All those things 0:02:10.000 --> 0:02:12.800 come to my businesses doorstep in terms of how people 0:02:12.840 --> 0:02:16.680 interact with market. List obviously a very important and incredibly 0:02:16.760 --> 0:02:19.760 timely role. And Ally Bank is such an interesting bank. 0:02:19.840 --> 0:02:22.200 I'd love to talk more about that. But before we 0:02:22.240 --> 0:02:24.120 get into that, I'd love to hear a little bit 0:02:24.160 --> 0:02:27.880 about your background, maybe both your your personal background and 0:02:27.960 --> 0:02:32.280 also your professional background. Yeah. I often refer to myself 0:02:32.360 --> 0:02:36.280 as a vagabond. I am technically speaking an immigrant. I 0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:39.880 was born in Ethiopia. I'm originally from Ethiopia. I was 0:02:40.000 --> 0:02:42.760 there until I was about eight years old. My parents 0:02:42.840 --> 0:02:45.959 stories much like many others. They immigrated both for opportunity 0:02:46.040 --> 0:02:49.120 but also for political freedom. At that time, we had 0:02:49.200 --> 0:02:54.079 a very rigid communist regime that was governing Ethiopia. Most 0:02:54.160 --> 0:02:57.680 of my family fled from that, and then my father, 0:02:58.000 --> 0:03:00.799 who thankfully was very well educate hated, was able to 0:03:00.919 --> 0:03:03.320 find jobs in different parts of Europe. So I was 0:03:04.200 --> 0:03:06.880 raised in different parts of Europe, from Greece to England, 0:03:07.080 --> 0:03:09.560 and then came back to East Africa. And then I 0:03:09.800 --> 0:03:12.079 ended up in the US for a few years in 0:03:12.120 --> 0:03:15.200 my high school years as well as college. And really 0:03:15.840 --> 0:03:17.679 when I came to New York is when I said 0:03:17.680 --> 0:03:20.760 to myself, Wow, I'm home New York City for a 0:03:20.880 --> 0:03:23.519 vagabond like me as a home for vagabonds, and so 0:03:23.680 --> 0:03:26.640 that's a New Yorker. I'm happy to hear that. Um 0:03:26.800 --> 0:03:29.119 so really that that's that's sort of like the footprint 0:03:29.160 --> 0:03:32.880 of my geographic experience in my life. So you early 0:03:33.000 --> 0:03:36.240 on found your way towards finance. Did you have an 0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:39.080 early childhood inclination towards this or was this something that 0:03:39.160 --> 0:03:41.400 came to in college, How did you get into finance? So, 0:03:41.640 --> 0:03:44.600 you know, it's interesting. I was always a curious child. Um, 0:03:44.760 --> 0:03:48.200 So regardless of finance, I was. I was always, you know, 0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:51.560 I loved to see how things worked, how what made 0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:55.360 things take. So I've been a student of human behavior 0:03:55.600 --> 0:03:58.280 and just everything that really just makes things tick. I've 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:01.560 always been curious, and when I came across finance, it 0:04:01.680 --> 0:04:05.280 struck me that, in indeed, it's one of the most 0:04:05.720 --> 0:04:10.000 superpowers to understand behavior and how things tick. And so 0:04:10.200 --> 0:04:12.520 for that reason, it felt really interesting to me. So 0:04:12.720 --> 0:04:17.240 I pursued first as an undergrad and economics major. I 0:04:17.360 --> 0:04:20.320 was at a liberal arts, cool school, which I really enjoyed, 0:04:20.520 --> 0:04:24.640 and then after my undergrad years, decided that I wanted 0:04:24.680 --> 0:04:27.640 to pursue a career in financial services because I felt 0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:31.720 again it was a place that could both empower my 0:04:32.000 --> 0:04:35.360 career but also really sort of satisfy this curiosity I 0:04:35.440 --> 0:04:38.360 had about how things really ticked. I think you're at 0:04:38.400 --> 0:04:41.120 Smith College, Is that right? I was. I was an undergrad. 0:04:41.240 --> 0:04:43.640 I went to a women's school. I was a harmony 0:04:43.720 --> 0:04:45.440 in my generation, and so I felt like if I 0:04:45.480 --> 0:04:48.680 went to a normal women's school, I wouldn't feel so 0:04:48.839 --> 0:04:53.760 awkward raising my hand and and partaking that curiosity often 0:04:54.200 --> 0:04:55.920 turned me into the one who would raise her hands 0:04:55.920 --> 0:04:58.400 a lot. Well that's that's a good thing, as we 0:04:58.480 --> 0:05:00.800 all know that that's how success is built. And from there, 0:05:00.920 --> 0:05:04.200 your first job was at JP Morgan. So I was 0:05:04.320 --> 0:05:07.200 fortunate enough to be at a school where opportunity was 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:10.000 was made available and if you were smart enough to 0:05:10.080 --> 0:05:13.240 take advantage of it, which I was, just because you know, 0:05:13.360 --> 0:05:15.600 as an immigrant you can't look back often enough, and 0:05:15.720 --> 0:05:19.600 so I applied for an internship program at JP Morgan. 0:05:19.880 --> 0:05:23.239 It opened up a lot of opportunities and really taught 0:05:23.320 --> 0:05:27.360 me how capital markets worked, how the understanding and the 0:05:27.440 --> 0:05:31.600 intelligence around money was so important, and very early I 0:05:31.720 --> 0:05:34.600 understood money it's not just about what it buys you, 0:05:35.400 --> 0:05:38.480 but what systems and powers and so that was really 0:05:39.000 --> 0:05:41.360 a fascinating place for me to start. Well, as you know, 0:05:41.480 --> 0:05:44.440 I was awesome in that JP Morgan program by chance, 0:05:44.560 --> 0:05:46.680 and I'm you're probably the only person I know or 0:05:46.760 --> 0:05:49.040 that i've met recently that was in that same program, 0:05:49.120 --> 0:05:51.480 so I know how powerful it was. So from there 0:05:52.000 --> 0:05:56.600 you decided to pursue finance as a career. And how 0:05:56.640 --> 0:05:58.920 did you make your way to ally Bank, so a 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:02.159 long way path. I've been at this now for about 0:06:02.160 --> 0:06:06.240 twenty five plus years. I started after JP Morgan. A 0:06:06.760 --> 0:06:10.560 team of financial advisors recruited me at Meryl who were 0:06:10.640 --> 0:06:12.840 working at JP Morgan to be part of their team, 0:06:12.880 --> 0:06:15.520 and so I learned how to be a financial advisor, 0:06:15.600 --> 0:06:19.320 which is a really interesting profession. As well. It taught 0:06:19.400 --> 0:06:24.320 me an appreciation for the customer, the end customers understanding 0:06:24.360 --> 0:06:27.360 around money. Uh. It gave me a deep appreciation how 0:06:27.440 --> 0:06:30.360 money is more emotional than it is logical for most 0:06:30.400 --> 0:06:34.040 people and how that emotion was triggered. It taught me 0:06:34.200 --> 0:06:36.640 about what is it you have to listen to and 0:06:36.760 --> 0:06:39.880 consumer behavior, and so I always tell people that you 0:06:39.960 --> 0:06:43.600 know where I got my first inkling on wanting to 0:06:43.760 --> 0:06:46.200 be in front of the customer and financial services was 0:06:46.279 --> 0:06:49.360 becoming advisor. And then after about two plus years of 0:06:49.480 --> 0:06:52.400 doing that, I decided, as an immigrant, I really needed 0:06:52.440 --> 0:06:56.720 to load up on my credentials because ultimately I should. 0:06:56.920 --> 0:06:59.599 I should also mention I'm a member of the lgbt 0:06:59.680 --> 0:07:02.040 Q CAN Unity and I felt like, for many reasons, 0:07:02.120 --> 0:07:03.720 this was going to be my America was going to 0:07:03.760 --> 0:07:06.240 be my home. I just embraced everything about the way. 0:07:06.760 --> 0:07:09.240 It was more accepting from where I came from. And 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:12.680 so I went to grad school. I pursued my business 0:07:12.680 --> 0:07:16.000 school degree there at Columbia Business School. And so you 0:07:16.520 --> 0:07:19.240 you get your business school degree, you have a pretty 0:07:19.280 --> 0:07:22.680 impeccable background from there, and you ultimately end up at 0:07:22.680 --> 0:07:25.320 TD Bank before going to Ally and building a very 0:07:25.400 --> 0:07:28.600 significant business. So you're sort of a builder as well. 0:07:29.080 --> 0:07:31.720 I am. I am actually started out Morgan Stanley. Morgan 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:34.720 Stanley gave me an offer after business school, and that's 0:07:34.760 --> 0:07:38.160 where I got the bug. Really. I was in strategy 0:07:38.240 --> 0:07:41.560 and product development. I'm Morgan Stanley, and I realized I'm 0:07:41.600 --> 0:07:45.240 a builder. It wasn't that I didn't appreciate running a business. 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:47.880 I love running a business, but I run a business 0:07:47.960 --> 0:07:51.600 as though it is continuously evolving, and that's not always 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:54.400 the case in every company you're at. But what I 0:07:54.480 --> 0:07:57.760 realized is I needed to work at companies that understood 0:07:57.800 --> 0:08:01.520 and embraced the idea of continuous evolution, regardless of whether 0:08:01.560 --> 0:08:04.880 the business was established or not. And so that's when 0:08:04.920 --> 0:08:07.080 TV A merrit Trade came knocking on on the door. 0:08:07.840 --> 0:08:10.520 After I had about seven plus years of experience at 0:08:10.640 --> 0:08:13.480 Morgan Stanley, which was a fantastic place to work, and 0:08:13.600 --> 0:08:16.680 TD merrit Trade asked me to build out their long 0:08:16.800 --> 0:08:20.360 term investing capabilities. And I remember when I joined there 0:08:20.400 --> 0:08:23.400 were about five people and we let when I left 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:26.600 it was you know, a multibillion dollar hundred plus people 0:08:26.840 --> 0:08:30.400 or organization. And so it was just really satisfying seeing 0:08:30.520 --> 0:08:35.520 something from creation from seed to a full capability. Um 0:08:35.840 --> 0:08:38.719 And as that happened, Ally knocked on the door and 0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:40.760 offered me. It seemed to happen to you a lot. 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:43.280 By the way, No, I mean, you know, I am 0:08:43.400 --> 0:08:45.719 lucky for sure. You know, luck, as I said, is 0:08:46.040 --> 0:08:48.520 an essential part of things. And so when they knocked 0:08:48.600 --> 0:08:50.800 on the door, it was another opportunity to be a 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:54.120 builder again in a different frame and a different lane. 0:08:54.520 --> 0:08:56.240 And it's so tell us a little bit about Ally, 0:08:56.320 --> 0:08:59.720 because it allows you to express other types of values. 0:09:00.200 --> 0:09:02.480 I believe, given the sort of the nature of the 0:09:02.520 --> 0:09:05.880 consumer and what you're looking to build there. Yeah, you know, 0:09:06.080 --> 0:09:08.120 back to the point of like the empathy towards the 0:09:08.160 --> 0:09:11.240 consumer and money. Being sort of a lover of a 0:09:11.360 --> 0:09:14.520 study or of human behavior, what I realized was in 0:09:14.800 --> 0:09:17.440 order to express some of the next things that all 0:09:17.520 --> 0:09:20.600 this experience had afforded me to be able to express them. 0:09:21.240 --> 0:09:24.040 I wanted to go to a shop that actually catered 0:09:24.120 --> 0:09:28.439 to a changing demographic, and that is exactly where Allies 0:09:28.480 --> 0:09:31.360 at right. So Ally is an online bank, it's about 0:09:31.400 --> 0:09:34.520 ten years old, and the investment shop they purchased a 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:37.959 few years ago. But the demographic sort of makeup of 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:41.120 our client base, first of all, is fully embracing of 0:09:41.280 --> 0:09:43.760 digital because we don't have any footprint, right, we don't 0:09:43.800 --> 0:09:46.000 have any storefront in the in the classic sense of it. 0:09:46.440 --> 0:09:49.600 So by definition already like a digitally inclined customer comes 0:09:49.679 --> 0:09:52.720 to us, which also means not necessarily that it only 0:09:52.880 --> 0:09:56.079 excuse young, but it does skew young. And so the 0:09:56.600 --> 0:09:59.600 demographic of people coming to ALLY was very different from 0:10:00.240 --> 0:10:02.680 the demographics that I was experiencing at tv Imrrige Trade, 0:10:02.679 --> 0:10:06.439 which then really does shape and open up the possibilities 0:10:06.480 --> 0:10:09.480 when it comes to product development and services that you develop. 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:14.800 So when you think about building for this next changing demographic, 0:10:14.880 --> 0:10:17.280 how do you what's your design model? What do you 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:20.319 focus on? Yeah, so a few things. So one design 0:10:20.400 --> 0:10:22.079 model is really like you know, at the end of 0:10:22.120 --> 0:10:26.360 the day, the things that I embrace are really universal 0:10:26.440 --> 0:10:29.400 in the sense that I don't think there's anythings revolutionary 0:10:29.440 --> 0:10:32.319 about the things that I embrace. What I think I 0:10:32.480 --> 0:10:35.679 do is I bring a different area of focus, and 0:10:35.840 --> 0:10:41.280 so I really believe in the concept of simplification. Right 0:10:41.800 --> 0:10:46.600 typically in our industry, more is better, more products, more tools, 0:10:46.760 --> 0:10:50.960 more portfolios. I really espouse to the model of less 0:10:51.160 --> 0:10:53.720 is more, and so in the way that we design 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:57.400 products and services, my whole thing is, if you violate 0:10:57.520 --> 0:11:01.120 the less is more model, you've just put work on 0:11:01.200 --> 0:11:05.360 the customer's plate, and that is a sin. You cannot 0:11:05.440 --> 0:11:08.199 put work on the customer's plate. And so one of 0:11:08.240 --> 0:11:10.920 the premises when I walk into any business problem is 0:11:10.960 --> 0:11:15.679 how do I find it's simple, elegant truth, rather than 0:11:15.920 --> 0:11:18.680 pasting on top of it a ton of product solutions 0:11:18.720 --> 0:11:22.520 and product features and complexity that might not be necessary. 0:11:23.240 --> 0:11:26.320 I feel like we need you across all industries. It's 0:11:26.360 --> 0:11:28.800 hard to live up to, but you know, I find 0:11:28.920 --> 0:11:31.760 that if you make it an ethos, you hold yourself 0:11:31.800 --> 0:11:36.400 accountable throughout the creation process. By definition, creation can be 0:11:36.559 --> 0:11:39.439 an additive thing. So you end up like at the 0:11:39.600 --> 0:11:41.719 end of the rainbow and you've created this monster, and 0:11:41.720 --> 0:11:44.640 you're like, how come I had the intention of keeping 0:11:44.720 --> 0:11:47.719 it simple, but then I ended up with this complexity. 0:11:47.760 --> 0:11:49.480 And I think that's because you just have to be 0:11:49.559 --> 0:11:54.079 really like maniacle that simplicity throughout, to look at every 0:11:54.200 --> 0:11:57.360 step of the creation process and say what editing should 0:11:57.360 --> 0:11:59.599 I do? I do? What simplification should I do, so 0:11:59.679 --> 0:12:02.440 that by the time you've reached the end again, if 0:12:02.440 --> 0:12:04.960 you've done it right, you've distilled it to the simplest 0:12:05.000 --> 0:12:08.319 and truest form. That's such an interesting technique. How do 0:12:08.400 --> 0:12:12.240 you not get invested to invested in your own work 0:12:12.280 --> 0:12:14.480 product that you're able to then throw it out and 0:12:14.920 --> 0:12:17.319 simplify it. A few things I mean I borrow, you know, 0:12:17.520 --> 0:12:19.200 As I said, I'm a I mean I'm a little 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:20.679 bit of a geek when it comes to things that 0:12:20.840 --> 0:12:24.240 help with process. So I'm a student of lean, I'm 0:12:24.280 --> 0:12:26.360 a student of agile, and there's a lot of stuff 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:28.120 that I've borrowed over the years here and there. But 0:12:28.200 --> 0:12:31.000 a few ways. One is I have learned over the 0:12:31.080 --> 0:12:33.160 years that if you show your work along the way, 0:12:33.960 --> 0:12:36.400 it gets you out of your head because other people 0:12:36.840 --> 0:12:39.400 are not their navel gazing with you, right, they can 0:12:39.440 --> 0:12:43.120 look at it objectively right and be like it doesn't 0:12:43.160 --> 0:12:45.079 work in this way or it doesn't work that way. 0:12:45.160 --> 0:12:48.440 And so I am a huge proponent of a culture 0:12:48.600 --> 0:12:52.240 that promotes the showing of the work as things are happening. Again, 0:12:52.360 --> 0:12:55.720 it has this edifying quality to it. Right. Another thing 0:12:55.800 --> 0:12:59.200 I really believe in is sort of transparency across the board, 0:12:59.240 --> 0:13:01.880 like it, you know. I feel like creation in this 0:13:02.080 --> 0:13:05.760 era requires a tremendous amount of courage and because to 0:13:05.840 --> 0:13:08.439 be transparent, you have to be courageous, right, And so 0:13:08.640 --> 0:13:12.440 if you try to drive a culture of transparency, both 0:13:12.480 --> 0:13:15.040 in terms of how the work is done, how the 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:19.400 thought process was testing with customers on a regular basis, 0:13:19.760 --> 0:13:22.280 I think it allows you again to make sure that 0:13:22.400 --> 0:13:25.400 you are creating something that doesn't have an element of 0:13:25.520 --> 0:13:29.920 like everybody else thinks your baby's ugly except you. Yeah, 0:13:30.000 --> 0:13:33.040 that's not where you want to end up. We'll be 0:13:33.120 --> 0:13:36.079 back with Seneca's Made by Women after this short break. 0:13:46.559 --> 0:13:50.720 So you've been building at ally a pretty interesting model, 0:13:51.040 --> 0:13:54.559 and you've been looking at this changing landscape of the consumer. 0:13:55.520 --> 0:13:58.480 How can we be intentional about making sure that women 0:13:58.559 --> 0:14:01.560 and people of color are part of this new reality? 0:14:02.040 --> 0:14:05.000 A few ways. I think one is making sure that 0:14:05.960 --> 0:14:11.239 we bring different voices into the conversation of what financial 0:14:11.400 --> 0:14:14.360 services is about. I think a lot of times we 0:14:14.520 --> 0:14:18.280 talk around the circumference of like the outer edges of 0:14:18.400 --> 0:14:23.040 what diversity looks like, meaning what the intentions around diversity is, 0:14:23.760 --> 0:14:26.520 rather than the work that it takes to happen, right, 0:14:26.560 --> 0:14:29.360 And so there's a few ways. So one of the 0:14:29.480 --> 0:14:31.840 things that we've started to really lean into it ally 0:14:32.080 --> 0:14:36.680 is not just the empowering of the consumer through education. 0:14:36.800 --> 0:14:40.520 I think education is an important antidote to lots of things. 0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:44.640 But it's not just education. It's education, financial education, and 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:49.480 insight that brings different voices to it. So how does 0:14:49.880 --> 0:14:53.880 a new immigrant who is working their way through and 0:14:54.360 --> 0:14:59.280 is doing well invest versus a third generation, a third 0:14:59.320 --> 0:15:02.480 generation per sin who's you know whose forefathers went to 0:15:02.600 --> 0:15:05.080 college and grad school and went to you know, versus 0:15:05.120 --> 0:15:08.120 a new immigrant who has this pull and tug between 0:15:08.160 --> 0:15:11.080 the money they're saving and the people they need to help, 0:15:11.160 --> 0:15:13.920 either within this country or at home. And what does 0:15:14.000 --> 0:15:16.800 that do to their financial picture? How does how do 0:15:17.000 --> 0:15:19.040 you give them tricks of the trade so that they 0:15:19.120 --> 0:15:22.800 don't reach sixty years of age and had the same 0:15:23.040 --> 0:15:26.880 career as somebody who's a third generation, but is that 0:15:27.080 --> 0:15:29.600 much poorer, right, because of the fact that they were 0:15:29.640 --> 0:15:33.960 not given these adaptive skills that recognize their situation. So 0:15:34.080 --> 0:15:35.760 I do believe that one of the ways we make 0:15:35.800 --> 0:15:39.320 it inclusive is bringing in those stories, those financial stories, 0:15:39.400 --> 0:15:42.520 and giving in those financial tricks of the trade, if 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:46.080 you will, and best practices for a wider net of 0:15:46.240 --> 0:15:48.840 people and a wider net of stories around it. I 0:15:48.920 --> 0:15:51.680 think what you're saying is so important because again, and 0:15:51.760 --> 0:15:54.480 it kind of comes to your customer first mentality, right, 0:15:54.520 --> 0:15:58.000 which is what's the experience that you're trying to solve for. 0:15:58.760 --> 0:16:00.800 And I think that's maybe very different because I think 0:16:00.800 --> 0:16:02.840 a lot of people right now are focused on how 0:16:02.880 --> 0:16:05.760 do we include women, women of color, people of color, 0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:10.360 But maybe people aren't really thinking through what's the real issue. 0:16:10.400 --> 0:16:13.480 What are the structural barriers? What are the situational barriers 0:16:13.520 --> 0:16:16.480 that are holding women back, for example, from investing. Yeah, 0:16:16.640 --> 0:16:18.880 I think that's really interesting, it is, and I think 0:16:18.920 --> 0:16:21.240 that part of it is barriers. But you know, I'm 0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:23.240 a person. You know, there's an old Swedish saying that 0:16:23.320 --> 0:16:25.920 I say all the time, which is that those who 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:29.320 wish to sing always find a song, And you know, 0:16:29.960 --> 0:16:32.800 as a person who grew up where my parents left 0:16:32.840 --> 0:16:35.600 their country with no money in their pocket and they 0:16:35.640 --> 0:16:38.520 had some wealth when they were in Ethiopia, no money 0:16:38.600 --> 0:16:40.680 in their pocket because of what situation we have to 0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:43.960 start it all over again. As a person who's understood 0:16:44.040 --> 0:16:46.960 what starting all over is, I'm always going to find 0:16:47.040 --> 0:16:50.360 a song. Right. So part of it is, yes, how 0:16:50.440 --> 0:16:52.720 to think about the structural barriers, but part of it, 0:16:52.840 --> 0:16:55.560 the other part of it is what's their song? Why 0:16:55.640 --> 0:16:58.040 don't you give some mics to their song? Because they're 0:16:58.120 --> 0:17:01.160 singing a song there. You know, these folks are not 0:17:01.320 --> 0:17:04.520 just on the outer edge suffering. They have stuff they're 0:17:04.560 --> 0:17:08.760 doing to help their financial picture. Bring that in, make 0:17:08.840 --> 0:17:12.920 that part of the playbook to advise others to give 0:17:12.960 --> 0:17:15.560 them a song as well. So, yes, structural barriers, but 0:17:15.720 --> 0:17:19.680 also the flip side of it is see people, what 0:17:19.800 --> 0:17:21.879 are they doing? How do we learn from them as 0:17:22.000 --> 0:17:24.000 much about how what their tricks of the trade are 0:17:24.480 --> 0:17:28.040 in understanding their financial situation. It's super interesting. I remember 0:17:28.400 --> 0:17:31.440 Professor Prahlad, who you probably remember, who wrote the Fortune 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:33.720 at the Bottom of the Pyramid. I thought, I remember 0:17:33.720 --> 0:17:35.280 in two thousand five I heard him speak and it 0:17:35.680 --> 0:17:38.320 really changed my perspective because it was it was an 0:17:38.320 --> 0:17:40.560 interesting day when he was speaking. Jeff Emilt, who was 0:17:40.600 --> 0:17:43.399 in CEO G was speaking, and my former boss Andrew 0:17:43.440 --> 0:17:46.160 Young of Avon was speaking, and he was talking about 0:17:46.359 --> 0:17:49.840 why are we viewing the emerging markets as poor people 0:17:50.560 --> 0:17:52.760 and as you know, people who need to be reached 0:17:52.800 --> 0:17:56.240 out to with charitable um ideas. We should be looking 0:17:56.280 --> 0:17:59.200 at sort of the emerging markets as partners in growth. 0:17:59.520 --> 0:18:01.560 And when you look at people that way, it's a 0:18:01.600 --> 0:18:05.960 completely different strategy, same widgets and so like you'll see. 0:18:06.040 --> 0:18:08.600 So we we've seated what we call a point of 0:18:08.640 --> 0:18:12.520 view strategy and invest which is trying to have organic 0:18:12.840 --> 0:18:17.439 perspectives on the markets and investing. So we we hardly 0:18:17.640 --> 0:18:19.760 use like third We don't just put a step rubber 0:18:19.800 --> 0:18:22.480 stamp on third party reviews. We have a team of 0:18:22.600 --> 0:18:25.040 experts that are sort of formulating how to help you 0:18:25.160 --> 0:18:27.879 navigate the markets. But then we also bring in people 0:18:28.400 --> 0:18:31.000 to interview them to say how do you handle the markets? 0:18:31.080 --> 0:18:34.000 How do you handle investing? Again, because it's not just 0:18:34.200 --> 0:18:38.320 us that holds the collective wisdom, right, people hold the wisdom, 0:18:38.359 --> 0:18:40.560 and so if you bring their wisdom into the into 0:18:40.600 --> 0:18:44.320 the conversation. Not only does it make our services better, 0:18:45.119 --> 0:18:48.840 but then people see themselves. And there's no other motivator 0:18:49.480 --> 0:18:52.560 than to bring people under the tent of opportunity than 0:18:52.680 --> 0:18:55.480 for letting people see themselves. Yeah, and that's really what 0:18:55.560 --> 0:18:58.120 we're dedicated to here this whole you know, being able 0:18:58.160 --> 0:19:00.920 to see yourself and see others and your people and 0:19:01.040 --> 0:19:03.720 hear them where they're at. One of the questions that 0:19:03.800 --> 0:19:05.800 I wanted to ask you about has to do with 0:19:05.920 --> 0:19:09.000 how we invest and obviously over the last several years 0:19:09.040 --> 0:19:11.760 there's been a big emphasis in investing in ourselves and 0:19:11.880 --> 0:19:14.680 self care. How does this relate to the grand scheme 0:19:14.680 --> 0:19:16.600 of things? How should we be thinking about investing in 0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:19.920 our communities not just investing in ourselves. I mean, I 0:19:19.960 --> 0:19:22.159 think there's a several ways to think about it. You know. 0:19:22.280 --> 0:19:24.600 One thing is to to remember that investing is not 0:19:24.680 --> 0:19:29.000 only just money. Right, So, you know, what community activities 0:19:29.080 --> 0:19:31.720 do you take part in? Especially this virtual world has 0:19:31.720 --> 0:19:33.959 taught us how like the world is flat now, right, 0:19:34.040 --> 0:19:37.720 it's truly flat. You know. I have you know, an 0:19:37.800 --> 0:19:41.080 exercise group that now used to be just local but 0:19:41.240 --> 0:19:45.600 now has people from like Qualampore joining, right, because it's 0:19:45.600 --> 0:19:47.640 gone virtual. The world is flat. So I think part 0:19:47.680 --> 0:19:50.240 of it is just you know, making sure that we 0:19:50.400 --> 0:19:53.880 expand our definition of investing. Our time is a form 0:19:53.920 --> 0:19:57.760 of investment. Our talent is a form of investment. Like 0:19:57.920 --> 0:20:01.200 do we share our talent with other people? Um, you know, 0:20:01.560 --> 0:20:05.480 I probably do at least two to three mentorship programs 0:20:05.520 --> 0:20:08.000 something somebody not only at ally but anywhere a week. 0:20:08.240 --> 0:20:10.720 And it's religious for me in terms of being able 0:20:10.760 --> 0:20:13.600 to do that. And then of course money is another 0:20:13.720 --> 0:20:15.760 form of it. So I think I think it's just 0:20:15.920 --> 0:20:19.040 being intentional with all of the goods and services that 0:20:19.200 --> 0:20:21.320 we carry in our own skin, not just in our 0:20:21.359 --> 0:20:24.080 bank account. I think is a means of making sure 0:20:24.160 --> 0:20:27.000 that we get connected to our communities. But I think 0:20:27.080 --> 0:20:29.440 another thing is, as I said earlier, is sort of 0:20:29.560 --> 0:20:33.560 like knowledge is power, and so how do we share 0:20:33.680 --> 0:20:37.840 with communities knowledge? In my space, it's investing knowledge right 0:20:38.000 --> 0:20:40.040 get the business I'm in. And so that's one of 0:20:40.080 --> 0:20:41.720 the things we try to do is like how do 0:20:41.840 --> 0:20:44.399 we share How do we flatten the word by making 0:20:44.480 --> 0:20:48.040 knowledge available? So we have conference as we hold for instance, 0:20:48.080 --> 0:20:50.000 we have a one coming up in this quarter in 0:20:50.040 --> 0:20:53.399 a few days where we are sharing knowledge both in 0:20:53.520 --> 0:20:55.440 terms of how to invest, but also just things you 0:20:55.480 --> 0:20:58.000 should know about what's happening in the markets and how 0:20:58.080 --> 0:21:01.119 they could be shaped differently. So I think there's several 0:21:01.200 --> 0:21:03.720 ways we commit to our communities, But in the end, 0:21:03.800 --> 0:21:06.200 I think it's like we account by it by the 0:21:06.320 --> 0:21:09.240 time we've spent, not just the money we've spent. So 0:21:09.359 --> 0:21:11.399 I know there'll be many many people listening to this 0:21:11.760 --> 0:21:15.679 podcast wishing they could get advice from you, especially career advice, 0:21:16.000 --> 0:21:19.200 certainly investing advice, but also career advice. Is there a 0:21:19.280 --> 0:21:22.640 piece of advice that you generally share with people who 0:21:22.680 --> 0:21:25.560 are trying to break into finance or breakthrough in this 0:21:25.880 --> 0:21:29.200 pretty difficult environment right now? I mean there's several things, 0:21:29.320 --> 0:21:31.320 you know, I have I called I tell people all 0:21:31.320 --> 0:21:33.000 the time, I have a lot of scar tissue, right 0:21:33.560 --> 0:21:35.520 So one of the things I tell people is like, 0:21:35.600 --> 0:21:39.200 don't avoid scar tissue. You can't do anything in life 0:21:39.280 --> 0:21:42.400 unless you make mistakes. And so the advice I give 0:21:42.440 --> 0:21:46.119 people a lot is leaning, you know, really take advantage 0:21:46.119 --> 0:21:48.720