Ashley Ott, CFP®, AIF®, with Commonwealth since 2013
Ashley Ott, CFP®, AIF®, accomplice at Vantage Level Monetary, joined her agency in 2012 in a brief function as a shopper providers supervisor. Being on the time a current graduate with a psychology diploma from Harvard College, she rapidly realized she cherished working with shoppers and was delighted to transition to a full-time worker. Vantage Level Monetary, a agency devoted to gender steadiness, shoppers’ training, and unbiased monetary recommendation, was the right match for Ashley’s objectives and fervour for serving to individuals. With the help and mentorship of Vantage Level’s president and founder, David Griswold, she launched into an academic journey in economics, finance, and investments, finally incomes her business designations and partnership function.
When talking with Ashley, I discovered that her ardour for partaking with individuals nonetheless runs robust, each professionally and personally. Beneath, she shares her experiences as a girl and next-gen adviser and the way her agency has managed by the continued pandemic.
Q: What strengths do you deliver to the desk as a girl and next-gen advisor?
A: Millennial girls are beginning to take management of their monetary futures and handle their very own cash and belongings. I see this mindset in my present shopper base, which might be about 15 % millennials. A lot of my next-gen shoppers are girls who’ve lots in widespread with me. They’re shopping for properties, having youngsters, and beginning to give attention to the monetary safety of their households.
Being a girl advisor who shares these experiences is a large bonus in onboarding shoppers and growing long-term relationships. Many ladies, whether or not youthful or older, are extra comfy talking with a girl advisor. General, in my expertise, our girls shoppers discover it empowering to work with one other lady.
Q: What’s crucial recommendation you’d give to a younger advisor?
A: To anybody beginning on this enterprise, I’d say don’t be afraid to fail and take each alternative to satisfy individuals. After I entered the workforce 10 years in the past, I used to be afraid of failing and hesitant to leap at alternatives. I used to be particularly afraid of public talking. A technique I bought by this was to show a category in primary finance as an adjunct professor at Boston College—one thing I did for a number of semesters. I instructed my college students that standing up there and speaking was a nerve-wracking expertise. Telling my college students that with all honesty whereas standing in entrance of them helped me work by my fears.
Q: How does your corporation mannequin allow you to steadiness work and household life?
A: I really love what we do as advisors—serving to shoppers obtain their objectives. However I additionally love the flexibleness this enterprise supplies. A number of years in the past, I opened a department workplace in Seattle, Washington, to enrich our most important workplace in Boston, Massachusetts. My purpose was to spend extra time with my husband, who performs soccer for the Seattle Seahawks. Now, I make money working from home not solely due to COVID-19 but in addition so I can see my seven-month-old son all through the day. After I took time without work for maternity depart, our shoppers have been excited and cheered me on. Since then, I’ve develop into much more captivated with my work and the chance to assist younger households make good, assured, and educated monetary selections.
Q: How did the pandemic have an effect on your corporation?
A: Surprisingly, our enterprise thrived—2020 was the agency’s strongest development yr to this point. From the beginning of the pandemic, we noticed elevated demand for monetary planning. For a lot of shoppers, the lockdowns have been a chance to take an excellent have a look at their funds. They lastly had the time to take a seat down and make a monetary evaluate a precedence. Many purchasers even loved it! Regardless of the uncertainty, they appreciated the prospect to trace how they have been doing financially towards their objectives and actually dive into general planning.
Q: Did your agency’s use of know-how change in 2020?
A: On account of our enterprise mannequin, my colleagues and I have been already comfy utilizing Zoom properly earlier than the pandemic hit. We’ve places of work on each coasts—I’m primarily positioned in Seattle, and my accomplice is predicated in Boston. We’ve a license to function in 26 states, so Zoom know-how was good for connecting with our associates and shoppers throughout the nation. We started to make use of Zoom greater than three years in the past. So that you would possibly say our agency was as prepared as doable for the massive shift to digital.
One change, although, is that I’m beginning to do digital networking and prospecting. Earlier than the pandemic, I organized Finance 101 conferences for teams of 5 to 10 girls at somebody’s dwelling. We’d have wine and cheese and get to know one another. I’d share suggestions and primary data about monetary planning, with no questions thought of too easy. Due to the pandemic, I’ve began holding conferences like this on Zoom. It’s an excellent possibility for now and would possibly generate shoppers identical to the in-person conferences did.
Q: How did your shoppers reply to the modifications final yr?
A: Earlier than the pandemic, nearly all of shoppers most well-liked to satisfy in particular person. With the lockdowns in place, convincing shoppers to make use of Zoom bought lots simpler, in fact. However as soon as they bought began, Zoom’s comfort and ease made numerous converts. I’m positive some shoppers will need to proceed assembly just about.
Q: How do you keep related along with your neighborhood?
A: I used to be a hockey participant when rising up and all through school. Earlier than the pandemic, I loved supporting younger individuals within the sport by teaching youth hockey at two native colleges. And, additionally pre-pandemic, I stored my aggressive hearth up by taking part in an area males’s hockey league, which has just one different lady participant. The camaraderie I’ve skilled with my teammates has been an actual eye-opener, demonstrating how a lot males take pleasure in sharing tales about their households and private considerations. It’s a standard misperception to suppose solely girls are excited about exploring their emotional sides.
Q: Why do you stick with Commonwealth?
A: I can sum that up in just a few phrases: the Commonwealth neighborhood. Commonwealth does an incredible job of fostering relationships. Our neighborhood is exclusive as a result of it’s not aggressive—individuals need to collaborate and share greatest practices. As an advisor, you could be wherever within the nation and work with different Commonwealth advisors to have a bigger presence. After I first got here to Seattle, I reached out to different Commonwealth advisors, and the response was, “How can I allow you to?” I really like having the ability to cross on that neighborhood dedication.
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