Women Working in Wealth: Recent Episodes

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Join us as we #BreakTheBias in financial services.

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How can female leaders in financial services be better mentors to their fellow women working in wealth and build strong teams of advisors and professionals? We speak with Sanya Rizvi, WMCP®, about the keys to successful team-building and how women can balance work and life in the industry.

Sanya is a market director for J.P. Morgan Wealth Management, based in Manhattan, and is responsible for managing financial advisors. Sanya started in the wealth management industry 22 years ago as a financial advisor, moving into management in 2008. Early on in her career, she learned the importance of great mentors. She was an educator prior to entering the field so she wanted to have a solid Personal “board of directors” advising her both personally and professionally. She has a passion for fostering young talent and looking within her local community to offer her mentoring expertise to young aspiring advisors. She is on the leadership board of Ellevate Network which helps foster career development for working professionals.

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How can advisors enrich not just their clients in wealth, but in their lives as well? We’re joined by Ka’Neda Bullock for a conversation on how to serve both individual and institutional clients and help those financial professionals work with leave a legacy.

Ka’Neda is the founder and CEO of Master Plan Investment Group, a financial advisor, and a financial speaker. As a retirement plan advisor, she specializes in managing workplace retirement planning and works to help employees develop healthy money management practices. She has a passion for helping clients clarify their financial goals and chart a path for success while living a fulfilled life during the journey and building generational wealth. She is a former Fulbright Scholar and received her MBA from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. She also holds an undergraduate degree in Government from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and is dedicated to providing expert financial advice, holding numerous designations, certifications, and licenses.

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Who should consider a career in the financial services industry, and what are the secrets to success? We speak with Bina Patel about her success strategies and how women looking to become more independent can find satisfying and profitable careers in the business.

Bina is a Financial Representative and Managing Associate with Wealth Advisory Group LLC, a General Agency of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America. In addition to helping clients acquire the appropriate life, disability, long-term care, and health insurance, she leads all client relationship efforts for her partner, Joe Sciabica. She has been in the insurance and financial services industry since 2003. Many of her clients are in the IT, medical, and financial services fields. She has a specific specialty in the health insurance field and oversees this component of the partnership’s business. She is an active member of NAIFA, AAHOA, and Asian Women in Business; she is a founding member of Pitch, an organization devoted to helping women entrepreneurs develop their growing businesses.

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How can those who aren’t women still support our women working in wealth? We welcome George Nichols III for a conversation on how his personal journey has influenced his view of allyship for women and what male professionals can do to advance the cause of women in the workplace.

George serves as the 10th President and CEO of The American College of Financial Services. He joined The College after a 17-year stint at New York Life, where he held principal roles in sales, strategic initiatives, and public policy. Prior to joining New York Life, he was the State of Kentucky’s first Black insurance commissioner, leading regulation of the state’s $10 billion insurance industry through his expertise in health insurance reform and financial services integration. In 2000, he was also named the first Black president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. George has been acclaimed for his efforts to drive transformative change in diversity, equity, and inclusion in the financial services profession and elsewhere. He received his associate’s degree from Alice Lloyd College, a faith-based liberal arts school in eastern Kentucky, before earning his bachelor’s degree from Western Kentucky University.

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How can your “money mindset” affect your decisions, especially as an entrepreneur? We’re joined by Kathleen Burns Kingsbury for a discussion on how a person’s relationship with money influences their life–and how understanding yours can improve your professional advice as well as your personal growth.

As an expert on financial psychology, Kathleen Burns Kingsbury has appeared on television and written for consumer and trade publications. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, PBS News Hour, Real Simple, Money Magazine, TODAY Money, Forbes, and CNBC. She served as an adjunct faculty member of finance at Bentley University from 2009 to 2019, and currently serves as a adjunct professor at Champlain College where she teaches negotiation. She received an undergraduate degree in finance from Providence College and started her career in retail banking before becoming a commissioned bank examiner with the FDIC. Due to her desire to coach executive management on improving performance, Kathleen attained a master’s degree in psychology, became a certified professional co-active coach, and founded her consulting firm, KBK Wealth Connection. She also hosts the “Breaking Money Silence” podcast.

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In this special episode, host Lindsey Lewis, CFP®, ChFC® is joined by Sloane Ortel, founder of Invest Vegan, for a Pride Month-focused conversation on the unique challenges of working as a trans person in financial services and how financial professionals can promote investing meaningfully, and successfully, in ways that speak to clients’ values.

Sloane Ortel is the founder of Invest Vegan, an ethics-first registered investment advisor (RIA) that manages distinctive discretionary portfolios of public equities on behalf of aligned individuals and institutions. She is also a co-host of Free Money, a podcast that aims to help investors break free from the shackles of short-term thinking. Before establishing her own firm, she joined CFA Institute’s staff as a sophomore at Fordham University and spent close to a decade helping the organization’s community of 170,000+ investment professionals adapt to a changing global landscape as a collaborator, curator, and commentator.

You can also find Sloane and Invest Vegan on YouTube.

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Lindsey wraps up Season 1 of our podcast by speaking with Akeiva M. Ellis, MSFP, CPA/PFS, CFP®, ChSNC®, a financial planner and educator, about how to choose the right learning path for yourself in the financial services industry, as well as how financial professionals today are connecting with clients and the general public through personal ventures.

Akeiva M. Ellis is the Financial Education Specialist at Ballentine Partners, a wealth management firm in the Greater Boston area serving ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families. She is also the founder of The Bemused, a financial education brand for young adults. She currently serves as an ambassador for the CFP Board and has been quoted in numerous media outlets including The Boston Globe, Bankrate, and RIA Intel. She was also named to Investment News’ 2021 class of the “40 Under 40” professionals making their mark in financial services, and was the youngest person ever to grace the list.

You can also find The Bemused on YouTube.

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Lindsey is joined by Leah Davis, FFC, Founder of Leah Davis Coaching. Leah is a dedicated Wealth and Wellness Coach for Black, Indigenous, women of color and she is committed to supporting women with achieving economic stability. Prior to discovering her passion for coaching, Leah enjoyed a career as a Financial Advisor and Investment Adviser Representative.

Leah is also a certified Domestic Violence Advocate and brings a healing-centered approach to her coaching and financial education programs. She fully supports the unique needs of women that have experienced childhood domestic violence and intimate partner violence. She understands the complexities and hardships survivors commonly experience as a result from gender-based violence such as harmful family court interventions, financial crisis, financial abuse, and substance abuse. Leah creates a safe space for her clients to feel seen and heard as she coaches them step by step to achieve their desired financial outcomes.  

You can also find Leah on YouTube.

EXCLUSIVE OFFERS: Schedule your own 45-minute complimentary consultation with Leah at www.leahcoaching.com.

Download Your FreeResources from Leah Davis Coaching

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Lindsey hosts Sarah Williams, Vice President of Marketing Communications at CreativeOne, for a discussion of what financial professionals and firms, and especially women, can accomplish through branding, lead generation, social media, and other creative ventures.

Sarah Williams is a marketing professional with more than 20 years of experience in sales, marketing, advertising, and public relations. As CreativeOne’s chief ambassador, she communicates how marketing and practice management can help agents and advisors expand their practices. She became a member of the Women in Insurance and Financial Services (WIFS) national network in 2016 and currently serves as its National Education Director. In addition, she founded CreativeOne’s women-only networking group, Creative Women, which creates a space in a male-dominated industry for women to collaborate, network and share ideas. She was also accepted into the Central Exchange Year-Long Leadership Development Program, designed to accelerate the careers of women.

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Lindsey welcomes Penny Phillips, Co-Founder & President of Journey Strategic Wealth, for a conversation on training, coaching, and consulting with financial professionals and institutions and the challenges and rewards of striking out on your own in the industry.

Prior to founding Journey, a Registered Investment Adviser, Penny Phillips founded Thrivos Consulting, a practice management coaching and consulting company. She has worked in various leadership positions across the financial services industry and has created multiple practice management training programs. She regularly speaks on financial topics, is a monthly contributor to Wealthmanagement.com, and runs an advisor practice management community called The Study Group. She was nominated for Thought Leader of the Year at the 2021 Wealth Management Industry Awards, and is certified in Advanced Behavioral Analysis.

Find Penny on Youtube at “Practice Management with Penny."

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Lindsey is joined by Chia-Li Chien, PhD, CFP®, PMP®, CPBC, an expert on business succession planning, for a discussion on how strategic succession planning allows your clients to smoothly sail into the sunset after a successful career. 

Dr. Chia-Li Chien is a Succession Program Director at the Value Growth Institute. Before her consulting practice, she held several senior management positions in Fortune 500 companies, including Diageo, ABB, CIGNA, and RSA Insurance Group. She is a frequent speaker about succession planning at national conferences and has published three award-winning books. She also serves on the boards of various national financial service associations.

EXCLUSIVE OFFER: Schedule your initial succession planning appointment at 25% off at https://bit.ly/vgi_app. Use promo code TAC25%OFF.

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In our inaugural episode, host Lindsey Lewis, CFP®, ChFC® sits down with Jennifer Jost, CDFA®, CMC®, CGC®, a certified money coach, wealth advisor, and keynote speaker, for an honest and open conversation on how personal tragedy motivated her to start a new career in financial services and inspired her to transform the lives of others through meaningful and empowering money conversations.

Jennifer Jost is a Certified Grief Counselor and holds various securities licenses, as well as a Life & Health Insurance License. In 2016, she was awarded Advisor Of The Year by Ameritas, and she was a part of the Ameritas Presidents Club and Inner Circle, which qualified her for the Million Dollar Round Table. She currently owns and operates her own financial planning business, Diamond Life Planning.

CONTENT WARNING: Episode contains accounts of domestic violence and a hostage situation some listeners may find disturbing.

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Welcome to the Women Working in Wealth podcast! Start here to get a sense of what this podcast from The American College of Financial Services and the American College Center for Women in Financial Services is all about.

We look forward to sharing the stories of female financial professionals with you and #BreakingTheBias!