Ashley Ott, CFP®, AIF®, with Commonwealth since 2013
Ashley Ott, CFP®, AIF®, associate at Vantage Level Monetary, joined her agency in 2012 in a brief position as a consumer companies supervisor. Being on the time a latest graduate with a psychology diploma from Harvard College, she shortly realized she beloved working with shoppers and was delighted to transition to a full-time worker. Vantage Level Monetary, a agency devoted to gender steadiness, shoppers’ schooling, and impartial monetary recommendation, was the right match for Ashley’s targets and keenness for serving to folks. With the assist and mentorship of Vantage Level’s president and founder, David Griswold, she launched into an academic journey in economics, finance, and investments, ultimately incomes her trade designations and partnership position.
When talking with Ashley, I discovered that her ardour for participating with folks nonetheless runs robust, each professionally and personally. Beneath, she shares her experiences as a lady and next-gen adviser and the way her agency has managed by means of the continuing pandemic.
Q: What strengths do you carry to the desk as a lady and next-gen advisor?
A: Millennial girls are beginning to take management of their monetary futures and handle their very own cash and property. I see this mindset in my present consumer base, which might be about 15 p.c millennials. Lots of my next-gen shoppers are girls who’ve so much in widespread with me. They’re shopping for houses, having kids, and beginning to concentrate on the monetary safety of their households.
Being a lady advisor who shares these experiences is a large bonus in onboarding shoppers and creating long-term relationships. Many ladies, whether or not youthful or older, are extra snug talking with a lady advisor. General, in my expertise, our girls shoppers discover it empowering to work with one other girl.
Q: What’s an important 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 folks. After I entered the workforce 10 years in the past, I used to be scared of failing and hesitant to leap at alternatives. I used to be particularly afraid of public talking. A method I received by means of 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 advised 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 means of my fears.
Q: How does your small business mannequin make it easier to steadiness work and household life?
A: I actually love what we do as advisors—serving to shoppers obtain their targets. However I additionally love the flexibleness this enterprise offers. A number of years in the past, I opened a department workplace in Seattle, Washington, to enrich our fundamental workplace in Boston, Massachusetts. My aim 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 break day for maternity depart, our shoppers have been excited and cheered me on. Since then, I’ve turn out to be much more keen about my work and the chance to assist younger households make sensible, assured, and educated monetary selections.
Q: How did the pandemic have an effect on your small business?
A: Surprisingly, our enterprise thrived—2020 was the agency’s strongest development yr thus far. 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 take a look at their funds. They lastly had the time to take a seat down and make a monetary evaluation a precedence. Many purchasers even loved it! Regardless of the uncertainty, they appreciated the possibility to trace how they have been doing financially towards their targets 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 snug utilizing Zoom properly earlier than the pandemic hit. We have now places of work on each coasts—I’m primarily situated in Seattle, and my associate relies in Boston. We have now 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 may 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 residence. We’d have wine and cheese and get to know one another. I’d share suggestions and primary information 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 choice for now and may generate shoppers identical to the in-person conferences did.
Q: How did your shoppers reply to the adjustments final yr?
A: Earlier than the pandemic, nearly all of shoppers most popular to satisfy in individual. With the lockdowns in place, convincing shoppers to make use of Zoom received so much simpler, after all. However as soon as they received began, Zoom’s comfort and ease made loads of converts. I’m certain some shoppers will wish 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 faculty. Earlier than the pandemic, I loved supporting younger folks within the sport by teaching youth hockey at two native faculties. And, additionally pre-pandemic, I saved my aggressive hearth up by collaborating in an area males’s hockey league, which has just one different girl 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 issues. It’s a standard misperception to assume solely girls are focused on 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 a fantastic job of fostering relationships. Our neighborhood is exclusive as a result of it’s not aggressive—folks wish to collaborate and share greatest practices. As an advisor, you could be anyplace 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 make it easier to?” I really like with the ability to go on that neighborhood dedication.
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