Ashley Ott, CFP®, AIF®, with Commonwealth since 2013
Ashley Ott, CFP®, AIF®, associate at Vantage Level Monetary, joined her agency in 2012 in a short lived function as a shopper providers supervisor. Being on the time a current graduate with a psychology diploma from Harvard College, she rapidly realized she beloved working with shoppers and was delighted to transition to a full-time worker. Vantage Level Monetary, a agency devoted to gender stability, shoppers’ training, and unbiased monetary recommendation, was the proper match for Ashley’s objectives and keenness for serving to individuals. 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, finally incomes her business designations and partnership function.
When talking with Ashley, I discovered that her ardour for participating with individuals nonetheless runs robust, each professionally and personally. Under, she shares her experiences as a lady and next-gen adviser and the way her agency has managed by the continued pandemic.
Q: What strengths do you carry to the desk as a lady and next-gen advisor?
A: Millennial ladies 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 p.c millennials. A lot of my next-gen shoppers are ladies who’ve rather a lot in frequent with me. They’re shopping for houses, having youngsters, and beginning to deal with the monetary safety of their households.
Being a lady advisor who shares these experiences is a big bonus in onboarding shoppers and growing long-term relationships. Many ladies, whether or not youthful or older, are extra comfy talking with a lady advisor. General, in my expertise, our ladies shoppers discover it empowering to work with one other lady.
Q: What’s crucial recommendation you’ll 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 petrified of failing and hesitant to leap at alternatives. I used to be particularly afraid of public talking. A technique I obtained 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 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 my fears.
Q: How does your enterprise mannequin enable you stability 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 gives. A couple of years in the past, I opened a department workplace in Seattle, Washington, to enhance our essential workplace in Boston, Massachusetts. My objective 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 additionally so I can see my seven-month-old son all through the day. After I took day 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 choices.
Q: How did the pandemic have an effect on your enterprise?
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 possibility to take have a look at their funds. They lastly had the time to sit down down and make a monetary overview a precedence. Many purchasers even loved it! Regardless of the uncertainty, they appreciated the possibility to trace how they have been doing financially in opposition to their objectives and actually dive into general planning.
Q: Did your agency’s use of expertise change in 2020?
A: On account of our enterprise mannequin, my colleagues and I have been already comfy utilizing Zoom nicely earlier than the pandemic hit. We’ve places of work on each coasts—I’m primarily positioned in Seattle, and my associate is predicated in Boston. We’ve a license to function in 26 states, so Zoom expertise was excellent 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 attainable for the large 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 ladies at somebody’s house. 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-about too easy. Due to the pandemic, I’ve began holding conferences like this on Zoom. It’s choice for now and may generate shoppers similar 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 obtained rather a lot simpler, in fact. However as soon as they obtained began, Zoom’s comfort and ease made a whole lot of converts. I’m certain some shoppers will wish to proceed assembly just about.
Q: How do you keep related together 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 individuals within the sport by teaching youth hockey at two native colleges. And, additionally pre-pandemic, I saved my aggressive fireplace up by taking part in a neighborhood 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 issues. It’s a standard misperception to suppose solely ladies are involved in 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 ideal job of fostering relationships. Our neighborhood is exclusive as a result of it’s not aggressive—individuals wish to collaborate and share greatest practices. As an advisor, you may 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 enable you?” I really like with the ability to cross on that neighborhood dedication.
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