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 position as a consumer companies supervisor. Being on the time a current graduate with a psychology diploma from Harvard College, she shortly realized she cherished working with purchasers and was delighted to transition to a full-time worker. Vantage Level Monetary, a agency devoted to gender stability, purchasers’ schooling, and impartial monetary recommendation, was the proper match for Ashley’s targets and fervour 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 position.
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 means of the continuing pandemic.
Q: What strengths do you deliver 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 consumer base, which might be about 15 % millennials. Lots of my next-gen purchasers are ladies who’ve so much in frequent with me. They’re shopping for houses, having youngsters, 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 purchasers and growing long-term relationships. Many ladies, whether or not youthful or older, are extra comfy talking with a lady advisor. Total, in my expertise, our ladies purchasers discover it empowering to work with one other girl.
Q: What’s a very powerful 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 fulfill individuals. 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 acquired 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 informed 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 what you are promoting mannequin assist you to stability work and household life?
A: I actually love what we do as advisors—serving to purchasers obtain their targets. However I additionally love the pliability this enterprise gives. A number of years in the past, I opened a department workplace in Seattle, Washington, to enrich our major workplace in Boston, Massachusetts. My objective was to spend extra time with my husband, who performs soccer for the Seattle Seahawks. Now, I earn a living 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 break day for maternity depart, our purchasers had been excited and cheered me on. Since then, I’ve turn out to be much more obsessed with 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 what you are promoting?
A: Surprisingly, our enterprise thrived—2020 was the agency’s strongest progress yr to this point. From the beginning of the pandemic, we noticed elevated demand for monetary planning. For a lot of purchasers, the lockdowns had been a chance to take a superb take 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 prospect to trace how they had been doing financially towards their targets and actually dive into total planning.
Q: Did your agency’s use of know-how change in 2020?
A: Attributable to our enterprise mannequin, my colleagues and I had been already comfy utilizing Zoom nicely earlier than the pandemic hit. We now have workplaces on each coasts—I’m primarily situated in Seattle, and my accomplice is predicated in Boston. We now have a license to function in 26 states, so Zoom know-how was excellent for connecting with our associates and purchasers 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 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 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-about too easy. Due to the pandemic, I’ve began holding conferences like this on Zoom. It’s a superb possibility for now and would possibly generate purchasers identical to the in-person conferences did.
Q: How did your purchasers reply to the modifications final yr?
A: Earlier than the pandemic, nearly all of purchasers most well-liked to fulfill in particular person. With the lockdowns in place, convincing purchasers to make use of Zoom acquired so much simpler, in fact. However as soon as they acquired began, Zoom’s comfort and ease made numerous converts. I’m certain some purchasers will need to proceed assembly nearly.
Q: How do you keep linked along with your group?
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 fireplace 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 get pleasure from sharing tales about their households and private considerations. It’s a typical misperception to suppose solely ladies are enthusiastic about exploring their emotional sides.
Q: Why do you stick with Commonwealth?
A: I can sum that up in a couple of phrases: the Commonwealth group. Commonwealth does an incredible job of fostering relationships. Our group is exclusive as a result of it’s not aggressive—individuals need to collaborate and share finest 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 assist you to?” I like having the ability to cross on that group dedication.
