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 function as a shopper companies supervisor. Being on the time a latest graduate with a psychology diploma from Harvard College, she rapidly realized she cherished working with purchasers and was delighted to transition to a full-time worker. Vantage Level Monetary, a agency devoted to gender steadiness, purchasers’ training, and impartial monetary recommendation, was the right match for Ashley’s objectives and keenness for serving to folks. 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, ultimately incomes her business designations and partnership function.
When talking with Ashley, I discovered that her ardour for participating with folks nonetheless runs sturdy, each professionally and personally. Under, she shares her experiences as a girl 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 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 p.c millennials. A lot of my next-gen purchasers are girls who’ve lots in frequent with me. They’re shopping for properties, having kids, and beginning to concentrate on the monetary safety of their households.
Being a girl advisor who shares these experiences is a large bonus in onboarding purchasers and creating 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 purchasers 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 fulfill folks. After I entered the workforce 10 years in the past, I used to be frightened of failing and hesitant to leap at alternatives. I used to be particularly afraid of public talking. A technique I bought 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 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 means of my fears.
Q: How does your online business mannequin assist you steadiness work and household life?
A: I actually love what we do as advisors—serving to purchasers obtain their objectives. However I additionally love the flexibleness this enterprise supplies. A couple of years in the past, I opened a department workplace in Seattle, Washington, to enhance our foremost workplace in Boston, Massachusetts. My aim was to spend extra time with my husband, who performs soccer for the Seattle Seahawks. Now, I do business 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 enthusiastic about my work and the chance to assist younger households make sensible, assured, and educated monetary choices.
Q: How did the pandemic have an effect on your online business?
A: Surprisingly, our enterprise thrived—2020 was the agency’s strongest progress 12 months 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 possibility to take a great have a look at their funds. They lastly had the time to sit down down and make a monetary assessment a precedence. Many purchasers even loved it! Regardless of the uncertainty, they appreciated the possibility to trace how they had been doing financially towards their objectives and actually dive into total planning.
Q: Did your agency’s use of expertise change in 2020?
A: On account of our enterprise mannequin, my colleagues and I had been already comfy utilizing Zoom effectively earlier than the pandemic hit. Now we have places of work on each coasts—I’m primarily situated in Seattle, and my associate relies in Boston. Now we have a license to function in 26 states, so Zoom expertise 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 may say our agency was as prepared as potential 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 house. We’d have wine and cheese and get to know one another. I’d share ideas 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 great choice for now and may generate purchasers similar to the in-person conferences did.
Q: How did your purchasers reply to the adjustments final 12 months?
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 bought lots simpler, after all. However as soon as they bought began, Zoom’s comfort and ease made numerous converts. I’m positive some purchasers 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 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 fireplace 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 issues. It’s a standard misperception to assume solely girls are eager 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 important job of fostering relationships. Our neighborhood is exclusive as a result of it’s not aggressive—folks need to collaborate and share finest practices. As an advisor, you might 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 assist you?” I like having the ability to cross on that neighborhood dedication.
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