Iryna Halubkova discusses her investment career, adaptability and trends in finance.
Key takeaways
Her career spans private equity, venture capital and impact investing.
The discussion covers AI, automation and sustainability.
Mentorship and networking can support women in finance.
About this episode
Join RTSWS CEO Ashley Leftwich in conversation with Iryna Halubkova, an accomplished investor with over 15 years of experience across private equity, venture capital, and impact investing. Iryna shares how she built her career from the ground up, the importance of adaptability in a changing world, and the key trends shaping finance today—from AI and automation to sustainability and ESG.
She also discusses the power of mentorship and networking for women in finance:
“Your network stays with you throughout your life. It can become your clients, investors, or even your next team.”
Listen now to hear Iryna’s insights on building confidence, staying curious, and thriving in the evolving world of finance.
Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter for more career insights.
Disclaimer: All financial and investment information contained in this podcast is merely for educational and informational purposes. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice. Should you decide to act upon any information in this podcast, you do so at your own risk.
Listen to the episode
Transcript
Transcript supplied by Riverside; it may contain transcription errors.
speaker-0: Welcome to Rocking Finance, the Rock the Street Wall Street podcast. Real stories, real access, real passion to finance. Join us for candid, high impact conversations with industry leaders sharing the insights, experiences, career pivots and journeys that can help young women advance through the financial industry with great confidence. Rock the Street Wall Street equips high school and university students, especially young women, by bringing the ⁓ in STEM to life through financial and investment fundamentals. We provide direct industry access and guidance supporting students and young professionals on their journeys from classrooms to careers while expanding participation in the capital markets. Through cohort-based learning, mentorship, and individual career connection, we help students build confidence, capabilities, and networks that open doors. Our goal is clear. Expand participation in the capital markets and strengthen the future of finance one cohort at a time. Today I'm your host Ashley Leftwich, CEO of Rock the Street Wall Street. Now let's rock finance. Thank you so much for joining us. You've built an impressive career now working with a single family office and helping companies originate investments to kick things off. How did you first step into finance?
speaker-1: First of all, thank you so much for inviting me. It's my pleasure to share my experience and hopefully my journey can be of any help for students and future finance professionals. I was born in the Soviet Union that actually had a centrally planned common economy. The government dictated what was produced, how it was produced and how resources were allocated. And when I was a teenager, the Soviet Union collapsed and the borders opened and new opportunities for business appeared. So I got interested in international economics and international relations as I wanted to understand the causes and consequences of economic interactions between countries and how the market could influence supply and demand. I got my bachelor and master's degree in international economics and after a couple of years working for a Swiss company in economic department, I decided to apply for an MBA program in the USA. as they wanted to learn from the best professors, to have an opportunity to network and study with people with different cultural backgrounds and to enhance my global career opportunities. And while at business school, I actually got very curious about investing and entrepreneurship. After graduation, I was able to land a bi-sci investment job and Honestly speaking, never looked back because I find investing intellectually challenging and it provides me with the opportunity for constant learning, innovation and creativity daily. I also admire long-term nature of this business.
speaker-0: Wow, careers are rarely a straight line. What are some of the key points and moments that changed your path or opened a new door?
speaker-1: I totally agree with you because you never can predict a career and it's hard to know what might happen with your career in five, 10 or 15 years. So it's important to be mentally prepared for unexpected turns and build resilience, adaptability, be creative and keep constantly learning, practicing new skills, stay updated with new trends and expand your network. as this really can help you to be relevant in the future with any unexpected change. And I'll bring one of examples from my career, one of such unexpected turns while working for a New York based private equity firm. I decided to move from New York to Moscow was the time of a huge global hype for Russia. Everything changed when CREME events happened in 2014. The first sanctions were put in Russia blocking fundraising from US investors and the local currency drop three times in one day. Our global and exit strategy and my future career too, as I needed to switch countries and switch companies in the future. And it's only one example, looking forward, some years forward after that event, we got some other changes, we got COVID and many other things that you could not predict. Potential artificial intelligence with David, you should keep learning and be open.
speaker-0: Yeah, be willing to change the path and sometimes it opens new doors that are really exciting, right? So as you might imagine, our students would be very interested to learn about what a day in a life is like for you. So you're at a single family office. Share with us what it looks like.
speaker-1: I totally agree with you. Yeah, I spent more than 15 years in investments and working for a venture, private equity, impact investing, as well as like family office business. And to be honest, there is not the same day through all my investment career. And it's really depends on the stage of what deal we are working on and current priorities. And it might change very quickly several times per day. However, if to sum up, I had to my desk and Sort emails, look at current news to stay aware of what's going on. And then major part of the day going to be split between research and analysis, some deal sourcing, evaluating potential investments, doing the diligence structure and working with advisors, working with portfolio companies, as well as some strategy discussions, board meetings, and weekly team updates, team town halls, as well as conferences, client events, mentoring, and learning.
speaker-0: I really like that you highlighted how you work with other people and even spend time to, you know, catch up with others that are your colleagues. And you mentioned that no two days are the same. So how do you even set priorities in a role like that?
speaker-1: think extremely important is to have good project management skills. Also, it's critical to set goals and plan your day properly. Stay focused, stay organized, but in the same way, be open, flexible for potential change. And it's also very important to understand long-term priorities versus immediate. needs to be done and to be able to multitask when necessary. In the same way, despite any workload you have and priorities, you should stay focused, positive and engaged.
speaker-0: Yes, I feel like the passion behind roles is just so key. you know, if you were to look back, what do you wish you knew in your very early career days?
speaker-1: First of all, I wish I could start building my network and start working with a mentor early because I think your network is what stays with you through all your life. But customer base, client base, also service providers and people whom you trust stay with you through all your life and become your investors in the future or maybe your future colleagues or… help you with building startups and something else you never know where it can bring you. So I think it's very important. And also I think in the early days in your career, it's critical to ask questions and to learn from your colleagues and from industry professionals, from your mentors and be open to learn, be open to grow and be like open to make a mistake. And if you make it to a demited and learn from this mistake. to build confidence and also I think to know what your value proposition is at every stage of your career and to be able to articulate it as well as to try to polish your communication presentation skills because any job in the end has a part of sale.
speaker-0: So you shared about different parts of the business for the students who may not know what does originating investments mean and why is it such a key part of the financial.
speaker-1: Origination refers to the process through which investors identify and select potential investment opportunities. And so you can create a funnel of potential opportunities coming through very different sources. Might be spontaneous awareness of your search by a suitable company. The deal can come through bankers, lawyers, consultants, or other service providers who can bring it to you. or you can go and reach out to potential company directly. That means you need to go to different conferences, you need to network, you need to not only just connect with people, but keep these relations alive because it's a long-term journey, long-term investments, what we call marriage and private equity or adventure. And it's crucial to have this relationship with potential companies that you invest in. Also, it's very important to know current market trends, what are customer demands and what's new markets and so far, and evaluate value creation potential and exit options properly.
speaker-0: So you mentioned trends. What trends in finance are you paying close attention to right now?
speaker-1: First of all, would say some geopolitical tension that's happening. Unfortunately, we have some wars and some hotspots globally. have some tariffs, have some sanctions in place, and you should really stay aware of what's going on. Secondly, I would say in general, like microeconomic trends, we have pretty high interest rates, inflation and some… economic slowdown and with indexes, with bond stocks, with direct investments in any part of finance. Sadly, it's a big trend that goes with technology. Here I'm talking about automation and artificial intelligence and finance. Could be AI powered automation, autonomous finance, agent, AI co-pilot. Another trend would be sustainability investment, ESG reporting because more and more LPs, want to see investments with focus on these parameters and younger generation more and more want to have companies that address sustainability issues. And it becomes pretty big trend in direct investments that it's one of main requirements. Same with the reporting, we're getting more and more standards, we're getting more and more compliance globally on these metrics. ⁓ Next one would be in general regulatory development and compliance. think every day we have more and more things happening. Risk management and fraud is big.
speaker-0: Earlier in our conversation, you were talking about networks and the importance of those networks. I have where students have submitted questions and one of them is, was there someone along your journey who guided you? What role did mentorship play in helping you grow?
speaker-1: think that I was pretty lucky through all my career having amazing mentors and it happened that many of mentors being actually my direct supervisors who whom I can even sometimes name my friends because of building very good reports and trusting each other so they helped me with understanding the corporate culture of the company and giving me very good career advices on area, what to learn, what to work better, how to strategize my future growth, how to raise awareness about my potential and kind of stress my value proposition and so far, and they always been a great role model for me. But additionally to these people, I also had mentor at different women organization, being partner of many women organization who actually helped me a lot with brand-leading, with brand awareness and through that I got to know a lot of professionals in the industry and built very good relations.
speaker-0: So you were just sharing with us about women networks. So how do you support and encourage women and the next generation of finance today?
speaker-1: Yeah, I would say that I was pretty big supporter of women movements from my early university ages. we had, I've been a member of several student women clubs during my bachelor and master MBA. And also I joined several organizations like Forte Foundation, 100 Women Finance, Global Female Investment Network, ⁓ capital markets that became Versafi, it's a Canadian. organization for women in finance and also Bloomberg, Biscite, Women Network, Women in Private Equity and several others. And all this organization, tried to have to raise awareness in the market and mentor younger people. And in beginning of my career, I learned from my mentors and they always tried to encourage people. share knowledge and if I can I refer women to other people in my network trying to open doors for them for their future career step or sometimes trying to refer someone for board position and so far I'm looking for good percentage number of having women candidates and for potential board positions and etc.
speaker-0: That's wonderful. For our students watching, what's one step that you would recommend for them to do today?
speaker-1: I think I would suggest them to look at events hosted by Rockford Street, Wall Street and build their interest. Select a company or leader and learn about them as well as the trends of the industry to stay curious about what's going on and follow up building their knowledge.
speaker-0: Thank you so much for the conversation today. I think it's wonderful that you are encouraging and giving great advice to our students of building their reputation, building that trust, and then of course keep learning and growing. Thank you.
speaker-1: Yeah, thank you so much and I wish everyone who is listening lots of success and their future career in the awards.
speaker-0: the conversation. Visit rockthestreetwallstreet.com to learn more. Make sure to follow and join us for the next episode. Until next time, let's keep rocking
Tafadzwa Chanakira shares her path into finance and her work on an equity index team.
Key takeaways
Curiosity and asking questions can help students explore finance.
Challenging opportunities can support professional growth.
Students do not need to know everything before they begin.
About this episode
In this episode, Rock The Street, Wall Street CEO Ashley Leftwich speaks with Tafadzwa Chanakira, Assistant Portfolio Manager and Trader at Vanguard, about her path into finance and what a day in her life looks like on the equity index team.
Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Tafadzwa was first inspired by her uncle, who founded a bank and hosted a financial literacy program on TV. After studying economics and moving to England, she built a career in asset management and today helps oversee portfolios across global markets.
Tafadzwa shares career insights:
Be curious and keep asking questions
Step into spaces that challenge you
You do not need to know everything to begin, just start
Ashley Leftwich closes with why stories like Tafadzwa’s matter to RTSWS students: finance becomes a visible and attainable career path.
Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter for more career insights.
Disclaimer: All financial and investment information contained in this podcast is merely for educational and informational purposes. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice. Should you decide to act upon any information in this podcast, you do so at your own risk.
Listen to the episode
Transcript
Transcript supplied by Riverside; it may contain transcription errors.
speaker-0: Welcome to Rocking Finance, the Rock the Street Wall Street podcast. Real stories, real access, real passion to finance. Join us for candid, high impact conversations with industry leaders sharing the insights, experiences, career pivots and journeys that can help young women advance through the financial industry with great confidence. Rock the Street Wall Street equips high school and university students, especially young women, by bringing the ⁓ in STEM to life through financial and investment fundamentals. We provide direct industry access and guidance supporting students and young professionals on their journeys from classrooms to careers while expanding participation in the capital markets. Through cohort-based learning, mentorship, and individual career connection, we help students build confidence, capabilities, and networks that open doors. Our goal is clear. Expand participation in the capital markets and strengthen the future of finance one cohort at a time. Today I'm your host Ashley Leftwich, CEO of Rock the Street Wall Street. Now let's rock finance. Thank you so much for being here. You're part of one of the world's most well-known asset managers, Vanguard, and our students are eager to hear your story. Let's start with your background. How did you first become interested in finance and what led you to Vanguard?
speaker-1: Well, thank you, Ashley. I'm really glad to be here and, you know, share a bit more about my story. So I'm actually originally from Zimbabwe. I was born and raised there for the most part of the formative years of my life. And as a young girl, I obviously was thinking about maybe going into your more traditional roles like medicine, maybe a pilot, an engineer, an accountant. ⁓ I never quite really knew what it would be that I want to pursue as a career. So financial services was something that I never really heard much about. But ⁓ as a teenager, one of my uncles actually ended up going into financial services and he later on started his own bank and actually a brokerage service company. And so he would have a program on TV every Thursday. And I remember seeing him doing his program called Making Money Make Sense. And I think at that point in my life, that's when a seed was sort of like planted in me that, ⁓ this is quite interesting. I'd love to have a bit more understanding around money and finances. And so I literally just copied what he did. So I went to university and I did an economics undergrad. And then after that, I did a ⁓ master's to sort of like to top up my education. And at that point, I then moved to England. And I really didn't know what I wanted to do. So I of like stumbled into asset management really. It wasn't something that I knew about. I just sort of like happened to have a friend who then said, hey, I know this company they are hiring. Would you be interested? Gave him my resume. long story later, I've sort of like still been in the industry. And so I've only ever worked for asset management, only ever been on the buy side. And I started off doing various kinds of roles, predominantly in distribution. then I, know, slightly early on in my career, I was quite certain and sure that I really wanted to be in the front office, but I wasn't really, you know, knowledgeable about how to maneuver that career move and find myself in the space that I wanted to be in. But I was very clear that I knew what it was that I wanted to do. I wanted to either be a portfolio manager or be a trader. And so fast forward, I then ended up being a product specialist ⁓ in specializing in fixed income. And I did that for a few years. And then I found myself at Vanguard. And earlier on in my career, I'd worked for Wellington Asset Management, which is a firm that's based out of Boston. And it so happens that Wellington and Vanguard have history. And so when I joined Vanguard, I could see the similarities and I was just like, oh, this reminds me of my life at Wellington. And so it was really an easy decision for me to make to join Vanguard. And it's been really great. I've done a few roles here. One of those was working as a chief of staff for the CIO of our European division. And essentially having a good insight into what our investment management group does and After that, I then had the opportunity to join the desk. And now I actually work with the equity index group as a assistant portfolio manager trader.
speaker-0: Well, and you know, not knowing about finance is something that our students say all the time. They had no idea about this profession. When you started out, I'm curious what surprised you about working in asset management, maybe compared to what you had imagined whenever you were in school.
speaker-1: Yeah, absolutely. And I think, I mean, I might have to think back a little bit here because obviously it's been a while since I've been out of school, but I do know that my thoughts around what the corporate world would look like and my experiences were quite different. I think one thing that you don't really get a grasp of or a good appreciation is, you know, a business is run and is made up of multiple departments. And I think because a lot of people, when they think about say investment banking or asset management, they tend to think about front office and trading. But then when you actually start working for these companies, you realize that they are really made up of multiple individual parts that make the whole of which is the business. And then I think maybe when I look at the trade floor and what my expectations were, Probably if I was still in high school and university, I would be thinking of what you see on TV, what you see in films and pop culture, trade laws to you appear as a very fast paced, you've got people shouting down phones, scrambling across the floor with papers, waving things in the air. ⁓ And it's quite an ⁓ interesting observation when you eventually actually sit in the desk and it's very different. And so here at Vanguard, I feel like we have a very collegiate environment. It's definitely not as noisy as I thought it would be. But at the same time, you still have that humdrum of, you know, the chit-chatter. And, you know, when I have an idea, whether it's ideas for the portfolios or if it's a trade idea, you, you know, shuttle across to your teammates and you have conversations around your thoughts and they can come up with what they think. because to some extent what we do is not really black and white. Sometimes there's gray areas and it's a bit of an art sometimes, a bit of an art and science as well. And so you can have the same problem and have three people look at it and they all come up with three different ways of approaching it. And so that was quite an interesting observation for me to say, ⁓ actually, you can have really honest and open candid conversations. You never have to sort of like feel afraid to ask questions on things that you don't understand or you don't know. ⁓ And even though it's still fast paced, it's fast paced in a way that is not overwhelming. So I would say probably those are sort of like my initial observations of what my expectations were and ⁓ what it's actually like in real life.
speaker-0: Well, I like that you shared that it's both an art and a science and that there's so much collaboration in the role So you are a trader and an assistant portfolio manager What does a day in a life actually look like for you at Vanguard?
speaker-1: So that's quite interesting because we do a lot. ⁓ And maybe I might just give a bit of ⁓ context in terms of what we do. And so ⁓ we, as a portfolio management team, we ⁓ look after our client portfolios and we are an indexing team. And so we manage portfolios in line with the guidance that we get from the benchmark providers or the indices. And I'm part of a global team. So we have a team in Australia who look after everything that's Asia Pacific. And we also have two desks in the US. So one in Arizona and one in Malvern where our head office is. And they look after everything that's North America. And then for us here in the UK, we look after everything that is EMEA. So everything that's Europe, Middle Eastern Africa. And in the European team, we are also split into three teams. So we have a pod that looks after all our sort of like UK funds. So if you think of funds like a FTSE 100, which is a very single currency UK fund, our UK pod would look after that. And then we also have a team that looks after everything that's developed world. And they look after everything that's outside of the UK, but is in developed markets within Europe. And then we have a third part, which is the emerging markets team, which is the one that I'm part of. And we would be covering all markets that are within Europe, ⁓ as well as ⁓ MENA, so all your Middle East and North Africa countries. as well as the rest of ⁓ Africa. So if you think of countries like South Africa, those would fall under your emerging markets, ⁓ sort of like ⁓ remit. And so if I think of how the day would start, ⁓ I tend to start my day pretty early. I'm an early riser and I like to get a bit of workout in the morning. So sometimes I go to the gym or I sometimes go running. At the moment I'm training for a marathon and so I try and put in at least two, three days during the week and then also like a really long run of the weekend. So that helps to just set my day for me nicely. And then if, you know, coming in, I'll be checking the portfolios. So we'll look at all the risk allocation and make sure that the portfolios are in line with wherever I would have left them the day before. If there's been any… actions and index changes. I just need to make sure that the liquidity of the portfolio looks good and I'm happy with all the risk allocations that we have. So that tends to take quite a bit of time first thing in the morning as part of your start of day. If I am looking after all our portfolio, sorry, trading responsibilities, then I would spend some time ⁓ looking through all the broker chats, making sure that I'm on top of all any micro events that are happening. on the day or in the week, just also being on top of any index changes, any corporate actions. As you can imagine, as an index manager, we own a lot of companies. And so if you think of S &P 500, because we follow that index, we would own all those 500 companies that are in the index. And so think of that now when you look at MSCI Global. or FTSE 100, FTSE 250, FTSE All Share, we would own all these various companies. And on any given day, these companies either are going out to market trying to raise capital or potentially they're doing some kind of M &A, which is gonna impact their capital structure. And so that could then impact their weighting in the index. And we need to make sure that our portfolios are in line with that. And so our days are pretty full. The days are the same. Yeah, exactly. They're the same, but not quite the same. So every day brings you something different. ⁓ It could be the same corporate action, but then the capital structure of the company could be completely different, different sector, different market. And every market has its own nuances. So it's working collaboratively with our compliance teams, working very closely with our corporate actions team. who then help us to walk through all the investor relations documents or any sort of like regulatory issues that we need to be on top of when we are thinking about how we think about making changes on the back of these corporate actions. So quite a lot. then, to add on top of that, I need to make sure that I'm keeping up and in touch with everything that's happening, of like market structure related. From a trading perspective, there's always different things that are coming up that you need to make sure that you're on top of. ⁓ I need to make sure that I'm on top of all the regulatory changes that are coming up or in the pipeline. So that could mean interactions with brokers. We work very closely with the sell side and we rely on each other. We're a very happy coexisting ecosystem. They rely on us. We rely on them.
speaker-0: of our students have asked about strong career foundations. What habits or practices have helped keep you grounded and growing both personally and professionally?
speaker-1: Yeah, that's a really good question. And it's quite interesting because at the moment we have some interns that are actually working with us for the first time we have an internship program. And it's been wonderful to see how they've just joined the company and joined our various teams in the investment management group and been able to just fit in. And if I then look back and think of, you know, when I started my career and the things that have helped me, one of the things that I also see in the interns is that they're very curious. So curiosity really takes you very far. It goes such a long way. And I always want to whenever I'm in a room to make sure that, you know, I'm not the person who knows the most. Ideally, you always want to be in environments where you're always learning.
speaker-0: That's great advice, not even just for you during your education, but also at any point in your career. What's one step that students can take today to move forward and build momentum?
speaker-1: So momentum is an interesting thing because I've always thought that, you know, fortune favors the bold. And so always be someone who's comfortable to put yourself in uncomfortable spaces. Don't always feel like you need to know everything for you to belong in some of these spaces because sometimes no one will really offer you, you know, to sit on the table. Sometimes you just have to take the seat and put yourself on the table. And so always feel comfortable to go even into environments where you think maybe, ⁓ how am I going to fit in here? ⁓ You you have to take that first step to try and discover and find out things that you potentially might end up doing really well in and that could potentially end up being your whole career by you just putting your hand up and saying, you know what, I'm going to try and give this a go. And so as a younger person, I knew I wanted to be a portfolio manager and I wanted to be a trader. And I was extremely intimidated by these roles. They really felt like, you know, absolute rocket science. And I kept thinking to myself, would I actually ever be able to do this, like realistically? And, you know, there was a lot of self doubt and I think that's quite normal. Everyone goes through that, but you know, you don't really go to school and learn to be a trader and neither do you go to school to learn to be a portfolio manager. Everyone has really learned how to do these roles in the seat. And so the only way you can learn is to be in the seat. And to be in the seat, you have to put your hand up and say, hey, I want to be in that seat.
speaker-0: I think that's great. Tapp, thank you so much for sharing your journey and advice with us. I know our students are just greatly benefiting from this advice. conversation. Visit rockthestreetwallstreet.com to learn more. Make sure to follow and join us for the next episode. Until next time, let's keep rocking finance.
The conversation addresses resilience, fraud and technology skills.
About this episode
Join Ashley Leftwich, CEO of Rock The Street, Wall Street (RTSWS), for an inspiring conversation with Kathryn Robinson, an accomplished investor who built a 15-year career spanning hedge funds and family offices.
From her roots in a small mining town in South Africa to managing global investments in London, Kathryn shares a powerful journey of resilience, adaptability, and purpose. She offers a rare inside look at the fast-paced world of hedge funds, the legacy-driven focus of family offices, and the skills needed to succeed in today’s evolving finance industry.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
The real differences between hedge funds and family offices
How top investors evaluate companies beyond the numbers
Lessons from navigating a major investment fraud
Why coding and tech skills are essential for future finance careers
Strategies to overcome imposter syndrome and build confidence
Practical steps students can take to start investing and growing their network
Gives students and young professionals an honest, inside perspective on what it takes to thrive in finance today
Disclaimer: All financial and investment information contained in this podcast is merely for educational and informational purposes. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice. Should you decide to act upon any information in this podcast, you do so at your own risk.
Listen to the episode
Transcript
Transcript supplied by Riverside; it may contain transcription errors.
speaker-0: Welcome to Rocking Finance, the Rock the Street Wall Street podcast. Real stories, real access, real pass into finance. Join us for candid high impact conversations with industry leaders sharing the insights, experiences, career pivots and journeys that can help young women advance through the financial industry with great confidence. Rock the Street Wall Street equips high school and university students, especially young women, by bringing the ⁓ in STEM to life through financial and investment fundamentals. We provide direct industry access and guidance supporting students and young professionals on their journeys from classrooms to careers while expanding participation in the capital markets. Through cohort-based learning, mentorship, and individual career connection, we help students build confidence, capabilities, and networks that open doors. Our goal is clear. Expand participation in the capital markets and strengthen the future of finance one cohort at a time. Today, I'm your host, Ashley Leftwich, CEO of Rock the Street Wall Street. Now let's rock finance. thank you for being here. You've built a 15 year career across hedge funds and now at a family office. Let's start with your story. Can you share your education? What sparked your interest in finance and how did you land your first role?
speaker-1: Hi Ashley, it is such a privilege to be here and to be speaking to you from the other side of the Atlantic and just to compliment you and the team on the great job that you are doing at Rockford Street. But a small background, came from a rather humble background. I grew up in a dying mining town in the arid regions of South Africa. I went to government school. My mother was a teacher. My father was a artisan. or had an office in business, so hardly the perfect playbook for an aspiring hedge fund manager. But ultimately, it took me growing up in an environment like that, knowing that I needed to get good grades to be able to move my life onto the next level. And through those good grades, I managed to get into a great university, one of the leading universities in our country where I studied finance and investments and I really took that time at university because it's such an amazing time in your life in your early 20s because you suddenly exposed to so much more other than just your academics, you exposed to a world that you've been protected from for the last 18 years of your life. And just understanding so much more that was happening in society, learning, meeting different people. And it was through meeting different people that I came across the opportunity at City Group to join their graduate program, which was superbly timed in the beginning of 2008, which if you'll remember was basically the beginning of the end in the global financial crisis. So it was a wonderful year where you learn so much about the world and how to dodge the shrapnel as the United States financial sector came crashing down around you. And ultimately, with chair prices of the big banks heading to $1, it was never going to end well for the graduates. But it was an example of just one of the times that you pick yourself up and you dust yourself off and you repivot and find another lane to swim in. And it was amazing grounding that I got. I'm so grateful for the people that I learned from during that time. It really was the beginning of a great career in analyzing companies and valuations.
speaker-0: It's a wonderful journey and I can't wait for us to dive into it more throughout our conversation today. How would you describe hedge funds and family offices generally?
speaker-1: Hedge funds and family offices are very similar in their investment profession, in their investments strategies. However, hedge funds are lot more fast-paced, a lot more focused on shorter-term developments, whereas family offices are far more focused on a family's legacy across generations. and putting together an investment philosophy that works together with the requirements of that family.
speaker-0: That was a great description. So you started to share about data and with my background in math and technology, I love how data can tell powerful stories. So when you look at a company to do the evaluation or you're looking at a company, what draws your attention first? The numbers, the business model, the leadership. What does that look like for
speaker-1: I think generally in most investment cases, the narrative does a lot to draw you in. The story does a lot to draw you in, whether that is a story around multi-generational changes in energy supply, whether it's a story on aging populations, that's generally the story drags you in. But what I always talk about is numbers above narrative. So while you can build your investment case around what the narrative is, you have to have the numbers to back that up because so often what we find is you can find really good narratives or really good stories, but the numbers don't stack up. So there's the adage that says a good company isn't necessarily a good investment. And similarly, similarly the other way around. So for me, when I'm doing my identification, it's about the drivers in an industry, the drivers behind demand. how the industry is made up and then take that to the next level and say, what are the numbers saying? What are the data leads that we get in that are feeding through into this? And based on that, do I have enough conviction that there is upside to this investment or what the potential downside is if that is the way that you're looking at it? But one thing I must just state, You know, we speak about narrative and we speak about numbers. But one thing we haven't touched on is leadership. So I come from a sailing background. in that world, you can have the best boat. You can have the fastest boat with the best spec. But the reality is if you don't have someone that is a very good skipper on board and a very good tactician, your performance will always be suboptimal. So in every investment that we look at, be it on a hedge fund level or on a family office level, is that largely comes down to the leadership of that vehicle, whether it's a private company or whether it's a public company, who are the people in the decision-making seats that are taking the strategy of those investment opportunities forward.
speaker-0: We should certainly talk about sailing at another time because I'm very interested in that. But you recently shared the powerful guidance of staying humble, stay flexible and never confuse conviction with certainty. So how does that play out in a typical day for you?
speaker-1: Well, I'm sure similarly to so many other ladies within your network, the great thing about markets is every day is so different. And it's even more so when you are dealing with families that have multiple assets across multiple geographies. It doesn't only come down to what's impacting the asset class, it comes down to what is impacting the geography. often there's a common thread. Geopolitics is a very big thing that we keep an eye on. share prices, market movements, currency movements. But ultimately, you have to step back from the day because your day cannot only be dictated by numbers on your screen the whole time. And so what I try and do is I try and find a balance of behind the screen and actually walking the streets, speaking to our families, understanding what the underlying needs are. and trying to get a very good sense of what the real investment landscape is and compare that to what the numbers that are coming up on the screen are telling us.
speaker-0: referred to needing to pivot earlier so over the years I'm sure things didn't always go exactly as planned. Can you share a time you had to pivot and what it taught you?
speaker-1: Yeah, well, we spoke a little bit about the end of 2008 where City Group basically restructured their graduate programs. That was a perfect example. An example of where an investment went against me, which was quite a pivotal learning experience in my career, was in 2017 we were invested in a global furniture retailer. I'd covered it for five plus years. knew it inside out. I'd been to all the operations. I'd been to Florida. I'd been to Europe. I'd been to Africa. I knew the management team really well and we were all set up. There was a listing taking place. Everything, the stars were perfectly aligned. And I kept on having very credible people saying to me, but are you sure? And I was quite sure that I had done enough work on it. And ultimately it came out that it was one of the biggest frauds that Europe had seen. we started with the rumblings in the markets, but there potentially been some gray business taking place. We then went when the auditors wouldn't sign off and finally the CEO stepped down. But I think at that point in time, even then there was a question of Well, if the share price is not worth 70, maybe it's at least worth 35, which is half. You you can't say business is worth zero. So we had to do a lot of introspection at that point and a whole new analysis over the weekend looking into this and saying, well, what are the underlying tangible properties here that could maybe bring a value, et cetera? And our analysis showed that there actually wasn't enough tangible assets in the business to cover how big the hole was. And as a result of that, we had to take a very tough decision to get out after the share price had halved and walk away and be okay with that, that the share price could potentially back go to 60. It could potentially go back to 70. The result was that the share price actually went to one. So in hindsight, it was a great decision, but it's Definitely was a pivotal point in my career where I had to say you have to change the way that you're looking at things because your current process is flawed. You have to spend a lot more time understanding where your blind spots are. You have to spend a lot more time understanding where, why, who is selling the stock that you're buying and what do they know that you don't know? What do the hedge funds that are short know that the hedge funds that are long don't know? Doesn't know. that was, you know, and also just the case of realizing that you can't trust everyone. I was in my late 20s at that stage and I think that to me was a very hard learning curve. You know, you always think you can trust the auditors, you could trust management, but you have to ultimately become quite cynical in the world of investments because it is quite a commercial world with money driving and The naivety, I think, that you come out of university with sometimes gets tested. And I hope for most people on the podcast sake is that it doesn't get tested as severely as what mine got tested.
speaker-0: love the critical thinking, solving problems. I do have a couple questions here that were submitted by students that I wanted to ask you today. So the first one is with new tools like AI and advanced analytics, how is tech changing investing and what skills should students focus on now?
speaker-1: It must be said upfront that it is a wonderful time to be coming into this industry as a student because you almost have a more valuable skill set at your fingertips than someone with 15 years experience because technology is just becoming a more and more vital part of the investments landscape. If I have a look, even in my, the five years that I've been in London, how the evolution of tech and investment decision process is changing. It is vast and it moves quickly. When I look at skill sets, when people say to me, you know, what is the typical skill set I should focus on as a student? My number one is coding. And it's not because I want you to become a coder. I don't think you need to become a coder, but what you need to do is you need to. Only when you learn to code do you appreciate the efficiency that coding can bring into your process. I decided to learn to code and to learn to code in Python because I needed to be able to speak to the juniors within a team and be able to enhance what they can bring to the table. So coding is definitely, coding is definitely number one, understanding the opportunities in language models and also understanding where the blind spot sits, you know. being able to recognize that while there's such huge opportunity out of language models and what they send in to you, there are also a lot of mistakes. And if you work purely on what the language model is telling you without checking that data, you can end up with some very serious errors in your process.
speaker-0: Wonderful. Students are also curious. Can you tell us more about how you built a network in the industry and how you champion the next generation in finance and investing? Just a small question.
speaker-1: It's not the easiest thing to do. I don't think networking comes naturally to anyone. I mean, perhaps the small few, 3 % of the population. But other than that, it's as difficult for me to network as a rather extroverted person as it is my colleague who's a more introverted person. But there is no doubt in my mind the importance, particularly as females, to build good networks. And it seems a little bit, yeah, I think you've got an underappreciation for it when you're younger, when you're at varsity, because you have a lot of people that are throwing stuff at you all the time. And you've got many other, many other opportunity, ⁓ the opportunity set in front of you is huge. But as you move later into your career, it becomes more and more important. And it becomes more important because investing is a lonely game. You can often, particularly when you go through tough times, and so it's so much more important to have a great network. I've learned this firsthand in the last five years that I've been in London because I've had to build up a network from scratch. The easiest way I've found over time is to start small. Start, meet people that are on your level in your organization and people that are on your level outside your organization. What is wonderful about London and New York is that they've got great, great facilitators like yourselves. People are far more open than you think to having that coffee with you for no other reason because most of the time they've had somebody offer to have a coffee with them. So in them paying that forward to you, it's actually a lot easier than you think, particularly when you're younger in your career.
speaker-0: I certainly think that there is times for our students and of course for many of us where we feel intimidated and wonder do I really belong here. So what would you say to them?
speaker-1: Markets in general push you out of your comfort zone more often than you think. It's not like you have a set job in any other industry. You get in many uncontrollables, a lot more uncontrollables than in a typical industry. And as such, we often get pushed into an uncomfortable position where you look around the room or you look around the table and you go, ooh. is this really it? And even in my late 30s, I get that on occasion where I feel potentially I'm out of my depth. Imposter syndrome is real. It's something that young people suffer from. It's something that leaders in very high places suffer from. And you shouldn't be scared about it. But rather than shrinking into the shadows, I always encourage the young people that I work with is that you've got to allow it to fuel your hunger. to forward because the reality is, is everybody has been given an opportunity. They've seen your potential. They know that you should be at that seat of the table. And now you've just got to let your light shine a bit. And once, once you do that, and once you get that confidence, it all starts to fall into place.
speaker-0: wonderful. One of the, you know, actions for, what are some actions for our students? I mean they're joining this webinar and already a great step in the right direction, but when students want to go further, what's one thing they can do on their own right now?
speaker-1: Lock the Street is a great initiative. It's a great starting point. The fact that they've logged on, as you say, is step one. When I was starting out, none of these were available. You were very much coming out of university. You were in the dark and you were making your own way. And as such, I encourage people to embrace them. There are large teams behind these organizations that many times are putting in of their own hours into the content that you see. and their best learnings. So grab that opportunity. The second one is listening to podcasts and finding great people to follow on LinkedIn. Generally from that, I feel you can almost get a sense of which way your passion is pulling you. Because if you're listening to a podcast and you don't feel like it's really grabbing you, it's unlikely that you're going to want to spend 13 hours of your day, five days a week doing it. We are just absolutely blessed with the huge amounts of content that is out there by really incredible investing minds, which even five years ago wasn't available to the general public. And now it's there on your podcast. And then lastly, the one that I would encourage, regardless of where you are in your career, regardless of whether you choose finance as a career is start your own investing. It is. It is really easy to do. The barriers to entry are much lower than what they've ever been before. Financial literacy is, you spoke just now about what are the skills that I think people should pick up. Financial literacy is another skill that I think should be compulsory across the board, particularly with young people that are coming through financial independence. So you will start to experience that huge euphoria that you go through when you have a winning trade. And at the same time, you will understand that kick to your guts that you get when your investment goes down 10%. Because only until you've got your own money in the game, I think do you truly have a feel for it. And it doesn't have to be a lot of money at all. It can be the smallest amount, but as long as in your life, it's something that's meaningful and you can really get that feel.
speaker-0: Catherine, thank you so much for sharing your journey and advice with us. And to all of our students, stay curious, lean in, and remember early steps make big impact. Thank for joining the conversation. Visit rockthestreetwallstreet.com to learn more. Make sure to follow and join us for the next episode. Until next time, let's keep rocking finance.
Alexandra Rooney shares her path into finance, private client advising and work with RTSWS students.
Key takeaways
There are different paths into a finance career.
The episode describes day-to-day work in private client advising.
Financial literacy and mentorship can help build confidence.
About this episode
EP5: Main Street Research’s Alexandra Rooney: Join Ashley Leftwich, CEO of Rock The Street, Wall Street, in an inspiring conversation with Alexandra Rooney, CFP and Private Client Advisor at Main Street Research. Alexandra shares her journey from a first-generation American to becoming a successful financial professional, her day-to-day work in private client advising, and her passion for empowering the next generation of women in finance.
In this podcast, Alexandra discusses:
Her unconventional entry into the finance world
What a day in the life of a private client advisor looks like
The importance of financial literacy and confidence for young women
Her experience volunteering with Rock The Street, Wall Street and working with students
If you’re looking to learn about finance, mentorship, or how to break into the industry.
Disclaimer: All financial and investment information contained in this podcast is merely for educational and informational purposes. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice. Should you decide to act upon any information in this podcast, you do so at your own risk.
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Transcript
Transcript supplied by Riverside; it may contain transcription errors.
speaker-0: Welcome to Rocking Finance, the Rock the Street Wall Street podcast. Real stories, real access, real pass into finance. Join us for candid high impact conversations with industry leaders sharing the insights, experiences, career pivots and journeys that can help young women advance through the financial industry with great confidence. Rock the Street Wall Street equips high school and university students, especially young women, by bringing the ⁓ in STEM to life through financial and investment fundamentals. We provide direct industry access and guidance supporting students and young professionals on their journeys from classrooms to careers while expanding participation in the capital markets. Through cohort-based learning, mentorship, and individual career connection, we help students build confidence, capabilities, and networks that open doors. Our goal is clear. Expand participation in the capital markets and strengthen the future of finance one cohort at a time. Today I'm your host Ashley Leftwich, CEO of Rock the Street Wall Street. Now let's rock finance. Hi everyone, I'm Ashley Leftwich, CEO of Rock the Street Wall Street, and I am delighted to be joined today by Alexandra Rooney, CFP and private client advisor at Main Street Research. Alexandra, great to see you again, welcome.
speaker-1: Ashley, it's so wonderful to be here with you. Thank you so much for having me.
speaker-0: I know that you have shared with me a little bit about being First Generation American. You've had a very interesting journey, been at several different firms, and of course, our students would really love to hear what your journey is, as well as what a day in the life is like for you.
speaker-1: Absolutely, Ashley. So again, I think it's so important when we think about how we all get into finance for me. I, candidly, I've applied to hundreds, if not thousands of jobs on LinkedIn when I first graduated from college with a degree in economics. And I was just lucky enough that I found an RIA who's based out of Fairfax, Virginia, not too far from where I grew up. And they were willing to take me on and just help with my education. And, you know, I walked in there saying, I don't know much, but I'm willing to learn. And that really set a precedent for me and a cadence where I was able to move to New York City. I've had the pleasure of working at some incredible firms and the experience and the background that I have has just been so helpful for the clients that I deal with today. And I say that because I've worked at firms that have a couple of hundred million dollars up to 35 billion in assets. And so being able to see and span really what a million dollar client needs and what a client with a billion dollars needs, ⁓ And it's just so important and impactful to be able to deliver that advice to my clients. So at Main Street Research, what I do on a day-to-day basis, I'm really talking to clients. think no day looks the same, no week looks the same. That's both because the markets are just viewing their thing, right? It's out of our control, but also just based on clients' needs. And so I always talk to clients during inflection points in their life. And I think that that's really important. I always say, Part of my job is like being a therapist. The other part of that is, you know, being able to be a North Star for them and help them focus on really their long-term goals and what they want to do with their lives. It's such a pleasure and such a joy. So I will maybe spend the first part of my day working on financial planning for our client, right? Determining what they need to get from the market in order to achieve the goals that they have. Maybe then I'll spend some time with clients walking through their portfolio, what they're doing and how the market has been performing. and where we see opportunities. And then I might spend my afternoon talking to either prospective clients or existing clients. And of course, throughout the weeks and throughout the days, there's always those emergency calls. Oh, my daughter is pregnant and now I want to start funding a 529 or what opportunities do I have there? Or it could be something of the nature of, okay, I just got let go for my job. What do I do next? So it's all of these life moments where I come into play and I help walk them through that, again, with all that expertise that I have from the years.
speaker-0: really love that you talk about how you're helping others meet their goals. Like there has to be such a relational piece to your work in that way to know intimately what your clients are interested in achieving with their money and what that needs to look like as far as their plan. That's incredibly interesting. And you also mentioned that you have this willingness to learn and something that you've always had an appetite for. So looking back, Is there a lesson you've learned or maybe something that you wish you had known earlier on in your career?
speaker-1: Absolutely, Ashley. I think for me, first and foremost, is just knowing that it's okay to not know something and asking for help. I think we've been taught so much and I think especially as women sometimes where you need to kind of know the answers before you're even asking the questions. And something that my father taught me that's so important to me was it's okay to not know, you just have to make sure that you don't tell people that you know that. you my first job when I started in finance, I remember just writing down everything I didn't know. I didn't know what a mutual fund was in my first year, because why would I? And that I would be Googling or investigating and trying to figure out what all these terms meant and how to connect them together. And because I didn't know and I was a little afraid to ask for help, I thought I could just figure it out on my own. And what I realized over the years is just being able to talk to other people, learn from other people and actually tap on their experience has been so impactful. which is of course why I'm so passionate about giving back to organizations like Rock the Street, Wall Street.
speaker-0: Well, that's a great segue. I mean, what inspired you to get involved with Rock the Street, Wall Street? You have been so gracious to volunteer for us and there's so many ways to give back. So what is it about Rock the Street, Wall Street that really spoke to you?
speaker-1: I think for me, and not only being the daughter of immigrants, right, my parents are not from America, I had to navigate the entire American system really by myself. I have an older brother, but we have very different paths, very different interests. It doesn't look the same. And trying to figure out what that would look like. And then also on top of that is even at the most progressive firms that I've worked at, what I've seen is that over the years, when we used to print out reports for clients, right? We would print out one copy and give it to the husband. And so there was almost a, I don't want say it's a dismissive nature, but women were almost along for the ride rather than having that financial autonomy. And in hearing about Rock the Street, Wall Street, and again, just what your mission statement is and putting that empowerment back into girls and women so that they can understand what careers look like in the world of of the ⁓ of STEM, I think it's so important because, you know, thinking back from my own experience, I didn't have that and I wish I did so that I could have further honed my skills earlier on. And again, I'm so thankful to be in the position that I'm in and to have found the career that I found. And I just want to be able to shout it from the rooftops for other young women so that they know it and they don't have to stumble upon that good luck like I had. I think when thinking about the transformation, We walked into those sessions and there was a lot of timid nature. These ⁓ girls were thinking about what they wanted to do for college, really knew where they wanted to be in 10 to 15 years, right? The classic, I want to be a doctor. I want to be a dentist, not a phymologist. I want to do ⁓ a science-based career because maybe that's what I heard from my family. To see them expand for not only understanding how we connect across the board, right? We talked through not only what careers we could do, but also how to get there, how to ask for scholarships and how to think about ways to make your career and your future more accessible. And I saw these girls really come to life and expand upon excitement and the opportunity to be able to really achieve these dreams that they set out for them, which again, for me is what I do on a day-to-day basis. And so it was just so heartwarming. I think being able to connect to them and see them break out of that shell and be more comfortable with the idea of one, what college would look like, but also maybe taking a math course or two, understanding what they can do with their careers and that there's not, you know, five or six set different jobs that you have to pick between was really expansive and I think really impactful from my point of view.
speaker-0: Thank you so much for sharing that. For our volunteers, I do have a question. For others in your field that might be considering volunteering for Rock the Street Wall Street, what would you say to them? Why is it important that financial professionals are really stepping into the classroom? And how would you encourage someone to take that first step? Sometimes I think that there is a little bit of hesitancy on on the volunteer side maybe to have these conversations with these young ladies.
speaker-1: Absolutely. think, you when I think about where I sit today and the people that I want to see come into the industry, I want more women there. That comes from just knowing how both empathetic and how skilled we are at having more of soft skills to be able to speak to clients when they're in moments of distress or moments of joy. And I'm sure actually, you know, right, the power of female friendship is so important and impactful that when I think about how we get more of those into our industry and how we get more women in finance, we have to start early and we have to start often to start showing them what sort of individuals are in the industry now and again, expand their horizons. So for people that are interested in volunteering or maybe you're looking at the different candidates that you have and you really wish that there were more women there, just getting involved, just starting the conversation was so important to me. you know, for me, candidly, I saw something about the organization. thought, great, let me just reach out again that goes back to learning this early and often is it's never too early to ask. I think importantly too, is that we all have something to share. So it doesn't need to be that you are an industry leader or that you have 10 plus years under your belt before you can start giving back. There's always something that you can share and show and be a representation to these young women. And I think especially for younger women in the industry, right? You're a great model for them because you've recently done this. So you understand what they're going through even more than someone like myself and who's been in here a little bit longer.
speaker-0: really appreciate that you come in with just such an authentic, genuine nature. And I think that really resonates with the girls. I mean, it's something that is wonderful that you're bringing that energy to them in the classrooms. Rock the Street, Wall Street is expanding our programming. So as someone who has seen the impact close off, why would you recommend supporting a program such as ours?
speaker-1: because I think that there's really nothing out there that is focused solely on women. And when we think about what we wanna do, and again, as a CFP, I know that there's been such a push from the CFP side to get more women to have that credential. We can start with organizations like Rock the Street, Wall Street, and focusing on building those women and setting them up for success before they even enter college is so critically important. And it's on us. to be able to set the cadence and set the future for women in this industry. So I think that there's so many wonderful organizations that exist, but in terms of financial literacy and a focus on women, I haven't seen anything like Rock the Street Wall Street ⁓ in my career. And it's something that I've definitely been searching for. So I'm so glad that you exist and that we're continuing to expand the efforts again across the United States into Canada, I think the UK as well. So it's It's just incredible to see. I want to see it all over the world.
speaker-0: Well, thank you so much for that, Alexandra. Your story, your insight, your support, it just means the world to us and to our students, of course. We're so grateful for you and all that you do to help connect the next generation to these opportunities in the capital markets.
speaker-1: Thank you so much Ashley, I'm looking forward to being not only here today but also with Rock This Street, Wall Street for many many years to
speaker-0: joining the conversation, visit rockthestreetwallstreet.com to learn more. Make sure to follow and join us for the next episode. Until next time, let's keep rocking finance.
Cynthia Plouché discusses career uncertainty, leadership, belonging and purpose.
Key takeaways
Mentorship can appear in unexpected ways.
Relationships and less visible opportunities can contribute to a career.
The conversation explores belonging alongside technical skills.
About this episode
What does it really take to build a meaningful career when you don’t have it all figured out?
In this conversation, Cynthia Plouché, Founder & CEO of The Alzenia Project, joins Ashley Leftwich, CEO of Rock The Street, Wall Street, for an honest discussion about navigating career uncertainty, leadership, and purpose. Cynthia shares her journey from being one of fewer than 40 Black women in her Radcliffe class to leading multi-billion-dollar investment portfolios and serving on corporate boards.
Together, Cynthia and Ashley explore what belonging really means, how mentorship often shows up in unexpected ways, and why taking on unglamorous opportunities and building relationships can matter just as much as technical skills.
Designed with students and early-career professionals in mind, this interview offers practical insight into finding your voice, embracing uncertainty, and building a career rooted in purpose and impact.
Key themes:
* Belonging and identity
* Mentorship that happens organically
* Career growth through unexpected opportunities
* Leadership without having a perfect plan
Whether you’re exploring your path or rethinking your next step, this conversation offers perspective, reassurance, and practical wisdom.
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Transcript
Transcript supplied by Riverside; it may contain transcription errors.
speaker-0: Welcome to Rocking Finance, the Rock the Street Wall Street podcast. Real stories, real access, real passion to finance. Join us for candid, high impact conversations with industry leaders sharing the insights, experiences, career pivots and journeys that can help young women advance through the financial industry with great confidence. Today, I'm your host, Ashley Leftwich, CEO of Rock the Street Wall Street. Now let's rock finance. Cynthia, it is great to speak with you today and you have such an inspiring story. We're excited to share it with our students, so we'll go ahead and jump right in. You are part of a remarkable cohort at Radcliffe and Harvard, and you were a part of it during very formative years that were a moment in history. So can you walk us through your educational journey and what your experience, what that experience meant to you as you decided to pursue that path?
speaker-1: Happy to, it's a pleasure to be here and to be talking to you today. Leading up to my entering Harvard Radcliffe were many personal moments. And as you said, my college years and the years before that really were formative for me personally, but also for the country. was a time where we were right on the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement and Vietnam War. So lots is going on.
speaker-0: Can you share a bit with us about your family background?
speaker-1: To go back a little bit, and I think this gives you a sense of how I was as a student or as an adult. Beginning in junior high, I was bussed from my all-black neighborhood to an integrated neighborhood nearby. And going into high school, my family moved from Dallas to a small town in Iowa. And I give this background because I think it helps paint a picture of the period of time when I first began to be a first. or an only. And so that's basically from my junior high days onward. In high school, I was a joiner and band, student council, theater, and eventually I led student council as student body president and obviously kept my grades up. And looking back on that time, I will say that's when I first really embraced what I now talk about as join, learn, lead approach to life where You join something, you learn about it, and then if you choose, you try to step up and lead it. And for me, I think this approach was born out of a need to belong, which I don't think is unusual for a teenager. So I joined things that I enjoyed and the people who I liked and who liked me, and I felt included and very comfortable. There were challenging moments during those years, but I preferred, as in my life, to dwell on the positive. And it was at the encouragement of my high school counselor that I even applied to Radcliffe, which was still separate admission for Radcliffe. They were soon to be joined with Harvard. But the only thing I knew about Radcliffe was I had seen the movie when I was like 13 about love story. And so I thought, oh, that sounds like it would romanticize being in this university. So I applied, got in, and I would say I was so happy to put in a word socially because I was in a place where there were so many more people who looked like me. And even though in my class, there were only you less than 40 black women out of a class of 1600 people. So it's small numbers, but meaningful. out of that time comes this bonding with the group of women who to this day, there are six or seven of them who were still very close and very tight. And that, you know, of the 40 some of who have passed, I feel like I could call on them at any time and they would still, you know, take the call be be there for me to have the discussion or whatever. know, years later, and I say this with my Elsenia project, know, sisterhood is power and it was then, but maybe it's that sisterhood is empowerment because that's what I got and am getting from these women still today. I think it's important to note and ask me if you have any questions, but academically, I wasn't sure what I wanted to major in. I wish I had sought out more guidance when I was on campus, because I hadn't come prepared for the, I would say the academic choices and the competitiveness of this university. And many of my friends came in knowing they were pre-law, pre-med, or something very specific. And that wasn't me. many of them had gone through summer prep programs and prep schools. And so I ended up being a psychology major because I like the subject. thought it was also flexible and I can keep my options open. And so that's what I did. I majored in psychology. And as I was thinking about this part of my story, I would say if there's one thing I would have changed, would be something that I had no control over really was been to live in dorms where most of the freshmen live. Cause in my freshman year we lived off in the Radcliffe dorms because things were still getting figured out. And so by living in the Radcliffe dorms, which were away from the central yard, I felt I would have known more classmates if I had done that. And frankly, it probably would have been a more diverse experience for me. But nowadays, all the freshmen live in the yard their first year. I see the school is obviously paying attention to how to best help. students fit in. So then the last piece is after college, I went to, I worked for two years. I worked for what was called then the New England Telephone Company. was in a sales administrative role. And I think again, here's my, you know, I come from a family where we were postmen, we were teachers, we were, you know, things that this world of business and was just not on my radar. And I will say that my first impression was thinking of business things as capitalists, not for this human good kind of approach. But I ultimately decided to go to business school and went to Wharton for my two years there.
speaker-0: It's an incredible journey and so many things don't surprise me. I've known you, you being student body president, that doesn't surprise me. And you're right, it really does lean into your motto that you've shared with me before as far as joining, learning, and then leading and how those all can facilitate into one. And I absolutely love that sisterhood is empowerment. I mean, I think that that We talk a lot about how it's important for us to see other people that look like us and how important it is for us to imagine ourselves in different spaces. And I think that you absolutely hit something that many of our students are going to say, which is that academically, it's hard to ask. It's hard to ask for guidance. And sometimes it seems like everybody else already knows exactly what they want to play.
speaker-1: Yes, yes.
speaker-0: And having that relationship with those other women really is something that sounds like it made a difference to you, especially with you all still being connected so closely. And it can for our students as well. So I think that that's a really important point that you mentioned, because there's so much within that. interesting that you majored in psychology, because I feel like psychology has so much to do with buying decisions with the economy and probably gave you great background for going to Wharton Business School, which kind of brings us to the next piece that I wanted to talk to you about, which was your career journey. So you have had such focus and intention driving your professional life. What were a few key moments of success and maybe even a few lessons that you'd like to share?
speaker-1: Yeah, and I think it's very true that my focus and, you know, intention was very strong. But I will also say that I really enjoyed what I did and I enjoyed the people I worked with. And so to me, that was a driver for my career. Being able to work with a group of people who were smart, had, but had a sense of humor and good personalities along the way and in my work. life, you know, it incorporated taking some risk and being out of my comfort zone along the way, but no regrets. that's my so my first job, which was a rotation program, a management training program. So I spent the first 18 months going to three different departments, and one of which was an investment, the investment management group at this insurance company. Once I finished that program, they invited me to join the investment management group and as assistant portfolio manager. And so that really kicked off my career. And over the course of being at Equitable Capital, which was about six years, I started as an assistant portfolio manager and then I rose to managing director responsible for a little over a couple of billion dollars of fixed income assets in portfolios. Primarily in mortgage backed securities, which is, you know, don't worry about the name. But what was interesting about it is mortgage backed securities were a relatively new asset class. And so two things stick out for me. One is because I had this very tedious Excel based project that related to mortgage backed securities and figuring out what we owned and such. but that ended up setting the path for my progression because I took a hard assignment. It wasn't glamorous. was what you know, served me well and it served my manager well. And so lesson one was don't hesitate to take any project that you know, is offered as long as it you know, seems practical. But I generally I think I just recommend taking projects that may seem you know, maybe below you but this is how you learn and this is for me, working was all about growth.
speaker-0: ⁓ interesting. Did you ever have a mentor along the way?
speaker-1: I had a manager who I worked well with and ultimately he became what I wouldn't have called it then a mentor, but he was my mentor. And we worked together in a way that it was almost an apprenticeship in terms of me learning to be a good portfolio manager. And I would say another thing that strikes me is about when you… ⁓ I had a great relationship with the trading desk, the people who were actually executing the trades at portfolio managers tell you about, and a wall street coverage. And my, I think my strength was my ability to take my analytical skills and put my people skills together with it. And that has served me well. And I also had a sense of humor. So, you know, definitely it was a guy's world, but I figured out my way. to just smack dab, put myself in the middle of it, not compromising myself, but having a great time doing it. And I think, you know, this is a skill, this marrying of analytical, the analytical and the people skills is something that I've been honing since middle school. Cause remember, we're thinking back to integrating a school and think back to living in a small town in Iowa. I just, you know, the last thing I would say is that This mentor, his name is Brian, became very critically important because several years later after we had stopped working together, he was the person who recommended me for my first corporate board.
speaker-0: wonderful. And I mean, it brings up a good point that not all mentors doesn't have to be an official ask to be there. Right. And, and still, you know, you lead into other pieces. think
speaker-1: think those relationships, they kind of organically evolve. mean, you can ask specifically, but you can also nurture one without the specific ask, because I did not.
speaker-0: And I absolutely love the lesson learned of don't hesitate to take on projects. Sometimes I couldn't imagine what it was like to step in and then be over a couple million dollars and new asset classes and all these other pieces. And then also look at, okay, I'm going to take on this project because it's something that's going to set me apart and I'm going to learn something new. And I think that that's just incredible. This brings us to an exciting chapter with the Alzenia Project named in honor of your remarkable grandmother. Rock the Street, Brawl Street is proud to be a grantee and grateful for our work together. From co-hosting events like this one, all the way to supporting our Chicago students and alum together. What a great vision. Can you tell us more about it?
speaker-1: You know, as you said, it was named in honor of my grandmother and Elzenia project, think reflects her value of community commitment and to positively impacting the lives, especially of young children, because that was her area of specialization. She absolutely believed in the power of education as I do. And I love sharing that my grandmother, Elzenia, my mother, Patricia, and I all graduated college within 15 years of each other. because my grandmother graduated at the age of 47, 48. And so she went back to school to get her education. So that's a very anchoring part of my life. And I would say the vision for Elzinga Project is to continue that legacy by supporting people, spaces, organizations that were belonging, thrives, and connection is viewed as an asset. Partnering with organizations like Rock the Street, Wall Street is very special to me because I do believe in the power of financial literacy, investment expertise for everyone at all states, at all points of your life, right? And it's something that we can't, I think, talk enough about, especially for young women. And, you know, as I was thinking about our conversation, One of the things that struck me because I really just hadn't focused on it was that, you know, in my career and now even in my boards, I was used to dealing with billions of dollars. mean, you know, large, large sums, I, with the Alzenia project, I've been powerfully reminded of the difference that a small contribution can make, a conversation with someone can do. or spending time with people who are in a different generation than you are, all of these things can really make a difference. And so that is where I get my energy for the Alzenia Project, that, know, and then obviously the memory of my grandmother. But yeah, so I think we work on partnering, we support leadership, we wanna make a difference in people's lives. And I'm very proud of what
speaker-0: We're doing you certainly are making a difference in people's lives without question. And one of the themes that has come up during this conversation, I mean, all the way from the sisterhood to the Alzenia project, is that belonging? What does belonging mean to you?
speaker-1: ⁓ you know, it's so vital and integral to who I am. And I think it's because of my life path where standing out, it was a challenging thing for me. And I just wanted to always to be a part of wherever I was, be present in the moment and be a part of it. And I think that, you know, it takes energy and effort to do that. but it's so rewarding. And that's what I want to give to other people is that sense of belonging is very, pretty straightforward in my mind. I think that we, know, how our families are built, how our schools are built, how just all organizations and institutions can really help provide and support belonging in a time, particularly for people, young people when they're in that. teenage to early adulthood range when you're just looking for a touchstone. So, yeah, I'm not being very eloquent about it, but it is what that drives me.
speaker-0: It's been an honor to have the conversation with you today, and I'm so delighted about the takeaways, your lessons learned that you shared and really your journey overall. I think it's something that not only inspires me, but will inspire many of our students. So thank you.
speaker-1: You're very welcome and I hope it is inspirational. think a lot of people will be like me. You just feel like you're just doing one step at a time and you're just living your life. But know that, you know, it matters what you do and it matters that you show up for other people and organizations and for yourself. So thank you for having me.
speaker-0: Absolutely. And to quote you, keep joining, keep learning and keep leading. Thank you for joining the conversation. Visit rockthestorywallstreet.com to learn more. Make sure to follow and join us for the next episode. Until next time, let's keep rocking finance.
Dr. Linda Pajoel discusses her path from dentistry to investing and the role of small financial steps.
Key takeaways
Short-term actions can contribute to long-term financial goals.
The conversation explores starting to invest with confidence.
Pajoel discusses balancing career, learning and life.
About this episode
In this episode of Rocking Finance, Rock The Street, Wall Street CEO Ashley Leftwich speaks with Dr. Linda Pajoel author, investor, and financial educator about turning short-term actions into long-term financial success. Dr. Pajoel shares how her journey from dentistry to investing led her to publish Stock Market Mama, a book empowering women to build wealth and resilience.
Together, they discuss: Quick wins that create lasting financial growth How to start investing with confidence Lessons on balancing career, learning, and life
Learn how small steps today can lead to meaningful change tomorrow.
Learn more about Rock The Street, Wall Street and our mission to bring the M in STEM to life: rockthestreetwallstreet.com
Disclaimer: All financial and investment information contained in this podcast is merely for educational and informational purposes. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice. Should you decide to act upon any information in this podcast, you do so at your own risk.
A transcript is not yet available for this episode.
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