Episode summary
RTSWS alum Marilyn Shi reflects on early opportunities, internships and her academic and professional journey.
Key takeaways
- RTSWS helped introduce Marilyn to financial knowledge and career possibilities.
- Internships and campus leadership influenced her aspirations.
- Networking helped shape her professional journey.
About this episode
In this episode of Rocking Finance, we sit down with RTSWS alum Marilyn Shi, who first joined Rock The Street, Wall Street as a High School student, where she served as her cohort’s Student CEO. Now a rising senior at the Wharton School studying Economics and a member of the RTSWS Alumni Advisory Council, Marilyn reflects on the experiences that have shaped her academic and professional journey.
Marilyn shares the lasting impact of RTSWS, how internships, campus leadership, and meaningful networking opportunities have influenced her career aspirations. From the confidence and financial knowledge she gained to exploring careers in finance, Marilyn’s story reminds listeners of the impact of Rock The Street, Wall Street programs.
Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter for more career insights.
Learn more about Rock The Street, Wall Street and our mission to bring the M in STEM to life: https://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.
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 path 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 ⁓ and 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. Welcome to Rocking Finance. Today we're joined by Marilyn She, a Rock the Street-Wall Street alum who served as a student CEO for her cohort at Stuyvesant High School. Marilyn is currently a rising senior at the Wharton School studying economics and serves as a member of the Rock the Street Wall Street Alumni Advisory Council. Thank you for being here and for sharing your experiences with our students and listeners.
speaker-1: Thank you, Ashley. I'm so excited to talk.
speaker-0: Marilyn, take us back to when you first joined Rock the Street Wall Street. What were your initial thoughts about the program and your cohort?
speaker-1: I gotta go back like this was six or seven years ago, but I remember I joined Rock the Street Wall Street the first year it came to my high school Stuyvesant. And I suppose me nor any of my classmates knew much about it. And I was a freshman back then and I didn't know the first thing about finance or what Wall Street was, but I just wanted to try all the new things that my school had to offer and I remember sitting in the auditorium and we were going over, I believe it was like budgeting. There was a woman from Invesco who was working with Rock the Street, ⁓ teaching us all of these things. And I got to turn around and meet new people from my high school across all the different grades. And it was just a really, really good experience and honestly got me hooked. ⁓ because after that I never left Rock the Street. I
speaker-0: Of course, love hearing that story as far as not only getting to meet those that are in other grades and across your school that maybe you wouldn't have met otherwise, but also the mentor side of things and getting to meet those professionals. Was there a particular mentor or inside day or office visit that stands out to you? What did you enjoy most about Rock the Street Walls?
speaker-1: I think for one, the people. ⁓ everybody says that, but I think the people who work with Rock the Street are especially special. So we had the privilege of working with Invesco, which was not a far walk from Stuyvesant. It was right on Brookfield. So we would just walk there and I remember we had one site visit. Me and a big group of girls from STI all went and we were all greeted by the really wonderful Invesco ladies. The person I worked with closely, Casey Ryan, who's amazing. There were a couple of other people who spoke with the girls, sort of spoke about their roles and what they were doing. To a freshman or sophomore in high school, you go in, you see these beautiful shiny desks, you see these large screens, there's TV, there's news everywhere, and there's just all this noise and bustle. like the sense of importance and to see that and to be in a place like that when you're that young, it sort of makes these things real and that exposure is so important. So I think that was one of my favorite experiences every time we could do those group trips to the Invesco office, see what everybody was working on and maybe see a little bit of the future in ourselves as well.
speaker-0: ⁓ What are you most excited about as you head into your senior year and begin thinking about your next steps after graduation?
speaker-1: It's crazy to me that I am gonna be a rising senior now. I feel like now I'm currently interning the summer, so I feel like there's still a little bit of that time before I process really that I'm a senior. I'm just excited to keep doing what I've done these past four years, which is try to make the most of it, whether it be my personal life. Meeting as many people as I can, especially in college. There's just so many people that you can meet. And we always talk about networking. And I think truly my peers are going to be people that I'll keep bumping into, hopefully, for years and decades ahead. And I'm just excited to keep meeting everybody. It's a big school, and that's part of it. Another part is just to keep diving into my academics. So I'm doing a real estate and legal studies concentration with an art history minor. So it might sound a little bit like a jumble, but I am super excited to continue all this coursework. I feel like my real estate and legal studies perspective gives me a lot of like the analytical and argumentative aspects of my education. And then the art history is a little bit more of describing things, trying to place words and a little bit more of like a creative side. And I just love the combination of all of those. So I have a really exciting. course schedule for this coming year. I want to take some fun classes. And I think I just want to like say yes to a lot of things. I'm gonna try to help assist as many professors as I can and speak with as many underclassmen who reach out or feel like I can help with at any point. And all those good things I'm just excited to say yes to. I
speaker-0: I love the idea always of their being analytical and creative and I think that's where so much magic happens as far as creative solutions and looking at problems differently.
speaker-1: Thank you. And I feel like that's what Rock the Street Wall Street has really taught us, you know, to have that STEM background and to pull all those different things in that can really give you a different perspective as an investor.
speaker-0: And you've actually completed several internships during college as well. What have those experiences taught you about the financial industry and have any of them changed your career interests and goals?
speaker-1: Well, a hundred percent. I would say my first foray into finance was of course rock the street. And as I was looking into an internship at a f hedge fund called Ballyasny the summer before I started at Penn. And through that internship, you know, I from seeing what the women at Invesco were doing to like actually placing myself at one of those desks on a trading floor and understanding what equity research meant, digging into company SEC filings and like really understanding what the behind the scenes were of all the companies that I was using in my life every day was just a whole new perspective. And I just loved it. I loved the pace of the work. I loved working with small groups and digging deep to understand problems. And I think that's what my first internship gave me. And so going forward from that experience, I knew that I loved that analytical aspect, but I wanted to do something where I felt like I was more in touch with the consumer. That's how I sort of ended up in real estate. I feel like Real estate essentially is a consumer good. Everything that we do, you know, whether it be a commercial building or like an industrial warehouse that ships an Amazon package to your apartment. All of these things all touch humans. And I feel like that's what really attracted me to real estate. And so I ended up doing a real estate internship after that. Completely fell in love. It combined those two things that I really liked. Had been doing real estate ever since, doing real estate now and hopefully post grad, but we shall see.
speaker-0: It's so great to hear how you find, as many of us do, finance actually impacts the general public. Like it impacts how we have hospitals and roads are built and how there is real estate that we're operating businesses out of or including our apartment buildings and and places that we live. So I think that that relevancy is so important and brings it back to how finance really does play a part in our greater economy and of course plays a part in each of us individually. So when you arrived at Wharton, were there any skills or experiences from Rock the Street Wall Street that helped you feel more prepared than your peers?
speaker-1: Hundred percent. Yes, a hundred percent. And I feel like, you know, I talked about networking a little bit before and I feel like that's one of the main things that I felt more prepared in when I came to Penn. ⁓ going to a business school is like rock the street Wall Street, but every day ⁓ and every hour of the day. And so I go to Penn and I hear all these things like LinkedIn and I hear, you know, what's your resume? Like what are your experiences? And you there are companies that come to campus and people go up to the executives who come in and try to talk with them. And these are things that I feel like Rock the Street has exposed to me from an earlier age. And so, you know, I already had a LinkedIn. My resume had been Proofread by a mentor from Rock the Street prior. So I felt like in those senses, I had a better grasp. And I also understood on the networking component that it wasn't just about trying to collect as many LinkedIn connections as possible or, you know, get as many phone numbers in your book, but it was more about really nurturing those relationships, like the ones that we had with our mentors and our peers from Rock the Street. So I think that was almost even more important than like the shiny resume that I had thanks to Rock the Street.
speaker-0: Networking can feel very intimidating, especially for high school and college students. As we wrap up, what's one message that you'd like every Rockestreet Wall Street student listening today and our listeners as a whole to remember as they think about their own futures?
speaker-1: If there was one thing that I could say to my younger self, I think it would just be to pay more attention to myself and my gut feelings about things. And I mean that not in a spiritual way, but I think of it more as in being in tune with your interests. I think that knowing that finance is a thing out there is so important. And then even more than that, knowing that finance touches so many different aspects, the whole breadth of the human experience and that like You can insert yourself or work in any part of that, whether it be in real estate or a hedge fund or family office, private equity. There are so many different flavors of finance and that internships are one of the many ways where you can try out and see if you like it. Just don't discount the importance of experiencing things for yourself and know that you should trust yourself with if you like something, it'll click.
speaker-0: Marilyn, I hope you've taken a moment to appreciate how much you've accomplished. What advice would you give to current Rockstreet Wall Street students about making the most of the program, building connections, and having the confidence to raise their hands and be involved?
speaker-1: From being in Rock the Street these four years and even beyond, I've seen so many students who treat the program in different ways. And I'll say that one of the best ways to make the most of the program is really to treat it not just as a program that you're participating in, but one that you are a part of and that you're building for yourself. By that I mean raising your hand whenever there's a guest speaker and not being afraid to speak up, because I know sometimes there's this. pressure to impress somebody, especially if they're an executive or a senior who has so many accomplishments in an industry, but coming from a place of genuine curiosity because they understand that you're a high schooler who's just getting started in the field and trying to learn. And I think the people from Rock the Street are so good with this and they understand and they come from a place of mentorship. And that's really how again you foster these genuine connections by raising your hand, coming from a genuine space where you're just trying to learn. And then along with that is just whenever an opportunity arises, you know, if a mentor asks you to maybe catch up through a coffee, definitely follow up on that. Put it in your calendar, put their phone number in your calendar, remind yourself to catch up with them every once in a while and keep up with them. And I think those relationships can really compound because you never know what can come out of it, whether it be a piece of advice that can change your life or an internship opportunity or any one of those things, just make this program something that is truly yours rather than a passive thing.
speaker-0: Well, you even mentioned compounding, which is one of my favorite words. And this is such a full circle moment being able to have you on the podcast and you give back to Rock the Street Wall Street. We've had such a great time talking with you today and really pulling some of those nuggets of information from whenever you were a part of Rock the Street Wall Street and you've really accomplished so much already. We can't wait to see what comes next. We know your story will encourage other students to stretch and grow outside their comfort zones, to stay curious and to work hard.
speaker-1: Thank you, Ashley. Thank you, Rockle Street Wall Street team for everything. I really couldn't be where I am without you all, so I owe it all to you.
speaker-0: Thank you for joining the conversation. Visit Rock the Streetwall Street.com to learn more. Make sure to follow and join us for the next episode. Until next time, let's keep rocking finding.
