Ashley Ott, CFP®, AIF®, with Commonwealth since 2013
Ashley Ott, CFP®, AIF®, companion at Vantage Level Monetary, joined her agency in 2012 in a brief function as a consumer providers supervisor. Being on the time a latest graduate with a psychology diploma from Harvard College, she shortly realized she cherished working with shoppers and was delighted to transition to a full-time worker. Vantage Level Monetary, a agency devoted to gender stability, shoppers’ schooling, and unbiased monetary recommendation, was the right match for Ashley’s targets and fervour for serving to folks. With the help and mentorship of Vantage Level’s president and founder, David Griswold, she launched into an academic journey in economics, finance, and investments, finally incomes her trade designations and partnership function.
When talking with Ashley, I discovered that her ardour for partaking with folks nonetheless runs sturdy, each professionally and personally. Beneath, she shares her experiences as a lady and next-gen adviser and the way her agency has managed by means of the continued pandemic.
Q: What strengths do you deliver to the desk as a lady and next-gen advisor?
A: Millennial ladies are beginning to take management of their monetary futures and handle their very own cash and belongings. I see this mindset in my present consumer base, which might be about 15 p.c millennials. A lot of my next-gen shoppers are ladies who’ve loads in widespread with me. They’re shopping for properties, having kids, and beginning to give attention to the monetary safety of their households.
Being a lady advisor who shares these experiences is a large bonus in onboarding shoppers and growing long-term relationships. Many ladies, whether or not youthful or older, are extra snug talking with a lady advisor. Total, in my expertise, our ladies shoppers discover it empowering to work with one other lady.
Q: What’s crucial recommendation you’ll give to a younger advisor?
A: To anybody beginning on this enterprise, I’d say don’t be afraid to fail and take each alternative to fulfill folks. Once I entered the workforce 10 years in the past, I used to be frightened of failing and hesitant to leap at alternatives. I used to be particularly afraid of public talking. A method I received by means of this was to show a category in fundamental finance as an adjunct professor at Boston College—one thing I did for a number of semesters. I advised my college students that standing up there and speaking was a nerve-wracking expertise. Telling my college students that with all honesty whereas standing in entrance of them helped me work by means of my fears.
Q: How does your corporation mannequin make it easier to stability work and household life?
A: I really love what we do as advisors—serving to shoppers obtain their targets. However I additionally love the flexibleness this enterprise supplies. A couple of years in the past, I opened a department workplace in Seattle, Washington, to enhance our most important workplace in Boston, Massachusetts. My purpose was to spend extra time with my husband, who performs soccer for the Seattle Seahawks. Now, I earn a living from home not solely due to COVID-19 but additionally so I can see my seven-month-old son all through the day. Once I took time without work for maternity depart, our shoppers had been excited and cheered me on. Since then, I’ve change into much more enthusiastic about my work and the chance to assist younger households make good, assured, and educated monetary choices.
Q: How did the pandemic have an effect on your corporation?
A: Surprisingly, our enterprise thrived—2020 was the agency’s strongest development 12 months thus far. From the beginning of the pandemic, we noticed elevated demand for monetary planning. For a lot of shoppers, the lockdowns had been a possibility to take a superb take a look at their funds. They lastly had the time to sit down down and make a monetary evaluation a precedence. Many consumers even loved it! Regardless of the uncertainty, they appreciated the possibility to trace how they had been doing financially towards their targets and actually dive into general planning.
Q: Did your agency’s use of expertise change in 2020?
A: As a consequence of our enterprise mannequin, my colleagues and I had been already snug utilizing Zoom properly earlier than the pandemic hit. Now we have places of work on each coasts—I’m primarily situated in Seattle, and my companion relies in Boston. Now we have a license to function in 26 states, so Zoom expertise was excellent for connecting with our associates and shoppers throughout the nation. We started to make use of Zoom greater than three years in the past. So that you would possibly say our agency was as prepared as attainable for the large shift to digital.
One change, although, is that I’m beginning to do digital networking and prospecting. Earlier than the pandemic, I organized Finance 101 conferences for teams of 5 to 10 ladies at somebody’s residence. We’d have wine and cheese and get to know one another. I’d share suggestions and fundamental information about monetary planning, with no questions thought of too easy. Due to the pandemic, I’ve began holding conferences like this on Zoom. It’s a superb choice for now and would possibly generate shoppers similar to the in-person conferences did.
Q: How did your shoppers reply to the adjustments final 12 months?
A: Earlier than the pandemic, nearly all of shoppers most popular to fulfill in individual. With the lockdowns in place, convincing shoppers to make use of Zoom received loads simpler, in fact. However as soon as they received began, Zoom’s comfort and ease made loads of converts. I’m positive some shoppers will need to proceed assembly just about.
Q: How do you keep related along with your neighborhood?
A: I used to be a hockey participant when rising up and all through faculty. Earlier than the pandemic, I loved supporting younger folks within the sport by teaching youth hockey at two native faculties. And, additionally pre-pandemic, I saved my aggressive hearth up by taking part in an area males’s hockey league, which has just one different lady participant. The camaraderie I’ve skilled with my teammates has been an actual eye-opener, demonstrating how a lot males take pleasure in sharing tales about their households and private considerations. It’s a typical misperception to suppose solely ladies are keen on exploring their emotional sides.
Q: Why do you stick with Commonwealth?
A: I can sum that up in a number of phrases: the Commonwealth neighborhood. Commonwealth does a fantastic job of fostering relationships. Our neighborhood is exclusive as a result of it’s not aggressive—folks need to collaborate and share finest practices. As an advisor, you might be wherever within the nation and work with different Commonwealth advisors to have a bigger presence. Once I first got here to Seattle, I reached out to different Commonwealth advisors, and the response was, “How can I make it easier to?” I like with the ability to move on that neighborhood dedication.
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