Ashley Ott, CFP®, AIF®, with Commonwealth since 2013
Ashley Ott, CFP®, AIF®, associate at Vantage Level Monetary, joined her agency in 2012 in a short lived position as a shopper companies supervisor. Being on the time a latest graduate with a psychology diploma from Harvard College, she shortly realized she liked working with purchasers and was delighted to transition to a full-time worker. Vantage Level Monetary, a agency devoted to gender stability, purchasers’ schooling, and unbiased monetary recommendation, was the right match for Ashley’s targets and keenness for serving to individuals. 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 position.
When talking with Ashley, I discovered that her ardour for participating with individuals nonetheless runs sturdy, each professionally and personally. Under, she shares her experiences as a lady and next-gen adviser and the way her agency has managed by the continued pandemic.
Q: What strengths do you deliver to the desk as a lady and next-gen advisor?
A: Millennial girls are beginning to take management of their monetary futures and handle their very own cash and belongings. I see this mindset in my present shopper base, which might be about 15 p.c millennials. A lot of my next-gen purchasers are girls who’ve quite a bit in widespread with me. They’re shopping for properties, having youngsters, 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 purchasers and creating long-term relationships. Many ladies, whether or not youthful or older, are extra comfy talking with a lady advisor. General, in my expertise, our girls purchasers discover it empowering to work with one other girl.
Q: What’s a very powerful 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 satisfy individuals. Once I entered the workforce 10 years in the past, I used to be scared of failing and hesitant to leap at alternatives. I used to be particularly afraid of public talking. A method I bought by this was to show a category in primary finance as an adjunct professor at Boston College—one thing I did for a number of semesters. I instructed my college students that standing up there and speaking was a nerve-wracking expertise. Telling my college students that with all honesty whereas standing in entrance of them helped me work by my fears.
Q: How does your enterprise mannequin assist you to stability work and household life?
A: I actually love what we do as advisors—serving to purchasers obtain their targets. However I additionally love the pliability this enterprise supplies. Just a few years in the past, I opened a department workplace in Seattle, Washington, to enhance our foremost workplace in Boston, Massachusetts. My objective was to spend extra time with my husband, who performs soccer for the Seattle Seahawks. Now, I do business from home not solely due to COVID-19 but additionally so I can see my seven-month-old son all through the day. Once I took day without work for maternity depart, our purchasers have been excited and cheered me on. Since then, I’ve develop into much more obsessed with my work and the chance to assist younger households make sensible, assured, and educated monetary choices.
Q: How did the pandemic have an effect on your enterprise?
A: Surprisingly, our enterprise thrived—2020 was the agency’s strongest progress 12 months so far. From the beginning of the pandemic, we noticed elevated demand for monetary planning. For a lot of purchasers, the lockdowns have been a possibility to take a very good have 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 prospect to trace how they have been doing financially in opposition to their targets and actually dive into general planning.
Q: Did your agency’s use of expertise change in 2020?
A: As a result of our enterprise mannequin, my colleagues and I have been already comfy utilizing Zoom effectively earlier than the pandemic hit. Now we have places of work on each coasts—I’m primarily positioned in Seattle, and my associate relies in Boston. Now we have a license to function in 26 states, so Zoom expertise was good for connecting with our associates and purchasers throughout the nation. We started to make use of Zoom greater than three years in the past. So that you would possibly say our agency was as prepared as attainable for the massive shift to digital.
One change, although, is that I’m beginning to do digital networking and prospecting. Earlier than the pandemic, I organized Finance 101 conferences for teams of 5 to 10 girls at somebody’s dwelling. We’d have wine and cheese and get to know one another. I’d share suggestions and primary data about monetary planning, with no questions thought-about too easy. Due to the pandemic, I’ve began holding conferences like this on Zoom. It’s a very good choice for now and would possibly generate purchasers identical to the in-person conferences did.
Q: How did your purchasers reply to the adjustments final 12 months?
A: Earlier than the pandemic, the vast majority of purchasers most well-liked to satisfy in individual. With the lockdowns in place, convincing purchasers to make use of Zoom bought quite a bit simpler, in fact. However as soon as they bought began, Zoom’s comfort and ease made plenty of converts. I’m positive some purchasers will wish 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 school. Earlier than the pandemic, I loved supporting younger individuals within the sport by teaching youth hockey at two native colleges. And, additionally pre-pandemic, I saved my aggressive fireplace up by taking part in an area males’s hockey league, which has just one different girl participant. The camaraderie I’ve skilled with my teammates has been an actual eye-opener, demonstrating how a lot males get pleasure from sharing tales about their households and private considerations. It’s a standard misperception to assume solely girls are excited by exploring their emotional sides.
Q: Why do you stick with Commonwealth?
A: I can sum that up in just a few phrases: the Commonwealth neighborhood. Commonwealth does an awesome job of fostering relationships. Our neighborhood is exclusive as a result of it’s not aggressive—individuals wish to collaborate and share finest practices. As an advisor, you will be anyplace 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 assist you to?” I like with the ability to go on that neighborhood dedication.
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