Ashley Ott, CFP®, AIF®, with Commonwealth since 2013
Ashley Ott, CFP®, AIF®, associate at Vantage Level Monetary, joined her agency in 2012 in a brief function as a consumer providers supervisor. Being on the time a current graduate with a psychology diploma from Harvard College, she rapidly realized she liked working with purchasers and was delighted to transition to a full-time worker. Vantage Level Monetary, a agency devoted to gender steadiness, purchasers’ schooling, and unbiased monetary recommendation, was the proper match for Ashley’s objectives and keenness for serving to folks. With the help and mentorship of Vantage Level’s president and founder, David Griswold, she launched into an academic journey in economics, finance, and investments, ultimately incomes her business designations and partnership function.
When talking with Ashley, I discovered that her ardour for partaking with folks nonetheless runs robust, each professionally and personally. Beneath, she shares her experiences as a lady and next-gen adviser and the way her agency has managed by the continuing pandemic.
Q: What strengths do you convey 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 consumer base, which might be about 15 p.c millennials. Lots of my next-gen purchasers are girls who’ve so much in widespread with me. They’re shopping for properties, having kids, and beginning to concentrate on the monetary safety of their households.
Being a lady advisor who shares these experiences is a big bonus in onboarding purchasers and creating long-term relationships. Many ladies, whether or not youthful or older, are extra snug talking with a lady advisor. Total, in my expertise, our girls purchasers discover it empowering to work with one other lady.
Q: What’s crucial recommendation you’d give to a younger advisor?
A: To anybody beginning on this enterprise, I’d say don’t be afraid to fail and take each alternative to satisfy folks. After I entered the workforce 10 years in the past, I used to be afraid of failing and hesitant to leap at alternatives. I used to be particularly afraid of public talking. A technique I received by 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 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 what you are promoting mannequin provide help to steadiness work and household life?
A: I actually love what we do as advisors—serving to purchasers obtain their objectives. However I additionally love the pliability this enterprise offers. Just a few years in the past, I opened a department workplace in Seattle, Washington, to enhance our major workplace in Boston, Massachusetts. My aim was to spend extra time with my husband, who performs soccer for the Seattle Seahawks. Now, I work at home not solely due to COVID-19 but additionally so I can see my seven-month-old son all through the day. After I took time without work for maternity depart, our purchasers had been excited and cheered me on. Since then, I’ve grow to be much more captivated with my work and the chance to assist younger households make good, assured, and educated monetary selections.
Q: How did the pandemic have an effect on what you are promoting?
A: Surprisingly, our enterprise thrived—2020 was the agency’s strongest development yr up to now. From the beginning of the pandemic, we noticed elevated demand for monetary planning. For a lot of purchasers, the lockdowns had been a possibility to take a superb take a look at their funds. They lastly had the time to sit down down and make a monetary overview a precedence. Many purchasers even loved it! Regardless of the uncertainty, they appreciated the prospect to trace how they had been doing financially towards their objectives and actually dive into general planning.
Q: Did your agency’s use of know-how change in 2020?
A: Because of our enterprise mannequin, my colleagues and I had been already snug utilizing Zoom properly earlier than the pandemic hit. We have now workplaces on each coasts—I’m primarily situated in Seattle, and my associate relies in Boston. We have now a license to function in 26 states, so Zoom know-how 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 may say our agency was as prepared as potential for the massive shift to digital.
One change, although, is that I’m beginning to do digital networking and prospecting. Earlier than the pandemic, I organized Finance 101 conferences for teams of 5 to 10 girls at somebody’s residence. We’d have wine and cheese and get to know one another. I’d share ideas and fundamental data 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 may generate purchasers identical to the in-person conferences did.
Q: How did your purchasers reply to the modifications final yr?
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 received so much simpler, in fact. However as soon as they received began, Zoom’s comfort and ease made a variety of converts. I’m positive some purchasers will need to proceed assembly just about.
Q: How do you keep related together 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 stored my aggressive fireplace up by taking part in a neighborhood 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 get pleasure from sharing tales about their households and private issues. It’s a typical misperception to suppose solely girls are eager about exploring their emotional sides.
Q: Why do you stick with Commonwealth?
A: I can sum that up in just a few phrases: the Commonwealth neighborhood. Commonwealth does an excellent job of fostering relationships. Our neighborhood is exclusive as a result of it’s not aggressive—folks need to collaborate and share greatest practices. As an advisor, you will be wherever within the nation and work with different Commonwealth advisors to have a bigger presence. After I first got here to Seattle, I reached out to different Commonwealth advisors, and the response was, “How can I provide help to?” I like with the ability to move on that neighborhood dedication.
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