Ashley Ott, CFP®, AIF®, with Commonwealth since 2013
Ashley Ott, CFP®, AIF®, accomplice at Vantage Level Monetary, joined her agency in 2012 in a short lived function as a consumer companies supervisor. Being on the time a latest graduate with a psychology diploma from Harvard College, she shortly realized she beloved working with shoppers and was delighted to transition to a full-time worker. Vantage Level Monetary, a agency devoted to gender stability, shoppers’ training, and unbiased monetary recommendation, was the proper match for Ashley’s objectives and fervour 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 business designations and partnership function.
When talking with Ashley, I discovered that her ardour for participating with individuals 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 way of the continuing pandemic.
Q: What strengths do you carry 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 % millennials. Lots of my next-gen shoppers are girls who’ve loads in widespread with me. They’re shopping for houses, having kids, and beginning to concentrate on the monetary safety of their households.
Being a lady advisor who shares these experiences is a large bonus in onboarding shoppers and creating long-term relationships. Many ladies, whether or not youthful or older, are extra snug talking with a lady advisor. General, in my expertise, our girls shoppers discover it empowering to work with one other girl.
Q: What’s an important 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 fulfill 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 acquired by way of 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 informed 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 way of my fears.
Q: How does your online business mannequin assist you stability work and household life?
A: I actually love what we do as advisors—serving to shoppers obtain their objectives. However I additionally love the flexibleness this enterprise gives. Just a few years in the past, I opened a department workplace in Seattle, Washington, to enrich our principal 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 day off for maternity go away, our shoppers have been excited and cheered me on. Since then, I’ve turn into much more obsessed 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 your online business?
A: Surprisingly, our enterprise thrived—2020 was the agency’s strongest progress 12 months to this point. From the beginning of the pandemic, we noticed elevated demand for monetary planning. For a lot of shoppers, the lockdowns have been a possibility to take an excellent take a look at their funds. They lastly had the time to take a seat down and make a monetary overview a precedence. Many purchasers even loved it! Regardless of the uncertainty, they appreciated the possibility to trace how they have been doing financially towards their objectives and actually dive into total planning.
Q: Did your agency’s use of know-how change in 2020?
A: Resulting from our enterprise mannequin, my colleagues and I have been already snug utilizing Zoom nicely earlier than the pandemic hit. We now have places of work on each coasts—I’m primarily positioned in Seattle, and my accomplice relies in Boston. We now have a license to function in 26 states, so Zoom know-how 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 may say our agency was as prepared as doable 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 an excellent choice for now and may 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 well-liked to fulfill in particular person. With the lockdowns in place, convincing shoppers to make use of Zoom acquired loads simpler, in fact. However as soon as they acquired began, Zoom’s comfort and ease made lots of converts. I’m positive some shoppers will wish to proceed assembly just about.
Q: How do you keep linked together with your group?
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 faculties. And, additionally pre-pandemic, I saved my aggressive fireplace up by collaborating in a neighborhood 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 fascinated 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 group. Commonwealth does a terrific job of fostering relationships. Our group is exclusive as a result of it’s not aggressive—individuals wish to collaborate and share greatest practices. As an advisor, you could 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?” I like having the ability to cross on that group dedication.
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