The power to drive positive change

Last week, I had the honour of addressing my peers at Advocis Toronto’s International Women’s Day Breakfast. It was a pleasure to speak on such a special day, and there was clearly plenty of interest as the event was sold out.

The topic of my address was women in the financial services industry, focusing in particular on how we can build our own legacies. As financial advisors, we spend much of our time helping our clients give meaning to their wealth. It is a privilege to have such a large impact on people’s lives as we guide them in achieving alignment between their wealth and their values. However, I think it’s also important to take this one step further and reflect on the meaning that we – as women in this industry – want to give to our years of hard work.

To illustrate this point, I shared a bit of my personal journey with legacy building. Children and health are my soft spots and also the causes most important to me. That’s why it was a natural fit for me to give more meaning to my career and wealth by co-founding Fashion Heals, an annual event that raises funds for medical research at SickKids Hospital.

Emily Strike, was a Cystic Fibrosis patient at Sick Kids Hospital & Fashion Heals model. She’s now a patient at St Michaels Hospital in Toronto. IG: @CFBreatheAndBelieve

As I was reflecting on both International Women’s Day and the Advocis event, I had to stop and acknowledge the importance and meaning of being a woman. Growing up, my family never made a distinction between girls and boys in our house. Instead, we just did things because they needed to be done.

Similarly, I don’t think building a legacy and having a positive impact on the community around us have anything to do with being a woman or a man. Rather, they are simply about living our values.

Nonetheless, as a woman proudly celebrating all the progress that we’ve made in Canada and around the world up to now, I was also reminded of my responsibility to continue paving the path forward to help other women make their mark. Women are already a key segment within the financial services industry, and we have the potential to expand our impact more broadly by taking active steps to build our legacies.

There is so much potential to do good in the world, and we have the power to do it.