Redefining "Success" for Women in Finance

“I Can’t Do This Anymore.”

That thought occurred to René more than a few times at the beginning of her career. In fact, she considered quitting for ten years before she finally felt comfortable in the industry.

There were moments that made her want to cry. She would schedule appointments with prospects over the phone, and everything would seem fine. But when the potential client showed up in her office and realized she was not only a woman but also a woman of color?

They would say, “Oh, I have somewhere else to be. . . Sorry, I gotta go.” They didn’t even give René a chance before deciding they didn’t want to work with her.

And then there were moments that made René want to scream. She would work up the courage to suggest something in a male-dominated meeting room, and not a single person would listen. But when her idea came out of a male peer’s mouth, everyone oohed and aahed. René had been silenced.

So what kept her in the industry?

That’s one of the questions I asked her on my podcast, Growing Your Financial Business: The Woman’s Way. Her answer? She had an advocate. Not just a mentor who could tell her if she was on the right track, but someone who was willing to fight for her, to step forward and say, “Wait, no, René said that first.”

Those relationships are the ones that keep you going. Because René had advocates, she knew that she had good ideas, even when they went unheard by the men around her. She knew that her strategies worked, even if they didn’t secure assets as fast as her male associates.

And because René had that confidence, she could take the necessary risks to start her own business and become an advocate for other women in the industry.

Make Way for the Woman’s Way

The truth is that men built the financial industry, and they still control most of it. They are also the most served by it — because men know how to talk to men.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t expand the industry.

According to René, women receive a lot of pushback because we do things a little differently. There’s a lot more talk, a little more time, and a different set of priorities. Maybe it takes more than a month to get that new client, or it takes a little longer to raise your AUM.

But once you have a client, they stay. And they’ll follow you wherever you go.

When René Nourse left the wirehouse, about 80% of her clients came with her to Urban Wealth Management. Within a couple years, the other 20% followed, too. Why? Because the new advisor they’d been given didn’t care about them — didn’t ask how their day had been, didn’t ask about the kids.

Women are raised to build deep, lasting relationships, and that makes us great advisors who actually want to help people create their ideal financial life.

So René doesn’t mind if it takes a bit longer to acquire a client, because once she does, they’re family, and they’ll stay with her — usually — forever. She typically even works with the adult children and grandchildren of clients she started working with over a decade ago.

That is the power of the woman’s way, and I can’t wait to watch all of you female advisors push this industry in new directions.

Of course, You Need More René Nourse

This barely scratches the surface of what René and I talked about on Growing Your Financial Business: The Woman’s Way. I love René’s dedication to building community among women in finance, and we talk about how incredibly important it is to have other women who you can rely on. We also talk about how she ended up on CNBC and the risks she took to get there.

Check out the episode here!

Let me know in the comments what your biggest takeaway from the episode is. And here’s a question you can answer for yourself: how will you shake up the industry?