In this video, Fred puts Allen & Company Financial Advisor Cynthia Marotz on the spotlight. Cynthia talks about her life, her role at Allen and Company, and her passion to empower women in the Financial Advising industry. See a summary of their conversation below:
(Fred): Tell us a little bit about your family:
(Cynthia): I have one daughter, she’s 13 and attends Lakeland Christian. She’s a big soccer player, following in my husband’s footsteps. So, you could call us a “soccer family.”
How long have you been at Allen & Company?
I’ve been at Allen & Company for almost 17 years now, but I’ve been in the Financial Advising industry for almost 27 years.
What’s a typical day like at the firm for you?
Talking to clients, making sure they feel good about their investments in their life stage. Whatever life stage they’re in, we want to make sure that they’re doing the right things and that we’re following along with them, matching the objectives that they want in life.
What excites you as a financial advisor?
I get really excited about retiring people who have worked 30 or 40 years for their money. They may not have always made a lot of money, but they saved really hard. I also enjoy teaching them how to transition from “accumulation mode” to “spending mode” in retirement and walking them through the “steps” of retirement. Ultimately, I want to help them ENJOY retirement!
Current data shows there are very few women in our industry. As you think of the future of financial planning, what is your message to young women as they think about becoming a financial advisor?
When I started in this industry at 19-years old, there was one other woman advisor in the office. However, I now see the industry changing! Women and men operate differently, so it’s good to have a balance. We’re teaching other young women on our team how to help people just like we have over our career. There’s more women than ever in our firm today and we love it!
Cynthia, talk about the pathway that we’ve created for our younger female partners.
We want to teach them from the bottom-up so they feel comfortable talking about any topic. Then, we make sure that they go through a certified financial planning program to get their certifications and licenses. We give them what they need, challenging them along the way!
Tell us about your Millennial Message blog and where you see the focus of our practice going.
Millennial Message started out on a funny note, but I wound up becoming very passionate about this topic, as millennials get a lot of scrutiny in today’s world. I feel like I can talk to Millennials from an “older sister” perspective, sharing stories about my life so that Millennials can feel comfortable asking questions. I want people to know there’s more to me than what you see when I’m sitting at my desk. I talk about these things in my life so that people can feel understood and that we as financial advisors can feel “reachable.”
I can’t wait to see what the future holds concerning where we’re going as a company. Thanks for watching everyone and stay tuned for more!
November 2020
