Fairport Women

Women Who Lead

By Fairport Wealth

“Take your time on your own journey and don’t let anyone try and deter you from that.”

– Rianka Dorsainvil

Each summer, we invite two young women to participate in our Internship and Scholarship program to help build the next generation of women in finance. Last summer’s interns, Brooke Davis and Aleka Dodla, had the opportunity to speak with several women mentors, and below are the lessons they learned.

Brooke and I were thrilled when we got the chance to speak with Julie Littlechild as she is a trailblazer in the finance industry. Julie is the founder and CEO of Absolute Engagement, a firm that helps advisors connect at a deeper level and at a scale with prospects and clients.

Key themes that came up during our interview with Julie were being able to surround yourself with people who support you and to stop beating yourself up about setbacks. When asked about how she overcomes setbacks throughout her career, Julie mentioned that she overcame past obstacles by utilizing her support system and by “looking from the outside in” on the situation. She really devoted time to her relationships to get to this point. Julie has “some of the richest connections with women in [the finance] industry.” We’ve learned that it is crucial to develop incredibly strong relationships with people to be in the finance industry as a woman.

When we learned that we would be able to speak with Jillian Tarlowe, we were incredibly excited. Jillian is the Director of Technical Research at Renaissance Macro, or RenMac, a company that helps investors see investment through a different lens.

Something that really stood out to us during our conversation was how Jillian managed to keep up an excellent work and family balance. She emphasized the importance of setting your boundaries up front and not letting people cross them. Jillian mentioned how, when people interview for jobs, they should also be interviewing the interviewer to figure out if the job suits them or not. An ideal job would mean that all boundaries are respected. Jillian also explained that sometimes women get intimidated in interviews because they are typically viewed as the minority in the finance industry. However, a piece of advice that we got was to use this to our advantage and continue to figure out if our boundaries will be respected or not. This is really reassuring as women who are trying to figure out if we want to enter the finance field.

Within minutes of talking with the founder of YGC Wealth firm, Rianka Dorsainvil, it was clear that she was passionate about helping others achieve their goals. We were truly inspired by our conversation with her.

Something that really stood out to us during our conversation with Rianka was her emphasis on taking your time. She explained how important it is to take your time on your own journey and not let anyone try and deter you from that. When Rianka was studying for her exam to become a certified financial planner, she tried forming a study group and studied with her friends. At that point, she realized that she wasn’t truly studying and was ending up being part of her peer’s journey more than taking charge of her own life trajectory. It was at that time she figured out that she was on her own journey, and she shouldn’t try to be part of others’ journeys. She also learned the importance of taking your time and not rushing to do something big or make a big life change. This greatly impacted us because, as students, we tend to want to rush things and figure out our life journeys so quickly. However, Rianka reminded us to take our time and it will all work out in the end.

The moment we started our interview with Ned Davis’s Senior International Economist, Alejandra Grindal, it was entirely explicit that Alejandra brings an enthusiastic and positive approach to her work. She loves what she does and is devoted to helping and teaching people about her job too.

Two amazing pieces of advice that Alejandra gave us were to never turn down opportunities, even if they seem scary at the time and to always make connections with people inside and outside of your organization. She stresses that taking opportunities never hurts and will usually lead to something bigger and better. In Alejandra’s words, “put yourself out there” and “face your fears” through the opportunities because you’ll always learn something from them. As for the advice about connections, Alejandra mentioned how she always makes small talk at various events that she goes to in order to try and make as many connections as possible. It never hurts to have somebody who can vouch for you in various industries and organizations. This advice was incredibly beneficial for us because, as high schoolers, we tend to turn down opportunities that seem scary and challenging. It also can be difficult to talk to people that we don’t know. However, knowing that usually all these opportunities and connections come with more knowledge and bigger possibilities, it makes it all worth it in the end.

Fairport Women is committed to inspiring the next generation of female wealth planners and helping women achieve their wealth and wellness goals. Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter or join our mailing list, and be part of a community focused on empowering women and their families.