| Who: | Loredana Cappellano |
|---|---|
| What: | Inside Sales - Investment Consultant, B. Comm |
| When: | 2008 - Timing is clearly not one of my fortes! This was not the opportune time to start my career in the mutual fund world, as the financial world went into crisis. |
| Where: | The Standard Life Assurance Company of Canada, Montreal, Quebec |
| Why: | I saw this as the only fathomable way to have the opportunity to feel like I’m 6 feet tall. When I close a huge sale, I can touch the sky (keep in mind, I’m 5’1”). And well...who am I kidding?! The money isn’t bad... |
The best part of my current career is that I control how much money I am going to make. The more driven and motivated I am, the better potential I have to make money. There is no one I can really blame other than myself if I am not successful or have not reached my personal objectives or sales objectives. Closing a sale gives you personal satisfaction like no other. The least gratifying part of my job is when I take the time to carefully work on a potential proposal for an advisor, and I find out he went to the competition; those are not the best days.
I started investing when I was 16. At the time, I used my tip money from working at the local ice cream parlor and saved it in an old peanut butter jar. Years later, this became a monthly contribution, and then bi-weekly, into my mutual fund portfolio. The “pay yourself first” strategy became a habit at a young age, and is still part of my current budget. Now, I don’t have to think about it anymore; I just know that I’m building a nice nest egg for retirement.
One of my managers once told me: “If you want to succeed in life, make sure you learn how to walk before you run.” I was a 20-year-old bank teller at the time, trying to make decisions for the branch manager. Not necessarily the most effective strategy.
In my opinion, women can multi-task better than men. There is absolutely nothing in the world of finance that men are doing that we can’t do just as well or better.
Working with 14 men, it was obvious to me that I had to set the ground rules early; I was not going to be the one fetching coffee for anyone. I played hard from day one, and set the tone in the most classy and professional way possible. I knew that to make it, I had to be one of the boys - that they would have to feel comfortable enough to talk candidly in front of me - but that they would always remember to open the door for me, as well.
The best advice I could give any young lady is not to set her career path in stone at such a young age. Deciding the work you think you want to do at age 17 may not be what you will be doing at age 40. The young girl sitting in a history or economics class most probably does not have the same aspirations, goals, and dreams as the woman sitting in an office years later. Allow yourself to discover what you’re passionate about, what drives you, and what will keep you going long term.
Undoubtedly, that would have to be Oprah Winfrey, the epitome of a successful woman. She has managed to build a business empire tying in media, marketing and the internet. She is, indisputably, a real life alchemist.
Boiler Room – A brilliant rendition of what goes on in the world of inside sales. Minus the ponzi scheme, this film portrays what thoughts we keep in the back of our minds as we make our daily sales calls - “Always be closing.”
Although women have made significant headway within the last 30 to 40 years, unfortunately, we are not yet at par with our male counterparts. Women are still faced with the most difficult challenge of balancing life as both a successful career woman and a family woman, without compromising quality of life.
Creating work environments catering more to women and allowing a more balanced lifestyle. This includes integrating more opportunities for flex hours as some companies are adopting (i.e.“4-5” work weeks wherein alternating weeks you have a 4-day work schedule); allowing more teleconference and video conference opportunities so as to minimize business trips away from the family; and so on. I do believe that companies are making a conscious effort to integrate some of these modern employee models; however, more has to be done to address this growing need.
Simply by emailing me at lcappellano@gmail.com. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Senior Consultant, Investments – Standard Life Retail Markets,
Standard Life, Vancouver, BC
Vancouver, British Columbia
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