Meet Sam Giles

 

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sam Giles. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sam below.

Sam , we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

Will and I both have fathers working in the field of business and finance and thus the topics have been a major part in our upbringing. Will’s father owns multiple businesses and properties while my father is an investment banker. Naturally, these ideals became core tenants in our households. In our most formative years, we learned the value of investing, budgeting, and planning for out financial futures. It was an empowering and liberating experience that gave us confidence in our life track. We want to give that same feeling of security and knowledge to everyone, especially minority youth.

Furthermore, as two youth of color, we understand the barriers that minority youth face in the career paths our fathers both work in. They often encounter a lack of representation. My father especially has done everything in his power to open doors for other African Americans in the exclusive world of investment banking. I want to carry that legacy on by offering representation for successful African Americans in the field of finance. That’s precisely why I interview these leaders of color: so I can gain their perspective and make their advice more accessible to the masses. I also want other minority youth to see themselves in my interviewees and have a thorough confidence that they can replicate the interviewee’s success.

In terms of helping the general population who may not even be interested in pursuing a finance/business career, we offer financial literacy seminars so we can assist in breaking the cycle of poverty in our most vulnerable groups.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

When I’m not leading the Maggie Walker Project, I’m incredibly involved in my community. I’m a part of the Fulton County Youth Commission and I’ve been working with Milton City Council for the past summer to start a Youth Advisory Council. After months of deliberation (and a plethora of emails), city council and I collaborated to create the Milton Youth Government Leadership Program. Students will have the opportunity to have a mentor within the Milton City Government and explore the different departments that run our city. Students will then make a service-learning project and present it to government representatives and have the potential to make a real impact within the city. Although I had the honor of sparking the idea, it is an incredibly competitive program only taking 4 people for the entire year. Despite this, I still recommend for all applicable students to apply for this outstanding opportunity. This new program is simply another manifestation of my desire to spark change within my community and serve those around me.

In terms of the Maggie Walker Project, we have recently gained 501(c)3 status and will be significantly increasing our fundraising initiatives. We are continuing to work on producing our financial literacy seminars as well.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The three most important qualities to have when starting one’s own initiative is to be proactive, collaborative, and unafraid to be judged.

The beautiful thing about starting your own organization or championing a cause within your community is that you boast a completely blank slate. You can steer your initiative in any direction you want and your scale is essentially limitless. For many, this is also their downfall. In school, we are taught to follow a strict structure that leaves little room for imagination and this journey is exactly the opposite. YOU CREATE THE STRUCTURE. In order to do this, you need to be proactive enough to plan out the goals and the scope your initiative will have. Have foresight for the challenges you will endure and the obstacles you will overcome. Have the discipline to create realistic, tangible goals for yourself and then exercise even more discipline to actively stay on track for those goals. Keep a calendar so that you can track your progress daily and execute what must be done. Stay vigilant for new opportunities that you can use to advance your organization. Be on the offensive. Be proactive!

Secondly, I would recommend collaboration. It’s so much easier to complete a task if you have others to help you. Additionally, you can bounce ideas off of one another to produce ideas you may have never even contemplated. Utilizing collaboration can also dissuade you from unwise ideas that could have steered you down the wrong path. An extra set of eyes will aid you greatly in making the wise choice. Collaboration simply makes this journey more fun as well. Meeting new people and hearing their perspective on an issue gives you invaluable exposure to diverse schools of thought. It’s a fun and enriching experience.

Lastly, be unafraid of outside judgment. If I could go back in time and tell myself one thing, this would be it! Even though a topic might be controversial, it is important to discuss nonetheless. Don’t shy away from topics you are passionate about simply because others may find them uncomfortable.

Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?

Perhaps, my biggest pitfall is that I don’t let others know when I feel overwhelmed. I simply try to trudge through the work. As of recently, I have been trying to exercise healthy communication with people so they know I’m overwhelmed. My general rule is to let people know of your circumstance, whatever it is, so that they can best help you. A teacher, boss, or peer can’t help you recover from a stressful situation if they don’t know it’s happening in the first place. Always communicate your concerns, even if they seem inconsequential.

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Isuan Ayo

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