We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brenna Baucum a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Brenna, so excited to talk about all sorts of important topics with you today. The first one we want to jump into is about being the only one in the room that looks like them – for some that’s being the only person of color, for others, it might be a gender gap. Can you talk to us about how you have managed to be successful even when you were one of the few in the room that looked like you?
I remember attending an industry event early in my career as a financial planner. I was intimidated by the sea of older white men, but having worked in male-dominated industries before, it was familiar territory. I stuck my hand out to my tablemates to introduce myself. Two of the five men shook my hand; the other three ignored me. I walked around the table, hand out, sure they didn’t hear me the first time. “Hello. My name is Brenna. How are you this morning?” “…we’re good…thanks,” one said dismissively, avoiding eye contact, rolling eyes as his neighbor chuckled under his breath. “Maybe I don’t belong here.” I thought, “…or, maybe I just picked the wrong table.”
Over time, it became clear that my first experience wasn’t an anomaly. In financial services, women are the minority. While we represent 46% of employees in this industry, many roles are administrative; only 15% of us fill executive/leadership positions. 23.6% of all Certified Financial Planner™ professionals are women, a number that has stagnated since the CFP Board started tracking that data over a decade ago. The statistics are significantly worse for women of color. At that event, I wasn’t expecting a welcoming committee, but I was expecting human decency and mutual respect.
Navigating this not-so-welcoming territory has meant getting very good at diplomacy. It’s a skill set women are uniquely positioned to excel at, and when done well, it gives us the ability to maintain peace through times of change, particularly complicated change. My mentor, Mary, was a beacon of diplomacy, and I learned a lot from watching her. She navigated this industry for decades and threaded the needle between peacemaking and change-making.
The next year, I went to the same event. Only one of the eight presenters was a woman, with the undesirable spot as the last speaker of the day. I could write off my first experience as a few rude individuals, but one female speaker? This was systemic. I started a conversation with the event coordinators, chaired the event the following year and, while eight months pregnant with my daughter, ensured five of the eight speakers were women.
With over a decade in this industry and a daughter turning 7, I realize that diplomacy and hands-on involvement are only one part of the work needed to push for change. I continue to ask myself how to show up authentically as a woman in this industry, open the door for others coming in, and ensure they have a welcoming place at the table. Diplomacy takes time, and it’s hard to be patient.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
As a financial planner, I am privileged to walk alongside my client families through some of life’s most exciting and challenging seasons. Money is a tool to support what we care about. Together, we figure out the best ways to maximize their resources to support their values and live the lives they want.
I focus on serving Oregon Public Employees (Oregon PERS) and those approaching or in retirement. Oregon has the second most complicated pension plan in the United States, and I do my best to clarify it. Most of my client families are those where a woman is the household CFO. They’re smart, driven, and enjoy having a thought partner. I look at financial planning through a lens of tax efficiency and life satisfaction – the more we can maximize both, the happier we’ll be.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Show up. The easiest way to impress people is by doing what you say you’re going to do. Showing up has been 80% of my success in this career (and life).
Don’t be shy. Put yourself out there, and you’ll find your people – this includes right-fit clients who are a joy to collaborate with and a support network of peers and colleagues. Hang around people you admire, find out what industry organizations they’re a part of, and join them.
Cause good trouble. As John Lewis said, “Good trouble, necessary trouble – it’s not only OK, but necessary to enact and inspire meaningful change.” This comes back to threading that needle between peace-making and change-making. Find authentic ways to cause good trouble.
Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?
We have to continue exercising both our strongest and weakest skill sets. If all I do is focus on strengthening my diplomatic skills, other equally important qualities will weaken or never get exercised in the first place.
I’ve always thought of myself as a pacifist in most aspects of life, but some trends in our industry require that ‘good trouble’ I mentioned. A study came out recently around the gender gap in financial services. In 2022, 91% of men responded yes: “The underrepresentation of female advisors is a problem that should be taken seriously by industry organizations.” In 2023, only 68% of men said yes. When I read this, I realized diplomacy, a necessary skill, could hurt efforts toward representation.
So, in this season of my career, I’m exercising another muscle: the muscle to be bold. My colleagues (women and men) and I are standing up for meaningful change by putting ourselves and each other out there as speakers, contributing to national articles, lifting one another up for industry recognition, and writing books. We’re leaning away from gendered messages around fitting in and leaning into the reality that being bold is what sparks change.
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Image Credits
Jennifer Jean Kimmy Neal
