10/07/2024
This is MY testimony: *Long post warning*
I have always known that I wanted to be an entrepreneur and help people in some capacity; but when I fell into the position of becoming a financial planner I could not wrap my head around why there was such a pull for me to take that leap. This was not an area that I spent years studying, I do not consider myself to be a math or number wiz, and no one in my family was super interested in finances (other than my dad when he tried to teach me 20 years ago).
Needless to say, I did not feel like I belonged.....
One there are very few black individuals in the finance sector, and two even fewer black woman. However, I love a good challenge and quite frankly when people count me out.
My first year of the business, I got my teeth kicked in, making less than I ever did and wayyyy less than the job that I just left for my entrepreneurial goals. Everyone wondered why I stayed, how could I stay, and how I was surviving - which was a valid point. But this goal of bringing knowledge and access to my myself and my community, while proving the doubters wrong was bigger than me.
So I stayed.
I continued to learn the business, educate myself, ask questions, and build very solid mentor relationships. But during the craziness of shifting careers, I was hit with the very hard reality - that while I had my head down learning the business, this business had deadlines and expectations of me that I needed to get on ASAP! (Side note: To be in this industry and help/ advise people on how to properly plan out their money we have to take rigorous exams- to test competency and understanding of the subject in order to be licensed)
Well to keep this already long post from going much longer, I passed all the examinations needed in order to be registered with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and my state. As well as, being able to legally offer you guy investment advice!! All while, running another business, being present in my relationships, and maintaining the relationships that I have cultivated within my business.
I am ecstatic! I am relieved! I am able!
These pictures below are more than just a humblebrag. They are a shift of mentality and a visual that I can do ANYTHING - even in spaces where I did not feel I belonged.
Your girl passed!!! Let's go make this money together!
