So how can we use our money to power forward the female economy? On Tuesday, October 16th, a group of women gathered at EvolveHer for the Dymyndnomics Conference to share next steps to impact the female economy in Chicago.

“What we offer you in this room tonight are three steps to get clear, comfortable, and confident in your role in the female ecosystem here in Chicago,” says Dr. Monika Black, Chief Strategy Officer at DyMynd.

“The female economy in Chicago is at the tipping point. The right engagement, leadership, economic levers are moving into place. There is an incredible opportunity to begin to move collectively, with greater intention. As Kristin Fox of Brazen said, this journey requires us to each put our shoulder to the door, and push. DyMyndnomics is the opportunity to identify the ways in which each woman can put her shoulder to the door. This will set the tone for just how hard we will ALL push”. – DyMynd

The Economics of The Female Economy Keynote – Alicia Driskill

https://twitter.com/evolveHER/status/1048604178111762432

Kristin Fox, Director of Brazen, is committed to helping more entrepreneurs gain access to funding. She noted that “you can have the best business plan but without money, you can’t go anywhere.” After a successful career in the financial world of hedge funds, she’s opening the door for the next generation of female founders as an angel investor in fintech and biotech.

Charisse Conanan, Founder of Charisse Says, recommends that women take care of themselves and get their financial house in order. She owns a FinTech company that helps individuals restore their financial health.

Veronica Aguilar, Director of 1871 + IHCC Latinx Incubator, helps start-ups realize their potential. After giving her thoughts on how segmented the ecosystem is, she announced that she plans to become a female founder too!

She found out what she needed to know and became the best at her craft.

In the 1970s, Carolyn Leonard stepped on the floor of the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) to trade with the “big boys”. She moved fearlessly because she was going through a divorce and had two kids by her side that she had to care for. Finding a career that would enable her to maintain the lifestyle she had as a wife of a successful trial lawyer wasn’t an option. It was a priority.

And her hard work paid off.

After Leonard’s first year of trading, she out-earned her ex-husband and most of the men she traded with.

Wealthy Women Daily caught up with Carolyn Leonard over tea to discuss what it’s like to be one of the few women in finance in the 70s and how young women can position themselves for career and financial success.

Wealthy Women Daily: You managed to be one of the first independent female traders in the 70s. How did you start your trading career and achieve large amounts of success during a time when women were excluded from this space?

Lenoard: I was surrounded by dumb men [in my neighborhood] making a fortune. And I figured if these guys can make that kind of money and they are traders at the board of trade, I’m just as dumb as they are. [So] I can do this. Now I didn’t want to trade commodities so I went over to the Chicago Board Options Exchange. And I did just based on the fact that I knew that there was an opportunity. But I did have to assume tremendous debt to buy a seat. I owed a quarter of a million dollars in 1976. It never occurred to me that I wouldn’t make it work. It was total faith in myself, and whatever pivots and changes I was going to make, I was going to do it.  Failure was not on my menu. The only thing on my menu was success, success, success.

Wealthy Women Daily: What do women need to do to climb the ladder in finance and emerge as a leader in this male-dominated space?

Lenoard: First of all, any job you take, until you are doing it, you really don’t know what that job is about. I knew nothing about trading. There was no book. There wasn’t a pamphlet. There was no information. The first thing I did was find out who was the smartest person trading. I learned that it was a Ph.D. who came to Chicago from Boston College and was teaching mathematics at the University of the Chicago. (1) He was the most educated and smartest guy on any trading floor during that time. (2) He was obscenely successful in a very short period of time. I knew he knew how to teach and I knew he knew how to trade. The number one thing you have to do is figure out is who is going to be your mentor.

Wealthy Women Daily: What would you tell a millennial to do now to position themselves for a great life during retirement?

Lenoard: Start saving for retirement. Albert Einstein said compound interest is the greatest invention known to man. Start today. It doesn’t matter whether it’s $2 or $5. If you are a millennial, you have the opportunity of money working for you through compound interest.

Millennials can start with ETFs. They are exchange-traded funds that are actively traded. You buy yourself an indexed ETF on the S&P. The fees are very low because you’re not paying anyone to manage that money. You let the money sit. Your money will grow with the market.

Secondly, if you have a blue chip stock you love, get yourself a Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRIP). When the dividend gets paid, you will get fractions of shares that will begin to add up. Those shares are money making money for you.

Best Time in History for Women to Invest

This is the best in history for women to learn how to invest. The markets are volatile, mergers and acquisitions are frequent, and political friction is increasing uncertainty. It’s the best time for women to dive in and explore the markets because we’re not looking at a straight investment path. You have to think more strategically in this environment. And when you can learn how to navigate a period of turbulence, you unlock another level of possibilities that you can tap into as an investor. You also develop the financial acumen needed to become the next woman CEO!

If you are just starting your investment journey, join The Wealthy Woman Investor to gain the foundational skills and market insights you need to build your first investment portfolio. This annual subscription gives you monthly access to the latest insights in the investing world and an analysis of stocks to consider. Are you wondering what stocks you should look into right now? We’ll give you good ideas to consider.

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Disclaimer: Wealthy Women Daily is solely educational and informational, and is not intended to give investment or trading advice of any kind. Not all asset classes are suitable for all investors. Wealthy Women Daily is a research academy that provides you with the data and analysis you need to make an informed investment decision. It is your responsibility to talk to an expert to understand how specific investments will impact you during tax time. 

Two women in Chicago are on a mission to prove how being female is a financial advantage.

Meet Carolyn Leonard and Monika Black, PhD. Both are remarkable leaders in their industry. Both are linked to the DePaul community. And both believe that when women enter the financial markets, lives change and communities prosper.

Leonard is CEO & Co-Founder of DyMynd, a boutique financial empowerment and social innovation firm started in 2011. Leonard’s career began at the Chicago Board Options Exchange where she became the only independent woman trader on the CBOE floor in the 1970s. She was one of the few female market makers who owned a seat on the exchange during this time.

Black is DyMynd’s Chief Strategy Officer. She led the strategic development of the DyMynd identity and DyMynd Match assessments, bringing an influx of high-net worth women and financial institutions to the table. She is a psychologist and adjunct professor at DePaul University. She also owns a business consulting firm and properties in the Chicagoland area.

When these two women joined forces, the financial grounds started shaking and more women wanted to be a part of the movement.

That’s why DyMynd hosted a “Banking on Women” conference at Bank of America – Chicago on Tuesday, April 24th. Female professionals from various backgrounds responded positively to the event, filling every vacant chair that was available in the space. All eyes were focused on the impressive group of speakers that were shifting the financial agenda for women.

Keynote speaker Lisa Kornick is the Founder of the First Women’s Bank of Chicago. This innovative financial technology space will be the first bank in Chicago owned and operated by women.

“It offers a safe space for women to be able to talk about money,” Kornick says. “We want to demystify banking and develop mentoring circles to connect women in business.”

A women’s focused FinTech panel continued the discussion by sharing their personal experiences.

“My parents had to work 3 jobs and refinance their home to help me pursue my degree at Yale University. Once I made it to Yale, I was traumatized by how much wealth was in the Yale institution and how much poverty was outside of it,” says Charisse Johnson, CFA and owner of charissesays.com.

She recalled, “My parents bought me my first shares of Dell stock during that time to help with educational expenses. But I learned the art of investing in the stock market through J.P.Morgan’s Asset Management program.”

Not every woman gains exposure to the stock market, making it an intimidating door to walk through.

Charisse continued, “A fidelity report showed that 8 out of 10 women are scared to talk about investing to those they are close to but 75% of women want to know more. It’s a confidence thing.”

Other panelists proved that women have to get over the confidence hump quickly because their future might depend on it.

“There are two trends taking place in the world. [First,] women are living longer than men. [Second,] half of all marriages end in divorce,” says Erika Rashchke Noack, CFP and Financial Advisor at UBS.

Not only do women need to think about their future, but they also need to analyze the choices they make today and the message it sends to other women.

Kathy Cohen, Management Consultant at Accenture, promotes projects that helps women move to higher levels within an organization and stay there. “I studied executives in different areas of the organization. The first woman I came across was in Human Resources. The lack of women in [revenue-generating] executive positions showed me why I needed to stay in the room,” says Cohen. Women need to see others who look like them at executive levels in order to be motivated to keep climbing.

But if you don’t see an example or blueprint of what you want to achieve, don’t be afraid to create your own. That’s what Mary Lou Giustin, Founding Partner of Invessence, Inc. did.

“All 4 of my brothers went to college. I didn’t,” says Mary Lou Giustini. “I co-founded a digital wealth management company. I understand the problems in financial services. [Because of that ] I’ve been able to disrupt traditional financial institutions using technology.”

(Photo from Peoplewithpanache.com: Monika Black (left) and Carolyn Leonard (right) at their Money is Always in Style event. )

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Disclaimer: Wealthy Women Daily is solely educational and informational, and is not intended to give investment or trading advice of any kind. Not all asset classes are suitable for all investors. Wealthy Women Daily is a research academy that provides you with the data and analysis you need to make an informed investment decision. It is your responsibility to talk to an expert to understand how specific investments will impact you during tax time.