063: Battling Inequality Through Words

Women Rocking Wall Street - A podcast dedicated to women in financial services

Episode 63: Battling Inequality Through Words Guest: Kelly Shikany

Welcome back to the Women Rocking Wall Street Show! This week’s guest was spurred to contact me when she heard the Women Rocking Wall Street episode where I had the pleasure of interviewing Kathleen Burns Kingsbury about embracing being a female and not being afraid to ‘ski like a girl.’ As someone who has held different positions in the financial industry, Kelly Shikany is familiar with being the only female at the table and is now working to change public perceptions around women and finance.

Kelly’s first experience with gender inequality occurred while she was working at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Although she loved her job (in the late 80’s) it was not a female friendly workplace. Treated differently by colleagues as well as clients (some weren’t even interested in hearing a women’s voice), Kelly accepted both at the time because of the experience she was gaining. Kelly was aware what was going to happen and accepted it because she wanted the experience. However, today Kelly is glad to see that there has been substantial progress when it comes to women’s rights and has made it her mission to help mentor the next generation.

As a Financial Advisor at Lakeside Wealth Management, Kelly now has the pleasure of working with clients from across the United States. She spends her time building women’s confidence on their financial investments while battling the conception that women aren’t able to understand money. There have been many times where she has been sitting in a boardroom where complex concepts are being discussed and the presenter has said, “I’ll make it so easy that your mom will understand.” Whenever this happens, Kelly takes the time to speak to the presenter about not singling out women or using gender pronouns. It’s important to raise awareness so that the next generation has more confidence and doesn’t have to battle the gender issues.

For any women looking at getting into the financial industry, Kelly recommends joining the CFP mentorship program, known as WIN-to-WIN, which strives to build up female advisors. Also, don't be afraid to share your knowledge and network so that there can be more females in the industry. If you would like to learn more about the work being done for women within the CFP program, tune into the Women Rocking Wall Street episode with Eleanor Blayney. If you would like to learn more about Kelly, you can connect through Lakeside Wealth Management’s Facebook and Twitter account.

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