What’s Next for Researcher Jennifer Rutley?
In this Q&A with Inkandescent Women publisher Hope Katz Gibbs and Success in the City founder Cynthia de Lorenzi — we learn how this truly amazing woman is helping female financial planners have better careers and more balanced lives.
Dear readers: We know you will love this interview with Jennifer Rutley, the principal of the Hidden Insights Group. Our friend and client Marguerita Cheng, CFP® Pro, introduced us to this truly amazing woman in her weekly podcast and video show, Margaritas with Marguerita, which aired on July 22, 2021.
The video and podcast interview above provide insight into their conversation about Jen’s research, which focuses on increasing the number of successful female financial advisors and why she decided to take it. Jen also shares some of the common challenges female advisors face throughout their careers and how financial institutions and advisory firms can enable female advisor success.
About Jennifer: With a relentless focus on customer needs, a collaborative problem-solving approach, and a passion for putting insights into action, Jen is a proven strategic leader. She has worked with countless financial advisors and several Fortune 500 companies that service them. She has now set her eyes on a new project that propels this industry forward to serve its clients more effectively. This endeavor dives deep into increasing the number of successful female financial advisors. Jennifer has completed her first research phase and is excited to share her findings and insights. “With so much opportunity to innovate an industry that is slow to change, I see female financial advisors as one of the primary catalysts to transforming advice for the future,” she insists.
Click here to learn more about her work: Female Advisor Growth — Hidden Insights Group
Jen invites our readers to help with her next research project: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/femaleadvisor
Scroll down for our interview with Jen where she shares additional information about her experience during the pandemic and where she is heading now. We look forward to working more with Jennifer Rutley in the coming months.
Hope & Cynthia: Tell us about your business/industry and where it was before the pandemic hit in March 2020, and what you were thinking about the future at the time.
Jen: I hadn’t started my business yet – I was working for a large life insurance company at the time. Folks were very concerned about low interest rates and the dynamic regulatory environment on the overall industry.
Hope & Cynthia: What were short-term and long-term goals at the time? How has your perspective changed, and what have you learned?
Jen: I had considered starting my own management consulting practice before COVID, but it was never the right time. COVID put many things into perspective for me, including my desire to have my work better aligned with my values and the desire to make a greater impact with my time and energy. The decision to start my own consulting company focused on improving access to financial advice felt important and relevant, especially given the magnitude of the pandemic on people’s financial lives.
I’ve learned how to prioritize better what’s important to me by working smarter and establishing boundaries. By limiting my distractions and laying out a plan of what needs to get done each day, I’ve made more time for things outside of work like being with my family, doing yoga, and hiking with my dogs.
Hope & Cynthia: What are your thoughts now about your industry, business, and personal life?
Jen: The financial services industry continues to be ripe for disruption. There is a strong need for more trusted financial advice, but there are also so many barriers to access it. I hope that my business can help provide greater insight into the solutions to remove some of those barriers. I believe bringing more females into the industry is one of those solutions.
From a personal perspective, I hope to focus my energy on things that drive impact and balance. I’m also looking forward to getting back to in-person networking, building my executive coaching business, and taking personal development classes.
Hope & Cynthia: Now the big question — What do you see coming next?
Jen: This is what I “hope” for!
- For my industry: The continued evolution towards financial advice regarding the primary service for clients versus pushing products. There is a greater force towards advisors acting in their client’s best interest versus being incented to sell specific product manufacturers with this trend.
- For my company: A greater emphasis on female empowerment in the financial services industry. We hope to help more organizations recruit and retain women who effectively influence leadership, financial advice, and product design/portfolio management.
- For myself: Growing my organization to scale my services and collaborate with great people interested in empowering women.
- For the country: Less chaos and more collaboration
- For the world: Partnership in battling the pandemic and global warming
- For women: A greater focus on the issues and policies that impact the progress for women – COVID significantly impacted women in the workplace by further exposing some of the cracks in the system around the child and elderly care. These issues need to be addressed more holistically if we truly want an equitable workplace for women.
Hope & Cynthia: One more question — tell us the one question we didn’t ask you — and please give us your response.
Jen: What has kept you sane throughout COVID? My two puppies – they are pure joy!!!