Latest / AccessCo Leaders Career Conversations / Illusions of Riches
Transcript
- speaker-0: Welcome Jane Sobieski. Thanks so much for being on AccessCo Leaders to speak into our students from Academies at Roxborough. speaker-1: Thank you for having me. I'm excited. speaker-0: Of course, us too. Well, let's jump right in. In one to two sentences, tell us what Wells Fargo does and what your role is as senior lead of commercial banking relationship manager. speaker-1: Wells Fargo is a financial institution, global financial institution. have a national and international presence. I work in the commercial banking arena. So I work with businesses. They're essentially financial advisor on the business side. So I help them with all aspects of their cash management and financing needs. I've been doing it for 30 years. I started my career at Core States, which is Essentially now Wells Fargo banks have been merging and consolidating over the 30 years I've been in banking. So it's a small world in banking. You definitely don't want to burn any bridges because folks come around again and it's nice to be in the arena now. So I work with businesses between 25 million and 100 million annual revenue. So we segment by revenue size companies and I try to be there and all and be all when it comes to financial services and providing them with the support they need to grow their business, to prevent fraud in their business, to make financial ⁓ decisions in their business, and to help streamline their cash flow and become the most efficient they can be and the most transparent they can be with their financing. speaker-0: Okay, yeah, so you're really at the head table there. Obviously, the business is about growing and growing profits. And so you really are a key component in that mix. speaker-1: And weathering storms, know, you know, my 30 years career, we've been through Y2K. We've been through, you know, 2008, 2009, we've been through COVID. So it's, it's also weathering, you know, the, the economic swings out there that, that we all feel. um, you know, you have a comfort level when you have someone that is, you know, in your corner, having your back when it comes to that kind of stuff. So I'm happy to do that. speaker-0: Okay, would you say we're in one of those now? speaker-1: I say we are, companies are still feeling good. So I don't know. I mean, I'm just perplexed really. It's a, I feel like we're living in this bizarro world. I don't know what's going on, but I think folks are business as usual until they're told not. And so that's what we're trying to do is just present as normal as we can, business as usual and respond. when we need to respond appropriately. So right now we're steady and moving forward. 2025 was actually a really good year for a lot of folks, but I think that, you know, that was before the dust settled with some of the tariffs and some of the stuff that, that now we got the oil crisis. So, so we'll see, we'll see how this, how this year pans out. But I think that people are using technology obviously to speaker-0: Okay. speaker-1: off, you know, to become more efficient to offset other things in their business. So as long as you're like bobbing and weaving, I think in business, you always have to bob and weave. And as long as you're able to bob and weave and, and get comfortable with change, you'll be successful. So speaker-0: That's right. Yeah. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. And you're already giving the students some tips on relationship management and being ready for that and thinking ahead and always leading with... Okay. And so tell us, where did you grow up and where are you based now? speaker-1: Exactly, there you go. Exactly. Okay, I grew up in Philly. I went to the Philadelphia school. went to actually parochial school. went I went to ⁓ St. Christopher's and then Archbishop Ryan and went to Drexel University night school started. I so I started my career with ⁓ banking, because in those days, banking was notorious about providing tuition assistance. And I didn't really have any resources to go to college. So In order to go to college, had to find someone that would help me pay for it. So they paid for the college. was longer, obviously, seven and half years, but it was all paid for, which was nice. But at the same time, I was working for the bank. So having all those years of experience when I graduated college really created an opportunity for my career to just kind of light up. And it did. So when I graduated college in 93, course states at the time had a... management training program that I went through. was a two-year training program. And when I finished the training program, you do four, six month rotations. So through the program, you're seeing different areas of the bank and it gives you an idea of where your, I guess, ⁓ passion is. And it was for me, my first tour was with the business banking space. And I loved it. I loved working with businesses, business owners, helping them look at the, business, the way a banker looks at it and helping them be successful. So that's how I ended up in business banking. I've been doing it ever since. I've been a business banker for 30 years and love it. Still, still working with it. Really some of the, some of my clients I've been working with since I have been, since I started my career. So it's. It's nice to see businesses evolve and be successful because of what I bring to the table. And that's what I like to see that I am making a difference. And I think that's what we all aspire to do in our careers is to be a difference maker and make, you know, like leave the world a little better than when you came into it, you know, at bare minimum, at least that where you came into it. that's, that's what I aspire to do day in, day out. speaker-0: Yeah, we all want to see the fruits of our labor ⁓ fruit into a tree. ⁓ So you kind of got a job out of high school with the plan of them helping with your education. But in middle school and high school, were you already thinking about banking? Were you already a big relationship maker and shaker? speaker-1: Exactly. Yeah. I would say I was in middle school and I was hungry to tell you. So I started my first job was a paper person and I delivered papers or, you know, help people with their groceries at the at the grocery store and, we'd get tips. I would say the first dollar I made on my own was I was sold. I'm in, I was all in because it created for me that that sense of independence. So I always wanted to be in business in some way, or form. I didn't really know anything about banking until I went to, you know, until I started working. And that's really how I fell in love with the industry. But from a business perspective, I knew I'd be in business. I always loved business. I loved creating opportunities for myself and my family. I mean, I think that we all have something that drives us and Typically it's to raise people up, the people you love, and that's what drove me. That's the path that I took. speaker-0: Yeah, and your higher education really opened those doors for you to. speaker-1: certainly did. I couldn't, I mean, I did just, you know, I did apply for the training program when I was in college, when I was going to night school and they wouldn't even look at you in those days. If you didn't have a college degree, there wasn't even any opportunity for upward movement in banking. Now that may be different today, but upward movement without a college degree would take you years. where once you have the college degree, then doors start opening because folks, you know, look at it differently. Okay. Yeah. So I think it's important if you want to be in certain businesses to get the degree. Now, certain, I think trades are a tremendous opportunity for a career too. And that's while it requires education or training. speaker-0: Thank speaker-1: It's a little different. So you gotta find what you love so that you can focus on it and enjoy it. speaker-0: Definitely. All right, Muhammad, what did you have for Jane? speaker-2: I saw I know that Jane always explained to her about to us about about online about business banking and what she does around it. Well, what do I do say to her? What other interest do you have outside of business banking when you're younger? Is there any other interest? speaker-1: I guess I figuring, I've always been interested in developing my skills. I like reading books that are going to help me be a better salesperson, reading books that are going to help me understand what to do with the money that I'm making so that I can have financial independence. For me, financial independence to me is freedom. So understanding how to manage the money once you're making money is important. I thought that, you know, when I was, and I still read and now we have YouTube, so it's even better. So I was always focused on doing right with the resources that God has gifted to me and making sure that I'm, you know, a steward of it and using it. appropriate and growing it on my own. I think we all should have side hustles. My side hustle is real estate. I love real estate. I've been investing in real estate for 20 years, residential real estate. So I think that that is was something that I learned through working with business owners. You know, when I work with business owners, they all were required to guarantee any credit facilities that I put in place and in order to say they have to give me their personal financial statements and tax returns. So I have an understanding of their personal strength financially. And in doing that, if you want to be a millionaire, you do what the millionaires do. And looking at their personal financials, 90 % of them have real estate on their personal financials as an investment. So that's when I really started digging in and saying, look, if I want to walk in these folks shoes, I need to be looking at what they're doing and try to emulate, which is how I got into the real estate in the first place. So side hustle, real estate, career, ⁓ commercial banker. But at the end of the day, think ⁓ we need to stay focused on our path and what is unique to us and what makes us successful personally. And God pretty much lights that path for you. So just look for the light. ⁓ speaker-3: Mm. speaker-2: All of professional words from there, from you, I like that. lot of professionalism from you. speaker-1: Yeah, thank you. Yeah. Well, you're yeah, because it's it's look, it's hard work. We have to do there is no shortcut. We I mean, like at my age, I can look at my peers that have taken the shortcut and they're constantly shortcut. Like you just you can't get out of that that cycle of trying to get rich quick and you never get rich. It's a slow and steady pace. It's all about formulas that you're just kind of following and being diligent and having a strong work ethic. But having a strong work ethic along with doing something you love will lead to success. So that's my message. It's not an overnight success. It's a long and steady you know, slow, what is it, the, the, the, the turtle and the, and the rabbit, mean, yeah. So you just stay on that path and it will come. It just takes time and patience. So it's, and, that's kind of like the, you know, kind of my, my life, my life, ⁓ experience and what has worked for me. speaker-0: It's just... speaker-3: Thanks speaker-0: I like that how you're really future oriented but all your motivations are coming from your present day, your family. You know why you're doing it, have your why going into every day, but you do have a plan for your future and for your family and it's incremental which makes it more attainable. speaker-1: Right. Excellent. Then you can, yeah, and then you can see it and you can see, you know, your the fruits of your labor day in day out. So it's. speaker-3: Yeah. speaker-0: All right, Jaylen, what did you have? speaker-2: Hi, so I know you had spoke about cash management and financial services. So I wanted to know what are some common mistakes people make when they're managing their money and how can they avoid them. speaker-1: Okay, so common mistakes, think number one, on the business side, I think when you're looking, these are the, this is the conversations I have with businesses too. They see like that bright, shiny object, they wanna get the latest and greatest piece of equipment, it may be costing them a million dollars to install it in their company, and they don't take a step back to see the payback. So when you're investing in your company, you wanna know that that investment is gonna make you money. So maybe it's gonna cost you $5,000 a month. You wanna make sure that you're making 10 grand off of it. There's gotta be that point where I'm making a little bit of money on that piece of equipment so that I'm not working for the bank. I'm literally making money off of this investment that I have. A lot of folks don't kinda... take that deep dive and understanding that you don't want to be working for your bank, you want to work for yourself and you just want to work smarter. So I see that, I see folks going after the top line, revenues, growing their revenues, but yet the bottom line's not improving much. So it's like, yeah, I'm... My top line's 100 million, but I'm still dropping only a million to the bottom line. So you're running harder to make the same money. Sometimes you just need to take a step back and say, what do I do best and focus on that? And where do I make the most money so that you can really focus on what makes your company great and where you can be most efficient with your time. We all. have the same, the one equilibrium from all of us is we all have the same 24 hours. So it's what you do with those 24 hours is what's gonna be the difference maker. And if you're gonna be running after the top line, it's gonna impact your time and what you're getting out of your life. So I think that if you just work smarter, maybe you don't have to work as hard. So that's what I would say is. speaker-0: I like that. You're using some of your banking lingo, but talking about millions, which maybe isn't as familiar to all of us, but you're boiling it down to make it make it seem like something that we all can do incrementally. Alright, Mr. Ray. speaker-2: Yeah, I love the idea of work smarter, not harder. I think it's just more efficient and busy work. So to that, I was going to ask, because I remember you talking about books. Are there any kind of books that you would recommend maybe for more so the students here, like maybe that they should read sometime? speaker-1: would I sure I would real easy read is rich dad poor dad real easy read it's thin I'm Maya I you could read it in one sitting like if you're going to if you're flying to California you know it's a seven-hour flight you could read it all one one sitting that one's an easy read and then I like the millionaire next door because it it represents first of all folks most of the folks that I work with my business owners And ⁓ it's not who you think. When we think millionaire, you're thinking the diamonds and the yachts and the Mercedes when the millionaire next door you wouldn't even recognize or you wouldn't know there were millionaires. So I think that's a good read. And the rich that poor dad, when I read that book, it pointed me to real estate riches, which is how I started my real estate kind of campaign too, because the real estate riches gives you kind of the basics of what you're looking at when you're doing it. So I would say just have an insatiable appetite of learning and learning what you love. So it doesn't have to be like, ⁓ these are books that, that called out to me, that, that reached me, everybody's going to have their own, you know, whatever path it is. But I think that at the bottom of everything is, you know, money makes the world go round. So we need to make sure that we are stewards of our own financial situation. can't point to anybody else for our failures. And we, you know, you don't want to lean on anybody else for your successes either. So I would say just look at what your passion is and lean into it. speaker-0: Excellent. Yeah, we can all hear how passionate you are about it, which is incredible. But this is something that we all need to know something about. however far you want to dive into it, ⁓ it's important that you're making your money work for you after you work so hard to earn it. having a little bit of knowledge about how to best do that would serve all of us. All right, Eileen, we're coming to you. speaker-4: Yes. All right. So we're speaking about your passion with finance and business in the green room earlier. You spoke about ⁓ serving the community. Can you share a little bit about how involved you are in the community and how passionate you are about serving those in just like you say next door? speaker-1: Yeah, no, agree. think that what we are, we need to give to our community. We need to share our talents with the community around us. So I've done that through, like I said, in the green room, I've worked with seniors in high school and educated them on credit score and credit report and how important that is. And I've worked with now there are things that you can do as your talents improve and your skills improve, you can get out into the workforce and give community service hours towards the business community. So there's a nonprofit that I work with, SCORE, it's called, and it's mentorship for small businesses. I do some of that work. I work with my local church and I do community outreach for just faith-based type. activities which has given back and I believe in what you put out there you get back. I believe in karma. So I believe in the secret, you know, what you might you can manifest your future if you stay focused on the positive, the hat glass is half full. So stay focused on glasses half full and everything you do and you will see the glasses half full. So speaker-0: I love that. Yeah. And I saw you were actually a part of Toastmasters too. So helping build confidence and prepare for situations like we're in today. So yeah, speak to that a little bit. speaker-1: Yeah, I loved Toastmasters. So early, like, so that was like maybe 15, maybe 15 years ago, I was, I've been pretty successful in my career. And I looked at it like, why would I, you know, put myself in a position where I have to do public speaking? Yet, I knew that public speaking created a presence for someone. Like I remember when I was getting married, I went to like a wedding show. And there was a DJ there and he did such a great job. And I thought, that's who I want. He was so good. And, or I went to like an estate planning seminar and the gentleman that did the presentation was like, ⁓ that's the guy I want to work with. Look how smart he is. So I thought I should get into presenting. Maybe that's going to create more opportunities for me. But at the same time, I'm cringing like, who wants to do public speaking? Why would I do? I'm doing fine. Why do I, why would I want to, you know, challenge myself that way? So I just said, because you got to do like in my head, because you have to continue to challenge yourself. So I challenged myself to do that. Did it with Toastmasters. Toastmasters is like a safe place to learn those skills. Everybody is in the same position that you are. know, it's a, hey, do we really want to do this? And then you do it and you learn the basics of public speaking. And then it becomes second nature. And it was a great experience and I met a lot of great people doing that too. So I think it's worth learning that skill because then you at least appear like the expert and everybody wants to work with the expert. So it's, you you want to build and I will say this too. What I have a niece that is following my footsteps, she's a banker as well. And what I've learned in my career is that you want to build a personal brand. So your brand is you and what you bring to the industry so that you're not dependent on one employer. The employers at no offense to any employers out there, but I feel employers have their best interest in mind, not your own. So the only way that you switch the dialogue with your employer is to be that brand. I'm sorry, that brand that folks want to do business with. They know you, they know what you bring to the table. And not only do businesses want to do business with you, so do employers. So employers start calling you too. So build your brand, be your own brand ambassador. And then that'll help you build a brand for whoever speaker-0: That's speaker-1: you're working for at the time. So I think that you need to make it a, a personal journey, your career, and you want your journey to be something that you've developed. You're your number one product, your product is you. So you have to build you and what that means to whomever will hire you. And it gives you leverage when, folks know you and know your brand and know what you bring to the table, gives you leverage in the, And the employment field that is trying to take your leverage away sometimes, I think. I'm trying to be positive, but sometimes you will find that you're in a position. And look, early on in your career, you kind of are. You kind of are at the mercy of the employer because you don't know a lot and you need to build those skills and learn from the employer. But at some point, you want to be able to take over control of your own career. ⁓ speaker-0: It yeah. speaker-1: That's what building your own brand and your own talents. That's your number one product before anything else. speaker-0: your own walking billboard for sure. ⁓ kudos to you, Muhammad and Jaylen for being on AccessCo Leaders today to start honing in on those skills of speaking to people with confidence, because that will ⁓ attract business ⁓ to ⁓ as step into your careers and education, further education. All right, Muhammad. speaker-1: Yeah, yeah ⁓ speaker-2: Such inspiring words from me. I think I'm gonna cry. So anyways, going back to Mr. Seel's question, what do you like most about the... Which dad, poor dad? And how does it relate to finance and baking? speaker-1: Yeah Okay, so the rich dad poured out what I thought was unique, like, you you envision what rich dad looks like and poor dad looks like. And it's the complete opposite. So, you know, rich dad, you know, is that guy that got the Mercedes has the you know, the Rolex watch and, ⁓ you know, is always spending money and looking fancy. And the poor dad is, you you think you know, the guy that, ⁓ you know, it doesn't have any money is whatever live in paycheck to paycheck when essentially it's the other way around. You know, the guy driving the Mercedes, wearing nice clothes, the Rolex is living paycheck to paycheck where the poor dad has excess and is, you know, being resourceful and is preparing for the future and stocking away cash. So that is what is so important to me. It's like, Don't keep up with the Joneses. Stay focused on building your own financial security because that gives you the ability to sleep at night, knowing that you're always going to have a roof over your head that you're going to be able to provide for your family. speaker-2: A sort of suffration, if you know what mean. I get it, feel no suffration. subversion. I think he means like a subversion of expectation where you expect the rich to be one way. ⁓ speaker-1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah So, ⁓ yeah, no it is so that's what like intrigued me there and then I was like, okay same with the millionaire next door similar so the millionaire next door was you know, really about folks that Have gradually become millionaires through their career and through, you know smart money moves and You don't see them living into that money, you see them kind of pretty much staying the same. You know, they have the same house that they bought 30 year look at Warren. ⁓ No, you know, Buffett, right? He's got the same house he bought 40 years ago, you know, and he's, you know, living modestly. It's that's, that's not not everybody is aspiring to be a millionaire so that they can, you know, I don't know, live, live. Yeah, I mean, a lot of folks. speaker-0: Lavishly. It's not as much about showing it to everybody else. It's about building it and that generational wealth, things that you could pass on and being flashy isn't necessarily a representation of what's actually in the bank or the future of your bank. speaker-1: Yeah, that's right on the head there. speaker-0: All right, Jaylen. speaker-2: Okay, for students interested in baking, what skills or experience do you recommend? We start voting now. speaker-1: So first of all, you want to have a good sense of financial aspects of business. So that's huge is understanding finance. But it's also relationships. When I work with folks, it's all about understanding what their goals are and then aligning their goals with the services that we have. And I really try to be the advisor, you I tried to just like when you go to your doctors, you're, you know, you're telling them you got a pain in your, you know, side, you know, what, what do you need to do to help fix that pain? It's the same thing with bank. Folks come to me and they say, I'm trying to get this, this, this and done, you know, what, what, do I need from you in order to get this done? So that's pretty much what I try to do is just to be that sounding board and an advisor to help them elevate their company. So it's really getting out from underneath yourself and your own personal goals and understanding someone else's goals so that you can align it. So I think that if you have a good base of empathy and vision and financial background, getting into banking, you can really be an asset for your customers and for the organization you work. speaker-0: Okay, yeah, so people really have to feel comfortable with you to share kind of an area of their life that they're maybe not as comfortable talking about. And another important skill that you referenced was listening. I think listening is a really underrated skill, but obviously you have to be really, really good at that to get the job done and align their goals with what you're going to do for them. All right, Mr. Ray. speaker-2: I'm kind of reading between the lines here. feel like you're a pretty consistent disciplined person. I wanted to ask what is your advice with that consistency and discipline and what is your drive and what and also what drives you to stay. speaker-1: I Yeah, you know, that's funny. I had that question like years ago when I went into an interview for GE, actually, I was interviewing for GE and the manager there asked me like, what drives you? I'm driven by my family, know, making a better life, making sure that my family has what they need to be successful. that is what drives me. But financial independence is huge. understanding that having financial independence gives you freedom, freedom to make choices. You don't have to be, if you're in a situation with an employer that doesn't respect you and isn't providing you with what you need to be fulfilled in life, then you don't have to be at their mercy. You do have choices. So it's nice to have those choices and to be able to. make sure that folks are having the reason like I have accumulated over the years and my focus, you know, the generational wealth, I look at my life in terms of being able to provide three essentials for my family. And those three essentials are roof over their head, education, if they want it, and healthcare. Those are the three essentials that we all should have. And if we can't get it from the country we live in, maybe we can get it from our family members. And the rest is on them. If they want to go to Cancun for a week, then you got to get a job and go make your money so that you can go to Cancun. But the three essentials should be something that they can go to sleep at night knowing that they have a roof over their head, knowing they can go to the doctors if they have a toothache, knowing. that if they want to go educate, they can get there. So I think that's important. And the rest is on you to develop for yourself. speaker-0: I like that very poignant, but definitely three things that ⁓ are harder and harder to attain in this country. So yeah, thanks for speaking to that, Eileen. speaker-1: Yeah. Alright? speaker-4: All right, Jan, I'm going to shift gears a little bit here. I know that you ran for office in your community and that you're really passionate about, and you mentioned it earlier, about serving your community. Tell us how you got to a point of deciding, I'm a banker, but I also want to make that much of a difference in my community that I would run for office. speaker-1: Right. So, well, we all have different political perspectives in life and I found that it's time. We, you know, I've been focused on my career and the career path that I've taken and I have spent all my energy and effort in building something for me personally. Then and I've given a lot back in community service by I was a chair of an anti which is a micro lender in Philadelphia helping businesses with their startup money and and and doing that kind of service and like I said working with high schools and and giving my credit presentation and I felt I had a calling to bring it home and Politics starts at the community level and running for township supervisor in my local community was my first step forward in giving back to my immediate community. Now, unfortunately, I didn't win. I lost by 39 votes, but we are in a district where my party hasn't won for 30 years. So getting that close means we're that much closer to making it happen. And all I'm looking for from this service that I bring to the community is to just have one on the other party involved. We have, our township is run by one party. And to me, there's no checks and balances when you don't have someone with a different thought or different policy, then we're just, not, there's no checks and balances. So I will run again. speaker-5: some speaker-1: That was the first time I ever did. Yeah, thank you. And it was a great experience. We have to get involved with our community. can't just sit back and believe that someone else is going to do it for us. Let someone else do that. I'm not a politician. I don't want to do that. I do find, I was called, again, I listen to wherever my heart is taking me and I go for it. So in this case, I did it and I'm happy to do it again and I will do it again next year. It's every two year process. Thank you. speaker-0: Good on you wanting to give back and actually pushing it and speaks to Rey's question here. You're continuing to evolve and come up with new drives, new passions, new goals, and yeah, exhibiting that resilience until you get it done. So love to hear it. Muhammad. speaker-2: Tell me your earliest memory about being of you being a business banker like any other memories they had speaker-1: Let me say so. I mean, that's tough because I don't remember yesterday, but I will say I have I'll give you a reflection. OK, so I came over my I made a change like 15 years ago to a new financial institution. And at that time they did give give me some accounts that I was responsible for. And there was one. account that I was calling him Sam in trying to schedule a time to come out and meet and introduce you myself give you a face and a name. The gentleman refused to see me he's like you're the third one that's been in my account for the last two years I just don't have the time. I finally convinced them to take the meeting come to find out he was not getting the response he needed from the bank in terms of providing him with more credit availability that he needed to help his company grow. I was able to look at it and know how we could get it done. was able to get his, his, the financial resources he needed within a timely manner. And over the years, and I worked with him for 15 years, over the years, I was able to, you know, continue to increase that resource, which from my perspective, what was most important is I saw his revenues quadruple in the timeframe that we were, we were working together. And even more important, his, personal office or salary quadruple. So that is where I see success. When I see a business is able to be successful because of what I've been able to bring to the table for him, that is what brings joy to me and makes it worthwhile. Now I will say like in 2008 when the world came to an end, when it comes to financial services, we were really internally focused. I mean, we were focused on you know, any of the relationships that we thought would kind of deteriorate because look, if you were in 2009, 10, 11, we were in a major recession. So what I did in that timeframe was I started like just taking any class I could pick up just to kind of hone out my skills and figure out what we're going to do next and how I'm going to help folks get through this. there was a, there was a, it was called sales boot. camp, took this sales boot camp and every day for two weeks from eight to nine, we were on it was and this is before zoom was really big, but we were on a conference call. And we got little like tools to use for the tools of the trade to use that day. And one of the one of the tools of this trade that the lady gave us was, you know, look in your look in your portfolio and identify the customers that bring you the most joy that you get the most fun working with. And then identify the traits of those customers. that so that you can identify who you want to be working with, who you go after in the future so that you're not spinning your wheels, working with folks that don't bring you joy because life, you know, this your career can be joyful. It doesn't have to be a painful experience. So, you know, I identified those folks that needed needed me. I wanted to be part of their business and part of who they saw as a partner. speaker-0: Well, quadruple, that's amazing. I'm sure we would all love to see our assets quadruple with somebody like you in their corner. But we do need to have some sense of how to do that for ourselves. And I love how you speak to you spend, you know, when it is a downtime in your business, you're finding ways to better yourself. How can I be ready for things when things come back up and be better, be more prepared? So, yeah, I love that. All right, Jalen. speaker-2: Okay, what are some different measures in place to protect clients from fraud and unauthorized transaction? speaker-1: ⁓ gosh, that's a huge issue we are all having these days. on our most on all banks, we all have cash management, treasury services that provide you with tools to help prevent fraud. you obviously you're going to want to implement those tools to prevent shop fraud. And then you have to be diligent. mean, there's you have to be diligent internally. mean, we have I'm sure you see when you're doing your emails and stuff, they send you these spoof emails to see if you're one of those people that are gonna click on the button. you you really just have to be diligent about having that aspect of your business. Always, you always have to be prepared for fraud and ⁓ preventative is so much easier obviously than curing a fraudulent situation. So. Putting the preventative measures in place is going to make it much more easier. And there's a lot of tools out there. I'm not going to get into all the details of the tools, but I think that it's important to use the tools that are brought to your attention to prevent fraud. speaker-0: We all need to be paying attention to that. There's even, you know, scams on Indeed and stuff when you're just trying to get a job and better yourself. So, ⁓ got to stay on your toes for that. ⁓ So, give the students one or two things that they should, real quick, one or two things that they should be doing now in their high school years and as they step into university to be in a good place when they're graduating and start making, you know, bigger checks in their careers. speaker-1: Well, I'm gonna say what I've done my entire really life with money. We're gonna talk about money, because everybody's career, the reason why you're going into career is to make money, right? So to become financially independent, you have to put your resources to work. So what I have done my entire career is every year you kind of get a cost of living increase. So what I've done is, that pay yourself first, I would take half and increase what I'm putting into savings and half increase my standard of living. I mean, you want to also improve your standard of living over time too. So, but because it's money you're not used to splitting it that way does create opportunities for you to invest and save for your future. And it does give you the ability to improve your standard of living over time. Now, I will tell you again, one of the books I read was Mastering the Game of Money by Tony Robbins. It was pretty good. It was really thick, but he talks about, I he talked to billionaires, billionaires, millionaires in terms of what they're doing with their money. At the end of the day, systematic investing on a regular basis. So every paycheck I invest money into an index fund and an index. But mean, and that's the book was like this neck. and all the billionaires, everybody said index funds. So index funds, which are pretty much just file the S and P 500. If you guys don't know what the, what the, ⁓ an index fund is. And it's really just like a computer that models the fund after the S and P 500 and it's cheap. there's not like heavy fees associated with it. very nominal administrative fees, management fees. And if you look at over 20 years, anybody that's been like with that rock star financial advisor that makes 20 % a year, year over year. speaker-0: That's what they're doing. speaker-1: Right. No one has beat the S and P 500 in a 20 year span, no matter how good they are. They haven't beat them. And there was a whole chapter on fees. So it's like, yeah, you might have this guy that's making you money hand over fist, but you're paying, you know, two, 3 % annual fees on that portfolio. Well, that's two, two, 3 % coming out of your portfolio to this guy that could be in your portfolio and compounding. It's the, it's the, uh, the magic word, what compounding. speaker-0: really investing early any little bit that you can and the index funds the students can go ahead and find them themselves and start doing that ⁓ on. Yeah, you work a couple extra hours put those into that index fund start as soon as you can. All right, well Jaylen you asked some very specific questions about baking. Is that in interest of yours? Can you go ahead and tell us what your interests are and what grade you're in? speaker-2: Yes, so I'm in 12th grade. My interest is actually psychology. ⁓ I just wanted to know like different stuff about banking. I considered banking in 9th grade, but I never really had like too much of a big interest. I'm currently taking business class right now. That's what I'm doing at Roxborough. So I just had a couple questions about that. speaker-1: that. speaker-0: Beautiful, yeah, that's gonna be if you end up running your own practice, that'll definitely be a part of that. ⁓ Jane, what wisdom are you thinking about going to university for psychology then starting next year? Did you make a decision yet or? speaker-2: Yes, I have. ⁓ I commited to Penn State for psychology. speaker-0: Incredible. All right, Jane, can you share some words of wisdom or encourage? speaker-2: Thank you. speaker-1: psychology. mean, psychology is a great major. We I I took some psychologies in college, you know, you get to take a lot of, you know, the the the initial classes, the liberal arts is where you get the psychology, the sociology, that kind of stuff, which I loved. I mean, I kind of almost minored in sociology. I loved it. So and it comes in psychology is in everything we do. I mean, you're communicating with people even, you know, when I'm working with folks, I'm trying to figure out what is their pain point? How can I fix that pain point? How can I help them sleep better by knowing they have addressed their concerns? you could find and when I went through the training program at Coors States, they had all different majors in that training program because they knew there was value in the diversity of thought and having those different backgrounds brought a lot of diversity in how we approach business. look, business is, everybody needs to have some fundamental knowledge of business because business ultimately is what creates freedom for yourself personally. That's all. I'm just asking you to take your path and stay focused on your path. Don't compare yourself to anybody else because your path is unique and of yourselves. And the only one in control, I look at financial and I've done this with the credit literacy when I've going to high schools, the only one that can take care of your own financial well-being is you. It's just like brushing your teeth. can't, no one's gonna tie you down and brush your teeth. No one's gonna tie you down and make you be responsible with your financial situation. You're in control of that. So stay focused on what you need to be successful. speaker-0: All right, yeah, there's gonna be some aspects of business and accounting that goes into everything. But Jaylen, what drew you to psychology? How did you go from business to psychology? speaker-2: ⁓ well, I've initially I didn't want to like major in business. I'm doing business right now for high school. That's my like term. But I was interested in psychology because I've always watched like different crime shows like the First 48, Law & Order stuff like ⁓ And I always just had a big ⁓ speaker-0: Okay, so you think you'd like to use it in that kind of realm, the criminology realm? Amazing. Okay. Is that any additional schooling aside from the psychology training? speaker-2: Yes, for sure. ⁓ I definitely want to my bachelor's for sure and then I also want to continue my college experience right after I get my degree because I also want to major in forensic science. speaker-0: Beautiful. Big goals while we are rooting for you. What did you pick up from Jane today? speaker-2: ⁓ too, very inspiring. He taught us a lot while just pretty much managing your money and how you could just manage it in different aspects. ⁓ speaker-0: Yeah. right. Beautiful. All right, Mohammed. Jane, so you know Mohammed is interested in videography. He's also a senior, so he's going to be stepping into his future path. speaker-2: So I'm actually gonna, after I graduate high school, I'm planning to start doing self-employed photography. Well, I might start my own business, get some new cameras, up-to-date cameras, and then work my way up from there. And what I picked up from you is that I always had to be financially independent. Always rely on, on, let's say, earnings to improve your way of living and investments to benefit you in the future. And I could benefit from that, especially with my camera studies and all that. speaker-0: Definitely, yeah. You're going to be really responsible for managing your income. Yeah, it's going to maybe becoming more intermittently than some other people with those kind of jobs. speaker-2: But I'm confident of starting this new career in life. I have a lot of experience doing photography already in my film class, so I feel I have the dependencies to get to start a career by myself. speaker-0: ⁓ yeah, I definitely agree, Mohammed. We've seen how far you've come already and your passion for this. Jane, what wisdom do you have to share with speaker-1: I would say to take take a business class and put on paper your plan. Put it on paper when you see it in black and white. You can have a plan now. We look we plan and God last right so but planning doesn't mean you don't plan. mean just because God's laughing at us planning we need to plan and having it on paper kind of gives you kind of you know like you are. your ⁓ tears, you know, if I get here, then I know that I'm kind of on the right path. But I would say you want to understand the financial aspect of it. I will tell you another thing that I've worked closely with Penn in volunteering with them. They had an entrepreneurial program and I was surprised. mean, there's a Penn is very focused on developing entrepreneurs. It's the entrepreneurs in our country. They are the number two employer in our country. The entrepreneurs, the small business behind the government. The government is the number one employer in this country. But number two, it's not Walmart. It's not large corporates. It's the entrepreneurs. It's It's small businesses that really fuel our economy. So bravo. Go out there and get it. speaker-2: I didn't know that. I didn't know that. speaker-0: Yeah, that is interesting. Well, thanks for that, Jane. Mr. Ray, what did you pick up from the session today? speaker-2: Interesting. I would definitely say I picked up some resilience from this, especially when you started to talk about your campaign experience. Just the fact that you're already ready to get back on the campaign trail and try it again. And ⁓ along with that is the advocacy that comes with it. I know you've got a lot going on. You're probably very busy, but you're still trying to make time to ⁓ put actions to the words about what you want to see change in your community. So I respect that. speaker-1: Thank you. speaker-0: 100%. Well, Jane Sobieski from Wells Fargo, thank you so much for being on Access Co-Leaders. It's been an honor. And thank you to my co-hosts, Jaylen and Muhammad. ⁓ Big steps ahead, but big exciting steps. And we're so excited for you and rooting for both of you. You've been listening to Access Co-Leaders. We'll see you next time.