How Julia Chung went from being a single teenage mother to a financial advisor
At the age of 19, Julia Chung experienced two life-changing events within just a few days: she lost her mother to cancer and gave birth to her son. This combination of loss and new life thrust Julia into adulthood, testing her resilience and requiring a rapid education in financial literacy.
Today, Julia is the founder and CEO of Spring Planning in the Vancouver area and serves as the Board Chair of the Financial Planning Association of Canada. She speaks with Brenda about growing up with hippie parents, her initial reluctance to accept a leadership role at FPAC, and why we're seeing more women in leadership positions within the financial services industry.
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Why Bo Banner left the CFL for a career as an advisor
Bo Banner has been chasing the thrill of competition from an early age. He spent a significant period of his youth competing in amateur skateboarding tournaments before shifting his focus to football. After four successful years on a scholarship at Central Washington University, he landed a pro contract with the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League.
But a few years later, he decided to hang up his cleats and focus on a new career as a wealth advisor. Today, Bo works as an independent financial advisor in Whistler, BC. He and Brenda discuss his path to the CFL, the circumstances that led him to leave football behind for a career in finance, and how being a pro athlete prepared him for life as an advisor.
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Why Samantha Sykes thinks we should be worried about the rise of finfluencers
When it came to choosing a career, Samantha Sykes explored several different paths, from writing the LSAT with an intent to pursue law to spending three years at culinary school. But it was an impromptu conversation on a cruise ship that set her career as an advisor in motion. These days, Samantha is a Senior Investment Advisor and Financial Planner at Raymond James in Toronto.
She and Brenda discuss a humbling mistake she made early in her career, her concerns about the rise of “finfluencers” and her advice for women of colour wanting to break into the advisory world.
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Why Maili Wong left a high-profile job on Wall Street for a career as an advisor
Maili Wong has always embraced a challenge. Whether that was pursuing a career in neurosurgery, or, after shifting her focus to finance, moving to New York City to work on the trading floor of a prestigious Wall Street investment bank. But working in a building connected to the World Trade Center on the morning of 9/11 had a profound effect on Maili, forcing her to reevaluate her career path and consider what truly mattered.
In this episode, Maili and Brenda discuss her decision to leave her successful Wall Street career, the impact of AI on the wealth advisory industry—both positive and negative—and the qualities she looks for when hiring the next generation of financial advisors.
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From poverty to cancer, Robyn Thompson’s experiences have shaped her financial perspective
Growing up, economic stress was a daily reality for Robyn Thompson. Whether it was tagging along with her parents to Money Mart for a cash advance or seeing them rely on welfare to cover basic needs, these struggles instilled in her a strong work ethic and a sense of financial responsibility that she has carried throughout her career. Today, in addition to her role as a financial advisor, Robyn is a seasoned keynote speaker and media personality, dedicated to providing financial advice to a broader audience.
Robyn shares her journey from waitress to wealth advisor, why she sold her business, Castlemark Wealth, and how her experience with cancer inspired her latest career transition.
There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to financial advice. It’s as varied and individual as the people giving it. Welcome to Behind The Advice, a new podcast from The Globe and Mail. Join Globe Advisor reporter Brenda Bouw as she speaks with a wide variety of financial advisors across the country, digging into their personal relationships with money, the most important lessons learned over the years, and how their experiences shape the advice they give clients today.
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