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What It's Like To Be The Youngest Woman Equity Trader In The New York Stock Exchange - YouTube
Channel: Business Insider
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Lauren Simmons: I don't
want to be just an anomaly.
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I don't want to be, you know,
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the only one breaking ceilings.
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I want there to be other
women, minority, anybody.
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Narrator: Lauren Simmons
is the youngest woman
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to be a full-time broker on the floor
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of the New York Stock Exchange.
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Well, usually I'll say "I, yeah, I work"
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"at the New York Stock Exchange."
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"Oh, what do you do?"
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"An equity trader."
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And they're shocked, but,
you know, the perception is,
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and especially in a lot of finance movies,
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"Wolf of Wall Street," that
they are white, older men,
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and so to be 24 now
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and to be a minority and a woman,
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it is, it takes people, you
know, a second to realize,
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"Oh, wow, what an awesome job."
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Narrator: Lauren is just
one of two female brokers
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on the floor.
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With there being another person
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that is different from everyone else,
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it does bring diversity
and new conversations
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and new breath to the floor,
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as far as looking towards, to
a mentor that looks like you,
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obviously that's not gonna happen.
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I am grateful that I
do get to work with men
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that do want me to succeed.
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Rich Rosenblatt, my boss,
the CEO of the company,
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he has given me so much career advice
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outside of the exchange floor.
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Narrator: The New York
Stock Exchange itself
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doesn't hire brokers.
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Individual securities firms do.
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Rosenblatt Securities
hired Lauren in March 2017.
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She had a degree in genetics
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but no prior experience in finance.
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I couldn't care less if
she took finance classes.
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We do research, and I care
a lot about your education
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to be an analyst for us.
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Here, I care about who
you are as a person.
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Narrator: When Lauren's
story was first reported on
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in March 2018, there was a media storm,
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and she felt like change was happening.
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But when Rosenblatt Securities
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posted a new broker position in May,
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of over 250 applicants,
not a single woman applied.
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Simmons: Now, I have spoken
with several women who will say
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that they'll post a job
and the qualifications
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10 years experience and
blah blah blah blah blah,
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and the woman will have
everything but the 10 years
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and will say, "Well, I
don't have the 10 years."
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"Should I apply?"
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You're more than overqualified
to apply for this job.
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Please apply for it.
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While as men, again, what
I've learned from them,
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they just do it.
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We have women applying for
other jobs in the firm.
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I don't know why more
women don't apply for jobs
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on the floor of the exchange.
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Narrator: According to a 2017 study
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by Stanford University,
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men comprised 75% of the
wealth management field
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and filled more than
80% of leadership roles.
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I think it definitely
is a confidence thing
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and just doing it.
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When you are in the space
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where you are extremely uncomfortable
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and you're fear-driven and
you still take the leap,
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that's when the biggest growth happens.
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So I think if more women were risk-averse
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and they took the chance,
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you would see a lot more
women breaking glass ceilings
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and these stories just being
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a thing, not a "Oh, my gosh" moment.
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It would be normalized.
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Narrator: Lauren is only
the second African-American
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female broker in the
Exchange's 226-year history.
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Simmons: There's a difference
in trying to have diversity
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because that's the
hot-topic word right now
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and actually implementing diversity,
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and the only way to implement diversity
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is to really, truly want diversity.
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It's so easy to throw around
the word, and you'll know.
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You'll know in those leadership roles
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who is sitting at the top?
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If the top are all five white men,
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how diverse is it really?
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I can't put it all on the men
in the firms and the floor,
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especially when it's not 100% their fault
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if they don't get any applicants,
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and I can't put it all on minorities
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or people who didn't
grow up learning finance
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because what you don't know
you're not gonna apply for.
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You're just not exposed to it.
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So where does that start?
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Narrator: Lauren believes it could start
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with the next generation.
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Simmons: Honestly, I think
things like traditional
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Wall Street won't even be a thing.
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I think people will get
tired of people in leadership
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and how they don't give
them the opportunity,
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and they'll write their own narrative.
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They'll write their own, they'll
make their own hedge fund,
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and everyone a part of that
hedge fund will be diverse.
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Narrator: Next up for Lauren's
story, the big screen.
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Actress Kiersey Clemons
is set to play Lauren
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in a biopic about her journey
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to the New York Stock Exchange.
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