Powerful voices empowering women to thrive

By Gina Gallagher | Citizens Contributor

On an episode of the acclaimed Money Girl podcast, three inspiring leaders from Citizens joined host Laura Adams to share personal stories, experiences and advice in hopes to empower women to thrive professionally and financially.

We heard from Kristy Olinger, Vice President, Human Resources, Maggie Wall, Executive Vice President, Wealth Management, and Larricia Lumpkins, Senior Vice President, Consumer Banking.

Here is some of the wisdom they shared:

Knowing your value at work

The income we earn is the foundation of our financial success. But how can women maximize their earnings and get the opportunities they deserve? Kristy Olinger, Vice President, in Human Resources, knows a great place to start: by knowing your worth. Kristy shared a story of how earlier in her career she discovered a direct report was making 30% more than she was. It would prove to be valuable learning experience.

“I realized I had deep financial acumen but really lacked the context and information I needed to advocate for myself financially.” That’s why Kristy often encourages women to have frank conversations with others about what they earn. “I grew up hearing that it was impolite to talk about money, but the best way to understand your worth is to be willing to talk about money with the people around you.”

Realizing our value at work can be a challenge for women in other ways, notably when opportunities arise to “sit at a bigger table” as Larricia Lumpkins, Senior Vice President, Consumer Banking, explains. “As women, we often spend our time trying to validate whether we belong at the table,” she shares. “When given opportunities to interact with higher-level individuals, we need to throw our shoulders back and understand that we are there because we have something to add.”

Maggie Wall, Executive Vice President, Wealth Management, shared another challenge that impacted her early in her career: asking for what you want. “Women have the tendency to work hard, put their heads down and think they’re going to come to me with the next opportunity,” she shares. “You can’t expect that … be very clear about what you want and ask for it.”

Building financial confidence

The decisions involved with managing money can be daunting, whether it involves saving to build a financial foundation or managing wealth once we have it. The key to achieving success lies in developing financial confidence. According to Kristy, that confidence can come from knowledge and leaning in to the range of resources available like the Money Girl podcast.

Maggie believes that confidence comes from moving forward even when you’re uncomfortable or scared.

“Look, there’s nothing more scary than finances and wondering am I making the right decisions about where I should go?,” she shares. “As you move towards those decisions, you find out more information … and the more confident you will get.”

Larricia agrees that “competence builds confidence” and encourages women to find financial mentors who can guide us. “As women, we may have a person that we admire who maybe is a couple of steps ahead of us financially,” she offers. “Don’t be afraid to have an authentic conversation. You may find out that they have a lot of the same questions you do and may be able to show you how they navigated that situation.”

Host Laura Adams believes that “having those conversations and being vulnerable” is where learning starts. Vulnerability often means knowing when to ask for help, including getting assistance from a financial advisor.

Managing our financial responsibilities

“Saving for a home, education, retirement can be absolutely daunting. Saving in small chunks for those goals made a difference over a long period of time,” said Maggie Wall Executive Vice President, Wealth Management.

Another financial challenge for women is knowing how to prioritize their financial responsibilities, particularly if they have the added responsibility of managing family finances as Maggie did earlier in her career.  

“The whole thought of saving for my home, my children’s education, retirement, was absolutely daunting and overwhelming,” she says.

One of the simplest decisions she made was to have automatic pay deductions to save a small amount of money a week for her children’s college. “Those small chunks made a difference over a long period of time,” she offers.

Changing roles and perceptions of success