She's On The Money - BONUS EP: Sharesies CEO Brooke Roberts

Episode Date: June 19, 2021

Happy Sunday friendly friends! This ep is a littttllleeee different, introducing Brooke Roberts: Woman, Mum, and CEO (or, THREE-EO, as she calls it) of Sharesies. Now, we know you would have seen us working with Sharesies recently, but this is in no way sponsored. V and I met Brooke and just wanted to introduce her to you guys, our community, to show you how absolutely incredible she is and what it's like for a coupla high rollin' ladies in finance. Hope you love it! Toni xYou can find Sharesies and alllll the amazing things they do right here!The advice shared on She’s on The Money is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She’s on The Money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. Victoria Devine is an Authorised Representative of Australia Pacific Funds Management Proprietary Limited ABN 34 132 463 257 - AFSL 339151.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

She's on the money. She's on the money. Hello and welcome to She's on the money, the podcast for millennials who want financial freedom. My name is Toni Lodge and I'm sure that you're very, very surprised to hear my voice today. I've got Victoria Devine with me as always. I don't, I never leave home without her. You always keep me in the back pocket. I like it. And today we've got something really, really fun for you guys. So Tony and I were having a conversation recently about how impressed I was with Brooke and Brooke is the CEO or what she calls herself a 3EO because she's co CEO of Sharesies. And anyway, I was saying to Tony how impressed I am with Brooke and what she's

achieved and that these are the types of people that I'm inspired by because genuinely she is a CEO of a finance company she's got a team of like 150 people they've just which is huge they have just expanded to Australia and she's picked up her family she has two young kids and a husband and has moved them to Sydney so that she can actually you know grow shares and I'm always just so impressed with women who not only look like they have it all but genuinely do and how they manage it and I'm genuinely so inspired by people like Brooke and I know that other people are as well it's not just me who's impressed because in 2020 which was only last year Brooke was named as the joint winner of the 2020 New Zealand Women of Influence Award which is not a

small feat and is incredibly impressive and I just really wanted to get her on the podcast I know we don't do interviews or conversations ever and this is definitely not us saying we're moving in that direction, but I genuinely just wanted to share Brooke with you guys because she's someone that I look up to and someone that our team has been really impressed with. And by no means is this actually sponsored. I just wanted to share Brooke with you guys because through working with them in a different campaign, I've just learned so much about them and so much about Brooke. And I'm genuinely inspired by what she brings to the table and who she is and that she's a mom and a CEO and a leader. And I'm just so genuinely impressed by her. And I know you guys will be

inspired by her as well so here is the chat we had with her just this week all right where do you want to start tony i i guess we'll start at the beginning like why why are you doing what you're doing brooke that obviously there's a million things that you could be doing you're a smart powerful woman um you could be doing whatever you want so why finance like why is this where you're at oh your finance is cool are you are you just gonna attack finance off the bat like we're cool people I didn't say ew why finance I love finance obviously this is why I'm here true true true all right Brooke how'd you end up in finance oh I love this question and it's actually um it's a long story to answer but you know we've got time so I'll I'll try and make

it short but uh I I studied like business accounting and economics back at school and I really loved business and I um started some businesses when I was at school and they did really they they were really fun and I learned a lot and they did well too and so I just always kind of had a bit of that knack like I really enjoyed um creating something from nothing and and seeing it serve the community I just really really enjoyed that and uh uh but and then I thought I might just just keep running businesses but then I decided to to go to university because I was really brave in my naivety back then I think but then you'd hear this jargon all those terms and you're like what does that mean maybe I do need to go study or something I think that's what

I felt at that time and so I went and studied and I was studying marketing and international business and I felt like I was really enjoying that but I felt like something was missing and it was in my 300 level marketing class where this guest lecturer come in and there was 300 of us you know 300 marketing students in the room and this guest lecturer asked who here likes numbers and out of 300 of us three of us put our hand up and I was like only three maybe I should only three well I wasn't in the room I've got to do something with this yeah and I just said I've got to do something with this so I decided to pick up finance and I just never looked back I really enjoyed studying and diving into money and finance I really enjoy like the analytical

side and really learning how the economy works and businesses thrive and and what investing means and the more and more I learned about that the more and more I became aware of how so much of this information is just not accessible it's all wrapped up in jargon and and so unattainable and I uh and then I thought I would have to choose a career either in marketing or finance like there's no way you can combine both of them haha they're gonna end up yeah but little did I know and now you know there's so many opportunities but I ended up in this conversation with the CEO of a bank who actually had a marketing background and was leading a bank and I was like maybe you can combine these and discovered product management and went down that area and loved it I absolutely

love you know I led savings and investment and international derivative portfolios and I learned a lot about really the strict financial side and how the economy works and hedging and all of that kind of interesting stuff along with like deeply deeply understanding people and and how they interact with money and how money sits with them and um and and learning about how we could use the products and things we offered to really better serve our people and help them become better savers uh through making sure we had you know really awesome goal tracking and and digital experiences so i learned heaps through that and i know this is a really long answer of how i got into finance but essentially initially through university and then that kind of banking experience

and then how I ended up with Sharesies was information just wasn't accessible to so many people that I was learning in banking and I was like you know my parents didn't know my family didn't know you could probably negotiate mortgage rates and term deposit rates I was like nobody knows this stuff and and it's like when you get in the system you start to learn it and you realize like there's just so much inequality here so really wanted to help change that and one of the co-founder Sonia of Sharesies, she came up with the initial idea behind Sharesies. And it's just been great to be on board with that ever since we started it together along with four other founders. And it's been a dream. So that's a long-winded way of how I kind of got into finance.

I love that. No, not long-winded at all. That's perfect. No, that's what I want to hear. Like, I didn't invite you on the podcast to say, well, Victoria, I went to uni. Duh. Like, that's not helpful. it's it's funny that you said that you never thought that marketing and finance could go together because before i entered this world of being part of she's on the money and i'm quite new um it's the same because victoria you studied psychology and like organized psych before you started getting into finance and thought oh actually the same as you brooke i love numbers and i want to be part of this how can i combine the two and you don't realize how much other

backgrounds can contribute to helping your finance career. And you just don't think that other things can contribute and make those other things better or bigger, or you see things from different perspectives, whereas someone who's only studied psych or only studied finance or only studied marketing probably wouldn't look at it from different perspectives. It's true. It's absolutely true. And I think that that's a really good point because so many of us and recently we've done our careers episode and really been talking about, you know, careers and how we feel about ourselves and imposter syndrome. And I think it's one of those things where people just assume other people who are in leadership positions like you are, Brooke, they just must

have their lives together in a way that nobody else does. And that, you know, they're fearless and they've never gone through anything before. So in light of that, is imposter syndrome something think that you've experienced and you know how has being in finance as a female impacted you oh um a hundred percent I definitely have been impacted by imposter syndrome and and really um luckily I've learned like and had really strong supporters around me that have helped me through that I mean I've definitely been the only woman in rooms making you know big decisions before and the youngest in rooms making you know trying to bring my voice and when I reflect on those opportunities i had early on um a lot of the time i felt like i was in sink or swim situations but

really realized that i i had really strong supporters in that room that were only ever going to let me swim and i think it was really um nice to to have that environment and have that support from my managers or other people in the room but you know sometimes maybe not but um i yeah i think uh it's something that impacts all of us at all of our stages i've definitely had it through leading Sharesies too. This is my first time being a CEO. I've now been, you know, the CEO of Sharesies, one of the CEOs for four years now and really enjoyed it.

But, you know, every time as the company grows, you know, we started with six of us and now there's, you know, more like 150 people at Sharesies and the company's scaling and just making sure that... That's amazing. Yeah, it's so much fun. But just making sure that I'm scaling too and I'm learning and growing in my leadership skills and what I bring

to share these every day and just keep giving it a go and having my own back I love that how do you learn to have your own back like how does someone get to a position and I'm really lucky that having gone through the journey I've been through I feel like I have my own back and you know I'm really confident in what I bring to the table when sometimes it's not positive and sometimes people do make you feel not so great about yourself but how have you personally learned to kind of have your own back and have the confidence that you need to excel in the role that you have excelled in I think like knowing in myself it's okay to make mistakes and um and always applying the most generous assumption to you know when I do something like knowing it's coming from the

the best intent or that you know I gave it a good go and now I've learned from that and I'm going to be better in the future and just coming from a place of aroha or love um rather than like fear of like what if what if I get it wrong what if um it's taken this way or you know all of these what ifs that can kind of start really um compounding and I noticed I would think about I think like that sometimes and so really trying to come to this place like you know what if I'm a nice place you know what if you know the most generous assumption I could you know make here and um you know know that I'm just giving it a really good go and I have the best intent and um and just trusting that and you know every now and then I have to remind myself of that but

I think it's a way better headspace to have that and then also just making sure I get that time to have perspective you know like going for a walk just playing with my kids on the floor and singing songs or whatever we do you know like just having that time out and making making sure I really create that headspace every day to just really keep things in perspective and I think that that's really important because it's so hard to differentiate sometimes what is important and what is not and I guess at the end of the day family for me always comes first and you know my home life if I'm not happy there like I can't bring the best version of myself to work and I remember starting in finance and Brooke you might have had a similar experience and you know

it's funny now that we're sitting on a zoom meeting together and I'm in like essentially track pants I'm wearing a pair of leggings and I have like a fluffy jumper on and I'm definitely really comfy and you're wearing pink and we are just not what you would expect the I guess you know some faces of financial services to look like but when I look back on the way I used to function in this space it was definitely you know I wanted to adhere to what I thought was right and I wanted to turn up every day in a beautiful black suit and I was always on point and you best believe like I always only wore black court shoes and made sure that I really fitted into the mold that I thought I had to be in to do a job that I was really passionate about because I was like

all right well these are the expectations of the role and I didn't bring my personal life to work I didn't talk about you know my partner I didn't talk about these things because I didn't want to be seen as having other priorities outside of finance because you know everybody I was working with they lived it they breathed it like it was you know a bit like oh Victoria's leaving early to play netball like oh she is childish and I remember being like oh yeah I've got to go home I'm studying because at the time I was doing my MBA when in reality I was going to play netball and so I'd always feel a little bit ashamed of you know the things that I was excited about have you experienced that and how did you I guess break those molds and you know become you and get to be

the best version of you yeah I think early on when I I don't have a family who've got like strong business connections or anything like that so when I was at university I was trying to find how could I find mentors and especially female mentors that I could learn from and um and I quickly realized who I didn't want to be and I didn't want to be um I didn't want to have to change who I was to kind of fit this mold but at the same time I also know knew I needed to find a way to like progress and and have a good career so I've always kind of in some way been my I'm quite a hyperactive person and just be myself in that regard and owned it in a lot of ways and I think you know some people were confused by that maybe but the majority of the time people were really on board

with that and how businesses are working now and the flexible working and it's just brought all of this to the table right like that you just have to be able to um be able to be yourself and be able to prioritize the things that are important to you but in saying that I definitely know what you're talking about in terms of the studying or you know when you went you went off to do something um feeling like you have to hide if you're going to go catch up with a friend for a coffee or lunch or something when actually it's fine because you know that you you know you bring your best after work yeah it's crazy because that was the expectation and I mean we've all got different experiences but I remember just feeling guilt over having a social life feeling guilt over

having interests outside of work when in reality those are the things that helped me bring the version of me to work for my clients and now for my community and yeah I just I look back on it and I feel a little bit sad because I look at it and go wow like she was trying to be someone who she wasn't and like I am very extroverted in the office I'm an introverted person but I'm extroverted in the office because I'm so passionate about what I'm doing and you know Tony probably gets annoyed because I'll three seconds before before I'm planning on doing something I'll be like hey so I was just thinking we could do x y and z and she was like yep of course no problems um and I I used to be really restrained on that stuff because I was like oh they're not going to want my opinion

they're not going to want you know to hear this and I think that being able to step up and be like actually I have a lot to share I have a lot to bring to this table and I really just wish that past me got to experience that sooner than I did um yeah I guess that was mentors and growing up and, you know, actually getting to experience the world has been really important, who do you look up to? Who do you see as, you know, inspiration in your space or are you just not looking at any of that? Yeah, I've always found that a really hard question

because my whole life when, you know, people could rattle off people and I've always found, you know, like I've just wanted to do it a new way but take lessons from a bunch of people and so or the way that I was going to do it and never held myself up to be a replica of somebody and some you know but know that there's this really interesting lessons learned from people who have done things and it hasn't gone well to people who are just nailing it and I look for that inspiration everywhere I really like the really clear communication that we get in New Zealand from Jacinda and that real compassion and empathy I really like people who can really own up to the

mistakes I've made and just face that and and learn from it and move on I think that there's so much in that kind of resiliency and and lessons to be learned there I really enjoy the ethos of you know that optimistic future with really understanding the realities now but every day making progress towards a better future uh and that's something I that those are the kind of ethos's I really enjoy and kind of soak up and admire when I see people live and breathe those type of things I love that I love the energy of this too yeah but it's like how you said you've had bosses that you learned you know what I don't want to be that type of boss and I don't want to work that way I think sometimes those lessons are just as valuable when you go you know what

I'm never ever going to do that to an employee or a workmate or something because you can definitely learn some learn some good things from people that you realize that's not who I want to be yeah you really really you can learn like where your values lie and the type of leader you want to be or the type of person you want to be you know who do I want to show up as and how do I just show up as myself and yeah I've definitely learned a lot of lessons of things I would never do oh my gosh I love that and I guess that's that's really challenging as well because you know you and I Brooke we're both young or we like to I would say we like to think we're young um but we are in this position where we are leaders of businesses and I think that people just assume you know how to do

that and you don't and it is really hard and I'm really grateful for the team that I have because I think that they understand that you know this is new for me too and I just kind of making it up as I go but I always want people to feel respected and feel as though their opinions do matter and we are on a team when it comes to you know being that person what has been I guess pivotal in you really understanding how to lead a team and how to lead a community because you're doing a really bloody good job of it and I kind of just impervious want to know yeah I I don't as much reading as I did before you know getting into this role or as I've grown in this role and um and speaking to people and the mentoring I've been able to get from like really great leaders to uh really

you know I was that person before you know starting Sharesies that I would just watch the CEOs like what are they doing how are they communicating where are they spending their time I was definitely stalking or watching in the background and all of that you know has never prepared me every day for what you know I go through here at Sharesies and I think it's really about the values that align us and you know I just deeply deeply care for our people and our community investors and for what we're doing i really want to create a space where people really feel in it together you know that we're all one team and the success i have one day like speaking here today with um you two it's it's really i only get to do this because of all the great

work and and effort and care that the whole team of shares have put into where we've got to today and really deeply understanding that and and feeling that and then always just chasing remarkable just finding the new way that really enables us to push new barriers and if that's at shares is like in terms of creating the most financially empowered generation and how we do that to um things that i'll be focusing on during the week and making sure that i'm really just bringing remarkable and and a magnificent energy to that oh i love that bringing remarkable where does that come from is that something that you've just started saying or like i really like that how do we bring remarkable one of our values that shares is chase remarkable so I've probably come

adrift a bit from that I guess but yeah chasing remarkable knowing that it's always a chase but it's always a great thing to be striving to no one can say that you're not on brand bro it's so good and I think that's something that really resonates with me because you know I get to meet a lot of people who run finance companies and a lot of people who work in this investing space and I remember when you know I got introduced to you because Sharesies was coming to Australia and I was so excited because we already had such a hype from our New Zealand community around Sharesies and that being a really great platform to start their investing journeys and I was just so stoked because I'd read so much about Sharesies and

was kind of like oh maybe one day they'll come to Australia but hadn't you know been able to reach out yet and I just remember being so excited because I was like I feel like these guys are on the same page as me and then you and I got to know each other and we had a couple of meetings together just to understand each other before we even decided to work together and I was just so amazed at you know who you are and what you've created and what your team does and I guess it I guess it's interesting as well because I think a lot of people would say that the roles that you and I have particularly you like my team is what like 10 and yours is 150 um they're really unrelatable but you know you went to uni in the same way you didn't come from this massive wealthy

family who you know you inherited mum and dad's business you've kind of like done this yourself with you know your business partners when you're at uni did you see this for yourself like what did you think the future looked like and you know are you now a bit like oh I am the CEO of a company yeah i think my past self will be really stoked for myself uh this is where i would have you know love to be i can't say i saw this specific opportunity or so that would specifically be in finance i thought i might uh be more in the fashion business side of things but um i i'm yeah i i think i'll be really proud of of what i've been spending my time on on what i've been creating and am creating here and um I think it really boils down to I just really care about

creating equal opportunities and uh and making sure people get access to things they should have access to and and be able to do that in a fun and confident way and so I just really enjoy every day that I get to spend at Sharesies and not saying it you know there's not challenging there's definitely challenging days and days where I'm like oh I've really got to do some research on this you know I'm going to need some advice definitely I get that often but well I just need some time to deep think about stuff but I um I I really really think I'm just so lucky to to be uh doing what I'm doing I love that and I I love how much you love shares so genuinely like and that's why I said we don't do interviews on she's on the money and I

didn't want this to be an interview and I said to Tony like we just need to get Brooke on because we need to share her with our community like it's not a sponsored thing I just genuinely want to talk to more strong women who you know can be our inspiration and can be the people that we look up to and I know that you're so proud of what you've done but I guess next question for me is what's been the most exciting part of your journey so far oh oh um in terms of like career-wise like creating something from scratch and seeing uh you know like and and working with an incredible team and being able to build that has been a massive highlight and every day really, really exciting.

I really enjoy the challenge of it too. I think, you know, we definitely are doing stuff in a new and a different way. And I think being able to really challenge the status quo, but in a way that's really uniting too and driving a path forward, I really like that approach and the way that we do things. and i i just love i just every time i hear about uh somebody who's just got into investing although i've been investing for a while and just being able to see this new way of investing now and

hearing how it's impacting their life and and the community around them and the conversations they can have at the dinner table with their family or their friends it's just like it really gets me in the heart. I love that. I love that because I feel exactly the same way. I get DMs from people just being like, Hey, you know, I've gotten out of debt or I've just taken the first plunge or I'm just, and I think that sometimes, sometimes people message and they're like, Oh, I'm so sorry that I'm messaging you. I just, you know, really wanted to tell you, I'm like, why are you sorry? Like this stuff makes my day. Like this stuff is why I do what I do. Please never, ever, ever stop telling me that and you know I say to my team all the time because like if you ask Tony like a lot

of tears are often shed in our offices I said if ever this doesn't impact me anymore like we need to be talking we need to be saying what is wrong because you know that impact if it ever wears off like there is genuinely something wrong with you know the way that we're running a business because we should always be proud of that and I think that yeah it's just so nice to know that other people are just as passionate about it and how that works. Next question is, you know, you've said that you're really passionate about this and we understand, I guess, a little bit more about what drives you personally, but like, what does the future look like? You've got this brand that, you know, you have business partners, but you guys have started in New Zealand, which is crazy

for an investing company and so epic and you've expanded to australia and is this where you saw shares is going like what's next how does it work yeah this is definitely always where we've seen she's going you know uh we we really want to be able to provide australians um with yeah access to investing in a way that they can you know invest how much they want when they want and not kind of be limited by the rules out there uh we you know we started shares after doing heaps and heaps of customer research to go do people even want to be an investor how does how does investing sit in you know and what they do now what is what does money mean to them like how do they feel about money and really learned that like 99.5 percent of people want to be an investor

like an investor is an aspirational thing um but a lot of people feel priced out like you need heaps of money to get started or jargoned out like you need to know heaps will have to have a degree in it um even to just get started i and and left out like the the system has really been set up a hundred for the wealthy few and and really felt left out of even being able to become an investor and that that's something that drives us and we really um do everything we can to to remove those barriers so like with we've made sure that the minimum investment on all the investment options on she's is one cent so that people can just invest for the amounts they want guys like i don't think you can get less than that yeah exactly it's like you know and it's like and

that's access to us and new zealand and australian shares and companies and then we wanted to just use everyday language you know like it doesn't need to have all this jargon and then essentially create a platform that feels a lot more inclusive and and can be a place for everyone from new to seasoned um from you know like everybody being able to feel like they can participate in this world and be able to develop their wealth and that's it what we're building every day yeah I love that so much it makes me so happy that a couple of years ago when I started she's on the money and just started having these conversations like I didn't realize there were other people who were as passionate about this stuff as I was and it just felt like I was out on my own and now I'm

just overwhelmed with how many people I can connect with and you know vibe off and be like oh my god brooke this is so cool i cannot believe that you guys have created this option and you know i think our community is the same and you know i'm really grateful that we get to kind of introduce them to you and what you get up to because i think that you know regardless of what you know she's on the money and shares do like we're going to be following you and watching what you get up to because it's genuinely inspiring like seeing women live out their passion and seeing women live out you know really great careers and still have kids and essentially manage it all like that's just genuinely so impressive and I guess it then leans into the question of well how do you manage work

life balance like how have you managed to look like and I'm not saying you do but look like you have it all it's quite funny timing um talking about this because you know I've recently moved to Sydney and um and will be here for most of the year and I bought my three-year-old and one-year-old And, you know, my husband's also one of the co-founders in Sharesy. So we've all come over. And I'm a bit of an internal optimist. So I just thought, yeah, this would be great. Kids will love it.

You know, they're adaptable. Oh, it's been quite difficult. Really? Oh, no. And I'm having a blast. I am loving Sydney. I'm loving Australia. I'm having heaps of fun.

But for the kids, it's been really, it's been more of a challenge than I expected in terms of adjusting and finding a daycare. and this, like, perpetual to-do list you kind of have in your mind and then them getting settled and creating new friendships and, you know, feeling safe when everything they knew and, you know, all of our support mechanisms back in New Zealand have gone. And so I think it's been a bit more challenging than I probably initially anticipated, but I feel like we're getting there now.

We've had no tears for the last three days. Oh, my gosh, yes! And I know it's fleeting, but I think, you know, it is... I just, they're really important. And like you said earlier, family is really, really important. And that is number one. So I took some time to just make sure I could help them settle in. And so is Leighton.

And I think that really helps. And a really good thing with Sharesies is that we have this thing about just having, like, shoulders at the end of the day. And so sharing a problem or getting support where needed or taking the time for our own wellness and well-being is really, really crucial to that. and and we've built that into how we work and I definitely have built that into how I work and continue to remind myself though it's very easy to just be like oh there's one more thing I'll get back to them and oh yeah I'll take a break later but it's it's it's really important and I think um just coming from that perspective for yourself too of knowing when um knowing we all do have limits actually sometimes and and calling in the support I was really fortunate my dad

actually came over um for two weeks to help us which was really nice and he had a great time connecting with them he realized how difficult it was but um I think yeah it's it's just been kind to ourselves hey and knowing maybe we can't do it all um all at once but knowing that when people offer support they really mean it and taking it is really great that was going to be my next question actually because at the moment we're seeing this huge shift in the professional landscape of like not living to work and not being you know stuck in that grind all the time like rise and grind and you've got to just work work work until you know you see the outcomes that you want to see and I think it's really refreshing and I think what people are going to love to hear

is that you actually get more out of yourself when you're kinder to yourself and when you let yourself enjoy the process rather than like running to the top of the hill being like okay now we're at the top of the hill what's next like and actually yeah letting yourself enjoy it and go like actually at the end of the day today I am gonna sign off and I'm not just gonna sit on the couch on my emails like actually signing off and like enjoying your life as well as enjoying your career it's really important and I think at times it ebbs and flows you know like sometimes there's just heaps going on at work and that's actually like really consuming and exciting and you kind of dive into that but knowing you need that like you know that space in between those moments too

um and yeah I I really want to make sure I'm a really present mother too and I try to do that as much as possible but I can't say I nailed it um but you know putting the phone down yeah look I don't know anybody who does and as someone who doesn't have children yet but like I know I want too I am genuinely in awe because you know I manage my team and like I adore my partner but oh my lord I don't know how we would fit children into the mix like how did you know like that the right time was the right time or you're just like you know what there's never going to be a right time is this something that you planned heaps for so three months after starting share these quitting our full-time jobs having no money coming into the house I you know fell pregnant with

oh so you really planned it yeah so I it's like I but you know I always um yeah I just I think I've always had that philosophy as it's like just we'll just make it happen you know it'll just make it work and we'll figure it out but I was starting to get a little bit worried and I would talk to other um you know I try find people who have done this before and see what lessons I could learn but the thing that helped me heaps was when I was about I must have been 37 or 38 weeks pregnant with Elle and I was driving in the car and I turn on the radio and I hear Jacinda Dune's pregnant and I was like you're like that's two powerful women that are pregnant well if she can do it I definitely can oh my gosh that is epic I'm honestly so inspired by her and like I I'm very

similar to you Brooke in that there's not many people that I genuinely look up to like I love learning from everybody but there's no one that I would say that I really idolize and that sadly does include Jacinda but I really just look at her leadership style and how she's managing work and life and kind of shaking it up and I'm just like this is so cool like how lucky are we to live in a world where these are our leaders now and we're working towards equality we are working towards you know closing the gender pay gap and there's just so many good things going on and I'm just always so grateful that I live in a time where I get to experience that and I get to be a part of that because you know my parents didn't get to be a part of that and you know it's only

now that we're really seeing tangible impact and change and women being given the voice that I believe they've always deserved to have and yeah it's just so cool yeah we really need to I really like I feel that right now it really feels like we really support each other and when one woman rises we all rise you know or and I really like that I do feel earlier on in my career or maybe at university it felt like more competition it can only be one of us look you know and I just don't feel that anymore and I would love more and more people to be able to shake that feeling and just know that we've got each other's back and we want to succeed and that more men want us to succeed and get more opportunities to to lead and grow businesses or have management positions and

be directors of boards and all that sort of jazz and get more equality there it's one of those things where I felt like I felt that at uni and I feel like I've always been someone who's always been about collaboration and you know I was that girl at uni who probably got a bit used let's be honest people knew that I'd share my notes with them and I always took perfect notes but I was always be like yeah cool like you can have my notes I'm more than happy to share because deep down I knew that even if they had the notes that didn't automatically give them an A plus because you do have to put in the work just having the notes and just having access to it doesn't mean you're going to be successful and you know in that same breath that's why I believe that competition

doesn't really exist like the more the merrier especially in the finance space like here in Australia 80% of people don't invest and 80% of people don't get financial advice so you know the more people that are here the better the more well-serviced this world is going to be and i you know exactly what you said like rising tide lifts all ships and we say that a lot at she's on the money in fact it's a ryan john quote like we've got to got to point that out here that's all all him and that's where i got that from um but it's true like we just don't subscribe to the notion that anyone's competition like it's all about collaboration there's no right there's no wrong um it's what works for each individual and I think that that's what makes it so special and

what makes us you know a little bit different that we want to see everybody be successful we don't want to throw anybody under buses we don't want people to feel like they're not worthy of you know sitting at the same table when I just think that we are we're better people when we are open to better experiences and experiencing everybody um as opposed to just being like well I'm right and this is what I do and my product is the only product that you know is good it's like okay but that seems really narrow-minded that seems like you don't actually care about the fact that everybody has a diverse experience and yeah I just I really like hearing that from other people because you know collaboration over competition every day of the week you know we just got so

much more yeah change to see in this world and when more and more people are being able to participate in investing and being able to develop their wealth then we'll be able to start seeing like this intergenerational wealth gap close and reducing inequality and more and more people participating and then then when people are investing with their own values and beliefs and goals in mind that can start influencing the businesses that they own and where people put their money and i'm just really excited about seeing the future where there are way more equal opportunities whether it be in businesses um and investing and and and beyond really so it's a really exciting future and i'm really yeah it's great to be able to come here and

talk to you and your community today oh my gosh thank you for joining us i think that's actually the perfect place to leave this brooke i love everything about what you guys do and what you personally stand for and no it's it's just so inspiring to see other women who are real about their journeys and other women who you know we didn't all set out to become CEOs and I just I want to close this gap on relatability when it comes to people in these leadership positions because often they get put on pedestals when in reality you know we've worked just as hard as everybody else and found our way into these positions and you know we still have problems finding daycare we still have you know kids that cry and are you know are not fitting into their

new environments and we're all trying to work out you know where we fit in the world regardless of what our role is and I think that you know this has been a really helpful conversation and I hope that you know our community draws a lot of inspiration from it as well because you know these are the people that are in our community like Brooke you're in our community and you know being able to share your story is just so special so thank you so much for joining us but as always just before we head off we'd like to acknowledge and pay respect to australia's aboriginal and torres strait island of peoples the traditional custodians of the lands the waterways and the skies all across australia we thank you for sharing and for caring for the land on which

we are able to learn we pay respects to elders past and present and we share our friendship and our kindness the advice shared on she's on the money is generally nature and does not consider your individual circumstances she's on the money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision and we promise victoria divine is an authorized representative of australia pacific funds management proprietary limited abm 34132463257afsl339151 see you soon guys bye