As a young girl visiting her grandparents, Nakia Lipscomb’s favorite day was Friday.
That was when she and her grandma would go to the bank.
Each week, she looked around in wonder and stopped by the bank president’s office. One
Friday, while sitting behind his desk and spinning in his swivel chair, she exclaimed, “I want to work here someday!” The bank president replied, “You can work right over there and be a teller like all the rest of the ladies.”
Her response? “No. I want to work here.”
Decades later, Lipscomb is an Assistant Vice President and Trust Officer at LCNB National Bank. (She’s got her own office and a swivel chair.)
Lipscomb and 11 other women from LCNB’s wealth division got together over lunch this summer to discuss their experiences working in an industry dominated by men.
While the path they’ve chosen certainly has its obstacles, their expertise and determination set them apart in their field — and their care for their clients is their superpower.
Building relationships and fostering trust
Any client-facing professional worth their salt knows that genuine care for the customer sets good client relationships apart from great client relationships.
“We’re helpers,” says Senior Vice President, Wealth Counsel & Director of Trust Tax Services Jackie Manley. “We try to do everything we can to help the client, and it genuinely pains us when we can’t help in the way they want to be helped.”
For LPL Financial Advisor Kenna Hesseling, relationship building has always been the most enjoyable part of her job. She gets to know her customers’ lives deeply so that she can help them make the best decisions with their assets.
With a smile, she adds, “I’ve even gotten to live vicariously through their travels!”
Relationship building is all the more important, according to Assistant Vice President and Trust Officer Izabela Camacho, because each client has unique needs. It’s important not to generalize, she adds. That way, they can help the client make decisions with their assets that are best for them.
Make no mistake: Financial advising and wealth management go beyond your average client relationships.
Wealth advisors often serve as mediators, says Vice President and Senior Trust Officer Kasheen Swango. They have to be skilled in understanding family dynamics, not only from an advisory perspective but also to ensure that everyone is heard — particularly if a husband is convinced his opinion matters more than his wife’s.
“Women feel comfortable coming back to us, saying ‘I know this is what my husband wants, but this is what I want.’ It comes down to the trust and relationship that we have — and the expertise to accomplish what’s best for the clients overall,” Swango adds.
She and the other trust officers build relationships not only by welcoming clients’ questions but by demonstrating their financial expertise as they assist clients in making the best possible decisions.
Lipscomb also uses the connection she develops with her clients to tell women who might not have been told otherwise that their legacy matters.
“It’s about helping them recognize and establish what their legacy should look like. It’s not just depending on their husband or father passing down a legacy … it’s a story written by them and not by someone else,” says Lipscomb.
Lipscomb cites the example of a wife who worked as a homemaker and raised the children, but she didn’t feel worthy of having a say in the couple’s wealth management decisions. Lipscomb empowered her by reminding her that her care for the home and family enabled the accumulation of wealth for the family — so it was her wealth too.
Swango says that these kinds of conversations help build women’s confidence. She encourages clients to take the educational process stepwise so they can learn what they need to.
“If you don’t understand something, let me know — I don’t expect you to understand everything,” Swango tells her clients.
“It’s okay if you say something inaccurate. We’re going to work together to get to a level playing field.”
Outstanding in their field
Most of the women in LCNB’s wealth management division knew they might face challenges choosing to work in a field where men have historically far outnumbered women.
But for Erin Hawk? “That’s part of the fun,” she says.
While going to school for her MBA, Hawk was surrounded mostly by men in her finance classes. Now, she’s an Assistant Vice President and Wealth Investment Officer with LCNB. Though she is sometimes underestimated as a woman, she explains, that simply gives her the chance to demonstrate her wealth of expertise — and knock it out of the park.
Being underestimated comes with a cost, though. Lipscomb sometimes feels pressure to prove herself, but also makes the conscious effort to remind herself that she doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone.
“What’s going to happen, will happen,” she says.
Although everyone makes mistakes, as a woman it can be easy to be harder on yourself, Camacho notes. The key is taking ownership, solving any problem that comes up and moving forward.
At times, particularly when meeting with male clients, Hawk notes, her male colleagues receive the lion’s share of the eye contact and client attention — even when she’s the one speaking and demonstrating expertise. In the case of client hand-offs from male colleagues, “I stand firm and confident when I deliver the information … in the tenderest way possible,” Lipscomb says.
Swango hasn’t been afraid to push back when male clients overstep their boundaries by commenting on her clothing or nail polish choices. In fact, her willingness to push back and stand up for herself, reminding the client of her expertise and professionalism — as well as her assertiveness — has made some clients respect her even more.
Trusting their team
The women in LCNB’s Wealth Department have made great strides in building rapport with their clients and with each other.
“We are not afraid to say what we are good at, and what we are lacking,” says Camacho. “I’m willing to learn and I’m not afraid to say, ‘I don’t know.’”
Among the team, this attitude has fostered an environment of support and willingness to grow together. LCNB’s women in wealth have created a safe space to ask questions, bounce ideas off each other, and find creative solutions to client needs.
For Lipscomb, “Going Further Together” isn’t just the LCNB slogan. It’s a philosophy of mutual support and camaraderie.
“We’ve had to fight for our seat at the table and to be respected equally. There is a certain respect in our community when we are recognized as a member of this organization. I think that is only going to go up from here.”
To learn more or to connect with LCNB’s Wealth Department, visit lcnb.com/wealth.