Seattle, WA- A woman by the name of Lauren Simmons has changed and turned the New York Stock Exchange around. At 23 years old, Lauren is the youngest woman to be a full-time stockbroker, as well as the first woman of color to do it. “It has been a long and exciting journey for me and I am very grateful for the encouraging messages I have been getting. At times it is overwhelming, but I am so excited to see how my story can help others, as well as encourage others. It is inspiring to see many people look up to me. It is an amazing feeling, sometimes surreal that this is happening to me, but I will love to see how my story has helped other propel into their careers, as well as more females on the floor with the New York Stock Exchange, ” said Lauren.
There have been a couple of women who have paved the way for Lauren to achieve what she has done as a Stock Broker. In 1870 Victoria Woodhull and Tennie Claflin open a firm on Wall Street and were the first females who braved the storm of being in a male-dominated occupation. With Lauren being the youngest, as well as the first full-time stocker on the floor, she hopes that many women could look up to her and say yes I can make this happen. Lauren had to battle certain obstacles, such as self-doubt and at times worrying about being qualified or not, but she walked in faith, confidence, and she did not allow any drops of doubt stop her from completing her dream.
“I had to get out of my head and tell my self that you are qualified. Once I told myself that, it was over. You have to be confident in what you want, who you are, and just go for it. The advice I would give women is just confident in yourself and in your craft. You are capable to be in whatever field you are in and you have the work ethic to be equally compared with males in the work field.”
Lauren has been challenged and has dominated the course of being a stock-broker. “Numbers are a universal language that everyone can speak. I just fell in love with the pace of it all. It has its moments, but I rise to the challenge. You have to bring your A-game every day. It is something I love, but as I previously stated I would like my story to be told to help others. Hopefully one day more females will be on the floor full time.”
With the #Metoo campaign, many females have spoken up about sexual harassment and rape, when Lauren was asked about this topic, she had this to say. “It was inspiring that these women had the guts to tell the world their stories and not be afraid. There are power in numbers and it has created a movement that is about unity and taking back our power.”
Lauren believes that we live in a great time where phenomenal woman who are doing great things, despite society aspects on the traditional woman.”You see a lot of women building their empires, going for their dreams, and just speaking up about issues that need to be talked about. This is such a significant factor that young women are seeing how successful they can be when they are confident with themselves and just go for it. You have one life to live, why not do something you love.”
