Her Story
About Alexandra
Alexandra Lazarenko is a dedicated financial services professional currently serving as a Client Service Representative at Charles Schwab. She provides client support through inbound calls, addressing investment situations and offering holistic investment education and guidance while navigating regulatory requirements. She joined Schwab as an intern before her senior year, which led to her full-time role after earning her Series 7 and Series 63 licenses. Prior to that, she interned in data analytics and marketing at TruStage, a firm selling insurance through credit unions. Alexandra graduated in May 2025 with a finance major from Indiana University Indianapolis. She attributes her success to always thinking about the next step and values the advice to take it one day at a time. She has been featured twice on Schwab's internal intranet page and volunteers at the Indianapolis Public Library processing donated books.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Alexandra
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to always thinking about the next step. Even when I was in college, I was always thinking about what my next step would be, whether internships or a full-time role. Having that mentality of not just thinking about what I'm doing right now but also thinking about what's coming next and what I can be doing right now to best position myself for opportunities that I want to have in the future increases the chances of getting them.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I received came from my internship manager at Schwab: take it one day at a time. Especially in my role when learning how to take calls, having the mentality of I'm going to give it one more day and give it my all today really helps you get through the learning curve.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say take it one day at a time. When I came in with my training class there were about 20 people and after the 5-month training program the class had been cut in half. The biggest reason for attrition was being overwhelmed. Having the mentality of I'm going to give it one more try and keep going is definitely super helpful versus getting overwhelmed because one experience didn't go as well as you thought. Don't let one bad experience put you off from developing skills and continuing to help others. Remember the 80-20 rule: if you're happy with 80% of your job that's pretty good.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges is that things are always changing in the industry: systems, processes, regulation, the role of AI. Keeping up with all of those changes is definitely a challenge especially if you get used to doing things a certain way. But at the same time that is also a great opportunity because there are always going to be new opportunities coming up, new skills to learn, new paths to pursue. If you are adapting to the changes and have an open willing-to-learn mindset you will be well-positioned for other opportunities that are emerging.
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