Angela S. Hwang

I would say my parents just believing in me, unconditionally. My mom always writes me these cards and little post-it notes saying, you know, if you'll figure it out, you got this, you can do it. Even if they don't understand what I do professionally, it's their belief that I would make it happen. I've been thinking a lot about that, and I think just the fact that my parents have always believed that I'm gonna do something for myself and achieve success in my own way has helped me a lot. That's what I'm trying to really instill in my daughter as well. It really comes down to that family support.

The best career advice I've received is to do it before you're ready. If you wait for the perfect time, or if you wait until you're ready, it's just not gonna happen because you're overthinking. I'm an over-thinker with severe anxiety - I have anxiety, I overthink, I'm one of those people that have Plan B, Plan C - but starting my business made me realize I can't live like that. I just have to keep going, and it's just ups and downs. Some days are wonderful, and other days are just terrible, and that's okay. Just do it without thinking, make it happen, and then you'll figure it out. If someone gives you an opportunity, take it, and you'll figure it out. I also think people will always tell you and give you advice based on their own journey and perspectives, which is very valuable, but if I listened to all the advice people gave me over the years, I don't think I would be where I am. Everybody's journey is so different that you don't want to limit yourself to others' journeys. Listen with intention and take what would work for you, but everybody has a different journey, and that's okay.

I would say don't let the imposter syndrome get the best of you, because I think we women tend to have that. I've seen so many people that are half qualified as some of the women that I work with, but they are 10 times more confident. I think women, we want to be 110% before we share ideas or even present. For young women, it's just - you already know what you know. You don't have to let other people make you feel like you're not ready. The imposter syndrome can be a huge barrier.

First, the fact that there's really not a lot of women. When it comes to finance and wealth management and all of that, I feel like that's an area that women tend to just leave to their partners or to men. Studies have shown that women are actually way better at numbers, and we're the CFOs of our household. More than 50% of the households, it's actually the women that are in charge, so why not bring that out professionally? The second challenge is probably the lack of patience that some investors and fund managers have, where they expect overnight success, but this is a long game that we're in. Getting through with that message can be very difficult because everybody's on tight deadlines, everybody wants everything now. Managing expectations and understanding there's no such thing as overnight success is really important.

Integrity is extremely important to me, especially professionally, because I'm dealing with people that are investing their hard-earned money. Building trust and having that integrity is really important, and I always choose to work with clients that really value that as well. At a certain point, even if somebody wants to hire you for a crazy amount of money, but if you don't like what they do or you don't truly believe in what they're trying to sell, you've got to be brave enough to just walk away or say no. The other value is consistency and being persistent. So many people start something and they keep pivoting or they give up because they're not seeing the results right away, but you just have to be consistent with how much content you put out there and what you do. You're not going to see the results right away, but you will get there, and that's where that persistence comes from.