Caroline Going

I give almost all, if not all, the credit to my parents. I grew up with a really strong family unit - I'm extremely close with both of my parents and my older sister. We were always encouraged to pursue the things that we were interested in and passionate about, and even just curious about. It was such an immense privilege to be given the space to try new things. I think if I didn't have that environment that I was raised in, that encouragement from my family to go after things, and the confidence that they've given me that I can, which is such a beautiful thing - the fact that my parents are proud of me is one of the things that I care most about. The fact that I've been raised in an environment where I can take risks, take chances, and actually reap the benefits of those payoffs is huge, and so many people are not given these opportunities. I also attribute my success to the environments I've been gifted to be raised within, whether it's a phenomenal public high school, or being on Columbia's campus, and just the exposure to these really smart, forward-thinking people who are really deeply caring and intentional - it just broadened my horizons. Being an athlete also forced me to have the discipline that's required for this type of business building - early mornings, late nights, doing the work that you know is essential. I was very fortunate that I was able to do athletics throughout childhood and into college, and I think being an athlete was so helpful for me.

The best career advice I ever received came from a mentor when I was going through some bumps early in my career. By the time I was in my mid-20s, I had been laid off twice and was pretty disillusioned. I was fixated on trying to find a secure path and was even considering becoming a software engineer just to have something stable. My mentor told me, 'You don't really strike me as a software engineer.' He helped me see that you can get so fixated trying to find a secure path or some type of title that you're impressed by, but if it doesn't align with who you are and what your natural skill set is, then it's just going to feel not a classic fit. He pointed out that I'm a social person, I love being in front of people. The advice, to put it succinctly, was essentially: do what you believe you'll love and enjoy, because ultimately, life is short, your career is short, and you spend so much time at your job. If you're not enjoying the work that you do, it's just going to be so effortful and exhausting. That was really helpful for me to see that the financial advisor career was a risk, but it was something that was a lot more aligned with who I was as a person, and for that reason, I've been really glad that I've taken that risk.

I would say to any type of professional, but especially when entering into this field, especially for women, because I think we're really great connectors: leverage your network and really intentionally build relationships at every firm or company that you work at. That has been the brightest point of every stage of my career - the friendships that I've developed along the way, and being able to call on those people, and having them be able to call on me. I realized from very early in my career, and I'm glad that I did, that networking is so essential, and finding a way to make it fun for yourself, and allowing those connections to be genuine, is so real. A lot of people will just kind of network haphazardly and not enjoy it. Finding ways to build relationships with the people that you work with, so that you can maintain them even after you leave the company, is so huge. I think those connections pay dividends throughout the rest of your career. So, leverage your network, build meaningful relationships with the people that you meet at every stage, and make sure you follow up with them.

One of the most important values in my life, and it transfers to both personal and professional, is sincerity. That's how I've had friendships and relationships, and how I interact with my clients and people at work - just having a level of sincerity and being sincere in the work that you do. I've just never been good at being a salesy person or saying anything that's disingenuous, so that's really central to me. Communication is also a huge one, and that spans both sides. Within my personal relationships, I've been particularly good with handling conflict, resolving conflict, and embracing communication, both positive and challenging. On the career side, especially when it comes to working with clients and people on their finances, over-communicating is the key. Nobody wants to be left in the lurch. Unfortunately, we live in a world now where people are okay with not communicating, or quote-unquote ghosting, or never following up, or not being able to say no. I think we live in a world where people struggle to have difficult conversations, and I think those are really meaningful. Closure is very healthy. Maintaining really healthy communication, over-communicating as necessary, making sure that everything's out in the open and that people feel like they can understand where you're coming from - that's essential. Integrity is also a really key value - a belief in what you're doing, because if you don't believe in what you're doing, it's going to be apparent to everybody. Having some integrity and self-respect in how you live your life is huge. It's how you're able to fall asleep at night, knowing I've lived my life and moved in my environments with a level of integrity and people respect the way that I move around. The last one I'll add is care. Having a level of care is avoided in a lot of aspects of today's society - not caring too much, or not trying too hard, or just being sort of casually talented and successful is something that's sought after. While that's lovely, I think it's really admirable when people care about what they're doing, and they try, and they put effort in, even at the risk of being vulnerable. I think vulnerability is good, and we could use more of it.