Jazzy Barnett

I attribute my success to my family and how I was raised. They all did great things and still wanted me to be better than them. Having that work ethic always instilled in me to just be the best and strive for success has helped me overall. I grew up with four cousins who were all boys, so I naturally just wanted to beat them at everything. I think I have that competitive spirit. My mom always says it takes a village, and as a village, they all have instilled in me this crazy work ethic and demand for success. I think overall it's helped me in life, on and off the court, in the workforce, and in my personal life as well. School came naturally to me, but I always wanted to get the best grades all the time because of that competitive spirit.

The best career advice I've received is 'love what you do and you'll never work a day in your life.' I live by that quote and take it with me in school, work, and basketball in general. I think it's so important whether at work or not at work to just love what I do and love using my gift to connect with people and have those connections and grow. God gave me that ability, so why not use it to the best of mine and make everyone around me better?

Keep going, honestly. It's always going to seem hard. There's always going to be struggles, there's always going to be something that bothers you or something you might not be as good at as your peers or anything around you, but I think the best thing is to believe in yourself and keep that mentality the entire time. You have to have unwavering belief and never let it waver even for a second. Even if you don't think you can do something, nobody else needs to know that. Don't fuel your doubt or fear. You need to fuel your happiness, the positivity, and that's exactly what's going to take you to the top, personally.

The biggest challenge is that I'm not only a woman, but I'm a black woman, and I don't think we can shy away from the fact that at the end of the day, I'm not the specific mold for a financial analyst. Women I've talked to who are currently CFOs or in leadership positions have always expressed to me the struggle of just being a woman in the field. I've seen it firsthand, even in school. When I wanted to graduate early, some male professionals said it might be too hard for me or that I couldn't get it done, while women instructors understood and supported me. My appearance already puts me at a disadvantage, but I don't think it negates from anything. I work extremely hard to make sure they get to know the person and the work ethic first, and if they don't like how I look, that's fine, they're going to love my work anyways. Knowing that I am going to go through a bit of that makes everything so much easier because I already know what my disadvantage is and I use it to my advantage. On the opportunities side, a lot of people, especially women in those fields, want somebody that they can trust and take under their wing. Being able to have those connections with women in the same boat is awesome. My educational background and being able to play sports helps a lot because companies love that. They already know you know how to be a team player and what they're going to get out of you. They know I'm going to work hard. My degree is going to say 2022 to 2025 and they're going to realize I did it in 3, which is very great for me.

Being around people that are genuine is most important to me. I know that's a lot to say, especially in the corporate world where everyone feels like you just have to kiss up to people, but I value people I can be around who can tell me when I'm right, wrong, or indifferent and we still have that relationship. I feel like any relationship where you can openly criticize and construct and still learn from it is so big. To have that relationship to even do that is huge. I've always been told the quote 'love what you do and you'll never work a day in your life,' and I live by that. I take it with school, work, and basketball in general. Whether at work or not at work, just loving what I do and loving using my gift to connect with people and have those connections and grow is huge. God gave me that ability, so why not use it to the best of mine and make everyone around me better?