Cary Carbonaro is an inspiration. She will tell you that at a very young age she bonded with her father over money instead of sports. At the time, her father was an executive at JP Morgan Chase, and they would spend hours together as Carbonaro learned how budgets were created, how financial transactions worked, and how important it was to understand both personal and professional financial impact to maximize success — especially for women.
Today, she is a champion serving many organizations by creating the pathway for more women to lean into financial advising careers. The Women’s Alliance of Financial Advisors is the perfect partner for her to lend her experience and support of their mission: To attract, develop, and empower women to build thriving and fulfilling financial advising careers.
“When I got to college, I was helping friends figure out their budgets and how they might find some ‘fun’ money while they were at school,” smiled Carbonaro. “I thought my career path was leading me to become a history professor, but I realized that helping folks with their finances was my calling and if I could get paid for it – great! I say today that I don’t teach history – I teach money.”
Carbonaro shares that the financial advising industry is still mostly male dominated, but the numbers are steadily shifting toward the positive with more women than ever entering the field. Mostly, she says, because of a strategic effort by many organizations, the leadership, and their members to begin talking to women in their early teens, through organizations like DECA and Junior Achievement, conferences, and connections with college counselors, to name just a few, about the possibility of financial advising as a career option.
“My most recent book Women and Wealth – A Playbook to Empower Clients and Unlock Their Fortune, a five-star award winner by American Book Fest, has been so successful it is even thought of as the textbook and education tool for women and finances,” said Carbonaro. “I want women to know that it is okay to ask questions, to seek answers in a room full of men, or to feel safe and strong in sometimes uncomfortable financial situations.”
“Education is the key to helping women feel safe and informed about finances,” shared Carbonaro. “The best advice I can give to women entering the financial advising industry is that their EQ matters more than their IQ. Their emotional intelligence as they learn to deal with people, to lean in and really listen is more important than whether they are a math whiz.”
Understanding what people are searching for and offering a solution that makes sound financial sense is a very valuable and sensible tool for success Carbonaro continues. “We are seeing more women in visible leadership roles within the industry and in the rooms where decisions are being made.”
Being active as a Member of the Ambassador Community and serving on the Advisory Council for Women’s Alliance is just one way Carbonaro can visibly represent her leadership role in the industry while giving of her time and treasure to help other women who are embarking on financial advising careers.
“I’m passionate about my mentoring role in empowering women to discover their unique path to financial freedom,” Carbonaro reflected. “Through my very active support and work with Women’s Alliance to create a community of women who help each other, I can be a vocal advocate for educating women on the importance of making all the right moves with their money and investing in their future.”
In addition to being a celebrated author, Carbonaro extends her mentorship of women by serving on advisory boards, granting multi-year scholarships for women in financial planning, offering an endowed scholarship from her alma mater, and works with the Milken Income Security for Women to name just a few.
“It’s my life’s work,” Carbonaro stated. “I want to help women feel safe, secure, heard, and never be a victim but a victor when it comes to finances. I work every day to make the financial industry female friendly.”
Carbonaro is a busy woman as she works tirelessly to educate and encourage women to not fear entering an industry that has historically been male dominated, but to feel empowered that there are other women in the industry willing, able and waiting to help them achieve their dreams and feel educated, listened to and not pressured.
If you’d like to know learn more about Cary Carbonaro, who works exclusively with women clients, visit her website at https://carycarbonaro.com/. She’s the author of: Women and Wealth and The Money Queen’s Guide. If you want to catch one of Carbonaro’s dynamic speaking engagements, visit https://carycarbonaro.com/speaking/.
