Client-facing advisors and planners put time and energy into understanding their clients, but they often fail to do that with their peers, she said. In episode three of 2050 Trailblazers, financial planner Dr. Nandita Das, an associate professor of finance at Delaware State University and director of its CFP program, shared with Dorsainvil the importance of education to Indian culture. Das said Indian clients will not work with an advisor who doesn’t comprehend its cultural significance, recalled Dorsainvil.
And from one of her listeners, Dorsainvil discovered how to determine the status of a Chinese business meal through the spice level of a dish. Sometimes she learns about a different culture through her clients. One client, who is African, exposed Dorsainvil to the responsibilities the eldest son takes on in a traditional African family.
“By us sharing our stories we’re sharing our culture, and by us sharing our culture it makes the financial planner more culturally aware and sensitive so that we can be better professionals to our client,” said Dorsainvil.
Dorsainvil’s own story has lead to advisors sharing with Dorsainvil their own backgrounds. Her mother is African American and her father is Chilean. She grew up in the predominantly black area of Norfolk, Va., identifying as black. It was only recently that she started exploring her Chilean roots.
As Dorsainvil ends the preface of her podcasts, she turns Wagner’s question towards her listeners: “As you listen to this podcast and you listen to the stories, you listen to some solutions, you listen to some best practices and you listen to some of the challenges. My question to you is, well, what are you going to do about it?”
Since she aired her podcasts, Dorsainvil said, a few firms have asked her to help them make their teams more inclusive. She receives comments on her social media about how shocking the stories of her professional guests are. A fellow planner and instructor messaged her that he wanted to make 2050 Trailblazers mandatory listening for his students.
The first season will end in June, but Dorsainvil wants to build off her podcast series. She plans to recruit a team of professionals to help her design an inclusion audit or checklist for firms.