Financial Empowerment and LGBTQ+ Inclusion

How did COVID-19 turn into a catalyst for redefining investment management and supporting the LGBTQ+ community? 

Kathryn Swain, the inspiring force behind Kathryn Swain Company, shares her remarkable journey of transitioning during the pandemic and how it paralleled a seismic shift in business interactions. 

Kitcaster Podcast Agency
Did you know that podcasts are a great way to grow your personal and business brand voice?

Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!
Start for FREE

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

And that all happened within the last seven years. And so I think about a woman like her, where she's still not represented by even you know, she's still not represented by her management, and so the conundrum that I faced is is that if I bring her into LGBTQ investments, or LGBTQ invest, as a, as a as an advisor, um, while she's a great ally for the community, I also know that 99% of our clients are not LGBTQ, and so if we want an advisor who's either an ally or who's self-identifying as LGBTQ, and you want them to be able to offer a service that isn't necessarily draped in the LGBTQ flag that's what Catherine Swain Company is all about, and Catherine Swain Company also is where we can it becomes kind of a hub for people who want to invest in the same way, but the LGBTQ brand is just not for them, and that's fine, and so we have both brands to work with investors, and so so I'm and, to be honest, you know I that, of that 350 million that I used to manage, I needed a destination for those folks.

Speaker 2: 1:18

And that's what I love, that how you are not only focusing on space for our people but for allies and for people that live in places that aren't Los Angeles or San Francisco or New York City, and so that vision of uniting purpose a vision, but then purpose in our community I love, and that's what motivates me as the founder of TransOwn, to highlight and shed light on these things, because business is so much more about just providing jobs and paying your bills. It's about change and it's about looking at what needs to doing and kind of both phases of the vision, because I'm talking about world changers.

Speaker 1: 2:07

It just it just makes me so happy to hear about it and talk to you about it. So can I I add one thing? You know, I don't think any of this would have been possible, believe it or not, without COVID, at least the way doing it today. So so, covid, I without COVID, at least the way we're doing it today. So, covid, I'm actually relatively unique in that I started hormones on March 1st of 2020. So, if you remember, like by the end of March, we were in lockdown.

Speaker 1: 2:37

So my transition is almost exactly coinciding with COVID, which also meant that, like you know, as I struggled with my early transition, you pretty much I got to wear a mask and you know.

Speaker 1: 2:49

So it was very beneficial. But what that also meant is that individuals became much more comfortable doing business over the phone and Zoom and email than ever before, and we knew that's where we were, where the industry was going. But what that did is it just sped it up by probably about five or 10 years in terms of every single person who's doing business this way. And so the investment management business used to be a sit down with somebody, look them in the eye, face to face, and you really get to know that person on a one-on-one basis and it became a very regional business, meaning that you only invested with somebody that you were able to see face to face because, again, this is your life savings you want to feel comfortable with the person you're working with. Um, when covid happened, it allowed me to take this concept, because if it was just Catherine Swain sitting in her office in LA working with clients that were within 50 miles of me.

Speaker 1: 3:54

While there are plenty of folks in my market to be able to support a business, what I really honestly believe for this business is that this is going to be the brand in my fingers crossed for the LGBTQ community nationwide, so that we can actually scale up this business and hire advisors all over America but they don't necessarily have to be in your hometown, Right and so so COVID really changed the game for for us, because it basically gave us a leg up in terms of working with our community wherever they may be, Right.

Speaker 2: 4:31

Some benefits with COVID for me as well, yeah, same here, yes, you.