Real Money, Real Experts

Recognizing the Value of Cultural Competency with Lazetta Braxton

• AFCPE® • Season 4 • Episode 23

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Lazetta Braxton, MBA, CFP® is on a mission to create wealth for the common good. She believes in fighting for voices that have not been heard, and has built her career around making room for underserved and overlooked populations. 

In this episode, we get to know Lazetta - her family history and her career path, and she shares a preview of the conversation we'll be having as part of her keynote presentation at this year's Symposium. We talk about the importance of cultural competency, understanding the experiences and backgrounds of our clients, and the importance of building capacity directly within underserved communities. Words of wisdom: Be courageous as you are carefully doing the work.

Show Notes:
2:00 How Lazetta got started in financial planning
4:02 More into her exploratory and entrepreneurial path
8:46 Moving around and balancing her career
12:31 Expanding access to more equitable opportunities
15:52 What to expect from her keynote
19:13 Lazetta's final 2 cents

Show Note Links:
Writer Contributor Pages  

#DoingTheWork Leadership Masterclass

Connect with her on Linkedin or with her company

Follow on Instagram or Twitter or Facebook

Register for Symposium: www.afcpe.org/symposium 



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Speaker 1:

Welcome to Real Money Real Experts, a podcast where leading financial counseling and coaching experts share their stories, their challenges, and their advice for helping people manage money in the real world. I'm your host, Rachel De , executive Director of the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education for A-F-C-P-E.

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And I'm your co-host, Dr. Mary Bell Carlson , an accredited financial counselor, or AFC

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And

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The President of Financial Behavior Keynote Group.

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Every

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Episode we're taking a deep dive in the topics that personal finance professionals

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Care about, helping

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Clients,

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Building

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Community,

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And

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Your professional growth.

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For Latta, Rainey Braxton, it's all about doing the work. She is passionate about amplifying culture, talent, life and money, and does so through financial planning, public speaking, writing, consulting, and coaching. Liza serves as CO CEO of 2050 Wealth Partners where she provides access to financial planning, to individuals and families who desire financial freedom to influence, experience, give and make a difference for their family and future generations. Through Liza's business consulting practice Latta and Associates, she employs a no fear, no shame zone to help financial services firms nurture, culturally aware and hospitable workplace environments that ignite innovation and allocate equity amongst their employees. Latta is a sought after financial expert who delivers keynote presentations and workshops with both care and Urgency that invite attendees to nurture and advance human capital. And we're excited to share that Latta will be joining us as a general session speaker at the 2023 A-F-C-P-E symposium in New Orleans this November. Welcome Latta .

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Thank you for having me. Latta ,

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We are thrilled to have you. And have you come out in November,

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Would you back

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Up and tell us a little bit

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About

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How you even got started in financial planning and more about your background?

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Sure. I knew that I wanted to have a career that was related to personal finance and that relationship was tied to my experience as being the oldest child of high school sweethearts. So my parents, you know, married right outta high school had me and there were challenges with having enough money, managing enough money, and I really wanted to know how to help them and help us not be stressed out about money. So it took me over a decade after majoring in finance UVA, university of Virginia and getting an MBA in finance at Wake Forest University before I discovered financial planning as a career and more specifically the designation as a certified financial planner. So it was through a relationship with a wealth management firm that worked with the CFP professional as related to alternative investments in terms of that partnership that I discovered Melissa Hamill, who owned our registered investment advisory firm, that she succeeded her dad well known in the NAFA circles. And I'm like, you are who I wanna be . And from there coursework online. My daughter KACE was probably, I don't know, 18 months when I started the, the track and the rest is history. I ended up finishing the, the, the coursework sitting for the exam in November of 2007, passed and started my first RIA financial fountains in 2008 during the market crash.

Speaker 2:

You've also worn so many hats during that time. I remember you also worked for the Thrift Savings Board for a while and you really did , it didn't go just from starting the RIA , but I think you did a lot of exploratory. Can you kind of dig into that a little more? Because I think on the entrepreneurial side, people see it as a very linear, like she started here and went there of course. But I think would you kind of break that down a little bit and tell us a little bit more of what that exploratory and entrepreneurial path look like for you over those years?

Speaker 3:

Absolutely. So there was a gap in time between my W two official employment taking the, the leap to entrepreneurship and mommyhood. So I'm gonna say became a <inaudible> <laugh> officially when I passed the CFP exam. And for I would say five years, I'm kind of doing the math. I think it was 2014. So I, I launched in 2008. I would say I really became more active in marketing in 2010, two years later. Because even in between those two years we moved states, actually three of them, <laugh>, you would think we were military. So 2010 was probably in earnest when I started really, you know, having more clients. And then we moved from Chicago, so it was Nashville, launched New York a little bit, then Chicago, then we moved to Maryland 2012. At that point, we were like, okay, we need some, you know, additional income to come in. And it was, yeah, 2014 where I actually took another W two job, full-time. Mm-hmm <affirmative> . And 2014 was also the time that I became president of the Association of African American Financial Advisors. I was also very active from 2010 to 2014 with the CFP board. I was on all their inaugural women's <laugh> initiative, very involved as the chair of Maryland's community outreach. So I did the Baltimore Financial Planning Day. Oh my goodness, I'm doing this inventory. I'm like, how in the world <laugh> ? It's a lot. Oh my gosh. While I was, yeah, raising a kid, being a wife, starting a church in 2012. A lot went on <laugh> thousand 10 . And when I started with the TSP, so let's, let's fast forward with the TSP. I'm full-time. I'm traveling, I'm teaching. I negotiated the ability to continue my financial planning practice as long as I didn't serve federal employees, which I stayed far away from. I loved working with that population, meaning those who are not considered high net worth individuals who were , um, just trying to understand their retirement plan. And of course, as a financial planner, I wanted to weave in more information and the work that we did. And we did. And so that was one of the reasons why they, they hired me. 'cause I'm like, I really want to, you know, weave in more aspects beyond just retirement planning. And that, that was, that was really great exposure. And so , um, really wanted to make the transition again, back full-time and not need that W two income. And finally , um, it happened, it was another move, <laugh> from Maryland to New York in 2019. So actually for almost five years. And a lot of people don't know that I didn't have it on my, my LinkedIn profile. And that was a 'cause I didn't want people to know that. And I didn't want clients to come to me for financial planning. And that was a part of the negotiation. So it was hard. It was, it was beyond, beyond hard. And what helped me was that it was very much aligned with the people I wanted to serve and to the expose them to financial planning through our unconventional, and I say unconventional because when you work for federal government, <laugh> mm-hmm, <affirmative> . So when we moved to New York, that was around the time Bianca Dorson ville and I, I mean we had been masterminding through all those crazy years. And I'm like, she wanted to partner. I'm like, oh girl, no <laugh> . But we over, I would say probably five or six years finally came to a point, I was like, you know, let's take the leap. And as soon as we merged in 2020, we know how crazy 2020 was. I moved, she had her first child. It was great. It was, it was great having a partner to share the journey.

Speaker 2:

I really appreciate you being honest. I think that that's one of the things we've talked about is making sure that we're transparent, not just, not just for client's sake, but I think on this podcast especially, we talk to a lot of other financial counselors, financial planners, financial coaches who are in that entrepreneurial world. And it really looks very exciting from the outside. But I knew your path and I knew your journey and I appreciate you sharing that because the other side, our listeners are also a lot of military and you had mentioned it sounds like we're military, you had mentioned you're not, so maybe you could give us a little more context of why all the moves, but then maybe talk a bit about how your career can still move forward amidst, like you said, being a mother, being a spouse, and moving a heck of a lot.

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So I'm Gen X and there was a term that was used, I know for our generation about the trailing spouse and my, my husband and I are, are super A types and very much career goers. And it was, you know, a lot of his career moves also within, I would say an overarching social justice space. So what do I mean by that is really making room for underserved and overlooked populations in his particular profession, which is theology. He has had positions that have been un untraditional, a lot of people would say, because he went to the academy when he got his PhD, they were like, we want you to stay in the academy. And he is like, I'm a practitioner. So he was also a pastor and then did work in philanthropy for the Ford Foundation. And so it's, it's from our vantage point, a very integrative cross discipline approach that has a lead kind of discipline. And so same for me, when you say I wear , I wear a lot of different hats, but for me it's the, it's the connection between human capital and finances that shows up in how people treat people at work for which that is where we earn our income. And then the gap in the education about what to do with your own income. So going back to your, your question, it's the design of your household that really needs to be understood as you venture into the entrepreneurial space because there's so many trade-offs that happened . And what helped Brad and I, who we just celebrated our 26th anniversary , uh, September 20th <laugh> , um, was a lot of one in terms of our values when we got married, we were like, we both are pretty much, you know, activists in really fighting for voices that have not been heard. And so we were like, we need to go to hell fund <laugh>. <laugh> , yeah , got married the first four years we wiped out student loan debt. We , we wiped out all debt and we, we built our emergency savings so that we could pivot jobs and, and pivot places because we were just counter-cultural to what we have experienced, particularly as black Americans in, in the workforce as well. So that's why we had a lot of moves and even a lot of pivots for , for me as well too, because we give institutions that are the opportunity to be partners. And if that partnership is violated based on our values , we leave

Speaker 1:

Latta your work and your values are very integrated, which is really impressive. And one of the things in your bio, it says you're on a mission to create wealth for the common good. And so can you speak a little bit more to that and your work in expanding access to more inclusive and equitable opportunities?

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When I use the term common good and , and it's, it's absolutely out there in many different dimensions, it's , for me is just really the good of humanity, like human kind , <laugh> being kind to people because if we are all flourishing, then we are all flourishing. We can, and I really believe that, I really believe that if there , if people were more true to themselves and their biases that are often barriers to the success of others, and those were people of power, of influence, that we could really rise, you know, have all boats rise. I really do believe that in my heart of hearts. And even though I have to sign up for financial services every day because, you know, money just does something to people. <laugh> power just does something to people. It's that I just wanna align forces Yes. With, you know, both of your organizations as an example to reach the people who just have not been exposed, who have not been cared for, who have been disregarded for the benefit of others. And I just most recently last week came from visiting my parents and I had learned a lot about my family's history. I'm just at a different point in my life where I can actually absorb some of the stories. And my dad took me to where he was born and where my grandmother and was raised as well too. And both generations there were sharecroppers. Like my dad at five was helping work tobacco farms. And the home that my grandmother grew up in was called the Big house, which meant it was the slave owner's house before emancipation. And he said that's where the slaves were in the basement. That's where my grandmother grew up. So she, in terms of my great-grandmother had the opportunity, I don't even know how to even live in the big house, right? To share with the sharecroppers, meaning you had to work the farm and you got a portion of the proceeds. But we see that today with the wage gap, the work that you put in is not necessarily equivalent to the pay that you should receive. So this is real to me, this is real to me about making the most of what you have, meaning things that are in your control to manage your money as best as you, as best as you can while you are still negotiating and navigating things that are already outside your control, which is systematic structures designed where there is a substantial gap in income and income is how you bill assets and wealth.

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Liza , oh my goodness, that gave me chills. By the way, thank you for sharing your family history. I just think that's incredible, how much has changed, but how little hasn't changed, right? In such a short period of time. We feel your passion about that. And so I'm excited to hear what you are going to be doing on stage for your keynote this November

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At

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Symposium. Can you give us a little taste of what that looks like?

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Okay, so the title is How to Stay Relevant in an Increasingly Diverse Environment, but the focus on cultural competency and the, the premises . By the year 2050, the Census Bureau, US Census Bureau says the US is gonna be a racial mosaic. And as a part of my journey, I want wealth to transfer along with it. As a disclaimer, I, I go about this conversation as a black female American, and I know a lot of the things that I'm fighting for is really things that many populations are fighting for, and that's equality and access to financial education. And so the cultural competency piece really leans into delving into different perspectives so that you are equipped to handle conversations based on whoever you are serving. So if we know, and as we're seeing that demographics generally are changing in the us are we prepared as financial practitioners to keep our clients' best interests first if we don't even understand their values, their backgrounds, to be able to speak in a way that resonates with them and doesn't isolate them?

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Yeah, that's so true. And you know, you and I were talking earlier as well, but it's that, and it's how do we build capacity directly within underserved communities and make sure that there is access to financial counseling and education because people

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Want

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To be served within their own community, around people who have similar experiences. And I think it's both and

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Ooh , I love

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That. This is why I know we're kindred spirit

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<laugh> . I love the

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Both and , and I say it all the time as well too. You are so right. It's an abundant mindset that the practitioner has to have as well as the clients that we, we serve. So if we are not clear on our values and confident and secure in our experiences and our growth, right as human beings, then how are we gonna best able serve the , the clients if we haven't done the work ourselves? So that's why I use the hashtag doing the work. And then as we're talking about the different integration of services, I love our conversation about coaching and education and implementation along the, the, the spectrum of both behavior and technical expertise as well. So it's so enlightening to know that on the , the , the spectrum that professionals such as, you know, AF, CSS and CFPs and you know, that we can work collaboratively in serving and meeting the needs of, of our clients across the wealth spectrum.

Speaker 2:

That's awesome. Oh , Liza , you have just what our appetite for symposium this year and we are excited to see you in the historic New Orleans in November and looking forward to seeing so many of you there. As we wrap this up though, we like to end all of our interviews by asking our guests to share their 2 cents. If you had one piece of advice to leave it with our listeners, what would it be?

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Be courageous as you are carefully and that is full of care doing the work.

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Latta , tell our listeners where they can connect with you.

Speaker 3:

I am on social media, all platforms, Latta Braxton for Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and 2050 wealth partners. 2050 WPS is my financial planning firm. So please reach out.

Speaker 2:

We'll definitely include all of those in the show notes. And Liza, what a joy it is to always have you here and see you in person so soon. So thank you for joining us today.

Speaker 3:

Thank you for having me and cheers to us for doing the work.

Speaker 2:

Oh, Rachel Zeta has been a dear friend for well over a decade now, and I have loved watching her path and her journey along the way. We once served on an FPA event planning committee together, and I didn't know then what a powerhouse I knew. She was amazing. But the more I have come to know her over these last several years, she is a powerhouse. She is a visionary. And my favorite thing though is she gives back. She is a connector. She loves to give. And you hear that in her voice, in her passion, and quite honestly, the work her husband does resonates through her and her work and passion. And so I just think they're an incredible team together and it's been wonderful to watch her journey because so many people see her as a pillar and an amazing woman how she is today. And it's, I think it's even more incredible. And I'm really glad she shared her hardships and her journey with us because so often people don't see the hard work that it takes behind the scene, right? They just see the, the glitz, the glam, the, oh, look how incredible she is. She just woke up one day and got there and I know firsthand Latta has had her shoulder to the will every time and just pushed so hard and now she's wanting to give back. She's in that phase of, let me help you, right? And give back to other financial counselors, to other financial professionals as well as to clients and community and service in so many ways. So what a great example. And we are honestly so lucky to have her at symposium this year.

Speaker 1:

I feel incredibly blessed that we have a platform like this podcast to share these kind of authentic stories. I think, you know, like you said, so often you go to someone's LinkedIn page and you see the A to Z, but you don't see the windy path in between. And having an opportunity to deliver these professional stories, and for lack of better words, the realness, you know, real money, real experts behind the story is, is just such a special thing. It's really just a treat. As we were preparing for the session in November, I had such a lovely conversation with Zetta and I'm really excited not only for this community to hear her voice and her knowledge and her journey, but also to introduce her to our community. I think the work she does, there's so much synergy between that and she really understands the power of collaboration and the work that needs to be done to really bridge those gaps in our personal finance continuum of care. And so really excited to bring Liza's voice to our stage this November. And if you haven't done so already, encourage everyone to sign up. You can listen to our keynotes virtually if you can't travel to New Orleans, and we'd love to see you in person .