Name: Arwen Lowbridge
Place of Employment: Baystate Financial
Title: Financial Advisor/Financial Planner
What is your 3 sentence biography? / What is your personal elevator pitch?
Using an event-driven process to simplify my client’s lives, I help people make important financial decisions with confidence so they can focus on the things that matter most to them.
Tell us about a challenge you faced on your path, and what you learned from it.
After a 20+ year career in the non-profit arts & culture sector, it was a significant change to become a Financial Planner and orient myself the profit-driven world of financial services. With only 20% of the industry being comprised of female advisors, the biggest challenge I encounter is inherent and unconscious bias against women – which results in a lack of female leaders and very few female role models. Luckily last year, I began working with an amazing woman with 18+ years in the business and my practice is really taking off now that I have her on my team.
What “secret to success” would you share with young women entering the (Berkshire) workforce?
Learn how to negotiate and then start doing so – for anything & everything you can – because what you don’t ask for, you don’t get. If you aren’t confident in your negotiation skills, seek out ways to develop them. I didn’t negotiate hard enough for myself at a few different points in my arts career, and it affected my earning potential for longer than I ever thought it would.
What Berkshire women in business inspire you and why?
So many make the list, but I’d highlight Brenda Opperman from GameChangers360. Her experience working with women and girls in conflict zones just amazes me and I really admire her commitment. Also Gwendolyn VanSant from Multicultural BRIDGE – the work she does on diversity/implicit bias/cultural competency is SO CRITICAL right now and I hope every Berkshire County business considers utilizing her expertise.
