Breaking Barriers with Lauren Simmons

Under the Hood

Do you ever think about your relationship with money? In this episode, Lauren Simmons chats with Vlad about why you should. In 2017, at age 22, Lauren became the the youngest female trader at the New York Stock Exchange and the second African American woman in the Exchange’s 228 year history. But her path to finance was a little unusual. She majored in genetics and minored in statistics and she moved to NYC after college with no job prospects. After landing a job at Rosenblatt Securities, she shocked her colleagues by passing the difficult Series 19 equity trader exam on her first try. After two years at the NYSE, Lauren left the trading floor and is now making a film about her ascent and working on a reality TV show. In this episode, we talk about her upbringing, her journey through Wall Street, and how we can build a more inclusive financial system.

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