Meet the Female Leaders of Finance: “Why banking apps should teach young people how to balance a checkbook” with Angela Roberts CEO of US Money Reserve

One major cause, is that for all of the advancements and conveniences it has brought us, technology has also made us lazy. Every answer, every number and every solution we need is at the tip of a finger or by voicing “Siri” or “Alexa.” The best example of this I can give is my daughter, who currently is in college, cannot balance a check book. She relies on her online banking app to check her bank balance at any time. My solution? For online banking apps to be required to educate and give tutorials on how to balance your check book and financially plan before a consumer can use the app. Another reason is that our school systems have moved away from traditional practices to increasingly more modern ones. A possible solution? Adopt curriculum in our school systems that educates students on financial literacy and make financial planning a requirement for graduation. Students should be required to pass a financial literacy test before they are allowed to graduate.

As a part of my series about strong female finance leaders, I had the pleasure of interviewing Angela Roberts, the CEO of U.S. Money Reserve. Known as America’s Gold Authority®, U.S. Money Reserve is one of the largest private distributors of government-issued gold, silver, platinum and palladium coins. Based at the company’s headquarters in Austin, Texas, Angela oversees every aspect of operation, while setting culture and pace for the entire organization. Currently, Angela is the only female CEO of a precious metals company. With a proven background in business planning, strategy, mergers, acquisitions, and operations, she has an in-depth understanding of how to run a successful business and is credited with creating the analytic and KPI structure at U.S. Money Reserve. Believing strongly that the people make the business, Angela has positioned and elevated U.S. Money Reserve to be a trusted precious metals leader that always puts their customers and employees first.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us the “backstory” about what brought you to the Finance field/precious metals industry?

I think, like most people, a combination of life, luck, and timing brought me to where I am today. When I first started at U.S. Money Reserve in 2005, I arrived with the expectation that I would help an already flourishing sales organization by developing its Key Performance Indicators [KPIs]. Through this, we would be able to build policies, procedures, and guidelines around these KPIs, and use them to make even better real-time business decisions. It was not necessarily the industry that brought me to where I am but more so the company, its people, and the desire to learn more about their data analytics.

Can you share with our readers the most interesting or amusing story that occurred to you in your career so far? Can you share the lesson or take away you took out of that story?

I think people would be surprised by the amount of laughter that goes on in our organization. Like any company, it has its inevitable stresses, but we also know how to make time to indulge in a little bit of fun. For example, you may have seen the Chewbacca Mask Lady video that was posted online a few years ago. It’s the one where a mother from Texas is filming herself laughing into the next galaxy while wearing a Star Wars Chewbacca mask. It’s one of my go-to favorites whenever I need a boost. One year for my birthday, our company surprised me with a video of our employees wearing that same mask around the office. It was so joyful — and so unexpected. The original video was actually posted with the caption “It’s the simple joys in life….” And I couldn’t agree more. There is always room for joy.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

We are developing a few projects where we are working with philanthropic organizations which support our military service members. Our company believes that our freedom is not free, and many Americans have lost their lives to give us the highest quality of life with the greatest of opportunity. The individuals responsible for us to be able to love, laugh, and prosper should be recognized and supported every day of our lives. It’s our duty to support the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for us to have what we have and do what we do.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

Our employees at U.S. Money Reserve truly care about one another and it shows every day. Whether you’re a seasoned executive or new to the workforce, everyone is shown care and consideration by management and his or her peers. We do this not because we have to, but because we know that we’re often spending more time with the people we work with than with our own families. The people you work with are also going to be with you through every good moment and the bad ones, too.

My father died of lung cancer back in 2017. On the day of the funeral, I had arranged for a service at a small chapel, as it was just my stepmom, sister and a few of my dad’s friends. The funeral director called me to the side before our family walked in and explained how the venue wouldn’t be able to accommodate many more cars out front or individuals in the pews. I asked him how this could be, and he pointed to all of the people who had come to pay their respects to my father. Many of the employees I work with every day had taken time out of their schedules to dress up in suits to come to my father’s funeral. I was completely overwhelmed. This was not the first time I had seen this type of compassion out of our U.S. Money Reserve family, and it would not be the last.

Ok. Thank you for all that. Let’s now jump to the main core of our interview. Wall Street and Finance used to be an “all white boys club”. This has changed a lot recently. In your opinion, what caused this change?

The competition is fierce out there in any industry. No matter how large or small your organization is, you absolutely must hire the right person for the job or risk being left behind. I believe talent is tied to characteristics like motivation and drive, not aspects like gender, race, or religion.

Of course, despite the progress, we still have a lot more work to do to achieve parity. According to this report in CNBC, less than 17 percent of senior positions in investment banks are held by women. In your opinion or experience, what 3 things can be done by a) individuals b) companies and/or c) society to support this movement going forward?

For individuals, it’s simple and it’s true: don’t judge a book by its cover. You need to take the time to get to know the person and really listen to his or her thoughts and visions. Great minds sometimes come from seemingly unlikely sources. Race, religion, gender and even diplomas can be misleading.

Next, companies and their management teams need to be more open minded when it comes to hiring practices to encourage a more diverse mindset for any position — and I think they are.

Lastly, there are more talented individuals out there than ever before. But if you choose not to hire someone for part of your own organization, then you risk that individual going out there and starting his or her own competing business that could take market share away from yours one day. Lift up those with the motivation to be successful. Take a chance on those with passion.

Let’s now turn to a slightly new topic. According to this report in Fortune, nearly two-thirds of Americans can’t pass a basic test of financial literacy. In your opinion or experience what is the cause of these unfortunate numbers? If you had the power to make a change, what things would you recommend to improve these numbers?

One major cause, is that for all of the advancements and conveniences it has brought us, technology has also made us lazy. Every answer, every number and every solution we need is at the tip of a finger or by voicing “Siri” or “Alexa.” The best example of this I can give is my daughter, who currently is in college, cannot balance a check book. She relies on her online banking app to check her bank balance at any time.

My solution? For online banking apps to be required to educate and give tutorials on how to balance your check book and financially plan before a consumer can use the app.

Another reason is that our school systems have moved away from traditional practices to increasingly more modern ones.

A possible solution? Adopt curriculum in our school systems that educates students on financial literacy and make financial planning a requirement for graduation. Students should be required to pass a financial literacy test before they are allowed to graduate.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful to who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Whenever I am asked this question, I immediately think of my first mentor. He was a well-accomplished and well-respected senior executive in the semiconductor industry. He was nearing retirement when I began working for him, and he could have taken his remaining time at the company relatively easily. However, he saw my eagerness to learn and dedicated many of his hours to not only teach me business skills, but life skills, that I still call upon today.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Look at your life as a basket full of priorities. The basket should include work, family, God and personal time. If your basket is missing any of the four, you will not be in balance and be able to live your best life.”

This idea is most relevant in my life because when I did not heed to this quote, I often found myself not having more than my work life in my basket. During my life’s journey, I have paid the price for not having a balanced life. Candidly, I either worked too much and missed family events, or I didn’t take care of myself and had to recalibrate my life to bring back the energy and light that make me who I am. Not having a balanced basket has left me with many regrets that I can only acknowledge and work to be better at moving forward. That’s why I make it a point to ensure my employees do not make the same mistakes I have made. We truly value work-life balance at U.S. Money Reserve.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I would like to see our political leaders develop a concrete plan which incentivizes those actively trying to do the right thing but who just aren’t quite there yet. Instead of “rewarding” those who refuse to do any work for themselves and instead depend on — rather feel entitled to receive — government assistance, we should prioritize help for those who are also trying to help themselves.

I’ve seen too many people out there burning the candles at both ends just to support their families. For them not to be able to receive any aid because they make too much money while others sit back and take in the same amount of aid for no effort is nothing short of discouraging.

Instead, I’d like to see aid given out based on how productive a person is in their life, versus if his or her bank statement shows zero dollars. Our government should match the effort of those trying to do right and those falling short.

For example, for every dollar you make on a paycheck, then you could be eligible to receive a certain amount in additional support (up to a particular dollar amount). Alternatively, for every dollar you make while continuing your own education at the same time, you could be eligible to receive additional aid. The primary goal here is to incentivize individuals to be productive on their own. I think we would be surprised by how our communities would respond when we force those living in them to be more productive, and thus giving them the opportunity to have self-worth.