Reegan Rae of Arnerich Massena: Why We Need More Women Founders & Here Is What We Are Doing To Make That Happen
An Interview With Jerome Knyszewski
Female founders will be able to create the businesses, products, and services that can connect to wealth holders and financial decision makers and offer what they want. And those decision makers will be seeking out companies that can demonstrate a commitment to diversity and gender balance.
As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Reegan Rae.
Reegan Rae, CPWA®, Co-CEO and principal of independent investment advisory firm Arnerich Massena, is an experienced financial professional and a celebrated leader in the Portland business community. Her guidance has been instrumental in developing the model of comprehensive wealth planning and family office services that has made Arnerich Massena a premier service provider, known for helping clients become intentional about their legacy plans and align their investments with their values. Reegan is a member of the Oregon Chapter of the YPO (Young Presidents’ Organization) and has been recognized as one of The Portland Business Journal’s “Forty Under 40,” young professionals honored for outstanding leadership. She has dedicated her career to leading the financial services industry in developing approaches to multi-generational planning and family-centered wealth solutions.
Arnerich Massena is widely known as one of the largest partly women-owned investment advisory firms in the Pacific Northwest, providing traditional portfolio management and investing, as well as multi-family office services for clients nationwide. A Certified B Corporation®, the firm has been recognized as one of Real Leaders’ Top Impact Companies of 2021 and one of the Top 15 RIAs in the U.S. by Financial Planning Magazine, and is known for its award-winning investment research, innovative approaches to high-impact investing, and comprehensive wealth planning services.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
I didn’t really follow a traditional, straightforward path to becoming a financial advisor, or even landing in the investment industry, so my story is a bit unusual. I knew when I was in college that I wanted to choose a career where I could help people — to see my work add value and make a true difference. My degree is in psychology, but I realized when I was an undergraduate that I didn’t want to become a therapist.
When I graduated, I was given the opportunity to start in the financial industry as a registered broker’s assistant. After being around advisors and understanding how they engaged with clients, I was immediately hooked. They were kind, honest, and spoke clearly to their clients in a way that put them at ease. I wanted to build my own practice, establishing client relationships where I could make an intimidating and confusing industry feel more approachable. I set my sights on building a career where I could give everyone a seat at the table by making finance accessible and even inviting for investors.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I remember starting out as a young woman in the investment industry and feeling like an impostor in a different universe. It seemed like everyone around me was a man in a suit with a long list of fancy degrees and credentials. They spoke a different language — one full of mysterious acronyms and specialized jargon. I recall having this notion that these were the trappings of success in the industry; that letters after your name and an encyclopedic knowledge of investment data were what was needed to become a good advisor.
It took some evolution in my career to realize that what really makes an advisor successful is to truly listen and engage with your clients in what their needs are and not push an agenda. Keeping things simple, telling stories, cutting through the crazy jargon — these are the things that have helped me connect with clients and led to success.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
The biggest mistake I made early on was thinking this was easy! Before I became an advisor and experienced the challenge of building my own book of business, I thought (so naively!) that I was the one doing most of the work in various support roles, and what the advisor was doing seemed to be the easy part. This may not seem that funny, but believe me — coming from where I am now, it’s hilarious.
What I didn’t see were the long hours the advisors were putting into establishing clients, building client relationships, cold calling, networking, getting turned down, and getting back up to keep going. There is an enormous amount of sweat equity that goes into establishing a successful practice, and all I saw was the end result. The failure rate of advisors who try and those who actually make it is roughly one in ten; this industry is cutthroat!
Now that I have the perspective from the other side of the fence, I can look back and not only laugh, but also have a deep appreciation for all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes. Recognizing that what you see is only a fraction of the full picture was a great lesson to learn and one that I try to remember now as a leader.
None of us can achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
There have been a number of people who have offered nuggets of wisdom and help that have been indispensable in my evolution and career development, and I am very appreciative of those mentors and allies, both men and women. There is one woman who stands out in particular, who was a colleague and boss, and who was supportive and understanding of what it takes to both build a career and raise a family — successfully! — at the same time.
She taught me that we are more than our working selves and that as an employer, that needs to be recognized and supported. Everything in life is a phase and nothing is permanent — especially when raising children! There are times when you are hit by numerous challenges and frustrations, and other times when everything seems to be flowing perfectly. She was always willing to be flexible, knowing that life stages and experiences arrive and pass and change constantly. I appreciated the open dialogue and support to be able to say as a working mother with young children: “This is what I can and can’t do right now,” and not be judged, penalized, or held back in my career development.
This was one of the best gifts given to me as a working mother and leader, and I offer this perspective to my team to this day as a guiding principle of my management style. We all have lives outside of work, and experiences that impact our focus, perspective, and energy, and that are always in flux. I want my team to feel supported in their lives — both in and outside the office.
Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
I recently finished reading Untamed by Glennon Doyle, which I found to be profoundly inspirational. The book is a memoir, and tells the story of the author’s experience discovering and becoming her truest self. She spent her early life trying to live up to the world’s expectations of her — to be the “good girl” she was told was the hallmark of a virtuous life. But she came to the realization that suppressing who she was in order to fit herself into the world’s boxes was exhausting and unfulfilling. In her book, she explains the importance of listening to yourself and becoming the truest, most authentic version of yourself you can be. She talks about how freeing it is to get away from the learned norms we are all programmed with and to just be who you are.
I think this book speaks both to me personally, but also to where we are culturally, with this new wave of equity and inclusion happening now. I connected with it because my life and identity are currently filled with a lot of boxes and titles and expectations, from motherhood to entering my 40s to being Co-CEO. It has helped remind me that the best way I can move through the world is by doing it my own way, by being my most natural self, and trusting my deepest intuition to guide me.
Do you have a favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life or your work?
Albert Einstein once said, “imagination is more important than knowledge.” This has definitely served me as a guiding principle, particularly in an industry that is very heavy on knowledge and a lot lighter on imagination! I operate on the premise that if you have to have already experienced something or know how to do something in order to do it, you won’t get very far; we should be able to apply a little creative imagination so that we can move forward into the unknown. Not knowing can even be an advantage; it allows us to think outside the box and possibly discover ways to do things even better.
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
When people look at our industry, they often see it as being focused on money. But it’s not money or wealth creation that gets me out of bed in the morning, or that is even central to what I do. At its core, what we really do is help our clients align their investments with their values and find ways they can really make an impact in the world. My mission and the part of my job that really speaks to me is about helping families pay it forward and give back. With our help, they are able to connect to something larger than them and to be more effective in creating lasting change in the world.
I have seen amazing direct impacts from the investments we’ve helped our clients make, like the development and distribution of SOURCE hydropanels that can deliver drinkable water using only solar electricity and water vapor, the development of technology that can improve our electrical grid to accommodate more green energy, and the invention of life-saving medical devices.
According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still must be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?
I think the lack of visibility of female role models in business — and particularly in venture capital — is striking and at the root of why we are not seeing as many female founders and executives. If we can’t see it, how can we be it? Women need to see other women in these roles, serving as models that they can aspire to.
Can you share with our readers what you are doing to help empower women to become founders?
I am highly driven to play a role in changing the business landscape for women. I am very outspoken about this issue, and I believe that one of the best things I can do is to raise awareness and draw attention to the lack of women in business leadership, and talk about why it’s so important and beneficial to have female leaders. I participate in organized networks of and for women that provide support, education, and mentorship for women. I am a member of CEOX, for instance, which works to help put more women into CEO roles and into board positions.
As a firm, we seek out investment opportunities in companies that are women-owned and/or founded by women. We also fund an award-winning community service program, part of which is focused on providing mentorship and enrichment programs for elementary school girls. As a volunteer in the program, I have the opportunity to spend time with young women and help build a foundation of confidence that will empower them to become future leaders.
Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?
We are at the beginning of the largest wealth transfer in history, as wealth changes hands from the baby boomer generation to the millennials. Over the next decade, we’ll see a shift of about $30 trillion, and by the end of that time, women will be the primary wealth owners and financial decision-makers. Both women and millennials approach finances, spending, and investing differently than previous generations; for them, it’s deeply important to feel aligned with the values and brand identity of the companies they support. They want to connect with the brands they patronize. This provides a massive opportunity set in the marketplace for women to enter the business landscape. Female founders will be able to create the businesses, products, and services that can connect to wealth holders and financial decision makers and offer what they want. And those decision makers will be seeking out companies that can demonstrate a commitment to diversity and gender balance.
Can you please share 5 things that can be done or should be done to help empower more women to become founders? If you can, please share an example or story for each.
1. Create venture capital funds that seek out and fund women-owned and women-founded businesses.
2. Showcase more female role models in business leadership positions.
My alma mater, the University of Oregon, recently reached out to me to speak at their Women in Business Group, a club for undergraduate women thinking about becoming business leaders. This is exactly the type of activity that can empower the next generation of women to enter business and become founders, entrepreneurs, and executives.
3. Provide education about building a business.
In order to become founders, women need to learn the nuts and bolts of business creation. How do they create a business plan? How do they comply with legal regulations? How do they acquire capital? Understanding what the runway looks like is the foundation they need to get started.
4. Create and participate in business and support organizations for women, where they can learn from other women and find mentors.
5. Tell women it’s ok to take risks and fail.
Men typically seek out more risk than women, who are notoriously risk-averse. Many girls and women are afraid of failure, which means they hesitate to take the risks necessary to accomplish big things. We need to encourage girls and women to fail, to become comfortable with failure, and to understand that failing is the path to learning. Normalizing failure for women is one of the best ways we can empower them. A great leader once told me, “Fail harder! And then do it again, and again, and again… and along the way you will succeed.”
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
I believe that the way you invest matters. Investors have the means to drive real change and make an impact in the world. The old model was that people would invest and then afterward donate some of their gains to charity, but this is naïve in terms of really solving social problems. At our firm, we promote what we call intentional investing, in which investors use private capital to drive change by investing in corporations that are connected to and committed to solving societal problems.
The challenges facing us as a society, as investors, and as a civilization have never been greater, and it’s critical that we start addressing them. The good news is that there are scores of companies that are already working hard to build and craft a better future for everyone — and realizing that this can be a remarkable recipe for long-term business success! The movement I want to inspire is to encourage investors to align their investment portfolio with their values, and to remind them that they don’t have to sacrifice return to do so. I want to help investors implement a more thoughtful portfolio, investing with intention to build a better world.
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
I would love to have dinner with the first female financial advisor in the United States. I searched to see if I could find her name and wasn’t able to find a name or a story! Whomever and wherever she is, she has a story to share and I would love to meet her and get her story out there — there should be a book and movie made about this trailblazer!
How can our readers further follow your work online?
You can follow or connect with me directly on LinkedIn here. You can also visit www.arnerichmassena.com to learn more about Arnerich Massena, or follow the firm on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
