Thriving As A Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry: Reegan Rae of Arnerich Massena On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman In a Male Dominated Industry

An Interview With Ming Zhao

Self-advocacy: Women need to be advocates for their own career advancement, especially in male-dominated industries. You need to make your voice heard, and be intentional in expressing your goals and objectives. I worked for several larger organizations, where it’s easy to get stuck in a position and sort of disappear. But I took every opportunity to let managers and colleagues know what my ambitions were, and to ask them for their advice and input on who I should meet and talk to, what I could learn, and what steps I could take to advance to the next level.

In the United States in 2022, fields such as Aircraft piloting, Agriculture, Architecture, Construction, Finance, and Information technology, are still male-dominated industries. For a woman who is working in a male-dominated environment, what exactly does it take to thrive and succeed? In this interview series we are talking to successful women who work in a Male-Dominated Industry who can share their stories and experiences about navigating work and life as a strong woman in a male dominated industry.

As a part of this series I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Reegan Rae, CPWA®.

Reegan Rae, CPWA®, is the first female chief executive of Arnerich Massena, an independent registered investment advisory and wealth planning firm with a 30-year history of serving private clients, endowments, and foundations with world-class investment advice and research. She fits together the puzzle pieces of portfolio management, wealth planning, family office services, non-profit investment services, and generational planning to help Arnerich Massena build lasting legacies for its clients. Reegan is a current member of the Young Presidents’ Organization and was a Portland Business Journal Forty Under 40 honoree; with more than 17 years of experience in the finance industry, she is dedicated to helping families invest with intention to build generational wealth.

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 childhood “backstory”?

I grew up in my home state of Oregon. I was the only daughter in my family and had three brothers, so I learned how to be comfortable being the “only girl” around a lot of boys early on! In our household, we were fans of sports, Star Wars, and G.I. Joe! Because my parents didn’t single me out or treat me like an “other,” I didn’t feel different for being female. On the other hand, it did afford me the advantages of never having to share a room or take hand-me-downs!

Can you tell us the story about what led you to this particular career path?

My career path to becoming a financial advisor — and even landing in the investment industry — didn’t really follow a traditional, straightforward path, and so my story is a bit unusual. When I was in college, I knew I wanted a career in which I could help people — it was important to me to make a true difference and see my work add value. I earned a degree in psychology, but realized even before graduating that I didn’t want to become a therapist.

I had an opportunity out of college to work as a registered broker’s assistant. Right away, being around advisors and seeing how they engaged with clients, I was hooked. They were kind, honest, and worked to put their clients at ease. I wanted to do the same — to take an industry that seemed confusing and intimidating and make it approachable. I set my sights on building a career in finance, dedicating myself to making finance accessible to investors and giving everyone a seat at the table.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

I recently took the reins of Arnerich Massena as new Co-CEO when the firm transitioned from a first-generation founder-owned and led firm to becoming 100% employee-owned. Making a successful succession transition in the financial services industry is exceedingly rare, and we did it — during a pandemic, when everyone was working remotely, and while simultaneously building out a new office space and executing a move to the new building. We were taking a firm with a 30-year history and completely changing its leadership, structure, and even location — while trying to preserve the firm’s remarkable culture, philosophy, and service model. We started the process in the fall of 2020, just as everyone was working fully remotely, so we had no shortage of challenges.

This was certainly the biggest shift in my career, and it happened at a time when everything was already upside down. There really isn’t a toolbook for this kind of transition, and so much depends on having strong relationships — with your clients, with your staff, and with other firm leaders. Being in a remote environment made it particularly difficult to navigate. I was constantly questioning whether we were on the right track.

I was formally named Co-CEO in February 2021 and we opened our new office in April 2022. The transition was successful by any metric — happy clients, continued strength as a firm, and a cohesive team of leaders and employees. I think we are well positioned to move into the future, and I am deeply proud of what we accomplished.

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

Tenacity definitely comes to the top of my mind. To succeed in anything requires a commitment to not giving up, and I credit my persistence as a key attribute of success. Tenacity is about more than just not giving up; it’s also about resisting the forces that try to re-shape you. We all bring something unique to the table, but it’s easy to let that erode in the face of demands to conform to current trends. Our firm, Arnerich Massena, differentiates itself by its unconventional brand, and we’ve had to intentionally resist the urge to adapt to a more conformist model. I feel that my own personal success comes from that same tenacity to maintain the integrity of my unique approach and knowledge.

Curiosity is another quality that I believe has been essential along my journey. When I come across something I don’t quite understand or that doesn’t sit right, I won’t gloss over it — I recognize that it’s usually a sign that there’s something important to learn or discover. It’s curiosity that drives me to put myself in my clients’ shoes in order to see through their eyes, which has been critical to my success in serving their needs. We have named curiosity as a core value of our firm, encouraging employees to take the extra step when something seems awry — to be curious about it and dig deeper. That curiosity makes us more accurate, more thorough, and ultimately elevates our level of professionalism.

Perspective has been crucial to me as well, in several different ways. As a woman in finance, I often bring a different perspective and point of view, and I have been careful never to devalue that. I’m willing to speak up and share my perspective, knowing that I bring something different to the table. I am also committed to keeping my clients’ perspective in mind throughout my work, and I think this has made me more empathic and better able to understand what they need. And of course, having the ability to look at things from a broader perspective is an essential quality for anyone in a leadership position.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Can you help articulate a few of the biggest obstacles or challenges you’ve had to overcome being in a male-dominated industry?

Up until recently, the investment industry was quite homogenous, and when you have a peer group in which everyone comes from a similar background and has a similar perspective, it may be easy to reach a group consensus but you become prone to groupthink. It’s easy to forget to seek out a diversity of opinion and explore alternative ideas, which is often the most important part of good decision-making. I have joined teams and groups in which I am the only female, and frequently the youngest person at the table. The challenge for me is in navigating a system that has learned to operate a certain way and to help them to slow down, recognize the value of conversation and different perspectives, and learn how to invite different opinions. I’ve had to learn how to show up and use my voice, even — and maybe especially — when there’s resistance to it. It took some time to build the necessary confidence in myself and figure out how to gently but firmly push back in a group. I find that each new team or group is different, so I am often re-learning how to work through those challenges anew each time.

I have been very lucky to have wonderful mentors who have helped me to navigate the challenges of being in an industry that is sometimes not used to having women at the table. I’m deeply grateful for their help in steering my career growth and offering guidance when I ran into obstacles.

Can you share a few of the things you have done to gain acceptance among your male peers and the general work community? What did your female co-workers do? Can you share some stories or examples?

One of the things I learned early in my career is not to assume that someone else is speaking up for you. People — and particularly women — need to be able to speak up for themselves. Hard work is not enough; you need to be a vocal self-advocate! I made it known that I wanted to grow in my career, and made an effort to focus on advancing myself and my career. I constantly asked who I should talk to about career development, seeking out people I could learn from and building a network of support. Building good rapport with my managers was critical, and I asked them to help make introductions and connections for me. Most people like to help grow and establish new leaders and talent, if you take the time to build relationships with them. For me, it was also essential to have both male and female mentors; the broader your network, the more opportunities that become available.

Being a self-advocate doesn’t mean it’s always about you, though! It also means being a good learner and listener. I think part of how I built strong relationships was by asking questions, learning about peoples’ careers and what they did, and being interested in how others were succeeding and growing.

What do you think male-oriented organizations can do to enhance their recruiting efforts to attract more women?

I think that organizations need to be intentional and strategic about creating a broader network for recruiting and build a wider range of recruitment strategies. Working with female recruiters would be a good start. There are organizations that are working hard to attract younger women and minorities into career fields while they are still students — such as Rock the Street, Wall Street, which connects young female high school students with women financial professionals as mentors and provides investment education to attract girls into finance careers — and companies can connect with, support, and learn from these organizations. Not only will they be supporting a more diverse pool of candidates in the future, but they are also forging connections to those candidates.

I also think that men need to be able to put themselves in women’s shoes to better understand the world from a different perspective. Being able to imagine what it’s like to be a female or minority candidate can give them a reference point for how they might do things differently. Because men continue to hold the majority of power and influence, it’s really up to them to bridge the gap and make an impact.

Ok thank you for all of that. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your opinion and experience, what are the “Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry?” (Please share a story or example for each.)

Self-advocacy: Women need to be advocates for their own career advancement, especially in male-dominated industries. You need to make your voice heard, and be intentional in expressing your goals and objectives. I worked for several larger organizations, where it’s easy to get stuck in a position and sort of disappear. But I took every opportunity to let managers and colleagues know what my ambitions were, and to ask them for their advice and input on who I should meet and talk to, what I could learn, and what steps I could take to advance to the next level.

Tenacity: Don’t give up! Failing or falling short is not the end; it’s just an opportunity to learn and grow. Be persistent in pursuing your goals. At the same time, be tenacious in your ambition to change the industry you are entering for the better. Don’t let the habits and entrenched practices shape and mold you; you can be the force to drive change and improve the way things are done. I was determined not to let the finance industry define how I was supposed to operate as an investment professional; instead, I helped build a unique culture in which our clients find the greatest value in the ways we are different from other firms.

Courage: Courage is not the absence of fear; it’s about facing your fears. You have to be ready to push forward even when it’s uncomfortable. It was not easy to go to meetings and conferences where I was the only woman and sometimes the youngest individual, and it’s natural to have the impulse to back down and stay quiet, but I made sure that I spoke up when I had something to say. There is a risk of saying something naïve, but putting your foot in your mouth occasionally is not the worst thing. The more I spoke up, the easier it became, and if a gaffe happened every now and then, it was something to smile about, not cringe at.

Confidence: You bring something unique to your work, and should have confidence that the particular quality or perspective you bring is of value. This shouldn’t be empty confidence; you should work hard to build a skill set and knowledge base that you can have confidence in! Then you can believe in yourself and what you have to offer. I always saw my unusual background as a psychology major as a strength, and that made it possible to know that I was bringing something to the table that nobody else had. Over time, I came to recognize just how valuable it really was, and how much I have been able to contribute thanks to my particular skills and knowledge set.

Empathy: You could call this emotional intelligence, or being a team player, or I sometimes refer to it as WOO (winning others over). Male-dominated industries are often highly competitive and relationships can be antagonistic. I have found that success is much more likely when you focus on building relationships, working with people not against them, and engaging as a member of a team. Over my career, I have had plenty of opportunity to engage in one upmanship and petty politics, and I don’t think it ever would have really served me. Work together with your colleagues to achieve a collective goal, and you’ll find you elevate everyone, yourself included.

If you had a close woman friend who came to you with a choice of entering a field that is male dominated or female dominated, what would you advise her? Would you advise a woman friend to start a career in a field or industry that’s traditionally been mostly men? Can you explain what you mean?

Ideally, I think we should be working to move away from having fields that are male-dominated or female-dominated at all. I would encourage a friend to build a career in whatever field or industry they are drawn to, and to be part of making — or keeping — that industry diverse and welcoming to all.

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.

As a lifelong soccer player and runner, I am inspired by Billie Jean King, and what she has done for the world of women’s sports. I would love to sit down with her and get the inside scoop on her journey and insight!

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.