Message From The CEO: DEI is Alive and Well at The Financial Gym

Hello FinGym Friends and Family,

I originally started writing this note as a message to send to our team, but as I’ve seen more companies release public statements, I thought I would share this with you as well…

In the last few weeks, we’ve watched a number of companies publicly walk back and remove Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) teams, practices, and procedures. While I can’t guarantee many things in life, I can guarantee as long as I am CEO and/or running Financial Gym and FG Advisory Services, DEI will not only remain a core practice of our company, but it will also remain one of our core values. I’m not saying this to win clients or ruffle feathers; I’m saying this because I know DEI practices contribute directly to the success of Financial Gym and I want to run a successful business. 

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are three words that are unfortunately getting political treatment—rather than practical treatment—in the court of public opinion now. People assume DEI practices at companies have somehow lost those companies money or customers, and yet I’ve seen no data to support these opinions, especially since corporate profits are at all-time highs. Many companies implemented more aggressive DEI practices as a response to the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement (which didn’t start in 2020, but escalated in the wake of the murder of George Floyd), and since then, Wal-Mart’s revenue is up 21%, Amazon’s is up 30%, and Deere & Co’s revenue is up 17%. I would call these impressive returns, and yet in none of these companies’ public filings did I see mention of DEI practices prohibiting them from delivering more value to their shareholders. 

I haven’t seen the data from public companies to support the financial need to scale back DEI practices, but I can tell you from our company’s financial performance that DEI practices have added to our bottom line. Beyond that, they have made us a better company for our employees and our members. 

I spent the majority of my 20s and 30s working for Bank of America, and while I was at BofA, I remember the company had DEI “initiatives,” but honestly, they were mostly just training videos we were required to watch for our learning and development. For most of my career there, I worked on trading floors where 80% were men, and I would have loved to see a women’s affinity group back then to just share my unique journey with other people like me in the company.

“All bark and no bite” is the phrase I would use to describe BofA’s (and I’m sure many public companies) DEI practices while I worked there. They would speak about their programs in the shareholder report and the Town Hall meetings but every employee knew that the company could care less about the diverse employees, and as a woman, I was a part of that group. It’s crazy to me that “women” are considered a diverse group but when we make up over 50% of the population and less than 20% of a trading floor, you can see how that happens. 

My time at Bank of America as part of a minority class showed me what not to do as a company and inspired me to create something different when I started my own financial services company. I vowed to create a safe, fun, and productive environment where not just women, but all employees, could grow and thrive. 

In the early days of Financial Gym, our first few employees were exclusively female; it wasn’t by choice, but in those early days I saw the power of women working together without fear of retribution or retaliation. All voices were heard. At times, it led to some difficult conversations between teammates, but every conversation led to learning, growth, development, and a better path forward for the business. 

As the business grew and our client base became more diverse, I knew we needed to seek more diversity in our hiring process. Money is the ultimate taboo topic and speaking about it with someone can feel shame-inducing, so we have had clients ask to work with trainers who look like them. 

Seven years ago this month, we hired our first black financial trainers. Before we hired them, I worked with a diversity coach on the best way to incorporate them into the team so we could help them feel connected and engaged with the other teammates, and I am so thankful that I did. However, what will always strike me about this time is that after we posted their pictures on our team website and shared about the new hires with our community, my inbox was flooded with numerous people of color (many of them were just following us) thanking me for letting them know that Financial Gym was a “safe” financial services company for them to work with. 

I was surprised by some of these messages, but that was due to my own privilege and ignorance. When I spoke about this response with my new teammates, they explained to me their fears of working with all-white teams and suggested I watch the movie “Get Out” to get a better understanding. This was the first of MANY conversations I would have with various diverse teammates and clients at Financial Gym. With every conversation, my empathy grew and my decision-making shifted, which was all for the greater good of running Financial Gym. 

In 2020, we formally created our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) Team with the goal of formalizing internal processes we already had in place and fostering a space where all of our teammates could come to work as their most authentic selves while feeling safe, supported, and seen. We also amended our company’s core values to include Diversity because we realized that diversity has been at the heart of our business: I left Merrill Lynch 11 years ago to bring financial wellness to the masses, and the masses are diverse.

I’m not gonna lie, when I was a financial advisor at Merrill Lynch, all of my clients were wealthy white people, and all of my meetings felt the same at the end of the day. Since starting Financial Gym, I have been blessed to have the most interesting, intelligent, thought-provoking, and life-changing conversations with the diverse employees and clients I’m blessed to interact with, and I would never want to remove or limit those conversations. I would never want to create a financial services company where people don’t feel safe.  

All of this is to say that I have spent 11 years having hard and enlightening conversations with clients and employees in the effort to learn and become a better version of the person I want to be and a better leader of the company I want to run. All of these conversations have confirmed to me the importance of DEIB practices and how you can utilize them to build a successful business. 

Companies don’t have to choose between DEI or profits— they can have both, but my guess is that most of these companies just took the lazy BofA approach to their DEI programs and that’s why they’re not seeing the benefits. For companies, like ours, who have truly put in the work, you won’t see them scale back their practices. Just like I said at the beginning, as long as I’m in this seat, DEIB will not only remain a core value of Financial Gym, but it will also remain the lens through which we view all business decisions. I’m committed to Financial Gym remaining a safe and diverse financial services company for clients and employees.

Cheers!

Shannon McLay

Founder & CEO

Financial Gym & FG Advisory Services