Ep #44: Joining a Firm to Serve LGBTQ+ Clients with Pietro Messina

Pietro Messina is a financial planner with Christopher Street Financial in New York City. As a part of the LGBTQ+ community, Pietro wanted to join a firm that matched his values, and today he shares his path into financial planning, including why he chose the career, what education he pursued, and how he secured his internships.

Listen in as we talk about how his professional goals changed as his career progressed, as well as what he enjoys the most about being a financial planner. You'll hear Pietro's tips for becoming a top associate financial planner and his ideas on attracting more LGBTQ+ planners to the profession. If you are a new planner coming out of school and looking to focus on a niche clientele, then this episode is for you!

What You'll Learn In Today's Episode:

How Pietro’s work has been affected by the pandemic. (2:24)
Why he picked the financial industry. (3:53)
Tips on successful interviewing. (9:37)
What Pietro did during his internship. (11:00)
How he found his way into his current firm. (14:37)
How his career developed into financial analyst. (17:49)
Tips on how to get past the CFP exam. (20:26)
What specific areas Pietro's learning and working on. (23:33)

Ideas Worth Sharing:

“When you’re in a room with a client, it’s much easier to connect and read body language, but what I liked over Zoom was the ease of sharing.” - Pietro Messina Share on X “Senior year is a time that’s really important for obtaining an internship that potentially leads into a job.” - Pietro Messina Share on X “I exuded confidence and a level of knowledge and showed a desire to not only help, but grow myself and do what they asked.” - Pietro Messina Share on X

Resources In Today's Episode:

Download your free copy of the New Planner Career Roadmap!

In this roadmap, you'll be guided through the details of various stages of your financial planner career, including position descriptions, licensing, skill and experience level requirements, and compensation ranges.