Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
It all started in 2009, a couple of years after beginning my career in finance.
Layoffs are happening across Wall Street, and hundreds of my colleagues are let go in one afternoon.
I go to the bullpen and realize all the desks are clear. I am the only one left in my class of trainees.
I’m about to become a financial advisor, and I have a year to bring in clients.
Back in the bullpen I sit with a phone in front of me, staring at a list of my friends’ parents whom I can’t bring myself to call, looking out the window at the seemingly endless concrete sidewalk, feeling hopeless.
I walk down long corridors of offices filled with bull and bear artwork (unofficial Wall Street mascots representing rising vs. declining markets) and men in blue blazers on headsets talking about interest rates while swinging a golf putter or a baseball bat. They talk about investing like sports statistics — proclaiming, oracle-like, and loudly, what the market will do and why people should listen.
I notice that clients leave meetings intimidated, which is how I feel, too.
The next few years I did everything I could to learn and grow my business. I got to the office at 6 AM to hear the stock market report “at the open,” I cold called, I networked, and fielded calls from advisors and clients rocked by the financial crisis.
It was world-class training. But every day was a gauntlet.
I called my father, an attorney in Georgia, and asked him for advice (cue southern accent), “Some of the best lawyers I know are black belts in karate or jiu-jitsu. You might try something like that and see if it helps you in business.”
HA! Not the answer I was expecting. An absurd idea… or was it?
Later that day I found myself Googling “jiu-jitsu near me.”
I was intrigued when I saw that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (“BJJ”) is a martial art that you do mostly on the ground.
Instead of relying on brute force to overpower your opponent, you focus on leverage, angles, pressure, timing, and knowledge of human anatomy to achieve a non-violent submission. Jiu-Jitsu is just as much a mental chess game as it is a physical sport and you don’t have to be the biggest or strongest to prevail.
I dug that.
The next week I headed to the gym. When I walked in, there were six guys tumbling around on a blue mat.
“Hi, I’m here for the Jiu-Jitsu?,” I said, still questioning myself.
I got a white “gi” uniform and a white belt and started training. In the following years, I earned higher jiu-jitsu rankings and became the first female purple belt in my class.
As my confidence grew outside of the office, I gained command in my voice, values, and technique as a financial advisor, and built a thriving practice. I also learned 5 core lessons from Jiu-Jitsu that increased my financial clarity and command. What I learned gave me the tools to found Created, a boutique wealth advisory. We are on a mission to make the world of finance clear, approachable, and beautiful.
“Enter like a kitten, leave like a lion.”
— Carlson Gracie