Get ready for an electrifying episode today as host Lorie Jones sits down with Marla Sofer, the dynamic founder and CEO of Knomee.
From her early days in nonprofit and financial services to her decision to launch a groundbreaking fintech startup, Marla’s story is a testament to the power of ambition and resilience. She shares her unique insights on dreaming big, pushing past fear, and setting an inspiring example for the next generation.
This conversation is packed with invaluable advice for any growth-oriented professional woman. Don’t miss this incredible opportunity to learn from one of the most fearless women in finance and tech.
Show Highlights:
- Discover Marla Sofer’s nonlinear career path and Knomee. [04:19]
- Unlock crucial money questions you must ask yourself. [07:11]
- Are you committed to modelling fearlessness? [11:01]
- The art of defying bad advice with grace and purpose. [14:33]
- What’s the right balance between ambition and patience with career shifts? [19:23.6]
- In-depth lessons in resetting fears in entrepreneurship. [24:57]
- Unique challenges as a woman in finance and tech. [28:35]
- The importance of nurturing generational pride and values. [31:45]
- Three key precepts for young women to observe forging ahead. [35:18]
00:01.62
Lorie Jones
Good morning. So I'm so excited that you're joining us again this morning. Today we have Marla Sofer. She is the founder and CEO of nomi and um you Know we'll get into kind of a little bit about what she does, but I know you're going to love listening to this. It's so exciting. And I'm really looking forward to getting to know a little bit more about Marla. So thank you so much for doing this for us.
00:28.78
Marla Sofer
It's my pleasure. Thank you, Lori.
00:31.55
Lorie Jones
So my very first question is I was the same and I love this question. What is your favorite book?
00:38.27
Marla Sofer
So this one may be overplayed a lot, but definitely my favorite is Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankel and ah A lot of what I'm building in my whole life's journey has been focused on purpose and meaning, and really embracing the right attitude to make the most of your own potential.
01:00.04
Marla Sofer
So I think that one's a great one. um I'm also a startup founder, so I really love a but book called Moonshots by Naveen Jain.
01:07.96
Lorie Jones
Oh,
01:10.83
Marla Sofer
I'm right now reading a book called ah No Room for Small Dreams. It's an old book, but it was written by Shimon Peres. So dreaming big.
01:18.22
Lorie Jones
I love all those suggestions. And I actually haven't heard them before. So so that's amazing. That's separate that you've now added three new books to my already huge stack of books to read. But that's, that's good. I love reading. So thank you.
01:32.23
Marla Sofer
Of course.
01:34.53
Lorie Jones
Tell me a little bit about your journey. How did you get started? What do you do now? um Like where are you at? Tell me about you.
01:43.47
Marla Sofer
Sure. i am I've had a very nonlinear journey ah in and out of financial services for over 20 years um ah in financial services, I would say. Lots of different areas and layers of a supply chain in financial services. um Before that, I had brief stints where i I studied peace and conflict resolution. I worked in nonprofit and I worked on Wall Street running code for for a telecom company.
02:10.18
Marla Sofer
But since 2004, I've been in financial services. So it's been 20 years. I worked in private banking. I worked in deep institutional banking at JP Morgan.
02:22.24
Marla Sofer
I covered all of the West Coast 150 asset managers west of the Mississippi and all of their deep operational requirements from a bank.
02:29.79
Lorie Jones
Mm hmm.
02:31.50
Marla Sofer
um What happens when securities settle and have to get accounted in a fund or in ah a pension fund or how that actually all works together.
02:41.59
Lorie Jones
hu
02:41.75
Marla Sofer
I then worked at Black Rack, and at Black Rack, I was responsible for our relationship with our largest operational providers, including banks and data providers.
02:53.22
Marla Sofer
And then since 2015, I've been in FinTech. um I was inspired to get into FinTech because I thought there is so much that this industry can be doing better for its clients.
03:01.06
Lorie Jones
Mm hmm. Mm hmm.
03:03.80
Marla Sofer
And I wanted to be a part of tech, um delivering on that promise and really helping people make live better lives, find financial solutions to help them in their lives.
03:16.54
Marla Sofer
So I've been the head of partnerships at four different FinTech companies, um some familiar ones. And I spent also two years at Microsoft running financial services strategy and delivering on what, what um,
03:33.87
Marla Sofer
data flow and products need to come together to solve the problem in financial services that companies and their clients are looking for. And all of that led me to this realization that our industry is very good at selling products and pitching tools to do things, but we are not very good at knowing our customers or clients. And we really haven't ever even learned what information is the most relevant and valuable to help our clients make better solutions and make better choices with their financial financial choices. So that gave me the inspiration to launch Nomi. And so I launched Nomi about a year and a half ago.
04:20.79
Marla Sofer
And Nomi is a data platform that answers the question of what product is right for you. We don't sell you any products. We are not a financial advisor.
04:32.36
Marla Sofer
We are not a financial planner. We answer that question of what it depends on.
04:39.36
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
04:39.67
Marla Sofer
So there is a way of, if if you ever ask what product is right for you, the answer is always it depends.
04:45.02
Lorie Jones
That depends, yeah.
04:46.53
Marla Sofer
So we are what it depends on. So we help somebody recognize How do they feel about risk? What are their goals? What are their attitudes? Who do they share money with? What is their context, their background, their emotional relationship with money, their trauma that they bring to the table, their beliefs, their um their joy. What brings them joy? Before you can know your goals, there is a whole structured way to really making sure you can clearly articulate your goals. What do you want to do with your money? If your money is ah is a tool versus a goal, how are you going to activate it? And so that's what Nomi is all about.
05:23.25
Lorie Jones
I love that. So did you know from really early on, like it sounds like you've had a long career in finance and lots of different pieces of finance and honestly lots of pieces that women don't traditionally go in, right? So do you, did you know like when you were a baby, like you wanted to be a financial, you wanted to be in finance, like how did you get there?
05:46.07
Marla Sofer
No, not at all. um In fact, ah when i when I took that job I referenced in nonprofit, I turned down a job um at Merrill Lynch corporate headquarters because I did not want to be in finance. i i Basically, I said, I'm way too idealistic. i I want to kind of make the world a better place. um And so I turned it down and took a job in nonprofit.
06:08.95
Marla Sofer
um and When I worked in that nonprofit job, I worked with very large donors um in the finance and real estate industries and learned a little bit about what they do.
06:21.02
Marla Sofer
I ran big events and golf events and outings and whatnot and um decided to get my MBA part-time. So I worked full-time and got my MBA in the evenings and ended up, yeah,
06:28.30
Lorie Jones
ah
06:31.67
Lorie Jones
yeah As many of us do, right?
06:34.97
Marla Sofer
And, um you know, from that kind of decided, I think I want to explore what it's like to be in financial services, but it was certainly not not deliberate. It was not something I had dreamed about.
06:46.90
Lorie Jones
Did you what did you graduate? Did you you graduated? Obviously, if you've got your MBA, what did you graduate with? What was your degree in?
06:53.51
Marla Sofer
my My bachelors, so I went to, I'm from Texas and I went to University of Texas at Austin.
06:55.34
Lorie Jones
Yeah, you're undergraduate.
06:59.40
Lorie Jones
Uh huh.
07:01.10
Marla Sofer
I got a degree in sociology
07:03.92
Lorie Jones
huh
07:03.98
Marla Sofer
And I also got another degree in Hebrew because they offered me a scholarship. They said, if you you declare this as your major, then we'll give you a scholarship. And this was all part of my desire to study peace and conflict resolution and live overseas in the Middle East. um And then it wasn't until I was married and working full time that I went back to school and and got an a MBA later.
07:27.79
Lorie Jones
That's so interesting. I always felt like a psychology degree would be a value add in this industry because because a lot of it is is numbers and and nerdy stuff and accounting and and all that stuff. But a lot of it is like, how do you feel? what makes you what What makes you dream big? And what are your dreams? So I can see that piece coming in with this No Me.
07:53.99
Marla Sofer
i I agree entirely. I feel like the best wealth managers out there are the ones who are therapists. They're the ones who understand how do I better understand you so I can help you make better decisions to protect you and your family for the future um and show you your blind spots, show you things that you might not know otherwise.
08:11.02
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
08:16.43
Marla Sofer
um And a lot of that is therapy.
08:16.46
Lorie Jones
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, relationships and kind of getting in, I always say I want to be like the second call. Like if, if they have a big life event happen, like their family can be the first call, but I'd like to be the second call. I want to know, ah you know, what their dreams are, what they're hoping for when their success happens. And sometimes I get those sad calls too, but.
08:40.56
Lorie Jones
But I love that. What is, if you can look back kind of over your career and your your journey, what can you think of one investment that you're like, oh my goodness, I am so glad I did that for myself. It's made just all the difference.
08:55.71
Marla Sofer
um Well, this last rung on my career journey has been the most vulnerable, hardest, longest uh, decision, you know, trajectory to kind of come by. And that was to leave becoming an, like leave being a salaried employee and launch a business. Um, whether it's the best investment, investment I made in myself or not, I don't know. It depends on how you define best, but for me, I knew that if I didn't give myself a shot and
09:34.84
Marla Sofer
launched this business that I believed in and had the idea for. And i I knew kind of this was an experience I wanted to have. I knew I would regret it forever.
09:42.50
Lorie Jones
Mm hmm.
09:43.29
Marla Sofer
And so it it was it was something that didn't really feel like um something I could deny or or ignore for for much longer.
09:55.58
Marla Sofer
um you know i'm ah ah when i When I started the journey, I was 45. I'm 47 now. And I feel like it was It was an investment I had to make in myself.
10:09.02
Lorie Jones
How do you have the courage to do that? That that is a hard, very fearless, and and I kind of think of fearless more like I'm scared to death, but I'm going to do it anyway, right? How do you, where did you find the courage to do it?
10:23.89
Marla Sofer
Yeah, it's exactly that. It is, I'm scared to death and I'm going to do it anyway. And um repeatedly. every every day waking up and saying i'm scared to death how am i going to do it anyway um and kind of being pushed down and pushed down and pushed down and then bouncing back um all the time as much as you possibly can and looking for looking around corners i couldn't get through the door so let me see if there's a side door let me see if i could figure out how do i push forward on this idea um i think the the motivation for me um to be very candid i think the strongest motivation was
11:01.64
Marla Sofer
being a parent and recognizing that if it was my kid, would I want them to take this risk on themselves and to believe in themselves and um how important it was for me to model what I want them to do in their future, um recognizing they're watching.
11:08.31
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
11:17.72
Marla Sofer
And it was very much my kids.
11:17.98
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
11:19.56
Marla Sofer
It was my daughter who um had heard me talking about wanting to launch a company for a long time. And at some point she was in high school and she was like, when are you going to do it?
11:28.72
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
11:28.88
Marla Sofer
um
11:29.11
Lorie Jones
but
11:29.85
Marla Sofer
And so that was a huge motivator. It was exactly what I needed to hear to to recognize that taking a big risk on myself and sacrificing stability because
11:32.17
Lorie Jones
and
11:45.84
Marla Sofer
It's so critical that I want my kids to see that. I want them to recognize they're they're in control of their destiny. We kind of tell them all the time, you can be what you want. You can achieve your goals no matter what they are.
11:56.26
Marla Sofer
Nothing's too big. Well, how often do we do that ourselves? And so, yeah.
11:59.87
Lorie Jones
Yeah. That's a really insightful comment, and ah and I agree with it. i've i've I've said a lot of times as I'm mentoring and having my own kids, like I'm encouraging them to do these things. I need to be brave enough to do it myself. I love that you're setting that example for your kids. What an amazing mom. That's so great.
12:23.50
Marla Sofer
Yeah, I think any mom who hears they're an amazing mom are like, oh yeah, right. There's so much you don't know.
12:32.85
Lorie Jones
ah Well, it all looks perfect from the side of the screen, so you're good. What about um you've you've had some different you know different journeys and different experiences. Can you think of a time when you were given like some really bad advice and did you take the advice or did you not take the advice? Talk to me about that.
12:53.33
Marla Sofer
Yeah, yeah, I get a ton of horrible advice all the time.
12:55.86
Lorie Jones
ah but
12:56.49
Marla Sofer
um If there's one thing when you launch a company you get a lot of it's bad advice. um Consistently, there's a lot and it's very well intended. These are people who truly want to help they, they, you know,
13:09.99
Marla Sofer
Feel entitled to give it So one of the best pieces of advice I got was stop taking the bad advice Just at some point you got to stop listening. You have to recognize the positive intention um There was another answer I had when I thought about this question that kind of goes back a little bit further in my career and in my life and um Early on, I um i was given well-intended advice by someone in my family who I love dearly, and it was you know this message of just don't rock the boat. like Things are working out for you. You're getting paid well. and i I could never listen to that advice. um It was just not attuned to
13:53.01
Marla Sofer
my authenticity. I'm a bit of a boat rocker and I feel that my boat rocking is and has proven to be um one of my virtues, not one of my drawbacks.
14:04.53
Marla Sofer
And I actually like being a boat rocker sometimes. um i like ah I like recognizing where there's huge opportunities and diving right into that. I like seeing where there's pain and struggle ah and suffer in an organization or
14:20.05
Lorie Jones
Mm hmm.
14:21.18
Marla Sofer
in a relationship and focusing there, I would much rather come into a disaster scenario than into a scenario that is doing peachy um where I'm just not rocking the boat. um And so that that's advice that I have gotten and and very much ignored.
14:40.00
Lorie Jones
yeah That's, it's interesting though, because you, you were probably pretty young the first time you started rocking the boat. And that's really hard to have that kind of confidence in yourself to be like, yeah, everyone's telling me don't make waves, but, but this isn't right. And I need to speak up. How do you find that courage?
15:01.74
Marla Sofer
ah Well, first off, I think important to to honestly share, like, I don't think I've always had it. um There have certainly been times where I didn't speak up and didn't rock the boat.
15:11.58
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
15:11.91
Marla Sofer
um But I can certainly point to a lot of times where I did. And there's probably, not probably, there are certainly are a lot of times where I did and and probably shouldn't have. Or who maybe the setting or the time wasn't right.
15:22.20
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
15:24.51
Marla Sofer
Or um you had to be a little bit more sensitive in certain scenarios.
15:27.62
Lorie Jones
me
15:28.94
Marla Sofer
And a lot of learning, the the dance over when is it appropriate to rock and and what ways to rock and how to communicate about your rocking of the boat. um A lot of that comes with experience. And so when you're really young, it's um it might be confidence, it might be overconfidence. I think in a lot of cases it is um driven by, again, models that you saw growing up and um your own personality. If you're the type of person that sees something wrong happening, are you going to be the one who speaks up and says something? you know Are you going to complain if something isn't working out well um and and try to change it? Are you going to take it into your own hands to try to do something, to to to change it and do something better?
16:12.70
Marla Sofer
um you know I like to point back to ah early in my career, this was in 2006, I was at JP Morgan and very first couple of days there was like a new hire breakfast and I raised my hand and I said, hey, ah it's great, we've got these really big teams. How do I learn about what's working and what's not working in the other teams? um Good that I've got this, my my own one, but you know I wanna learn from from a bigger pool.
16:41.13
Marla Sofer
And they said, huh, we don't really do that. um we don't We don't have that opportunity. and We don't really have a ah way to communicate across teams how things are going. um And so I invented it and I created it. And it was it was a huge catapult for my career. um you know Because I broke down silos and barriers and got people to open up and communicate,
17:04.83
Marla Sofer
we offered better client service. We learned about what was broken. We learned about what was working and how to like take best practices from one client, and apply it to another. And so all I can say to your listeners is go on, rock those boats. Like when you rock the boats, you, you find opportunity and, um, you just, you you know, you do have to kind of be sensitive and, uh, and, um, with, with grace and experience learn about what is appropriate what's not um i don't even like saying appropriate or not what is uh culturally um sensitive to the environment in which you're working um and you go for it like you're there for a reason
17:43.07
Lorie Jones
Yeah. Yeah. I love that idea. and i And I do think there are those experiences where we we find that we maybe didn't handle it just right. and And that gives us the opportunity to learn, to do it better next time. I have lots of opportunities to learn in my life. so What about what about one of those opportunities to learn for you? It's not a regret but something you can kind of look back on and say, oh, if I knew then what I know now, I definitely would have handled that situation a little bit differently. Is there something like that that you can think of?
18:21.37
Marla Sofer
Yeah, partially, I think it relates to that um that that voice of experience when you kind of know something, you might have handled things differently. I think for me, I i have a very, very strong bias for action.
18:35.32
Marla Sofer
um and The good side of that is that I act. I like to get things done. The bad side is that I can sometimes be impatient. And so there are certainly times in my past where I was a bit antsy. I look back on some of the career shifts that I made where I knew I was in the wrong seat or in the wrong company or reporting up to the wrong manager or in the wrong role.
19:03.50
Marla Sofer
and had I waited just a bit longer, you know, in some cases, even a matter of weeks, there could have been like a big payday or a bonus or ah or or something meaningful. But I was so eager and antsy that I went ahead and made the change anyway. And looking back, that eagerness and kind of antsiness and impatience Um, it took, it took a bit of a, of a toll and it was partially because I wanted so much to drive that action, but it was partially because I felt like, Oh, if this, if this escape hatch isn't the one I take, I might not get another.
19:42.95
Lorie Jones
Mm hmm. Mm hmm.
19:44.12
Marla Sofer
And that's not always true.
19:45.83
Lorie Jones
Mm hmm.
19:46.27
Marla Sofer
Um, you know, if you wait, you will have other escape hatches. You're going to be just fine. And so I think part of it was my own, uh, lack of confidence in the right thing will come at the right time.
19:58.23
Marla Sofer
And so I sometimes jumped into a decision, maybe the right thing, maybe wrong thing, but also wrong time.
20:05.02
Lorie Jones
That is so interesting and insightful, I think, because there are times in your life through the ebb and flow of your life that i I also am probably more impatient and driven and that sort of thing. Um, and I think that there's a power in being patient, but I'm still learning. I don't know about you, but, but that I did that, that if you just take a step back and, and kind of look at the situation that maybe at the right time,
20:34.81
Lorie Jones
that thing will happen. and And sometimes you have a tendency to be too patient. You don't want to get on that side of things either, right?
20:43.22
Marla Sofer
It's a hard balance for sure. um There's so much more knowledge about it I feel like now. um Now there's kind of this awareness of um really trying to be more responsible and not reactive. Like respond, allow people to kind of like be heard and make sure you're listening effectively and actively. um And so I feel like there are a lot more resources there to help people really navigate that patient so we're not so quick to react.
21:12.56
Lorie Jones
Yeah. And, um, you know, a lot more mentors out there, a lot more people who have done it, been in their position, been through that, that are willing to kind of share their experience like you, you know.
21:26.89
Marla Sofer
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Just ah be caution. Take caution when you're listening to mentors because everyone's on their own journey.
21:36.02
Lorie Jones
That's true.
21:36.08
Marla Sofer
um um And you got you kind of go through your own learnings and experiencing your own your own um wins and failures. And um that's kind of the beauty of life.
21:47.08
Lorie Jones
ah Yeah. Yeah. I, I guess there's sometimes I'd prefer to avoid some of the pitfalls and get past those, but sometimes you gotta go through them anyway.
21:52.85
Marla Sofer
Yes. Yes.
21:57.76
Lorie Jones
What about if you could go back to the beginning, to yourself at the beginning of your journey and talk to, you know, yourself early on, you know, 20, 21, 22, wherever you want to put that, what would you tell you specifically?
22:13.39
Lorie Jones
What would you tell your younger self?
22:15.76
Marla Sofer
Yeah, a couple of things. Number one is I would tell myself to not let that like strong flame of confidence as a 20-year-old die down and get jaded um you know as you kind of come into the world and you know see how things work. I would also tell myself, take more risks believe in myself, don't rely on others' perceptions to help me define my own self-worth. I think that a lot of the way that I navigated my career was safe um versus ah taking the type of risk that I feel like I wanted but didn't, and not always because it was me pushing back on it, but other voices from other people in my life.
23:03.69
Marla Sofer
that guided me on this safe path. And um not again, not with poor intentions. they They did it because they thought that was best for me and and maybe best for the family. and Um, I do feel like had I, had I listened more to my gut, taken more risk, who knows where I would be today.
23:22.19
Marla Sofer
Maybe I would, uh, maybe I would be in a totally different position without the type of security that I've got.
23:25.61
Lorie Jones
Mm hmm.
23:26.84
Marla Sofer
Um, but I would definitely tell myself, like, don't, don't, uh, be so quick to, um, listen to the perceptions of others. They don't know what they're doing either.
23:38.63
Lorie Jones
That's an important thing to remember, isn't it? Like we're all out here kind of exploring it. And some of us look like we got it under control and they're usually the ones that are like running around crazy.
23:50.27
Lorie Jones
They don't, they, they don't have it as under control. Nobody has it under control a hundred percent.
23:55.02
Marla Sofer
Yeah.
23:55.65
Lorie Jones
So. Yeah, ah that's that's really great advice. I love that. um Because as as women, both in career and and finance and stuff like that, we have a tendency to try and play it safe. um and And sometimes that idea of try taking a little bit of risk, maybe it's calculated risk, right?
24:16.68
Marla Sofer
Absolutely.
24:19.59
Lorie Jones
what about What scared you the most when you were starting out on your journey? Or is there anything that scared you? And does it still scare you? Or did you learn how to to work with that?
24:31.44
Marla Sofer
ah I still have a whole lot that scares me. I'm in the scariest place I think I've ever been in my career where I am um building something brand new, inventing a brand new category, trying to kind of see if I can make a company work from scratch um with zero support. I have to build it myself. I have to go out and kind of find investors to believe in my vision so that I can live long enough to sell the vision to then make money. it's ah It is quite scary prospect. I do feel that when I look back at my career, um both as ah as a kid growing up and where I am now, I've had a very, very, very strong sense of independence. And one of the things that scares me the most is being stifled. Is there something that is going to stop me from ah choosing my own destiny? Is it going to be out of my hands in some way? And I feel that
25:26.43
Marla Sofer
There's a lot of liberation and recognizing, no, you can kind of own it, but you also, um, like I wouldn't ever guide somebody who is struggling to make ends meet paycheck to paycheck and living on credit card debt to launch a company.
25:41.51
Marla Sofer
It's just not a good idea.
25:41.63
Lorie Jones
you
25:42.67
Marla Sofer
You've got to find stability. Um, once you find stability, then you can actually have so much more, uh, safe of a launch pad to go and do the things that you want to do because you've taken care of your future.
25:55.72
Marla Sofer
um or you've at least taken care of a part of your future, enough so that you can take a bit more risk on on how your income is going to be um you know allocated and win into the future.
26:07.51
Lorie Jones
Mm hmm. Mm hmm.
26:11.08
Marla Sofer
um But yeah, for me, the scariest part has been being stifled. like I think um we're here for a purpose. We should all jump into that purpose as strongly and as effectively as we can. And um it scares me when I see especially women who allow themselves to be shut down, who don't speak up, who um tolerate what they know is um not necessarily the behaviors that they have earned or deserve or others that they that they see that are not themselves.
26:46.50
Marla Sofer
um And so those are the types of things that that worry me.
26:51.26
Lorie Jones
I have a, um you know, several mentees or, or admin or, you know, just women that I've, I've kind of my daughters. And, and I can see what you're saying there. Like you, you want them, you want them to,
27:08.84
Lorie Jones
not you want them to try kind of you don't want them to get to that plateau where they're just accepting that this is the way it is and this is the way they should be treated and this is what they should expect and and be be grateful for but but try and grow and and maybe wave you know rock the boat just a little bit make a few waves and say i i think i i think i deserve a little bit more here
27:34.99
Marla Sofer
It's such a constant fight right because I feel like we are we are conditioned in many cases by society to feel that um we should be grateful for whatever whatever path we've got and not not rock the boat and not speak up and not and even suffer injustice and suffer kind of through things that we question, you know, I was I was the kid who um you know, and I love my grandparents dearly but I You know, we'd go to the big family dinners and all the all the guys and boys would be sitting down and the girls, you know, me would be up and serving everyone else and clearing the table.
28:06.92
Lorie Jones
Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
28:09.85
Marla Sofer
And, you know, these are very social norms that get deeply baked in.
28:15.00
Lorie Jones
And it's good to question those nowadays. And it may continue to, the you know, that's grandma and grandpa's way and that's the way we'll do it as long as they're here, that sort of thing. But but i I always do encourage my daughters to ask a few questions first.
28:33.73
Marla Sofer
Mm hmm,
28:35.87
Lorie Jones
So did you, but i e coming up through tech and finance and all the different journey, you know, spots and twists and turns that you've had, I'm sure, but did you face any unique challenges because you were a woman?
28:48.64
Marla Sofer
Yeah, loads. We don't have time on this podcast to go into all of the challenges. um I would say challenges and also the challenges sparked really important community. So the women that I'm closest with are the ones that went through those same unique challenges that I did. They they hit glass ceilings. They were told, I remember ah vividly being told by one of my managers that I was a too aggressive.
29:16.46
Marla Sofer
um And you know it back then, it wasn't blasted all over the media or like kind of in the training manuals that, hey, you probably shouldn't tell your female um employees that they're too aggressive. you You probably wouldn't do the same for your male employees. And and he never would you know have ever said that to his male employees. um i I literally left um one of my jobs, my private banking job, I left it because I did not like the maternity policy.
29:46.65
Marla Sofer
um The maternity policy was, I thought, very unfair. i The policy was you got one week of ah maternity leave for every year you had worked at the bank.
29:59.10
Marla Sofer
And I had worked there for two years. I got two weeks.
30:01.69
Lorie Jones
so Wow.
30:02.84
Marla Sofer
I know, right? um And so I left. I thought, this isn't right. I want to have another baby. And went at that point time to JP Morgan, they gave me an incredibly return to work package that they gave to new moms.
30:16.10
Marla Sofer
Um, I ended up having another baby there and got relocated and the benefits were phenomenal. Um, I also have this other story that rings in my head of, um, that I knew of somebody on my team who was male, uh, who was junior to me know and who was being paid more.
30:21.56
Lorie Jones
Mm hmm.
30:34.37
Marla Sofer
And I remember my manager saying, yes, but he's, he's supporting a family. And he, right. I love your facial expression. I was supporting a family as well. And I've always supported my family. I've always been my family's breadwinner. And um it's I think the norms have changed to where those types of comments are not acceptable anymore. um And it is because of the women who have spoken up, who have made a fuss and said, this this thing that you said, that doesn't work anymore in our society. You cannot say those things any longer. And you cannot believe and act on those things any longer.
31:10.06
Lorie Jones
yeah Yeah, I agree. And I think that that standing up and and speaking out and rocking the boat, making a few waves and saying, this is this is unfair. And as eight that actually, in a lot of ways, women will and men will rise up and support that. Because yeah I always say, you know men have daughters and wives and aunts and mothers, and they want them to be successful and fulfilled. and And we have a lot of advocates there too, you know, as far as like like standing up and and and advocating for, hey,
31:51.30
Lorie Jones
This isn't right.
31:53.00
Marla Sofer
one
31:53.90
Lorie Jones
but right This the right way to approach. This isn't the right thing to say. um And I love i love that that that message is becoming more universal throughout many different places.
32:04.06
Lorie Jones
And I can't believe they didn't give you more than two weeks maternity leave. You can't even take a shower in the first two weeks.
32:11.36
Marla Sofer
I know, I know. It's ridiculous. I know.
32:15.05
Lorie Jones
um
32:15.48
Marla Sofer
Um.
32:18.08
Lorie Jones
Marla, tell me what is the thing you are most proud of?
32:22.82
Marla Sofer
Uh, my kids. Um. I think that, ah and I know that you are also a proud mom, um having, and a lot of people that don't have kids have um a lot of people that they influence in their lives and kind of raise and and have an impact on. So I think that you don't have to have kids to have the same type of a relationship. But um for me, ah when I look at my children and they're 17 and 18 and a half, almost 19,
32:54.06
Marla Sofer
And I see that they are decent humans. they their you know They're decent humans. They're healthy. They're happy. They're they're pretty decently smart. you know I'm so proud.
33:05.07
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
33:05.80
Marla Sofer
like The bar is such that you know if I could bring decent humans into this world, I'm outrageously proud. um I am ah always surprised by how
33:13.30
Lorie Jones
yeah
33:20.03
Marla Sofer
They act as adults um and how many wonderful little features that they kind of bring into the world. um They're very, very, very different. My daughter is very similar to me in personality. My son is an extreme introvert, incredibly bright, but outrageously thoughtful. So what I was saying about being impatient and and sometimes not super thoughtful and rocking the boat, that's the opposite of him. He's so thoughtful and so deliberate in everything he does, and he inspires me all the time as well.
33:49.62
Lorie Jones
Oh, I love that. And you know it just gets better. My youngest is 18, going on 19, and my oldest is 26. And to watch them then go out and bring that that you know what they've been taught and their energy and their thoughts and all of their feelings into this world to to then pass on to the next generation, you know whether it be the people they interact with at work or God willing, and maybe I'll get some grandkids someday. But like as they pass that on, it's just such a sense of um accomplishment. And I find that I kind of get um that same sense of of pride with um you know now as i I'm nurturing those those relationships and in my and you know my staff, my team, as they grow and and develop.
34:44.96
Lorie Jones
So I don't think it's just kids that give you that sense of pride, but but i I feel it for you. and And I'm so excited that we all get to have that that that just that sense of accomplishment.
35:01.11
Marla Sofer
Yeah, for sure.
35:03.71
Lorie Jones
um But when they're being terrible, then that also is hard.
35:10.01
Lorie Jones
but you know you know You've had those moments where
35:10.94
Marla Sofer
Yes, there are stages and phases, yes.
35:13.59
Lorie Jones
Yeah. Yeah.
35:15.74
Marla Sofer
Yeah, but that's also humanness.
35:16.69
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
35:17.14
Marla Sofer
you know we all I certainly have been and sometimes still am very terrible to to my parents. and um I also look with them at them with incredible pride.
35:27.77
Marla Sofer
um And so the pride I look at my parents with is you know kind of how I look at my kids.
35:27.99
Lorie Jones
yeah
35:32.92
Marla Sofer
And I feel like that I'm excited that they are going into the world to have impact, to care about what's right, to ah yeah to embrace the behaviors that they've seen and have kind of come passed down to them ah in a way that that allows them to make real change in the world.
35:49.76
Lorie Jones
Yeah, I love that. and And I do think I have such hope for this um you know this next generation. They just are so such bright, kind, accepting, just lovely people.
36:02.09
Lorie Jones
I cannot wait to see what how they change the world.
36:02.33
Marla Sofer
Mm hmm.
36:04.80
Lorie Jones
I think it's going to be amazing.
36:07.47
Marla Sofer
Likewise.
36:08.86
Lorie Jones
So any advice, Marla, for those, a young lady who's listening to this, um who's just maybe starting down the path that you're already really successful at, anything that, any advice that you would help her out with?
36:23.40
Marla Sofer
Hmm, so I would say two things one is to trust her intuition um Sometimes there's that really sneaky ah Voice inside your head and it's very easy to ignore um And listen to other voices that are loud and kind of drowning that one out It's really important to pay attention to that small little voice that knows what it's doing And the other thing is think big think bigger Whatever you're thinking, times 10, times 500, times 10,000, think much, much bigger than the way you're thinking now. We are, unfortunately, as women, conditioned to stay in our box and to think small. And I think the more we think big and the more we squeeze every opportunity we have to grow and and be big and have a much bigger impact on the world than
37:19.19
Marla Sofer
you know, we will we will kind of increase the impact of our of our voices and our change. um I would also say move on when you're ready. You'll know when that is. If you get to the point where you're in your life and it can be a career, it can be a personal thing, it could be whatever it might be. If there is something telling you that, hey, I think I've kind of tapped this opportunity out to its max, then listen to that.
37:46.29
Marla Sofer
um It kind of has broken my heart several times in my career where I was a newbie and I've been a newbie in many jobs but I was surrounded by people who had been there for 25 30 years and It was astounding to me that they were such an expert at this tiny little thing How amazing would it be if they took that expertise and applied it in a different setting and in a different setting and every every single one of those settings would have benefited from that and
38:05.34
Lorie Jones
Mm hmm. Mm hmm.
38:12.95
Marla Sofer
that reapplication of really valuable expertise.
38:16.15
Lorie Jones
Mm hmm.
38:17.27
Marla Sofer
And so I would say, yeah, don't be afraid to move. Move around.
38:21.11
Lorie Jones
Yeah. Yeah. Scary is all heck sometimes, but so worth it. I, I've never interviewed, I've never interviewed one yet that has said I regretted doing something, but I have had a lot of women say, I regret not doing something.
38:41.04
Marla Sofer
Hmm.
38:41.05
Lorie Jones
And so I think that that kind of try it, try it. What's the worst that can happen?
38:46.94
Marla Sofer
Yeah.
38:48.24
Lorie Jones
I love that. and And I do think dream big is a really important thought too. like you like if you If you fail at the huge, gigantic, ginormous dream, you're still shooting in the stars there.
39:03.63
Marla Sofer
Yeah. yeah
39:06.21
Lorie Jones
Marla, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me today. I've just really enjoyed this conversation. And thank you for taking your time to to to help my listeners and to kind of um just Just share your story and your journey.
39:21.28
Lorie Jones
If I have someone who's listening and they want to get in touch with you and ask some questions, how do they do that?
39:27.25
Marla Sofer
The best is on LinkedIn, Marla Sofer. um Go to the Nomi website. A lot of people put a W. There's no W. K-N-O-M-E-E dot.com um is the best way. um But yeah, you can reach out to me at Marla at Nomi dot.com or on LinkedIn.
39:44.17
Lorie Jones
Perfect. Well, thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it.
39:48.33
Marla Sofer
It's my pleasure. Thanks, Lori.