Lauren Simmons knows a thing or two about making history.
At age 22, she became the youngest female trader on the New York Stock Exchange and the second Black woman in the Exchanges’ 228-year history to hold her position, making her #BlackGirlMagic personified. Now, she’s upping the ante with a recently inked deal with Spotify.
Her podcast, “Mind Body Wealth with Lauren Simmons,” which launched late last month, gets real with listeners about their relationship with money. The show features intimate conversations with guests where she helps them navigate the nuances of their personal relationships with money and finances, along with showing listeners how to make money work for them so they can live their best life.
Simmons has been involved in many money conversations over the years. Now, she’s ready to share her behind-the-scenes insights. Simmons’ Mind Body Wealth podcast will give her another platform to share money insights and talk to other leaders about their relationship with money.
Recently when speaking with Essence, Simmons got real about her experience on the trading room floor.
“I started on the trading floor as an intern, making $5 an hour, if that,” Simmons revealed. “It was a rite of passage…. Other employees on the trading floor would say, ‘Oh, you’re supposed to start from the bottom.’ Which—I agree, but then I don’t, because I think people should be [compensated accordingly for] their time. Ultimately I told them, ‘You’re not even paying me minimum wage.’ And they were able to hike it up to $23,000. And that is how much I was making on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange.”
Lauren also detailed why she made the decision to leave the trading floor to pursue other interests.
“I loved working on the trading floor. I genuinely mean that. Even making my small amount of money, I loved going into work every single day. But I did see that our clients were institutional clients, and they were all white men. And it was starting to frustrate me that there weren’t more women, and people of color, that were in those spaces. So because of that, I said, ‘I’d rather empower people to be financially savvy.’”
And empower people is exactly what she plans to do on her show.
“I felt it was more rewarding for me to empower the next generation when it came to finances than for me to become a product of a company,” Simmons told Know Your Value. “And here I am. We are 100 percent going to change the narrative.”
She adds, “People can talk about sex, politics and so many taboo subjects, but people are so hesitant to talk about money. You need to know, ‘what is your relationship with money?’ It’s one of the most instrumental things if you want to change your financial circumstances.”