Building Financial Confidence in Women

Kathleen Owings is the Principal and Financial Advisor of Westbilt Financial Group, an independent financial advisory firm providing comprehensive planning for clients wanting to achieve personal goals. In 2007, Kathleen began her career in the financial services industry with New England Financial. Her licensure is in life and health insurance and she maintains Series 6, 7, 63, and 65 securities registrations. Kathleen’s book, Put Your Money to Work: A Woman's Guide to Financial Confidence, helps women take control of their finances. 

Kathleen graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2000. After serving for eight years as an active duty officer in the Army Corps of Engineers, she retired — but continued to commit herself to selfless service.

In this episode…

For decades, the financial service industry has been known as a male-dominated field. This has caused women to shy away from pursuing a career in the industry. How can we boost women’s confidence and encourage them in the profession? 

Kathleen Owings resolved to pursue a uniquely challenging and rewarding life as an army officer. After eight years of service, she transitioned to the financial service industry — two unrelated professions that share underlying values. The meticulous planning, thoughtful design, and flexible execution Kathleen learned as an army officer are what she utilizes to find confidence, traction, and success in the financial service space. She wrote Put Your Money to Work as a woman's guide to financial confidence. 

In this episode of Advisor Today, Chris Gandy and Suzanne Carawan sit down with Kathleen Owings, Principal and Financial Advisor of Westbilt Financial Group, to discuss how women can gain financial confidence. Kathleen talks about her introduction to the financial service industry and the obstacles she had to overcome, advice for upcoming financial advisors, why she wrote Put Your Money to Work, and the discrepancies between men and women in the industry.