Planet Money

Financial advising while Black


Listen Later

After a successful career in advertising, Erika Williams decided it was time for a change. She went back to school to get an MBA at the University of Chicago, and eventually, in 2012, she got a job at Wells Fargo as a financial advisor. It was the very job she wanted.

Erika is Black–and being a Black financial advisor at a big bank is relatively uncommon. Banking was one of the last white collar industries to really hire Black employees. And when Erika gets to her office, she's barely situated before she starts to get a weird feeling. She feels like her coworkers are acting strangely around her.

"I was just met with a lot of stares. And then the stares just turned to just, I mean, they just pretty much ignored me. And that was my first day, and that was my second day. And it was really every day until I left."

She wasn't sure whether to call her experience racism...until she learned that there were other Black employees at other Wells Fargo offices feeling the exact same way.On today's episode, Erika's journey through these halls of money and power. And why her story is not unique, but is just one piece of the larger puzzle.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in
Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Planet MoneyBy NPR

  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6

4.6

29,578 ratings


More shows like Planet Money

View all
This American Life by This American Life

This American Life

90,981 Listeners

Radiolab by WNYC Studios

Radiolab

43,993 Listeners

Freakonomics Radio by Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

Freakonomics Radio

32,291 Listeners

Hidden Brain by Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

Hidden Brain

43,740 Listeners

The NPR Politics Podcast by NPR

The NPR Politics Podcast

25,915 Listeners

Marketplace by Marketplace

Marketplace

8,780 Listeners

Marketplace Morning Report by Marketplace

Marketplace Morning Report

935 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

112,952 Listeners

Up First from NPR by NPR

Up First from NPR

56,991 Listeners

The Indicator from Planet Money by NPR

The Indicator from Planet Money

9,573 Listeners

Throughline by NPR

Throughline

16,429 Listeners

Short Wave by NPR

Short Wave

6,568 Listeners

Consider This from NPR by NPR

Consider This from NPR

6,457 Listeners

People I (Mostly) Admire by Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

People I (Mostly) Admire

2,064 Listeners

Planet Money Summer School by NPR

Planet Money Summer School

184 Listeners

The Economics of Everyday Things by Freakonomics Network & Zachary Crockett

The Economics of Everyday Things

1,680 Listeners

Planet Money: We Invested in Gold by NPR

Planet Money: We Invested in Gold

2 Listeners

Planet Money: We Set Up a Shell Company by NPR

Planet Money: We Set Up a Shell Company

8 Listeners

Planet Money: We Bought a Toxic Asset by NPR

Planet Money: We Bought a Toxic Asset

2 Listeners