Hello and welcome! My name is Laura J. LaTourette, and I use “she/her/hers” pronouns. It’s great to meet you. I’m looking forward to spending time with you today.
Wasn’t that easy?
I have been sharing my pronouns professionally for some time now on social media, during video meetings, and in discussions. The more I share my pronouns, and the more I normalize sharing them, the more I notice a pronoun gap across the financial services industry. I’m seeing this gap in event invitations, professional biographies on industry websites, and social media profiles — and I also see this as a fabulous opportunity to invite advocacy and inclusiveness.
As leaders in the financial services industry, we need to begin closing this gap and start actively participating in the inclusive practice of pronoun sharing.
Why sharing pronouns matters
When you share pronouns as a member of the LGBTQ community, as an advocate, or as an ally, you are signaling that you understand that our pronouns matter. You are sending a welcoming, positive message while advocating for the LGBTQ community.
And more importantly, you are showing empathy and respect. As
Think of sharing your pronouns as opening a door for people to walk through, where they can be comfortable bringing their whole selves to the discussion, and where they can be comfortable being authentic.
How to do it
When people share pronouns, they are generally using third person pronouns and thinking about how they would like others to refer to them. So, think about how you would like to be referred to, and share that information. Maybe your pronouns are she/her/hers like mine; or maybe you use other non-binary pronouns, such as they/them/their. The options for sharing pronouns are extensive.
Next, think about all the ways that you can share your pronouns — both verbally and across your digital presences. (I’ll say more about this in a bit.)
Financial services leaders can open doors
I am grateful to be part of an ongoing discussion about diversity, equity and inclusion priorities in our industry; sharing pronouns is currently top of mind. I asked several peers whom I share practice management and other industry ideas with about their views on pronoun-sharing in our industry. This helps us all think about our leadership opportunity in financial services and the impact of using shared language.
Let’s step up and make a difference with pronouns.
Pronouns Q&A with my network
Why is it especially important for financial advisors to use pronouns?
“Pronouns for many of us are something we don’t really think about or may take for granted in everyday life. If you identify with the gender you were assigned at birth, pronouns might not be something you’ve had to think about. If you or someone in your life is transgender, or gender fluid, then this is really important that you understand how they want to be referred as. This shows you care and are respectful.” — Marci Bair, CFP® (she/her/hers), President and Founder,
“I feel it is important for us to make our clients and prospective clients as comfortable as possible so that they can fully share who they are. We feel that one way to do this is to know what pronouns our clients prefer using. Using someone’s correct personal pronouns is a way to respect them and create an inclusive environment. This goes for employees and other people we encounter, not just clients. Understanding someone’s pronouns starts our relationship off on a good foot from the very beginning and shows you respect who they are as a person.” — Marci Bair, CFP® (she/her/hers)
“I think pronouns are important for multiple reasons. First, it's an acknowledgement that we shouldn't assume we know someone's pronouns just by looking at him/her/them. Second, it keeps us conscious as advisors to be careful about making assumptions in general about our clients. Lastly, it creates a more inclusive and welcoming space for those who are often misgendered.” — Brian Thompson, JD, CFP® (he/him/his), Founder,
“As financial professionals, it is critical to establish trust with our clients. One of the primary ways we earn trust from clients is by listening. All clients want to be heard and understood by someone with whom they share so many intimate details of their financial life. By giving a client the opportunity to share their pronouns, we are creating a safe space and signaling to clients that they can bring their full selves to the relationship.” — Danika Waddell, CFP®, CSLP (she/her/hers),
“As financial advisors, we are in the business of creating trust and building strong relationships. That is the core of what we do. The primary way to create that environment is by providing a safe space where the client can speak freely about their goals and objectives, knowing confidently that their advisor will be empathetic and understanding. At the end of the day, the core responsibility of an advisor is to make prudent recommendations based on their entire situation. Many people who prefer a certain pronoun will tell you. One way that we, as advisors, can show that we’re open to this is by stating our own pronouns.” — Adam Rudolph, CFP®, (he/him/his),
Do you have an anecdote you could share illustrating a time where you did not feel welcomed in our industry as a queer or non-binary person? What could have been done by your fellow financial professionals to make you feel welcomed in that situation?
“I don't identify as non-binary, so I don't have an experience in that realm. But as a queer person, I've had plenty of situations at conferences or Zoom meetings were people make assumptions about my sexual orientation. I think a simple solution is not making assumptions about a person's gender or sexual orientation. Meaning, leave space for people to tell you about their pronouns and sexual orientation.”—– Brian Thompson, JD, CFP® (he/him/his)
“The truth is that this industry has historically been dominated by “old white straight males,” which has definitely caused some issues along the way. One issue I can recall occurred earlier in my career at a previous firm. I was still in the closet at the time. A fellow older advisor and I met with a gay single client. I was new to the relationship and meeting the client for the first time. On our way to the meeting, the advisor was educating me about the client’s situation. The advisor tip-toed around the fact that the client was gay, and never explicitly said it to me. During the meeting, there was very little conversation about his personal life and it felt a bit transactional. This made me sad, because all I wanted to do was tell him I was gay, too. I image that would’ve helped to create a sense of comfort for the client and would’ve led to them more freely opening up.” — Adam Rudolph, CFP® (he/him/his)
What are some best practices for firms and financial professionals with respect to pronouns?
“I understand that there are few gay financial advisors out there, so it was probably difficult for this client [in the above example] to find an advisor that make him feel fully safe. With that said, you do not need to be gay to make gay clients feel safe. You just need to show that you’re an ally. This begs the question: how do you show that you’re an ally? One place to start is by sharing your pronouns. The world is constantly progressing and becoming more open to the LGBTQ+ community. In fact, 1 in 6 people in Gen Z identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community. It’s time to start educating advisors on how to create that safe space, because it’s likely that a majority of their clients have a close tie or relative that’s part of the community.” — Adam Rudolph, CFP® (he/him/his)
“An easy way to break the ice and have a person be comfortable with you is to make sure that you have shared your own pronouns. Sharing your pronouns is a great way to encourage and make them more comfortable to share theirs. We’ve begun displaying our preferred pronouns on our email signature. All of my team members have their pronouns listed and we are adding this to our website. On our initial client introductory forms we ask for our prospective clients to share if they are LGBTQ and what their preferred pronouns are. This allows them to know we are sensitive to who they are and allows us to address them properly from the beginning of our relationship. Taking the time to find out and then properly use an individual’s pronouns is one of the easiest and most direct ways to show that you respect and validate a person’s identity.” — Marci Bair, CFP® (she/her/hers)
“I specifically ask for pronouns on intake forms and tend to avoid gendered terms like husband, wife, son, daughter and instead use spouse and child. I also state my pronouns on social media, emails and Zoom meetings. I also make sure to acknowledge and apologize if I misgender someone and do my best not to make the same mistakes in the future.” — Brian Thompson, JD, CFP® (he/him/his)
“To be frank, we really shouldn’t assume anything about a person until they tell us. By leading with my correct pronouns, I am helping to normalize that conversation and indicate what my pronouns are in situations where I am meeting new folks, as in, my name is Danika and I use she/her pronouns. In the same way that I appreciate when someone wants to pronounce my name correctly, wanting to refer to someone with the correct pronouns shows a level of interest and empathy in ‘getting it right.’ ” — Danika Waddell, CFP®, CSLP (she/her/hers)
Show us your pronouns
After hearing from Marci, Brian, Danika, and Adam, are you feeling inspired? If you haven’t been stating your pronouns consistently or aren’t sure how to get started, here are 10 steps you can take today:
1. Update your social media profiles. Take note of LinkedIn’s change for profiles as of March 30; LinkedIn members can select pronouns from a predefined list and can also customize pronouns.
2. Update your email signature. I recently followed Marci’s lead and am including a link to
3. Add pronouns to your professional biographies on your website and any biographies you share with media and conference/event organizers.
4. Add pronouns to your profile for video meetings that you host. When joining video meetings, add pronouns to your profile.
5. Add pronouns to your media bylines.
6. Review your business documentation such as discovery forms and add a pronoun option.
7. Ask your colleagues and/or peers to update their pronouns. Send a simple email request to 10 colleagues.
8. Consider starting a #FollowFriday discussion, where you elevate colleagues and friends in your network who are using their pronouns.
9. Register for
10. Add pronouns to your business cards.
Thank you for spending time with me today and considering the importance of pronoun usage in our industry. Until next time…let’s share our pronouns and open welcoming doors!
