EMPOWERED WOMAN
Rosalie Schlaen is not only the face of international wealth leadership at Pinnacle Investments, but also the proud mother of three lovely, empowered women. Her financial career began at Morgan Stanley and was at Merrill Lynch for 24 years before joining Pinnacle Investments in 2019.
B
orn in Argentina, Rosalie uses her multi-language background to focus on domestic and international relationships, serving clients in several countries. More than her credentials (certified financial planner, certified investment management analyst, and chartered retirement planning counselor), Rosalie is committed to great customer service. She has served as a board member of several nonprofit organizations including 13 years with the Hollywood Planning and Zoning commission and the Jewish National Fund. She also served as the President of the Latin Chapter of the Keren Kayemet organization. -How did you balance your family life and career? I believe in work and family integration. The challenge was looking at all the pieces of the puzzle and seeing how I could seamlessly blend my everyday work priorities with my love and commitment to being the best wife and mother I could be. -What were some of your challenges? One of the biggest issues I faced as a young mother was that there wasn’t a good role model for me to look up to and I felt like a new immigrant without my family as support, I had to lean on my intuition and good sense. I was flying blind sometimes. At one point in my career, juggling a full-time job with three young children, I had to scale back my hours to facilitate the classic afterschool childcare dilemma. I was also challenged with my modest knowledge of the English language at the time.
Once when I was told that there were no part-time positions available at my job, I insisted and pushed the company to accommodate this request. It was probably the first time they had ever been asked! This has been one of my guiding principles, if it didn’t work for my family, then it just wasn’t practical. -Are your daughters empowered women such as yourself? My daughters are even more empowered than I am! They are all three remarkable professionals (two doctors and one lawyer/MBA) and each is married with three children. They have done an outstanding job of balancing their careers and families and I’m so proud of them. -What was your top inspirational phrase that guided them throughout their careers? Because my mother was a widow at 36 and I watched her struggle to support her family, I have always encouraged and maybe even insisted that my children be financially self-sufficient. I also said that no matter what you do, you should feel passion for your career, and it should provide both a living and personal fulfillment. -What makes you the proudest of your daughters? They are accomplished professionals that know their potential. They are great mothers and are good partners to their spouses. They have shown me how women can balance everything! They are also fun, loving, and great daughters. I feel so blessed and lucky.
