Women’s History Month Advisor Spotlight: Alexandra J. Miele of Hierax Wealth Partners

In honor of Women’s History Month, Hightower is highlighting the incredible lives and career paths of some of the women who make up Hightower’s collaborative advisor community. Throughout the month, we are releasing a series of video interviews with six of the firm’s female advisors and employees, hosted by Hightower’s Chief Investment Strategist and Portfolio Manager Stephanie Link, and posting snippets from those conversations right here on the blog.

Today, Stephanie chats with Alexandra Miele, who is Managing Director and Partner at Hierax Wealth Partners in Madison, Connecticut. A passionate advocate for financial education, Alex puts a focus on educating clients and members of her community on the various stages of financial planning and investing.

Read below for their conversation, which has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Stephanie Link: Today I am excited to introduce Alex Miele, what an inspiration! Such an up-and-comer, a rising star. I can’t wait to hear about how you came into your career, and what’s next for you.

Alex Miele: Thank you so much for that, Stephanie. I am so happy to be here with you today talking about women getting into finance, because it is certainly a passion of mine. I have sort of grown up in this career, as I started right out of college. I was 21 years old and had no idea how I was going to make it work, as I didn’t really know anyone. But thankfully, with some wonderful mentorship and guidance, I found not only my career, but also my passion.

Stephanie Link: Tell me how you got to Hightower, and why you chose education as a focus point.

Alex Miele: In 2008, I was a very ambitious undergrad studying economics and financial services. I decided I was going to graduate a year early, and then realized I needed an internship. So, I took my resume and I walked door to door at every financial firm in my small shoreline town. I just so happened to knock on the door of my previous partners.

I said, hey! I’ll work for free! I just really want to learn the business. Luckily an advisor in their group needed an intern, and they gave me the opportunity to work with them. Over time I got to know the business, understand their practice and really appreciate how they prioritized putting the client’s best interests first. It was really powerful for me to see finance brought to the mainstream. We were helping people through really complex issues.

As I was building my career, I had kind of a light bulb moment, when I realized how many people don’t really understand investing – they don’t know what risk they’re taking, or the purpose of their investments. I love to teach, get into deep conversations and roll up my sleeves, and I realized there was an opportunity for me to help my clients and my community with the educational component. I started giving seminars, speaking at community colleges – I was always focused on finding ways to give back. As people got to know my style, they felt a little bit more comfortable approaching me.

Our practice made the leap to go independent in 2013 – we were previously with Merrill. We could not be happier with the environment that Hightower has given us to build our business and take care of our clients.

Stephanie Link: Wow, OK, so you were just cold calling to try and get your foot in the door when you first started – that is NOT easy. It takes gut, grit and determination, plus thick skin because you know you’re going to get turned down. Your focus on teaching is so smart, as that is a wonderful way to build trust. That’s why you are so successful at what you’re doing. Let me ask you, what motivates you?

Alex Miele: I think any advisor in this business who really is committed to putting their clients’ best interests first is motivated by taking care of the client. For example, maybe your client recently lost a spouse, the person in their life who was driving the financial decisions. What I’ve found is that this situation can be kind of a natural entry into working with female PAs and attorneys to help clients – mostly women – coming into money for the first time. Unfortunately, many of these women are not used to making these financial decisions. They want somebody who can not only teach them what to do, but also empower them to make the right decisions.

To me, there’s no better feeling than seeing a client I’ve sat with through a rough patch in their life coming out the other side empowered about their financial plan, understanding their investments and next steps. Educating clients – especially women – to feel comfortable and confident about investing is very fulfilling. I’m just really about women helping women. We gotta stick together and build each other up.

To learn more about how Hightower supports women advisors, email us at advisorsuccess@hightoweradvisors.com

Hightower Advisors, LLC is an SEC registered investment adviser. Securities are offered through Hightower Securities, LLC, Member FINRA/SIPC.