We recently connected with Amal Hagisufi and have shared our conversation below.

Amal, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with education – we’d love to hear your thoughts about how we can better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career

My life experiences as a Somali woman and growing up in a low-income neighborhood have shown me the significant disparities in our educational system. Although I was blessed with a strong support system that encouraged my drive for higher education, there was a lack of opportunity and access in my neighborhood. The harsh realities quickly became evident; I was going to have to work twice as hard to earn an adequate education, especially from a racial and socioeconomic standpoint. It was not until I began my masters program that I started to develop a theoretical understanding for the inequalities I merely noticed in undergrad. With this growing understanding, I spent 3 years addressing educational disparities in impoverished neighborhoods and I was inspired by my students everyday. I spent time preparing disadvantaged students for higher education and help make it a priority for them. It wasn’t that these students were lacking motivation, it was that they were lacking in resources and access to opportunities.

Not all education is created equal. The inequality starts with how schools are funded. If schools are funded by property taxes and homes in low income areas are worth less, as a result the schools in those neighborhoods now have less funding. Less funding means bigger student to teacher ratios, it means older books and less access to technology and internet services, it means less training for teachers, it means that there aren’t enough funding to incentivize teachers to come teach at these school, honestly the list can go on.

I think the question to ask isn’t how students can prepare but how school reform can provide quality education regardless of race and socioeconomic level

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I was teaching students math and through my research and collection of data, I realized how the lack of personal finance has impacted the community I was serving and the students I was teaching. Having summers off allowed me to explore different jobs and internships; that is exactly what I did. I ended up interning for an investment firm and the rest is history. After my internship, they offered me a position and I was on my way to making a bigger impact on people’s lives.

I essentially help individuals make better financial decisions. The financial plans I create for my individual clients are holistic guides to achieving their goals. Each goal is specific and unique to the person’s situation; their wants and needs. What sets me apart from other individuals that do what I do is that no one comes with my perspective. The amount of black women in my industry is less than 4%, to add to that, being of Islamic faith and an immigrant, I am practically a unicorn in my field. Not only do I come from humble beginnings, I appreciate and respect my clients’ work ethic and I want to ensure that I can help them achieve their goals. Finding a passion like mine is hard to find.

Now I provide the knowledge I have acquired through my certificates, designations and working with my clients on my platforms for free so that people can have access to personal finance

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

This question is a testament to faith and speaking things into existence. Not many people can say they met their business partner during the peak of the Pandemic. I knew starting my business that I always wanted to have an all women team. The crazy part is that I did not have a timeline in mind. Today both my business partner and assistant are both women.

Our main office was closed during the Pandemic but open for us to work from That is what I did. I needed to get out of the house, so I would work remotely from the office and so did my business partner. Since we were the only two ever there, we talked and got to know each other. Eventually, we had a natural and organic relationship forming. Before we knew it, we decided to blend out businesses and our business has grown in double digits year to year since.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

The most effective strategy in growing clientele is treating every single client as if they were your favorite. Simply listening to them and giving undivided attention. Who better to tell my story and be my field cheerleaders than those who have already worked with me. I am a point in my business where my best clients have been referrals from those I least expected. If I hadn’t treated, even my smallest client, as if they’re my top one percent, I may not be where I am today in my business.

I strongly believe that, I have been on the receiving end of bad service and I realized how many people i knew who could have used their services but because I didn’t get good service, I wasn’t going to refer.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dosesofher/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amalhagisufi
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/dosesofher