We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Pattie Ehsaei. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Pattie below.

Alright, Pattie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

When I moved from Chicago to Los Angeles in 2001, I took the California Bar and expected to practice law, as I was doing in Chicago. However, I knew I couldn’t afford to work as a prosecutor any longer due to the marginal pay and my high student loan balance. So I had to work at a firm, sitting behind a desk most of the days, which wasn’t so appealing.

While waiting for my bar results, a friend asked that I attend a job fair with him so he wouldn’t be alone. I had nothing else going on at the time, so I agreed.

I spent most of the time being his side-kick as he spoke with the potential employers at their booths. One recruiter wanted to speak with him at length, so I walked around by myself and ended up waiting near the exit door.

There, I started a conversation with the man at the Wells Fargo booth. Initially, it was just small talk as I certainly wasn’t interested in a job in finance. But after a while, I realized he was trying to recruit me for the merchant services division at Wells Fargo. This division sold credit card processing to businesses, it was a sales job. And since I had already been a lawyer for over 5 years, I certainly wasn’t interested in “schleping” credit card processing door to door.

But instead of cutting him off, I listened. And I also asked questions. Turned out, this division was growing exponentially and if I performed, I could be in a management position within 6 months. And given Wells Fargo was such a large organization, there was plenty of room for upward mobility. That was the intriguing part.

And what I also knew is that being a prosecutor required many of the same skills needed to success in sales. On a daily basis, I had to sell my story to a judge or a jury, convincing them to buy what I was selling. So I knew I had the skills.

What it really came down to was my willingness to take a risk. Did I want to sit behind a desk all day in a stuffy firm, or did I have the guts to take this risk and try something new?

After much thought, I decided to bet on myself and take the merchant services position. I knew that I had what it took to be successful in anything I did, and this wasn’t going to be any different. I could always go back to being a lawyer, but if I didn’t take this risk, I would never know.

I took a leap of faith, within 4 months I was the number one sales person in the country, and two months later, I was promoted to a territory manager. And the rest is history.

22 years later, I am the Senior Vice President of Mergers & Acquisitions financing, and I’ve never looked back.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I was born in Iran and immigrated to the US when I was 7 years old. I did not speak a word of English, and had a very difficult time fitting in. My parents were not able to obtain jobs in their respective careers in Iran, and thus, our family struggled financially.

Not only was the language barrier challenging, but I also suffered from ADHD and dyslexia, which was not diagnosed until Iater in life.

Despite these challenges, I was determined to make something of myself and kept pushing through the hardship.

I law school, I held 3 part time jobs while attending the full time program in order to make ends meets.

I managed to land my dream job as a criminal prosecutor in Chicago, yet still held a waitressing job in the evenings due to the low wages paid by the government.

I moved to California in 2001 to marry my finance of 5 years. Ultimately, things didn’t work out between us, but moving to California was one of the best things to have happened to me.

I started a career in finance, and moved my way up the ladder.

I was always passionate about giving back, so I became very involved in the Big Brother Big Sister program. I was a Big Sister and spoke at their events from time to time.

Right before the pandemic, I was scheduled to speak at 3 Big Brothers Big Sisters events in Los Angeles. The events were cancelled due to the lockdown.

I was disappointed because I had great ideas I wanted to share with the youth and no platform. That is when I decided to start making videos on TikTok, providing the information that was valuable to younger individuals, focusing on financial literacy, workplace decorum, and female empowerment.

My TikTok channel took off and has grown to over 985,000 followers today.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Straight, no-nonsense communication which can be implemented immediately that yields positive results. I don’t sugar coat the truth and everything I produce has to provide some sort of value. It’s never fluff.

Before I put out a video, I always ask, does this provide value and how? If I can’t answer both questions, it doesn’t go out.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

In addition to my no-nonsense approach and providing valuable content, you have to be very organized. It’s truly like running a business.

You first have to become familiar with the algorithm and be consistent. When I first started, I posted 3 videos a day for months and moths. That equates to at least 90 videos a month. It was brutal.

I also made sure that my videos looked good, with proper lighting, sound, and editing. If you want people to follow you, you have to give them a professional looking platform.

I also have a spreadsheet which organizes all my videos, including scheduling and keeping track of all the videos posted.

All of this is very time consuming, so you have to be willing to do the work and put in the time.

Contact Info:

• Website: pattieehsaei.com
• Instagram: @duchessofdecorum
• Facebook: Duchess of Decorum
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pattie-ehsaei-a785589/
• Twitter: @decorumduchess
• Youtube: Duchess of Decorum
• Other: Tik Tok: @duchess of decorum

Image Credits
Greg Crowder