Today we’d like to introduce you to Tanya Torres
Hi Tanya, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I am a first generation Latina that had very little guidance when it came to money. I was very fortunate to have 2 very hardworking parents that taught me the work ethic and ambition I have now. I am also the youngest of 4 children, so I was lucky to have 2 older sisters as second mom’s you can say, as my mom worked long hours and neither one of my parents spoke English.
I graduated from Santa Paula High School. Santa Paula is a small town in Ventura County. It is the suburbs of Southern California and most people have never heard of it. SPHS was a small school with limited resources and primarily first gen student, and most people that graduated didn’t go directly into a 4 year university. I was no different– upon graduating, I realized that I had not applied to any UC’s because a counselor suggested I stick to CSUs. I decided to take a gap year and re-apply to UC’s with UCLA being my dream school. I didn’t get into UCLA but I began my journey at UCI in 2011.
Living in Orange County opened a whole new world. Even interacting with students of different ethnicities and higher socio-economic classes was eye opening. As a small town girl, my eyes opened to the possibilities and opportunities available. One week before starting my last year at UC Irvine, my entire life changed. I was on my way home from a night out at the LA County fair and I was excited because my friends and I were getting the keys to our Newport Beachhouse the next day and starting 4th year!
I never made it home— I was hit head on by a drunk driver going the wrong way on the freeway. I was rushed to Santa Ana Medical trauma center where doctors told my family I had a 15% chance of survival. I spent 31 days in a coma, underwent 6 surgeries including a complete knee replacement, but I survived. I had to withdraw completely from school because physically, it took a full year to recover. In the meantime, I had to move back home so my parents could help me move around.
I did eventually make it back to UC Irvine and I graduated with a Bachelors in Business Economics with an emphasis in Finance. I thought my life was just starting to feel a little normal again, when my dad suddenly became sick in 2017. After 6 weeks in the ICU, he lost the battle against Necrotizing Fasciitis, a rare flesh eating bacteria that doctors said they had only read about in textbooks.
As a way to cope with the grief of losing my father, I made my side hustle as a makeup artist, a full time job. I was a makeup artist for YSL Beauty but the job was not paying the bills. Out of desperation, I started applying to any job I could find on Indeed, just crossing my fingers that something would stick. At the time, I was in such a bad mental state, that I did not care about much, nor did I feel very motivated to do anything. By the miracle of god, I landed an interview at Merrill Lynch to their advisor development program. After 3 rounds of gruesome interviews I got the job.
I began my career at Merrill Lynch as the only Spanish speaking Latina in the entire market that spanned from Santa Barbara to Century City. I joined a team where I worked under an incredible advisor who took me under his wing and taught me sooo much about portfolio management and the financial markets. I spent the next 3 years servicing a book of business of $500+ million in assets under management.
I decided to pursue my Certificate in Financial Planning and my perspective on the entire industry began to shift. I realized that although we served Ultra high net worth clients at Merrill, we didn’t do a whole lot of financial planning for them, the focus was merely on investment management. As I began to integrate more planning into client servicing, I got the opportunity to work with an independent firm based out of Houston. I dove head first into the planning world.
Fast forward a few months later, I was recruited as the Director of investments for an agency based out of Austin. So now, not only do I manage my own clients, but I oversee the investment department of the firm and I am in charge of training for new advisors.
Leaving my job on Wall Street was one of the scariest things I ever did. Now, I am proud to be a part of the 3% of Latina Certified Financial Planners and to bring these resources to people that are often overlooked because of their income or perceived assets.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road was not smooth at all, but smooth waters don’t make for good sailors.
One of my biggest and ongoing struggles has been internal– the constant overthinking and the imposter syndrome that takes over just as a new breakthrough is near.
I have found that the limits that exist are only the ones we set in our mind.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am on a mission to help people feel courageous, empowered and inspired to create a life that they love. In my short life, I have experienced great adversity and life changing difficulties. My biggest goal is to inspire others by sharing my own experiences and vulnerabilities. I live by the mantra that no one is exempt from the struggles of life–but there’s a reason life was hard. Sometimes we are tested not to show our weaknesses but to discover our strengths. By detailing the internal transformation that these experiences provided me, I can not only relate to the audience, I can inspire them to use the obstacles in their life as building blocks.
As a Certified Financial Planner, I help people take control of their finances and spend and plan purposely in order to live their ideal life. I enjoy my job so much, that it never feels like a job. I work with clients across the country in a collaborative manner to not only enhance their financial literacy, to serve as a coach and objective professional that can guide them through the changing chapters of life.
People definitely know me as the finance girl. I enjoy using my social media platforms to share educational content and information and every time I run into people in real life, they share how much they enjoy following me.
I think what sets me apart from other advisors in the field is my upbringing as a first generation Latina in combination with my experience at a major investment firm, Merrill Lynch. Not only can I understand some of the internal struggles people face with money, and old habits learned from parents and culture. I have the experience in working with high net worth individuals and sharing my knowledge in a simplified way to a wider audience.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
On a professional level, what matters to me most is my reputation. I take pride in being known as the credible and knowledge financial advisor. Often the financial services industry gets a bad rep because of professionals that don’t keep their clients best interests in the forefront, but not me. I would rather do work for free than recommend a product or a strategy that won’t put my client in a better position financially.
On a personal level, my family is everything. I am so fortunate to have a loving husband, a beautiful 3 month old daughter, a supportive mom, 2 amazing sisters, 3 nieces that keep me young and 4 nephews that keep me on my toes. After my car accident, and after losing my dad, I cherish every minute I can with them and try to enjoy every minute of it. Life is precious and short and I know that on such a deep level.
Pricing:
- Full Financial Plan with Promo Code Voyage: $1999
Contact Info:
- Website: https://tanyatorresv.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tanya_t_/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/tanya_t___
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tanya_t__
- Other: https://g.page/r/CaRuyRoXpJ5KEBM/review
Image Credits
Marcy Browe Photography
