Thankfully the times they are a-changing, as evidenced by the cutest participant at the inaugural Less Talk More Action (#LTMA19) Conference… three-month-old baby Felix. For those who didn’t attend LTMA19, it was a great chance for the ‘new breed’ of planners to have a platform to add to the new wave of change that is sweeping through the financial industry. When Steve Crawford from The Advice Movement was planning LTMA19, I am sure he was hoping to get in with the young crowd. Not sure a three-month-old was what he was expecting though.
As a newish financial planner, I have a deep love for learning and growing my skills. Like most, I am wanting to learn from as many different people as possible and hear what others have to say. So when the invitation came my way to attend LTMA19 held in Melbourne this year, I was in. One tiny bump though. Well, it was a small bump. Then it got bigger. So much bigger. Looking at the calendar, I knew that one way or another I would have a three-month-old baby. What do I do?
Having never seen a baby at an industry conference before, I didn’t know whether this would be within the rules. However, my options were seriously limited. He is far too young to be without me and my partner doesn’t lactate so my options as they stood were:
- Not attend; or
- Bring Felix along.
After reading the conference’s anti-harassment policy, I figured that if any conference was going to be cool with a baby, it would be this one (other conferences, make an anti-harassment policy and promote it). So I reached out to Steve and pitched him on bringing Felix along. Lucky for me he was totally comfortable with the idea and we both agreed that we’d just see how it went on the day.
Fast forward to the conference. I walk in with my hefty pram, a tiny baby and a big nappy bag. Unsure of how this was going to be received by the other participants. I made sure I only arrived with a few minutes to spare before the conference started so I wasn’t standing around awkwardly for too long. I shouldn’t have worried though. Steve came up and had a quick chat, and Steve’s wonderful wife Melissa also took a moment to let me know that if I needed anything at all to just ask and she would help.
Nerves put at ease, I started to relax and enjoy the first day. At first, I stayed up the back as not to draw too much attention to myself (also because I didn’t know how Felix would behave, if he would make lots of noise etc), but once we broke out into separate rooms to hear different speakers, my fears of distracting everyone had subsided and I headed right to the front to get the best view.
Turns out though, Felix did end up distracting everyone, but in a good way. So many people (both male and female) came up to talk to me about being a parent and being an adviser/running an advice business. It was a great opportunity for me to quiz as many people as possible about their thoughts on the industry, running their own businesses or being an employee and many other topics. I’d say Felix helped me connect with more people than I would have otherwise. Turns our babies are a great ice breaker. Who knew!
By the second day, many of the participants started warming up to Felix. I am not going to name names, but it did seem that some of the attendees were fighting over who got to hold Felix during the day. Winning! Hands-free time for me to get my learnings down on my laptop.
I was told multiple times how wonderful it was that I was bringing a baby, and how my commitment to this industry was incredible. I was also told that bringing a baby seemed to set the mood at this brand-new conference. After all, how can you take things too seriously and be rigid and boring when there’s a cute baby in the room?
I hope that by my bringing Felix to the LTMA19 Conference I’ve done a tiny bit to inspire other women to feel more comfortable about being mothers and advisers. I hope that I’ve shown the industry that mothering and advising don’t have to be completely separate, and I hope that I’ve helped employers see that just because parents have young families and take time off to be there for them in the early days, that they’re not also completely committed to progressing, growing, learning and doing our part.
I wanted to give a big shout out to Steve Crawford from The Advice Movement for going ahead and saying ‘yes’, instead of living in fear and saying ‘no’.
All that said, here are Trish’s rules to conferencing with a baby:
- Ladies, take your ‘babes in arms’ to industry events. The more people do it, the more normal it will become.
- Bring wipes for all the drool from the open mouth staring… and your baby.
- Event co-ordinators, set out a clear anti-harassment policy and make sure you’re being specific about how inclusive you are. If you’re not inclusive, check yourself.
- To the industry as a whole, one way to support women to get into the industry might be as simple as making women feel included in these events. Tell the woman how fantastic they are to bring their babies, and offer to help before she needs it (so she knows who she can go to when she does need it).
Trish Gregory is a financial planner with AGS Financial Group
what about a camel? i live in the NT. the economy is in depression. fuel is expensive. i want to use my camel. it is cost effective.
please let me know if i can ride and bring my camel to a conference
no offence to this woman and I enjoy her point of view, however there are places for work and education that are specific; if everyone took there babies to work imagine the chaos in the working environment. I have some tips for this lady and its called Daycare !!!!! or grandparents or baby sitters .
A 3 month old baby at a conference ?
I don’t think this The Advice Movement…..this is the #MePoo movement.
I have a 3 month old labrador puppy who is super cute, super cuddly and super disruptive, but I cant leave her at home on her own.
I am thinking this will be super cool and promote diversification, acceptance and tolerance if I were to bring her along to the next Less Talk More Action conference ?
There would certainly be more action guaranteed as she tears up the furniture, chews peoples shoes to pieces and leaves her little messages.
But, she is my family and needs my care, so all good to go ?
This is an absurd absolute – the oldest logical fallicy in the book.
” …going ahead and saying ‘yes’, instead of living in fear and saying ‘no’. ”
That is an interesting take on the current climate facing many experienced and professional ( not old and grumpy) advisers to intimate they should simply be sucking it up and moving on, when the potential for a life’s work and resulting business value is being destroyed through misguided, manipulated and idealistic factions.
I would think the ” new breed ” of advisers referred to in this article would not be quite so disrespectful and stereotypical regarding advisers who may not fit their demographic, but have contributed significantly to the foundations of the financial services industry over many, many years.
It would be interesting that if any of the derogatory comments coming from the GenY & GenX
adviser camp in relation to older advisers think about the fact that if it was their parent/s who were currently staring at the massive financial challenge and possible destruction of their business value
whether they may have a different attitude in relation to the contribution they have given and the impact the more recent attacks on the viability of financial services practices is having.
It is fine to drive your business in the direction and under the structure you wish, but it is not ok to create a divide in the profession, simply because of age, experience or business structure.
Show some respect for the genuine, ethical and professional advisers that have come a long way before you and actually benefit from that interaction rather than telling them they are finished and should be resigned to the scrap heap.
Remember, we know a lot of shit too !
Think this shows lack of common sense on behalf of Trish & organizers, its hard enough paying attention without the easy disruptions from a crying baby.
No, everyone has plenty of (un) common sense. Bring everyone along.
what we need is co-ordination via a prize giving falcon. everyone will be happy then.
delegates, happy as, totally engaged,
children, happy as, totally entertained
dogs and cats chasing falcon, happy as
then we can do a team building exercise in our small groups and put an ark together for all the animals and birds.
Last time I looked financial advisers were lamenting that they wanted to be a profession – One thing I know for sure we are always “on” that is we are selling ourselves to our prospects – our contacts and our peers. Maybe an analogy might be – would you take your new infant to a job interview _ I think not and whilst I can understand the look at me factor – I am more than certain if you had four or five children to bring along you would probably be of the same view – where does the slippery slope end. The conferences ( for my part) are an expensive exercise not only in time but in potential opportunity. They are not a mothers meeting as quaint or a cute it may appeal – . PS I was a single dad for many years doing it on my pat malone – so I can appreciate the constraints. For me its disrespectful of other advisers and their desire to be able attend to professional matters.
It seems that Trish booked prior to knowing she would be taking a baby along. It also seems that she garnered permission and looked after the baby well and the baby was not disruptive. However, if there were many babies and it was normal and became common it is inevitable there would be disruption. I don’t have a problem with one baby occasionally and it seems this was not a problem.
However normally if one person is working as a planner there would be another person (gender not relevant) who could mind the baby for the majority of the time and then the mother could feed and hand the baby back to the carer when needed. This seems like a better compromise of having your cake and eating it too rather than just hoping the baby doesn’t disrupt people.
There could also be other parents there who are missing their children and this baby being there causes distress to them. Like many such issues, it is not as simple as it seems, and it would be a distraction even if not a disruption.
Congratulations for sharing this post Trish and having the confidence to continue your development while on maternity leave. The organisers also deserve credit for ensuring you felt supported.
The industry could do with more of this progressive, realistic thinking!
one baby at a conference = an interesting quirky feel good ‘break down the barriers’ story
ten babies at a conference = conference from hell (and hope I am not catching the same flight back)
ten babies at conference = organisers maybe have to organise a creche or similar
the key is to fly business class.
Cant fly business class, childcare too expensive.
Fantastic stuff, Trish. I’m going to take a wild stab in the dark and say that most of the people commenting on this post have zero idea about the work/life juggle, let alone the concepts of “mental load”, have absolutely no understanding of the practical implications of maintaining a career and being a primary caregiver, and also have never birthed a baby let alone dabbled in exclusive breastfeeding. So for those of us who have lived this, who get this, and understand the importance of this story – THANK YOU FOR SHARING. You are challenging perceptions and that’s brilliant. I am so excited that other women (and men) will have seen your example and it will change their perspective and encourage them to question, challenge, and lead to change. To the people (men) commenting on this post with a negative voice: you are the reason we need people like Trish. She isn’t alone – women have been bringing babies to conferences and professional development events for YEARS. The fact you haven’t noticed says a lot about how disruptive it’s been. Good on IFA for publishing Trish’s story, and I look forward to more, much-needed change in this industry.
i am also going to match your stab in the dark and say the following.
that every working person in australia is faced with the same challenges. every client i see, every financial planner i know is challenged with time pressures leading to struggles with work life balance, managing change, managing a business on lower margins, learning to cope with destruction of value of their business and retirement, over eating, not enough sleep, not enough time to enjoy life etc etc (and for some, managing their pet falcon)
this is the basics of everyday living today, and everyone’s story. nothing new here.
Yep, that’s a stab in the dark alright as you’ve been waiving it around blindly without going anywhere your target. !
Well done Steve on breaking down barriers & making the conference all inclusive
I have a fox terrier puppy, Yappy, that I intend to bring to next years event.
There is no-one to look after him while I am at work and he would love the chance to come to a two day event in the city.
I am sure that lots of attendees will want to give him a pat during the beaks. He does bark from time to time, but that’s OK because he is just a puppy. He is not toilet trained yet, but I will clean up after him
Hopefully next year lots of other people will bring their dogs as well
thanks for your support. I was thinking along the same vein. but what about birds. I feel birds are disproportionately discriminated against!! it’s always about cute puppies, and cats. but never ever a bird. what about a bird. they are cute. didn’t you ever have a bird ever as a kid. well i like ’em.
what about bringing a falcon? is that too much. it’s a good pet. I will bring falconry leather gloves. maybe i will let you pet if you are nice to me.
If you cant bring your Falcon to the conference what are you supposed to do…? Make other arrangements for your falcon…? Too hard. Anyone not comfortable with the falcon being there screaming and flying around is a bigot.
I’m bringing my eagle…with it’s cute-as-pie West Coast jumper.
not at all. now, that is a trend that is going to really catch on fire.
Imagine this, you go to a conference on superannuation and death. pretty dreary stuff.
[b]But wait:[/b]
you have a falcon that is going to fly around and give you the door prize. engaged yet? I am hooked. my kids (5, & 2), are going to love it. I’ll bring them along as well.
superannuation and death? not so boring now is it ? when you have a falcon around!
now that is a trend that financial planners can set and be publicly proud of.
RON – It was so refreshing to see Felix at LTMA – As a more ” mature” advisor I can remember days when we all had young families but rarely did they get so involved . I think his attendence reflected the positivity of the whole conference – it was ABOUT THE FUTURE NOT THE PAST – too many advisors continue to whinge for “past days” “the glory days ” Boys get over it – move on – TRISH & FELIX are the future ( PS Felix was even at the After Party !
Are you people for real? No wonder this industry is on its knees with some of these disgraceful comments.
Wow. Shocked by the levels of intolerance here. The drama I’m sure many people here are imagining is just unfounded. It comes across as how dare some potentially make me feel uncomfortable. Well sorry to say but that’s life. I’m more offended by some people’s personal hygiene. Go Trish, glad it worked out for you.
I don’t know Trish but have seen the various posts on the Facebook group associated with this conference. My understanding is that the kid behaved better than a lot of financial planners I’ve seen who can’t handle their grog. I’m sure if he screamed Trish would have taken suitable action and whilst I’m all for children being excluded given mine are adults and therefore I try to avoid anything that requires a nappy (including the previously mentioned adult financial planners who can’t handle their grog) I also support her for having the courage to take the kid along.
Well, Trish – you certainly opened up the discussion, didn’t you? My main concern was that you saw it as a “ladies'” responsibility…What about dads bringing their babies to conferences? As a grandfather of a bunch of 5 to 21 year-olds my “babies” are well past taking to Financial Planners’ conferences,but I suspect they wouldn’t come near one, anyway. I’d suggest that there are many (big) babies who attend and some of them trolled you in these pages. My advice? – keep your (obviously lovely and well behaved/docile kid away from those nasty advisers in case what they have is catchy!
[quote=Mel ]Hats off to you Trish for challenging the perceived norm. Could it have gone wrong? Absolutely. Could it have distracted others? Potentially. Did you work with the conference to test and try? Yep! We don’t know what will or won’t work until we are willing to open ourselves to things that are different and even potentially uncomfortable. Your choice isn’t for everyone and it’s not about forcing everyone to- it’s about providing choice. Noting the feedback from the conference attendees and on the FB page it seems positively received, and supported by all. Thanks for leading by example and showing a different way to approach things. [/quote]
Well done Trish – the baby should sleep OK with some of the speakers I’ve had to listen to over the years!
Pretty embarrassing that someone who is looking to play her role in taking this industry forward to a profession is being ridiculed for not only being a financial planner but also a great mother. I wasn’t there but would have no problem with being at a conference that she attended with Felix. I’m pretty sure he would have been dribbling less and made more sense than the haters on this forum. Is it 2024 yet??
There are way too many narrow minded mutes in this comment section. It is in opinion piece and celebrates the vibe and culture LTMA created and will continue to create. Some of these comments are fit for the toilet. You’ve made an effort to post, just dont post if you dont like it. I think celebrating inclusion and a new way of thinking is a good thing. I attended the conference. Me and felix enjoyed a little hang out at the after party. Way to go TRISH and LTMA crew. modern business it is, out with the old corporate grumps. Signing out, NOT ANONYMOUS, Dylan B Martin (single dad of 3, business owner, adviser and running off 5 hours sleep 🙂 )
Hats off to you Trish for challenging the perceived norm. Could it have gone wrong? Absolutely. Could it have distracted others? Potentially. Did you work with the conference to test and try? Yep! We don’t know what will or won’t work until we are willing to open ourselves to things that are different and even potentially uncomfortable. Your choice isn’t for everyone and it’s not about forcing everyone to- it’s about providing choice. Noting the feedback from the conference attendees and on the FB page it seems positively received, and supported by all. Thanks for leading by example and showing a different way to approach things.
Trish, I was one of the attendee’s at LTMA19 and got to meet yourself and the adorable Felix! Your dedication to your baby, your own development and our industry, was evident in the way you managed to actively participate and still ensure your child had everything he needed! I most certainly wouldn’t have had the confidence in myself to do what you did and this should be admired, NOT blasted by those in our industry!
It’s a shame that the environment of LTMA19 hasn’t flowed through into this comment section! Looking forward to seeing you there next year!
Sorry. You’re selfishness here is clear. STAY AT HOME.
You need to be told.
So tired of society not being able to use common sense and not being able to tell the truth.
Stay at home. Goto next years conference, ask for notes.
You are not that important nor is the content.
Please provide factual evidence that taking her baby out for an adventure and good social conditioning is not acceptable or desirable for a modern parent or business owner. Discuss and provide answers backing up your argument because it appears to be something out of britannica encyclopedia, ie ancient
Steve, the 1930’s called… they want their attitude back
Steve, you aren’t that important either. Stop being a dick.
I’m all for work/life balance and inclusion, but when will we draw a line. It’s all good to be inclusive so you can come along as a mother, but does anyone stop to think about the other attending the event and the disruption. I am a mother or 2, a financial planner and held corporate roles whilst having children and I certainly managed to avoid dragging children along to anything work related. If you don’t feel like you can be separated from your baby for a few hours, then consider enjoying your time with them and stay at home or head out where it is appropriate to have children.
Actually rather common at Synchron conferences. Family members, including small children, are made very welcome at these.
Trish, you need to grow up and not be so self absorbed with your own and your babies importance. Show some maturity, don’t take babies to events where they are not meant to be. Next you’ll be trying to indicate that pilots or surgeons should be allowed a strap on baby while they’re performing their occupation as well.
Prove to us a baby isn’t meant to be at a domestic, modern adviser / self employed focused financial advice conference? Provide points to support your argument that apply to 2019. Thanks, Dylan B Martin
So true…
“Show some maturity” says the person immature enough to post comments as Anonymous
Ditto… you are laughable…
As a working mother with a career I know it is hard to decide between my children and my profession. I do not however condone this blatant misuse of PC liberties by making my own personal priorities affect others, especially in a professional environment. I believe you have over stepped the mark, and should make sure you are better organised as a professional should be.
Please provide proof that her choice affected anyone else besides your grumpy genes? Thanks, Dylan NOT anonymous Martin.
*yawn* “Anonymous person harps on about being professional because posting on forums as anonymous is a super professional use of a professionals time”
Are you serious? This is as bad as the stupidity of parliamentarians who have been voted in with the responsibility and sole task of making sure they can make the best decisions for Australians, but instead want to selfishly indulge themselves and breast feed babies rather than care about the country.
Hey, I remember when I had my first beer. It’s OK, sleep it off. Regards, Dylan NOT Anonymous Martin
Feeding another human is selfish indulging? You need to get out more…
OMG!!! Is this article a joke or what?
Please – I read this and all i hear is an entitled ignorant ’empowered by political bs’ person who has little regard for anyone else’s rights, their comfort level, or whether they remain unaffected by crying or smelly children.
I normally bath or shower my three kids a few times a month. keeps that gastly smell away. I reckon she’s employed the same strategy 😉 Are you OK? If you are struggling, reach out. Don’t use someone else celebrating a great conference and event inclusion to fix those issues, it wont work. It was the first of many INDIE conferences and they are run by planners who want MODERN to be the norm. They set the precedence and they did it well. Lucky for you, for at least another year or so you can still attend those AMAZING FPA / AFA / DEALER GROUP conferences!!!!!! Dylan B Martin (cousin of anonymous)
Please – I read this comment and all I hear is opinionated muppet hiding behind anonymity. I’ve smelt adults at conferences that put any smalls emanating from a child to shame.