But life took her in a very different direction than what she planned.
“I moved to Chicago right out of college,” Schaefer said. “I took a job with an investment firm who liked liberal arts majors.”
This firm was Nuveen, and though Schaefer did not have a finance background, Nuveen told her they preferred to train their employees themselves.
“I got a great baptism into the industry,” Schaefer said.
Eventually Schaefer was licensed and, though she was thriving covering a sales area in the northeast region, she decided to abruptly change directions and move to Washington to go into non-profit work.
“When I got to DC, I found out that living on my own there was so expensive,” Schaefer said. “I lived there for two years before I decided to move home to Ohio.”
This was in 2000 and though Schaefer’s background included living abroad for a semester in college and she loved visiting different cities, she decided upon Cincinnati.
“I wasn’t thrilled with an institutional sales career,” Schaefer said. “Then I met David Ellis from UBS.”
Schaefer hired Ellis to represent his company in Cincinnati, at an office that was, at the time, the sales leader. Schaefer worked for the company for three years, building a solid reputation for herself while growing her career.
She met her husband, Rob, while living in Cincinnati and they were married while she was working for UBS. After the couple started their family, Schaefer longed for more flexibility in her work.
“After I had my second child, we talked about moving back to the Dayton area, where my brother (John Riazzi) had his own investment firm,” Schaefer said.
In 2008, Riazzi Asset Management was purchased by Johnson Investment Counsel, and Schaefer was pleased to discover that Johnson had a similar mission as her brother’s firm, with a reputation for building deep personal relationships with their clients.
Today, Schaefer and her husband have four children and she is a senior portfolio manager with Johnson.
“It’s interesting because in college I loved to read and writing was my gift,” Schaefer said. “My dad and mom always encouraged me and that gave me the confidence to choose any path. I’m a lifelong learner.”
Joining the financial advising side of the business with her brother’s company, Schaefer learned how important those relationships were and she started to understand how women, in particular, needed encouragement and education about investments.
“I felt like I was making a difference in people’s lives,” Schaefer said. “And that’s so important.”
Schaefer said that helping younger and younger clients save and invest is becoming more important to ensure adequate cash flow for retirement. She also helps her clients with estate planning and refers them to attorneys as needed. She remains connected and in the loop as an advocate and resource for each client all along the way.
“I read an article in the Wall Street Journal that was aimed at widows who needed to learn how to move forward on their own,” Schaefer said. “I used that often to help my female clients.”
Schaefer has learned that there are still far too many women who aren’t taking any ownership of their family finances, deferring to their husbands or male partners. Some refuse to even attend in person meetings, which Schaefer discourages.
“Females live longer statistically,” Schaefer said. “I don’t want the first time a woman interacts with me to be after her spouse has passed.”
One growing aspect of Schaefer’s business is the Thrive Network, a Johnson program that encourages female employees to grow their potential and their careers. Giving back to the community has also always been at the forefront of Johnson’s mission and hosting their “Powerhouse Events” in both Cincinnati and Dayton is part of that mission.
“The intention is to honor a female professional within our community,” Schaefer said. “We did our first event in Dayton in May and honored Pat McDonald.”
McDonald, now retired, is former market president for KeyBank Dayton and ran her her own consulting business.
The event, which was held at the Steam Plant in Dayton, attracted nearly 50 people not affiliated with Johnson, which Schaefer was particularly excited about.
“The idea is to highlight and celebrate strong females in our communities,” Schaefer said. “We are elevating the female voice and keeping their future’s top of mind and we are talking about things like caring for aging parents, flexible workplaces, managing stress and women’s health.”
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