Meet Allison Kvikstad, a financial advisor on Ellevest’s Private Wealth Management team. As part of our Why We Work Here video series, she talks about how being diagnosed with breast cancer motivated her to search for more meaning in her career — and why that led her to Ellevest.

Allison Kvikstad, financial advisor

I was relatively a healthy person and was caught completely off guard at 45 with a diagnosis of breast cancer.

It got to a point where I really evaluated what was important in life, looked at my career, and was, at the time, working at an institution that, while I was proud of the work I had done, wasn’t necessarily proud of the company.

And I wanted to work at an institution that my son would be proud of, and wanted to find a company that aligned with my mission.

And I looked, and I found Ellevest. And I found that they were truly addressing the ability for women to invest and doing it in a way that was unique.

So for him, I’m ecstatic that he has seen me go from a large financial institution to a financial tech start-up firm where the primary goal is to help women get invested and overcome the gender investing gap.

I’m Allison Kvikstad, and this is why I work here.