The role of financial services and the art of Mise en Place

By Theodora Lau and Bradley Leimer

From savings, investment, and responsible lending, to access to opportunities to create new forms of income, these components of financial services are an imperative to a legacy that casts its light across generations. They are as critical to our lives as are food and water — and determine whether we thrive, or are barely able to survive.  

There are many analogies that can describe the key moments of our lives and the impact we are able to have through our labor, and nothing more befitting to envision this than the preparation involved in delivering a perfectly plated meal. Just as there are countless ways to craft a dish, there are innumerable ways for our lives to move from one point to the next. There are endless ways to have an impact.

But how can we help feed those that are food insecure? 

How could gastronomy and financial services coalesce? Can we look at the creation of a meal and think of how we might address larger issues, like systematic exclusion within financial services? Can our actions make a difference to others — one meal at a time? It starts with preparation, and the things we can do to create steps of opportunity, both for ourselves, and for others. We are all ingredients to the hopes and ambitions and dreams of others. 

As we build skills in the kitchen, every aspiring chef learns about the significance of mise en place, or having everything set in place; from crafting the recipe to selecting and preparing the ingredients.

There is a similar arc for successful innovation and product development within financial services. It starts with getting the right people in the kitchen, and an open mindset to improve our experiences through the creation of every single dish. Just as with cooking, our life doesn’t always go as planned. At various points of our lives, we might pause and rethink. How are we making an impact? How are we feeding the hungry? 

Given recent tragic events — both the pandemic and the jarring impact of systemic racism in our society — the banking industry must take necessary steps to prepare for a very different future. 

We must dive deeper to understand the issues of poverty and racial and gender inequities, as well as their lasting impact over the past centuries. 

We must think of ways to improve and optimize income opportunities. We must try to understand the pain of those that have to make tradeoffs between putting food on the table versus paying the rent, those that face incredibly difficult financial decisions and have to make do with less. 

We must focus on the credit needs of the small businesses and new businesses that couldn’t benefit from PPP or other government programs during this pandemic. We must also turn our attention to the consumers who are facing an uncertain future with their debts as payment holidays end and benefit programs start to dwindle. We must create pathways for more people to consume fractional shares — so that they too can share in the prosperity of a market poised for an upward swing. 

Every role, every ingredient — has its place.

Including and especially those who are in strategy or in leadership positions, and those who have the power to define products and services. 

There is an enormous and growing wealth gap where Wall Street and Main Street are massively disconnected. According to the U.S. Federal Reserve, white families have a median net worth that is almost 10 times higher than that of black households — and they are also more likely to hold assets of many types, from vehicles and primary residence to retirement accounts and publicly traded stocks.

As the Boston Globe reported, “Blacks from non-immigrant backgrounds in Boston have a net worth of $8. Whites enjoy one of $247,000.” This isn’t a financial literacy problem. It’s the result of long-standing and ongoing racial discrimination. 

Through the pandemic and social unrest, something has to change in order for our country and our society to thrive again. We each have an important role to play in making this world a better, more equitable place — for everyone. 

While our paths may be different and our priorities are rarely the same, but in this, we are all together. 

And if one of us is hungry, then we are all hungry. 

Let’s start preparing for a very different future. 

A much better future — where everyone is fed. 

A future where we all have a seat at the table.

Where we all have a chance to realize our dreams. 

And where each plate is beautiful indeed.

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Join Theo and Bradley in conversation with Peggy Mangot, serial entrepreneur and SVP of Innovation at Wells Fargo, as she talks about financial services innovation from big tech to startups to big banks, creating an environment of collegiality and debate, and the importance of lifelong learning. There is a lot to be gained by winning, losing and learning. We must always feel the glass is half full, we must always have a sense of optimism and hope. Listen in to this great conversation through iTunes, Spotify, and all other players. 

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