In my youth, I was always fascinated with numbers and enjoyed conversing about them with individuals older than myself. They often told me, “Son, you have an old soul; your chat tells me you have been here before.” As a child, I never knew what that expression meant. Fast forward to the present day, and I greatly appreciate the 10,000+ hours invested into my interests by my aunts, uncles, grandparents, mother, and family friends.
Personal
I was reared in a single-parent household by a young, strong, independent woman who let her actions speak much louder than her words. My mother’s high school education was disrupted in the 70s with the unplanned birth of her first and only son, me, Jeffrey D. Powell.
My mother left high school to provide for the two of us and invested her extra time into my development. Education was incredibly important to my mother, even though she never finished high school, and she made sure I never missed a day of school. In fact, I had perfect attendance for 13 years straight, if you include Pre-K, and I have the certificate to prove it.
When I graduated high school, I recall my mother kissing me on my forehead, holding both ears and looking me in my eyes. She said, “Son, you make me proud, but you are just getting started.” And she was right; high school was only the beginning. It was to be followed by college, the Walk of Life, and my Wall Street profession.
My peers and mentees often ask, “Why Wall Street?”
My reply is always, “It was God’s plan. I just showed up and never gave up.”
I’ve come to discover that everything really started to happen during my senior year of college.
I started interviewing at various financial firms seeking to find my ideal job. I knew I wanted to be in finance because of my fondness for numbers. However, I lacked exposure and experience, so I was unsure of my ideal role.
I recall my last interview in the summer of 1998. The interview was with a respectable investment bank, which later collapsed under the pressure of the 2007 financial meltdown. While waiting in the lobby with two other candidates, the hiring manager walked into the room and called for Jeffrey Powell. I stood up, and the man quickly noticed that the Jeff he was looking for was the only black guy sitting in the lobby. He looked at me, paused, and said, “This should be quick.” He was right, the interview lasted 13 minutes, and then he told me my services were not needed.
As I left the interview discouraged but not defeated, I walked to the bus stop with my head high. While waiting on the bus to return to college, a guy walked up and waited beside me. He was well dressed in a dark blue suit, white shirt, burgundy suspender, and a dark burgundy briefcase. As I admired his Wall Street “uniform,” I stated audibly, “When I get older, I want to be just like you.” The guy gazed at me but never said a word. Shortly after my comments, a black Lincoln town car pulled up, and the driver opened the back passenger door for the gentleman.
I remember looking into the car and seeing two bottles of Fiji water and the Wall Street Journal positioned inside the middle console. This was back when bottled water first hit the market, so it was uncommon to see this combination. The gentleman got in the car, and right before pulling away, the window lowered, and he said, “Son, two things: One, don’t get old, And two, be better than me. I am not sure why you are downtown today, but if things don’t work out, then call me. Here is my card.” I quickly grabbed the card without hesitation, and the car pulled off.
I call this a “God wink.”
Two days later, I was sitting in his office wearing my favorite and only interview attire. This day the knot on my tie was a little smaller, more like the size of a dime. I never learned how to tie my tie, so I would slip it on and off my neck without untying it. When I walked into the office, he recognized my tie knot and kindly replied, “Son, who tied your tie?”
I told him it was me but that I had not had much practice at it. He asked me to untie it and told me we would practice knotting a Windsor Tie Knot. While going through the motions, his Managing Director noticed the act, leaned into the office, and said, “That is what you call training for Leadership.”
He replied, “Did we ever hire our summer talent?”
His M.D. replied, “No, why do you ask?”
He replied, “I think Jeff will be a good candidate.”
His M.D. smiled, “Good candidate or great hire?”
He paused, looked me directly in my eyes, and said, “I think Jeff will be a great hire.”
His M.D. replied, “Call HR and tell them we found our talent.” And this was how I entered Wall Street.
My then mentor, who later became a friend, had only one request of me — Pay it forward, and this is how you say thank you!
