Ilene Slatko is the CEO and Founder of DSS Consulting. After a 25-year career as a financial advisor, Ilene now provides behavioral and financial decision-making strategies to women who are in the midst of a death or divorce turmoil. Ms. Slatko is also the host of The *it Show, a streaming TV show directed at young women, which features conversations about money, finances, and investing.

Can you tell our readers about your background?

As the eldest of four children, I was raised with the expectation of accepting a lot of responsibility. Too much responsibility. I was often in charge of my younger siblings. When my parents divorced, I became the surrogate mom when my mother was too stressed. She leaned on me to cook, clean, and do the laundry for the family. While there were certainly dark episodes in my home life, I benefitted from having the bar continuously raised. In fact, there is no doubt this inspired and enabled me to go into business for myself. My mother was very demanding. My father was a product of his generation, which is to say he was extremely chauvinistic. As the oldest, I had no one before me to temper his beliefs: his belief that I should marry young, his belief that I’d never have (or need to have) my own career; his belief that college was not a ‘need-to-have’ for a daughter who would end up making babies and throwing away a good college education. I studied acting for two years and was subsequently cast in several TV commercials, an extraordinarily awful film, and live theatre. But I wasn’t working enough to make a living. I ended up in the financial business despite not having a degree and built my business premised on helping women understand their money. With my acting background I decided to give seminars to build my business. I authored a program called Women and Their Money, which was a four-week, eight-hour course. I had standing room-only at most of my programs! Back in the 1980’s, I was one of the first in the country to focus on women. In between firms during my financial career, I took time off and worked with an estate planning attorney. Learning financial planning from the estate planning angle increased the level of knowledge I could bring to my clients.

What inspired you to start your business?

Having left the financial advisory business after 30 years, I still wanted to help women be better prepared financially. I realized there were women who were dealing with the long tail of financial and administrative decisions required after a divorce or death and saw a need. I have a unique background and experience to fill that need. The fact is that most women dealing with this long tail (which can last two years or more after the legal paperwork is completed), have very few resources outside of continuing to pay their lawyer, which is expensive, or relying on their friends or financial advisor, neither of whom might be able to advise them on their overall situation.

Where is your business based?

Physically, I am in the Washington DC area. Of course, my clients are all over the country! Can I just say how much I look forward to travelling again and meeting in person?

How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?

After so many years in the financial business, I felt like there was a need. In addition, I have a trusted business advisor whom I spoke with at length regarding the scope of the need and the potential opportunity. Together, we charted a general course. I set up my website and kept talking with women. Ultimately, it was the women I spoke with who helped me to refine my services and my markets.

What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?

I primarily work through attorneys, so building relationships with them has been key. I author articles and I speak at events to increase awareness. Of course, I am part of a large network of females in the financial arena and I value those relationships, as well.

What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?

Pricing is always a challenge to me. Learning to value my knowledge and services was a process. But I had an experience years ago where I severely underpriced my services and rather than winning the business, the potential client (a VP of a bank), regarded me as a nave. I know the hard dollar value that I bring to clients and so as tough as it is sometimes for me, I proudly stand by my pricing. I’m not ashamed to admit that I miss speaking in person, either to a client or to groups. During the pandemic, this has been another constant challenge.

How do you stay focused?

Clients come to me because they need help. They don’t always know exactly what that help looks like and knowing that I play an influential role in helping them feel comfortable and empowered in their financial choices inspires me to stay focused. I also use business operating procedures to help, as well. I have set up key deliverables for clients and those help me to stay focused. For instance, after coaching calls I send an email summarizing our conversation and laying out our respective tasks for the upcoming week. I commit to staying in touch with all of the advisors on a client’s team, so I keep running lists of information required from each advisor. Not only does this keep me organized and focused on tasks, but it also provides me with talking points for each client conversation. Admittedly, when it comes to drafting articles, I can be less focused! Which is to say, I find numerous opportunities to waste time instead of writing.

How do you differentiate your business from the competition?

There are so many wonderfully knowledgeable financial literacy providers who will help you better understand money and investing. And there are financial advisors who will invest your money and guide your portfolio. But to my knowledge, there is no one else who provides what I do! Decision-making, especially post-divorce or post-death of a loved one, fall into that grey area where the issues aren’t quite legal, and not especially within the specialty of a financial advisor. I use real life examples when I carve out my niche: a hundred thousand dollars per year saved in fees for one client; millions in retirement savings lost because of a previous lack of time and attention for another client. My coaching equates to real money. Of course, the real issue for most of us is deciding to make the commitment!

What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?

Speaking, writing articles, and networking with attorneys. I’m a networker by nature, so this is fairly easy for me. Now I am more targeted in where I choose to network. I communicate with a sizeable group of financial educators on LinkedIn. Whether this grows my business directly or not is less important for me than being a go-to resource for others in the field.

What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?

Define your market and your services. And then define your pricing strategy. Resist the temptation to underprice yourself! Remember that it’s not enough to have a great idea.

What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?

I like reading to get away from business, so an app like Blinkist (or other book apps or blogs) is great. My taste in reading varies so much it’s hard to pick a favorite. But, based on the stickiness of the subject matter…I’d have to say a book I read over 50 years ago on the history of the alphabet would be my favorite. Crazy, right?

What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?

Integration tools that let you keep track of clients, schedule meetings, and send emails make life so much simpler. For me, simple and effective is important so I can spend less time worrying about things that are necessary but aren’t directly involved in my working with and coaching clients.

Who is your business role model? Why?

When I started in business many years ago, my father was my role model. He was an architect who taught me to pivot when necessary, be adaptive to people and situations, and how to look at problems through a creative, problem-solving mindset. Of all of the skills, I have found the ability to pivot as the market changes, has been crucial during the last few years. I think continuing to grow in the way I work with clients or give advice has helped me to weather the pandemic.  

How do you balance work and life?

I try every day to exercise, eat right, and talk to family. I love getting out in nature for long walks and find that clears my mind. Music is a passion, as is art. Of course, friends and relationships are crucial to balancing life for me.

What’s your favorite way to decompress?

Laughter, usually with my children. There’s also a water spa near me where I can relax completely.

What do you have planned for the next six months?

I’d love to say travel, but I’m putting off big trips until next year. From a business perspective, in addition to working with my coaching clients, I currently have plans to continue producing weekly episodes for my streaming TV show, “The *it Show”, create a series of webinars for an online provider, and speak at more conferences.

How can our readers connect with you?

My website is www.dssfiancial.com or readers can connect on social media: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ileneslatko/ or https://twitter.com/DSSConsulting1.