At the Vested Bar with Jessica Zaloom - WisdomTree

Yeah, thank you for having me. Excited.

Yeah, it's a really good question, and it's a really important part of my job. I think to acknowledge and recognize that there are different audience members that we need to speak to for one core message. So first, identifying what that core message is is the most important part of delivering the message and tailoring the message to the various audience members. So like you said, we have our shareholders that are innately trying to understand what that message is in relationship to the health and the wellness of the public company and the brand WisdomTree. Then you have audience members like the financial media and the digital media that are looking to understand what is the most enticing part of the core message that you want to get across. And then you have audience members like employees that really care about understanding in layman's terms what that core message is and how it might affect them as an employee. So I think it is most important to identify who the audience member is that you're speaking to and then how to tailor the message and the message length to that audience member first and foremost.

Yes, I love my Vested team. I think the number one thing to keep in mind when working with an agency like Bestid is transparency. It's something that's a big part of the core values of WisdomTree, and it's something that I like to use when leading a team and working with a team like Vested. I like to incorporate them in a lot of the internal meetings and have weekly touch bases with them. They are involved in almost all of the projects that we're working on, all of the email chains, so that if I am not a part of it or I need to step away and do something different, we can truly be partners and divide and conquer together. It's also important that they are well known throughout the internal company so that stakeholders at the company know who they are, know their names, see their faces on Zoom, so that they can trust them with the work that we're doing together. So I think it's really important for us to work really closely together and have ongoing communications internally. I would definitely suggest that other heads of corporate communications involve their agency at the same level, because I think it will only elevate the communications function at the organization to have Vested as a true partner internally.

Yeah, it's such an honor to have that award from Pensions and Investments for two years, and I think it's also an even bigger honor for having it the past two years over COVID. WisdomTree was the type of organization that would be in the office every day pre-COVID because we wanted to. We were truly a unique organization. All of our employees got along. We enjoyed being together. We enjoyed being together after work, so that was a lot of fun. Over the past two years, the organization has gone fully remote, and it's been interesting to see the company evolve that way. We now have an office that employees can go into if they want to in various locations in the US and in Europe. But overall, I think generally employees just really liked to be around each other, and we were all working toward the common goal for the company. I think generally too, people believe in what the company is doing, the products we're launching, the ideas we have for the future. So when you are behind what the company is doing and offering, I think you genuinely care about our employees and the overall goal of what the company is achieving. So it makes it a good place to work and a fun place to work, but also a place to work that you believe in and want to do more for. So overall, I think that really plays into achieving and honoring that award every year.

Yeah, I think WisdomTree does a lot of things in this area. So first, I think we're really good communicators internally. WisdomTree has a town hall every month. We have a global town hall every quarter where we get to speak to employees, or the management gets to speak to employees globally from our European office and also in the US offices. So everyone's on screen together, so there's a lot of transparency there. New employees that come into WisdomTree undergo an entire process where they meet all the heads of the departments. They get to talk to them, ask them questions, get to know them, put faces to names. So they're involved in a robust onboarding process, which is important to get to know everyone at the company and get involved. And then I think it's important to note that at WisdomTree, while you have your core responsibilities and core title and are part of a core department, you can explore different projects and interests that are important to you or exciting to you. WisdomTree offers the time and space and encourages employees to get involved internally where they want to and where they can and where they think they can make a difference. So overall, WisdomTree is a really great place to work and encourages new employees and old employees to get involved and pursue things that are exciting to them as they grow and move up in the company.

Yeah, I think the biggest thing is to be inquisitive. Pursue different things that are exciting to you, both internally and externally. So I'm a new member of the Financial Narrative Community. I get to meet different heads of corporate communications throughout other organizations. I'm also the co-head of the Women in ETFs chapter for New York City. That's exciting to me because I also get to talk about a lot of issues for women that are involved in the ETFs industry, but I also get to meet a lot of different people at different companies going through different types of struggles or hardships or things that they're excited about in the industry that they want to continue to work through. So I would say get involved. Go to the happy hour, go to that after-work dinner or drinks or event. Talk to people and just get involved in the industry more, and you'll meet people along the way that will help you get to where you want to get to in your career.

Yeah, thank you so much for having me.