Authors of Financial Books for Women

Kathleen Schomaker

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Kathleen Schomaker is an attorney practicing in the Northern Virginia area. She intends to focus her practice on energetic entrepreneurs. She received her B.A. from the College of William and Mary then ventured to the great Rocky Mountains where she received her J.D. from the University of Denver College of Law. Shortly thereafter, she returned to the East Coast where she received her LL.M in Banking and Securities Regulation from the Georgetown University Law Center. She is licensed to practice law in Colorado, Florida, Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. She intends to sit for the California bar in February of 2000.

From a young age, Kathleen has been interested in investments. Her mother bought her shares of Walt Disney for her 16th Birthday. For sure, her mother was the driving force for getting her started in investing. Today, Kathleen manages her own portfolio and does her own research. She is not a market maker or a Wall Street Power Broker, Kathleen is just like most women investing today; a single young woman who wants to have control over her money and investments.

Kathleen has worked for a law firm in Denver as well as spent time with the United States Attorney’s office in Denver. While receiving her securities degree, she volunteered her time with the enforcement division of the Securities and Exchange Commission. At present, she is the lead attorney at Artemis Law Group in Arlington,Virginia.

In addition, she loves to ski, run and simply play outdoors. She prefers net-surfing to must see T.V. and prefers showers to baths. Her favorite meal is cheese fries at the ESPNZone, but only if a good football game is on. She can be reached at Artemis@artemislawgroup.com.

  1. What do you feel to be the biggest challenge facing women today when handling their finances?

    A sense of community. When men are together they can always converse in one of two languages: sports or stocks. Men are constantly exchanging investment ideas, whether it be in board rooms, chat rooms or on treadmills. Women need to call upon their ability to communicate and begin exchanging ideas. Women have an incredible ability to explain things as well as foster cooperation. If we can link these attributes with an interest in investing, I think there will be a burgeoning of successful women investors in the coming years.

  2. How has the atmosphere changed for women investors in the last 10 years?

    Women now know that to secure their future financial independence they need to depend on their own financial acumen, not a man’s. I believe there is a growing sense of financial independence. Women have fought long and hard for equal pay for equal work, now that sentiment is being carried into the investment world. Women want to see their money working as hard as men’s. Moreover, the advent of the Internet allows women to gather the same financial information available to Wall Street power brokers. The convergence of women’s sense of financial independence and the ability to research investments has altered the position of women investors today.

  3. How will the atmosphere change for women investors in the next 10 years?

    The next ten years will bring women closer to their finances. The Internet will allow women to micromanage their finances. They will be able to track their net worth with the push of a button. In addition, there will be a generation, Generation X, of women who will have lived through the booming ’90s and tech years. These women will have learned that it is better to put money into the market rather than in savings institutions. This incredibly large, educated and wise group of women may very well cause a revolution in the investment world. Women invest differently than men, this will become apparent as brokerage houses and banks seeks to address the specific desires of women investors.

  4. Where did you start your career and how did it lead you to where you are today?

    Originally I wanted to be a green beret, but since my head is really small (I wear children’s baseball caps), I couldn’t wear the beret and had to investigate other careers. During high school, I knew I wanted to become an attorney. During law school, one of my favorite professors introduced me to securities law. This seemed a natural progression from my interest in investing. With this in mind, I continued my education and received a masters in securities and banking regulation. My hope today is to take this knowledge and help entrepreneurs to start their own business by navigating securities, financing and business issues for them.

  5. How much money do you need to start investing?

    One does not need that much to start investing. There are many discount brokers today who do not charge an arm and a leg for a transaction. One should invest all that they can as early as possible. And more importantly, you should not compare your investments to someone Else’s. Each person has different goals. Just put as much as possible into an investment and watch it grow.

  6. How should a woman get started investing with no investment experience?

    The key to investing is information. A woman could hire an investment adviser, or do research by herself. The learning curve is pretty fast. There are some basics that everyone must learn, such as value investing, risk tolerance, dividends, etc. But after the basics are conquered, a neophyte investor is basically on the same level as an experienced investor. Both must investigate the investment and employ some form of intuition as to whether the investment will grow.

  7. If a woman has debt, at what point should she become an investor?

    A woman should immediately become an investor, an investor in herself. Depending on the interest rate of the debt, a woman should pay it off as soon as possible. She would then have the psychological satisfaction of being debt free and could invest without worry.

  8. What are your future plans in the financial field?

    I hope to convince my friends and colleagues that investing is for them. I hope to help businesses achieve their goals.