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Authors of Financial Books
for Women
Kathleen Schomaker
 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
netsurfing 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- How should a woman get started investing with no investment
experience?
The key to investing is information. A woman could hire an investment
advisor, 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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