Turning time and energy into smart investments

Having spent her whole career as a woman in finance, Kaylyn Martin knows how to determine which decisions are right for her goals—and not just when it comes to investments.

“It has always been important to me to work for and with people who reflect my values,” she says. “What that means has changed throughout my career as my priorities shifted.”

Kaylyn started out with a 12-year career at a major bank, and will always be grateful for how supportive the team and management were of her development. In fact, one of the female managers became Kaylyn’s mentor before she even worked there.

“When I was growing up, the career options presented to me were basically lawyer, doctor, or teacher,” Kaylyn remembers. “After one year of college, I still didn’t know what I wanted to do, and my dad brought up the idea of becoming a mortgage broker.”

This is what led her into the bank one day, where she gingerly knocked on the manager’s office door.

“She opened the door and invited me right in to chat about my career options,” Kaylyn says. “By the end of it, she told me: you don’t want to be a mortgage broker. You should work for me instead. And that was the beginning.”

After many years at the bank, Kaylyn became a mom and ended up taking an extended maternity leave. When she returned, there had been some changes.

“No matter the industry, coming back from maternity leave can be a challenge,” she explains. “In my case, my role had shifted while I was gone, and I came back to find out I was moving to a different branch with longer hours. This new position was not conducive to balancing work and motherhood.”

Kaylyn knew it was time to move on. “I started at Sun Life Financial, where I was offered way more flexibility and the ability to work from home. That was the first time I saw outside the world of retail banking and discovered the full scope of finance careers I could pursue.”

After two years providing compliance supervision to financial advisors in the Okanagan, Kaylyn knew she wanted to be an advisor herself.

“At first I worked for a small local group, and then in 2022, I refined what I was looking for in a work environment and started interviewing with different firms,” she explains.

When Kaylyn found Raymond James Ltd., she instantly had a good feeling. “Raymond James has a reputation for actively supporting women in the business, which is so aligned with my passions.”

Having been at the firm for nearly a year and a half, Kaylyn’s perception of Raymond James hasn’t changed. “I’ve had an incredible first year here, and I’ve really been able to build meaningful relationships with my clients,” she reflects. “I love when people call me to share something exciting in their lives—sometimes, we don’t even talk about money at all.”

At the end of the day, both finances and life are all about making informed decisions to meet your goals, whether that’s deciding where to invest your money or your time. “I love where I am and what I do,” says Kaylyn. “That’s all a result of the choices I made, big and small, in my pursuit of my goals. And I wouldn’t change a thing.”