Lauren Simmons

Affectionately called the “Wolfette of Wall Street,” Simmons was also the second African American woman in history to hold the prestigious title.

Graduating from Kennesaw State University with a degree in genetics and a minor in statistics, Simmons initially aspired for a career in genetic counseling. While she made the decision to not pursue that journey, what had not changed was her passion to move to New York City – where networking led her to meet Richard Rosenblatt, the CEO of Rosenblatt Securities. Beyond her many qualifications, it was ultimately Simmons’ confidence that led Rosenblatt to take her under his wing and offer her a position as an Equity Trader in his company.

“Being a trader, you make decisions within microseconds,” Simmons said on meeting Rosenblatt, “So I think for him, even for me, the choice of coming onto the trading floor made sense immediately.” But the job wasn’t completely hers; she still had to pass the Series 19 exam, a test required for all floor brokers to earn their badge that has a pass rate of just 20%. After studying the book cover-to-cover for a month straight, Simmons successfully passed on her first try.

By passing that exam, Simmons made history at 22 years old – becoming the youngest trader on the floor and became the second-ever African American woman working as an equity trader at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 225 years. Since her story broke, Simmons has been featured in ABC, CNBC, CNN, and Fox to name a few. She has also been a financial contributor to CNBC, Yahoo Finance, and Bloomberg.

Since her departure from the trading floor, Simmons is now a multifaceted entrepreneur, an author, personal finance expert, global motivational speaker, producer, and director. She was also named to Harper’s Bazaar’s “Woman Who Dare” 2019 list.

Currently, Simmons is executive producing a film based on her life story with AGC studio – starring Kiersey Clemons. Additionally, she is the host of Going Public – a new financial TV series on Entrepreneur.com that premiered in January 2022.