Lauren Simmons, who became the youngest woman trader on the New York Stock Exchange at age 22, is now getting her own show. The new program, Going Public, draws a comparison to Shark Tank, allowing business owners to offer a share of their companies to investors. However, its viewers around the country who get to invest in the contestants' companies, as opposed to a panel of tycoons.
Simmons, who was only the second Black woman ever to hold a position as a trader on the NYSE, said the new show is designed to promote diversity.
"With Going Public, we are making sure that all sorts of Americans are represented. Oftentimes, we think of Wall Street and we think of many of the companies that are listed as being founded by older white men," she told New York Magazine. "It’s important that we have diverse founders and that everyday Americans hopefully get to invest in the Tesla or Amazon of this generation. I love the concept of the show and being able to do that."
Although investing in an Initial Public Offering is typically reserved for institutional clients or people with high net worths, Simmons said "that doesn’t necessarily mean that they know how to invest any different or any better than Middle America."
"Wall Street has done a phenomenal job of making itself seem like an exclusive boys’ club and that information [about stocks] is hard to digest. It’s not. Going Public lets everybody be a part of [the investment world]," the 26-year-old told the magazine. "It isn’t as hard as people have made it out to be in their minds."
The trailblazer has also served as the executive producer of her own biopic, starring actress Kiersey Clemons. The biopic provided another opportunity for Simmons to promote diversity.
"Most of the cast isn’t people who look like me, because the guys at the New York Stock Exchange don’t look like me. But I made sure the crew and the director looked like me," she said.
Despite the Black Lives Matter protests of last year, which followed the killing of George Floyd and sparked a conversation about equality in America, Simmons said companies still need to do much more to promote diversity.
"Companies aren’t reaching out to a diverse group of people to join the trading floor," the entrepreneur said. "I also think, speaking with [NYSE president] Stacey Cunningham about my time there, that they don’t deem it important."
According to CNBC, Simmons planned to pursue a career in medicine when she moved to New York after graduating from college in 2016. However, she then decided to explore the field of finance, fueled by her love for math.
That's when the New Yorker took the Series 19, the exam all floor brokers must pass to earn their badges. After passing the test, Simmons became the youngest, and at the time, the only full-time female trader at the NYSE.
In 2019, the NYSE launched an advisory council to address its issues in diversity.
"The council, which is comprised of 20 member CEOs from some of the world’s largest and most well-established brands, will leverage their own personal networks to identify talented candidates interested in serving on boards," the NYSE stated. "Through an exclusive online network and series of live events, the council will introduce candidates to NYSE-listed companies seeking to expand diversity on corporate boards."
Nasdaq also took steps last year, requiring companies listed on its stock exchange to include women, racial minorities and LGBT individuals on their boards, The Wall Street Journal reported.
But not everybody is happy with the requirement.
“It’s an Alice in Wonderland requirement,” said Tom Fitton, president of conservative legal group Judicial Watch, which also sued California for a law mandating greater boardroom diversity. “This is Nasdaq getting into woke ideology, and it’s outside the law.”
Simmons will move forward despite the uphill battle, launching her show soon on smart TVs and app-enabled devices through Facebook Watch, YouTube, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku.
