23-year-old Lauren Simmons is a graduate of Genetics with a minor in Statistics, and has become the youngest and the only female full-time trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Lauren described her experience as “surreal” to CNBC, adding that when she tells people what she does for a living, “they are always surprised.”
Lauren works as an equity trader for Rosenblatt Securities, despite her educational background.
Her plan had been to pursue a career in the medical field, but after discovering it wasn’t for her, she started applying to positions in finance.
Before her employment was made permanent, Lauren said she had a month to take the exam all floor brokers must pass, the Series 19, and, she said:
When I tell you a lot of people did not think I was going to pass, they really did not think I was going to pass.
But she passed! And now, she’s breaking boundaries.
Watch her tell her story below: