Many enjoy working with money because of what it can buy. More than that, Jack C. Massey College of Business finance alumna Rachel Hacker (‘98) has always enjoyed money for the peace of mind, comfort and freedom it can provide.
As President and CEO of Creekside Capital, Inc., an investment adviser in Knoxville, Tennessee, Hacker helps clients experience the freedom that comes with achieving their financial goals.
Seeking warmer climates, the Michigan-native took a summer course at Belmont and transferred the following semester. Within Massey’s small classes, Hacker found valuable networking opportunities, and she made lasting connections with professors like Professor Emeritus of Finance Dr. Greg Faulk who intentionally invested in students.
“A lot of the people that I'm around professionally went to much larger universities,” Hacker said. “And I never get the impression or hear that they had those kinds of connections with professors. They usually felt more like just a number. I think that's a big strength that Belmont has.”
Hacker experienced challenges as a woman in finance, particularly when studying to earn her Series 7 license while working as a financial analyst for a small firm after graduating from Belmont.
“I was told that getting a Series 7 was something I didn't need because I was a woman,” she said. “I was told that women support the male financial advisors and weren't supposed to meet with clients, but I pursued it.”
She was also prohibited from studying on the job, a stipulation that wasn’t imposed on her male counterparts. After months of rigorous studying on nights and weekends while meeting the demands of her full-time workload, Hacker earned her Series 7 license and secured new employment at Merrill Lynch in Knoxville.
In 2000, an opportunity to go into business with a male colleague “who didn’t seem to care that I was a female” presented itself. Seeing how hard she worked, Hacker’s colleague wanted her to join him and his son in starting a new business.
“That for me, was a real turning point,” she said. “It hadn't occurred to me before that my gender might be a stumbling block for me in my career. I didn't get that at Belmont. I hate the idea that other girls aren't given those kinds of same opportunities.”
Hacker focuses her passion for helping others into her work at Creekside Capital, especially when providing financial advice to female clients who don’t often feel supported by male advisors in the financial investing space.
“I wouldn't say I solely work with women, but females tend to feel more comfortable talking money with other female advisors,” she said. “More recently, people have articulated that to me that it makes them feel more confident, comfortable and knowledgeable. That's what women need. To have that comfort and empowerment so that we can have more of a say in our finances.”
Hacker is involved in advocacy outside of the workplace as well. After taking a trip to Kenya and visiting a school in June of 2021, she learned about different customs that plague many young girls in the region.
“The lowest class which we would consider kindergarten was about half girls, half boys,” she said. “Then I noticed that when you get to third, fourth and fifth grade, the girls disappeared. There were almost no girls in those classes.”
In communities like the one Hacker visited, girls are likely to be denied an education, forced to marry in childhood, forced to undergo female genital mutilation (FMG) and subjected to other forms of violence.
Ignited by a new passion, Hacker wanted to act. The principal at the school emphasized that the solution was greater than simply “throwing money at the problem,” and Hacker was committed to finding the right place her expertise and involvement could make a lasting impact.
Eventually, she came across Kekenya’s Dream, an organization founded by Dr. Kakenya Ntaiya that invests in girls from rural Kenya through educational, health and leadership initiatives to create agents of change.
After learning more about Kakenya’s Dream from a TED Talk presented by the organization founder and following the organization online, Hacker saw they were looking for a new member to serve on the board of directors.
“They were looking for a board member that was in my age range, that had a finance background and maybe didn't live in the DC area,” she said.
She was vetted by the organization and now serves on the Finance and Development committees.
“I'm just thrilled to be able to learn about it and help,” Hacker said. “It's something that I'm really excited to be able to be a part of.”
Hacker is utilizing her education to make a lasting change in the lives of her clients and through her work with Kekenya’s Dream.
More than two decades before Belmont’s aspirational aim to 2030 was set, Rachel Hacker became an alumna whose story, career and advocacy uniquely embody each of the strategic pathways. There is no better testament to living out an institutional mission and vision than through the example of a university’s past and future graduates.
To learn more and get involved with Kekenya’s Dream, visit kakenyasdream.org.