Spreading the 'Smith Family Philosophy'

During Parker Rist’s freshman year, a senior at the Robert H. Smith School of Business inspired him to go into finance. The older student was headed toward a finance career and spoke about it daily, and Rist began seeing himself pursuing a similar career path.

“Coming in, I had an idea that I wanted to pursue one of the more technical majors because that’s the way I am — very numbers-oriented and analytical,” Rist says. Talking with his mentor and becoming vice president of finance for Smith’s undergraduate student association during his sophomore year solidified the decision.

As vice president, Rist had to work nearly 15 to 20 hours a week to manage a $20,000 budget. “It was nothing I had ever done before,” he says.

While Rist considers himself organized and meticulous with numbers, he really prefers to surround himself with people. For that reason, he is interested in working in financial advising and helping others organize their wealth.

One of his favorite classes was financial markets. “It’s really important because clients will see these headlines and the advisor must understand it and synthesize it and pass it on to their clients in a simplified version,” he says.

Rist practiced his skills at Merrill Lynch in summer 2018 as an intern. He says the experience boosted his confidence to enter the field. 

Now he is working to help incoming Smith students find their own paths forward, since his own mentor was such a positive influence on him. Each semester, he is paired up with a freshman with similar career interests.

Even if they go into a different area of finance, he says he still enjoys working with them and building his network at the same time. He calls it the “Smith family philosophy.”

“It is competitive within Smith, but we’re always supportive of each other,” he says. “There are just endless opportunities. If there isn’t something they want, they can take an entrepreneurial step and create it themselves.”

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