Whilst the reality is that we all have to learn by our own experiences, we can fast-track that learning by hearing of the experiences of others and making adaptions to how we work quicker than would, by recognizing their experiences in ourselves. In this episode we chat with Richard Matthews, a near 50-year veteran of the markets, who has some great experiences to share. 

Richard started as a trainee broker in 1973. That is a lot of experience, lot of knowledge, a lot of wisdom, and we are delighted to be able to capture that and share it with you in this week’s AlphaMind podcast.

In this episode Richard takes us on a little history of the markets, comparing how it was then to how it is now, what aspects of it have changed and how, and what aspects of it are exactly the same. Richard also shares what he considers are the biggest errors he has seen people make, and that they continue to make,   

Charitable Venture.   

We also want to mention of a great and worthwhile charitable venture Richard is involved in, which he talks about towards the end of the podcast.  

The charity is called ‘First Workings’ which aims to help people from underprivileged backgrounds in the New York City area to acquire the Social Capital that those from more privileged backgrounds naturally acquire. 

There is extensive research which shows that a paid internship drastically increases a college graduate’s likelihood of securing a job offer upon graduation. For young people of colour, young people coming from low-income backgrounds, or those who are first generation college students, connections to paid internships are more difficult to secure without social capital.

 ‘First Workings’ go into schools and the community to help build social capital through:

• Workplace Readiness Skills Training
• Placement in a Paid Summer Internship
• Matching students with a professional in the industry they hope to pursue in college and beyond for a virtual mentorship if in-person internships are not feasible
• Alumni programming including networking opportunities and career access training workshops
• Comprehensive support
• Efforts to foster professional experiences

This experience provides students that come from underrepresented or underserved communities with tools and resources they wouldn’t ordinarily have access to.

Richard is connected to first workings in NY and is setting up a similar charity here in the UK to work in schools in some of London’s more challenged areas. 

To know more about First Workings, their website is https://firstworkings.org/

We will update this when the webpage for the UK charity is set-up. In the meantime, if you would like to contact Richard about his charity project, you can message his twitter handle https://twitter.com/dickiematthews5

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