Ms. Samuels credits a big part of her success to education, as she took night classes to earn her MBA at Boston University and earned her chartered financial analyst and chartered alternative investment analyst designations.
"Extremely hard work" was another factor to her success, she said. "I was told no many, many times for different roles or requests," so "tenacity was important."
Ms. Samuels said her non-traditional background is what drives her desire to help others rise up in the industry.
As a member of TBD Angels, Ms. Samuels invests in early stage ventures to help them grow. "For me, I have a focus on diverse founders, or organizations that have missions to improve diversity or social equity in our world," she said.
She's also on the advisory board of Girls Who Invest, a non-profit organization dedicated to boosting women's presence in the investment management industry through educational training programs and internships.
Ms. Samuels said her passion for increasing young people's financial literacy is what drove her to write a children's book, titled "Braving Our Savings: Holland and London Learn to Invest!" that will be published in April.
She's hoping to get the book "into kids' hands who are from underrepresented communities" and plans to distribute books for free.
