Welcome to Knight Talks: the University of Florida College of Journalism and Commun Talk Show produced by students for students.

I'm Ashanti Ferrier, a junior studying Advertising.

And our guest today is Mohamad Merilan, who graduated with his Bachelor' degree in Telecommunications with a concentration in Engineer He's gone on to work in investme banking technology in New York C and is now the Assistant Vice President with Credit Suisse.

Hi, Mohamad, thank you so much for being up here today.

My pleasure, happy to be here.

Sa k pase?

[What's up?]

Hey, N ap boule!

[Everything's g So my first question for you tod you have such an interesting sto beginning with growing up in Orl since your mother didn't speak E And as the oldest of your siblin how did that impact you?

It was actually very challenging I would say, growing up with my and my dad; he left the home probably when I was in middle sc So, being both my parents came f paying the bills and writing out the checks, like, I thought that was a normal thin Writing out checks, handling mortgage loans, calling customer service, making sure all the bills are in So having to do that from twelve all the way through high school and University of Florida as wel So even as a college student, I was managing my mom's finances her car insurance, and my own fi and my own health insurance, and all these other activities going on my life, plus school.

So that all in total was a chall and I'm grateful for it, though.

That is really amazing.

So back at Carver Middle School, you had a teacher, Ms. Davis, who told you that you wouldn't be a product of your environment So how did that impact you and what was your environment at She literally taught that — she w first one to tell me that I'm go to college and I'm going to get it paid for.

And I didn't even know what that at the time, because when I thin my parents, the only thing they said to do was to go to sch But I could not even fathom what college even meant.

So fast forward later.

I remember having to take FAFSA — do my FAFSA or the ACT SAT and not even knowing what they w until I actually took those exam Right, and I really do believe she spoke that over my life.

And attending the University of became a Machen Florida Opportunity Scholar.

And that's the reason why I'm he All because one person spoke that into my life.

I think that's a very important for all college students to have that person behind them, motivat and being a role model for them.

So where do you think you would have been at if you had not gone to the University of Florida?

I don't even think that's even a I even want to think about.

But, I've thought about it befor And without MFOS, even without t guidance like Ms. Davis or Dr. Dorsey, he was my golf co I don't know where I would be.

I'd probably be still in the str of Orlando, I could have easily — like I said, there's so — influence is very contagious.

So, it could have just been that wrong place and wrong time, because there was police all ram in that west side of Orlando and crime happening.

And mind you, people not here to if I could have been in the wron wrong time, and I get emotional even thinking about it, I probably wouldn't even be even sitting before you.

That's very powerful.

So, you were actually the Presid NSBE and also Alpha Phi Alpha and it seems like a community is something very important to y So, how did you use your preside to bring community?

Community is huge.

As human beings, we just always are searching, searching for status and belongi And so, coming to University of Florida, one of the first organizations I got introduced to was NSBE.

And it just was such a professional organization.

It just had so much grace and in for minorities when it comes to engineering and also to just in the space that everyone, everybody is celebrated, which I And, no, it wasn't this whole comparison thing, "I didn't want to see you win," and people just wanted to help y advance, especially in technolog And so, when I came in as a fres I said, okay, this is an organiz I wanted to lead one day.

And fortunately enough, I was — and I remember I was NSBE Member of the Year that yea Financier, Treasurer, and then P But here's the interesting part — I want to be transparent.

Because I switched my major from Electrical Engineering to Telecommunications, I thought I was not fit or I wasn't qualified to be President of NSBE.

So, I remember I had a conversat with Breon at the time that I was actually going to giv my ticket to run for Treasurer.

And that was going to stop my jo to President.

But he told me that it's not about the major, it's about the impact, it's about the mission, right?

And so, it's about creating impa and inclusion for our communitie And so that's how I used the mis of NSBE and Alpha Phi Alpha of really impacting communities through education, through professional excellence, through development, and bringing that to the student You know what, I feel like that has a very important meaning and because for a lot of college stu as well, you may not end up in y or the first job that you get may not be in a career that you But, since your degree was in Telecommunications, how do you think that prepared y for your field?

Because your field is definitely very different from Telecommunic but it still gave you the skills to get to your career.

Right.

Well, engineering, it can very logical and analytical.

What I loved about telecommunications was the fact it requires a lot of creativity.

Right, with the editing in Adobe and having the different cuts.

I love that and I was able to br that in the workplace because you can be creative when it comes to finance.

You can be creative when it comes to technology.

So the fact that I was able to transfer that over and working on teams, because to run a whole production studio is an orchestration, right?

So to be able to work on a team on Wall Street and orchestrate a team to bring them a final product, because once again, I work in te so we deliver products to our tr so that they can trade properly, I think is phenomenal.

So, I'm very — really grateful for this Telecommunication degre and the fact that I was able to shape it into the vision that I for my time at UF is the same thing of with my car On paper, I'm just Application Developer in Archite But, I was able to shift it to w I call a Solutions Architect.

So once again, Telecommunication I created my own experience here Now my career on Wall Street, I created that experience there So how was your transition from the small University of Flo to the big Wall Street?

And working in the technology on Wall Street, did you experien Impostor Syndrome from that tran from college to the big world?

Man, we'll be here all day if I talk to you about what I experienced when it comes Imposter Syndrome, not belonging It's been a phenomenal transitio Right, when I first got there — And I'm being really transparent I did not graduate with the most highest grades of people on Wall they've got 3.5's or higher, they were at Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, Yale, and mind University of Florida, top five out University of Florida top fi I believe we were a top ten, top seven at that point.

But still, I'm from the South.

They don't recruit from the Sout I'm from Richmond Heights, an underrepresented community, l I had, in my head, I had all the insecurities stacked against me.

And you have professional Wall S From a kid, they were told, "You're going to be an Analyst" or "You're going to be an Investment Banker."

And people — and mind you in tech they were some of my peers that were much better at Java, much better at programming langu and I didn't have that much experience, right.

I failed a lot of classes here, And so, I didn't feel like I bel I really —and I used a lot of my stipend money to even move up th I don't have any family up there So when it came to Impostor Synd you lack confidence, but you're clearly competent.

But, that's why that you need guidance and mentorship.

And you need that community, that big word "community" again, to tell you, "Hey, you do belong "You do belong, Ashanti."

"You do belong, Mohamad."

"You do belong, Mercy."

So it was like —that was so big f that I had that guidance to say, "Hey, Mohamad, you do belong her And another thing about Imposter Syndrome that I'd reali is not talked about a lot is tha we always see it from a very negative viewpoint.

It can actually be seen as a very positive thing, as wel Though, it's just how you look a because Imposter Syndrome brings It doesn't — you don't — you feel like you're not as comp You lack confidence, right?

So, guess what you do.

Because of that humility, you go and to find the resources you go and find the information because you want to make up for that you believe that you have.

Right, and that's what I did.

I went to go find information, I went to go find the proper res I went to go find the proper ind to now where I'm able to excel in my career.

So speaking of finding the prope individuals, do you think you ha any mentors that really helped you transition to Wall Street?

Yes, I would definitely say Management Leadership for Tomorr If there's any program that help get from where I was at mentally where I was at professionally was MLT, Management Leadership for Tomorr and my coach, Rishal Stanciel — I didn't know how to merge the w of business and technology and utilize my degree to do that She helped to wrap it all togeth There's an exam — there's a test that we took called Career Leader, and part of that was application technology, I'll be good at enterprise contr and so, through that clarity and mock interviews and exposure like Facebook, Google.

Credit Suisse was one of the ind at the seminars, right.

And I'll never forget this — I was in line for Facebook and there was a guy named Jerome I'll never forget this.

I got him on LinkedIn and everyt I think I tell him "thank you" e So thank you, Jerome.

I don't kn he's going to see this, but — So Jerome said, "Are you interes in financial services?"

Mind you, at the time, I'd never heard of financial ser I don't even know what that is, never heard of Big Four, all these, you know, Bain, all t different companies, right.

And I said, "Sure, why not?"

I m I'm not going to, you know, not to an opportunity.

So, I gave him my resume.

Next thing you know, I'm interviewing for an internship and intern 2016, intern 2017.

Next thing you know, I'm full-time with Credit Suisse So, I love that you brought up that you have to go through test to get a testimony because for a lot of college stu you're at the very top, you're a senior, you graduate, and then you're at the very bott of the barrel once again.

And it can be really hard and you can feel like you don't or you don't have the experience as some people who have been in the industry fo But you brought up something very important, which was mentorship and guidance.

And a lot of the times college students hear, "You need to network, you need to find a mentorship, You need to find someone in the So, do you have any mentors or any networking experience that you can talk about that led you to Credit Suisse?

I believe mentorship is huge.

If anybody, in my opinion, that "Oh, they were self-made," I don't believe in "self-made."

That's my personal opinion.

Because I believe someone had to the resources or the guidance or the network to get to wherever they're at in If you look at my entire timelin it's been people there to help m along the way.

In middle school, it was Ms. Cyn that spoke life into me and said "Mohamad, you're going to colleg you're going to get it paid for.

Guess what, it happened.

Then, I went to high school.

Could have easily end up in the right?

Gangs everywhere.

It was Dr. Dorsey who back then, 1961, he graduated valedictorian from Jones High School, right.

And then he started his golf pro and became a dentist.

And then now he's coaching me, mentoring me — not only in the game of golf, bu Right, and then I went to colleg Right, and mind you, once again, small fish in a big pond, 50,000 students, right.

Thinking that I don't belong, all of this nature.

Here comes Professor David Whitn He was the engineering resident at the time at the University of met him summer 2013.

He kept me under his wing throug five years I was at University o Now here is the bigger thing, ri I leave University of Florida, r I've had mentors in my professio in my career or in my — you can say my degree, right?

Then I go into Wall Street.

Then I had individuals like Will and then I had individuals like Anthony Jody and Brian Acia.

So I had now transitioned, not only having mentors in my ca but people, like I said, Brian A Anthony Jody to help mentor me i So that's where I am now, where those mentors and coaches in my So as you see, from when I was y to where I am now, it has been individuals and coll of people, communities that's helped me along the way.

So, with all those communities and networking opportunities and mentorships, I'm so happy you had that in your life, how did that transition into your role at Credit Suisse?

I would say definitely, one of t committees like I had mentioned was Management Leadership for To I believe that was transformatio meeting Rishal Stanciel.

We still speak to this day.

And that's a point that I also w make, too, because there's netwo and there's relationship buildin Yes.

You're not going to have — you're going to make a lot of connections in life.

But it's those key relationships helps propel you through these different seasons in your And one of the things that happe also in college is that my sister got diagnosed with breast cancer.

And once again, it could have been strictly prof But when you've built relationsh with people, it's not just profe it's personal.

And that's when she came in and me find personal clarity in my l She helped me find my career, but she was also there with me when I was dealing with one of t challenging part of my life, when my sister got breast cancer And so now moving forward, becau she helped me find that personal she helped me find the intersect with business and technology, which was a business analyst, wh transitioned to an application d She helped me all along that jou and I was able to find that role that fits me well.

And now, you're the Assistant Vice President.

So could you tell us about your from the bottom of the barrel to Yeah, it's been the only company that I've been with since I've i I've enjoyed my two summers ther and they gave me a full-time off to start in the summer of 2018.

And mind you, once again, I took the things that I had, I moved up there that summer.

I still remember it June 21st, 2 and I started July 9th, 2018.

I remember these days like it was yesterday.

And I love how these chapters tr because once again, didn't have any family here, I've only known Florida my entir And so now, I'm in a career starting as a technical analyst And once again, that's — we go to that Imposter Syndrome — didn't know a lot, wasn't the best programmer at al And I sought out those resources I would say my first year, I was focused on networking.

I was focused on building relati to see how I can most add value to not only myself, but to the b and the firm overall.

And getting involved with, also with the Black Professionals Net to help with H.R., to open that to get more underrepresented com and also diverse talent into the So yes, I have my role as a technical analyst, But there's a lot of other roles that I play at the firm as well.

And so, yeah, the two years was rotational.

So I came in as Business Analyst with information barriers.

So there's something called MMPI So making sure that certain types of informtation, client data doesn't go out to the public.

So what I do is that I help traders facilitat those trades electronically beca now most trading is done electro I will say twenty years ago they to do something called high-touc which means you're on the phone — you've seen Wolf of Wall Street, So it would be more high-touch.

They call on a phone, you're yelling.

So, being on the trading floor n it's somewhat like that, but it's not as bad as you've seen in the movies, right?

So they're still, kind of you kn they're talking a little bit yelling, but once a you'll see their monitors; most of that is electronic.

If you go to any trading desk, it will be mostly electronic; I make sure that happens.

How would you say your personali or your train of thought has cha since you were a technical analy to now being an assistant vice p I have a broader scope of what's happening at the firm.

If you ask me what is — what are equities, what are bond what is fixed income and all these different terminol I don't even know any of that.

Right, so it's funny when someon comes up to me and they might be impressed with what I say.

I let them know that I didn't kn any of this stuff three years ag I was right where you were at.

And so I make sure I connect and relate to new analysts that whatever I can do, you can do as Because, look, I started with almost nothing — know any knowledge at all, right And I will say my knowledge has progressed a lo I've seen the reach of the firm because it's a global firm; 50,000 employees they're across 50 countries, 56 countries or so forth.

They have like up 1.6 trillion assets under management.

So, it's a huge firm and there's so many different moving parts.

So, I will say my knowledge has gotten a lot la when it comes to the moving parts of the firm.

And my reach as far as influence has been able to be a lot broade where I can reach out and bring more people with me on this journey.

So, we're on this topic of growt How do you think New York you is from who you were in Florida?

That's a great question.

Who — New York me versus Florida Mo'.

I would say I have a better unde of the world.

When I was in Florida, I didn't have much exposure.

It was more Florida, Florida people and Florida culture.

I believe every state, country has their own culture and New Yo is just a lot of diversity in mi thought, people you'll see somebody, they may lo they're from a certain country, but they're not.

They could have born in Australia, but raised in New England or England and their family — and the wife is from or her husb is from Japan.

It was like — it's so diverse.

in New York and they speak so many different languages.

Every time I get into an Uber, it's a different thing I'm learn about someone's country like Geo the country, not the state, righ And I find that that's phenomena And I'm able to gain that inform And when I meet someone else in the country or in the world, I'm able to relate because I've so many different types of peopl New York City and I met some phenomenal people in I've learned there's different w to live life, right.

Because in Florida, you follow the script of — I'm not only Florida, but maybe people, that grew up — Okay, you just go to school, get good grades, get a good job, and that's it.

I went to New York.

And you real you see diversity of thought.

You see inclusion.

And I love this as well, as far diversity is a fact.

We see diversity in this room.

We see diversity in University o we see diversity in this world.

Inclusion is a choice.

And that's what I realized being in New York, that inclusion is a I've seen it, right.

And also, too, like I mentioned different lifestyles.

You don't only have to just have one career and that's how you li There's people that I've seen th retired early, staying at home w their child, developing assets.

And you know, if you want to, it's about creating options, rig Trading restrictions for options That's what I learned about, being in New York City.

And then while being up there, t when I learned about the term Ka And, you know, that's been phenomenal for me, a Snaps to that.

I really love that testimony.

It really touched me, and I hope that it also had some sentiment with some of our audience member So, what is this concept of Kaiz that you just brought up?

And also do you believe that you've achieved this in lif So, I remember I saw like this t something like that, that really impacted me emotionally.

And I was like, "Why is this bothering me so muc So, literally that point in time I literally removed myself from all social media and I started reevaluating mysel "Mohamad, why do you believe in "Do you believe in this?"

I started evaluating my, like I my values, my beliefs, my habits which ones were empowering me, which one were disempowering me.

And something that I realized with myself is that a lot of tim we can believe things that are t that are actually false and things that actually false that And so that's when I started going on this journey of Kaizen.

I read a book called Uniquely Yo by Ron Kitchens.

And it talked about Kaizen, whic Japanese term for continuous imp And a lot of times you can — I guess you can study Six Sigma the Sigma Belt and you'll talk about Kaizen, but that's more from a business Lean production, right, making things more efficient.

But then I thought, "Why don't people do this with their life?"

Why don't they focus on continuous improvement?

Why don't they focus on unlearni so that you can learn better thi Right, because a lot of times we can live life as a prosecutor, a politician, or a preacher.

But how many of us actually live as a scientist?

Seeking for the truth and willing to change and edit o to live out our values.

So, Kaizen I've applied this in and I'm always sharing that mind with other people that, "Hey, you can unlearn to learn."

"You can break down those disemp habits to build better ones."

And what I love to say is that, I'm getting my PhD in life because you can never achieve Ka you're always pursuing it.

You're always getting better.

Because I'm not looking to be th I'm not looking to be #1.

I'm only looking to be better.

That's it.

So living life with Kaizen has been transformational for me because I choose to get better, not just in my career.

but I'm choosing to get better in my finances, in my health, in my mindset, in my emotional intelligence.

And overall, work with people.

What advice do you have for stud who do have parents or family me who may not understand the proce that they're going through in co That's a great question.

I would try the best way to connect with and relate with them and see how I believe simplicity is the best thing you can do.

When I explained to my mom what as far as my organizations on ca when I was president, I said "Manman, mwem Prezidan."

["Mama, I'm President."]

Right?

"I'm President of this" or "I'm President of that."

And so she would understand to that point and she'd be like, "Oh okay."

Right?

And another thing, too, that — with students or different indiv is that you have to have — give your parents some grace.

Because I used to really be mad at my parents and really sad when speaking to and judge them a lot.

But then when I asked them about their history and realized their parents didn't show them l or affection or appreciation.

I'm like, you get better underst and you have that grace with the So I stopped judging my parents so much and actually forgave the and I just keep it simple and explain to them as much as p and relate to them as much as I can.

That's the best thing I can do.

I love that your whole story is of an underdog who had humility, who had perseverance, growth, and he had this mentorship commu that was able to help him rise to something beautiful in a way.

So, what would you say to studen who are underdogs?

How do you think they should go about becoming the hero?

I would say everybody's a hero.

I believe everybody's born a cha It's just that the world can som break you down along the process So — and here's the thing.

I see life as just a big opportu to overcome challenges.

And as a result, because that in whoever is the unsung hero — you've gone through a lot of adv But like I said before, you have through the test to have the tes So, a lot of times, yeah it can I could have quit.

I could have gave up.

I could have said, "My life suck Like, my mom got carjacked in sc my sister got breast cancer, my dad got cancer in school.

I could have easily quit.

But when you get through it, you have the testimony and you can share it because your obedience is someone else's deliverance, literally.

R So that's what I would explain t is that you are not a — yes, you may be seen as an under but you're a champion.

And as long as you believe that, you will make it.

And so, but what does that look practically?

What does that look like tangibly?

Okay, here's the underdog piece.

We lack network.

We lack knowled But here's the beautiful things about being humans — we can gain knowledge, we can learn, we can grow, we can get uncomfortable, right, and put ourselves in a situation So, I think in these times, more than ever, we don't lack the resources, we just lack resourcefulness.

That's it.

And so, what does that look like Find your personal Board of Directors, right?

That's what I love the call it — like these companies, yeah, I gu Wall Street, right.

People get IPO's, they'll get Boards of Directors to manage these companies.

You're a CEO, Ashanti.

Go find a Board of Directors to help you invest to create more value in your lif I think that's phenomenal.

Because if you lack knowledge, go find someone who is advanced in finances.

Go find someone who's advanced the career that you want to be i Go find someone who's advanced in relationships.

Go find someone who's advanced in emotional intelligence and surround yourself with them.

And then that's how you can get to the next leve So you brought up a program with your company that potential Communication Majors can get into.

So, can you give us a little plu that for our viewers?

Yeah, one of them is the Steps to Success Program.

Actually, another one is also, too, the Pivot Program.

Both of these organizations, you can be any major and actually be affiliated with the company.

And they actually — one of them, I believe, is the Steps to Success — provides a scholarship program on top of that as well.

And you're able to rotate throug different desks, you're able to gain experience, you get a mentor, as well, with both programs and once again, I believe it's phenomenal, just like with the T.A.

Endless And what I realized with myself is that I was not an Engineering or a Finance Major, but I was ac in a Technical Analyst Program.

So, I would recommend finding the resources.

Once again, I am more than happy to be a res Feel free to give out my contact I want to connect many people to different opportunities.

Thank you so much for that plug- And thank you so much for coming and being in this interview with You may be a junior, you may be a senior, you may be even a freshman, and you just got into college.

You should always be striving to improve yourself, improve you and don't be afraid to lean on o Like Mr. Mohamad said, get mento get community.

Don't be ashamed to ask question to be curious and be humble alon Thank you so much to all of our for joining us.

And until next time, goodnight.