Sophia Sheng

I'm a Business Support Specialist at Caiati Financial Services and a student at Staples High School in Westport, Connecticut. I've been with the firm for about four months, making this my first real job in the financial industry.

Before this, I did volunteer work and spent one summer watering gardens for seniors. When I saw this position, I applied because it looked different from the typical high school jobs my peers were working. During the interview, I realized retirement planning wasn't as distant from my life as I'd assumed. My parents are thinking about their own retirement, which made the firm's work immediately relevant.

I handle technical and creative tasks: file organization, document uploads, and social media graphics. The creative side comes easily since I have an art background. The technical work is newer territory, and I'm still learning the customer service software that's standard in this industry. What keeps me interested is how quickly I can learn something and then use it.

The team environment is one of my favorite parts of working here. We recently read a book about customer service and discussed how to apply what we'd learned. Working alongside people with more experience gives me a clear sense of what good work looks like.

Outside the office, most of my time goes to art and performance. I draw, paint, edit videos, study ballet, and participate in my high school's theater program. I've lived in Westport my whole life, where the main river freezes solid during the coldest winters, which never stops being amazing.