Dina Isola

Relentless Optimism

Dina here… Like most people, I have a real soft spot for the underdog. Yanely Espinal has a unique story to tell, but the theme of trying to make a better life is at the core, and that story never grows old for me. Her parents immigrated to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic and had…

Calling all Ladies

Dina here … I had the pleasure of catching up with my colleague, Blair duQuesnay, for an episode of On Her Mind podcast. She shed some light on the history of women in the workforce and shared that, before 1973, newspapers had segregated the help wanted ads by gender. So it is a fairly recent development that…

From Disinterested to Fully Engaged

  Dina here … For the better part of my career in the financial world, I was somewhat of a disinterested investor.  Even though contributions were made to my retirement account, bills were paid on time, debt was kept manageable, credit cards were paid on time, and the bank account was never overdrawn – I wasn’t…

Introducing On Her Mind Podcast

Dina here … Today I want to unveil my latest project:  On Her Mind, a podcast to address the many worries that weigh on a woman’s brain.  Whether you are a woman, or want to understand women better, this podcast sheds light on topics many want to learn about but resist asking about – things…

How an English Major Became an Advisor

Dina here … We live in a time when expressing an opinion and having an audience is as nearby as a cellphone. We can always have lots of people agreeing with us, in fact – algorithms for social media, such as Facebook, guarantee that we will find our very own choir to preach to. It…

Estate Planning Isn’t Just for Millionaires

Dina here… One of the greatest “gifts” I ever received from my parents did not feel like a gift a first; it was a torturous exercise, truth be told.  Involving me in their estate planning would be something that would offer my entire family peace of mind, but not until much later down the road….

Hardwired to Help

Dina here … Sometimes you find a cause to support, but when a cause finds you it means something in life has sunk its teeth in and has torn some of your flesh. Such was the case for our family when, in 2014, our fifth-grade son showed me a lump on his neck.  What appeared…

Fake It Until You Make It

Often, I have seen people burdened with a financial secret; something that they have not faced head-on or have been hiding from their families, and it leads to emotional overwhelm. Over the last month, I have had several conversations with a successful career woman who has amassed credit card debt that she cannot pay off…

Hooray for Me, the Hell with You!

When my mother wanted me to be aware of someone’s self-serving nature she would say, “Hooray for me and the hell with you!” That one sentence was a much-needed warning as my tendency was to follow the Golden Rule (“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”).  The trouble is, sometimes you…

Good Dough is Hard to Find

“…Let us not waste our time in idle discourse! Let us do something, while we have the chance….”  Vladimir, Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett The characters in Waiting for Godot sit under a leafless tree waiting for Godot to show up and it is like groundhog’s day.  Time drags out and actions repeat in…