STA Blog

Working the room at the STA’s 50^th birthday party on the 7^th June, I had the chance to ask some guests their thoughts on the society.  How technical analysis had changed over the last half century, why they had joined, what they hoped to achieve from membership – questions along these lines.  Interesting answers aplenty, and everyone was very happy to help.  Your social media butterfly’s scribbled notes would supply interesting material for several articles.

Someone I had earmarked was Leona Gomez-Lopez, one of the newest, and maybe the youngest, of the STA’s Executive Committee.  She was happy to talk, and I was happier still when she suggested we sit down for a chat (I was beginning to flag by then).  Looking very pretty in her party gear, it was then I realised she had been standing in four-inch killer stilettos all evening.  Such a trooper!

Before moving on to the reasons for standing for election to the Committee, she sketched out her slightly unusual career path.  Leaving school aged just 16, her first job was on a stockbroker’s sales desk – where she knew nothing.  Annoying researchers and colleagues with her endless questions like: ‘’Why do you do that?’’, and ‘’what makes you say this?’’, her chief executive eventually sent her off on the STA’s Diploma Course.  ‘’This ignited my passion for learning and, as a 21-year old woman, gave me credibility’’, she said enthusiastically.

She didn’t stop there though, becoming a certified chartered accountant and now studying for an MBA in Entrepreneurial Finance at the Warwick Business School.  Her bio says she is currently the COO of a technology group.  Hasn’t the young lass done well!

At one of the many STA monthly meetings she attended, our Treasurer, Simon Warren, approached her, and they started talking about all sorts of things from an accountancy point of view.  He then piped up and asked, ‘’will you help me out?’’ (on the finance committee).  ‘’I’d love to’’ she replied, and is now Treasurer, while Simon is now a Director at the International Federation of Technical Analysts.

She is not alone in finding that volunteering for the STA’s Committee and other roles can be mutually beneficial, giving a helping hand in terms of experiences and challenges one’s professional career might face.  I know that our soon-to-be chairman, Tom Hicks, says introducing the speakers at our monthly meetings has helped him tremendously with in-house presentations at work.