Speaker: Turn your tests into testimonials

Ethel Davis promised a room full of Allen Community College graduates Saturday one thing — at some point in their lives, things will go sour; that there will be setbacks.

To succeed, she stressed, is to turn those setbacks into setups.

“Make your test become your testimonial,” said Davis, a 1983 Allen graduate. “Make that mess you went through become your message.”

Davis, a 1981 Iola High School alum, graduated from the University of Kansas to become one of the leaders in the world of finance.

As CEO of VZD Capital Management, LLC in Overland Park, Davis is the first African-American woman to own 100 percent of a registered investment advisory firm in the Midwest.

Just as importantly, she has become a powerful advocate for wealth literacy, particularly for women and minorities.

Davis shared her story about taking the initiative to tour the headquarters of American Century Investments, founded by James Stowers of Kansas City. Little did she know, her tour guide was Stowers himself.

She finagled that visit into a job offer.

She then went on to work with other firms before starting VZD Capital Management in 2012, named after her adoptive parents, Virgil and Zether Davis. Her parents, despite never going to college, stressed to their children the importance of higher education.

“Every morning I get up, I’m honoring those two people,” she said.

In the six years hence, Davis has worked extensively in low-income communities, as well as high-net-worth individuals and multi-generational families to stress the importance of financial literacy.

She’s been recognized by multiple agencies as one of Kansas City’s most influential women.

She’s also become an accomplished author, penning a chapter in “Dear Fear: You Can’t Have My Journey.” Davis is about to release a second book this summer, “Circle in Red: How to Turn Mistakes into Successful Lessons.”

She lauded Allen’s Class of 2018.

“Look around to your family, friends, professors and advisers,” she said. “They’re your tribe. They had your back when times got rough. Now, they’re here to celebrate you.