Mike MilliganFounder and CEO, 1.oak Financial · Founder and CEO, 1.oak Financial

Where are the women in this industry?

9 Dec 2025 · 1 min

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In this spoken segment, Mike Milligan recounts attending an industry awards event with his wife Liana, where he was recognized among the top ten. During the event, Liana privately asks him, “Where are the women in this industry?” and challenges him to fix the problem. Responding to that moment, Milligan explains that they are launching One Oak Financial as a woman‑led firm with the explicit goal of radically shifting the industry’s gender balance. He emphasizes creating opportunities for young people to make an impact across generations, positioning the new firm as a vehicle for both gender equity and youth empowerment.

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You know, Mike, one of the things I like about you is that you're, you're creating an entire operation. You're hiring people and young people. So my wife, Liana, and I were at an industry event. I was there as one of the top 10 people being recognized. But at that event, she kind of reached under the banquet table and squeezed my leg, and not in a good way, squeezed my leg and said, we're going to talk when we get back to our room. And we got back to the room and she, she, she said something very profound to me. She said, Mike, where are the women in in this industry. At that event, she said, Mike, you're going to fix this problem. And so yes, we are creating One Oak Financial as a woman-led firm. One of the things I do is I want to radically change this industry, and what I want to do is open up opportunities for young people, for them to be able to make an impact on their generation like I've been able to do in mine and my predecessors have been able to do in theirs.