Intrepid Woman: From Futures Trader to Microfinance Film Maker

Contributed by Rachel Cook

I was working as a Futures Trader on the European shift – in the middle of the night, Chicago time – in September 2009 when I first came across an op-ed in The New York Times written by Nick Kristof the month before, “The Women’s Crusade.” I was completely floored by the article – it told the stories of women in the developing world, facing terrifying, seemingly insurmountable odds. And some of these women were able to overcome these odds using a development tool I’d heard little about – microfinance. I was intrigued. Microlending seemed to help women, and it seemed to be a high-return financial investment – both topics of high interest to me.

I’d studied film in undergrad, as well as Economics and English. I’d loved movies since I was a kid.

It occurred to me that this could make an amazing topic for a global documentary film.

But I’ve never made a feature documentary before; I’d made a few shorts in school, and beyond that I knew virtually nothing about production. It was imperative that I surround myself with professionals who could compensate for my own greenness. And I got lucky; I was able to put together a wonderful group of people who are highly seasoned professionals just as passionate about the project as I am, and what’s more, they were willing to volunteer.

So we got started. While maintaining my trading job, the crew and I traveled to South America and filmed in Paraguay in 2010, and we’re only getting started – we’ll continue filming throughout this year.

Why Leave a Job You Love?

I love trading. I wasn’t a superstar, but I was profitable over the course of my career when trading a variety of products, including during the financial collapse in 2008. I made more money than I had expected to see at 25. I often told people that trading was ‘the greatest real job you could have.’ It suited my huge dislike for playing politics in an office setting – if you made money, you made money, and if you lost money, you had only yourself to blame. It also appealed to me because of my desire to take risks, and to avoid the bureaucratic haze that I imagined so many people enter into in Corporate America and can’t seem to escape. I didn’t want to become a bureaucrat, and trading seemed to present an attractive alternative to that, something more on my own terms.

But over the course of my trading career it became increasingly evident that much of the criticism about the trading world was all too true – particularly in its attitude toward women.

At the first trading firm where I was employed trading Equities (and 8 months later, just after the crisis, unceremoniously fired), I was the only female trader there. During my tenure at this first shop, the 2008 presidential elections were happening, and I’d hear these macho frat guy-types yelling at the TV, telling Palin to “go back in the kitchen” after Senator McCain first announced her as his VP pick. My disagreement with much of the VP candidate’s politics didn’t lessen the anger that remarks like this made. Was the trading world the last bastion of old school sexism in the “modern” work world?

At the last trading film at which I was employed, in Midtown Manhattan, my boss told me one day that they would be interviewing another female trader, so that I would “have a friend.” “Cool,” I muttered sarcastically. My former boss then took the opportunity to tell me “a lot of trading firms will see a woman’s resume and just throw it out, but we welcome women here.” I think maybe he was looking for a high five.

I resigned the next day, wondering if this man would have made a similar remark to an employee who was African-American, or who had an obviously Jewish last name. I had no idea what made him imagine it was okay to say something so blatantly sexist to a woman.

Taking the Plunge

This happened about two months ago, and it’s ultimately been a wonderful thing. It propelled me to take the plunge, to go forward with working on the film full time despite the risk, and it makes me feel as though I’m doing something of value, in a way that trading never did. It was a bit scary – I was embarking on a path entirely unknown, relying on my savings and the belief that I could find other people just as excited about the project as I am who would help – and I have.

When trading, I wasn’t creating something or helping anyone as I stared at the yield curve, trying to anticipate whether it was going to flatten or steepen. But in making this film, and spreading awareness about this development tool and its application, I believe that what I’m doing will make a difference.

Going forward, we are going to make the best film we can possibly make. Right now – with all the news surrounding the problems in India with mass microloan defaults and the suicides of some of these destitute microborrowers who can’t pay their loans back, the situation in Bangladesh regarding the intersection of the Bangladeshi government and its interest in acquiring Grameen – it is a truly fascinating moment in the world of microfinance. It’s clear that the industry needs regulatory mechanisms. It’s clear that some people are being helped – as we saw when we filmed in Paraguay – but it’s also clear that there are flaws in the system, that it is one development tool in a larger box. We intend to explore it fully and pragmatically, with the best interests of the poor women taking out these loans in mind.

Thus, we’re planning to shoot in Bangladesh and India in late February, and will also film in Kenya and in New York, in the interest of making this a truly comprehensive project about microfinance and how it impacts women.

I know that in taking this risk, in quitting my trading job to pursue this project wholeheartedly, I’ve made the best decision of my life, as the driving force behind this project is the desire to help women have the opportunity to lead better lives.

Rachel Cook’s Microlending Film Project has launched a Kickstarter Initiative to fundraise for their shoot in Bangladesh and India. Click here to view a short video of their footage, and consider pledging at any level.  Cook says, “All pledges are appreciated more than you know!”