September 3, 2014 at 3:46 p.m.
Rhinelander stockbroker blazed a trail for women in money management
Rhinelander stockbroker blazed a trail for women in money management
It's that attitude that eventually made her one of the very first female stockbrokers in an industry dominated by men.
The seed was planted early in her life when Hafemeister was still just a girl growing up in Rhinelander.
"I lived out in the town of Pine Lake," she said. "Of course, there was no high school there, so when I was 12, I worked for my room and board so I could come into town to go to junior high to prepare me for high school. I worked for Harry Martin, who was an insurance man. I continued going through junior high and high school there."
Hafemeister learned what it meant to take care of her money, and good thing too. Both of her parents died and suddenly she was responsible for her own well-being, certainly a heavy load for a 12-year-old to bear.
"When I was 12 and I went to work for Harry Martin. My brother gave me my insurance policy and told me it was up to me," she said. "From then on I managed my own money. I was on my own. That was a good start and it made me manage my money well. I didn't have any clue that I'd be working in a brokerage firm though."
It was at Rhinelander High School that she would first discover that a career in business might be in her future.
"A representative from Oshkosh Business School came to the high school to talk to us," Hafemeister said. "Mr. (Cedric) Vig was our principal and he was a great man. He talked me into going to Oshkosh Business School and that's what I did."
Although it was a big step, supporting herself was nothing new for Hafemeister. She had been working her way through school for years and the move simply meant unfamiliar surroundings. The work ethic remained.
"I had no clue what I was going to do," she said. "I had parents who were deceased, so we couldn't afford to go to college, so I went to the small business school in Oshkosh. I got a part-time job to pay for my tuition, which was $28 a month. I worked at the Wildlife Nursery for 13 years, but left and applied for a job at Carl M. Henning Investments and I've been here ever since."
She wasn't a stockbroker when she started, but in just under a decade at Carl Henning, she earned her broker's license and become one of the only women in a field dominated by men. To the people she worked with though, it was her common sense and work ethic that told them she'd be a great broker.
"The people at Carl Henning had a lot of faith in me," she said. "I didn't feel qualified at the time for anything like that. They saw the potential in me better than I did. They encouraged me, and the more experience I had, the more I liked it, and I got good at it. People trusted me and had a lot of confidence in me."
That was 50 years ago and Hafemeister is still going strong, mostly because she absolutely loves what she does. She credits that to the way she grew up and the attitude she still carries today.
"I love it," she said. "Because of my background and having to be so conservative in managing my money, it helps me help people."
Her daughter, Debra, said Hafemeister's accomplishments are a constant source of pride and hard.
"I'm just very proud of her, that's all," Debra Hafemeister said. "She likes work and she likes people. That's what makes her such a good fit. She never went to school to be a stockbroker. If I remember correctly, she heard that they were about to make it mandatory that you have a degree to be a stockbroker, so she went in and took the test before it happened. But I never knew she was entering a field that was dominated by men. She is even more amazing than I knew."
When Hafemeister entered the field, she was an outlier. Now, the road to becoming a stockbroker is much more accessible. The climate has changed, and she played a role in that.
"There are absolutely a lot more women," she said. "You can work in a bank and then get into the brokerage business from there. The path is a lot easier."
And it all started in Pine Lake.
Andy Hildebrand may be reached at [email protected].
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