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A. Philip Williams wanted to be a professional athlete. He worked hard toward that goal. However, in his late teens, he realised that “it takes more than raw talent and a head full of dreams to make it in professional sport.” So he completed a degree in Finance and started his dream job on Wall Street. Then came the recession.
He lost his job and had to return to Trinidad. Years later, he now works at a major investment company. He also started Phil The Gap, an online investor/financial education platform to help us understand and manage our finances. This is his journey from Diamond Vale to Wall Street to Port of Spain:

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I am an ‘Original Valer’. I have great childhood memories of walking to Diamond Vale Primary School: riding, roller skating and skateboarding from the Old Vale to the New Vale and venturing even further (when I wasn’t supposed to) with many of the young people from the neighbourhood. Some of these people are still my closest friends today. We were a close knit group.

When I was nine years, I started selling limes from our backyard tree outside the neighbourhood supermarket. I got a lot of support and business from the mothers and grannies in the area. Perhaps that should have been an indication that I had a ‘business head’ but it didn’t at that time because all I used to think about, was becoming a professional footballer or athlete when I got older.

“It takes more than raw talent and a head full of dreams to make it in professional sport”

While my parents continued to push me toward academics, my desire to be a student athlete was hit with what I call a dose of reality. I suffered a severe injury at 15 years old and it took me a while to recover both physically and mentally. I was very confident in my ability to compete at NCAA level (The National Collegiate Athletic Association) in the USA but in all honesty, I had major self-doubt about my chances of becoming a professional. My parents were extremely supportive and instrumental in helping me to secure an athletic scholarship in 1998. As I look back, I’m grateful that they pushed me to go to university because I learned that it takes more than raw talent and a head full of dreams to make it in professional sport. I saw first-hand through friends how injury and misfortune could bring a promising and glittering career to a crashing halt before it even begins.

When I headed to Morehouse College (USA) on a student athlete scholarship, I worked hard to make the Honour Roll. That came with many sacrifices: almost no partying, no drinking (all the things that a college student looks forward to doing). In order to excel in the classroom as well as on the football field, I had to be a skilled time manager but none of that prepared me to face the biggest challenge to my career path which came soon after graduation.

“This is not how it’s supposed to be, not for me at least”

In 2000, in my third year at University, I interned at a major investment bank in NYC. I enjoyed the buzz of big city life in Manhattan and the glamour that came with being an investment banker in NYC. By the end of that summer, there was no doubt in my mind. I wanted to not just work for money but with money.

In October 2002, I started my “dream job” on Wall Street but soon after I started patting myself on the back for the achievement, the US went into a recession, profit margins took a nosedive, Wall Street lost its way and I eventually lost my job. It was tough paying bills and rent and the daily struggle of searching for a new opportunity in finance at the time. Eventually I realised that I could not continue to live in the United States. So with a heavy heart, I booked a home-bound flight to Trinidad. I remember thinking to myself, “surely, this is not how it’s supposed to be, not for me at least.”

“Those moments left me feeling gutted every time”

Back in Trinidad, I remember being turned down for multiple jobs. It left me feeling gutted every time. However, I believe that every time a door was closed in my face, I was provided with opportunities to learn and grow. You know, it’s always interesting when you connect the dots looking backward and you feel relieved that the very thing you wanted to happen so bad, never happened.

“The birth of Phil The Gap – PTG”

Today, I am Head of Investment Research for a major investment company in T&T. Prior to this position, I had the opportunity to work as a Financial Advisor, Investment Analyst and Portfolio Manager. Over the span of my career, I realised there is a huge gap in financial literacy coupled with a basic understanding of the economy and how it impacts our personal finance decisions. Early on in my career, even though I worked in finance, I still had to learn how to manage my own money and make it work for me. Phil The Gap (PTG) was born out of a strong desire to empower the youth of Trinidad and Tobago and the wider region, by closing the knowledge gap and rewiring our thoughts on how to make the money we work so hard for, work for us. A financially literate individual has the knowledge and skill to understand how money works in the world, how you earn it, how you manage it and how you invest it to make more. Simply put, financial literacy is a necessary aspect of life. My work therefore is to help you understand and be empowered to make wise decisions to benefit you.

“Sport served me academically as well as professionally”

A lot of my personal mentorship came from football coaches and physical trainers in secondary school. Sport fostered the attributes of discipline, perseverance, fair play, managing disappointments and the benefits of hard work. This served me well academically as well as in my professional career. One person in particular who inspired me when I was growing up, was the leader of my youth group Nigel Grimes. He had some really admirable traits: a great listener, very kind, very wise and super cool. I still admire him to this day.

I also received a tremendous amount of support from my family and friends and I’m very grateful for the varied network that I have.

“There is a need for more men to recognise and identify themselves as mentors”

There are many black men, doing great jobs at both formal and informal mentoring but these stories aren’t seen as exciting news and so unfortunately, they aren’t highlighted enough. MENtions is a great start because it helps to change the narrative and allows more black male role models to come to the forefront. I have the opportunity to mentor my young nephews, young neighbours and the young men I meet in the course of my job or just through day to day life. Recently, I was given the opportunity by my employers to lead a mentorship initiative that has developed into an official mentorship programme with training/coaching in the art of mentoring for all participating mentors. This programme has allowed me to spend time with groups of young men who may never have had the opportunity to meet someone like me in the course of their everyday life. This reinforced the fact that there’s a need for more men to recognise and identify themselves as mentors from all fields of work, and from different ages and stages of life.

To that young man who is still searching, know this:

It takes time to figure out who and what you want to be. This is a big life decision, so it’s okay to be unsure but you can’t stay in that space forever. Accept that it may take a while, but be determined to solve this mystery. Spend some quiet non-screen time with yourself, figuring out what are your strengths and weaknesses, what you like and don’t like. Don’t be afraid to ask questions of anyone who might be able to help you figure it out. Speak to: (i) experienced professionals in the fields you think you might be interested in (ii) people who are pursuing a career that you are thinking about. Then do your own research to determine what skills are expected to be in demand in the future and see how they line up with what you are good at. Once you stay committed, you will eventually figure it out, be careful not to get down on yourself or stress too much over it. Look at me, I didn’t figure this out until my third year in college.

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To learn more about Phil The Gap and to receive tips and information to empower, you can visit: https://www.philthegap.co/ or follow @philthegaptt on IG.