By the Numbers.

Hall, Olivia M.

Nannette Nocon '82 is a 2017 recipient of the internationally recognized ATHENA Award. Nocon, who owns Nocon & Associates, a private wealth advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services, was honored by the Women's Council of Rochester, New York, an affiliate of the Rochester Business Alliance.

The award is presented annually by member organizations of the non-profit ATHENA International to recognize the achievements of women leaders and inspire others through their example. After starting as a nutrition major at Cornell, Nocon launched her career as a dietetic technician in a nursing home but could not shake the feeling that she was not realizing her full potential.

"I started asking around and found that about a third of the people I spoke with studied something different than their job at that time," says Nocon. Armed with this insight and new confidence, she "switched from counting calories to counting money" in 1984.

Although Nocon did not fit the ideal profile of a married, 30-something Ameriprise (then IDS) advisor, her persistence nevertheless landed her a job with the company. Since then, she has used her strengths and love for numbers--Nocon and her sisters used to work on math workbooks for fun in the summer months--to build a thriving business helping clients achieve their financial goals.

The ATHENA award committee also took into consideration the time and energy Nocon invests to support education and the arts in Rochester, where she settled some forty years ago. "The community has been so good to me, and giving back is my way of thanking them," she says. "I am deeply humbled by the award and feel that it is a call to do even more."