Jenny Just claims many titles: self-made billionaire, mother of four, entrepreneur, investor – to name a few. The Brookfield native – and Brookfield Central High School grad – has spent much of her professional career scaling Chicago-based PEAK6, a financial services and technology firm she founded in 1997 – at age 29 – with Matt Hulsizer, who she later married. What started as a proprietary options trading company has grown into a multibillion-dollar fintech empire with 2,000-plus employees and eight subsidiary companies. Chief among them is Apex Fintech Solutions, the back-end trading and technology provider for now more than 50% of online trading platforms on the market, including SoFi, Ally, Public, Stash and formerly Robinhood.
In 2020, Just launched yet another venture – this time with her teenage daughter, Juliette Hulsizer. Concepted by the idea that Juliette, then 14, could sharpen her competitive edge on the tennis court by learning the strategies used in playing poker, the two started Poker Power with the goal of teaching 1 million women how to play the game – and by extension, strategic thinking, capital allocation and decision-making skills.
Just will highlight the lineup of speakers at BizTimes Media’s annual Women in Business Symposium on Wednesday, Aug. 21, from 7:30 a.m. to noon, at the Brookfield Conference Center. Register here.
Ahead of her keynote conversation with moderator Nina Johnson, senior vice president, Wisconsin branch banking market leader at U.S. Bank, Just shared insights on her career journey and how she’s blazed a trail for other women.
BizTimes: Can you share more about your experience growing up in Brookfield? Are you still connected to family and friends in the Milwaukee area?
Just: “Growing up in Brookfield was a wonderful Midwest childhood, with two hard-working parents and four brothers. This instilled in me a strong work ethic, the ability to compete and a passion for trying to make things better every day. The most memorable part of my childhood is and always has been the sisters I never had. The 13 ‘Gidgets’ came together in high school but many of us knew each other from before grade school. Many of the women still live in the area as well as their families and mine. We are back together often and are truly Packers fans and cheeseheads through and through.”
What were some of the early career decisions that helped set you on the path to become the business leader you are today?
“My earliest career decision was that I was determined to live and work in Chicago, growing up in Wisconsin, Chicago was ‘the big city.’ I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, so I interviewed in different fields. One of the companies I interviewed at was O’Connor & Associates, and honestly the beer in the fridge (Wisconsin girl!) and the Haagen-Dazs ice cream intrigued me. So, I took the job at O’Connor, started as an options trader on the Chicago Board Options Exchange, and it has had the most profound impact on my career and life. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into … The trading floor was like a sporting event, a physical and mental exercise every day, and I was one of only a handful of women there. Since I grew up with four brothers, stepping into a male dominated industry really didn’t faze me, so that definitely helped.”
What led you to ultimately take the leap into entrepreneurship?
“Launching PEAK6 was really about circumstances. In my mid 20s I had started the over-the-counter equity derivatives desk with Matt Hulsizer at O’Connor, which was incredibly successful. But when we were faced with a merger and being told we were going to have to move to Connecticut, neither of us wanted to and we said to each other, ‘We can do this ourselves,’ and remain in Chicago. So, in 1997, Matt and I, with $1.6 million in start-up capital, created PEAK6 with the goal of using technology to do the same thing that was happening on the exchange floor. We were one of the very first to do that. And the world decided we were smart.”
What’s been the most valuable lesson from building a career and business in a traditionally male-dominated field?
“I’ve learned not to shy away from failures and to get comfortable with failure. At PEAK6, we’ve started, or bought and turned around, more than 15 companies. More than half of those were failures. We also lose money on 46% of our trades. The only way I ever got comfortable with failing is by doing it a lot. That mentality has taught me how to lean on innovation and intuition to build – and more importantly, rebuild – as needed.”
What have you done to pave the way for other women to advance at PEAK6 and in the broader fintech industry?
“It is a passion of mine to see other women grow in this industry as well as outside of the industry. Paving the road for more women in finance, we created programs to help women advance their careers in trading, fintech and technology. We founded the Women’s Trading Experience and Women’s Technology Experience programs to create a path for more women in fintech as currently only 14% of the 25,000 money managers worldwide are female. I’m proud to say we have 36% women capital allocators. (No other company in the industry) has a higher percentage of women actually making decisions, hitting the button and making the trade.
“Outside of the finance industry, I wanted to find something tangible that I could bring to more women and help give them the opportunity to practice taking risks and make decisions at the money table, and that’s where Poker Power comes in. Poker Power is a company I started with my daughter, Juliette Hulsizer, led by women for women with the goal of teaching 1 million women how to play the game — the game of poker and the game of life. Poker teaches courage; it teaches risk-taking, strategy and capital allocation. It teaches you how to win, how to read people, how to bounce back from a loss. Poker is an incredible toolbox for life, career and even social relationships.”
What’s been Poker Power’s impact so far?
“To date, Poker Power has worked with over 290 organizations in 40 countries. But one of the most impactful initiatives is its partnership with the Global Give Back Circle, a nonprofit organization that provides Kenya’s largest gender-based mentorship, education and employment readiness program that has scaled to Rwanda, South Africa, China, Uganda, Ghana and India, impacting over 4,600 once-at-risk girls. For the past two years, Global Give Back Circle has partnered with Poker Power to deliver poker lessons at its leadership development programming. Poker has been proven to equip these young women with confidence, leadership abilities and strategic decision-making skills.”