Today we’d like to introduce you to Denise Shull.
Hi Denise, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
In the 80s, I was hellbent on working for IBM and climbing the corporate ladder. I had to do backflips to get the job but then I killed it. While I found the success I was seeking, I realized selling computers was not my purpose. I was slated for leave of absence and Stanford Business School, but I thought to myself, if I’m talking to companies about upgrading their mainframe computers when I’m 40, I might lose my mind…
So I quit and went to Aspen to figure out where to work while applying to grad schools in psychology. Six years later, as I was finishing that master’s degree and going through the same analytical process about a Ph.D., I was walking by past the commodities exchange in Chicago when my trader-boyfriend persuaded me to try trading. To my shock I was smitten with the mental game of it and the grad school seemed like an irrelevant expensive lark.
Soon, I moved to NYC to run a trading desk, and unexpectedly, a small academic journal asked me to publish my master’s thesis – The Neurobiology of Freud’s Theory of The Repetition Compulsion. In rewriting it, I found that neuroscience was discovering that all decisions require emotion – a radical change in our understanding of human judgment.
I started talking about this to traders I worked with, and they wanted to know more. I thought of having a traders’ therapy group in my living room but before I knew it, groups were inviting me to write and speak on the topic, and The ReThink Group Inc was born. Our name is literally derived from the idea that you have to rethink thinking itself.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
In some ways, it started out super-easy. Before I knew it, I had 1000 subscribers to my newsletter. I remember being completely amazed.
But then things got hard. After McGraw Hill published my first book, Market Mind Games, in 2012, our company revenues dropped 40% because people stopped buying our much more lucrative online courses. Cheaper to buy a book, right? Never occurred to me that might happen (where’s that MBA I didn’t get when you need it?)
A few years later, as we regained our footing with higher-paying clients, I also was asked to do a favor for a pending TV project. That turned into the classic bait and switch and then a high-profile lawsuit. Google Shull and the words “Billions,” “Wendy Rhodes,” “Showtime,” or any combination thereof. If you know the show, I lived in an episode complete with one bizarre turn of events after another.
I decided I had to stand up for myself and fight back against a corporate behemoth. I lost a very public battle and there are still people in the world who think I am a crazy woman, but it was worth it because I was able to maintain my integrity. I teach my clients to be their own best advocates. I had to do the same. At the end of the day, I’m a female owner of a small business, and no matter how successful our company has become, my reputation is all I have.
As you know, we’re big fans of The ReThink Group. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We can help anyone do anything better. I know that is a bold statement, but it’s true.
My company, The ReThink Group, revitalizes performers, inspires investors, and reinvigorates management teams across finance, sport, arts, music, and business. Our clients span the globe – from NYC to LA to Hong Kong and London.
We are an elite team of risk performance and strategy advisors. We guide our clients in honing decision skills within the context of their craft – whether professional investing, trading, sports, arts, and/or entrepreneurship – to take the best risks and make the best decisions.
We have coached hundreds of portfolio managers on the psychological game of trading and investing and have educated thousands more in what neuroscience is revealing about how humans actually make risk decisions. Because our methodology is informed by science and backed by analytics, we are able to translate the latest psychological findings into practical strategies, resolving the stubborn mental challenges of conflicting goals, behavioral biases, resilience, and motivation.
I love the business I have built, and it is incredibly gratifying when I get feedback from both clients and people online telling me, “You’ve changed my life.” This feedback reminds me that I am on the right path and that I am doing the meaningful work I was born to do.
What sets us apart from our competitors is that we have an accurate understanding of how human emotions work, which is at the root of all problems, struggles, and troubles, no matter who you are.
I also want people to know that we are focusing on expanding access to our services and coaching. We want our tools to be more widely available so we are again increasing our digital suite of offerings. We currently have an eLearning course with rolling enrollment so you can join at any time. As part of that course, I do a monthly Zoom so you can ask me and our team questions in real time. I also love interacting with people on social, particularly on Twitter, where I am very active.
(All of the information about our online courses, private coaching, and more, can be found on our website, https://therethinkgroup.net)
What matters most to you?
I want to help alleviate the unnecessary suffering that people put themselves through by feeling bad about their “negative” emotions, the feelings they think they are not supposed to feel.
I promise there is a better way, and that is why I practice and teach The Shull Method, my signature consulting and coaching framework, that leverages the latest neuroscience and psychological research into perception and judgment.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://therethinkgroup.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rethink.group/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rethink-group-inc-/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/denisekshull
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@rethink.group
Image Credits
Sally Montana
