Authors Interviewing Characters: Diane Cohen Schneider
The Devil Wears Prada meets the high stakes of Wall Street in this smart, funny novel by a former Wall Street sales pro that is written for everyone who’s had a love/hate relationship with their job.
ANDREA HOFFMAN GOES ALL IN
Andrea Hoffman is an overeducated, underemployed, and unmotivated recent college graduate—until an unexpected robbery blasts her out of her funk and into a job in the finance world of early-1980s Chicago. At first, it seems like a bad fit. But the world of finance has its own weird charm, and she grows increasingly fascinated by the strange language of trading, the complexity of the stock market, and her colleagues, who navigate it all with a ruthless confidence.
Even though she has two strikes against her—Jewish and female—Andrea’s quick wit and strong work ethic propel her into an actual sales job and her career takes off. But this is the Wall Street of the eighties, and along with making a lot more money, Andrea adopts a new, fast life of cocktails, cocaine, and casual sex. Drunk on her achievements, she gradually realizes that at some point, she’s going to have to decide what success really means to her.
Diane Cohen Schneider, author of Andrea Hoffman Goes All In, interviews Andrea Hoffman
Diane: Nice to speak with you, Andrea. Tell me, do you consider yourself a Feminist?
Andrea: Wow! Thanks for starting me out with a softball question. I’m not sure what Feminism with a capital F stands for these days but of course I absolutely believe in equality of opportunity for men and women. Why do you ask?
Diane: Well, you seem to accept that sexism is inevitable and the best way to handle it is to be “one of the boys.”
Andrea: Countering lewd comments with humor is what worked for me but it certainly isn’t the only strategy for everybody. Another strategy is to make yourself indispensable. But, what I’m pretty sure doesn’t alter thousands of years of unacceptable male behavior is a memo from Human Resources. Or even a federal court ruling. Guys can be total assholes. But you know, women can too! That’s a good definition of feminism for me. Equality of opportunity and jerkiness!
Diane: Do you think Wall Street has changed since you worked there?
Andrea: When I started as a sales executive, in 1982, the New York Stock Exchange traded 100 million shares a day for the very first time. Now, with electronic trading, it’s common for between two and six billion stocks to trade each day.
Diane: Interesting. But I was kind of wondering more about whether things have changed for women and other minorities.
Andrea: Well, it’s not nirvana yet but it’s clearly improved. Wall Street is very good at chasing dollars and they have been forced to add representation as investors have gotten more diverse. The number of people and the types of people who are interested in managing their financial futures at younger ages has exploded. It’s a wonderful thing.
Diane: Agreed! Any other changes?
Andrea: Well, there’s the smoking thing. Everybody smoked at their desks in the office back in the day. That seems really bizarre now.
Diane: So, no more smoking in the office. Do you think office romance has met a similar fate?
Andrea: I think attempts to curb sexual harassment in the office- a real and odious thing- has had some unintended consequences. It has made consensual dating a firing offense – which has led to more subterfuge but probably not less relationships and it has also, in some cases, reduced opportunities for women as men decide having women around is too much trouble.
Diane: And yet, is it fair to say you loved office life? Nobody seems to want to go back to the office these days.
Andrea: I’ve thought about this a lot. I understand that people hate the commute, the difficulty of managing child care, and having to spend money on an acceptable wardrobe but I totally enjoyed having a work place separate than my home. I liked hanging out with my colleagues, even colleagues I couldn’t stand. I think you learn a lot by being forced to interact with people you wouldn’t necessarily chose to engage with. Still, I acknowledge that office life is a lot like high school. For some people, it’s hell and other people think it’s the best.
Diane: The other thing you seem to love besides the stock market and office culture is music. You’ve made it clear that your least favorite rock song of all time is Rock the Casbah. Can you share a few of your favorites?
Andrea: Just to clarify, Rock the Casbah is my second least favorite. Squeeze Box by the Who is my most hated song ever. (Audibly shudders)
Diane: Duly noted.
Andrea: It’s hard to pick favorites but I’ll give you two. Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel is a song about leaving one life and starting another. It’s very inspiring. And then there’s Angel from Montgomery by Chicagoan John Prine. He wrote one of the best lyric of any song ever. “How the hell can a person go to work in the morning, come home in the evening and have nothing to say.” Brilliant.
Diane: And kind of the opposite of your experience. You have a lot to say.
Andrea: Well, thank you for the opportunity to do so.
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BUY ANDREA HOFFMAN GOES ALL IN HERE
About Diane:
Diane Cohen Schneider grew up in Illinois but spent most of her adult life in Stamford, CT, with her husband and their three children. Her career as a Wall Street sales executive during the 1980s Go-Go years inspired Andrea Hoffman Goes All In, which is her debut novel. Today, she continues her love of finance through an Instagram account called @moneylikeuhmother. Seeking to re-pot themselves, Diane and her husband recently moved to Santa Fe, NM.
Category: Interviews, On Writing
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