After her hiring manager suggested that she become a financial planner and “the rest will take care of itself,” Sue earned her CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) certification and never looked back, continuing to advance her knowledge with the Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC®), Certified Investment Management Analyst® (CIMA®), Certified Private Wealth Advisor® (CPWA®), Certified Wealth Strategist® (CWS®) and Accredited Investment Fiduciary® (AIF®) designations.
Still, she points to one thing that could have helped prepare her even more: “I would have taken more psychology in college. Handling somebody’s money is an intimate relationship, because money brings out not only our aspirations but our fears. As a Financial Advisor, it’s my job to keep those emotions in check.”
Her tenacity makes it easier to handle the frequent rejection in this business. “You will hear ‘no’ from every corner of your universe,” she warns. “You have to be able to shake it off and say, ‘Wait a minute. ‘No’ isn’t the only answer. Let’s find another solution.’” In fact, she says “the best thing you can do to set yourself up for success is to have an unshakable belief in the nobility of what you’re doing. Helping people educate their kids, retire comfortably, and look after their family are noble things.”
Growing up with a military father, Sue appreciates all he instilled in her. “You learn that discipline, the things you do repeatedly, are a large part of your success or failure,” says Sue, who moved 11 times before graduating high school. She got used to walking into new places and quickly assessing how to fit in. Her ability to adapt and “insatiable curiosity” has always kept her interested in trying new things. “There’s just so much out there to learn that I wind up with lots of hobbies,” she smiles.
In addition to crocheting, which gives her a chance to “zen out,” she enjoys horseback riding, which she’s been doing since age nine. “It was a way for me to claim my independence, to be slightly daring, and to feel in charge of my life,” Sue reflects. “I learned to handle something that was many times bigger than me.”
For example, she describes this teaching moment: It was the last day of a riding clinic and her Olympic-level trainer had set up a course with a large final jump at the top of a hill. “For a horse, that’s pretty intense, because it can’t see where it will land,” she notes. The risk is hesitating at the top. Since it was a new question for both Sue and her horse, the instructor told her to follow another horse-and-rider pair in front of them. He said, “You will believe you can do it, because they are doing it right in front of you.” He was right, and Sue and her horse easily made the jump. “We approached it with no hesitation from the horse or me,” she says. “We knew we could do it, and over we went.”
Source: morganstanley.com
