Q: What did you do prior to coming to Edward Jones?
A: I was an Air Force pilot for 20 years, then I joined A.G. Edwards as a financial consultant and then three years ago came to Edward Jones. Q: What made you start thinking about making a move to Edward Jones?
A: I knew at some point that I wanted to be the captain of my own small ship. I really desired to have autonomy and greater independence. And so my first thought was to go to a more independent firm and then I was encouraged to look into Edward Jones because they offered the independence and, yet, at the same time, the great support of a home office. I wanted to spend my time focusing on what I do best. Q: Did you have any concerns about opening your own office?
A: Certainly there’s some intimidation about being the Lone Ranger, being the only Financial Advisor in the office. And, yet, when I realized the back-office support, the tremendous training from St. Louis and, moreover, the camaraderie with other Edward Jones Financial Advisors, then that really dissipated. And it’s interesting, at A.G. Edwards there were 15 brokers in the office that were just a few feet from me, yet I feel closer to the Edward Jones Financial Advisors in our city, with a greater sense of camaraderie, of supporting one another. We’re cheering for one another and I think we don’t feel like we’re in competition with one another. We probably are, but it just doesn’t seem that way. With our own offices, we all want each other to do better. Q: How is working at Edward Jones different from working for another firm?
A: One, we don’t feel like we’re competing with each other. Secondly, we all share one another’s pain, if you will, the excitement of being an entrepreneur. And I’ve never felt this kind of encouragement probably since I left the Air Force as a pilot in my squadron. There is a great gathering of encouragement among the other financial advisors. A commitment to ethics was really critical to me. And I’m not trying to sound altruistic, but I really wanted to have a successful career in this industry, and I knew that to do so I needed to have clients who would trust me for a lifetime. I didn’t want to just be in this business for three to five years. I wanted a long-term commitment, and I knew to do that I needed to have a relationship with them, offer them the proper investments that 10, 15, 20 years from now, we can look back and say we did the right thing. Q: What is your relationship like with your BOA?
A: My assistant came with me from my previous firm, and I wouldn’t have made the move without her. And it’s interesting that after we moved, I made the phone calls and several clients said, "Is Connie coming?" I said, "Yes." And they said, "Then we’ll come." And I was very pleased with the retention. My goal was to bring over 80% of my clients and, in fact, 82% came over. And I think what also surprised me was after we moved into the office, the growth that I’ve seen since having my own office with Edward Jones. Q: Talk a little about the training at Edward Jones.
A: The training at Edward Jones is unique because we do it based upon where the Financial Advisor is in his or her business. In my previous firm, we received six weeks of training upfront, which was like taking the top and pulling the string and watching it spin, and you are on your own. Here we give you training when you are ready for it, and it’s graduated. They tailored it to right where I was in my business, provided excellent support for me. As soon as I moved into my office, day one, I had an experienced Financial Advisor, and she stayed with me for five weeks in that office to bring over the clients, to help set up the office. It was a great experience, and I would not have wanted to do that without her. Q: What advice would you give to someone considering the Financial Advisor position?
A: First, you have to have the desire to have your own office and a sense of autonomy, to be the captain of your own small ship. That’s got to be paramount. I really believe there are financial advisors at other firms who should not come to Edward Jones. They are content with mediocrity. I’m not being critical. They’re content to be in the middle of the pack. There is a regression to the mean, if you will, and that’s where their comfort level lies. To come to Edward Jones means that you really want to be independent and, yet, you want the support of a great home office.
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