Q: What about the Edward Jones opportunity appealed to you?
A: My brother owned a bulldozer company but had so much work that he couldn't keep up. Even though he always said he wouldn't have a desk job, he went to Edward Jones. That's why I stayed in the military as long as I did: I refused to have a desk job. My little brother told me, "This is the best job in the world. Nobody tells me to be at work at 8, and nobody tells me to go home at 5. As long as I am profitable, run an ethical business and do right by the clients, nobody raises an eyebrow. I hunt more than I ever have in my life; this is the best thing in the world." I started talking to other people from Edward Jones, and one veteran said, "If I work hard four days a week, that last day is mine. I take my kid to play ball." Then it dawned on me that to stay behind a desk, I would have to refuse to go see people. The best thing about working at Edward Jones is that it's not a desk job at all. Q: What part of the training was the most helpful?
A: In the military, we train the way we fight. I can remember being thrown into the mud as I worked a 300-yard piece of ground. Granted, there was a whole battle going on around me, but all I was doing was going through this wire over and over and over. With my first training experience at Edward Jones, they took us in a hallway with half a dozen doors. I knocked on a door, and a woman in curlers and a nightgown opened the door. I looked around at everyone else, and they were like, "Don't look at us. You have just met a potential client; talk to her." It was so foreign to me that it caught me off guard, and I started cutting up with the lady. I said, "It's 10 o'clock in the morning. What in the world are you doing looking like that?" and she started laughing. I thought, "I can't do this," but it became a very natural thing. Edward Jones puts you through so much training that by the time you go home, there really isn't much that you don't expect. I had heard dogs barking on the other side of the door in training, so when I went back to Monroe, Georgia, I could look at someone's kitchen door and hear a dog barking, pull out a dog bone and be ready to pitch it to the dog so that I could talk to the person. Q: Explain the dynamics of working in a two-person office.
A: My branch office administrator (BOA) at my original branch was one of a kind. The BOA can make or break a Financial Advisor. In the military, I always looked after my soldiers, and as a result they made me extremely successful. It is the same way with the BOA. She was always trying to put something together, and when I was having a slow day, she would say, "You need to call this person," "this person is having a grand opening," or "this person is retiring." Every morning she gave me the small-town gossip, but in that gossip was a lot of wisdom because she was so involved in the community. She had feelers at the local chalk plants, at the school board, at the doctor's offices. All of these things really added to her role and helped me become successful. I am now working with Julie Fairburn and Sandy Groover; one works three days a week, and the other works the remainder. I can't say enough about what they are doing, because these two are involved in the community. We make it a point to work our business plan several times a week, and I ask them what has worked in the past. I want them to be very much a part of this office's success. As a result, even though I have moved locations, I feel as though I have taken a step forward. Q: How important is it to have your branch office located in your community?
A: I had been with Edward Jones about three years when we heard rumors that the Georgia National Guard was going to war. When my wife asked me about it, I said, "We are not going to war. I know how this works." She kept telling me, "I think you are going." I told my wife one afternoon, "If God will give me a sign, I will go to Iraq." She said, "Jim, He gave you federal orders with your name across the top. I think that is enough of a sign!" I wrapped up things at my branch office at the end of December 2004, and on Jan. 3 I reported to active duty for the next 18 months. My wife, meanwhile, made it a point to attend every town function she thought I would have attended. Anytime she could leave the house with Edward Jones on her shirt or jacket, she did so. It said a lot about Edward Jones and our commitment to the community, but also while I was gone, she worked very closely with my BOA. I sent pictures from Iraq, which they put on cardstock and returned to me. I could then send them to clients as birthday cards. Of course, people who were getting birthday cards from Iraq stopped my wife in the grocery store to thank her for my thoughtfulness. But it went a long way toward solidifying our commitment to the people of the community. Q: Are there any memorable experiences, perhaps with a client, that encapsulate or typify what it's like to work for Edward Jones?
A: A week after a major rainfall, I was headed across a shallow creek to see some people. I knew the creek was a little wider than usual. As I started to ease out, my Jeep dropped 4 feet. I sat there in a coat and tie in a Jeep that was filling with water. I crawled through the window and sat on top of the Jeep, and I started hollering. Eventually a woman came along and said, "The road is washed out." I bit my tongue and said, "There's no road sign," and she said, "Well, it was there this morning. Why are you in a coat and tie?" I said, "I am going to see Mrs. So-and-so. I work with Edward Jones." She said, "What are you doing in the creek?" She did eventually bring back her son, who used a chain to help pull my Jeep out of the creek. I drove back to my wife's office, literally sopping wet and dripping water everywhere. I went back the next day to thank the woman for helping me out, and she has been an Edward Jones client ever since. Q: How did you hear about the Edward Jones opportunity?
A: I was about 10 years old and we were going to my grandparents' house for Christmas Eve. My dad told us, "I don't work for the University of Georgia anymore." My first concern, of course, was if Santa Claus was still coming. He said, "I work for a company called Edward Jones." When he started working with the firm, we spent a lot of Saturdays folding brochures at the kitchen table for a nickel apiece, then a penny, then "just do it if you want to live under my roof." We saw how much work it was for him to build a business in his hometown. Q: What one thing would you tell someone considering the Edward Jones opportunity?
A: In the military, I had a designated paycheck on the 15th and the 30th of every month, and insurance was taken care of; my house, food and family were taken care of. I knew that Edward Jones would take care of me in the beginning. They said that how hard you work determines the size of your paycheck, and I have seen that. In the infantry, they expect you to think outside the box, especially on field problems. In the same way, what works for an Edward Jones Financial Advisor in Monroe, Georgia, does not work for me in Blairsville, Georgia. Monroe was a cotton-farming community that has since turned into a suburb of Atlanta. Blairsville, however, is a laid-back retirement community. They have a doughnut club, and they want you to show up at the club on Thursday mornings. They want to stop by the office and drink coffee. They want to see you at church. There is a different way of doing things, and you've got to be able to think on your feet. A lot of Financial Advisors are working as hard as they can, but the only people they are competing with are themselves. Q: Describe what the Edward Jones culture means to you.
A: It is very family oriented. When I went to Iraq, my wife was amazed at the outpouring of support, not only from other Financial Advisors and their spouses, but also from our clients. People would tell her, "My husband was in World War II" or Vietnam or Korea. Everybody wanted to contact her, so in a lot of ways she was not alone. When I moved to a new branch office, a lot of people wished us congratulations and goodbye. As soon as we got here, a lot of new people called to say, "Let us take you to dinner," "Let us take you to lunch," "We want you to come by and see you." In that regard, it has been a lot like the military. I think the neatest thing was when Doug White, a Financial Advisor in our region who just lost his daughter to cancer, came through my town. At one time I thought I had the worst problems in the world: I couldn't have sold water to man on fire. I called Doug and said, "I need somebody to give me a swift kick." He said, "My daughter is doing pretty good, and we are going to Savannah for a while. I will stop by on the way back." I remember telling my wife, "Doug's got bigger problems to worry about than Jim Brown in Sandersville, Georgia, and yet when he comes back, he is coming to see me." To me, that says a lot about the culture at Edward Jones: Everybody is willing to drop everything to take care of you. Q: What did you do prior to joining Edward Jones?
A: I was stationed in Germany, and my future wife's sister and brother-in-law were my best friends. We were an extremely close community in Germany. Three of us — Jordan Dann, Rick Robeck and I — always said we would see each other every year for the rest of our lives. After Rick was killed in a training accident, Jordan asked me to visit him in California. That's when I met my wife for the second time in five years. We married the month I left active duty, and her first concern was, how was I going to make a living? I knew a good bit about Edward Jones, because my dad, my brother and three cousins were already Financial Advisors. I told her it would be a great place to work and raise a family, and she was for it, so we made the move back to Georgia. My parents will tell you I am not a stalwart student: It was really, really hard at first because my brother and dad were right there telling me how to study for my licensing exams and what I needed to be doing. As newlyweds, it was nice to see where we could go with Edward Jones, but neither of us wanted to hear that right then. We just wanted to get through the studying and the licensing part. My wife was extremely supportive, but it was hard for her. She loves Edward Jones now. She has told me several times, "It is time to work a little bit harder, to get out and talk to a few more people." She likes the fact that the family goes to our summer regionals, which are on the beaches of Florida and Hilton Head, S.C. Q: Detail an incredible diversification trip that you would never have considered had it not been for that benefit.
A: My wife's first concern about moving into the mountains of north Georgia was whether we would still go to the beach for summer regional. However, we have seen opportunities with Edward Jones that I wouldn't have had anywhere else. We took our daughter to DisneyWorld for a week on an Edward Jones diversification trip. My wife couldn't stop talking about what we did and what we saw and when are we traveling next. She loves that potential. Q: How do you see your future at Edward Jones unfolding?
A: When we moved to Blairsville, we decided to rent for our first year until we could determine where we would want to live in the community. Riding around the other day, my wife and I saw a house sitting on probably about 150 acres of open land against a mountain — it was very much a $2 million home. Just as a joke, I said, "We are going to own that home." My wife said, "That's fine by me. I give you three years to do it with Edward Jones, and you'd better start working now." She knows the potential, and she knows the workload, but she is extremely supportive in the sense that she knows it is a family commitment. She is very much about getting about in the community and very subtly telling people, "My husband works for Edward Jones," or "My husband is an Edward Jones Financial Advisor," or "We do our banking through Edward Jones." What I like about Edward Jones is the opportunity to develop myself not only as a person, but also as a part of the community of Edward Jones. By saying that, there are different opportunities to help build the region. I recently volunteered to join the military recruitment team. One thing I am very passionate about is the military: If you get 50 people together and there are two military people in that room, they are going to find each other within minutes. It is the same thing with the military spouses. I think it is important to strengthen our community of Financial Advisors and the firm's name recognition, but if there is anybody I want to see joining Edward Jones, it is military personnel because the careers have a lot of similarities. Q: Describe what the Edward Jones culture means to you.
A: I had been with Edward Jones for approximately three years when I left for 18 months in Iraq. Naturally the clients went out of their way to take care of my wife. Edward Jones went out of its way to take care of my wife. Even though I was not home to attend the summer regional meeting, my wife was invited to attend with our daughter. It just says a lot that she was not left out of the loop; it wasn't a case of "your husband is gone, so you are not a part of us." She was expected to attend the spouses' meeting and fill everyone in on how our branch office was doing. It meant a lot to me that she was included. Q: Describe what it's like to build a business.
A: I don't think a day goes by that there is not a challenge to you. Mondays are a challenge because somewhere in your mind you are worried about what you are going to do this week. The same goes for the end of the day: You might have encountered someone who was upset for whatever reason, and it might not have had anything to do with you, but you were the lucky one to catch him or her at that particular point in time. That can be a challenge, but at the end of the day, I can go home and tell my wife about all my accomplishments, or I think about my friends who are still in Iraq or Afghanistan with 10 more years until retirement. I feel very comfortable and excited about where I am. I loved the military, and there is no other job that I would have outside the military besides Edward Jones. Simply put, if you love the military, you will love it here. We've got camaraderie, we've got the ability to be your own person, we've got the ability to move up — in fact, we expect you to move up. You've got the ability write your own paycheck, and probably most important to me and my family, you get the opportunity to go see things. I look back at my military career as a really short vacation. I've spent two weeks on a beach in Greece, I've spent New Year's in Paris and in Amsterdam, I've skied in Austria and the German mountains, and I have seen and done more than most people probably should. Since I joined with Edward Jones, I have been to Jamaica and DisneyWorld. We've been to Hilton Head and the beaches of Florida. My parents have been to Hong Kong and Africa. Every time you turn around, my brother is back in the Virgin Islands. Outside the military, I don't know where else you are going to get that experience along with the opportunity to do your own thing without somebody standing over you and telling you how to do it, when to do it and when to go home. To me, that is the most rewarding thing of all.
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