Q: You’re a part of special programs at Edward Jones. Can you tell us a little about them?
A: The EDGE program and the Cross-Cultural Development program are designed to help minorities learn different ways to reach out to prospective clients and prospects. It gives them an opportunity to see someone who has been successful, who is just like them, a minority, whether it’s a woman, an Asian, an African-American or what have you, and help them to relate to someone who has been able to reach out and overcome certain obstacles within their environment. It’s a great way for us to give back to those who are in maybe a younger stage of their Edward Jones career. Q: What do you enjoy most about working for Edward Jones?
A: One of the biggest things I enjoy about working for Edward Jones is just having all the support. Whether you’re black, white, yellow or brown, the firm will give you all the support to put you along with individuals who want your ultimate success. So once you overcome that and understand that regardless of your background, regardless of your education, regardless of your experience, the firm wants your success, then you can actually succeed a lot faster. A Financial Advisor is a true profit center and one that the firm wholeheartedly believes in. Q: Why have you stayed with Edward Jones?
A: One of the biggest reasons I’m still with Edward Jones, even though I’ve been offered six-figure bonuses just to leave the firm and go work for some of our competitors, is the fact that I know no other firm can offer me what I have here at Edward Jones. I dictate my own schedule. What’s important to me is being able to spend time with my family, make my son’s basketball practices, participate in various charitable organizations and work with various boards. And I control all of that with Edward Jones. Q: Can you give me an example of that control?
A: I had a new addition to the family, an eight-week-old Boxer. And I live very, very close to my office, actually about a whopping eight-minute commute. It’s really nice to be able to take time off in the middle of the day just to go walk the dog and come back and not have to be told you can’t do that. It’s very comfortable being able to dictate my schedule around my life as opposed to my work dictating my schedule. Q: What did you do before coming to Edward Jones? What was it about that job that suddenly made you say, “I want to change jobs”?
A: Before I came to Edward Jones, I worked as a loan officer for the Small Business Administration, most recently in Disaster Relief. What really caused me to look for another position was the fact that I traveled extensively. Every single time there was a disaster, I was deployed somewhere in the U.S. or U.S. territories and just couldn’t deal with all the travel requirements. Q: Did you have to make any adjustments to become an Edward Jones Financial Advisor? If so, what were they?
A: When I started, it was very difficult because my wife had to make a sacrifice in a sense to support me. She had to take care of a lot of things at home so that I would have more time at work. It also involved going to different community events, being a lot more involved in things that went on in the community. And my wife’s personality wasn’t extroverted, in a sense. But I was very extroverted, and as a result she went along with it. And as things started to develop and my business started to grow, it became a very enjoyable experience for both of us. Q: What does it mean to be successful to you?
A: I would say the feeling of acceptance within your community and the ability to change things positively there. Success is also the ability to have the income that allows you to reach some of your financial and personal objectives, to enjoy controlling your own schedule and to be able to participate in extracurricular activities with your children and community events that are important to you. And those are things that, again, take time to develop, but I enjoy that and it really gives me a sense of pleasure and satisfaction in what I do every single day. Q: Did you have a mentor when you started out?
A: Every person at Edward Jones has a mentor, and to this day I still have the same mentor I had when I started. He and I developed a great friendship, and we play golf together as well as any event that I put on. … When I chaired a golf tournament for a charity, it was a great opportunity to have one of my closest friends at Edward Jones there, participating in the golf tournament. Q: What’s your take on the quality of training at Edward Jones?
A: The training you get with Edward Jones has always been fantastic. When I started, it was almost overwhelming in a sense. They did everything to make sure I would be able to pass the Series 7 exam – everything from conference calls, flying to the home office to be able to interact with other people who were going through the same training as I was, having a training leader who’s assigned to your success – someone whom you could call anytime you needed answers or were confused about certain materials, etc. And that’s probably why our pass rate is as high as it has been since I’ve been with the firm.
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