A Smart Move to a 10-Minute Commute

Marie Taylor, Financial Advisor
West Hempstead, NY

Marie Taylor was tired of the commute. Each day before her job at a big bank, she spent two hours commuting from the suburbs, stopping to drop off her kids in Brooklyn before finally heading into the city – and the reverse each afternoon. She was struggling to balance long commuting hours and caregiving for her young children and elderly mother.

“I came home one day and found my mom had been laying on the kitchen floor for hours. She’d fallen, spilled a pot and couldn’t call for help. That was the day I decided I couldn’t commute anymore,” said Taylor.

Taylor found an opportunity that offered greater autonomy and a location closer to home as an Edward Jones financial advisor. Since making the jump 23 years ago, Taylor has run a thriving practice in West Hempstead, NY. Edward Jones financial advisors, like Taylor, have the freedom and flexibility to build unique practices aligned to their professional goals and personal purpose.

“The flexibility is what’s kept me here so long,” said Taylor. “I don’t have to ask permission to leave. I’m responsible for my schedule. When my kids were young, this meant I could meet with a teacher or go check on my mother.”

While Edward Jones is a Fortune 500® firm with more than 54,000 associates, its model means that it has branch offices located in communities throughout North America. This offers many financial advisors the ability to work closer to home, while building relationships with clients (and seizing opportunity) in their communities and beyond.

For Taylor, that cut a 2-hour commute to 10 minutes. She also believes community-based branch offices benefit her clients and ultimately, drives the success of her practice.

“My community location is a positive because people feel comfortable,” said Taylor “They can come in, have coffee. It feels like home to them. We’re part of the community.”

Serving clients and communities is at the core of Edward Jones’ history and lives on today in the firm’s purpose: to partner for positive impact to improve the lives of our clients and colleagues, and together, better communities and society.

The firm’s purpose creates a culture where financial advisors have the flexibility and choice to define their own success. It’s an opportunity Taylor’s passionate about sharing with other female financial advisors too.

Listen to the experience of our women financial advisors in this 2-minute video.