Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Debra L. Morrison. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Debra , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?
Well straight out of college I accepted an alternate salaried position, Claims Examiner, that was offered me, after the company denied me the Underwriting position for which I’d applied, stating I didn’t have the ‘right degree’. About 2 hrs into my 1st day, the company newsletter came out, congratulating a “Tom” as their new underwriter, with a BS in Bus Admin, my EXACT degree! I was incensed!
I looked around the very large department, and identified a woman whose desk was piled high with files, and yet whose work habits seemed stellar insomuch as she was well respected and worked hard, and after whom I would likely shape my work habits, and I asked her how long she’d been in the department, and how many raises she’d received. She’d been there 27 yrs and gotten 4 raises.
I put in my resignation notice 4 hrs into the day, and never looked back on corporate life after that. Nope, I didn’t have another job at the time, yet I knew I wasn’t going to follow that route!
Within a day, another ins company for whom I had completed an aptitude test, contacted me, apologizing for ‘losing’ my test results, yet indicating I had scored the highest possible score, and could we meet this afternoon? I was flattered, met with them, and while they refused to hire me to learn and sell investments initially, they offered me the life insurance position, and I accepted it post haste.
I truly believe they ‘needed’ to offer me the job based upon my high test score, yet were dubious about how long I would last.
After asking them to explain all the aspects of life insurance to me, I knew it was a product in which I could believe and I knew I could sell anything so long as I believed in it, and I sold a ton of life insurance, leading the agency in my 1st year. They promoted me to manager, and I was managing a tall, handsome, 68 yr old retired Navy Colonel as I led the agency the 2nd year in a row as as 22 yr old girl, carrying a rosewood attache in one hand and a towel to wipe the wet behind my ears in the other. We were quite the combo going out on joint sales calls together! Of course all the prospects would look at HIM as the trainer, and disregard me, until he’d look at me dumbfounded at not being able to answer their questions, and I would answer. I told him that would happen. He didn’t believe me until it happened EVERY SINGLE time….so he learned something about sexism, and I learned how very hard this business owuld be for me, and that I would need to be 3-4 times better than an equally trained man, to succeed. Luckily my dedication and dogged determination, along with a raised-on-a farm-work-ethic served me well my entire career, yet there were myriad annual conventions in which I was the ONLY female in a double ball room.
So, yes, I’ve been self employed all my working life, yet I would NEVER WORK this hard for anyone but myself. Somehow my faith saw me through some lean times, and my clients appreciated my incessant attention to detail, so their faith in me really didn’t waiver. I was expert at thinking outside the box, and creating tax saving ideas by combining investments with tax advantages, helping clients achieve HUGE success, particularly in ensuring their own ever-increasing lifetime income streams, yet also in exponentially expanding their philanthropy. The liability for 34 clients, and then their kids’, and then their grandkids’ welfare was EXTREMELY heavy to bear, yet I’m happy that I was able to do so with aplomb, and my retention rate was 100%. (My advice is always to have a Plan A, B, C, D & E, so that whatever life throws one’s way, they’re not flat footed or desperate!)
Debra , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Raised on a Humble beef cattle farm in western Pennsylvania I was introduced to stocks from my maternal grandfather, and later toured the New York Stock Exchange at age eight with my aunt I was completely mesmerized by all of the action, all the ‘electric flurry of financial activity’ below. As I walked away, I vowed I wanted to be a part of that ‘energy’ when I grew up. Graduating college I yearned to study and work with stocks, yet no company was training a 21 yr old girl, so they relegated me to selling Life Insurance. When I discovered that Life Insurance kept families and businesses together at a most vulnerable time, I proceeded to lead the agency in Life Insurance sales for 2 years running. I then won the privilege of studying stocks, passed the Series 7 , and Series 24, General Securities Principal exams and embarked on my financial planning career.
I became keenly aware of the importance of dovetailing risk management, tax minimization, investment and legacy planning strategies to ensure lifetime wealth. Knowing I needed initials behind my name as a young girl in an old white man’s business, I obtained my CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER(tm) designation in 1/2 the ‘normal time’, bought a rosewood attache, trained my 1 grey hair to the front of my forehead and proceeded to succeed in gaining clients’ trust, despite my age & gender. I never sold any product that I hadn’t already purchased for myself, and I never sold an unsuitable product to any client. I earned a Master’s Degree in Retirement Planning, and I teased out stretch goals from clients, and then devised plans to achieve those goals, so they could live ‘untethered’ lives.
I gave up all my licenses, and nearly 6-figures in annual renewal commission income to become a Fiduciary Fee-Only CFP(r) in 1999, when it first became available, leveraging my rich knowledge across each of the financial disciplines in order to serve my clients interests absent any conflicts of interest. My client retention rate was 100% & my business was referral-only. I was humbled to serve 7 widows, 1 widower and a 12-yr old orphan pro bono with financial planning & asset management services for 1 year after the 911 tragedy; later investing 2 years to become Grief Coach Certified. I’ve authored Common Sense Money Guide for Women, and Best Selling My Husband Died, Now What? A Widow’s Guide to Grief Recovery & Smart Financial Decisions, along with an accompanying Reflections Journal in service to the widowed community.
Because I encountered so many mature women, which I define as 60 & wiser, who had been horribly socialized around money, I chose to sell my Empowered Retirement, Inc. Financial Planning & Asset Management company in 2020, to devote full time energies into upleveling women’s financial confidence, teaching them how to create their own Intentional Wealth, stating that while the poor financial socialization isn’t their ‘fault’ it IS their responsibility. I’m passionate about addressing the behavioral finances aspects that have tripped women up, inviting them to forgive themselves, take radical responsibility to face forward and make the next chapters of their lives the BEST chapters.
I’ve founded the We Can Do It Women Movement to provide safe space for women to emerge from the ‘sidelines’ of life into their spotlight; to reclaim dreams put on hold, rediscover the passions that make their hearts sing and to renew their excitement for the extraordinary things that await them. We are a community of women who lift each other up, cheer each other on, and remind each other of our magnificence! We are stronger together, and yes, WE CAN DO IT WOMEN!
Finally, I lead international Wealth & Wellness retreats to provide respite and renewal; and I lead morning workshops providing step-by-step instructions teaching women myriad methods to invest money; each woman leaving with a new lifelong skill, as well as a financial Return On Investment.
While I work hard, I surely play hard because I love to have FUN and, I well understand, Life is Not a Dress Rehearsal! I feel our two most valuable assets in life are time and health; and I don’t want to waste either one!
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
In the Spring of 2019, my dear friend, Werner Berger & I were attending the same conference and during a break he asked me, “Debra, why don’t you join me climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro?” And I replied, “Sure, Werner, why not?” As I returned to my round table it dawned on me what I’d just agreed to, and I began to shake. How would I do this; I wasn’t a hiker, how could I carve out training time, etc. Soon afterwards, however, I began to imagine the magnificence of this offer and began believing I could do it. I dutifully trained for 5 months, padding around my town as well as running up & down the 4 stories of stairsteps at the local mall’s parking garage doning my backpack filled with more and more weight each day. I flew to Colorado to altitude train for a wk and boarded the plane for Tanzania, Africa. We safaried the 1st week, which also served as altitude training, and somehow in the 1.5 days between the safari and the trek, I drank polluted water, and became as sick as I’d ever been in my life. I was in bed, unable to keep food or even sips of water down, and I was even more sick imagining that I may not be able to climb Africa’s highest peak. Yet HOW would I explain my failure to all my friends who watched me train, followed my progress on social channels, etc. How could I swallow ALL the hours & money invested and all the equipment purchases from REI–testing 3 pairs of hiking boots to find the perfect fit–not to mention the cost of the trek and the plane fare. On the morning we were to board the van to the base of the mountain, I admitted to Werner, “I don’t know if I can do this.” He was sick for me as well, yet ultimately the choice was mine. I said, I would start, under 1 condition, which was I would be the 1st hiker behind our African guide so that when the heel of his boot raised up, I would place the toe of my boot in that spot, because I knew I didn’t have the mental strength to decide where to step. He agreed, and we started up the mountain, and my chant for the first full TWO days of hiking was, “boot, boot, boot”. My head hung low with exhaustion, my chin resting on my chest, as I didn’t have to think about anything but “boot, boot, boot.” Near the end of the 2nd day, I thought, “this is probably beautiful scenery, so I raised my head to look around and immediately lost my balance as the entire mountain appeared like it was moving in a circle. I promptly lowered my head again, and finished that day’s climb.
On Day 3 I had a decision–either I would be hiking back down, or I would be committing to hiking up the mountain and feeling slightly better, I chose the latter. Day 3 and 1/2 of Day 4 was painful, yet Day 5 was glorious as we awakened about 2 am, and started the final trek to arrive at the mountain’s TOP at sunrise, and YES, I summited Mount Kilimanjaro! It was one of the most vivid examples of my resilience; just ask our African Guide, Werner, and my fellow trekkers, all of whom witnessed my transformation! I was and AM grateful for just ‘doin it’!
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I started in the life insurance business in 1978, initially selling life & disability insurance and annuities, progressing to mutual funds and then stocks and bonds, and was paid for 1 yr on a draw, then fully commissions. I worked hard, earned Top of The Table (a prestigious accolade for ins agents) and became Equities Director, earning override commissions on all 27 agents in our agency, in exchange for training them.
I branched out from the agency environment, starting Debra L Morrison & Associates, LLC and provided Comprehensive Financial Planning & Asset Management services to clients, whom would pay a fee for the financial plan and we would receive commissions on financial products that were used to meet the clients’ goals. It was the only method of remuneration for financial planners at the time.
In 1999 when Fiduciary, Fee-Only Financial Planning was introduced, I was immediately drawn to pursuing this way of doing business, because I anticipated doing more business with high net worth clients and while I never sold an unsuitable financial product, I was one of a precious few commissioned planners who could make that claim. I never wanted a future client to think, “hmmm. wonder what’s in this for Debra, if I proceed with her plan/investments?”
Yet this was a seismic shift and a pivot that cost me GROUPS of zeros, insomuch as I had to relinquish all my insurance licenses, Securities Series 7 and, most painful to relinquish, my General Principal designation, AND say goodbye to the very sizeable renewal commissions and 12b-1 fees, which had grown to nearly $100,000 each Jan 2nd.
PLUS, I had to now approach clients and state that they would need to pay me a fee for services, which they hadn’t done before.
(Incidentally, Suze Orman admits that when she approached her clients asking them to pay her a fee, they refused, saying she wasn’t worth it, and consequently she left the business, only to secure a grossly highly paid position to opine on what she professionally failed to do; i.e., provide valuable financial advice.)
Regardless, it was, indeed, a new day in the financial planning and investing world, fraught with uncertainty, and peril. Yet my passion for quality service & my curiosity about how inextricably income taxes and investments were interwoven, drove me to convince my 1st, and then my 2nd, and soon my whole clientele that I was indeed, worth the fee I was charging. And I proceeded to attain superior levels of success because I elevated my CLIENT’S to new heights of financial empowerment.
Yet admittedly, I bristled each time an airplane seat mate asked me what I did, and when I said I was a Fiduciary CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER(tm), they responded with glee, stating, “Oh that’s JUST like my nephew who just graduated college and is with Merrill Lynch!” Ah HEM!! NOT!
I was admitted to the Registry for Financial Planning Practitioners, on the 1st application (unlike none of my associates), which was a group of less than 700 planners internationally. Becoming Fee-Only was the best decision I ever made professionally; and I STILL uniformly advise clients to work ONLY with a Fee-Only CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER(tm) who serves as the clients’ team quarterback, managing the client’s monies on an Institutional Basis (vs. Retail) in alignment with their goals, and enlisting and directing the attorney, CPA, and insurance agents on an as needed basis. This is the quintessential choice for any client, to avoid making their broker’s or ins agent’s yacht payments, and to receive integrated, advice particular to the client. ONLY Fiduciary CFP(r) Practitioners sign an oath to put the clients’ needs first. (No broker, nor ins agent commits to such an oath; as hard as that is for folks to believe.)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.wecandoitwomen.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/debralmorrison/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/wcdiwgroup
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debralmorrison/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@DebraLMorrison
- Other: Substack: https://substack.com/@wcdiw
Image Credits
I have sole rights to all photos.