We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jennifer Reid a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jennifer , appreciate you joining us today. Looking back at the decisions you made early in your career, particularly whether to join a firm or start your own, do you feel you made the right choice for that stage of your career?

When I first started I joined a large firm. It was the best decision at the time because I was working under people where I could learn the market, understand the products and absorb information. Honestly in the begining I made this choice because I didnt have the confidence to start on my own. I needed people to lean on when I was taking new clients and have people that could help was really beneficial.

I worked under other firms for about 3 years – while slowly starting to build a clietel that would come with me when I decided to go full time in my business. While I was sitting in on client meetings and networking with people I was also slowly crafting how I wanted to change the instry standards and make finanical planning something that was more commonly talked about, more real and exxciting.

Working for the firms I was sitting in on annual planning meetings with clients, I would see some of them last 3-4 hours, sometimes people would look completely lost when we were talking about investments, or we would set clients up with action items and plans and have savings goals for them to meet and they would come back and nothing would have changed. I realized then that money and finances are so much more behavior, habits and emotions and people need more accountability and support when it comes to managing it all.

I knew then I needed to start my own firm that allowed me the opportunity to be peoples financial coach and planner!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I started my first job and thought the salary was amazing, bought the apartment, new car and started living life. Then life and bills started to hit, credit card debt started to creep up and I couldnt find the leak. I was stressed anxious, trying to contribute to my 401k felt out of reach and there wasnt a lot of support helping me get on track and start being “good with money”. I got on a budget and payed off $60,000 worth of debt and cash flowed a wedding but then after I really wanted to start investing and making a plan to build wealth and when I started to interview firms to help I didnt have enough assets to invest with the firm ($500,000-$1,000,000 was the going rate) or I talked to skevy sales people trying to sell us products life life insurance but didnt want to work with us long term.

On a mission to build wealth I made a career pivot and decided to work in the financial planning industry. I started working for some of these firms to learn the behind the scenes of financial planning, wealth management and investing. What I learned was amazing, learning the product, how to create a portfolio but basically that everyone should have a financial coach and very few people actually need a investment manager, planner to hold their assets for them, The fees that firms were charging also made me really upset, there was no transparency and sometimes advisors would be charging their clients silently but never actually doing anything. I also found there were a lot of advisors even Fiduciaries selling products that would give them kickback or little extra commission. The moment this really hit home was when my parents let me audit their investments and advisors recommendations. Their accounts should have been 5x what they were – It made me sad and fueled a fire in me and I have never turned back. I treat my clients and their finances how I would want someone to work with me or my family.

Coaching and Planning + education allows me to be the best advocate for my clients and offer unbiased and sometimes blunt advice. It really helps people. It gets them to where they want to be faster and with a clear picture, goal, and confidence to know that its possible.

Clients are : Paying off debt, Savings, Investing (with faster compounding returns), saving for retirement with confidence and a clear picture, They understand their values and how they like to spend money, They are forced to make decisions and say yes or no based on their goal.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

I have really built my business off of referrals and networking. I have been really patient in this process as well because money and finances are a really vulnerable and emotional subject for people to open up about. I know that I create a safe space for people to share and get vulnerable and they will never feel embarassed, judged or shammed when they are having conversations with me.
Creating this space and this environment for people to feel good about their finances is something they immediately share with friends or mention my name if someone brings up anything around money and finances.

I also know that when I talk to people about what I do its something where I try and make what I do sound more relatable. I help people manage, organize and feel really good about their money : everybody needs that!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Coming from Corporate world its easy to think you have to continue that system or world when you are running and operating a business. When I started my business creating my own schedule, setting boundaries and giving myself the power to say what I would and wouldnt toleate was a huge learning curve. You have to

As a business owner and starting a brand and process for yourself gives you the power to create the life you want to live not mold to the systems you were taught in other roles .

Contact Info:

• Website: www.baseplanning.co
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jen.e.reid/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/basefinancialwellness
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferreichertreid/