We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sibyl Slade, CRPC. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sibyl below.

Sibyl, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about the early days of establishing your own firm. What can you share?

I have always loved the idea of entrepreneurship and owning my own business. It was just never the perfect time. Family needs took precedence. Well in 2014, when I experienced a corporate restructure, I decided it was finally my turn to pursue MY dream. And even then, I wanted a safety net. I started my own practice but affiliated with a company that would provide branding, training, and upfront bonuses along the way. But by the end of 2017, I knew that I needed to go independent because the captive model and their proprietary products limited the options that I could offer my clients. So needless to say, I went independent with my practice, but I still did not establish my own firm, I attached it to other independent firms. Finally, August of this year, I branched out and established my own practice and the safety net is gone.

Establishing my own practice involved a lot of sweat equity such as registering the entity with the state, making a name change with my broker dealer, setting up my webpage, purchasing various technology subscriptions, and ensuring that all of my workstreams and client facing activities were efficient and seamless for my clients. Believe it or not, my biggest challenge was exporting my email. I am a hoarder when it comes to email. LOL!

The only thing I would have done differently is to have a budget to hire a “tech geek” to assist me with setting up my various technology subscriptions. I had a budget to purchase the subscriptions but most of my sweat equity was exhausted with extracting data and files from the previous firm and setting up my various technology platforms. I have switched my practice twice in a four-year period. Had I simply started my own firm four years ago, I would have prevented these business disruptions. My advice to anyone who is considering starting a firm is to think about their long-term vision for their business and the resources that are required. Taking a month or two from revenue producing activity while trying to grow a business can be costly.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

My background is planning and economic development, I just happen to use it in the banking and finance industry. I spent 21 years at a financial institution regulatory agency and quickly noticed that homeownership was the primary vehicle promoted to minorities and women as a means for building wealth. However, generational wealth is built through business ownership and investments as well. My background uniquely positions me to expand the wealth management conversation to markets that have been traditionally overlooked. I knew without a doubt my second career would be a financial advisor.

I serve young professionals and first-generation business owners, primarily women. My clients don’t have a problem making money, they’re just not sure where to park it. I help ensure they don’t leave any opportunities on the table. Watching my clients become savvy and confident about their finances is rewarding. But my greatest joy is when their adult children become clients and I see the family generational wealth plan flourishing right before my eyes.

It takes three generations to build wealth and I pray that I as I grow my firm, my team and I will begin to serve 3rd and 4th generation client households.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

My professional and resource networks have been my best source for new clients. I had existing professional/ resource networks from my previous career, and I understood the value of these relationships and staying connected to them. But I also begin to develop other networks with other service providers who serve my ideal client. And as a result, we often have clients in common. When you have strong networks, opportunities are always curated or introduced. And participants of the network tend to keep one another top of mind when they learn of other opportunities. That saying that “your network is your net worth” is true.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

My core values are inspire and educate. They are the perfect recipe for social media. People love to be inspired and they love to learn something new. I spend a great deal of my time sharing information that is timely and relevant. I also share quotes that inspire me. And believe it or not, I actually read the posts of my connections on social media and engage with them. They inspire me and educate me on a lot of things as well. Ironically, when I look at the analytics for my social media, I am excited to know that I am actually engaging with my target audience. So, my advice would be to be authentic and engaging. I really don’t do any selling on social media; I make connections and let the dialogue begin.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.integrivestwealthadvisors.com
• Facebook: SibylSSlade,LLC and IntegriVestWealthAdvisors,LLC
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/sibylslade

Image Credits
Shawn Dowdell Photographer