Two Chefs in the Kitchen - Shari K Hooper Tells You What She Means

View Podcast Disclosures here: http://bit.ly/4jWGPF4

Episode 25 is a little different—and very special.

For the first time, I stepped into the guest seat for Women and the Businesses They Own, with April Wells graciously taking over as host. What unfolded was not just a conversation about business, but a reflection on purpose, calling, and the heart behind the work I feel so blessed to do each day.

We talked about:
• The journey into financial advising and what shaped my path
• The deeper “why” behind serving others through planning
• Balancing business, faith, and personal growth
• What it really means to walk alongside clients through life’s transitions
• And the moments that have challenged and strengthened me along the way

This episode is more personal than most—and I hope it gives you a deeper look into the heart behind the work.

Here’s what we are meant to take with us today:
Sometimes, the most meaningful growth happens when we pause, reflect, and allow ourselves to be seen—not just for what we do, but for who we are.

Thank you for being part of this journey with me.

I came. I spoke. I inspired.

 And somewhere in the middle of it all… I was reminded why I started. 

This podcast is presented by Summit Wealth Partners, LLC, a registered investment adviser that only conducts business in jurisdictions where it is properly registered or is excluded or exempted from registration requirements. Registration as an investment adviser is not an endorsement of the firm by securities regulators and does not mean that the adviser has achieved a specific level of skill or ability. The firm is not engaged in the practice of law or accounting.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:03

Welcome back to Women in the Businesses They Own. Today's episode is a little bit different and a little bit special. For the first time, I'm stepping out of the host seat and into the guest seat. A dear friend is taking the reins today to help tell a story that spans over 35 years from receptionist to junior advisor to partner and now working with Summit Wealth Partners. The journey has included family, faith, loss, resilience, and rebuilding, and even a calling. It hasn't always been easy, but it has always been meaningful. So today I'm honored to share the heart behind the business and the lessons learned along the way. I'm turning it over now to my wonderful guest host, April Wells, and I'm sure many of you will have remembered her from one of my earlier episodes.

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Okay, well, thank you for letting me host today's special episode. We are going to go ahead and welcome our guest, Sherry Hooper. So, yeah, Sherry comes to us today with 35-year career, which she mentioned, and there are quite some ups and downs in her journey, and I cannot wait to dig into this.

SPEAKER_01 1:19

That sounds good. I'm ready. And just so everybody knows, all of our listeners out there, I'm doing this on the 25th episode of Women in the Businesses They Own. So I wanted to make sure that I just kind of spotlighted that as well because it's been almost a year now that I've been doing this, sharing other women's stories.

SPEAKER_00 1:40

Yeah, always sharing others. And I do think that this is quite special that you're about to share yours. So Sherry's got a lot to offer and um lots of wisdom that she's gained along the way. So let's dive in. I'm ready. Okay. Um, the first question. Um, so you have been in finance advising for 35 years and you did truly start from the ground up. If you could go back and sit next to that young receptionist version of yourself, what would you tell her about the journey ahead?

SPEAKER_01 2:17

Uh, you know, I think when you answer when you ask me that question, all I can see is typewriters and backspacing, you like the correction tape. I mean, so many memories come to mind. And if I had to go back and tell my younger self, I would just say, you are not gonna believe what's ahead. You just really are not gonna believe what's ahead. I mean, and even when we look back, sometimes um, sometimes people reflect more on the pain or the loss or the this happened to me, or and all I can see if I had to go back and tell myself, I think I would have an amazing smile and just tell her, you you really are not gonna believe what's ahead. There are so many cool things, so many positive things. I mean, I can't imagine my life without my two kiddos, right? They're they're 26 and 20, and I would have never even dreamed back then. As that young receptionist, I thought I was going to graduate and take off for international business, and that I would be on some airplane all the time, traveling country to country with a cool handbag and the highest heels, and I would be right, I would just be, you know, sitting at these boardroom tables and making the deals. I didn't even know exactly what it meant, but I was taking French in high school. I took French in college, and I was so sure I had to at least hit France in some way for all of the language that I had taken years ago. But I just I think that's really that's the first thing that comes to mind is this has been truly a wonderful experience from starting out. And when I was a receptionist way back then, it was right away in the financial industry because my mom had started out going from preparing taxes to the firm that we had called Mariner Financial Group way back when. And she was the only woman in this group of men that, you know, at one time there was probably a dozen men. I think when I started as a receptionist, there might have been six or eight of them. And this was way back when suits, ties, every day, traditional banker dress, very professional, everything perfect. And these guys, quite a few of them really mentored me. You know, it was more like, how do you talk to people? Keep your hands out of your mouth. You know, you're the you're the first thing that they see when they, you know, people come in the door and redoing those letters over and over until they were absolutely perfect. And thank goodness for typing class in high school. You know, so working with those men, I was really working more um for a lot of them. I was the receptionist of the entire firm, and I only worked um three to five every day after school and then summers until I graduated. Oh, excuse me, until I worked summers for three summers, I think, until I came on full time and started working for them at that point.

SPEAKER_00 5:22

Wow. So after all of these years and everything you've learned along the way, you would look back in an excited way and tell her you just wait, look at wait until you see everything. It's gonna be so fun and hard. It is, but you know what? It really speaks to the the power of a positive mindset.

SPEAKER_01 5:47

Yeah, yeah. I think that um that's all I can think of. Like when we have, when we're going through high school, they're trying to tell us what that we're supposed to decide the rest of our life. And then we come up with these ideas. Um, you know, my mom had been doing taxes. My first job was still working with my mom when I was 15 because she was doing taxes way back then, even um when Lake Michigan Credit Union was Grand Rapids Teachers Credit Union, they were doing um the taxes for their members. And I I don't know if that was, I don't remember how much that it cost or if the credit union covered it. I don't even remember, I guess I've never asked her that. But when that um stopped, then the gentleman that was in charge of all the tax preparers just basically opened up across the street on Michigan where the lake were growing up as teachers' credit union was at the time. And they were doing taxes with pencils and erasers and the colored 1040s and the states and whatever they used to be. They came in a book and they would perforate it and they'd pull them out of the book, and they were doing the taxes, and I had to sit there and copy them front and lift, and then the back and lift, and you'd have to do all these copies and you'd have to put them together: one for the office, one for the client, one to mail in. And so I sat there on Saturdays when I was 15 during tax season, and that was probably one of my first jobs. And and so I'd started then, and then my mom shifted um to being a financial advisor, mostly because she kept giving all the business away way back when $2,000 IRAs were such a big deal to help on your tax return for that benefit. And finally, the person that she kept referring the business to said, you know, to my mom, you can do this. You don't need to keep sending me business, you should just do this yourself. And so she did. Even then, I didn't think, oh, I'm going into the financial field. Like I said, I was I was gonna do this international business. And so I um I don't know, looking ahead, I would never say, hey, where I would live, that I'd have two kids, that I would be a financial advisor myself, that I would take over from my mom one day, that I would be running a business, managing assets. Yeah, so I can't think of anything more at this point that I would tell myself. I certainly wouldn't say I can't even think of something negative. That's just not how I would normally think. But when I was reading, when I was listening to that question, I was like, oh no, this has been, this has been an incredible journey. And you know, and sometimes we don't want to know, right? I mean, just look what's ahead. Just you're gonna be amazed at what's ahead because you don't really want to know, but in the reflection going back, it's been pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00 8:34

Yay. Okay, well, this is a perfect segue into my next question. Um, what was it like building a business alongside your mom for more than 25 years? And how did that dynamic shape you both as a daughter and a leader? Hmm.

SPEAKER_01 8:54

Yeah, that was a long career. And I think um there were different roles that I had initially, like I said, starting as a receptionist next to her, but then my senior year, I was job co-op. I left half a day, and um, I would come out and I ran the tax business. And so I was kind of making all the appointments, making all the deposits, I was doing all the copying and preparation, scheduling, was basically running the business in that particular year. And then as she continued to do well, I became more of her assistant. But then it was her and two other gentlemen that were more of a kind of um their own little nucleus, and then the other gentlemen that were a little bit older had their own little nucleus, and they were kind of happy with the way things were and managing, and my mom and her two other partners were just younger and ready to take off and use technology and whatever that was back then, and and just kind of do things a little bit differently. So I started, you know, working for them, but at one point back in 2003, my mom went out on her own. This partner gone, this partner gone for whatever reasons there were. And so it was just the two of us from 2003 until she retired in 2014. And so there were, I think there were some, you know, there's some really great times when you can work with your mom. I mean, and at the time, even you know, my mom and dad were even living with me. So I mean, it was nonstop. It was wake up, good morning, hello, see you at the office, end of the day, go back home. Sometimes I was like, okay, we need some boundaries. I can't go home and still talk work. You know, like we sometimes it was just like, okay, we do have to have a little, especially I guess after I had my daughter. Then it was like, well, I had a little bit more to do at that point. I had more on my plate. And so talking business at home was a little, that was enough. But um, but working every day, we had some really great times. I mean, we used to go to lunch every day. Um, you know, we would, I I did kind of learn with her, I think a lot of it, even though her role was as the actual advisor, it was still a newer career to her. And I was almost with her always the step, every step of the way in the beginning, just in that um receptionist role to more of an assistant or junior advisor kind of role. Until I went into, I even became, um, I don't remember what year it was, but I even became more of a partner to her before she retired. And we had, you know, had drawn up a contract even at that point that I had, after all the years of working with her and coming alongside her, more of an advisor at that point, that, you know, I had earned that ability to be considered more of a partner with her under Cast Aid Financial Group or what we called CFG. So there was a lot of good, a lot of good years. But, you know, of course, you can imagine working with your mom. There was also times where you might not have agreed, or we wanted different outcomes. So, you know, for a while it was just easier to kind of work in when I started meeting with clients myself, it was just a little bit easier. I would meet with these clients, she would meet with these clients. For the longest time, we met with clients together. And even when you do that, that's that's always um a good thing too. Somebody's taking notes, getting details, somebody's running conversations, somebody can run out and grab that form you got to sign. It really worked out really well. But when we started, you know, doing more of our own clients, so to speak, that were all under CFG umbrella, it wasn't separate. Um, you know, it was maybe a little bit nicer to have a little separate for a while. And I think it was just that having come alongside her and knowing how she was running meetings, I gave me some opportunity to learn, you know, what we needed to do, you know, along the way we were figuring out our performance reporting, you know, um, where we were investing clients, any changes that needed to be made, you know, doing any type of uh retirement planning. So I learned all of those things next to her and with other partners along the way. And of course, you have all of your conferences and different things that you're attending and getting a lot of information that way. But all of the testing was brutal, you know, that you had to take to make sure that you could advise well and that you were licensed to do the things that you were doing. So it's been a continuous amount of studying, continuing ed, another test, another certification, another designation. You know, there's just been a lot of things along that way. But I would say there were some really good things that I learned. When you ask specifically about a leader, though, that's what's tripping me up a little bit because I don't I don't know about actual leadership skill specific. So I may have to pass on that one.

SPEAKER_00 13:49

But you know, I'm gonna go ahead and point it out because I hear it. Please, you were learning the aspects of the business alongside your mom. You were also learning how to navigate tensions, not only in a normal corporate setting, but with family there, which sounds like a difficult thing for a young one to learn. But you are growing up with all of it, which is absolutely honing in your leadership skills.

SPEAKER_01 14:21

Thank you. I am glad that, yeah, I guess it's easier for you to be able to see that as I'm pulling everything out, just a little bit more tidbit. My aunt Linda was our receptionist. My dad ran all of our supplies and um did all the lawn care and the plowing. He was really just huge maintenance, but did a lot of the internal receipts and what have you. And um, my mom's best friend and her daughter both worked for us, and we had a lot of family. We had a lot of family and a lot of friends over the years. So it was always it was fun. But I think even um in leadership, I would have to say the one thing that when my mom retired, I took a step back and I just said, no more, no more family and friends, because there's so many dynamics that come in that. And how we might act towards somebody else is very different from how we act with family. You tend to let your boundaries down, your guard down. You're maybe not as nice, not quite as professional. Um, I think that there's lack of appreciation in some of those areas or some things that are expected. And so when I was ready to take the wheel, I just said, okay, we're gonna, we're gonna do this. When my mom retired, my dad did continue to help me maintain the building, but on a lesser level. And everybody else, pretty much my Aunt Linda retired almost when my mom did, and my husband stepped out of the business because um I needed him home with the kids so I could take over, you know, when my mom retired. That was two years of my life that I barely remember. I mean, it was it was just so much going on at that time, and it was wonderful that he was able to step in and just take, you know, take over the home life, take over the kids and and make that smooth transition.

SPEAKER_00 16:21

So then when your mom retired and you purchased the business, right? You made a strategic decision to merger. Tell us about that. What ultimately led to one of the hardest decisions you've ever made, and how did that go?

SPEAKER_01 16:37

Yeah. So let me, I'll step back really quick because when I first of all, I never thought my mom would retire. She talked about it, but it just seemed like we kept blowing through all of those dates. And finally, she did bring me um into the conference room. She wanted this formal meeting with her and my dad. I think the um accountant was in there, and she asked my husband and I to come in. And I was like, whoa, what's going on? You know, and she basically said she knew she was gonna be done in this next year or in the next year or two, but there was gonna be more of a firm date. And she didn't want to assume that I would take over the business. Um, she wanted to give me the opportunity. And I thought, at first I was like, what do you mean? I've been here over 25 years. Who else is gonna take the business? But in some ways I could appreciate that, you know, we had had a lot of um friction in those last years. Unfortunately, it seems like it comes down to the end because I'm now I'm the one ready to take off and I'm ready to make decisions. And I feel like I'm it's it's just time to do that. And and so we were kind of doing a little bit of this butting heads, and I always describe it as two chiefs in the kitchen. And not that I don't think either one of us were necessarily wrong. It's just she was kind of winding down and and I was gearing to take off. And so when we had this meeting, she was like, You there's no expectation that you have to do this, but if you are, here's the numbers, here's how it's gonna work. Take some time, think about it, and then get back to me, kind of a thing. And so it was the first time that I looked at, you know, how much is it gonna cost to buy into this business? And that's obviously where my mom's retirement, a lot of the retirement would be for her. Um, and so I did check out a couple of different things. I was trying to be creative. I mean, I I thought at that time I am done with finance, you know. I mean, it has been, oh, there was some really tough years. Um, you know, right there at the end when I had wanted to do a certain amount of things. And then it was like, well, is this really this was never my dream? Is this something that I wanted to do? It took a lot of reflection, a lot of checking things out, um, to determine is this really what I want to do then for the rest of my life? Because if I take over, that's it. You know, like this is what I'm gonna do. I mean, there's gonna be a lot that has to go into this. So um I looked at different things. I'll even, I'll even say, I even looked at um a Chick-fil-A franchise, like right here in West Michigan when there wasn't one, and now I think there's four or five or something. But it was it was interesting to go into the different phases with that. And I thought, well, at least they have Sundays off, but I wasn't sure about the nights and weekends, you know. Interestingly enough, I still do nights and weekends here at my office. So, um, but anyway, that wasn't that wasn't the plan that God had at all. And it took a lot of um um a lot of reflection, a lot of prayer to be able to decide like what is the rest of my life meant to be? How can I support my family? How can I um, you know, basically serve? I don't know if a lot of people look at that. I don't think a lot of people get to look at their jobs as or their careers as serving, but I knew that I did in the industry that I was already working in finance. So that would be the way that I looked at it going forward. And so I started looking at opportunities. Um, I had called at the time TV Ameritrade, our wholesaler, and said, Hey, if if I do this, and this is a big hush hush. Back then, it was like you didn't tell anybody if you were selling or not selling or merging or not merging, right? Everything was always just kind of keep it done, you know, keep keep it on the low down until it was time to announce. And um, anyway, so he kind of helped me with some introductions. And one of them was with ARGI, and they were based out of Louisville. And when I had a chance to meet and talk with them, I really it just felt good. It felt right. And some of these negotiations were going on, the conversations, but I still followed through with um a couple of other conversations, other um bringing in another partner because the thing was, is my mom always had me, and we served all of our clients between the two of us. But with my mom retiring, it was just me. And I still had a family, my kids were young. And so I was thinking, I have to, I have to have some sort of help. So, how can I going forward improve the business the way that I wanted to? I wanted better performance reporting, I wanted better financial planning software, I wanted to bring an extra layer to my clients that they hadn't had. And I wanted to be able to do more with my employees that I had and to give them some sort of an increase in some way. You know, we were a smaller business and there wasn't a lot of benefits, and how could we improve and make things better? And then, of course, I wanted things to be better for my family, and um, so it really felt like all the other options kind of went by the wayside, but ARGI had kind of grown quiet too for a while. And I was like, oh man, that was the one. I think that's where, you know. And finally, after a few months, they called and they started saying, Yep, this is what we were really interested in. We're gonna come up and look at things serious. We want to meet everybody. We want to look over the books. We want to make sure that this is going to be a good match because they weren't ultimately buying anything. I was just merging with them. And they, being based out of Louisville, also had um offices in Cincinnati, Indianapolis. And they were going to open up the Grand Rapids office, which was so easy. I had the building. I had, you know, all of the furniture equipment that was needed. I mean, it was pretty seamless ultimately. And so I went back to my mom and just said, okay, I am, I'm going to take this over. I'm going to do this. And I'm going to go with ARGI. And so, you know, going through that process, there was some things that didn't pan out very well in terms of how they liked or didn't like my mom or some of the things that she had done, but they did see value in me and bringing me on and what I could bring to ARGI and the clients that I had and the continuous growth. They um so that kind of initially made my mom not so happy with my choice, which you know kind of created a little bit of additional friction. Um, to the point where she, you know, at one point she was like, um, I'm I'm not selling or I want the business back. You know, I can't remember. And I just said, you know, the decision's been made. I'm going forward. I'm all in, you know, so, and I'm sure, you know, it's really hard to let go. And then if you see a different path than the one that you had hoped for, I'm sure it was really hard for her to kind of let that go. But I had to stand my ground and say, nope, this is it. I've already done it, I'm going to do it. That's where things got a little bit more challenging, where, you know, the tensions were a little high for a year or two. And I know it took its toll on my dad, which I felt really bad about. You know, of course, I don't think that he necessarily agreed with everything on either side, but he was still a dad and still a husband. So I think we put him a little bit through the ringer there. But um, so I did go ahead and and basically started with ARGI in July of 2014. So then um I went, I stayed with them for six years. Okay, and yeah, so walk us through what happened next then. So with them, you know, it was really interesting because I was basically coming in. Um, my mom did do a send-off dinner and called all of her clients individually. And, you know, they basically I had a 94% retention rate. And I thought that was really incredible. Um, you know, that was probably one of the most nerve-wracking times, you know, because now I'm no longer getting paid by the business. Now I'm getting, now I am having to get paid by every client that is choosing to stay with me. And now I have my husband home with the kids. It's only my income. And it was every day, I'm like, check the mailbox, check the mailbox, you know, who all signed, who's staying? It was an incredible time. Um, but you know what? It it worked out. 94% came with me. There was um 2014 was a decent year. 2015 wasn't necessarily the greatest market year. And I know a lot of clients kind of thought, okay, maybe I I didn't do as well award that things had been pretty conservative under my mom for a little bit, and like that was their last draw. And I'm like, hey, this is this is a mark for me, but um, I had appreciated every client that had signed and stayed with me for however long that they stayed. And and you know what, what happened was is ARGI had a partnership track. I made partner in 18 months based on what their credentials were, and I was so excited. I mean, because they were a bigger company, they offered my um my team a lot more benefits than I could have provided. There was a lot more opportunity and for growth and for you know achieving different levels. And they were really big on education. And so I really, if if I look back to say anything positive about ARGI, it was really that they continued to have lunch and learns within the company or quarterly meetings that we would all go down to Louisville for. And there was always learning, always a new topic, a reinforcement, a new legislation, how to do things. Sometimes it was a little bit much because it was like, oh my gosh, another new this, another new this processes within the company. But I do appreciate, you know, um the additional uh information that I learned um in the investment world, some new new ideas, some I love the investment team. You know, I mean, when I first started, they were a group of two gentlemen, and by the time I had left, there were like a dozen of them. But it was an incredible process to work with these gentlemen and they were smart. Um, there were some good people there at ARGI. But in the end, there also wasn't all good people at ARGI. And even though I was there for six years, the last two were getting very tough, maybe even like the last two and a half were getting tough because they were they were kind of pushing where they did like everybody to have a certain degree, a certain designation. And I didn't have everyone that they had wanted, but they knew that coming in. You know, I mean, I could have worked to get more, but I also had a family and I had just transitioned and it took two years to get everything the way that we needed it to be. With my mom retiring, I had to do the new paperwork to go with ARGI. Every client had to sign, and then I switched every client over from Fidelity to TD Ameritrade. And so then we had to reset up every client's income or or specific item that they may have had on their account that was tailored to them. It was just a lot of papering, and it was we didn't have DocuSign until halfway through working with ARGI before we really started to see some of the electronic signing. So it was a lot, it was a lot to do, and I just couldn't think of taking on any more at that point. But I also wanted to, of course, add new clients. They were really pushing and really having these big expectations of what should have been coming out of my office, and I didn't really think my numbers were that bad, but they were they were they were consistent, but they weren't necessarily moving and growing like all the other offices. And so um that was the big push, and they um they got really ugly. They did get really ugly with me. So, anyway, again, here I find myself, you know, now even though I love finance, I love my clients, I love what I do, but I didn't love the company, and things were getting really challenging just to kind of go to work every day. And there was in in it was starting to even separate me from my team. And these my team were mostly Grand Rapids people. My team was my mom's best friend and her daughter, like practically family that has been with us. And we had added one team member that really brought in a lot of division, in in my opinion, um, division between them and me, and then them with ARGI and me. And things got really tough, and they started putting quotas, and I just like, I've never done quotas, you know, I'm not gonna, that's not what I signed up for. I have a continuous client base, I don't need to go out there, pound pavement, and bring in a ton more clients. So, anyway, that was that got really it was really challenging near the end there, but I I did start looking for other opportunities again because I even though rejection isn't easy for anybody, and that's what I was fighting against. It was like these are good people, a lot of them. I could see what the company was doing and wanting to do. I'm partner, I'm invested in these building opportunities. I had really invested myself, you know, pun intended, into this company and wanting to do some really good things and to continue to bring the best to my clients. Um, but it was it it was becoming a huge challenge every day to feel unappreciated. And again, nobody loves rejection. I mean, you can remember boyfriend, girlfriend crushes. I mean, if you're the one breaking up, it's okay. But when you're getting broke up with, it doesn't feel so good. And you start you start second-guessing yourself. And I only ever worked for my mom, basically, in finance, and so stepping out and now working for another company, it was just it was a it was like maybe you know, you start doubting your different decisions. Um, you start doubting whether you can make good decisions about trusting people or you know, these decisions going forward. It was, you know, there were moments where I was so sure I was supposed to be with ARGI, I was all in. And so if I have to reflect back and think, why did I why did I feel so good about that? Why did all my prayers feel like it was leading me to go with ARGI? I think the only things that I can really think about is it was certainly a growth period. There were things that I did learn. There was some added education. I mean, maybe, you know, maybe I did have to um I don't know. I don't feel like they were necessarily giving me a push in the right direction, but I would definitely say that they were um along the way before things started to get really um attention and kind of like going at each other a little bit. I just I would really say that I got to experience a really great investment team that really worked with me and helped me make some really good decisions and client portfolios and the different things that I could do with the clients in in the education pieces, some of the different things that I learned and um different scenarios and what have you. So I would say education was probably the one reason if I had to use ARGI as a stepladder, those those steps would have been just for education purposes, you know, because uh it's not like I speak with anybody at ARGI. Actually, the way that it ended up being is that they pushed me out. And I had started to look at other places because I thought finally, after rejection feelings, kind of have to go through some of those things. I got to the point where I was like, well, I am who I am. I am, I mean, gosh, I would have been 48, 49 at the time, I think. And and you you can't just go back and I mean everybody can change, everybody can change for the better, of course. But I had to also accept who I was and I was doing good work, I was doing good things for my clients, and I had to make sure that I believed that and I had to understand that I had value as a person and that it's okay that I didn't fit ARGI, I didn't fit their mold or their model or their expectations, and that was it was hard because I thought this is the place I'm retiring at. This is I'm all in. I I'd only ever worked, like I said, for my mom. So I had no ideas about going someplace else.

SPEAKER_00 33:39

Well, you helped build this company. Well, I I thought you're being pushed out, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:45

Yeah, yeah. I had the Grand Rapids office. I thought I brought a lot to them, I thought I made them better, and I thought I was making my staff better and my clients better. And then the benefit was that my family was better. So once I decided, yeah, I have value, I have value. I started looking out, and thank goodness I did because I was so surprised on May 1st of 2020. It was a Friday morning. They had put on my calendar that they wanted to do a check-in call. And I assumed it was because of all the COVID things going on. You know, we were all navigating some new things at the time. Um, they were, you know, we were all trying to figure out best how to be able to meet clients and assist clients and do all these things. And it was that was a crazy time. Everybody can reflect back and think about that 2020 time frame. But um they had put that on my calendar, and what they basically did is um somebody jumped on the call. I thought it was just gonna be me and one other person. It ended up HR was on the call. And then, you know, the gentleman had gotten on the call. I think he was considered president at the time, but he wouldn't talk until HR was there. And I'm like, this is weird. Like, hey, hi, let's talk. And anyway, they ended up just basically saying I was done. They were they were letting me go. And I was like, letting me go. This is my this is my building, is what it felt like. These are my clients. I brought everybody to you. Like, what it what happened? What flipped the switch? I mean, I knew that things were really uncomfortable, um, but I never, I really didn't think it was going to come to that. I actually had started looking, thinking, okay, I'm gonna take me and my clients somewhere else. And I did feel like they would have been happier. I never expected them to push me out. And so, I mean, that was a Friday at 10 a.m. I mean, that's just one of those days that you won't ever forget. Because again, here it is, me, and I'm responsible for my family. Now I have bought my mom out a few years ago. I'm responsible for continuing um that responsibility that I had with her. And all of a sudden, my whole world just came crashing down. And certainly haven't been through that before. And I was trying to navigate what does all this, what does all this mean? You know. Um anyway, I I ended up calling the company that I had talked to and said, um, I know that we were gonna push this off to year end because of this COVID thing. And, you know, I really didn't want to put that on my clients because there was a thought that maybe I could start with them. And when COVID hit, it was like, no, you guys do your clients. I'm gonna take care of my clients. We'll do this again. Maybe we'll come back together at the end of the year and see if it's still a good time. But I ended up calling them and going, hey, how's the weekend? Let's uh let's can I sign up? Are you ready? Because I can't move anybody over if I don't have a place to go. And there was all this, you know, back backlog, of course, that has to happen with you know, making sure that everybody knows that I'm no longer at this company and I'm now at Summit Wealth. And so I can be so thankful for Summit Wealth coming on board and giving me that opportunity where they worked all weekend and started getting all of the licensing and the registrations. Everything changed over to make it possible for me to move clients because what I didn't realize until so Friday at 10 is when I got the call and said, Hey, pack your desk and get out. Um, I started hearing from my own clients around 2, 2:30 in the afternoon. You know, why why is your team calling us and asking for us to asking us to stay with them? I was like, wait, what? What? Because I they never bought my clients. They never bought the business, right? And so now I have attorneys involved because I said, what are they doing? They can't take my clients. I wouldn't, I wouldn't solicit who I had what new clients I had gotten through ARGI. Although I had hoped eventually they would come with me. I couldn't tell them, right? I couldn't solicit them, but I could go after every client I brought. And when they left, when I left, they made me leave without um any client folders, right? I didn't have a computer, I didn't have anything to go by. I had to basically start from scratch, whoever might have been in my phone, who might have been. Um, thankfully, we had some of the older lists um on my computer at home because when we were merging, we had to provide all of this information. And they were, they were surprised by that. They thought they had me. They thought, I mean, I'm assuming they did it in COVID for a reason, right? So I couldn't really meet with clients or have great conversations, get signatures, however, that worked. Thankfully, electronic signatures were up and going by then, so I could really work with clients. They had started calling A through Z, so I went Z to A. And um, I had to call all my clients, and it's what I did all weekend for the next couple of weeks, make sure I talked to everybody and got them all on board and let them know. But I had to be somewhat cautious of what was being said because of this ordeal now that became a battle, and it became lawyers fighting lawyers. And um, in that process, I I had to just be able to. I mean, again, here I was hoping everybody would sign with me. I'm hoping everybody would stay. And you know what? It was harder this time. I I was so surprised the ones that I thought for sure would come with me didn't. Um thankfully many clients did. Um, if I remember correctly, four of my top 10 came with me. Six stayed. And now looking back, I can see some of the moves that ARGI did because this other person that came in on my team, he they started pushing him to go into my meetings, which they said was joint meetings, but he was building relationships with my clients, right? And so then they, six of my top 10, stayed with them. And I was, oh man, I couldn't even believe it. I was dealing with so much betrayal. My my team stayed with them, they didn't support me, they didn't reach out, they didn't stand up for me. I mean, they didn't have ARGI without me, and yet they all just went with them, didn't even look back. And then I had clients that were choosing to go to ARGI or elsewhere, I guess, but I'm assuming mostly with them because you know, but of my top 50, 40 came with me. You know, I mean, those are just little numbers that I remember. And in the end, the majority of the clients, you know, ended up coming with me. And I have had tremendous growth, and I have had thankfully from them, it's it's you know, worked out and and it's been wonderful. Like I said, I I really thank Summit Wealth for all that they did in that time period. There was, you know, they weren't involved in any of the battles within the old company and the attorneys, but they were that new support going forward and how I could get every client moved over and just continue. I honestly I didn't have any of my history. I with I was all with memory until I could start creating folders again with new information. I'm so thankful for all the memory that I had and everything with clients. Of course, you know, um TD Ameritrade had a lot of information. Of course, that's where all the client assets were, and I wasn't changing that. And I was able just to continue. And I think there were times where you have to just like you're taking it all in, you might start breathing a little hard. And I just remember I always made time for uplifting podcasts, I always made time for prayer. And I think when things like this happen, I think you pray a little bit longer, pray a little bit harder. But in in the middle of that, I just remember hearing um, you have to stay in his rest. That is one thing that I will always remember during that time, as well as is I have to re you have to stay positive, you have to know that there are reasons behind this, you have to know that things are gonna be okay and work itself out. You may not know how or why, but it does. But staying in his rest, meaning God's rest, really just made a huge difference for me because I I wanted to be able to enjoy work again. And and it hadn't been like that for a couple of years under ARGI. So if a client didn't stay with me, I was gonna fight for every one of them. But if a client didn't stay with me, I wasn't gonna, I wasn't gonna force it, right? I mean, there was there were reasons that they didn't stay with me. Um, every client I have, I am honored, I am blessed, I am grateful, I am humbled. Um, today and then, you know, I worked hard. I felt like I owed them because of all that they did for me. And I just kept working most of it though. Once the signatures were all done and the files were created, I just I acted like nothing else had really there wasn't anything different. Clients didn't necessarily recognize ARGI or Summit Wealth any different. It was the relationship with me and what I did. And so I was so thankful for that.

SPEAKER_00 43:29

Okay, so here you are fighting for your livelihood.

unknown 43:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:34

Right?

SPEAKER_00 43:34

Yeah. And you mentioned that you kept hearing stay in his rest. Tell me what that means practically to you while you're out there grinding and fighting, right? And and going through just traumatic experience after traumatic. You did literally described a movie scene where you're trying to call your clients, well. They are trying to call your clients. And so here you are fighting for your life. How do you rest? How were you taking care of yourself during that time?

SPEAKER_01 44:10

Oh man, taking care of myself. Well, I can explain the rest part. The so staying in his rest or in God's rest. That was that was in a podcast I had heard. And it just hit me. It was in some pastoral podcast that I was listening to. And I had been listening to a big um with, oh goodness, now I'm not going to be able to remember. But I was listening to leadership podcasts with John Maxwell. That's it. And then I was adding in some uplifting, you know, sermons and things. And I was doing that along the way. But in this moment, I wasn't going to cut that out. I actually got to like, you know, if I was in the bathroom getting ready or in the shower or whatever I was doing in the car, I just always make sure that I have something on that I can continuously learn and grow. And when I heard that, it was, you know, we have to stay in his rest. And in and it just meant peace to me. It meant comfort. All of a sudden, it just felt like his arms were either wrapped around me and hugging me or holding me up. It didn't really matter. But I just remember just getting joy in that moment. And and I was in, I think I was in my closet getting ready for the day. I'm staying in this moment of comfort. I'm staying in this moment of being lifted up by him. And that going forward, all is going to be well. And I am going to still be able to take care of my family. I'm still going to be able to have this wonderful career. And you know, even going forward back then, even more so now, I always look at what I do every day is serving my clients. And I kind of laugh because I always said, I am not going to Africa. I am not a missionary. I don't make me ever. Like, no, no. You know, like with the way I grew up, there was always about missionaries, and they were going to these countries. And I was like, no, I can't do that. I can't do that. But what I think even in those moments, I started thinking, my clients are the way that I serve. You know, they are the ones that I can maybe share a Bible study with, or I can pray for them, or I can um just be there when they need me. I can meet with them and hug on them. I can hold them up. I can take away their worry, their stress. I try to do everything that I can for my clients. I love to just take care of them. And and it might be going the extra with every one of them. If I can find a way to do the extra, I am going to do that for my clients. And I I love that. I love to serve and it gets me up every day. I can't wait to get here. Uh all the emails up pour in, I can't wait to answer them. If a client needs me, it feels good. And, you know, for all of us, we all want that purpose in our life. And it feels so good to know what my purpose is. And I was challenged way back when, you know, when my mom said, Hey, you're gonna take this over. I it, you know, at that moment I wasn't sure. But when I did realize it, it felt so good. And even though, you know, things didn't work out at ARGI, I didn't doubt my purpose. I doubted a few other decisions, but I never doubted my purpose. And and now, even through that, I just my bucket is full every day. Sometimes I have to remember that my bucket also is my family, you know, my husband and my kids and my mom. And um, so I have a lot of different buckets, but you know, being able to serve and do what I love every day, that that fills my bucket. And working with people like yourself, April, and other um network partners that I've been able to work with, those are other ways that I get to serve my clients by meeting and connecting and always having those answers or resources to bring into the client meetings or to bring answers to the clients that they need at the time. Um, so I continue to build and grow and learn and connect so that I can continue to do that for my clients as well. Build something beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 48:31

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 48:32

Thank you. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 48:33

Um, tell us so it sounds like you lost your dad in 2018. Is that correct? I did. I did. And so tell us how that kind of reshaped your leadership.

SPEAKER_01 48:46

Oh I don't know. As soon as you ask me, all it brings is a little bit of pain. You know, you never quite get over the loss of anybody close to you. Um, I don't know, you might have to answer this one because you helped me on the last one with the whole leadership question. But I will say that my dad and I, our relationship was always the closest. I don't know if everybody feels that they're closer to their mom or closer to their dad, but I was always closer to my dad. Um, in those couple of years when I took over the business, I didn't have a lot of time for anybody. And I remember telling my dad no a lot. Those are huge regrets because he'd be like, he'd stop by, you want to go to dinner? No. I mean, I finally have a minute to myself, I'm going for a run. You know, you don't look at it as your time is so short. I thought I'd have years and years with my dad. And um when he passed away, um, it was on vacation with my brother. So it was pretty tragic that they went out there together to do some rock climbing and motorcycle riding. And then for him not to come home. I I think it was as the oldest, I mean, I had to step in in that type of a leadership role because my mom wasn't going to be making that many decisions. My brother needed me. He was out there and he had to drive my dad's truck home and bring home the one good motorcycle. And um, we had to make arrangements, of course, and and then going forward, and I have two sisters, and so the four of us were, I mean, our whole family, you know, you have that nucleus of five, it will never be six again. Um, it that was a it was a really tough time, and and I only really took a week off from work because I didn't really know what else to do with myself after that. You can't just you can't just sit around and mope. I mean, you feel like it, but that doesn't do anybody good at all. Um, you know, you kind of just push yourself through. But what was really hard is going back to work too, because he was that building. When my parents owned the building before selling it to ARGI, I mean, my dad did everything in that building. He had his office. I couldn't even touch his office. I think I just went in there and just tried to breathe in my dad a few times. It was horrible. I'd sit in the conference room and my dad never walked by. We had a window into the hallway, and I could always see if he needed me, he would kind of like walk by and like peek in and see, oh yeah, Sherry's busy. Well, I knew I needed to go down and talk to him then, you know, and coming back to the office. Nobody else was walking by. You never saw my dad peek in the office and need anything from me again. But um, I don't know about leadership, other than I guess it would be more of a family leadership, stepping up and just trying to do our best. But we all really all got along. We were all hurting equally, we were all missing our dad equally. We made good decisions, there was no no real issues. But um, when he did pass, um, we had my mom move in with us. And so that that brought a few other, you know, other tough times. But I just thought maybe that would be what my dad would have wanted. I I don't know if that's the case or not, but you know, it's it's been better now. He's been gone. This will be eight years this year already. So in July. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 52:28

Um, okay. Well, now that you've reached your highest income point and rebuilt Summit Wealth, right? Um, what does success mean to you today?

SPEAKER_01 52:39

Well, hopefully Summit Wealth is glad to have me. You can a little bit of, I'm sure they are, but I thought that with the RGI too. Um, I am again, you know, having this office in Grand Rapids has been fantastic to be part of Summit Wealth, but the most of the offices are all in Florida. So technology brings us closer to weekly meetings and phone calls and emails, of course. So um being part of them has been really wonderful. They've never put any um any quotas or any demands on me, they've just always supported me, and I think that has made um this journey with them so wonderful. Um, they're they're wonderful to really work with. And so um looking at success for me now, I don't think that it's ever going to be in the numbers, not the number of clients, not the number of you know, revenue, not the I think success is more with the heart of having those relationships that we want. Do I have good relationships with my clients and do they know that I'm approachable and here to help? And do I have good relationships with my husband and my kids? You know, I mean, some people aren't as fortunate to have spouses andor people in their lives that they can depend on, or hopefully, you know, sometimes they don't have kids that are in the picture as much for many reasons. So, you know, I'm I am thankful for family and for the clients and the relationships that I have with them and with the people that I continue to connect with on a daily basis and that I'm able to work with. So I guess I mean ultimately that's pretty successful in my mind, is if I have all these people that surround me, support me, work with me. That's pretty good.

SPEAKER_00 54:43

That's incredible.

SPEAKER_01 54:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 54:45

Uh okay, final question. Oh, okay. Um, so yeah, let's see. If you are if if there are people listening today that feel called to something bigger, but they're afraid to step into it, what would you tell them?

SPEAKER_01 55:04

Oh, afraid to step into it. Well, I guess looking back at what I've just talked about, um you might not get it right the first time. You might not get it right the second time, I guess, is where it was for me. I felt like the first time worked out pretty well overall when I was working with my mom all those years. The second time maybe um didn't work out, but as I reflect back, what did I learn from that experience? And you know, now I am with some at wealth, it's working out really well. So I would have to just say that you have to, you have to go for it. If it's on your heart, if it's the purpose that you feel led to, you have to go after it. Um, you know, for me it was a lot of prayer, but you have to research, you have to have your support team, you have to continue to connect with people that can continue to help you along the way. But even if it doesn't work out, it doesn't mean that that's not your purpose. It maybe just wasn't the right, you know, if you're in a fork in the road, maybe you try the other side this time. And um, I think it's persistence, it's diligence. And I definitely think that it comes with you, you have to have positive thinking. And instead of saying that didn't work, oh me, oh my, why didn't it work? And what did you learn? And as you take that going with you into the next opportunity, you just continue to grow and get better. So certainly wouldn't want anybody to ever hold themselves back of fear, because fear is easily conquered by just one step in front of the other. And when you do it the one time, you can do it easier the second time. The same fear isn't in the way, but we certainly don't want fear to control us. We want to be able to conquer it, and it's a lot easier than we think. It might take a minute and it might take your breath away, but um, but it's conquerable and you have to continue to move forward. Go for it. Go for it. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 57:04

I'd like to give something well said.

SPEAKER_01 57:06

Good, good. I was gonna say, I'd like to give something original, but in the end, I think that's what it really is. That's good stuff. Yeah, good, good. This was fun, April. Thank you. I agree. Well, so if we go into um the next segment of the podcast that I like to always have, and this was very unique to be the guest, but I I really appreciate you doing this, um, April, for this 25th episode. Um, going forward, um, if I were to switch gears a little bit, um, I would I think that was a great ending for me and how I would like to leave things with that last question. But is there anything that you would like to leave with our listeners that really stood up for you and that you, as you reflect back on the words and the what you heard?

SPEAKER_00 57:56

Absolutely. Um, I'm I'm just gonna say that you in particular shared um a story of tremendous struggle and challenges. Uh, and we used the terms earlier, fighting for your life, right? And so the the strength and the courage, and I'm just gonna go ahead and throw in there grit because you talked in the end about having people just even in fear, you just gotta keep moving and you have to keep walking and stepping. And you talked about your faith. All of these things are it's such a strong story that you have that is full of challenges, but full of successes, and it really is beautiful and encouraging. Oh, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 58:40

I know it's um important for all women to be able to share their stories and ultimately why I started this podcast because not that I could share my story, but recognizing we all have stories. And, you know, and sometimes my kids they might not even understand some of these things that I have gone through, nor do they ask. You know, I mean, most of the time our kids don't even ask about our days, and sometimes I want to tell them, you know, like sometimes you just want to tell people. And that's where this platform came from. This podcast was the idea that we all have stories, but they don't just magically happen. We don't get where we are today without tremendous steps moving forward and wherever those steps take us. And sometimes it can feel like dire straits, and sometimes it leads to, you know, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. And what do you feel when you accomplish a goal? You know, what do you what do you feel like when you get to the top of that mountain? And you know, and I think that's those are the stories that I really want women to continue to share on this podcast for everybody to to hear and to feel like they're not alone and that they um that what they might be going through is very much like somebody else's story, although each story do does tend to be unique. There are some similarities. And so I think that this whole um podcast is meant to be very encouraging to others, but to also tell the story when nobody else is asking. I am. I'm asking that story, and I want to hear about your trials, your um and your successes, I guess is the best way to say that. So um I'm just glad to have the opportunity today. And it was really April's idea. So she she's leading the questions, but it was her idea to do this um today. So thank you once again. And for our listeners, if this story um meant something to you, please like and share. I would love to get more and more subscribers and listeners and to tell more stories. So if there's somebody out there that would like to that owns a business and would like to um share their story, just reach out and connect with me. And I would love to have you on the show. Okay, April, do you want to try the lightning round as we wrap up? Sure, I'd love to. Okay, you ready? Yeah, I'm ready. Take a deep breath.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:08

Here we go. Yeah, this I should put a timer on. Okay. Retirement or work forever?

SPEAKER_01 1:01:16

Oh, work forever. It's not work when you love what you do.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:20

I love that answer. Okay, mountain vacation or beach?

SPEAKER_01 1:01:26

Pool. Okay, I'll take the sun from the beach and move it over to the pool. I love it. Uh early morning or late night? Late night.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:37

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:38

Late night. I cannot. I'm trying to shift though. I can, I guess I can if I keep saying it every day. I'm a morning person. I'm a morning person, but not yet.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:47

I'm shocked. I totally would have guessed your morning.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:52

Favorite food.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:54

Uh gosh, it used to be, it used to be. Well, it still is. I love, I love a good veggie pizza with jalapenos, green peppers, and banana peppers, or some sort of barbecue chicken pizza with jalapenos and banana peppers. I love spicy food. Right now it's like um rice mixed vegetables and scrambled eggs all mixed together with a whole bunch of Frank's and cayenne pepper and I love spicy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:22

Okay, last one. Um, biggest risk you ever took.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:29

Probably joining ARGI at this point, you know what now that we've been talking about it. So work-wise, I would say that. Any other risk? I don't know. I think ever having, I mean, I used to love roller coasters. Those were those were all risks now, in my opinion, because I loved, loved roller coasters. But once I had my kids, I was like, what are you doing? This thing only has wheels on the track. There's no walls. I felt like I can't risk it. My kids need me. I stopped. I love it.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:00

I can't do roller coasters anymore. Great answers.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:06

Okay, well, so as we close, thank you for allowing me to share a part of my story today. And to every woman building something meaningful, whether in business, family, or faith, keep going. Steady, steady, and stay courageous and stay in his rest. And remember, I came, I spoke, and I inspired. And we'll see you next time.