Jessica Talton

I attribute my success to my community and my passion to serve, to be the best at what I do, and to lead by example. It's really important to me to be a good steward to the gifts and blessings that I've received through the work. My family and my kids fuel my fire. I have 3 babies, and when you become a parent, you're responsible for their little lives, and that keeps me going on the hard days. But my community is like a baby to me too, and I'm trying to help as many people as possible. I know I can't save the world, but I can do my part. I'm a result-driven person and very goal-oriented, and I really want to be a big factor in bridging the wealth gap and the disparity in my community. That's what fuels me. I feel like I'm good at what I do, and I want to share that with everyone. When you feel like there's a need for what you have to offer, you feel like you have to show up. It's almost like it's your obligation to show up.

The best career advice I've ever received is to stay focused on the mission and let your purpose drive you. Stay mission-focused and allow your purpose to drive you. Another piece of advice that has really shaped my approach came from my first leader, Dawn Bagley at Colonial Bank. She taught me to sell people the benefit, never sell a product. It's about discovering what people need and then selling them the benefit of what you're offering that fulfills that need. Don't sell the product.

Find your passion. When you figure out what your passion is, that's what's gonna get you through the hard days, and you should pursue anything that's in alignment with that passion. You just don't want to be doing a job, because it's not gonna pull everything it needs to pull out of you if it's just a job. But if you're operating from a place of this is my passion, you're gonna show up different, it's gonna feel good, and you'll excel. When people are trying to figure out life and what to do, I always ask them, when you're your happiest self, what are you doing in that moment? And that's what you gotta pursue. Be consistent.

When we talk about challenges for my client base, it's access and affordability, historical wealth gaps, and historical barriers. If we're talking about my day-to-day work as someone who serves this community, it's resources and the lack of resources. Personally, in my career path, my biggest challenge has been finding leadership that supports my vision. I needed a leadership team that would give me the support I needed to be able to build the abundant business that I have. As an individual, I can only do so much, so I need a team around me, and I need to be able to have leadership that supports me hiring that team and growing that team to take my business to the next level and be able to give the community I serve the experience that they deserve and need. That was my biggest challenge being in this industry, and I think a lot of that came with being a diverse female, because this is a white male-dominated industry, just being honest. Sometimes the support that I would see some of my peers that don't look like me get would look different than the support that I was given. I'm finally in a place where I think I've proven myself, and now I get the support that I need and have the autonomy to hire the additional support on my team. That's what's made the difference in my business and the biggest obstacle that I've had to overcome in this industry.

Service is important to me, along with community impact and family. Integrity is a core value, as is excellence. I'm a firm believer that if you're gonna do something, be the best at it, so that's where that excellence comes in. Faith is big for me as well.