Trish Kaufman

I think I know that my clients always say that I do a lot for them because I get to know my clients so much, you know, everything about them, and that's why I've known them for so many years. I just care, I think that's the word, caring for them, and that shows. Believe it or not, most advisors, some, a lot of advisors do not care, and I see that. Maybe it's because of being a woman, and I know my colleagues that are women, they do care, so that really shows and differentiates us, I think, from our male counterparts.

This industry is really tough for women. When I started, there were not many women advisors, and even 20 years later, there's not as many as I think I would like it to be in this industry. So it's pretty tough for us. It seems like we always have to work harder than our male partners. There have been a lot of challenges, but if you're passionate about what you do and love what you do, you just keep going, despite the challenges that you come about. Sometimes it's hard to just keep calm, but you keep going.

I would say it's definitely a very rewarding field if you love working with clients and helping them with their goals, helping them reach their goals, because at the end, when they give you that compliment, that's everything. So you forget all the challenges when your clients say thank you so much, I was able to retire because you helped me get there, or whatever their goals may be, you helped them reach it. Especially with women, when I educate them on finance and they actually understand and know what they have, it empowers them, so that makes them more knowledgeable, and that's very rewarding for them, not just rewarding for me. As long as you're passionate, if you're passionate about something, you'll be successful, regardless of what the journey will be.

There are so many challenges. We always have to stay on top of the market. Our job is to manage clients' net worth, their livelihood, so it's our job to make sure that they are on pace. We have to not just be knowledgeable about the market, we have to understand all clients' goals, and not all clients are the same, everyone's different. We need to make sure that their investment is related to their own individual goals. Not all clients are the same, every client's different, so our job is to make sure we know how to navigate the market and each individual client.

I think the value is being honest and being real. Especially in my role, I always put clients first.