SUCCESS STORIES

Long ago, when I wanted to be the first female agent of the year for Lincoln, my husband advised me that to do so I would have to change. I'd have to stop much of the community service and do less with our children's activities. I determined then, and have never regretted, that this was too high a price to pay. So I have been content with being in the top fifty of five thousand planners most years, but never number one.

Betty Harris Custer, CFP®, CRPC®, Founding Managing Partner, Custer Financial Services, Lincoln Financial Advisors

Women in the financial services industry measure success internally. Success. What is it? How do I know when I have reached it? How do I measure it? Is it the same for everyone?

In 2012, 794 female financial services professionals completed a survey, conducted by Women in Insurance and Financial Services (WIFS). In this survey and subsequent interviews with some of the most successful women in the industry, as measured by income, industry-wide recognition, and company recommendations, we have begun to focus on a clear picture of how these women measure success and how they have achieved it.

The women who completed the 2012 survey had many different definitions of success. However, the most highly compensated women (50 percent of survey respondents with annual gross incomes between $200,000 and more than $1,000,000) were less likely to be motivated by extrinsic rewards such as income or recognition. Instead, the intrinsic, internal motivators of achieving their own goals and helping others succeed were significantly more important to them than income or recognition from their companies and the industry.

Does this mean that highly compensated female financial professionals are not interested in what they earn or the recognition they receive? No. These high-achieving women, successful by every measure, consider their income to be important because it provides them with the financial and personal independence and flexibility to live their lives as they choose.

FINANCIAL SUCCESS TRANSLATES INTO MEMBERSHIP IN CORPORATE AND ENTREPRENEURIAL LEADERSHIP GROUPS

The recognition they receive from their companies and the industry, based most often on what they earn and the amount of business they do, is also important. However, it is not for the recognition itself. Recognition from their companies and from the industry provides admission to peer groups of the most successful financial services professionals of both genders. As members, these women can participate in think tanks and study groups with the most intelligent and creative minds in the industry. Being a part of such a peer group may also provide these women with additional services and privileges from their companies. What they learn from their peers and the additional assistance they get from the best and brightest in their companies and throughout the industry provides them with knowledge, skills, and ideas that directly benefit their businesses and the sophisticated work they do with their clients. And at the end of the day, this is what these highly successful women say is most important to them.

Nicole Holland-Hong (CFP®, CLU, ChFC, CASL, Wealth Management Advisor, Northwestern Mutual) tells financial representatives in her company, "Whether it's your first or fifteenth year, you can make Forum (the Northwestern leaders' group) a goal."

Barbara Brazda Dietze (CLU, ChFC, Financial Adviser, Eagle Strategies LLC, Agent, New York Life) explains why setting a goal for yourself is incredibly important to your success. Barbara learned early in her career while analyzing Earl Nightingale's tape The Strangest Secret with a study group of young agents in her agency that "you become what you think about." If what you think about is achieving the goal of membership in the leaders' group of your company, you will do it, no matter the barriers in front of you. Nicole achieved this important benchmark at age forty while she was pregnant with her first child. In the same year, she took a two-month leave of absence after the birth of her son.

One highly compensated female financial services professional in the 2012 survey said, "Doing what I love with those I love — earning a good income and being able to travel and meet some of the most successful people in America (my clientele) ... It doesn't get any better."

Over and over again in the survey and interviews, very successful female financial services professionals talked about their passion for helping others. "Most days I feel as though I am helping my friends (clients) achieve financial security and freedom. So it never feels like work." For these women, the most important measure of their success is loving what they do and for whom they do it and, as one woman said, "having my clients say: 'My life is better for having known you.'"

THE SUCCESS STORIES OF FOUR AMAZING WOMEN IN THE FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY

In this chapter, we will highlight the success stories of four highly compensated, caring female financial services professionals. Of the twenty-three women who were selected and agreed to participate in in-depth interviews for this book, we chose four to help illustrate how different career paths, geographic locations, types of companies and services provided, and personal life stories can all lead to success within the wonderful, diverse world of financial services. The stories of the nineteen other women, all of whom are equally compelling, will be featured throughout the subsequent chapters of this book.

ARE YOU MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF OTHERS?

Robelynn H. Abadie (CAP®, RFC, LUTCF; CHRS®, CSA, Founder and CEO Abadie Financial Services, LLC) reports that she has been "like a sponge" throughout her incredibly successful career in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She has never stopped learning or seeking mentors. Today, Robelynn is the sole proprietor of her own company (Abadie Financial Services, LLC) with a support staff of three. Robelynn's company is "highly concentrated in corporate/employee benefits." She works primarily with companies with one hundred or more high-net-worth employees (largest group has 1,200 employees). For these companies and employers, her company does "all retirement...