Chrissy Smith * is not your average financial representative. In addition to being one of the Top 5 producers in her field, she’s also a “power connector” and networker, mother, and mental health advocate. We sat down in the conference room of her office to talk about everything.
Q: Where you grew up and what did you study?
Chrissy spent a good portion of her life in Southern California, and moved to upstate New York when she was younger when her father retired from the military. “I’ve always been a planner, even early on in my life- I wanted to make sure I was doing something that made me happy for the rest of my life. I was really good at math and science so I thought about going into forensics. Then I took a tour of the Albany Forensics Lab and left realizing I didn’t want to pull fibers out of rugs for the rest of my life. I need to be around people. My Dad being in the military connected me to someone in the FBI, I was able to have a great conversation with that person hear what their life is like and was able to rule that option out as well.”
“I’m also really good at art but I don’t want to be a teacher, so I thought about interior design. I started at FMCC and began their graphic design major. I ended up really enjoying graphic design, and earned a degree in Marketing and Communications. Then went to Empire State College and earned a 4 year degree in business management and economics with a concentration in marketing.”
Chrissy didn’t know it then, but marketing has a really huge creative side and fell in love with that side of sales and marketing. Later she would use those skills to become a power connector in the Capital Region.
Q: What brought Wealth Advisory Group as a Financial Wellness Advisor from working as a car salesperson?
From Chrissy’s experience in car sales, it’s exactly what you’d think. “Predominantly male, toxic, a lot of hours, and a lot of blood sweat and tears for not a whole lot.” Chrissy had been trying to leave for a couple of years after being in an environment that was physically and emotionally draining, until she was approached by someone at Wealth Advisory Group. After sitting down with WAG, Chrissy was in awe that more people aren’t walking about financial wellness. She immediately became a client and was empowered by the fact someone cared about the financial aspect of her life.
Chrissy continued selling cars and eventually became a finance manager in the dealership. “I can’t tell you how often that people came in with low credit score that didn’t equate to them having low incomes. I think sometimes people have this misconception that financial wellness is directly correlated to how much you make or how good your credit is, when it’s completely the opposite.” Chrissy feels there is a huge gap in education and resources for financial wellness. Having someone share how they have helped their clients and realizing how it could impact her life is what transitioned her into the position she holds today.
Q: What is it that a Financial Representative does?
A lot of times people think that we only work with people that have certain incomes or certain assets. One of my philosophies is that everyone deserves to grow financially and someone to coach you on all aspects of your money with intention and strategy. Advisors guide their clients based on their goals, whether it’s to save or invest or pay off debts, someone like Chrissy will explain the processes to achieve these goals. “It is in every financial professional’s best interest to make sure their clients are personally and professionally successful.” she says. Clients that have been successful come back with their lives changed, and that is why Chrissy does what she does.
Q: If someone feels like they’re drowning in a bad financial situation, what would you say to that person to get them started?
“A few things… know that you are not the only one dealing with this. You are emotional about your life so if you can have someone you trust help you look at things differently they may be able to see things you don’t and offer solutions and start improving the situation. The key is to want to make a change and make things better to get out of the situation you are in.” She goes on to say that it is their responsibility to move forward and make those changes. It is important to have a financial professional in someone’s life regardless of where they are, even if they aren’t doing as much planning as they’d like. If everyone wasn’t worrying about what money was going to be like there would be a lot less worry, fear and arguments in other aspects of their life.
Q: What is something someone should avoid if they need to start getting their finances together?
People tend to know what kind of coaching they need in their life. If they are able to describe that to someone, that’s going to help the financial professional know how to help them in the best way. Chrissy approaches her clients with, “Don’t worry about what you did before, this is what we’re going to do now.”
Chrissy recommends you interview a few financial professionals to find the best fit for your personality and goals. “It’s very important to have a strong Rolodex of reliable contacts because my clients don’t only need to be financially well. There are a bunch of other things that will happen between now and retirement but knowing that someone always has your back is empowering for the client.”
Chrissy also encourages her clients to ask questions and understand what is going on with their money. It’s important to make sure you are working with the right professional.
Q: Let’s talk about networking. What began your network that you are so well known for?
“When I left the car business i had to start over. I became that person that went to every event, multiple events a day and people started to know who I was. Over time, I felt like this was not the best use of my time, there are not enough hours in a day to go to events and hope to meet someone. That’s not networking.” Chrissy began to noticed when she introduced herself, people would assume she’s one of “those financial people” with such a stigma about the industry.
She wanted to meet people in a non-confrontational manner so they would want to have a conversation with her. She started doing car buying workshops, then women empowering women workshops. After having a baby, Chrissy needed to be even more intentional with her time. She started to host her own networking events with small groups, asking personalized questions like “what do you do outside of work,” team building exercises, and these interactions relax everyone and allow them to truly get to know one another. Having wine and games at these events really helps to bring people’s walls down.
Q: Shifting the conversation to mental health. You were close friends with 9 of the 23 people who were killed in a limousine crash in Schoharie and there was a major change in a decade long relationship. How did you survive?
“It’s not something I would ever wish on anyone. It’s very challenging to know you’re never going to talk to these people again and with other shifts in life, it’s just hard. I am so thankful for this company and having my daughter. I was in a good state of mind when these events occurred and it was like a test. Can you still accomplish something when all these things are happening all at once?”
She began asking herself, what energy am I wasting when I am thinking negatively? Or when I keep looking back to think about what could have been done differently. At the end of the day it doesn’t solve anything and you have to move forward. Chrissy uses her stories as impactful examples for her clients’ planning for their future. “This is why I do what I do.”
“Sometimes you have to go through the muck and the swamps to really prove there is no person that can’t be dealt a bad hand.”
Q: How can you be reached?
* Christine Smith, Financial Representative, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian), New York, NY, Wealth Advisory Group LLC is not an affiliate or subsidiary of Guardian 2019-88196 Exp. 10/2020
