Today we’d like to introduce you to Faye Sykes.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I am a non-financial person in the financial world. I graduated from Syracuse University 1993 with a degree in textile design and worked as a textile and fashion designer for years including working as head designer at Ben Hogan golf designing the private label for the Masters and Ryder Cup Team apparel working with Tom Kite.
Neither of my parents taught me anything about the financial world and then one day it dawned on me they cannot teach you what they do not know.
I sat down with an adviser once I started making money and at the time he literally sounded like one of the adults from the Charlie Brown cartoon whaa whaa whan. He could not put anything in layman’s terms and even after asking to clarify he said I should just do what he said. That attitude did not work for me and years later I ended moving from fashion to being a commodity broker in the recycling industry for Waste Management to finally getting into the financial world in 2005. I started working at Edward Jones in Decatur, GA, then Northwestern Mutual and Penn Mutual before going independent.
I a fiduciary fee-based adviser and work with clients in some combo of the following. Fee only plan, Fee-based management of assets and helping with insurance such as life, disability, and long-term Care. I also own a second company Social Security Benefit Planners where I am a top expert in retirement income Social Security planning. I speak nationally and we work with clients throughout the US and Ex-Patriots overseas.
Apx 80% of our clients are self-employed and range from being in their 20’s to 90’s with about 40% being LGBT
Education, as you can imagine, is so important to me so clients that I work with we spend time breaking down the basics and I literally teach people the way I had to learn. As a prior designer, I have developed my own training materials and used everyday analogies to help people understand.
It’s amazing to see the light bulb click in someone’s mind; it means to me that they will have the information to make better decisions for them and their family
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As I had limited understanding of anything financial, it took me a while to fully understand different concepts and I still learn new things every day. Struggles include switching from w-2 world to 1099 where if you don’t bring in money it can really be a challenge.
I once read that the average person in the US would rather clean their toilet then clean up the financial world.
Early on people have to really take a chance on you to sit down and your referral partners like CPA’s/Lawyers and other folks that we work in conjunction with are very leery until you have been in it for a while- you hear stories of being burned. I am not sure on exact numbers but I would be surprised if we had over a 20% retention rate after five years in our industry.
Since I worked at both investment and insurance firms, they both look at the other as a red-headed stepchild but to be a true holistic planner you need to understand both important sides.
The good ole boy’s network as in a lot of industries was much to be desired and can be quite condescending
Scarlet Oak Financial Services – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We are fiduciary fee-based and fee-only firm. Along with our newest additional Angie Rehkop who is a 25-year CFP we do holistic planning.
As I joke, we become your financial spouse but for a lot of folks need someone to review, bounce ideas off and in general have a 2nd pair of eyes reviewing.
We want to look at your group benefits, your taxes, your wills, your home and auto insurance in addition to all investments and insurance already set up. Putting down your goals and dreams and from their pulling a plan together that fits your budget. Sometimes we have to help people adjust goals that are not attainable (like retiring at 50 with $10k saved)
I speak regularly on TV, Radio, and in person for smaller groups to huge conventions. I am known to be great at breaking down the complex so anyone can understand.
We work with all types and have programs that range from the 1 year “101 Financial Program” where for a flat fee of $1,400 we will typically meet 4-6 times, we help with budgeting, get out of debt, a basic retirement plan and a lot of financial education” great I don’t know where to start person.
We can do robust full planning that fee would be based on projected number of hours.
Since I am a guru in Social Security and we offer Medicare insurance we work with pre-retirees and retirees in understanding the complex rules around these and how to integrate this with different types of investments and insurance.
We work with a lot of women whether single, married, divorced or widowed.
I am proud that we do true holistic planning, take the time to educate and along with our great team, Jill and Morgan are able to give a client experience that I would want to have as a client.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
In the last couple of years, I have had several women tell me that they want to be me when they grow up.
Successful business, helping others, and high energy!
Pricing:
- 101 Financial Program : $1,400 or $375/quarter
- Fee Based management : 1.4% or less depending on assets
- Financial Consulting $275/hour
Contact Info:
- Address: 1708 Peachtree St NW, Ste 201, ATlanta GA 30309
- Website: www.scarletoakfs.com
- Phone: 800-871-1219
- Email: fsykes@scarletoakfs.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ScarletOakFS/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/scarlet_oakfs
Image Credit:
Rupa Kapoor
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