“Your health is your wealth – and your money should protect both.”
I didn’t set out to become a financial adviser. My mum worked for a large institutional investment company, so in 2004 I joined a call centre there, learned the ropes, and spent 14 years building expertise across client relations, platforms, and fund management. I looked after some of the biggest names in the industry – BlackRock, Fidelity, Transact – but something was missing. Those relationships were professional, not personal. The money I was talking about wasn’t real to anyone in the room.
When I was made redundant in 2017, a former boss suggested I try financial advice. I discovered what I’d been looking for all along: the chance to make a real difference to real people.
Today, I work with clients at Kingswood’s Rayleigh office, and the part of the job I love most is visiting people in their homes – meeting their family, the pets, and building the kind of trust that makes even the difficult conversations easier. My background in relationship management means I’m not a hard seller; I’m a relationship builder. I keep in regular contact, stay genuinely interested, and make sure clients know I’m there when they need me.
One moment that has stayed with me involved a client who was in serious pain and facing a long wait on the NHS for a back operation. She had money invested but felt reluctant to touch it. We talked it through, and I encouraged her to use some of her savings to go private. That’s exactly what it was there for. She had the operation recently, and it went well. It’s a small example of something I believe deeply: your health is your wealth. Sometimes the most important thing an adviser can do is help a client give themselves permission to spend.
I also think a lot about the long game. Retirement can last 20 years or more, and many people simply haven’t planned for how long their money needs to work. My job is to help clients feel secure – not just on paper, but in how they live day to day. Whether that means reviewing a pension, restructuring investments, or simply talking things through, I’m here for all of it.
Outside of work, I ride my horse and share my life with animals of various descriptions. I love tending to my garden and koi pond. If you happen to have a pet that’s suspicious of strangers, I’ll take that as a challenge!
