Name:   Kay Shirley
Official Job Title:   Certified Financial Planner, Investment Advisor
Company:   Financial Development Corporation
Books:   Live Long And Profit: Wealth Building Strategies For Every Stage Of  Your Life
            The Baby Boomer’s Financial Wake Up Call

How long have you been in this position? 
25 years

What was your major? Where did you go to school? 
I went to Mississippi State and majored in Math. And then I got my Doctorate at Georgia State University in Management.

What exactly does your company do? 
We provide financial advice for people at all stages of their life. Our specialty is retirement planning.

What is your role within your company? 
I’m the owner, so I meet with every client to help them determine their objective and their risk tolerance. And then I plan the investment strategy that would help them reach those goals.

What was your first real job? 
I was a management consultant for the aerospace industry.

What are some of your career highlights?  
I am on the Barron’s List of Top Financial Advisors in the country, as well as in the Top Women Advisors and the Top Independent Advisors, the Top 100 Advisors in the country, and the Top Financial Advisors in Georgia.

How did you get where you are today? 
Being able to listen carefully to what our clients are trying to accomplish and then educating them on the ways that they can reach their goals. Also, selecting the best investment managers to help them reach those goals and then servicing their account as they move forward.

What do you attribute your success to? 
When I was doing financial consulting I made a lot of money fast and invested it with a stockbroker who lost a lot of it. I decided at that time that I needed to learn how to do my own investing. I started taking the courses and exams in order to do that, and I got into the business because I had to do it as a self defensive measure to help myself make money. And then I started telling other people about it and found that other people had a lot of bad experience with brokers, too and they wanted me to help them. I told them, “I’ll help you with your money only if you do what I do with mine”.  I practice what I preach.

What advice would you give to those that want to follow in your career footsteps? 
Make sure you have enough money saved to cover your cost of living for the next 3 years when you’re starting your own business so you’re not pressured to make impulsive or bad decisions when managing your clients money. And don’t overextend and hire too many people at one time.

What does it take to own your own business? 
It takes an attitude of never giving up, and always finding a way to do what’s right. So when you’re running your own business and you’re asking for advice from someone you don’t want to say “Tell me what I can do”, you want to say “Tell me how I can do it”.  You want to always be looking for solutions to problems, not defining problems.

Do you have any mentors? How have they helped you? 
Yes, I had a mentor who had been in the business for 25 years before I got into the business (he’s now deceased) but he helped teach me how to select investments. And the best advice I could give someone is to look for a mentor and then truly take their advice.  Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Learn from other people’s mistakes and accomplishments.

How much work is actually providing your service and how much is running your business? 
90% of what I do is providing service to clients and I have an employee who supervises the business. What you want to do is carefully evaluate your own strengths and use your time to do what you do best and hire other people to do the things that you don’t do as well. That’s why I use Blazej Accounting—Cheryl can do it more efficiently and better than I can. My time is best utilized working with my clients.

And how did you find out about Blazej Accounting?
She was referred to me by my CPA.

Do you think other companies like yours would be wise to enlist someone like Blazej to help them with their accounting? Definitely.

Kay was interviewed by: Kate Parham, www.kateparham.com