Welcome back to another Diary of a Financial Advisor segment of Don’t Retire… Graduate! . Our special guest is Kirby Ososki, a remarkable individual with 18 years of experience in the financial industry, currently working at BFG—not as a financial advisor, but as a Registered Client Service Associate. Kirby brings a distinct perspective to our industry, one that underscores the critical roles beyond advising that make substantial impacts on client satisfaction and financial success.
In our conversation, Kirby and I discussed her unconventional path into the financial industry and the evolution of her career. She shared how her journey began unexpectedly at a jewelry store and led her to an influential role within the firm. As someone not initially trained as a financial advisor, she offers a fascinating insight into how teamwork and meticulous operational support are essential to the success of financial advisers and, ultimately, to the clients they serve.
Kirby detailed her day-to-day responsibilities, emphasizing the operational execution of opening accounts, transferring funds, and completing trades. Although not directly involved in the advisory process, Kirby showed how significant her role is in delivering client confidence and satisfaction, a testament to the importance of effective communication and operational precision in financial planning. Her passion extends beyond her current role; with aspirations of becoming a Peloton instructor, she embodies the spirit of not retiring but constantly evolving.
5 Key Takeaways:
- Non-Traditional Career Path: Kirby’s entry into the financial industry illustrates how diverse experiences and backgrounds can lead to impactful roles in financial services, beyond the advisory functions.
- The Role of Registered Client Service Associates: Kirby explained the critical operational tasks that support client success, highlighting how precision and efficiency build client trust and satisfaction.
- Importance of Teamwork: Her experience at BFG showcases the power of collaboration in boutique firms, where personalized attention and consistent teamwork enhance service delivery.
- Joy in Supporting Roles: Kirby derives immense satisfaction from her work when she receives positive feedback from both colleagues and clients, manifesting the often-unseen impact of behind-the-scenes efforts.
- Evolving with Purpose: Kirby’s aspirations of becoming a Peloton instructor illustrate a continuous journey of growth and self-discovery, echoing the ethos of never truly retiring, but graduating to new adventures.
Join us as we explore Kirby’s story and learn how different roles within the financial sector contribute to creating a more secure and confident future for clients. As always, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share this episode with anyone embarking on their financial journey!
Eric Brotman [00:00:01]:
This is Eric Brotman, the host of Don’t Retire, Graduate, the podcast that asks you what you wanna be when you grow up so you can graduate into retirement with purpose and with passion. Welcome to our diary of a financial advisor segment, where we interview financial advisors about their professional journeys and their passion for helping others succeed. Today, we have a very special guest. Kirby Ososki is joining us from BFG. She’s relatively new to BFG, but not to our industry. And she’s, in fact, not a financial advisor by training, but has been in this arena now for eighteen years. Kirby, welcome to Don’t Retire, Graduate.
Kirby Ososki [00:00:36]:
Thank you so much for having me, Eric. I’m excited.
Eric Brotman [00:00:39]:
So can you tell us a little bit about what attracted you to this industry? I mean, you know, you’re you’re you’re talking about an industry that that really does recruit in a in a strange way. So did you come into this in a strange way as a lot of others?
Kirby Ososki [00:00:52]:
I did come into this in a strange way. While I did, major in business and communications in college, I truly had no idea what I really wanted to do with that. Fast forward, I graduated, was working at a jewelry store locally, and a broker who had been in the business for quite some time, I sold him some jewelry and, actually, Raven Swarovski crystal purse. And next thing you know, I ended up, interviewing at then Ferris Baker Watts, probably a name that’s familiar to a lot of Baltimore locals, and the rest is history. So I have been in the financial industry about eighteen years now.
Eric Brotman [00:01:30]:
So do you still have a working knowledge of the four c’s?
Kirby Ososki [00:01:34]:
Oh my goodness. No.
Eric Brotman [00:01:36]:
It well, see, isn’t it amazing how it goes right out of your head when you’re not in it? I’m not gonna try and attempt that, but your homework is now to to remember the four c’s in case anyone out there is looking for jewelry. Yeah. So so your journey began at a a larger firm. Mhmm. And now you’re in a a a more of a boutique environment with our team of 20. How has that been different for you? You know, you you had come from a much larger organization. How is this a different animal entirely?
Kirby Ososki [00:02:05]:
It’s a different animal in a really good way. I feel very supported by the team, and our back office is fantastic. I like being able to talk to the same team of people all the time. And at the other, larger clearing firms, you didn’t always have that experience. So it made our jobs a little tougher. The support, the collaboration here is just fantastic. Everybody is a big team.
Eric Brotman [00:02:34]:
So, you know, I I remember the movie. Did you see the movie Office Space?
Kirby Ososki [00:02:38]:
Yes.
Eric Brotman [00:02:38]:
Okay. So do you remember during the interview with the Bobs, he said, so what would you say you do here? I’m gonna ask you that question because it sounds fun. Since you’re not a financial adviser, maybe our audience doesn’t really know what a a registered client service associate is. So tell us a little bit about what what your day looks like and and what your role, is becoming.
Kirby Ososki [00:02:58]:
So my job is dependent on, work or that I receive from clients or work that I receive from the advisers that I support. So when you have a meeting with your financial adviser and he recommends you buy a security or open an account, I am the one carrying out the operational tasks of opening the account, transferring the funds, entering the trade while I am licensed to provide securities advice, I leave that to new professionals. So
Eric Brotman [00:03:30]:
So we’ve talked to a number of folks on this diary segment, some of whom are the CFP practitioners in the firm, some of whom are other folks who aren’t CFPs but are supporting the the the team in different ways. And so you mentioned that you’re the one who sort of makes things happen. So the adviser renders advice or the client requests, counsel, but then it must generate an obscene number of tasks. Like, you must be very, very meticulous and the ultimate multitasker.
Kirby Ososki [00:03:59]:
Yes. I have to admit that’s something that I, have always said about myself and definitely about this position in general. You kind of have to be very detail oriented and realize that there’s always a process. There’s always step by step by step. And that’s kind of what like, I always said, what I’m here for. So the financial advisers have the big, big picture, and then we kind of put it together behind the scenes.
Eric Brotman [00:04:27]:
So one of the things that is easy for financial advisers to do is to understand how our work impacts the clients and their family and the and the people we serve. It’s a little harder in your role sometimes to measure that impact or to feel that impact. How in what ways are you able to to cross that bridge so that you can actually feel some of the joy and satisfaction that that comes out of being an adviser and actually helping a family?
Kirby Ososki [00:04:57]:
It is very rewarding, to know that our clients are satisfied. They’re happy. They feel confident in their move to retirement. So if I receive an email that says, oh, Kirby, thank you for your efficiency or thank you for helping me with this. That just makes me feel excellent. And the advisers also are wonderful about, you know, they’re very grateful that we opened this account and completed this rollover so, you know, quickly, things like that. So it’s something that, like you said, we don’t always receive notice or recognize, but when we do, it’s it’s great.
Eric Brotman [00:05:37]:
So for all, of the BFG clients who happen to be watching this episode, Kirby’s love language is positive affirmation. So if you’re able to send her positive affirmation by email, that will go a long way. It’s you know, some of the joy that comes out of doing what we do is less obvious when you’re handling some of the back office, some of the blocking and tackling. You know, the wide receivers and the quarterback gets all the attention, but the without a good offensive line, you can’t move down the field. So you’re kind of an offensive alignment. I mean, you’re kind of blocking for us to make sure that that happens. So what is your I mean, as a relatively new b f g, you’ve seen that there are a lot of different, not only career paths, but a lot of different ways to grow educationally and academically and professionally. And what’s what’s, what are you dreaming up for the next, you know, the next period of time?
Kirby Ososki [00:06:25]:
That is a great question. I really want to settle in, and, there is a thing around here called the BFG way, and it’s an excellent way. But it is a different way than, you know, I’ve known things before. So really embracing that, learning that, and hopefully just, you know, helping the advisors, helping my teammates, the other client associates who are fantastic. So I think just, ultimately, being a team player and watching and helping BFG grow.
Eric Brotman [00:06:59]:
Well, you have become an incredible asset to the firm. You’re also you’re also rivaling, a few of us who consider ourselves very good at karaoke. So I will throw out to the audience, if you ever get a chance to see Kirby perform, she’s actually quite entertaining at the karaoke microphone. I’m not going to get your karaoke nickname, or what have you. She’s also pushing a number of us on the Peloton too. So, you you know, you you’ve become part of the the group that’s making sure we’re all staying healthy and we’re all smiling and that we’re all having fun and that we’re all doing a good job. So I I am so glad to have you as a a member of this team. I have to ask you though, because, you know, our whole premise of this show is that we never retire.
Eric Brotman [00:07:40]:
We graduate and and we mature and we evolve. Well, the women mature and evolve. The the guys just graduate. We don’t actually mature at all, and we can’t multitask. So that’s why that would be impossible. But what do you wanna be when you grow up?
Kirby Ososki [00:07:54]:
Well, it’s interesting. You mentioned that I, like Peloton because my when I grow up, I wanna be a Peloton instructor.
Eric Brotman [00:08:02]:
Ah, ah. So there’s there’s gonna be a side hustle here? Or
Kirby Ososki [00:08:05]:
is gonna be a side hustle, maybe a main hustle. Yeah.
Eric Brotman [00:08:08]:
Well, a main hustle. Alright. So we’re gonna have a job posting here any minute.
Kirby Ososki [00:08:13]:
When I retire.
Eric Brotman [00:08:13]:
When you graduate, you’re gonna graduate to being a Peloton instructor.
Kirby Ososki [00:08:17]:
Yes.
Eric Brotman [00:08:18]:
I love that. We can start with the group here, and you can start by putting on a clinic for all of us
Kirby Ososki [00:08:24]:
You got it.
Eric Brotman [00:08:24]:
Showing us how to do it. Yeah. Well, Kirby, thank you. Thank you for spending some time. This really, has become an important part of our show. It’s become a part of our corporate culture. It’s become a part of of our messaging. And and being able to have folks who aren’t per se financial advisers talk about what means something to them has has has become special, and I appreciate you taking part.
Kirby Ososki [00:08:47]:
Thank you, Eric. It was a pleasure.
Eric Brotman [00:08:49]:
I’d like to thank all of you for listening and watching today. If you enjoy our show, please subscribe and leave a rating on your favorite podcast platform. Those are priceless to us. Please also share it with your family and friends so they can join you on your journey to financial freedom. If you’d like to send us a topic we might discuss on a future episode of Don’t Retire, Graduate, post it on our Facebook page or tweet us at Rotman Planning. We’ll be back next week with another engaging guest and in two weeks with another entry in our diary of a financial advisor. For now, this is your host, Eric Brotman, reminding you, don’t retire, graduate.
Unnamed Voiceover [00:09:29]:
Securities offered through Kestra investment services, LLC, Kestra IS, member FINRA SIPC, investment advisory services offered through Kestra advisory services LLC. Kestra AS, an affiliate of Kestra IS. Kestra IS or Kestra AS are not affiliated with Brotman Financial or any other entity discussed.
