For most of us, understanding every aspect of our personal finance can be daunting. From investments to retirement to insurance, the decisions can be overwhelming.
Mark Gray knows this well.
For most of his life, he had taken a strong interest in making and saving money. By age nine, he had a paper route, and throughout high school, he flipped burgers to pay for his education. Soon following, he joined the Army Reserve to pay for a degree in management so he could take a ‘real’ job in the corporate world. Thanks to this income, he was able to afford an MBA in Organizational Development.
With a background like this, one can only assume a future in finance would be crystal clear.
But not Mark. It wasn’t until he hired a Financial Advisor to help with his savings where Mark’s path took a turn. Unfortunately for Mark, his advisor lost nearly all of his savings. While devastating, it made him contemplate his next move. Surely, if he had been so vulnerable to poor financial guidance, there must be hundreds of others in the same boat.
With this motivation under his belt, Mark earned a degree in Financial management and began offering financial assistance to others, while working full-time at IBM, then Verizon following corporate restructuring at IBM.
Despite his success with financial management, Mark didn’t see it as an option career-wise. He wasn’t interested in sales, and felt the industry focused more on sales and less on solid investing.
Not until Mark took a workshop at Encore in 2014, did he begin to see the light. The session’s focus was on how to define one’s strengths, and use existing networks to learn about other careers. Led by Encore founder, Bevan Rogel, Mark was completely taken back by Bevan’s passion and expertise. She spoke with such clarity and purpose.
With time, Mark eventually connected the dots.
He too spoke with passion and purpose – specifically when coaching others about their finances. ‘So this is what I should be doing’, he thought. And precisely where you will find him today. Proud owner and chief operator of Mark Gray Financial, a company he founded to help its clients better understand, define and achieve their financial goals.
And unlike other management companies, Mark’s not interested in selling to you, as he is in working with you for the best outcomes. Talk about a win-win.
As you begin…or continue… on your Encore journey, Mark offers these little nuggets of information:
- As you are in the process of ending your first career, start doing information interviews, start learning, or even working/volunteering in your in your encore career.
- If your second career is to become a business owner, become a “Chicken Entrepreneur”, start your business while you are still employed in your first career.
- Hang out with people who are like minded. There is a verse in the Bible that says “iron sharpens iron”. Hang out with people who can encourage you, and are already involved in their encore career. Humble yourself, ask questions…be with people who are super motivated, and even hang with younger people. The younger generation sometimes gets a bad rap, but you can learn from them.
- For some, it may help to have a good support system as you evolve in this journey. For Mark, it was his wife.
To learn more about Mark Gray Financial, visit: www.markgrayfinancial.com