Career Growth Advice from Jennifer Currin Gutridge, Wealth Management Leader | Career Tips for Women in Wealth Management

2B Bolder Podcast – Episode 9
Featuring Jennifer Currin Gutridge, VP of McGee Wealth Management

Episode Title: #9 Career Podcast Featuring Jennifer Currin Gutridge, a Smart, Savvy Financial Planner who Loves Helping Clients Reach Their Dreams.

Host: Mary Killelea
Guest: Jennifer Currin Gutridge



Mary Killelea (Host): Hi there. My name is Mary Killelea. Welcome to the To Be Bolder podcast, providing career insights for the next generation of women in business and tech. To Be Bolder was created out of my love for technology and marketing, my desire to bring together like-minded women, and my hope to be a great role model and source of inspiration for my two girls and other young women like you. Encouraging you guys to show up and to be bolder and to know that anything you guys dream of, it's totally possible. On To Be Bolder, you're going to hear inspiring stories of how successful women, some I know, some I just want to bring to you guys, and they're going to talk about their careers in business and tech, and they're going to tell us their stories about their passion and their journey and their challenges, and we're going to learn some of their advice along the way too. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the conversation.

Today on the show is a woman who is smart and savvy about finances and investing. She's a dedicated, hardworking mom with a generous heart, fun-loving spirit, and an outstanding work ethic. She is a member of the executive team at McGee Wealth Management and a certified financial planner professional. She helps clients build, manage, maintain, and preserve their wealth. Today's guest is Jennifer Currin Gutridge. Jen, it is so great to have you on the show.

Jennifer Currin Gutridge (Guest): Thank you, Mary. Thank you for having me. I'm looking forward to this.

Mary Killelea: Okay. So can you tell us about McGee Wealth Management for those that might not be familiar with your company, and also tell us about your role and responsibilities?

Jennifer Currin Gutridge: Sure. We are located in Portland, and McGee Wealth Management moved to Portland in 1989, founded by Judith McGee. We have four financial advisors, our client facing all our women, a total staff of about 17 people currently at this time. We manage money for business owners, professionals, executives, multi-generational families. We do some nonprofit work as well. But really, we do both comprehensive financial planning and investment management. So we're wanting to make sure people are meeting not only their short-term, but their long-term goals, and then taking a look at their investments, everything from their retirement plans to employer sponsored plans, after tax accounts, education accounts, trust accounts, reviewing all of their insurance, making sure they have proper life insurance for their families, making sure they're adequately insured as far as auto, umbrella policies, disability, health, all those things, looking at their entire insurance picture, looking at their estate planning, making sure they have everything in what we call dying order, meaning they have their will, their powers of attorney, health care directives, trust if needed, looking at their entire estate planning picture and referring them out to attorneys if they need help in those areas. Also looking if they have young children, their education planning, making sure they have proper funding for college, like 529 plans, things of that nature. So really, we're looking at their entire financial life, making sure they have everything in order, so they can reach their long-term goals and live a happy, healthy retirement.

Mary Killelea: That's great. So, your role and responsibility is working with individuals in whatever particular areas that they need. Do you hunt out that business? Do they come to you? How does that work?

Jennifer Currin Gutridge: Well, having been in this business since 1992, initially, I was going out and networking and meeting and greeting and building up a client base. But as time went on, it became more of a referral-based business for me. So, I would say at this point, 90% of the new clients that I take on are referral-based.

Mary Killelea: That's wonderful. Okay, so let's take a step back in time. Can you give us an overview of the career path? I know you've been with McGee a long time, but if there's previous roles or even within the company, how you started that has helped shape you to where you are today?

Jennifer Currin Gutridge: Sure, sure. You know, as a college student, I really had no idea of what career path I really wanted to go on. So, I grew up in Eastern Oregon, outside a small town on a cattle ranch. I grew up and graduated from Heppner High School. And after high school, I wanted to play basketball for a couple of years at North Idaho College in Coeur d'Alene. I blew out both of my knees and decided to hang up my tennis shoes. And I really didn't want to live in a small community. So I decided to move to Portland. And I met a woman by the name of Judith McGee in 1992. Judith was one of the first female certified financial planners in the western United States. And she offered me a job as I was still a college student at the time. So, I worked at McGee Wealth Management and finished up my degree at Portland State.

So initially, I was just filing. And for the first three months, I thought, Oh, my goodness, what am I doing? This is the most boring thing I have ever done in my life. But as time went on, I got more and more interested. I would sit in meetings with Judith as a note taker. You know, we type up notes after our meeting. So clients just review of everything that we've covered in the meetings. And in sitting in each of these cases, every single person is different. Their financial life is different. Their family dynamic is different. The way they save may be different. I really grew a passion for helping people and just the entire financial planning picture. So, as time went on, I moved on to paperwork, transferring account, opening up accounts. Then from that point, I moved to the trading desk and I was on the trading desk for, oh, I want to say about three years. And then after the trading desk, I got all of my licenses and started working with clients, I would say at about the age of 27. And then went on to get my certified financial planner designation. And I did that through the University of Portland. They have a course, it's called certificate in financial planning. And then you can go on once you pass that coursework, you can then go on and sit for the board through the CFP designation.

Mary Killelea: What a great story. I've known you for years and I don't think I've ever heard in that detail. Some of the steps. That's really neat. I'm glad that you shared that. So what does a typical day look like for you?

Jennifer Currin Gutridge: Well, every day is a little bit different. But typically Mondays, for the most part, we have blocked out for our investment committee meetings and our financial planning committee meetings where we really sit down and meet as an entire group, all the advisors, our analysts, our assistants to really take a look at portfolios, meeting with money managers, economists, whoever we can get our hands on and listen to on, you know, what we're doing with the portfolios and it do we need to make any adjustments. And then we meet with the financial planning as a financial planning committee to really talk about all the financial plans we have and what we need to do for the clients. But I would say the bulk of my week is really sitting down and meeting with clients for both financial planning and investment meetings. And really those meetings, it depends on the client, or one to two hours per client to really make sure that we're covering everything extensively in their financial life.

Mary Killelea: You mentioned earlier that kind of working your way up in your career, there were certain certifications that you had to pass. Is there required education, continuing education that you have to meet each year?

Jennifer Currin Gutridge: Yes, absolutely. So Raymond James is our broker-dealer. So Raymond James has so many hours of CE that we have to complete every year. We have an insurance license, so we have so many hours of insurance that we have to complete every two years. And then with this the CFP designation, there are, I believe, 30 hours of continuing education. So I try to be a continuous learner, attending conferences, going to courses, staying up on tax law, because it's continually changing and you really have to stay on top of it.

Mary Killelea: So what are the pros and cons of being in your business?

Jennifer Currin Gutridge: It's very, very rewarding. And I think that is why I really love this business, because it just feels so good when, for example, somebody is able to retire, and they come in and they give you a big hug and thank you for all of the years of helping us reach our dreams of being able to retire. I love to help people make smarter financial decisions in their lives, and really just live their best financial life possible. As far as cons go, when you get into extreme market volatility and people are fearful behavioral finance really plays a big part in just really talking through with the clients here's the long term strategic plan. Let's not make any massive decisions based on market volatility that may be short term.

Mary Killelea: Is there an average age of your clients? Or does your clients range in age?

Jennifer Currin Gutridge: They really range, but I would say for the most part, my clients are from 45 and older, just because that's really at the age where people accumulate really good net worth and really have assets to manage, and really need the financial planning. I'm in my late 40s and I feel like a lot of my clients are around my age. I do work with a lot of Nike employees that are getting closer and closer to retirement. So, working with their entire compensation packages and all of the benefits they have really helping them work through all of that. So I would say for the most part, clients are 45 plus, but a wide range.

Mary Killelea: And when it comes to money management, what are the biggest mistakes that you see women make? And the reason I call out women is obviously, I think this podcast is directed to women. And sometimes I try to hone in on particular things that we can learn and grow from.

Jennifer Currin Gutridge: I think the biggest mistakes that women make are just really not having enough confidence. A lot of women feel that they're not great with finances, or maybe their husband has always paid the bills and taken care of all of that. So they just don't have the confidence and they're maybe just not paying attention to it the way they should. They give up control. And so I've worked with a lot of women several women that have gone through divorce, and they just feel completely overwhelmed because they haven't paid attention to where everything is. And they don't even know where their assets are located. And then they feel badly as they've given up control and they lose confidence. So I would say that's probably the biggest mistake is just not paying close enough attention to your finances.

Mary Killelea: Right. When it comes to your career, and I know right now a lot of it is referral based business, but how important is networking?

Jennifer Currin Gutridge: Oh, it's huge. Especially when you're getting started networking for the most part, even a lot of people when they start in their careers, their first job or one of their jobs is because of who they knew, not because of what they knew, but who they knew. So, you know, word of mouth is always a great thing. And networking with others has been great. Networking, for example, with the Nike piece, once you build up a few clients, the network is huge and they just keep referring. So, networking is always important. And we try to do that, frequently set up networking appointments a few times a month just to make sure that we're staying in touch.

Mary Killelea: So, some of the skills included that I know you have as wealth management, financial planning and securities, how does someone who's interested in a career like yours build up those skills? What are recommended classes or other areas of expertise someone should pursue or hone in on?

Jennifer Currin Gutridge: There’s several ways to go about it, but I do know that the certificate in financial planning is becoming a bigger thing. I want to say there's well over 100 colleges nationwide that offer that. OSU recently brought the certificate in financial planning, Oregon State, online. So a lot of people can work and get that planning designation on a part time basis, which is really nice for those people that need to keep a full time job and keep their income. So, I think that's a great certificate. And then after you pass that, you can sit for your certified financial planner designation. You do have to have a college degree in order, you know, to have the CFP designation. They also have MBAs in financial planning. And there's a college for financial planning that has a lot of these different courses and designations that I think is a great place to start.

Mary Killelea: That's awesome. I love that there's so many resources available. And it keeps growing. So that's great. So, if I was applying for financial planning or money management, and I'm putting together my resume, what are some things that I should highlight on that resume?

Jennifer Currin Gutridge: I just think it's important to take as many finance type courses as you possibly can in college, and try to get some internships that are related to finance, even if it's an investment firm or an insurance firm, something that is finance related. There is a para planner course as well, which isn't as in depth as a CFP designation. A para planner course doesn't take nearly the time, but it gives you all the general of financial planning, but not as in depth. I think becoming a para planner would be great. Getting the CFP designation. And then if you want to be more investment focused, the chartered financial analyst designation is a good one as well, the CSA.

Mary Killelea: What would be key qualities or characteristics of a person that you would look for to be successful in money management?

Jennifer Currin Gutridge: Oh, I think just discipline, ethics, hard work, doing what you say you're going to do. Being a continual learner, having a gross plan, sitting down, have a strategic plan, and then really review that. Am I meeting my goals? And what did we set to accomplish this quarter or year or whatever the time frame may be and really have a strategic plan and review those goals regularly. And I also think it's really important to have a network of peer group. So, for example, I talked to a lot of women financial advisors nationwide. So, if there's something industry specific that's going on or a problem you're having in your own business, really being able to reach out to other people for their guidance and advice as well.

Mary Killelea: That's great. Is this field predominantly male? And I guess if it is, isn't that a great thing in a way because it brings in a huge opportunity for women?

Jennifer Currin Gutridge: Yes, I think there's a huge opportunity for women. And when I joined McGee Wealth Management in 1992, I want to say it was like 10 to 12% of the advisors nationwide were women. And in the statistics that I see today, and even looking at Raymond James specifically, it really has not grown that much. I want to say it's 16 or 17% of financial advisors in the US are women, which I find really disheartening, because I think women make amazing financial planners just because we have that nurturing component to us that I think really helps people succeed. So I guess it's my hope and dream that women will get more and more into financial planning and learn more about it. And I think one of the reasons historically women haven't done this as a career is historically, it was basically eat what you kill, and it was a commission based business and women really needed the stability of income. So they were scared fear, fear that they wouldn't be able to provide for their families. Where now what I find is a lot of these practices have gone to a team approach. And everyone may be on salary with bonuses rather than being such a commission driven business. So my hope is that women will become a larger percentage overall in this industry.

Mary Killelea: That's great insight. And I know I mean, nothing against male advisors out there. But as a woman, I am interested in having a female advisor, there's some level of that relationship of trust. And I don't know if others feel the same way. But it certainly makes sense to me. And I think I look at this being a huge opportunity for women, and not only just in this field, but like all fields where there's a lack of women, that shouldn't be discouraging, that should be encouraging.

Jennifer Currin Gutridge: Yes, I agree. And just feedback from a couple of women clients that I've brought on recently that had male advisors, this is something for men to listen to as well as they didn't feel like they were heard. So for example, one woman in recently, she was telling her advisor, I want socially conscious investments in my portfolio, environmental, government, social, economic, I want to be ESG friendly in my portfolio. And he was still buying stocks in the portfolio and just really not listening to what she needed. So I think women are better listeners and really want to do what the client wants, not what they feel is what's best for the client. They're really working as a team together and listening to what the client really wants.

Mary Killelea: Yeah, that's great. I know you mentioned early on, Judith had brought you on to the company and given you a chance. So, I assume she has been one of the mentors in your life. And maybe you can talk to the mentoring that she's provided or if you have other mentors. And then how you built those relationships.

Jennifer Currin Gutridge: Yeah, absolutely. She's she has been amazing for me, being a 20 year old kid from rural Eastern Oregon and bringing me under her wing and seeing that I had potential to become a really good financial planner, long term was amazing for me. So really, I think the biggest benefit was really just sitting in meetings with her. And she had been in the business for 20 plus years when I met her, and just really sitting in with different cases and learning. And really letting me continue to grow, offering me opportunities for conferences and getting better educated at the entire financial planning practice. But she really helped me in the fact that I could learn and grow with the practice. So, I started in the file room and now I'm one of the owners of the firm that having been with her from 1992, it was just an amazing experience for me, knowing that someone had confidence in me to become a really, really good financial planner.

Mary Killelea: What are some of the biggest challenges that you faced in your career?

Jennifer Currin Gutridge: I think probably work life balance. So having two children and really wanting to do the very best job you can at work, trying to be the very best mother you can and try to go to your kids activities and volunteer at the school and do all those things, but yet still work a 40 to 60 hour week. And then we all tell ourselves, oh, I need to get to the gym more, I need to volunteer more, I need to read more books, I need to do try some new hobbies. And I just think the work life balance piece is really hard. And you just have to tell yourself no more excuses. I have 168 hours in my week, and I need to just really be good at using time blocks to do what I need to do. You really have more time than you think if you really have good time management skills. But I would say the biggest challenge for me is trying to be a really good parent and have a fabulous career at the same time.

Mary Killelea: That's great. Well, I know you and I know you are a great mom. So you've done well. What drives you to be successful?

Jennifer Currin Gutridge: Oh, I think just helping my clients and seeing them reach their goals in their dreams. And even if it's a short term goal, or retirement, just it's really satisfying to know that you're helping people in a positive way.

Mary Killelea: Have you ever had self doubt? And if you did, how do you overcome it?

Jennifer Currin Gutridge: Yeah, I have many times. And I think it's more mental than anything. You just have to put away your fears and your self doubt. And build a good team around you. I think that's the biggest thing for me is that we have a fabulous support staff and we try to have a team that has really good skill sets in many different areas. So we're diverse. But I think a lot of the success I've had is just building a great team around me and knowing that and just putting your fears and your self doubt away and just having a lot of discipline.

Mary Killelea: What would you tell your 20 year old self if you could tell her something?

Jennifer Currin Gutridge: Oh, I would say that a lot of 20 year olds really don't know what they want to do. And that's okay. You just have to continue to learn, you know, 10 courses, try to find what you're passionate about. I think that's really key to success is really getting into a career that you're passionate about. So when you go to work every day, you're not dreading it. I could honestly say I love going to work every day. So, I think you really have to figure out what you enjoy doing and focus on that. And then another thing I would tell myself as a 20 year old is it's never too early to start investing. Just the compounding over time, even if you're putting in $500 a year at age 20, whatever it may be, you just have to really get started sooner than later. Because one day you wake up and you're 45 years old and you're like, wow, I'm so glad that I was disciplined to put money away when I could have been spending it on clothes or shoes or whatever it may be.

Mary Killelea: Good advice. What's your favorite part of your job?

Jennifer Currin Gutridge: The clients. I love people. I love working with people. Everyone's different. I love working with different personalities, people, different skill sets and really helping them solve problems. Every client has a different situation and a different set of issues. And I like being a problem solver.

Mary Killelea: That's a great skill to note that someone should be capable of being a good listener, being a problem solver, as well as, you know, you would typically think, hey, you should be good at math. You need to be skilled at numbers. But it's so much more than that.

Jennifer Currin Gutridge: Absolutely.

Mary Killelea: What's next for you?

Jennifer Currin Gutridge: Well, I'm 48 years old. I have a daughter who is a freshman in college at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo and an eighth grade son, as you know. So, I think I'm going to focus on Cal and my son for the next five years until we get him through high school. And then after that, you know, I really, really want to be more of an impact in the community. So I want to volunteer more, do more nonprofit work, really make a difference in the community as a whole. You know, I see myself working another 15 to 20 years. I love what I do. But once I get my son raised, I really want to do some more volunteerism that makes an impact.

Mary Killelea: That's awesome. All right. Do you have any good books, business books, financial books? That you listen to or that you would recommend someone listen to who's interested in this?

Jennifer Currin Gutridge: Yeah, I do. I have a lot depending on the topic. So, as far as time management goes, there's a book by, I believe her name is Laura Vanderkam, and it's called 168 Hours. You have more time than you think. It's really a pretty quick read and I found it great just to really think about how can I manage my time better? As far as just basic books on finance, there's a book called How Money Works that I think is just really good about just giving people the facts of the entire financial world and how money works. Another good book, I just really feel that in our school systems, elementary ed and such, we just really aren't teaching our kids enough about finances. So, I made my daughter take a course at Wilsonville High School, basic finance course, and she found it really valuable. It just, I feel that kids need more education in this area because as they get onto college and they take on a credit card and they rack up debt on a credit card, not knowing the interest in all of it and how that works. So there's a book called Raising Financially Aware Kids by Sarah Allison and Jonathan Knapp. I think that is a good book. A great book I felt I went to, I think it was the first year Portland did the TEDx Talks and they had a gentleman by the name of Greg Belder and I think the topic of his TEDx Talk was Water the Bamboo and he also has a book called Water the Bamboo Unleashing the Potential of Teams and Individuals. That is a great book, I think. For women that have gone through divorce or have divorce situations going on, a friend of mine, Kathleen Miller up in the Seattle area, she's a CFP and an MBA. She has a book called Fair Share Divorce for Women. That's a really good resource for women that are going through situations like that. So, I mean, I could go on and on about good books depending on the topic.

As far as podcasts go, I think NPR has a podcast called NPR's Marketplace. I think that's what it's called off the top of my head that I think is a really good podcast. I listen to a gentleman by the name of Michael Kitkus. He has great podcasts on financial advisors success, the CFP, they have some really good resources as well on their website. And then there's also a podcast called Inside Strategic Coach, which is Dan Sullivan, who really helps entrepreneurs with their time management and how to become really successful. That's another great podcast that I like.

Mary Killelea: Those are great resources. I've been writing them down and I'm going to definitely pursue a couple of these. So, thank you for that. That's awesome.

Jennifer Currin Gutridge: Sure.

Mary Killelea: That was supposed to be our last question, but I'm going to ask you one more. Your job's got to be stressful. How do you deal with the stress?

Jennifer Currin Gutridge: It is. And when I was younger, I would really, if the markets were down 10% or something, I would take it home and I would lose sleep over all of this. But as time goes on, and I've been through many, many market cycles, I feel that you just have to be able to separate work from personal and go home and enjoy your family and exercise and do something for fun. And today's another day. So don't take it home and leave sleep overnight because that's not good for your health and then you just feel terrible. So I think it shows you just have to learn how to manage it because there are times in extreme volatility you really get fearful and they're stressed and they're calling you and they want your guidance and you want to make sure that you're giving them the proper advice based on their age and their risk tolerance and all of those things. So, it can get really stressful, but you just have to be able to manage it by, you know, separating the two at the end of the day.

Mary Killelea I could ask you so many more questions, but I want to be respectful of your time. Thank you so much for being on the show. It was awesome talking to you. Where can someone learn more about McGee Wealth Management and then also if they wanted to connect with you?

Jennifer Currin Gutridge: They can go to our website, which is McGeeWM.com. So that's a good resource. And phone number at work is 503-597-2222. One other resource that I just thought of is there is a new group of women financial advisors nationwide and Judith McGee and Lynette Dobbins and my firm. They've started Women's Leadership Alliance and the website is womensleedailliance.org. And they have some really good resources on that website as well for women that want to look into the financial planning industry.

Mary Killelea: Awesome. Fantastic. Thank you so much, Jen.

Jennifer Currin Gutridge: You bet. Thank you for having me.

Mary Killelea: Thanks for listening to the episode today. It was really fun chatting with my guests. If you liked our show, please like it and share it with your friends. If you want to learn what we're up to, please go check out our website at 2bbolder.com. That's the number two little bbolder.com.