In our search for a new paraplanner we also got to meet Colleen, who just feels like the right person at the right time to join our adviser team!
We spoke to loads of interesting people when looking for a new paraplanner. This role is so pivotal in our team and process that we really needed someone with experience and who would fit in with our culture - enter Tom. We are really excited to have Tom join us in April at which point we can share a little more about him, his background and why he just clicked with Jacksons.
So back to Colleen! It’s rare you speak with someone and you just know… you know?! Colleen has a great energy which radiates as soon as she walks into a room, not really something you can stick on a job spec but a natural attribute that is needed to work with our clients and team at Jacksons.
When someone sits in front of you and organically talks you through what they want from life and from their working journey and it aligns perfectly with your core values, you know you have someone that is too good to pass whether you are recruiting for a role or not. We are really excited to introduce you to Colleen so here she is in her own words:
A little bit of life context from Colleen
I was born in Pretoria, South Africa. This is where the core of my identity was formed, with an interlude of living in Wisconsin, USA mixed in. After finishing high school, I moved across the country to the most beautiful corner of the world (in my humble opinion), Cape Town.
After completing my degree and postgraduate degree at the University of Stellenbosch, and deciding that I had no real life experience and therefore no business teaching the next generation, I went to college and completed my hairdressing qualification. This led me to working on luxury cruise liners – a crash course in life experience. This is where I met my wonderful future husband, who brought me back to England where we built our life together.
Shortly after settling in Cornwall, I embarked on a career in financial services, as much a surprise to me as those who know me. The journey was not obvious or straightforward but highlighted to me the incredible importance of people being able to understand their finances and to take control of them. I feel passionately about empowering people to take the financial reins of their life and demystifying an unnecessarily complicated industry.
I now have a wonderful little family who fill life with so much flavour and I enjoy filling my time making memories and exploring – smaller expeditions for the moment while the boys are little, but watch this space.
The decision to join Jacksons was an easy one and an absolutely pivotal moment in my life and career. Having found a company which aligns so clearly and directly with both my personal and professional ideals, I have never been more excited to be in this industry, in this career and to help people. It is an incredible privilege to play a part in another person’s journey.
What happens now?
We are nearly four weeks in and we love having Colleen in the hub! The first couple of weeks were all about understanding the culture, listening, and watching how the team interact with each other and with our clients. We have spent some time on systems, talking to some really interesting existing and new clients, giving Colleen a feel for who Jacksons are.
Colleen is now really getting stuck in, picking up some client work and helping out the rest of the team whilst she navigates around our systems (which she is mastering really quickly!). Week after week we sit down and ask her what she feels she needs to learn next! Asking someone what pace they want to learn and engage at is really important to get the most out of those early days. It won’t be long before we get to 6 months and look back to see how Colleen’s journey has evolved. We want it to be nice and chilled and also fun and engaging!
So, can you see why we are pretty pleased with ourselves? Are we happy? We’re not just happy we are excited! Excited for us because we have someone who really understands what we are trying to do for our clients and excited for Colleen who has so much to learn and experience with us.
It’s going to be an epic year, Colleen - strap in and enjoy the ride!
We will keep you up to date (well, Colleen herself will) with her journey and how she is doing. Her bio will be up on the site shortly.