The resiliency and adaptability of our profession can continue only with solid new talent to fill the ranks and grow the business. And though it's great to see people within the profession step up to lead, it's equally satisfying to see more new people join the financial planner ranks and make positive impacts on the profession.
Case in point: Alisa Nguyen, a student at Utah Valley University who is one of those aspiring to do great things in our profession.
Nguyen is the winner of the 2021 New Planner Recruiting Tuition Reimbursement Scholarship. The selection committee — made up of Geoffrey Brown, CEO of NAPFA, Michael Kitces, founder of Kitces.com and XYPN, and myself — was pleased to award her $3,000 toward the cost of her journey to becoming a certified financial planner.
As a divorced single mother of five, Nguyen is no ordinary student, and her path is unconventional. While vaguely aware of "financial planners" whom she and her ex-husband had met over the years, she was always skeptical due to the pushy, sales-based nature that she encountered.
Feeling discouraged, she set out on her own to learn to handle the family's finances, which she has done successfully for the last few decades. When Nguyen got divorced, however, she felt as if she had little choice financially and vocationally. She planned to go back to work and use her English degree to become a teacher, but realized that it wasn't her true passion.
