36. Claire Walsh Makes a Career From Money

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This week I speak to Claire Walsh, the Head of Advice Strategy at Schroders Personal Wealth, one of the largest financial advice firms in the UK.

Claire tells of how her parents' frugal approach to money and their insistence that she take responsibility for her own spending as a teenager, shaped her money beliefs and laid good financial foundations.

Juggling learning with earning, and being prepared to work hard, while also enjoying life, eventually led to a short-lived career as a primary school teacher, before pivoting into the world of finance as a graduate trainee for American Express. 

A chance comment by Claire's now ex-husband that 'You'd be good as a financial adviser ‘eventually led to another career pivot, which involved a big pay cut, lots of studying and breaking through the male dominated financial services sector.  

After a successful and enjoyable ten year career as a professional financial planner, Claire decided to pivot her career again to take a senior leadership position at Schroder Private Wealth, where she is working hard to make a big difference to many more people's lives by sharing her passion, values and knowledge of the power and value of good financial planning with colleagues, customers and the media.

https://www.spw.com/ 

Episode Transcript

Jason Butler 0:08
Hello, and welcome to the Real Money Stories podcast. Real Money Stories is the only UK podcast which shares personal money stories of everyday people, so their insights can help you to be better with money. My name is Jason Butler. And I invite you to join me as I have intimate money conversations with people from all walks of life. Whether you're just starting out on your money, journey, or world on the track, there's bound to be something you can learn from the stories about taking more control of your money, so you worry less and enjoy life more.

Hello, and thanks for joining us on another edition of the real money stories podcast, the podcast where we talk to people from a wide range of backgrounds about their relationship with money and their money journey. I'm your host Jason Butler. And I'm excited This week to be joined by someone I've known for quite some time, who's got some quiet, got quite a lofty position now in the financial services sector. Hello, Claire Walsh.

Claire Walsh 1:10
Hi, Jason. Thanks for having me.

Jason Butler 1:13
Absolutely. Well, before we go into the past in your background and start with your story, perhaps you just want to tell the listeners exactly what you do now.

Claire Walsh 1:24
Sure. So my job title is head of advice strategy at shoulders personal wealth, and shortest personal wealth is a new joint venture between Lloyds Banking Group and their historic Wealth Management arm and shoulders asset manager, and it came into the company came into being last year. And my role is to look at the overall advice process and what we're delivering to clients to try and make that better and particularly with a sort of slant of improving customer experience and advice. experience?

Jason Butler 2:02
Well, I mean, that's great. And one thing I can say about you, I know you're always looking for to do better and the best of approach and the best outcome. So that's, I think, what all the big institutions need, but it's a very big train set you're playing with. So we lost us. You've been doing financial planning since the year, we're pleased to see someone like you in that position. So good luck with that. But look, thank you. That's all right. So let's go back to now you've got a slight accent there, which might give away where in the country you grew up, so why don't you take us back to little Claire.

Claire Walsh 2:31
Okay, so um, so I grew up on the west coast of Scotland and Highlands fairly doodle. My village had a population of like 100 people and my, my trip to secondary school was an hour and a half each way on a bus. And just to sort of emphasize quite how rude all this was, and you know, the neatest supermarket was also over an hour's drive away. And then yeah, so growing up really real simple life. Everybody knew each other. And you know, even if you How much money you can spend on much. And I recently called for another interview I was talking about and my first job was age 13. I was working in a little cafe there and I was when the owner told me that she want me to do 20 hours a week during the summer holidays and I was on three pounds an hour and my eyes lit up and she correctly guessed that I'd suddenly worked so I was going to get 60 pounds a week which at the time felt like an absolute fortune but a bit yeah before there's been spent shopping and things It was very little to actually spend on you have to sort of save up your money for weeks before a trip to you know the big city and a chance to actually blow your money so yeah, it was quite a quite different experience to live in town so

Jason Butler 3:45
so quite a quite a basic existence. So tell us about the the family was a big family, small family and what was the situation where did your mum and dad work on the land or do what was their situation at home?

Claire Walsh 3:56
I love it. You've got a very romantic idea. You haven't you matching us all let's crofters how So yes, so yeah, so mom, dad and little sister and my dad had been quite an unusual job and working for an institution called radical Decker, who were provided the kind of infrastructure that guided shipping. I think they do a number of different things, but sort of big mass or all over the world which guide by shipping navigation points. They used to be manned. And like many sort of industry, it's obviously gone much more and computerized in recent years. So that's what my dad did. And that's why we were in this sort of strange more place. And but yes, he got me to London when I was when I was a teenager and looked for other jobs and and that sauce relocates to Aberdeen. Sure. So yeah, it was a bit of a bit of a change at 16 moving from this tiny, tiny place over to other side of the country and suddenly discovering a bit of a bigger, wider world and My my sort of childhood best friend and her parents also moved around same sort of time and she ends up living in London and I went down to visit her in London and I definitely got struck by the sort of very steady lights of the city and I desperately wanted to try and move to London school to university and and perhaps I say perhaps sadly but I think it was probably the right thing for me I am I also am somehow got Brighton into my head that Brighton might be a good place to go. And I went down to I had interviews at universities in London and also at Sussex University and I think the sort of the, I'm going to see what would I say the glamour of Brighton and the kind of the fun aspects of it. He vieja Yeah, the Bohemian world I went down to visit Sussex and I stayed in this hostel and and it was full of all sorts of colorful, wonderful characters and am I You know, I saw Chunky Monkey do does this amazing chock full of chocolate creations and there was a vegetarian pop on the next tree. And I thought, Oh, I, you know, it seemed a world away from Scotland and I think and also a lot cheaper than London. So that was, you know, sort of the main reason why I ended up going and Grayson, and

Jason Butler 6:20
before we go on any further, I just want to go back a bit. I'm not letting you off the hook that easy, because before you left the Highlands, what was your perception about money and the role of money? And then did you ever talk about it at home? Or did you have a little piggy bank? What were your early memories of, you know, learning about money.

Claire Walsh 6:39
My early memories would be that and so my dad getting made redundant when I was 12. Money was really tight. So, so he effectively didn't really have a job for, I think, at least a couple of years. And he then sort of got a job over in that Reading and keep sort of commuted on on a weekly basis. So it's sort of stay there during the week and come back at weekends, it was a few years back. And I do think these sort of these sort of things do color your perception of things. And yeah, I remember I very much felt like and I think the overriding sense I would have is that money is power, and that without it, you're powerless and having it is important, and that sort of sense of security, that the things that money affords you and provides you which are choice and flexibility. And I have a thought you had to prompt me to do good ownership is something I've thought of often in dealing when I was dealing with clients that you would get finding out I always asked them to tell me tell me about your your background and your experiences with money and, and, you know, maybe things have happened to you. I didn't really push them too much. I let them you know, discuss whatever it was, but you know, surprising numbers of people would go back to childhood and see see things about you know, you know, struggle You know, the parent struggling to put food on the table and that, and that sense of security, that sense of lack of security then really could potentially, you take that with you into adulthood and even when you are very comfortable knowing knowing how and how easily that can that can be taken away can really affect your your opinions and perhaps comparison. I'm not sure that is the impact it had on me through I think, and I think it made me very determined to get on and get off, make my own money and be secure. But equally, I think my parents were very frugal, and I think and they were frugal before my dad lost his job. And they were equally frugal afterwards. And I think, too frugal, and I think they didn't if anything, I think they'd probably be a bit of resentment now that they didn't, and they were, they were maybe much more comfortable than they let on. And I think we could have enjoyed life a bit more and I'm very much about understanding what money understanding what You've got making the most of it, because ultimately can't take it with you with my view. And yeah,

some of the ways colored my own opinions.

Jason Butler 9:08
So there's an interesting association of money with power and control, but also that there's no point in storing it to know you know, for the forever and you've got to actually enjoy some life as well. So there's there seems to tension there. I would have thought in your belief system, as we all do, right? We all have tensions and paradoxes and things that don't we're stuck together so so that's interesting because I, I know that you've, you, you then move to Aberdeen tell us about those years Aberdeen before you went to uni. How did you navigate money down you? You had a Do you have a job? Did you have your own budget? And

Claire Walsh 9:41
yeah, I did. Well, one thing that I persuaded my parents to do for quite an early age, which I also encourage other people to do is I started getting paid me quite decent pocket money from age about 12 and was responsible for all my own spending. So apart from food and shelter, I had to buy two toiletries, clothes, activities, hobbies, anything like that. Really,

Jason Butler 10:05
you get an allowance, essentially. And it wasn't really pocket when it was an allowance that you had to make what you spent it on.

Claire Walsh 10:11
Yeah. So if I wanted to go on a school trip, I paid for that, or, you know, maybe didn't buy the shoes I wanted or whatever it was, and supplemented that through two part time jobs. And by the time I was Yeah, by the time I was 16, I was working part time and, and quite a bit more. And I left school at 17. And then yeah, so hats had to fit. Well, I had a full time job and I kept my part time which thing job. And, I mean, I felt like in Peter Martin's quite bad life. It's just the truth. My mom charged me 200 quid a month rain when I was 17 which, which was, I would say slightly more than going rate for rutile danger and it was actually cheaper for me to move out and get flattened city center. Do you?

Jason Butler 11:05
Clear Do you think that perhaps that was the intention?

Claire Walsh 11:09
And sort of slightly I think coming back to my parents through jealousy and being able to my mom's thinking, well, if you have Aaron and you you're contributing and you know

Jason Butler 11:19
it was a means tested contribution.

Claire Walsh 11:22
I don't I don't think she you know, she didn't do any benchmarking.

And what I could I guess I think she was slightly surprised when I said I was moving home so cool. How can you afford that? And I was like, Well, you know, the rain The rain is only 200 quid but I'm getting to have a flat shape and the 60 cents or so you know, kind of worked it was better.

Jason Butler 11:41
value for money can be his thing. Look back on that your mom and dad sounds like one they did a great job in teaching you the value of money and to the independence of actually working out where your money should go. That sounds to me like the probably the best education you could have ever had.

Claire Walsh 11:55
Yes, quite right. I think I definitely I don't Yes. I think being able to Learn about it firsthand and make your own decisions and very empowering. And yeah, so I don't dispute that. Yes. It's stood me in good stead.

Jason Butler 12:11
Yes. Even a bit of time is a bit hard. Yeah. So, okay, so you went on? I was 1819 did you go straight to uni? Or did you do any traveling or what happened there?

Claire Walsh 12:20
And so I had them. I had a, you know, and I was living in Aberdeen city center, and I worked for an oil company, doing sort of initially sort of training and sort of administration and sort of training department. And I had an absolute ball I am, I was Yes. 1718 and living away from home. And again, I do realize time to change for young people today. I was able to on a entry level job earn enough money to be living in quite nice. City Center flatshare and having money to go out and have fun. And yeah, it was, yeah, it was really, really fun, fun little time before I went to uni and I am I almost didn't go to uni. So because I am, I was enjoying the job quite a lot. And I did wonder whether whether it was the right thing to do. And there was some other people in my in colleagues who who weren't graduates and that was, you know, it didn't seem that big of a disparity or that much of a leap to get to what they were doing. And I did worry about the financial side of supporting myself through university years. And it was a really big way up about whether to go or not. And when I initially arrived at university I am I definitely thought I'd made the wrong decision for the first few months I was really and all of so I did sell fun through university and I'd saved up a bit of money and then got a part time job when I got to uni but it's, again, perhaps my choice of university as well. I think if I'd gone to summit in Scotland, it might have been a bit different, but I went to Sussex University, which is 50%, then 50% of the intake was from private skills. And most people's parents were, you know, they just had an open checkbook in terms of what they spent. And it was quite an I couldn't keep up. And I remember finding the initial few months quite difficult in terms of just having to go, I'm just not going to go off campus because I can't, you know, a lot of my friends are so being out five times a week and going out partying all the time, and I couldn't, I couldn't do it. And I find it quite hard to sort of not be having as much fun as everybody else. And but again, I do think, you know, a lot of, you know, I've still got many friends from university now. And a lot of them said that they found me so different to everybody else, and that they were really impressed that I was self funding and put myself through it. And yes, I do feel a lot of sense of pride for being able to do that and stick with it.

Jason Butler 14:52
So what did you learn about yourself in that because that that thing, being a young person and peer comparison and not being able to run with a rich crowd and everyone's got more than you and all That stuff. I mean, that would have had a big impact on you how what did you learn about yourself from that?

Claire Walsh 15:08
I don't know. I don't try to learn learning introspectively quite, but I think I actually, and again, it might be maybe the course I studied at the University I went to I didn't actually find undergrad, that difficult. And I think I hadn't had a part time quite demanding part time job, I'd have been quite bored. So I think I like the mixture of studying and working alongside one another. And it put me in much better long term, long term standing for getting a better career at the end of it as well. That, you know, I did the history of art as an undergraduate and I do love, love the subject matter and I find it very interesting, but I don't think it's necessarily it wasn't all consuming enough for me. So that kind of variety of working combining it would work as well. I was sort of Secretary in my Acting Assistant for the university and in the kind of the sort of commercialization part of university, so making links with external businesses and trying to commercialize academia, which was incredibly interesting. And yeah, again sort of taught me lots of things about, you know, basics about business and work. And that then helped me to go on and get further jobs in the future.

Jason Butler 16:25
Hmm. So when you left uni, was there a big financial hole? I mean, obviously, I know the fundings changed over the years but what do you come out with a sort of a fair bit of debt owed or Wish you sort of relatively intact?

Claire Walsh 16:41
Well, well, I only took my fit only to the student loan and a few credit cards. But yes, it wasn't. And I I think it's right is that students pay fees. I think that you repair some you personally benefit from that education. And I think that it's almost like backing yourself, you get into a bit of debt, but that's something that you appear for your lifetime. And I felt comfortable enough with that. And, and I, yeah, and then I and I had credit card debt as well, which, again, I sometimes think and in our sort of line of work, a lot of people can be sort of exposing the dog get into debt kind of thing, and it's bad, but I think it is about being able to manage that. And I realize not everybody has that in aptitude either. So it does, does take some caution, but I think I'm, I feel pleased that I was able to borrow in order to fund my education, which I found incredibly valuable. And I was ready, and yes, I was myself quite frugal in the couple of years beyond graduating and I made sure it paid off. And then

yeah, and yeah, it was a big moment. I think one said repeat on my debt as well. I mean,

Jason Butler 18:00
what's your attitude? What was your attitude at that stage today? Did you think all you know, I need to get shot of this? Or did you think oh, well, it's just an investment in education, or it's all sorted out at some stage until you have a proper plan. As soon as you left, you need to get clear on

Claire Walsh 18:11
credit cards. Yeah, I wrote it up on all present credit cards. And so it was just that I wanted to clean it off before the interest kicked in, which was about I don't know, 24 months later or something. So that was my, but I didn't have any particular desire to get rid of my student loan. I know the student loan systems changed since it came out and it's now a bit hot. I think that's exploitative that the government has increased and they sold off but

Jason Butler 18:37
that's one side I mean, student loans just a graduate text let's just put that so whether it's what scheme it is, but that's just it's not like America or India where you really got a proper loan but but it's one side. But you you had a plan to get rid of this credit card debt even at zero percent before the interest kicked in. Because you just knew that you had to do that. Did you? Did you sit you down or did you just work that out yourself?

Claire Walsh 18:56
No, I work tired myself. And I think Yeah, so Reflecting on the career they end up pursuing as a financial planner, I also from day one, you know to coat all my coat my, you know, banks give students free overdrafts so I This was in the days when I think you could get something like four to 5% on an either fixed term today one I withdrew my overdraft to the max and then stuck it all in and I get higher interest that just seemed like a no brainer

Unknown Speaker 19:25
arbitrage there I see.

Claire Walsh 19:27
Yeah, but but nobody told me to do that. I know sort of Martin Lewis on his on his sort of blog so it says tricks like this but obviously caution and all this sort of stuff. And But yeah, I did things like that. As I said, I was all present credit cards, you know, Maximo move around, never pay any interest. And I guess one of the things that struck me when I realized about financial planning and got into this career was that and I guess I'd been doing a lot of financial planning for myself. I didn't realize other people didn't do this. I didn't realize other people weren't doing it. Cuz it's a you know, it's a nation we don't really talk about money and particularly people don't discuss their financial habits so I didn't realize that I had a sort of unique interest in skill set in this area. I thought everyone was doing it, but apparently not.

Jason Butler 20:13
And that thing about talking about money is why we have this show, right? Because just talking about money i get i get people were on the road saying to me, honestly, interesting story. Once we share the stories, then we realize we're not alone, right? Some people are better than certain things. Okay, so So you were on this program? What did you do when you lift up them?

Claire Walsh 20:30
I offer

Jason Butler 20:31
apart from pay the credit card back.

Claire Walsh 20:34
Wow. Like I'm like lots of young graduates is quite hard to find your path initially. So I went through and I was a recruitment consultant for about six months, which I hated. I then got a job back at the university as a sort of departmental coordinator so and senior management kind of thing there. I then went on and trained as a primary teacher. So I thought I Primary teaching was something I imagined I would do in later life. But struggling to get what I considered a decent career job. I thought, well, why am I waiting? Maybe I should do it now. So I went and did the PGC and trained to be a primary teacher. And that year was amazing. And in many ways, it was very challenging. It was a really good personal education on so many different fronts, but I didn't feel able to do the job. I think it's not unlike many jobs, but I think you can do it, even if you're not that into it. I think you've got to be really, really into it to do it. And I think hats off to people who do teach, I think it's incredibly difficult. I think there's bits of the job. There are there's bits of the profession that I really like, which again, I think comes out in the sort of move into financial planning and helping to educate people about things but I think trying to manage it and washroom affected unruly kids is was not for me I decided so I so I didn't do that and then then from there I got a job with American Express on their graduate scheme which I realized was much more much more my bag that was much more what I wanted to do was get into big corporate financial services nice thief

well paid and compared to running a classroom of kids incredibly easy.

Jason Butler 22:28
What did you do what was that job all about?

Claire Walsh 22:32
So American Express have their and international sort of utopian headquarters based in Brighton and it's predominantly a call center. So the sort of jobs I was doing there was sort of a team leader in a call center and project management, sort of trouble I was once in charge of business continuity plan, the call center, and sort of all sorts of things like that that make em mC mC call centers work by I think the thing I particularly so that American Express four and a half years, and I think the main thing, met some of the main things I took from my time there work and there's a focus on customer service, which is something that they're sort of famous for and told me about quite a lot. And that was really embedded which whatever your job was so in, in a sort of ad I focused on was project management. And I was it's funny, I suppose people here to have medical expenses, I think that the cards and they do think that customer service but and my job for the last two years was looking at the actual physical card production and I dealt with the outsource vendor who made the cards and all the sort of dealing with different parts of amyx, who in a sort of technologies and operations and different things and making that work, but it was all about that kind of giving the customer the absolute best. So you're learning you are learning lots of skills here. So here's an interesting thing you pivoted from the primary school teacher and pretty quickly went into marriage especially seems like you did lots of everything and then thing to learn right to make yourself valuable.

Jason Butler 24:02
Yeah. So what was your financial situation? Like then were you saving hard? Had you bought a place where you you know what was going on personally then?

Claire Walsh 24:12
Well, I think yes, what was going on personally at that point? Yes, I managed to pay off my credit card debt started doing the primary teaching to another student loan to do that. But but was quite that was that was okay. And I had them I think, I think there must have been some sort of grant or something at that time for primary teachers as well. So I managed that year. And then starting at American Express, I was suddenly on five grand more than I would have been on as a as a as a newly qualified primary teacher. And that was really quite a reasonable salary. And I met my ex husband by this point, so and we were living together a little flat, which we rented. And yeah, I remember it being being pretty okay. I think once I paid off my credit card, it was like life was pretty okay. And We

I started so I was going to say coming on to how I started to get into this sort of world was

2008 hit and obviously everything plummeted. And my manager at the time American Express who I'm still friends with now and with a with a bit of a self investor, and he, you know, he asked me he was one of these people isn't passionate about it, there's always talking about it, and probably not really appropriate to tell you tell you them today reports to try and encourage them to invest their money, but he was saying he was really passionate and he said to me, and I remember I remember him saying, asking me about it. And I said, I don't I don't have enough money to do something like that. And he said, Oh, how much did I have in cash savings? And I remember told him 3000 pounds, so that must be how much I had at that point in time. And he said, Oh, he said, you could open an account with them Hargreaves Lansdown for 50 quid a month. He's like, you know what's stopping you and, and to sort of say, Don't You know, the bottom of the market is a buying opportunity. And I thought Oh, you know what? Maybe it's good idea. So I am signed up to Hargreaves Lansdown and started putting money in and obviously, putting money in at the bottom of the market. Everything went up. And as a as many newbie and novice investors, when when things go up, you think you're a good asset, don't you

Jason Butler 26:21
think you steal? Right? You think you're clever?

Claire Walsh 26:22
Yeah, yeah, I take that I'm doing that. So we're very quickly it went from 50 quid a month. So three grand was on there, and I've got my husband stick his money in as well. And I got very excited about this really quite quickly. And, and one day, I was sitting at the computer and I am I was trying to educate my ex husband about our, our finances, and I sort of turned around, and he was saying he's sort of messing bonus for me. And I was like, What are you doing? I was like, this is this is really important. And he said, Oh, it's boring. It's boring. And I and I sort of said no, but this is this summary is our future. And he said always said you you've got all under control. I don't need to, I don't need to pay attention to it. And and I was really frustrated. But then he said, he said, Oh, he said you should. You should be a financial advisor. You'd be great at that. He says, You love all this. And one of one of his core school friends was a financial advisor who's who was very successful. And yes, my ex was first said, Oh, you should do what do what Mike does, you'd agree that you might make loads of money. And so I was initially a bit like, sort of nonplussed, but I am, I did end up speaking to her and speaking to Mike, and having a bit of chat about it. And this, I was getting increasingly frustrated working at American Express, I kind of there was lots of things I liked about the company, but I wasn't, I wasn't really sure that I saw what my clear path was going to be. And I sort of felt a bit like a sort of tiny fish in this massive pond and sort of, you know, that sort of throws a big corporate culture. And so the kind of parallel of that if somebody meets Sort of chatting to Mike who ran his own company worked for himself. And I thought that's been pretty attractive. So I am for six, six months, I spent half a day a week shadowing Mike. And Mike's pa was going on holiday for three weeks to New Zealand. So we decided that I would take time off from omics and sort of do her job for three weeks to serve as a sort of real taste of Moses for me, because by this point, I was earning quite good money. Although it wasn't a clear career path, I thought I could, I could probably quite easily stay there. And so I wanted to be sure before I made the sort of meat potentially to plunge into something different. And at the same time, this was just at the point that the audio exams were coming out. So I took out a one to see if I could crack the exam system. And and I thought, yeah, I can do this. And I think I'm trying to think which bits a bit, particularly. I think it was the client interaction and it was that being able to have input in sort of, in contrast to my day job amyx where, you know, I could be spending months working on something. And then that might never come to fruition, you know, projects would be started and then stopped and, and things like this, this, the thing that I seem to that particularly appealed to me, I think about financial advice was being able to have a real impact and be able to see see that impact and quite, quite real time. And I felt that the, the actual, what you were doing financial planning, to me seemed quite common sensical, like coming back to my sort of having an aptitude and the skill for it. It seemed fairly straightforward and common sensical, and I didn't think I would struggle with that. And that being able to communicate that to others and take them on that journey then sort of plead to the sort of my, my aspiration of being a teacher, I suppose. So I kind of felt like I'd find a job which brought lots of different strands together.

Jason Butler 29:57
That is fascinating that you did this one day, we shared for six months, and then you do two or three weeks in the office to support the colleagues who've gone away. So you do again, you sort of didn't rush straight into it, you didn't realize you took the time. And you realize, actually, I could do this. So then what happened, then you've got to do mentally Get yourself a Why did you take more exams? Or did you go and work for a firm? or How did it work?

Claire Walsh 30:16
So to end and, and to be honest, the timeframe was fairly much set by me trying to kind of, as I said, and also on the one hand, I felt frustrated, I didn't I didn't want to jump jump too quickly into something, you know. But But as I got became more happy with it, and so Mike offered to introduce me to somebody that many people will know in cook the benchmark. So Mike was good friends with Ian and

Jason Butler 30:45
a lot of our listeners aren't, aren't just explained. Ian cook is an entrepreneur who created an amazing business that got bought by Schroeder's That's right, isn't it? So? Yes, yes. Anyway, very, very smart guy. Yeah. Come on. Tell him.

Claire Walsh 30:58
Yes. So So Mike's good friends would be an offer to introduce me to Ian and this was back in 2010. At which point and so Ian had his own advisory firm. He also had a network best practice and headquartered in Horsham, and went up met Ian in Horsham, and he, he immediately, you know, on Twitter had a bit of a chit chat and my kid trusted his good friend Mike told me that obviously, Ian offered to take me on as a trainee advisor and then he was keen to grow his company and thought I could be a great addition to that. And and even red carpet impatient on me, I still remember that frosty thing and he did seem to be full of ideas and energy and dynamism. And it seems like a very exciting place to potentially be. So I was I was very into very interested so I went away from that and then at the same time, and this is where like, it's quite quite funny. Sometimes. I was having a bit of physio on my back and my physio, just those three injuries that life happens. And so I was mentioning to her that I was thinking of Venus. And she said, Oh my, my my Secretary's husband's a financial advisor, dude on runs a farm you should speak. I think they're looking for somebody. So that's been laid within a couple of days that led to another meeting another farm locally who saw me ready. So I ended up having a meeting now, they sold me quite different vision, and it was fairly much, you know, come on board. And, you know, we'll, you'll be, you'll be the PA front desk for a year, and you'll be opening the course and you'll be doing all of these things and, and then, and it was an adventure in sort of, you know, three to four years time Well, we'll get you advising customers for it. As Ian Cook's vision was, seemed to be I'd be getting to do all sorts of different things in the business and I'd, I'd be out meeting customers within a few weeks and it was it was all very fast paced, and within a year beyond six figures, and it sounded very exciting, and I'll be honest, so I think quintic was saying a pinch of salt. And I thought, I'm not sure. But where does this sort of this demo sleepy farm in there in Brighton Hall. And I just it wasn't enough of a draw for me and it also made me and I I sort of research the market and thought why I thought I was wire and as a trainee coming into this level and they both both were happy to pay that. But in the end, I thought Ian Cook's vision seems a bit more exciting so I am so I joined I joined best practice as the training advisor and listening

Jason Butler 33:30
point there is there's not necessarily a famous good or bad is is finding the right fit the right home for you at that stage in your your working career. Right. Absolutely. Yeah. Very good point. Okay, so then you went to work for best practice and you started as a trainee advisor and and you obviously got a salary there. And so what's the first few years like for you sort of earning spending? Were you spending a lot of money or you had you bought a place was it What would you do you really got the investing bug or did you just sort of focused entirely on just We're exams and qualifying.

Claire Walsh 34:03
And so it was like I have to my salary from being American Express. And obviously none of the kind of big corporate corporate parents either. And I was no comedian by Trina forschner, vd, and it quickly and I think doing that alongside also studying in my own time, it was quite tough. And I spent the first few months wondering, I'd made a terrible mistake, particularly when I'd meet up with friends from amyx who were, you know, spending money in a bit like going back to that being uni or your friends got more money and suddenly, I've gone back to being on a being on a pittance. And it was quite, it was quite tough for a few months. And I say a few months. I mean, I think that's you know, I alluded to Ian sort of sold me the suspicion and I didn't think it would happen as quickly as that and it and it didn't you know it was it was a year before I was about a year before I qualified and was boxing clients which I think now many people would see is quite fast paced. Actually. But

I didn't stay with

best practice for that long so I think there was an again as people will know so there was a lot of change happening there in in had this idea about building a platform which all sounded very jazzy nobody was sure what that was and there was there was lots of change afoot and I I didn't feel like I was nobody was kind of obviously going to take me under their wing and train me up there. And I was sort of concerned that I was just going to be sort of be basically a pedophile if I see so I am with them by mutual consent with D and I sort of looked around for someone else and I went to a much smaller farm to a sort of a one man outfit in which was much nearer to home and and so again sort of cut my expand the show didn't was able to cycle to work and and went and the small farm which Again offered to match the salary I've been on but within a few months and he obviously didn't do his own numbers that well, within a few months decided he couldn't afford me and said then we've got to go self employed. So it was sort of pushed rather than jump. And within I basically qualified and had started advising people straightaway.

Jason Butler 36:22
That's a big change going from employing you you're working with big corporate, you have to salary then you move firms and now you've got to go self employed and, and no guarantee you're gonna get any money.

Claire Walsh 36:31
No, so it took me four months before I earned any money. So

Jason Butler 36:34
did you have savings to fall back on? Did you have a proper master in order to just wing it?

Claire Walsh 36:38
I had a husband.

So, um, so we've done it, we, you know, I say we've done our numbers. I mean, so you know, I guess it was it was a banking on the long term without necessarily knowing exactly what that looked like. Just a bit of

Jason Butler 36:53
life really, and your future military. Okay, cool.

Claire Walsh 36:56
Yeah. Yeah. And I think when when the chapter was was Working with said, you know, yeah, it was, you know gonna end your salary at this point. I think he gave me about two months notice and said, Oh, you know, then into this month you're going to your salaries and then you're gonna have to start earning your money. And I think I found it very, the thought of it was more stressful than when it actually happens. So I remember having a few sleepless nights thinking about it, but then when when it actually kicked in. It was just you know, I was it was like, Okay, let's work. Let's make this work. And yes, I'm sure we did. I don't actually remember but I did have a good handle on my finances. I'm sure we did have enough savings.

Jason Butler 37:37
Yeah, but it was a fear of changing as opposed to the actual moving over actually, once you've done it, you kind of adjusted Right.

Claire Walsh 37:44
Exactly. And I'm sure I can't remember I'm sure there was some sort of back the back of the mind thing of you know, give it six months and if it doesn't work, then I'm gonna have to go and get another job doing something else but but I think I knew really I knew I could do this, I think Right from that time when I sort of shattered my console how it worked, I thought, I know I can do this. And I know I can be really good at it. And I really do believe sometimes it is just about backing yourself. And the more I did it the best that I got as well that

Jason Butler 38:16
I can and clear to what extent did the need to actually have to earn money? In other words, you had to be successful? Or rather, ideally, you needed to be successful as a little bit of tension on you. To what extent did that guy have an IQ to sort of, if I can put it in these terms, pull your finger and really get cracking, rather than wait forever? And take your time and just just get move on detected? To give you an impetus?

Claire Walsh 38:36
Oh, absolutely. I mean, I would say one of them. Or one of the main things I would say looking back on it is I did I did all sorts of weird and wonderful things to try and to try and drive business which in hindsight, you know, it's easy to see in hindsight, what works and what doesn't work. But when you're starting out, you don't really know do you. I mean, I was going to every net I was going to vote for five business networking. Events a week.

I mean, I don't know how I did I walk into rooms filled with people time and time again and introducing myself. It was just so like, I wasn't nervous about it, but now, like, bring me out in hives. I think I've had to do that that often.

Jason Butler 39:16
And to what extent did being a woman gives you an advantage because, you know, financial services hitherto particularly direct advice, you know, the professional side of the market, that's that's tended to have more men in it than women. To what extent was an advantage for you? And did you sort of use that to your advantage? Or is it just you never even thought about it?

Claire Walsh 39:35
And I I I'll be honest, I'm not sure how much of it to what extent it is that much of an advance to treaty I think I'm I would say you stand out, you know, people remember you more, and I that most of the business links I made were with other women. So my so in terms of I'm sorry, I did a lot of business networking. Some of it was a bit fruitless but um, but made the best thing I got a business networking was making connections with local accountants and solicitors and and the ones who I made the best relationships with were other women. And I wouldn't say I have a preference for doing business with women particularly, but perhaps it is the sense that we might have gravitated towards one another. And that you you find, I think you do, making business relationships as you work more easily with people who you like and trust. And so I think to the extent that probably played to my favor, I also think just being the the really wasn't, there really wasn't I don't think there was any female financial advisors in the hall of Brighton and Hove when I started. And I think, you know, that stereotype of perhaps, you know, the older divorcee or the widow who, who doesn't necessarily who would like to deal with a woman and you know, I I was there that potentially cornered that And something like 55% of my clients were women, which I got my colleagues to look at their client books and tell me that and it was less than 10% for them. So whether you could see I maybe missed out on certain men who would rather deal with a man or I got people who otherwise wouldn't

Jason Butler 41:18
so interesting. So you went self employed and you gradually built up sort of client list Did you and and did it all go in a straight line? Or did you do what did you have some false starts as you were building your career and building your book of clients or, you know, what was just a high or a low like there anything?

Claire Walsh 41:34
And I think that I remember another advisor telling me when I was starting at St. I was saying I was conserving money. So always, you know, it's really tough. And he said, he didn't say it was like breeding rabbits. He said at the beginning, he said, all you've got is one rabbit. So you're, it's difficult, he said, but you know, once you get started, it's exponential. And I definitely found that, you know, in the light later, years ago, I was turning clients away, and I could have easily hired people built something quite successful I think myself and but I think as I said I did believe in myself I think those are the year or I think particularly that first year of just working really really hard and knocking on lots of doors and and finding it difficult but I I did I did believe that we just take time I think on the other hand the highs I think when I think the referrals when people particularly clients when you have clients who were that glad we're so pleased with your work that they felt comfortable referring their loved ones are their friends and and when I am when I left us to join shoulders I am I believe in party for local business contacts and for clients and I had so many nice and so many cards and flowers and from clients who were, you know, not just like and and Yeah, not too sad that I was leaving, but they were like, genuinely really grateful for what I done for them. probably felt cool, obviously show me this love for them. I know. I know. But yeah, I think that's a real high actually knowing how much impact you've had on someone.

Jason Butler 43:16
And then so what sort of a motivator to decide to sort of want to move to change careers again, after all those years to sort of work for a big corporate again, almost come full circle, really, but a much higher level, right.

Claire Walsh 43:27
Yeah, so I think it was sometimes, and, you know, I could be doing something really exciting. And I do enjoy the media work. And I think there was one particular day that I remember where I was on BBC News. commenting about something to do with them, probably pensions. Then I was I went to a meeting and I think it was their money marketing and I was on a judging panel reviewing entries for that event. by M for their provider category and and then the next day I was sat in my office and compliance were and I had a list of compliance things I've been pulled off on because this box wasn't taped or that wasn't completed, right? Or this wasn't done. And, and I just thought this isn't about you know, this isn't the there's so many aspects of the job that we're not the we're not advice I felt and we're not I wasn't really enjoying it or feeling empowered by it and I am, I think, I was just thinking, How can I shift to do more of that? And and that was I think, what spurns my sort of thinking around this and I think I was thinking of the the also being able to touch more people I wasn't sure I did deliberate do I want to kind of have my own camp, have my own financial advisory firm and employ people and grow something bigger, which I thought I could do that. I just wasn't sure at this age and stage in life. But that was what I wanted to do. And, and I was, I thought if I could get if somebody would, if I could have some sort of rule where I could have a broader influence on a wider, wider number of people that was that was my initial thinking. And then, as you sort of mentioned shoulders above this point, I was back working aspekty part of their benchmarking in cooks Empire, and then which shoulders at this point taken a stake in and I got introduced to some of the shoulders people and got talking to them about my interests and what and my media work and what I was interested in, and that sort of started their conversation about to be cleared off for you here.

And that's what led me to sort of working shoulders.

Jason Butler 45:50
So So, as we sort of, that's interesting. So that's, we think, if you think back over your sort of working career and your working life as an adult now and then not just your Yours when you were working in, you know, uni, and then your trainee teacher and all that stuff, thinking about all the people you've met as clients and all the situations you've encountered, what what would you? What do you know now that you didn't know, when you were sort of 20 that you think would be useful things to know just, you know, spread some rules of the road is very simple principles that that you now really think are important that people know about money?

Claire Walsh 46:29
Well, I'm going to say, and it might be conversant it might not apply to as many people I actually wish I'd had more confidence to take more risks when I was younger and to back myself more. And

I feel like I could have been bald earlier and

I think that possibly a better learning for other people is is seeking out kind of mentorship with that is to do with your money, your career, life in general. I think, you know, not I have I have a mentor and I have a coach. And, you know, I recognize that there's a lot to learn. And I think I wish I'd done things like that when I was much younger and having somebody to bounce ideas off and see which we what what paths you should be taking.

Jason Butler 47:19
Hmm. So in essence, rather than investing in that unit trust, perhaps spending a bit more or perhaps on your, on yourself, developing yourself, your capabilities, your confidence, your mindset, that is that is that what you're saying? Or?

Claire Walsh 47:31
Well, yes, that that was the lesson. I think that's what I would that's the lesson for my younger self, I suppose. And then I'm sort of extrapolating more broadly by just saying I think you don't need to I don't think I in fact, I would say I shy away from this abroad rules of thumb of you should do this or you should do that. But I think and talking to people widely, researching widely, and and yeah, yes, that really talking to people and getting getting mentors in whichever area of life is where it is. What do I do with my money?

And is it a worthwhile investment? Hmm, good?

Jason Butler 48:06
Well clear. I mean, just say we can't we're not here to tell people what to do or that they should do stuff. All we're doing is sharing experiences. And you know, it sounds to me like, you, you've only just got going. I mean, you're only young age, right? So you've got, you've got a hell of a lot going for. And just before we go, you know, what do you think is gonna happen as a result of people? Do you think that the lockdown situation will make an improvement to people's finances in the long run? Or do you think everyone got back to how they were before?

Claire Walsh 48:33
Oh, two in terms of spending and things like that? And no, I imagine it's going to be very different. I mean, it's such a tricky thing, because for the economy, we need people to go and get spending. But I think on a personal level, even for people who've not necessarily have been financially impacted, I think it makes everybody you know, feel that they need to,

you know, pull up the drawbridge a little bit and be more careful.

I think it's forced us all to be alive. I mean, a lot of people are saying you can enjoy the simpler life. So, yeah, it's really hard to imagine

what's going to happen as we return? Well,

Jason Butler 49:11
that's great, clear, fantastic insights. If people want to find out about where you're working now, what's the website?

Claire Walsh 49:19
It's Schroeder's personal wealth. And I think our new website is actually sp w.com. In Great,

Jason Butler 49:24
okay, well, whatever it is, we're putting on the show notes. If anyone wants to see interesting business, you're doing great things there. And I look forward to seeing how you change the world. One client at a time again, but with a much bigger organization that you work in. Thank you very much indeed for your time.

Claire Walsh 49:41
Thanks, Jason.

Jason Butler 49:47
Thanks for listening to true money stories with me, Jason Butler. If you'd like what you hear, please do tell your friends. And more importantly, please rate us on your preferred podcast app, because it really does help us get the message out there. So until next time, good luck with your money journey.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai