About Michelle L. Campbell
My story
My Mission: I’m here to help others achieve more than they thought possible through my unique ability to ask the right questions and genuinely care about the answers so that our combined impact has a massive ripple effect.
July 2000, Jeff and I married. We bought our first home, Jeff started his teaching career and I was supposed to start medical school. I had saved $10,000 to put down on our home, had a 401k and wanted to learn about a Roth IRA. My husband’s mentoring teacher told him the first thing he needed to do was to sign up for his 403b and buy years towards his pension. Even though we didn’t have much money coming in, we wanted to start off on the right financial path. Especially knowing we’d be on Jeff’s salary and I’d be adding a lot of debt from medical school.
We had a guy come to our house to talk to us about those items. I would ask a question, he would ignore me, I’d ask another question about Roth IRAs, he wouldn’t tell me about them, kept going back to signing Jeff up. Granted, I was only 21 and female, what did I know? I asked if we should buy years and how to do that. He said we probably didn’t need to do that and he didn’t know how we could anyway. Finally, he pushed a brochure across the table towards Jeff and said, “You just need to put $50 per paycheck into this, it has a deer on the cover, it will make you money.” That’s when I lost it. I stood up, told him I would not put my money into something because there’s a deer on the cover. I told him to leave our house, never call, don’t stop at Jeff’s classroom, and take us off whatever list he had. Jeff just buried his head. That is when my mission started.
I called my dad, asked if I could meet with his advisor. I drove 90 minutes to go meet with him. He made it very clear to me that he was only meeting me because my dad was a good client and that me starting a Roth IRA wasn’t really worth his time. I didn’t go back.
I stopped at an Edward Jones office on my way home, that guy was really nice, wanted to help me open a Roth IRA but didn’t know how to buy years. So, I went home, pulled out a phone book and called the first office I saw.
I booked an appointment with Jim at American Express Financial Advisors. He really wanted to schedule a meeting with Jeff and myself but I explained it would just be me because Jeff was coaching football and they had two-a-days and he couldn’t get there until 7 or later. Jim agreed to meet with me, single-legged as I would learn later was the term. During our meeting, I asked about the Roth IRA, my 401k, the fact that Jeff’s mentor said to start a 403b and buy years. Jim slowed me down and assured me those are all the things he would be able to advise us on and more. He explained the financial planning process and how he worked. He told me he charged a fee and that it would be $500 to do a financial plan. I pulled out our checkbook. Again, I was 21, female, just married, there without my husband, and writing a check. Jim was shocked, he didn’t tell me that until later though. He gave me a list of items I had to pull together and bring back to him. He said he wanted to meet Jeff and have Jeff be part of the process. He agreed to meet us on a Saturday morning for our next meeting.
During the next meeting, Jeff and I brought all our stuff into Jim. We talked a little about what our goals were and he told Jeff to definitely buy the 5 years. He helped Jeff fill out the form to turn in to his payroll department. At the end of our meeting, I asked Jim if he went to school to be a financial advisor. He did. He attended a program at Central Michigan University but he told me most of the other advisors in the office didn’t. They came from all different backgrounds and that you really just needed to get all your licenses. He shared with me that he had thought about going to medial school, too. He liked to help people but he decided to go into financial planning instead because with medicine, everyone still dies. With financial planning he could help his clients achieve little goals and ultimately leave a legacy as well.
That comment hit me hard. I woke up Sunday morning and told Jeff, “I think I want to be a financial advisor.” He thought I lost my mind. In typical Jeff fashion, he told me he’d always support me on my crazy ideas.
Monday I called Jim and asked him how I could be a financial advisor and what I had to do. He set me up for an interview. First step, I had to take this computer quiz. After I passed that I had to meet with the office manager for an interview. Third meeting was with the sales manager and the office manager. I had to role play being a travel agent and the two of them were my prospective clients. I had a commission minimum I had to make and based on the budget they gave me, no scenario option provided met that minimum. In order to hit my commission, I had to upsell. I passed. Later Mark, the sales manager, told me that no one had sold the way I did in that role play. He thought I was going to be a waste of his time and didn’t think I’d ever pass. Cindy, the office manager, told me that she actually felt super comfortable being upsold and felt excited to go on the fake trip she’d role played 100s of times before. She didn’t think I’d pass either. They were initially just making Jim happy because I was paying financial planning client.
My fourth and last interview was with Brian, the Field Vice President. At the end of the interview, Brian gave me an offer letter. He told me that he would not allow me to accept and sign it until I spoke with Jeff. I told him I didn’t need to that Jeff was supportive. He insisted. He also insisted that before I did, that Jeff come in, meet with him and interview Brian. He said no matter what happened when Jeff came in, the offer was still there but he didn’t want me switching career paths as a newlywed without Jeff meeting him. I stressed it wasn’t necessary and that Jeff couldn’t get there until after 7 or it would have to be a Saturday. Brian said, 7 would be fine.
Brian met with Jeff and me at 7pm the next night. We took an office tour, met some of the other advisors and Jeff asked some great questions. Brian had some great answers, too. He stressed to Jeff that the first 3 years were going to be extremely challenging and that I’d want to quit multiple times. Brian said that loved ones often want to alleviate pain and when someone complains about their job, loved ones suggest or support quitting as an option. He told Jeff that if I came home wanting to quit, Jeff should respond that quitting is not an option during the first 3 years. He said he was willing to take the risk on me because I was going to have to work a lot of hours, just like I would during medical school, and we both had already prepared our relationship for that. Brian said the biggest difference would that I might not make a lot during the first couple years, but, I wouldn’t come out with debt like the student loans I was about to take out.
The next morning, I called Brian and accepted the role. That afternoon, I went in to do paperwork. On Monday, October 16, I turned 22. On Wednesday, October 18, I started working in the office and started studying for my series 7.
During the time I was taking my series 7, series 63, and LAH exams, Jim was promoted to a manager. I was assigned to Jim instead of Mark and our office was growing.
I spent Monday nights, Wednesday nights, and Saturday mornings dialing and dialing. Tuesdays and Thursdays were for seeing appointments or more dialing if appointments no showed. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday day times were spent in classes learning products, sales techniques, financial planning strategies, and role playing. We were in the office 8-8 M,T,W,R, 8-5 F, and 9-12 S; 60 hours.
About 3 months in, I became an advisor coach. I would get a small override if I covered appointments for advisors and helped them sell financial plans and products. I was asked if I would take the role because we had grown to over 20 advisors and only two managers. It got me out of some dialing. If my prospect no-showed or I didn’t have a meeting scheduled, I could jump in on another advisor’s appointment to help them. I realized during this process that I actually was more excited when I helped another advisor make a sale than I was when I made my own for me. That’s when I decided I wanted to pursue the leadership path at AEFA instead of the franchise path.
About a year into my career, Mark left the office to go into personal production for himself. I was promoted to district manager. About 3 months after that, Brian bought one of the franchise advisor’s practice and left our office. Jim was getting married and left 2 months after that. Within 15 months of starting as an advisor, I was a district manager, with an office of 13 advisors and no FVP or other manager. I was 23 years old. I had advisors working for me that were 40+. I loved it!!!
I built our district to 32 advisors without having a FVP, but instead, I had the help of some great support staff. Other offices had multiple managers, support staff, and FVPs. I had advisors on my team step into the advisor coach role. Finally we added a FVP and promoted one of my own advisors to be a manager with me. I made sure it was never about me, it was always about how everyone chipped in. I treated my advisors with respect. They knew I would treat them fairly and that fair didn’t always mean equal. They knew they could count on me and that if I said I’d do something or be somewhere, I would. It was important to me to never treat a client the way I was initially treated and to train other advisors to never treat clients the way that guy treated me.
I earned my position by working hard, treating people how they wanted to be treated, having tough conversations when needed, and by truly caring about others’ success more than my own. I really knew my legacy was going to be built through them.
I was the youngest female manager in our company and was consistently one of the top 10 from over 400 managers in our firm. I believed in leadership though, not management. I was dealing with adults, mostly men, mostly older than me, and telling them what to do and how to do it was not how I would win. I had to lead by example and be a mentor and coach.
Coaches don’t always tell you what you want to hear, they tell you what you need to do to win. They help make the pain a little more enjoyable by being your biggest fan. That’s how I built my district.
After 66 months of being a manager, I had to make a decision of moving into a Field Vice President role or going back into personal practice because Jeff and I were going to start a family and 60+ hours a week wasn’t in alignment with motherhood. I was offered 3 FVP roles, all 3 would have required us to move out of state. Jeff was supportive and willing to move but it would change some of our long-term goals. The other fear was that AEFA became Ameriprise and spun off from American Express. Offices were closing all over the country. I was a little nervous about giving up my client base, moving across country, getting pregnant, and then having the office close and being jobless. We decided the best choice was personal practice.
I only stayed at AEFA for about 9 months after going into personal practice before going independent. The manger they brought in to replace me was very threatened by me. Not because of what I was doing but because of her own insecurities. A lot of the advisors still came to me for help on cases and appointment coverage. I would help if she was in another appointment. I was still being paid as an advisor coach while building my practice back up. She appreciated that I was still helping her numbers but she hated that it was me helping. She was a manager in Ohio before coming to our office and I had always beaten her on the manager scorecard. I didn’t know that until she pointed it out in one of our meetings. Funny how people care about the wrong things sometimes, huh? Here I was helping her current numbers, yet she was stuck in the past.
The biggest difference was she treated people equal. Meaning, everyone had to come to Saturday phone clinic. If I had 10 appointments booked, was 400% of production, and 300% of plan pace, I still was supposed to go to phone clinic. I had to sit through insurance class, even though I had taught it for years. Her management is why I went independent. I was at a point in my career where 60 hours a week of being in the office didn’t make sense for me. I didn’t need that. She needed to demand that so she could make herself feel like she had control and was the boss.
I vowed never to treat people the way she did. Your title might be manger, but you don’t get respect just because of a title. You get respect when you treat people with respect and actually earn it.
While at AEFA, starting in February 2001, I also became a director consultant for the BNI Michigan team. My role was to start new chapters and support members. I loved helping members get more business and seeing them maximize the opportunities their BNI members could provide them. I loved training. I loved speaking. The relationships I was able to build allowed me the opportunity to purchase the BNI Alaska franchise in January 2011.
What is great about working with BNI members is that I can coach and train people without having a corporation requiring certain levels of production from the members. Don’t get me wrong, I have numbers and goals to hit, but they’re based on my overall region, not how many referrals an individual member receives. If a member doesn’t want to do what it takes, it’s on them.
As a manager in the financial advisor industry, sometimes I wanted my advisor to be successful more than he/she wanted to be successful. Sometimes I worked harder for them than they did for themselves. My heart broke a little each time I saw someone with potential just give up.
The industry is hard. There are too many managers out there and not enough coaches that mentor and make a difference. I will give you tools that will help you break through whatever plateau you’re standing still on.
Working with me is like buying a personal trainer. You can buy a gym membership, but, if you don’t use it, you’re not going to reach your goals. If you go, but, you’re not taught how to use the equipment, you could injure yourself. Not only will you get the tools, I’ll work with you to personalize the tools to your usage. I’ll hold you accountable to reaching your goals. I’ll be your biggest fan, but, I will also make you work to get what you want.
Feedback & Reviews
” I was already worried about my business expenses, so I was hesitant to spend money hiring a coach. After just 2 months, the advice I implemented from Michelle, paid me 10x her coaching fee.“
Stacy Stratman
” Even though I have a manager that is paid to help me, Michelle has a great perspective on the industry and is worth hiring. I felt her advice wasn’t self serving. She really wants to see me succeed.”
Scott Partridge
” You can spend time trying to figure this business out and it’ll take you years to get to where Michelle helped me get to with my practice in just a few months. I wish I had decided to work with her earlier.”
Emily Hanson
What can I do for you?
I can help you set a clear vision of your practice. Then together we will put a plan in place to execute. I will hold you accountable to reaching your goals.
Michelle motivates attendees to take action when she's on stage.
Have you ever been to a presentation that was good, maybe even great, walked away feeling motivated, only to find yourself in the exact same place 3 months later? Michelle uses methods to inspire and create action, not just providing knowledge.
FACTs = Financial Advisor Coaching & Training Sessions
What do you want your practice to look like 3 months from now? 6 months? 24 months? 60 months? Let me show you how I built my practice and how you can serve the clients you want, be compliant, and stay sane.
Need advice?
Schedule a time for us to talk. I will determine if I can help you. If I can, we will determine the next step to take together. Schedule a time with me by clicking the link below.