Opinion: It started with a stroller and a doorbell

Stephanie Staggs

At 32 years old, I pushed our two-month-old baby through the neighborhood in a stroller, knocking on doors. I wasn’t selling Girl Scout cookies. I was trying to find clients for my brand-new financial planning firm.

Most people knew me as a former television reporter. Others knew me from my work at the Better Business Bureau. A few politely listened. Some were skeptical. Some wondered why a mother with a newborn would leave a stable career to start a business from scratch.

The truth was simple: I believed I could build something meaningful while being present for my family. At the time, it felt like starting over. Looking back, I realize it wasn’t starting over at all. Every chapter of my life had been preparing me for that moment.

Learning communication
Journalism taught me how to communicate. My education at Harding University taught me the importance of clear communication and active listening. I learned that understanding people’s concerns is often more important than simply asking questions. Journalism taught me that trust is earned. You also learn how to take incredibly complicated topics and make them understandable. Viewers invite you into their homes every day. They trust that you’re presenting information fairly, accurately and with their best interests in mind.

Years later, I discovered those same skills were just as valuable in financial planning. Clients don’t come to my team because they want to discuss investments. They come because they want clarity, confidence and honesty.

Learning leadership
The Better Business Bureau taught me leadership, trust and advocacy. At 27 years old, I became a regional director for the Better Business Bureau in our area, where I learned leadership, advocacy and the importance of earning trust. Thankfully, I was surrounded by mentors and teammates who helped me grow as a leader.

Through my work with business owners and consumers, I saw firsthand how financial decisions and trust can shape a person’s future. I learned that trust is not something people can give freely. It is earned through consistency, integrity and service. At the end of five years, I felt called to step away from the BBB and began building my company.

I was considering a complete career change. We had a growing family. I had a stable leadership position. On paper, leaving made very little sense. Yet after weeks of prayer and discussion, my husband and I reached the same conclusion: If I didn’t try the hard thing now, I would regret it for the rest of my life.

Learning resilience
Nothing could have fully prepared me for entrepreneurship. Before entering financial services, I enrolled to study for my MBA while working full time and raising a family. My first class was Intro to Accounting. It wasn’t easy.

We had a retiring professor who regularly referenced a “blue book” filled with supplemental notes and guidance, but it was only available for students in his fall and spring sections. Thankfully, his teaching assistant, Caitlin Shephard, who later became a successful accountant and one of my closest friends, volunteered to help struggling students.

At the time, I didn’t have childcare for my son, Aedan. During tutoring sessions, Caitlin and I often took turns holding him, and I discovered that financial planning wasn’t really about numbers. It’s about helping people make some of the most important decisions of their lives.

Once I committed to the career change, we also grew our family, and my days became a blur. Most mornings started at 4 a.m. My days were filled with MBA coursework, financial exams, networking events, cold calling and client prospecting. Yes, there was plenty of door-knocking with Garrett in that stroller. For client meetings, my mom would juggle our youngest, so I could be at the office.

At one point, a competitor offered me a salaried position. It would have been the easier, safer path. But something inside me knew I wasn’t supposed to quit.

Looking back, some of the biggest breakthroughs came through unexpected acts of kindness. At a garage sale, I met Ron Tagge, CEO of Tagge Insurance. He generously offered me office space, giving my business room to grow.

Another pivotal relationship came through Bob Worgaftik, a veteran adviser who had spent more than four decades building a successful practice founded on ethics, service and long-term relationships. During his career, he served the Connecticut Citizen’s Ethics Advisory Board and put bad politicians away for stealing from taxpayers.

Another mentor was Shaun Jordan, a minister at Sunset Church of Christ and former entrepreneur. He liked to say, “Stephanie, you don’t have resources – but you are the most resourceful person I know. You can do this.” These three men entered my life at critical moments. Their guidance reinforced an important lesson: Persistence creates opportunities that often cannot be seen until much later.

Building, not beginning
When I left my role at the BBB, I thought I was walking away from everything I had built. But the lessons of journalism, the BBB and entrepreneurship educated me. Each experience became a brick in the foundation of the next.

Today, my firm serves business owners, physicians, physician associates, nurse practitioners and families across the country. We are proud partners of organizations including the American Academy of Physician Associates, the Missouri Academy of Physician Associates and the Hollister Area Chamber of Commerce.

Looking back, I can see that none of those opportunities appeared overnight. They were built one conversation, one lesson, one relationship and one act of perseverance at a time. None of it happened because I started over. It happened because I kept building.

And it all started with a stroller and a doorbell.

Stephanie Staggs is CEO and financial adviser with Staggs Financial Services LLC. She can be reached at stephanie_staggs@glic.com.