Welcome to my blog on my journey at TFP so far!
A quick recap for those I’ve met before or for those new readers who I haven’t had the chance to meet yet I’m Lauren and I joined the team in October 2022 as Client Experience Manager. Fast forward nearly 2 years I am now a Paraplanner and starting on the exciting journey to become an Associate Planner.
Throughout my time at TFP, each role I have been in has been truly brilliant and has helped build the foundations for the knowledge and skills I have today. When I first started as a Client Experience Manager, I did not anticipate how much interaction I would have with all our clients, nor the level of involvement I would have in all aspects of our work.
TFP have been remarkable at listening to my goals and objectives and putting in place the relevant framework to help me achieve these. Working as a Client Experience Manager clarified my desire to want to start the journey to become a Financial Planner. However, going down this route would mean I needed to start the exams to get my Diploma qualification. Starting my exams was quite ironic as when I finished university, I gave a big speech to all my family and friends about how I was never going to study again, how wrong could I be? On reflection, sitting these exams has made me realise how much I like learning and that I am most motivated when I have something I am striving towards. Exams at the moment are great goals and there is nothing I like more than ticking them off.
Currently, my exam total is sitting at 12 which saw me achieve my Diploma and my Advanced Diploma. On top of that, I have also been awarded my Chartered Status which I am thrilled to have achieved quite early on in my career. Achieving this has left me hungry for more so I'm going to begin studying for my Fellowship and then CFP status. Fingers crossed I will achieve both of those within the next two years as well as transition into an Associate Planner role.
Whilst studying for my Diplomas, I moved into a Trainee Paraplanner role. This allowed me to get involved with advice generation, reporting writing, and developing a deeper technical knowledge of different tax wrappers and investments. By securing my Diploma I then progressed to my current role of Paraplanner. My role now has allowed me to become even more involved with advice generation and more involved with clients which I am thoroughly enjoying! I get to hear clients talk about their goals and objectives as well as hear about them becoming grandparents for the first time, stories from their younger days and once-in-a-lifetime holidays. I still have so much to learn in this role including improving my technical knowledge, presentation, and soft skills which I am very much looking forward to developing. Dan and Casey maybe not so much, as I interrogate them to understand why they do certain things in certain ways!
When I look back, I have had such a rewarding time at TFP and have felt supported by all the team throughout my journey so far, I look forward to seeing where the next 12 months take me and the team. In a years’ time when I look back at this post, I hope I will be sat here reading this blog about everything I wanted to achieve and have achieved it all, maybe even more!
As Theodore Roosevelt says “Believe you can and you're halfway there”.
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