Adviser trainee Olivia Maynard fell into practice management when a reshuffle was needed at her firm, now the young director has set herself ambitious goals as she strives to make the business a go-to for both future employees and clients.
Maynard fell into financial services after realising early on that her first choice vocation, to be a midwife, was not for her.
Now the 27-year-old is part owner of a local advice firm where she acts as director and practice manager, overseeing a team of two advisers and several support staff.
The firm, Maldon-based TFP Financial Planning, has a 10-year vision with a "big hairy audacious goal" to "10x everything", she says. But achieving that, as a firm that prides itself on its boutique vibes, requires some clever planning.
"Our focus is to grow everything to make sure that we become a proper business. Rather than a small company," says Maynard.
"We love that we are boutique. We want to keep that feel. I don't want anyone to feel like a number and we'll make sure we structure ourselves in a way that does that.
"But we also want to be able to help as many people as possible in a way that we know we should be able to help them. So that'd be like 10x in employees, whether that's in quantity or quality however it works, and yeah 10x everything."
Making an impact
Maynard had actually applied to go to university to be a midwife but after speaking to others in the profession she soon realised this wasn't for her.
In need of a job, she started in the call centre of financial technology outsourcing firm International Financial Data Services, speaking to financial advisers on a daily basis, which quickly made her realise "I wanted to work on the other side of it".
She says: "I loved talking to [advisers] and answering their questions and their clients' and everything, and I was kind of like, I don't want to be sat in this office talking on the phone. I want to be where you are."
Maynard looked for IFA administrator jobs when she came across TFP in Maldon, close to where she lives, in 2015. She has worked at the firm ever since.
At the time the business was tiny, she says, with two financial advisers, one administrator, and their wives working there part time.
What drew her to the job in particular was the idea that she "could have an impact" in the firm, not be "such a number" as was the case in her previous job.
She did her diploma within a year and went through an apprenticeship to become a financial adviser. But when she started her chartership, Covid hit.
So she worked as a paraplanner, then took a year out on maternity leave. When she came back she was set on working as a financial planner, but the tide quickly turned.
