When I finished high school I knew only three things about money; you work for it, you spend it and you save some. And for my redneck family in Dawson Creek, BC, "saving" might mean burying cash in a coffee can in the back forty.

The concept of investing my savings was introduced to me when I was a 21 year old hairstylist in Grande Prairie, Alberta. One day in the salon I was cutting a man's hair. He owned a business and asked me if I wanted to own a salon in the future. I said I didn't think so because I wouldn't want to manage a bunch of crazy hairdressers. He went on to say that if I wasn't planning on being a business owner myself, I would have to invest in other people's businesses to make money. I didn't have a clue what he was talking about. He suggested I read a book called "Smart Couples Finish Rich". My passion for investing began while reading that book.

I left the salon six months later to start a mobile hairstyling company. It was perfect because my prices were lower than salons but I was making more money with no overhead. My clientele, like Grande Prairie, was growing rapidly. When my son was a newborn I reread “Smart Couples Finish Rich”. I wanted to learn all there is to know about investing to teach youth, my friends, family and clients about it. But I was too comfortable to go back to school.

I wanted to find out what the fifty bucks a month I'd been putting away for years was invested in. I also wanted to know how much I should be putting away for retirement and to open an RESP for my son. The meeting I had with the financial advisor at the bank was disappointing. She tried to explain what my money was invested in. It was a mutual fund of course but I'm not sure she really knew what a mutual fund was. She didn't help me figure out how much I should be saving in my RRSP or my son's RESP. She just wanted to make sure I was putting away as much as I could afford. I felt like I didn’t matter to her because I didn’t have a lot of money.

As I continued with my business over the next few years I came across a lot of people who seemedsuccessful and a few who seemed to know a thing or two about investing. They told me about their investment gains and losses and how they got a "tax refund" for putting money in their RRSPs. (Now that I know how an RRSP actually works, I get annoyed when I hear the term "tax refund"). A client's husband said I could invest in an endeavor he was investing a lot of his money in. It was a private business that was manufacturing some sort of patented glass-bottomed boats in the Caribbean. He said he'd been there, seen the operation, trusted the guys and it would be a gold mine when the company went public. I had no idea what most of this meant but I really liked these people and I'm not against taking a risk every once in a while. I took $3000 out of my RRSP and mailed a U.S. dollar money order. After a year of waiting for my share certificate to come in the mail I began asking questions. A lot of other people were asking questions too. Another year later I chalked it up to a lesson learned. I'm just glad I learned it at 24 with $3000 instead of at 54 with $300,000.

In 2007 I was ready to move on from Grande Prairie. I put my house up for sale and over the next two years while my house wasn't selling I made a few trips to Calgary. I discovered Cochrane and fell in love with the place. I put my house up for rent in the spring of 2010 and moved to Cochrane. That first summer I found a great preschool for my son, made a bunch of adorable new friends and explored career opportunities. I did some advertising to promote my mobile hairstyling business but it was off to a slow start. I didn't want to quit doing hair but I did want to start another business and do hair on the side.

That fall I was chatting with a neighbor who told me her husband was a part-time financial advisor along with his full-time job. She said the financial company was looking to hire more part-time financial advisors. Her husband invited me to a meeting in Calgary to learn about the opportunity. It sounded interesting despite the fact that it was a multi-level marketing business. A few days later I met with a “higher up” advisor who had recently quit her day job and was working as a financial advisor full-time. She began training me. First step was to pass the Life Licence Qualification Program so I could begin selling life insurance and segregated funds. As I figured out how the company operated I knew it wasn’t for me. I wanted my income to reflect only the work that I did - not what those who worked “under” me did. And I didn’t want to manage a group of part-time financial advisors any more than I wanted to manage a bunch of crazy hairdressers. I didn’t sign on with this company, but thanks to a few folks at this company I did pass the Life Licence Qualification Program exam. A few days later I was offered a position at a leading wealth management firm that conveniently had an open office in Cochrane. All I had to do was pass the Canadian Securities Course. So I did. Then my house in Grande Prairie sold. The firm hired me. I knocked on half the doors in Cochrane introducing myself and my business to people. This was the blueprint of success according to them and even though it is super old-school to knock on doors (and super hard) it worked for me. I built the foundation of my business simply meeting people on their doorsteps. I got to know them a little bit, found out something they wanted and asked if I could call them if I came up with an idea of how to help them get it. The firm gave me the best training in the wealth management industry and I will be forever grateful for the opportunity they gave me.

Immediately after starting my career as a financial advisor, I organized my first seminar. My first seminarwas for women only and I had twenty-one confirmed guests. A snow storm hit that night and I ended upwith only twelve. I realized the next day that twelve was a huge number of attendees for a seminar put onby a brand new financial advisor. I also found out the next day that it would have been fourteen but twoladies slid into the ditch on the way to the seminar. It was nerve-wracking presenting to those ladies andall I did was introduce myself and the guest speaker. I guess I shouldn't have skipped my 4-H Club'spublic speaking events. Since my first seminar I have taught men, women and middle school students about investing. I have been teaching grade eights about investing over the past few years by volunteering with Junior Achievement. Talking to a room full of adults who have chosen to attend your seminar is a lot less scary than a classroom of grade eights who may not want to hear what you have to say. The first time I taught Jr. Achievement’s Investment Strategies Program, I had the same kind of terrible nervousness that I used to get at my piano recitals. I was really worried that I would loose control of the class. Luckily it went really well. Most of the students seemed to like what I was teaching them. Since it didn’t go horribly wrong, I have continued to teach two grade eight classes each year and in 2014 I began teaching grade seven students the Dollars With Sense Program. I wish programs like these would have been taught in my middle school. Unfortunately my hometown of Dawson Creek, BC and many other Northern towns aren't offering these programs in schools because they don't have volunteers. It is on my to do list to teach in Grande Prairie and Dawson Creek and find volunteers there to continue teaching Junior Achievement programs in the coming years.

At the end of 2013 my friend who is also in the wealth management industry said to me "Be carefulto brand your business 'Lyndsie Barrie Financial', not 'XYZ Investment Firm'." He said he couldn't see mestaying there forever and when I left, he hoped my clients would want to continue working with me, notthe firm. Very timely advice. I was becoming frustrated with being an employee. I wanted so badly to have my own boutique financial services firm so that I could be 100% focused on my clients instead of on corporate sales targets. At first I thought I was many years away from that, but after doing some research into other opportunities, I found what I was looking for.

In February 2014 I started my own boutique financial firm by partnering with three financial services companies who provide me with the back office support I need. "Back office" means compliance/regulatory oversight and paperwork processing. I am now able to offer everything I used to offer my clients and more. I have partnered with Newport Private Wealth, PPI Solutions and Pinnacle Wealth Brokers. These three arms of my business enable me to offer a wide range of financial products and services. My parents thought I was crazy for turning down jobs in finance which offered a steady paycheck. Looking back I can see I made the right choice and I am so glad to be running my own financial services business. My clients are all wonderful people and I enjoy working with them so much. I encourage any new financial advisor who is going through the struggles of being new in this business to stick it out, work hard and always do for what’s best for your clients. You do have to “fake it until you make it” for the first few years but once you can tell your story, you will be so glad you endured those struggles!! This is truly a fun and rewarding career.

When I’m working at my other career, (being a Mom) my time is spent driving my son to hockey,karate and rugby. We also enjoy rollerblading and playing catch with the baseball gloves. “Me time” usually involves a hike down to the Bow River with my dog or a hot yoga class. I also play touch rugby and basketball. I enjoy getting as far away from civilization as possible to do some camping, horseback riding, quadding, river boating, and hunting. My ideal adventure of a lifetime is a fly-in hunting trip in Alaska. My goal is to own land about an hour drive from Cochrane where I will build a small cabin to spend my weekends.