Meet the Team: Sydney Woodward

In 2021, Yeske Buie welcomed new faces and new energy to our growing team, and we’re using this space to make virtual introductions to help you learn more about how these team members are working to serve YOU. In this space, we introduce you to Sydney Woodward, Assistant Financial Planner in our San Francisco office.

Sydney comes to the Yeske Buie team with experience from a few financial planning firms across the country. During her last collegiate summer, Sydney interned at Clarendon Wealth Management in Arlington, Virginia and after graduating from Virginia Tech in 2020, Sydney moved to Illinois where she worked as a Financial Planning Associate at Ehlert Financial Group. These experiences have given Sydney a unique perspective on empathizing and connecting with Clients and she looks forward to building relationships with Yeske Buie’s Clients in her role with the firm.

Let’s get to know more about Sydney’s goals, interests, and passion for serving YOU via this edition of Meet the Team.

In your role as Assistant Financial Planner, how do you assist Yeske Buie’s Clients?

• I assist Yeske Buie’s Clients by being a resource for the lead planner so that they have the time and space they need to best serve our Clients. Some of my responsibilities thus far have included assisting with paperwork, placing trades, taking notes in Client meetings, and answering phone calls. Thus far, my favorite opportunity has been meeting with Clients! I love hearing the stories that our Clients share and how the advisors serve each Client based on their story.

What unique skills and experience do you bring to Yeske Buie?

• Prior to joining Yeske Buie, I worked with another financial planning firm based in Chicago that predominantly served disabled families. My work with these Clients helped me enhance my ability to empathize and understand unique Client’s needs, and I learned the importance of being a comforting person and a strong listener – all skills that are really important in financial planning and cannot be learned from a textbook or seminar. I look forward to bringing these skills to my work with Clients at Yeske Buie.

What impact do you hope to make at Yeske Buie and in the financial planning profession?

• I hope to develop my role within the team and continue to add value to the firm. In my mind, the better the team, the better we can serve our Clients. I also would like to become more involved with the profession like our Founders are. I would love to serve the Special Olympics and the disabled community through financial planning.

What Yeske Buie worldview aligns with you most and why?

• The Yeske Buie worldview that aligns with me most would be Learn Big. I thrive on knowledge and the feeling of learning something new that I didn’t know before. I am constantly learning new things, and I am currently studying and preparing to take my CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER exam.

What do you enjoy doing what you aren’t working?

• I love to paint and go on hikes with my dog. I also started making clay jewelry during the pandemic, which has developed into full blown hobby now. I also enjoy traveling, and one of my Live Big goals is to travel around Alaska – it looks just stunning in photos and I really want to see whales!