A Bittersweet Adieu – Thank You, Alishia!

In 2018, Alishia DuBois joined the Yeske Buie team as a Financial Planning Resident, a three-year position in which an aspiring financial planner serves Clients under the mentorship and supervision of a CFP^® in pursuit of becoming a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER. In what seems like the blink of an eye, Alishia’s three-year residency is coming to an end – we are celebration her graduation from the program!

It’s an accomplishment that feels bittersweet. Alishia has brought an infallible smile, infectious energy, and a heart of gold to our team and our Clients since day one of her time with us, and her presence will be deeply missed. At the same time, we are incredibly proud and grateful for Alishia’s time, energy, and care, and we look forward to watching her flourish in the years to come.

Before we say goodbye, we asked Alishia to reflect on her time as a Financial Planning Resident, and we’d like to use this space to share more about her growth and appreciation.

In reflecting on your time as a financial planning resident, tell us about your experience…

How much time do you have?! In the best way possible, I am a totally different person than I was when I began this program. I knew that would be the case going in, but I didn’t understand the vastness of what I’d learn.

Yeske Buie works with some really awesome Clients – I wish I had a better word to describe them but they’re simply awesome! – and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to build deep relationships with the Clients I worked with and genuinely help them with their financial goals. There is a lot of work to do behind the scenes, and some days I felt stretched really thin, but I knew I was making an investment in the Clients and in myself and I’m really proud of all that I accomplished.

In the moment the amount of learning feels like a lot but now looking back, it feels like a dream.

In your 2018 Meet the Team feature, you shared that you hoped to accomplish the following:

“I want to learn as much as I possibly can about financial planning, about how to best serve Clients, about the profession, and about myself. Three years from now when I leave this residency, I hope that I have made a positive impact on the lives of the Clients I interacted with, and I hope to be remembered by Clients and by the team as someone who always looked out for them and had their best interest in mind.”

Three years later, what are your thoughts about those goals?

I’d start off by saying I’m so cheesy – haha! But the hopes and desires are definitely still true. It’s difficult to measure these goals, but I can say that the mentorship I’ve received and the knowledge and skills I’ve learned has been incredible. I learned soft skills I didn’t even know I needed that influence me both personally and professionally every day. Dedicating myself to learning has opened so many doors for me, and I know that maintaining my curiosity for learning and approaching situations with a beginner’s mind will help me do the best I can for Clients going forward.

When I think about my relationships with Clients, I hope it is true that they feel I’ve made a positive impact on their lives, and that they will remember me in a positive light. I feel like I’ve given Clients 100% of what I could give them, and I hope that the impact I’ve had on them is as deep as the impact they’ve left on me.

And when I think about my teammates, know that you guys can’t get rid of me! Being together over the past three years, I feel that my bonds with my teammates are so strong, and I hope that I’ve brought positivity into their lives. The things that I’ve learned from everyone on this team are invaluable, and I’m leaving feeling incredibly grateful for everyone I’ve met at Yeske Buie.

You’ve really embraced the Live Big philosophy during your time at Yeske Buie. How do you hope to continue living big as your journey continues?

I’ve always been a planner – it’s literally in my job description! But the Live Big philosophy has taught me that while allowing my goals to lead the way I live my life can be productive, I also need to live in the moment. I discover something about myself every single day, and as I learn more about who I am, I’m more willing to plan less and see where life takes me. And it’s been beautiful to see what can happen when you’re open to things that you never thought you’d do! Because of this shift in mindset, I feel that I’ve been progressively living bigger every day to be the best version of myself and make a difference in this world. While I’m still working hard towards my grand goals, I’m also living big in small moments now, and I think this will ultimately lead me to having a Live Big life.

To other aspiring financial planners who are just starting their careers, how might you describe the experience of entering this profession?

For me, every year has been different. When I first started working, my textbook knowledge was fresh and I felt prepared for what it’s like in the real world. But I quickly learned that nothing can prepare you for being in thick of it and living through the experience.

In Year One, I was eager to absorb everything I could and begin building trust with Clients so that I could connect with them more deeply. Year Two for me was the most important year, and it was also the most difficult. My growth felt exponential, and while I’d learned all the technical skills to do the job in Year One, I felt like I no longer had a safety net and I felt like the pressure was on! Despite the challenges though, I feel that the work I did helped lay the foundation for a lot of the deep Client relationships I’d been building.

Year Three was unique because of the pandemic. While we all tried to figure out what was happening with ourselves and the world, I learned about the relationship between self-care and the ability to take care of others, including Clients. COVID was an eye-opener and helped me focus on what matters – my health, my relationships, and care for Clients. This year really reiterated for me why I’m doing the work that I do. Going through such a tough experience with my teammates and with Clients was a gift, and I’m so grateful to have been a part of the relationships that Yeske Buie has with its Clients. You can’t find that anywhere else.

Thank you for everything, Alishia! You will be missed!