By Greg Bartalos

From Oklahoma to Oklahoma!, Jill Williams grew up in the heartland then went to New York City where she pursued a career on Broadway. She sang and danced for 15 years, appearing in Oklahoma!, The Secret Garden, and A Chorus Line among other musicals.

"But like so many, I found myself with another show ending, and I was a single mom at the time," says Williams, an Ameriprise Financial private wealth advisor and CEO of Nexus Wealth Management on the latest The Way Forward podcast. "I began to think about what I would do for my second act."

Williams asked a contact who worked then at a Fortune 500 company, "Is there anything that you can imagine I could do in your world?" She replied, "I think you would be great in financial services."

Williams decided to pursue the suggestion. "Even though I was 15 years into something that seemed completely unrelated, it prepared me for what I do now," she said, citing discipline, being able to endure "a lot of rejection," and having a strong work ethic. "I was an artist who was never willing to starve, and many are, but I wasn't."

Two decades into her second act, Williams leads a team of six at her Montclair, New Jersey practice where she manages more than $300 million and serves over 200 clients. Drawing on lessons learned from her first act on Broadway, Williams relates to the challenges and uncertainty facing clients who suddenly face the loss of income due to a layoff, severe health setback, or other unexpected challenge. Below are highlights from our conversation, which have been edited for clarity (you can listen to the podcast and read the full transcript here):

   -- Recognizing passions and areas of expertise. "I think as an advisor, it's 
      important to be able to have conversations that are about more than just 
      a balance sheet and cash flow, and all of the considerations that come 
      into play as it pertains to financial security. It's really understanding, 
      'What do you love? What are you great at? Where do you have access to 
      resources? And who is in your network?'" 
   -- Preparing clients for the worst-case scenario. "It's really just ensuring 
      that you are creating a safe space for them to look at that worst case. A 
      lot of times when you help people understand that data is black and white, 
      and start there, I can show them what it looks like in terms of the worst 
      case and that we can get through that. Where do you have wiggle room? 
      Where do you have discretion? What is fixed around cash flow and around 
      the limits of your balance sheet? And let's start thinking about being 
      more aggressive with saving." 
 
   -- The importance of balance. "Balance is everything. My philosophy is to 
      have three buckets of money all tied to different time horizons and 
      purposes and making sure that you are diversified in every way so that 
      you're tax diversified and your asset allocation is tied to your comfort 
      level with volatility and risk and all the traditional approaches to 
      balance. But balance is key." 
 
   -- Top priorities for newly unemployed clients. "Sometimes I will get 
      referred to a prospective client who is in this situation and has just 
      found themselves at a certain age, all of a sudden out of a really high 
      paying job, and they've always had stability like you described, and all 
      of a sudden they don't. That requires immediate attention to cash flow, 
      someone's burn rate, what is their spend, what is required to live their 
      life? You start there. You just roll up your sleeves." 
 
   -- What Williams enjoys most about her job. "It's really just making sure 
      that clients understand there is a way out, and you're going to help them 
      find it. And that's something that I love more than anything about what I 
      do. It's one thing to have a plan perfectly in place, and it's coasting 
      along. It's another thing to be able to have an impact in someone's life 
      and around the things that matter most to them." 

Instilling hope in struggling clients. "I think that if people can see in someone else something that can give them a sense of hope, then that's really important. I think as an advisor, just finding in your own story, what were those times in your life? We all have them. What were those times in your life that your back was against the wall and all of the odds pointed against you achieving something that you went on to achieve? And then just reminding them that you are going to help them find what it is that they need to find themselves back on track."

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 04, 2025 14:57 ET (19:57 GMT)

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