Having worked with a number of different banks over the years, I had the opportunity to work with institutions and their employees. Ultimately, it always came down to offering educational customer service. You never forget where you came from, and I grew up in middle America.  My focus has always been on providing high-quality customer service, meeting face-to-face with clients to discuss their needs and providing educational support so each customer can understand modern portfolio tools to truly help families see how bright the future can be and so they’d  feel comfortable knowing their assets were in the right hands. Whether I was meeting with professors, government workers, or employees from other institutions, my goal was always to provide one-on-one support and help my clients achieve their financial goals. That’s the core of my work, rather than offering solutions that benefit me more than the customers. I once visited a local cobbler to get some shoes repaired. The cobbler stopped me and remarked that I must be a salesman, noting that my left shoe had more wear than the right due to all the time I spent getting in and out of the car. This anecdote serves as a testament to the level of dedication I bring to my work each and every day, meeting countless clients and helping them get on track towards achieving a great retirement through financial planning. I may be in sales, but I sleep well at night knowing I’m improving lives. Whether I’m working with institutions, corporations, small businesses, non-profit organizations or offering one-on-one advice, I am committed to providing top-quality educational services to all of my clients. I found profound value in knowing that I had educated and impacted a person’s life by helping them create plans to be able retire comfortably. Many are so busy with building their lives, they don't have the time or energy for planning ahead towards an outstanding retirement when it will eventually come around full circle! One particular instance that stands out in my mind is when I met an extremely talented band director for Tennessee State University. He was woefully unprepared for his retirement and in his early 50s. He was investing very little and was not prepared to even think about retirement! As with many families, his wife planned their funds. So when went home to tell his wife we would be meeting, she was put-off.  “Who is Karl Shepperd! Who does he think he is?! Who’s going to tell YOU what to do with YOUR money!?” A few months after we met,  he was unfortunately murdered while attempting to deescalate a neighborly dispute. After some time, his wife and I spoke. She told me that despite her initial reactions, she was glad to have met me because our discussion has affected how they planned their finances. In fact, they found financial freedom quickly by paying off debts prior to the incident. I was able to protect her asset portfolio thanks to the solutions we put in place, shortly prior. My personal motto is simple: “Whenever you do the right thing for the right reasons for the right people,  you can sleep best at night” Unfortunately right now there are too many agents doing the wrong thing by taking advantage of people.