Today we’d like to introduce you to Mike Smith and Lucas Lawson.
After 23 years of service with TRW and rising to a Regional Director position, Mike was laid off in 1992. As the sole breadwinner of his family and with two kids in college he was forced to make some tough decisions. Should he seek another managerial position with a large firm that didn’t look out for his best interests or should he rely on his own abilities to earn a living?
Mike responded to an ad in the newspaper for a career in financial services. He soon learned that it was a commission-based position focused on life insurance sales. With the support of his wife, Mike decided to completely focus on his new career and devoted the time and energy it took to grow his practice and make a decent living.
By 2005 Mike had transitioned his practice into a financial advisory practice and was increasing his role as an investment advisor. Mike’s practice had grown to a point where he felt the need to bring on a partner so he started mentoring Lucas Lawson, who had been building his own practice and was named “Rookie of the Year” for the John Hancock office in Dallas. Mike and Lucas recognized the benefit of working together and utilizing each other’s strengths to provide the best possible service to clients.
In 2007, they hired an experienced support person, Sharon Scott, to handle marketing initiatives and provide administrative assistance. Over the past few years as the practice has continued to grow and flourish making it necessary to hire an additional administrative support person, Laurie Ray and an additional advisor, Andrew Mitchell. Another advisor is expected to be added to the team in the upcoming year.
By 2014 Mike and Lucas were ready to formalize their partnership and create their own identity within the firm they were working. So Nfocus Financial Partners, LLC was created. Over the years both Mike and Lucas have worked with business consultants to guide them in developing a successful operation. Their hard work was recognized when Nfocus Financial Partners won the prestigious “Practice of the Year” award contest in 2016 determined by a select group of independent industry specialists. This was confirmation that their commitment to excellence was recognized within the financial services industry and reaffirms to their clients that they are working with one of the most successfully run practices in the nation.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
All successful businesses experience growing pains and Nfocus Financial is no different.
One of the biggest hurdles to overcome was to create our own identity. Because Mike and Lucas share office space with the local Dallas Signator branch, they have been known to their clients by whatever name the local branch was using. And because the local branch has gone through several name changes over the years, this caused a lot of confusion amongst their clients. Forming their own separate identity as Nfocus Financial Partners solved this problem.
Emphasizing to prospective clients that they’re not in the life insurance sales business has also been a challenge. Our industry has changed over the years and even though we do advise our clients on life insurance products, we only do so if there is an actual need. We primarily offer comprehensive financial advice.
Also, we are required to adhere to very strict rules and regulations that exist within our industry. As these new rules and requirements are made, we have had to adjust our business processes and procedures to accommodate them.
With a growing team, the roles of the Founders as Financial Advisors had to expand to incorporate managing staff and training new advisors as well.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with NFocus Financial Partners – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
As our name indicates, we strive to keep our focus on our clients. We engage in discussions to establish their financial needs, wants, and goals. We then apply our knowledge and experience to formulating a strategy around each client’s particular set of circumstances and goals. This is accomplished by utilizing sophisticated analysis tools and having access to an extensive selection of high quality financial instruments.
We are focused on building life-long relationships with our clients founded on trust. After the initial analysis and goal-setting process, it’s important that our clients feel comfortable to call on any member of our team for assistance. We conduct regular financial reviews with clients throughout the years to ensure the strategies we put in place are still working for them and host a variety of financial workshops that will help our clients make informed decisions.
What sets us apart from other advisors is that we are independent and free to partner with a number of different financial institutions to present the best strategies available.
We are also dedicated to providing the highest level of service possible and continually work to improve our practice. We conduct regular client surveys to ensure we are performing at the highest levels.
We are particularly proud of the fact that our hard work and dedication to building a successful practice was recognized as Signator Investor’s “Practice of the Year” in 2016.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Mike will be retiring at the end of 2018 and his practice will transition into the very capable hands of Lucas Lawson. We anticipate this to be a seamless transition for the following reasons:
• Mike and Lucas have worked side by side for over 15 years and approach their practices in very much the same way.
• Andrew is already taking over some advisory responsibilities.
• A new advisor will be added in the next year so we a can continue to meet the commitments we’ve made to our clients.
• Sharon will continue to provide marketing and client services support.
• Laurie will continue to handle client service requests and administrative tasks for the team.
Additionally, Mike plans to stay involved for a few years after he retires to mentor or coach.
Contact Info:
- Address: 17300 Dallas Parkway, Suite 1000
Dallas, TX 75248 - Website: http://www.nfocusfinancial.com/
- Phone: (972) 759-3915
- Email: msmith@nfocusfinancial.com or llawson@nfocusfinancial.com
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