Interview with the man himself: Wes Brown
Wesley is a regular Finance Friday contributor on CleverlyChanging.com as well as the owner of W K Brown Financial Services, Inc. which is headquartered in Gaithersburg, MD but also has offices in the Greater Washington, DC area including Bethesda and North Potomac, MD as well as Falls Church, VA. We welcome your insights and thank you for always sharing your valuable knowledge.
Q-Can you share a little about yourself and why you are passionate about finances?
Ans-Yes, growing up I discovered I was very outgoing. I’m very comfortable meeting new people and was adept at breaking the ice. I soon discovered that people had no problem telling me things that many would be too shy to tell a stranger and I never felt the urge to betray the confidence they entrusted to me .
One quirk that has really helped me is that I was always a little too into numbers. I remembered everything related to them, everyone’s phone number, addresses and zip codes, birthday’s, what year various pop culture occurred, sports facts ect. The fact is I see the world in terms of numbers and not words like most.
My parents instilled in me a sense of service to the community. Helping others has always been its own reward. Another thing I picked up from them was the entrepreneur spirit, they both operate their own businesses. So, I guess when you put all those things together with the fact that I thrive on new challenges there was only one industry for me.
Q-As a financial adviser is there a common trend that you see from parents trying to sort out their finances?
Ans-Yes, I commonly see parents putting too much stress on themselves to get it all right. There are so many challenges that parents have to deal with. Many times parents are being pulled in so many directions that they put themselves and their families’ finances last. This is in large part due to being inundated with information when trying to tackle financial decisions. Personal Finances is a mixture of art and science so there is no one right answer. Sometime seemingly very complicated issues can be simplified into these steps: Don’t Wait, Budget, Plan, and Automate. This doesn’t mean that situations will not change and that the plan will not require tweaking but Step 1 is key. So don’t get caught up in what I like to call paralysis by analysis. A bad plan can be fixed but a plan delayed will surely fail.
Q-Do you have any general financial advice for new parents?
Ans-There are several stages of financial life. Most new parents are in the Yearning or Earning stage. This stage is where you establish a career, accumulate assets like cars, houses etc. When you add in kids, new parents are doing all they can just to stay afloat financially. The thing to remember during this stage, as it relates to long term financial goals, is to just get started. No matter how small the amount, consistency will pay off and is far better than large sporadic contributions. So get started now.
Q-What is the name of your company and where is it located?
Ans-W K Brown Financial Services is an umbrella company. Some of you will recognize the names of the companies that we do business as Ohio National Financial Services, BancStar Mortgage and PropLocate Realty.
Q-How long has your company existed?
Ans-I have been in the Financial Services Industry for 7 Years and have operated my own company for 5 Years. I spent the first 2 years of my career completing an exit residency at First Financial Group in Bethesda, MD. My first year I spearheaded the expansion of the firm into the Mortgage Industry and my second year I was promoted to director of Real Estate Development. Upon completion of my Residency, I received a Master of Business Administration degree from the Florida A&M University School of Business and Industry.
Q-What type of services do you offer? Are phone consultations available?
Ans-We are a comprehensive financial services firm and offer our clients a wider variety of products and services than anyone else in the industry. Our clients enjoy specialized financial planning for individuals, families, executives, self employed persons and business owners.
We offer our clients retirement planning, college planning, asset management, wealth accumulation planning, business succession planning, business indemnity planning, employee benefits, insurance, residential real estate, mortgages, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate investment, and tax preparation services.
We are a fee based financial services firm and provide a free initial consultation via telephone.
Q-How can you be reached?
Ans-I can always be reached directly for my clients convenience at (202) 250-3403.
I have learned so much from you and your articles, as I am sure CleverlyChanging’s readers would all agree. Your articles are simple, practical, and full of new insights all at the same time. Thank you again for your time and for contributing regularly.