About
Stephanie Sammons, CEO and Founder of WIRED ADVISOR™
Social Media Trends in Financial Services from Wired Advisor on Vimeo.
My name is Stephanie Sammons. In early 2009, I left my 15 year career in the global wirehouse financial services world as a producing Regional Sales Manager to launch my company, WIRED ADVISOR™. This had been an idea in my head for years as I had become fascinated with the way that the internet and social communications were commanding more of our time, energy, and social experiences. I knew that we would have to be willing, prepared, and smart about embracing these changes and integrating them into the practice of helping consumers to plan, manage, grow, and transition their wealth to the next generation. As a first mover into social media for financial services, I set out to navigate the path, learn everything that I possibly could, and carry the torch before most had even begun thinking about it.
Why am I Qualified to Do This???
A Lifetime of Leadership and a Competitive Spirit
Competing in team sports my entire life, I was a point guard basketball player for top NCAA I and Division II universities as well as a basketball coach and high school business teacher right out of college. Prior to meeting me, people think I’m 6’3″, but I’m only 5’3″ 
. Through a lifetime of leading and coaching others in competitive sports, I’ve learned how to teach, lead, motivate, and inspire others to leverage their strengths and focus on their talents for success.
I’ve Walked in Your Shoes
When I began my career as a financial advisor at Merrill Lynch in 1995, no one handed me accounts. In fact, I had to beg for a job as a financial advisor and finally got hired after 3 interviews (and 3 NO’s!). At the age of 24, I flat out hustled. I quickly learned how to discover assets, build trust, and develop long-term relationships with great clients. My early success as a financial advisor eventually provided me a gateway into leading and coaching hundreds of new and seasoned financial advisors in the industry. I’ve been through two corporate leadership programs (Merrill Lynch and UBS), managed branches, and my last role was a producing Regional Sales Manager at Merrill Lynch. For my entire leadership and management career in financial services, I continued to also manage a book of high net worth clients. I never got out of those trenches until I gave up my book and took a severance package in early 2009. I always wanted to sit in the shoes of my peers.
A Genetic Predisposition and a Calling Into Entrepreneurship
Eventually I left corporate America after 15 years because it was time. My father is a very successful entrepreneur, and I always knew I’d follow in his footsteps. It was time to launch my creative and innovate dream for the way financial services relationships should be built in the age of real-time “social” communications. Financial professionals are human beings, not corporate machines or robots. If we truly want to connect and build successful relationships in a wired world, we must showcase our personalities, passions, interests, and dedicate ourselves to serving the appropriate market segments that fit into our lives and lifestyles. We must match the experiences and expectations of our clients. We must meet them where they are.
A Technical Background from a Creative Personal Passion
I’ve been a musician for all of my life and for the past 10+ years a recording musician. I write music and lyrics, play guitar, record, engineer, and produce using technical software and sophisticated audio equipment in my home studio. I’m passionate about taking a creative idea and building it into something that can move and inspire others.
I believe the skills that are required to achieve tremendous success in the age of social media are: leadership skills, emotional and social intelligence, communication skills, smart marketing and selling skills, technical know-how, confidence to put yourself out there, and certainly a healthy dose of creativity. These are skills that I have and they are skills that I have been honing and polishing for my entire life and career. I don’t want to ever stop learning!
Currently I speak across the country about relationship and reputation marketing in the age of social media. I write constantly for my own blogs and for other well-known media properties. In my spare time (of which there is very little) I enjoy hiking, biking, and snowboarding in the Rocky Mountains, running, music, travel, great food and wine, and meeting new people! I’m also a member of the North Texas Angel Network, Social Media Club of Dallas, and a fan of the “local” movement, including “locavesting” !
Please explore the WIRED ADVISOR™ website and contact us to learn more about evolving your business in the age of social media. You can follow me on Twitter @stephsammons and @wiredadvisor. Join our LinkedIn Group (2000+ members and NO marketers, sorry!), and join our Facebook Community of over 900 forward-thinking financial professionals who are changing the way financial solutions are being delivered!
Stephanie Sammons, around the web:
Wired Advisor Social Media Portfolio
Social Media Marketing 101 Whitepaper
Free LinkedIn Guide for Professionals (contributor to Hubspot EBook)
Social Media Examiner (regular contributor)
Horsesmouth.com (regular contributor)
Brighttalk – View past webcasts from Stephanie
Connect with Wired Advisor