About Aaron Winer

Why I Got Into This Profession

In 1997, following a 10-year stint as a swimming coach at the club and collegiate levels, I found myself yearning for a different challenge, one where I could continue “coaching” people while also exploring my interests in finance and psychology. At the time I felt as though I was under-utilizing myself, that in spite of how much I enjoyed my profession there was more I could be doing, both for myself and for others.

Earlier that year I had the experience of working with my mother’s financial advisor, helping him organize her finances and allocate her investments. I was surprised at how easy this came to me and how much I enjoyed the experience, and I recall being captivated by the role he played in her life, that of a trusted advisor. It also surprised me how similar my work was to his; both involved providing direction, guidance, support and leadership, yet there seemed to be much higher levels of all of this in what he did.

About a year later I was at the pool coaching a group of Masters swimmers training for a triathlon, when I decided to approach a highly successful executive recruiter who swam for me. I told him that five days a week I willingly gave him an hour of my time, and now I wanted an hour of his time. I asked him to take me through his process, to help me discover how to make the best use of my abilities and enable me to reach something closer to my full human potential.

At the completion of our session, his assessment of me led him to several conclusions: that I had a natural way with guiding people to their goals, that I should remain in a helping profession, and that I should make my living consulting with people on a one-to-one basis to facilitate improvements in their lives. All of that was the easy part, he said. But if I could further educate myself, pass a multitude of securities exams, convince someone to hire me and work 60 hours a week for at least a couple of years, the ideal career for me was to become a Financial Advisor. Ten months later I was appointed as a registered representative at a Fortune 500 firm, and one week after that and had my first five clients: a Spanish language television producer, a saleswoman at Nordstrom, a dot-com CEO, a physician, and a retired PG&E executive and his wife.

Years later I had the opportunity to thank my friend the recruiter, whose keen understanding of my capabilities set me on this path, and for that I am grateful.