By: Pete Marshall
Twenty years ago this month, Marshall Financial Group was founded! It is amazing how quickly time passes. In 2005, Lindy and I were married and bought our first house. The guest bedroom became the first MFG office. In some ways 2005 feels like yesterday, but when I think back to all those moments, they feel like a lifetime ago.
In the early days of Marshall Financial Group, it was truly a full-time job (day and night). I would meet with clients during the day and work on paperwork in the evenings and weekends. Communication was mostly via phone or in person compared to today’s communications via email and zoom. Even though the Marshall Financial “Group” was really just me back then, I enjoyed the work very much. My role in the firm is different now that we’ve grown so much but it’s still incredibly fulfilling and a lot of fun most of the time!
I believe that everything happens for a reason. There were a number of important God-moments along the way and as I reflect back, I can really see how they helped shape MFG’s journey. In no particular order:
- Lindy left her job working for a marketing firm to help with MFG. Her knowledge of branding and advertising helped make our firm look much more professional when we were boot strapping it in the early days.
- I tore my ACL/MCL/Meniscus playing “old man” basketball. At that time, I was still doing almost everything for the firm – from meeting with clients to taking out the trash. The recovery time from my knee surgery forced me to delegate and opened my eyes early on to the importance of trusting work to others.
- We hired an amazing business coach, Erik Sauer from On3 Coaching, who helped us develop and implement many of the systems that we still use today.
- Partnering with Mike Helgesen doubled our managed assets within the course of a year. Mike was also an independent financial advisor, and we met by chance at a conference dinner. We enjoyed each other’s company and realized that we ran our practices very similarly. This partnership was an extremely significant part of our journey.
- We began working with a business broker who introduced me to numerous advisors throughout the years. These conversations allowed us to understand the thought process and psychology of advisors and what they are looking for as they explore continuity of investment management and financial planning for their clients. This also opened up many opportunities to partner with other firms the way we did with Mike Helgesen.
- Hiring my two partners Sheryl Parks and Anthony Pugliese was one of the most important moments throughout the MFG journey – they both really supercharged the firm. They have helped to make almost every key decision and their commitment to our clients and what we are building is unmatched. Anthony was extremely good operationally and Sheryl was a workhorse advisor savant. They were both in the right place at the right time. We joined together and never looked back.
From our humble beginnings in a guest bedroom to our current state-of-the-art offices in Hunt Valley, we have consistently kept our focus on providing exceptional services to our clients and advisor partners. I would be remiss if I did not mention our amazing team members that have worked with us over the years and share my commitment to excellence. Each of them has contributed to taking our firm to the next level whether from a financial planning, investments, operations, or technology standpoint. As we began, we still strive to be best in class in all facets of the business.
We genuinely appreciate the hard work and dedication of our team members and savor the relationships that we have built with many advisors over the years. However, the greatest gift that our firm has received is the ability to collaborate with our amazing clients as they pursue their goals. It is our honor to be a part of this process with you, and we look forward to a very bright future working together!