We offer this occasional series as your introduction to our volunteer advisors — just a few of your neighbors who truly make local business tick.
Mary Jo Lyons is a certified financial planner and owner of Preferred Financial Strategies in Mooresville, providing extensive expertise in designing financial strategies for individuals, families and small business owners.
As an independent financial advisor with no proprietary affiliation, Lyons says she acts as a fiduciary for her clients to offer truly unbiased advice. She says she believes in establishing a disciplined process and works to provide clients with the confidence they need to stay dedicated and focused in achieving their financial goals.
A Texas native, Lyons is a graduate of Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi, and lives with her husband in the Lake Norman area. As her detailed responses below will affirm, Lyons confesses to wanting to be a novelist in her next life.
What three words best describe your business style?
Consultative, candid, client-focused.
Who are your mentors, business or otherwise, and why?
I've been fortunate to have had many mentors in my business and professional life, too many to name. Along the way these mentors have taught me as much about what not to do as what to do in life and business. In my personal life my father had a big influence on me by providing me clarity around right and wrong. Leslie, an old friend, showed me how much better it is to see the world through a glass half-full mentality. Her positive attitude despite many challenges was a huge eye-opener for me.
How do you balance work, personal and leisure time?
It's important to have time to disconnect, decompress, reflect and recharge. I'm fortunate to now have the opportunity to work for myself as an independent financial planner, having spent many years in the corporate world. I'm a pretty understanding boss. As a caregiver for a parent with Alzheimer's, I juggle a lot. My husband is in the same industry and understands fully the demands of the job. He's extremely supportive and we approach the daily chores as a team. I take advantage of his travel days to burn the midnight oil when needed. Family time is a priority for both of us. We value our down time. We love to travel and when traveling we do our best to disconnect. I love what technology can do for me and appreciate the flexibility and mobility we now have, however, I am not a slave to it.
What advice would you give a local entrepreneurial hopeful?
Measure the risk-reward potential very carefully; seek guidance from other business owners; be open to feedback; follow your gut; use common sense and save, save, save. Make sure you have sufficient resources to weather the slow times. Everything costs more than you think it will and the start-up phase will be longer than you anticipate as well. I would offer encouragement but caution.
If you had it to do over again, what professional path would you choose?
It's a tossup between a teacher and an interior decorator. I love educating clients. While in the corporate world I always ended up in a training role. I've been told I'm a teacher at heart. My father was a teacher and I have had many clients that are teachers. I'm also equally left-brained and right-brained. I have a strong creative side and enjoy putting things together to create a desired outcome. I guess that is the planner in me coming out. Financial planning is as much art as it is science.
What about being a business owner/leader makes your PULSE race?
I love educating people about all of the moving pieces of their financial life and how they fit together. I get a lot of personal satisfaction out of helping individuals, families and small business owners put aside their fears and achieve their financial dreams. When clients are able to retire early, leave a job they hate or provide their daughter the wedding of her dreams, due to the work we have done together, it does make my pulse race.
There is strength in having a well thought out plan and a disciplined savings strategy.
I'm blessed to have the opportunity and freedom to serve clients the way I think it should be done. I answer only to myself and the client (oh, and the regulators, can't forget them!). As a Certified Financial Planner Practitioner I serve as a fiduciary for my clients. Everything I do for them is in their best interest. As an independent business owner I can offer truly unbiased, objective advice with no incentive to sell a particular product or service. This inspires confidence in my clients and makes me feel good about the work that I do on their behalf.
As a Lake Norman-area business owner I am enjoying the opportunity to engage with other business owners and support local non-profits that tug at my heart.
Contact Lyons at 704-658-1040 or visit www.FinancialStrategiesForLife.com.
