This week, Real Money, Real Experts, was live on YouTube with AFCPE Board President, Andi Wrenn. Andi, Mary, and Rachael recap all things 2023 AFCPE Symposium. If you joined us for Symposium this year, come reminisce with us. If you didn't attend this year, tune in to learn what its all about. We also get to learn more about Andi's professional journey, and she shares two times the two cents!
Want to get involved with AFCPE®?
Here are a few places to start: Become a Member, Sign up for an Essentials Course, or Get AFC Certified today!
Want to support the podcast? We love partnering with organizations that share our mission and values. Download our media kit.
This week, Real Money, Real Experts, was live on YouTube with AFCPE Board President, Andi Wrenn. Andi, Mary, and Rachael recap all things 2023 AFCPE Symposium. If you joined us for Symposium this year, come reminisce with us. If you didn't attend this year, tune in to learn what its all about. We also get to learn more about Andi's professional journey, and she shares two times the two cents!
Want to get involved with AFCPE®?
Here are a few places to start: Become a Member, Sign up for an Essentials Course, or Get AFC Certified today!
Want to support the podcast? We love partnering with organizations that share our mission and values. Download our media kit.
Hi everyone. Welcome to Real Money, real Experts , uh, live. We are super excited, Mary and I to be joined by AF CPE's, board President Andy Ren . And we invited Andy here today to recap , uh, something exciting that we were part of last week , the annual A-F-C-P-E symposium. Uh, for those of you who dunno , Andy Ren , she is this year's A-F-C-P-E Board President. She's a longtime member of A-F-C-P-E-A very proud A FC . And for most of us in this community, you know her as a mentor and an educator. She has touched the lives of so many in our community. Um, and we just wanted to give a few moments to let Andy introduce herself , um, and talk a little bit about her experience this past week at the symposium.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you so much for that great introduction. So I wanted to just say one thing that I loved our opening session and how it made me think about , um, my path to becoming an A FC. They had that meeting in Iowa 40 years ago. I was sitting eight miles away in my junior high, or junior. I was a junior in high school , um, classroom. And I was like, oh man, I wish I would've known about this then, right? Or shortly after. That would've been great. Um, but I didn't find out about it until much later. I was 40. I and I really, I came, I became a teacher first. I always knew I wanted to be a teacher. I was a math teacher. And elementary education I did both because I liked both tracks. I love money. Um, and the whole math thing is part of that. Um, and I coached, I coached gymnastics , uh, then I married somebody in the military and teaching, moving that with a military career is very difficult sometimes. The pay was a huge difference in pay when I moved the first time with him and I had a gymnastics business that had 10 , um, gyms, or sorry, 10 private schools and daycares and two gyms. And I was a national judge and that's just something you can't replicate in a year when you move. Um, I did do it the first time we moved and that's when I found out about there were jobs that you could do this. I did it with my employees. You know, that's how I got a lot of my hours before I even started was I did financial education with my employees at the gym. And I also, my gymnasts, I taught them money for their, you know, 10 point routines. Rachel knows about 10 points I do <laugh> . So, you know , on bars if you get this many degrees, it's gonna be this many 30 cents off your score. It , you know what I mean? <laugh> like
Speaker 3:Money
Speaker 2:Every day at the gym. And , um, anyway, so I found out about this. I was already helping military spouses when their spouse was deployed to pay off their debt and to have money in savings when their spouse came home from deployment. And then I saw the 2006 scholarship for the FINRA Foundation Fellowship, and I knew we were only gonna live somewhere for a year. And it said it was a three year commitment. So I didn't apply for 2006. So then I saw it again in 2007 and I applied and , um, what a fantastic opportunity that was. And I worked at Bowling Air Force Base two days a week and Fort Meyer two days a week, got my hours pretty quickly , um, did a lot of presentations at one place. Did a lot of one-on-one on the other place. And then I had, you know, a great opportunity helping military spouses get hours , um, after I became an A FC. And then, you know, I've been working with the military contract since then. <laugh> and I retired from that corporate world in , uh, almost two years now. Wow . So I know , I just have fun educating people. I love doing continuing ed and experience our programs. So it's, it's just my passion . This is where I fit.
Speaker 3:Andy , I'd love to hear this whole evolution, right? You came from a gymnast background. Little did we know <laugh> .
Speaker 1:Yeah. And I was just gonna say, I think even I love when you say you retired <laugh>. Um , and I think you're a really great example of how you can take that passion and weave it for different areas, different periods of your life. And I think, you know, the A FC can work in so many different capacities and I feel like you really showcase that your retirement is sort of busy , more of , I don't know what the word is, <laugh> . It's busy, but it's, it's what you wanna be doing. You're, you know, now you're able, you know , you were just talking about now you're able to do some gotta the the stuff . Yeah . The things you love to do, you get to choose, which is pretty amazing too. Yeah ,
Speaker 3:Yeah . You know, that's one thing at this A-F-C-P-E symposium that we really heard a lot of is stories , right? What's your story? And Rachel, you know, over the last four years I've been thinking about the podcast that we've been doing and every single episode that we run , when we ask people about their background, they're like, well, I didn't come up the typical route. So I think that as has shown over four years now, there is no one way to go about coming through the pipeline. Right? Yeah. And so one of the things I wanna kind of hone in on here are the stories that we just heard at symposium. All these different, we had a lot of new people this time. We had a lot of first time attendees this
Speaker 1:Year. More than 300 .
Speaker 3:That's fantastic. So let's jump into that a bit of, of how that looks. All these different stories coming together under one roof, under one umbrella.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Do you want me to take it or Andy, you have a thought
Speaker 3:Dave , jump in. What are your thoughts <laugh> ?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think, you know, for me, we started the symposium with the story. You know, we had , uh, we had a panel of people that represented our past, our evolution, our present, and our future. And a lot of the things we've been talking about this year is that, you know, we stand on the shoulders of those that came before us. And what an honor it is . Not only to honor their story, but to, to grow along with , uh, the organization and where the world is moving. Um, and to me that was fun. You know, I love, we , we joke , uh, bill Gusta said , I think we had story time with Bill after the opening session. He's a wealth of stories. But , um, one of my favorite parts of the symposium are the stories that you hear, not necessarily on the main stage, which we hear a lot of them are in the breakouts. But in those quiet conversations that you have in the hallway, those are where, that's where the impact really happens. And I know Andy feels that as well.
Speaker 2:I love hallway chats. When we were doing the virtual symposiums, that's what I did. Like, I was like, oh, every morning before we start and when we get done at the end of the day, I had a zoom room open so we could talk and have those hallway chats. 'cause that's what we missed. Yeah. So I love that. And I did pop into one of the virtual networking sessions , um, this year on Friday morning. That was kind of fun. I was like, I did it on my phone. I shouldn't, I should have brought the computer down. 'cause it was hard to kind of navigate <laugh> . Yeah . I'm like, where's that video button? I couldn't find it the second time. I found it the first time. But anyway, that was really fun to see people, because I knew a lot of people in there and it was great to see them and saw some people I had never seen before too. So
Speaker 3:I love , you know, one of the points I wanna bring up to someone who maybe hasn't attended , um, is the fact that you can come. We just talked to someone, they're like, well, we weren't able to make it in person this year. But I will tell you, I've been to a lot of conferences in my life. A-F-C-P-E does a bang up job of having both a live version and a virtual one. So we had several situations, even last minute changes. Someone gets sick or the flight gets canceled or something else. Guess what? You can still join us virtually. So anyone that maybe is wanting to dip their toe into the sand or doesn't really know if they can make it to Columbus with us next year, that's okay. Still join us online join because it is an incredible experience. And hat talk to the A-F-C-P-E team for making that happen.
Speaker 2:Rachel, I remember you said something about the number of people who were candidates that were
Speaker 1:Proposing you're putting me on the spot and I it was over
Speaker 3:50 .
Speaker 2:I remember you said it was over 50 and I was like, that is, oh yeah . A fantastic number. I love that because they probably, I know a lot of the people that in my classes were like, this was so exciting. And I had several that ended their numbers. Like they finished their hours at symposium. I did a lot of verification forms yesterday and today. So that was a great way to end it.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And we also had, so we, we had some special guests for the new AFCs that came to the symposium this year. And then we, as part of the award ceremony, we went through their names. But you know, I know it, it's really meaningful to the certification team to meet the people that they talk to all the time over the phone as they're supporting, you know, you through your program. And then to be able to come together and really celebrate that at the symposium was , was really neat .
Speaker 3:So let me ask a question. Yeah . Can I ask, what was a highlight experience or presentation that really stuck out for the both of you?
Speaker 1:Like choosing your favorite child, right.
Speaker 3:Oh dear. Don't even have to put a face with it . Just give us a topic. Something that really hit home for you though. And maybe it was a conversation That's okay too. I'll go first. 'cause I think I'm the one that puts everyone on the spot. <laugh>. Um , I'm gonna go to the hallway. To be honest, that to me is amazing. That is where everything, and it's not just the hallway, it's the upstairs, it's the downstairs <laugh> . It's , it's literally as you're like washing your hands in the bathroom. It's the people that you meet and connect with. And I just had so many incredible conversations with people that I would've never crossed paths with before . In fact, the only disappointing thing from A-F-C-P-E this year was I literally got on the plane and I looked at my LinkedIn feed and it was all these people that were there and that I didn't know <laugh> . Like we didn't cross paths . So that was , I kept seeing regret . You were there, <laugh> . I
Speaker 2:Kept seeing people, like on the last day, I'm like, where have you been the
Speaker 3:Whole week? Oh my gosh,
Speaker 2:How can we not see you until today? Yeah,
Speaker 1:I, I've already sent a couple of emails like that too . Mary, how do we go through three days and we're , you know, as it grows, how do you keep it still so intimate that you get to find everybody that you wanna connect with while you're there?
Speaker 3:Totally.
Speaker 2:Kinda like going to a small, I went to a small high school in Iowa, right. And then my kids went to a big school in Arlington, Virginia. And that's what I, I think of like, in the early days the symposium was smaller, like my high school and you could know everybody, but like this week was that Arlington High School and you don't get to know everybody and it's really hard and it's sad. Um, I'm gonna say that the symposium committee did a fantastic bang up job on the four general sessions. Like that was fantastic. Yeah . And you guys, your opening session was fantastic too because it gave, it was a really good balance of fun energy to get us going and that kind of thing. But I did two things and I did, I had over 80 people in my lunch and learn Yeah. On captivating your audience. And that was fantastic because people shared like, that's the whole way I teach, right? Like I talk about a topic and then I want people to share their best practices too. I have a totally different style than most people when it comes to presenting <laugh> , but that was really great. So I like ate my food really fast before we started so I could talk them all time <laugh> . But everybody was wonderful at sharing and giving and I know I saw people taking notes all the time. I wrote down a couple notes and that, that was really great. But book study, we did that Pres symposium and I feel like book study had 50 people in it this year, which was great. And you know, we've done it virtually for three years now. But in person was just awesome. It was great to , you know , at the beginning I said how many people have done book study virtually before, over half of them . It was great. And I think that that got them really energized for that first session. 'cause they really got to meet people and network before we started and really enjoyed both of those. Um mm-Hmm . <affirmative> just personally as much as the general sessions and things like that.
Speaker 1:So I have two thoughts kind of circling back to Andy's comment about us growing. I think one of the things that, and I know Andy feels this way, but the staff does too. The more people we meet, part of the fun about our community is then, you know, you meet someone and you say, oh, you need to know this person. And it's really a connector. And so while we grow and we feel larger, there are so many people within this community always say, we're a community of abundance, not scarcity. There's so much need for every single person in this space. And so I would just say, if you're listening to this and you met someone at symposium, think about who else you can connect them with because that's how we make the most impact. Yeah . Um, and then the other session that really resonated with me , uh, were the awards and , um, every, you know, rep recognizing every single person that went through , uh, that award ceremony from the symposium sessions that, you know, were voted by their peers as best awards to the member awards. And I had the honor of visiting with Civil Solomon , um, the night before the award ceremony. And she was named the Distinguished Fellow this year. And she had no idea that she was going to be the winner. Um, she had asked because it was our , uh, 40th year and the 20th year of hers, if there was anywhere in the session she could say a few words. And I said, how would you like to close the end of our award ceremony? And she's like, oh, that would be great. And then a couple minutes before she went up, she was like , you know, I dunno if I wanna close the ceremony. And I'm thinking , you choice .
Speaker 2:She still didn't ,
Speaker 1:She still didn't . It just was a perfect culmination of, you know, she just celebrated her 50th wedding anniversary. We celebrated 40 years, she celebrated 20 years. And I just love the way it all sort of interweaved and to see, you know, everyone at that ceremony, but especially her be celebrated by her peers and all the people whose lives she touched , um, and continues to do so with money habitudes. That was a pretty special moment.
Speaker 2:Yeah . I wanna , I wanna talk a minute about the on-demand sessions, because I watch all of the on-demand sessions before you did. I do that every year and all anything that's available before we get there, I watch it. And um, of course I had a student who did the lo leave, no veteran behind. That was, that was really good. She worked on that a long time to make it, you know, very informative. It had a lot of information, but , um, there were a couple others that I just like the road to private practice that was really great. Um, financial infidelity, that was really great. You know, there were just, there were so many in there that were really fantastic and you know, some great percentages and information that you can use in the work you do. So I hope people take the opportunity, opportunity to watch those, whether they were virtual or in-person.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. And you know, the thing that's cool about that is they're different. So you can have some that are the same, but some are different. And so that's cool. By the way, you'll have access to that afterwards that you can keep living and seeing the symposium. So don't fret if you miss the presentation or if there was one live that you weren't able to get virtually, it'll be all available to you. And you're right Andy, one of the strengths I think that we have at A-F-C-P-E is the sheer fact that you can go deep technical, but you can also do stuff that's very maybe emotionally intelligent, right? You can go there is , I, a couple that I went to in person was all about psychology and understanding more about psychological behavior, which played directly into finance and then another one went a deep dive into student loans. You couldn't be too polar opposite spectrums . But at the same time, it all resonated within this umbrella of financial planning. I think that's really a huge value is you don't just come to A-F-C-P-E or watch it virtually to get one segment. You get such a, a proliferation of topics of even , um, practices. There's everything from military to government to nonprofit to private practice, so, and education, right. Academia and multiple sets within there . So you're getting such a wide variety of presenters of topics of just ideas that you really don't see any other place.
Speaker 2:And I usually suggest to people that we need that wealth of information and that diversity to be more well-rounded. If you keep going to the same things that you're interested in time and a time, time and time and time again, you're gonna be stale. Like you can take something, you can pull something from each one of those areas that are different where people see different clients or service different industry or whatever and, and you bring it into what you do and it makes you better.
Speaker 3:Totally. Well
Speaker 2:That's what's fantastic.
Speaker 3:One thing that I remember hearing this was about a bathroom conversation, but I remember hearing a woman come through and be like, whoa, the stats in that last class were mind blowing . So it reminds me that there are so many different levels for someone who's maybe new and beginning, there are courses that are like, in fact, you just mentioned one, the pathway to private practice that is for beginners, right? People who are just beginning and getting started. And if you're a true hard academic researcher and you want the breadth and depth, I promise you there are presentations that go very in depth and we'll go into methodology and research practices and you can talk about validity and reliability without making people's eyes in the back of their head roll . Like, so you really have the ability to go in wherever, whatever direction you want that meets your needs as well. So I think that's really something that not a lot of places can , can showcase with variety and topics, variety and speakers. And just so all of you know too, if you weren't there or if you're new to the profession, they're all put on by each other . So people in that practice that are specialists. So keep that in mind for next year. If you have a topic that you wanna talk about, put your name in the hat, come and present to us because we need all those voices to help us be a better, greater community.
Speaker 2:Yeah. My , uh, student shared when we did the , um, captivating your audience that I highly pressured her to apply for that on demand spot <laugh> , like <laugh>
Speaker 3:Little bit shocker, you're
Speaker 2:A little bit of pressure, but you know, I want 'em to take what they learn and do it out in public, so Yeah. Yeah, it is great. It's great that first time you present, you're a little bit worried, but then after that you're like, oh my God, that was so great. Everybody loved it. Or you know, people ask me questions and, and it went well. You just have to make it through the first time.
Speaker 1:And there's a whole community of people if you are nervous or need advice on how to present, there's always people that will offer insight and, and , and tips for doing that. And so if you're on the fence, I say connect with others in the community and , and ask about it.
Speaker 2:I know last year I worked with five people who were submitting for presentations. That was really fun because they're like, Hey, how do I do this? What do I do ? So that was fun.
Speaker 3:Hey Rachel, we do have to give you a big shoutout this year. And let's be honest , let's really pull Sarah in here. What a knockout space and place. Like that hotel was fabulous. I just heard so many compliments and just the setting was right. The place was right. Were able to great .
Speaker 1:Yeah .
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh. For everybody who missed the jazz band and the the second line parade, y'all missed out that that was killer. That was fantastic. Yeah .
Speaker 1:Sarah and I were talking, how do we, how do we top that in Columbus, Ohio? We're gonna have to get the whole Ohio State marching band
Speaker 3:<laugh> .
Speaker 1:We're gonna have ,
Speaker 2:You have to start working on that . Well , pro bono work.
Speaker 1:Uhhuh <laugh> .
Speaker 3:Yeah . Very nice . You know , entertainment in education.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was, and it's funny because that was actually, new Orleans was where we were supposed to be in 2020. And so , um, that was our location and then we went back and forth, you know, do we have it, do we pivot? And we ended up pivoting and um, but yeah, it was, it was really neat to sort of come full circle from where we thought we would be in 2020 to where we're today .
Speaker 3:Well done. I'm pleased to let your staff know as
Speaker 1:Well . Yeah , thank you. And uh , the team hears that for sure. Well , fantastic. I'm sorry I I fell off that internet here in , in Columbus, Ohio today.
Speaker 3:Uhoh better get that
Speaker 1:<laugh> That's right . For
Speaker 3:Next year .
Speaker 1:Yeah. Um, so we covered favorite sessions, favorite parts of the symposium. Um, and I don't know if there's anybody joining us live, but if you all have favorite , um, favorite sessions or events or things you wanna call out, feel free to drop that in the chat. Um, or if you have questions or comments for us, whether you hit us live here on the podcast or you send us an email, we always love to hear from you.
Speaker 3:So hey Rachel, we keep alluding to this Columbus thing. I think you ought to set us up for what's coming down the pike. What's next year and where are
Speaker 2:We
Speaker 1:<laugh> ? So next year symposium we are moving back to before Thanksgiving, which for some is great news for others , maybe not as much, but the staff loves the pre , some pre Thanksgiving for sure. Um, but yeah, we're in Columbus, Ohio and for those who don't know A-F-C-P-E, our staff is remote. So we like to say we're everywhere from Alaska to Florida, we're all over. Um, but our home is here just outside of Columbus, Ohio. And our first journal editor was from the Ohio State University. And so there's a lot of history here in Columbus. Um, and this year we brought our board of directors and our staff to Columbus in the summer , uh, to do some strategic planning. And I think for those who weren't believers and how great Columbus can be, I think we, we sold them . It's a beautiful, you
Speaker 2:Sold us . Well it was a wonderful hotel and the area was beautiful. Great .
Speaker 3:Beautiful . Yeah .
Speaker 1:<crosstalk> , you thought the hotel jacket
Speaker 2:And mittens or gloves if, you know, put your hands in your pocket when you walk to a restaurant, <laugh>.
Speaker 1:Yeah. But everything is really close by and Columbus really is kind of a foodie town, so we always feed you well at the event, but there's lots to see and do. And if you are an Ohio State fan, the Ohio State Michigan game is the weekend after. So you can just make a whole
Speaker 2:Oh
Speaker 1:My God ,
Speaker 2:My daughter , she went to Ohio State, she'll be like there, you know, <laugh>
Speaker 1:Getting
Speaker 3:You better buy a tickets now . Yeah , good luck getting tickets .
Speaker 1:But if you could , it would be pretty fun . A
Speaker 2:Sorority works on that for them.
Speaker 3:Love it . No , that sounds fabulous. What we've got in store and I'm really excited. I think it'll be great to come home in a way, right? Yeah . And really be in your home city and, and see the team up close and offer new opportunities.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And our hope is bringing in some new organizations that are here in the local space too, letting them know who A-F-C-P-E is and hopefully bringing in some new faces. You know, we love, we love, we want to see our community come every year, whether that's virtual or in person . It's important to us that we make space , uh, that works for everyone. Um, but yeah, it's exciting to see new faces because that just means we're growing and we're expanding our impact.
Speaker 3:Well, speaking of that , uh, I know Columbus is actually home to several big financial services firms too, so there's a lot of opportunity to expand our reach and I think that's exciting to be there in their own hometown and maybe have some invites to some of those big firms that can help share the wealth of what an A FC is and how we spread.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that's great news. Um, well, I'm trying to think, Andy , uh, one of the things that Mary and I always do at the, at the end of every podcast is we ask everyone to share their 2 cents. And so, not to put you on the spot, but you have now been the board president for 12 months almost, and moving into the past president roles , you have all kinds of wisdom to share with our members. What would be the 2 cents you would leave people with today?
Speaker 2:Well, I think I'm gonna give you a whole two things for 2 cents. <laugh>,
Speaker 3:<laugh> ,
Speaker 1:No one ever has two things , maybe
Speaker 2:A million dollars . Right?
Speaker 1:Alright , I love it . So ,
Speaker 2:Um, I am, I, I don't know, I think people know this. I'm a huge fan of the value of an A FC . I think that every accredited financial counselor, an accredited financial counselor candidate, needs to be able to share why what they do is important in people's lives and how they change somebody's life. Whether it's five minute conversation or you work with somebody for six months or a year, you make the change. Oh, those change maker shirts, what a great idea, right. That we had at Symposium. I was like, that's the shirt I bought. Um, but we can make changes in people's lives and being able to share what you do is important. So if you haven't figured out how to, you know, talk to people about what you do, you know, figure that out, that's important. You know, have your elevator pitch , uh, ready. And then , um, the other thing is I have been a member since I was a candidate since 2007, and this is my 15th symposium that I've attended Live, well, not live, live when possible virtual when
Speaker 1:Needed .
Speaker 2:And , um, it is just so valuable to me to be a member. I'm, I get so much out of being a member. Um, back in the old days, the newsletter was a member only thing, and I've been, you know, I was the first newsletter committee chair and, and we said, oh, we need to give this to people to let them know this is part of membership. And, and we share it outside of that now so that people can see some of the things that you get in membership. But , um, it , it's just there's so many classes, there's so many engagements with other professionals that happen , um, within that membership. And I think people should explore that because it's really valuable to me.
Speaker 1:Yeah , it's a great, it's a great first step into the organization to really integrate with the community and try out some professional development opportunities. I think it's, we always say if you're new to a F cpe , it's a great first place to plug in .
Speaker 2:Well, and you don't even have to be an A FC .
Speaker 1:You don't have to be
Speaker 2:Remember , like I know so many CFPs and, and other financial professionals or people interested in the field that become a member to kind of get a feel of what it's like and it's really home. It feels like home. Yeah ,
Speaker 1:Absolutely . Well thanks Andy and thanks Mary for taking some time today. Yeah . And thank you to all who joined us to recap the symposium and um, you know, if you have suggestions or ideas , uh, fill out the survey if you attended. If you didn't attend, we hope to see you in Columbus, Ohio next year. Um, and you can still access that . The symposium recordings are all available. So if you feel like you missed out and you're curious about , uh, what went on and you want some more continuing education, check out our website. Um, so been available to you.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 1:See you next time. Thank you. Bye everybody.