some financial advisers grow up in the business they see a parent succeed in the financial industry and follow a wellmarked path that isn’t matthew mckay’s story raised in a family beset by financial insecurity mckay experienced his share of obstacles his father battled drug addiction and ran afoul of the law mckay’s parents divorced when he was six years old his mother worked long hours in a factory job putting food on the table for mckay and his brother was a constant struggle “she did the best she could with the resources she had” mckay said “she worked so hard and never complained” despite the difficulties she faced whenever mckay got a little money a holiday gift or earnings from summer jobs he’d give it to his mother “i’d hide the money in her pocketbook” he said “she’s a proud woman i didn’t want her to know” mckay’s mother enrolled him in a small rural private school from kindergarten through high school she sacrificed to afford the tuition but managed to cover it year after year for a brief period before his older brother could drive him to school mckay would be up at 5 am his mother would drop him off at the principal’s house on her way to work he napped in the principal’s living room for about an hour until they drove to school his mother picked him up from school at 530 pm mckay graduated from high school and went to college but his childhood difficulties and their emotional toll plagued him by age 20 mckay was seeing a mental health counselor “i’m surprised you’re not in an alley with a needle in your arm” the counselor told mckay after hearing his story the counselor helped mckay embrace his ambition and envision a bright future after graduating college he attended graduate school to pursue a career in mental health counseling he’d benefited from his counselor’s help and committed to developing skills to assist others in need within a year mckay realized he wanted to do something else with his life but he didn’t know what “i had 700 in the bank 35000 in student loans and no job” he said that’s when a member of his church suggested he apply for an entrylevel bank teller position he got the job one day mckay was helping a customer a construction worker cash a 140 check the worker then deposited 15 in his savings account to avoid incurring bank fees the next customer in line withdrew a sevenfigure sum to make an allcash offer on a property “the juxtaposition was striking” mckay recalled “first somebody living paycheck to paycheck then a guy with all this money to buy real estate” mckay developed a keen interest in money how to make it and how to invest it he started coldcalling every firm in his hometown of greensboro nc with “financial” in its name asking for informational interviews a solo adviser agreed to meet with mckay he couldn’t offer a job but he urged the young gogetter to consider a career as a financial planner and study for the cfp exam mckay took the advice he decided he wanted to work at feeonly advisory practices so he contacted all the local firms when no openings materialized in greensboro he broadened his search eventually a firm in college station tex hired him six years later mckay is still with that firm briaud financial advisory now 31 he’s a certified financial planner in january he became a partner and partowner of the firm which manages around 650 million in assets and serves about 300 households while mckay doesn’t go out of his way to tell clients about his childhood it comes up on occasion for example if a client has a family member battling substance abuse mckay can relate “it’s one thing to know about it” he said “it’s another thing to live it” more “new chapter” stories like ‘going to hell and back’ battling cancer gave this financial adviser skills to build trust and listen better also read ‘there was nothing in our bank account i didn’t have a backup plan’ cut from his team a football player tackles a new field