Power Up Wealth podcast – Episode 93 – A Farewell to Sharla Jessop
James Derrick 0:00
Thank you for joining me today. I’m James Derrick, President of Smedley Financial Services. Joining me today will be Sharla Jessop. After helping so many of you prepare and transition into retirement, we have the honor of celebrating Sharla’s career with one final interview.
Sharla Jessop 0:14
Welcome to the SFS Power Up Wealth podcast, where we provide impactful insight and expert opinions on timeless financial principles and timely investment topics, preparing you to make smarter decisions with your money.
James Derrick 0:48
Sharla, thank you for joining me today.
Sharla Jessop 0:50
Thanks for having me, James.
James Derrick 0:52
Sharla has been the President of Smedley Financial Services, where she has worked for 31 years as a Certified Financial Planner, mentor and colleague and friend of mine, and I’m so grateful to have you here.
Sharla Jessop 1:04
Thanks. I’m so glad to be here.
James Derrick 1:06
I think we’re going to have a little bit of fun with this interview. I hope so, anyway. Let’s start out by maybe going back 31 years ago. Could you tell us what your first day was like here?
Sharla Jessop 1:15
Well, it’s hard to remember, but it was interesting. I came into a whole new career, from being in insurance for maybe 10, 11 years, selling, you know, personal lines, property casualty, homeowners insurance and life insurance and things like that, into a whole new career where I was dealing with finances and money. So I was a little bit anxious, but excited. As I joined, there was just a couple of us. Roger was the founder of Smedley Financial Services, still is the founder of Smedley Financial Services, and asked me and a friend that I had been working with if we would join. And so we did, and there wasn’t a lot of room. So what I remember I was really excited to have my own office, and so to create that, we actually cleaned out a storage room with no windows, and fit a desk into that so I could have a space to work. We had a very small office at the time, so space was limited.
James Derrick 2:09
That’s funny. At least you got your own desk.
Sharla Jessop 2:11
That’s right, I was pleased to have my own space.
James Derrick 2:13
And how would you say your average day has changed since then? What were you doing back then?
Sharla Jessop 2:18
When I very first started, there was a lot of education required. You don’t start with an education in this field. So I spent a lot of my time being mentored, working side by side with Roger on everything he did, meeting with all the clients, you know, creating paperwork for people to open accounts, helping people, advising people on how to save their money. So it’s quite a bit different when you look at the way things were done then versus the way things are done now, with technology and what we’re able to accomplish.
James Derrick 2:45
Sure, the Internet was brand new back then.
Sharla Jessop 2:47
Yes!
James Derrick 2:48
And not that useful.
Sharla Jessop 2:49
I was here before the internet.
James Derrick 2:51
And even once we had the internet, I was here in January 2000 we had the internet, but it wasn’t that useful yet.
Sharla Jessop 2:58
No.
James Derrick 2:58
There wasn’t that much you could do on the internet.
Sharla Jessop 3:00
So much we did by hand. And spreadsheets. I mean, I think we.
James Derrick 3:04
And telephone and fax machines.
Sharla Jessop 3:06
Yes.
James Derrick 3:07
I mean, we still have a fax machine.
Sharla Jessop 3:09
We do. We don’t use it as often, but and even one time, not too long ago, young auditor came in to audit us. In our industry, it’s very common to be audited once a year by regulatory organizations. He was amazed that we had that I had white out on my desk. They couldn’t understand why anybody would ever want whiteout. And I thought this kind young man has never used a typewriter before. He’s never had to do forms in triplicate when you make a mistake and have to cross out the carbon. So things have changed a lot.
James Derrick 3:39
Oh yeah, I’ll say and then you experienced the Dot com bubble.
Sharla Jessop 3:43
We did.
James Derrick 3:43
The 1990s and Alan Greenspan and the irrational exuberance and all of that.
Sharla Jessop 3:48
You know, you probably remember this because we were working together quite a bit and managing the money and doing things back then. But the average return people were because the market had grown so greatly. At the end of the 90s, people were planning on and using a 15% rate of return to make their own retirement planning projections.
James Derrick 3:48
I bet you could come up with a pretty good retirement plan that way.
Sharla Jessop 4:03
Yeah, I bet your plan looked amazing.
James Derrick 4:12
Looked looked amazing.
Sharla Jessop 4:13
Key word looked. Once implemented it was, it could be difficult, so we had to reign in exuberance our ourselves and for our clients, make sure we did solid plans with reasonable returns that would last through retirement.
James Derrick 4:28
Yeah, one of the things I admire about you is you always seem to do what was right for the client. You know, there was never any question. And if, if any issue arose, we knew what Sharla would say, and it’s it’s made it pretty easy to make decisions going forward.
Sharla Jessop 4:41
Yeah if you do what’s in the best interest of the client, you never have to look back and wonder, you know, think did we do the right thing. Just do the right thing from the beginning.
James Derrick 4:50
Yeah. Now, you met a lot of people, went a lot of places. Does anything stand out?
Sharla Jessop 4:55
You know, we’ve had, every year we attend national conferences, because in our industry, we have to we have certain credentials that require CE and so we would do a lot of traveling, but we’ve been to some amazing places and seen some fun things and met some great people. So at some of the national conferences, I’ve had the opportunity to meet President Bush, George W Bush, and I’ve met Peyton Manning and Condoleezza Rice and Martin Short, and the list goes on, and seen some pretty interesting sides to people that you didn’t really know existed. Andre Agassi was more recent, someone who we listened to speak and were introduced to. And it was just a different side of that of him than I had ever imagined.
James Derrick 5:39
And that’s fun, really fun. What about places you’ve been? Any any unusual places that you went that you mentioned.
Sharla Jessop 5:47
Well, one that, if you bring that up, you know what has to come to mind. When James and I were doing a presentation for some other advisors back in North Carolina area, we got to go to a place that was on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. And this wasn’t one of the nice places.
James Derrick 6:06
It was the dive, for sure. The biggest dive.
Sharla Jessop 6:10
An advisor took us there, and thought, this is going to be so fun. And I remember we were you go through a buffet style line to order your hamburger or whatever you were going to get and I remember just thinking, really, this is what we’re gonna eat. I’m not a food snob, but I really felt like one at that time.
James Derrick 6:27
Yeah, you know what I remember also from that trip is that we had time to drive by Biltmore, the largest house in America, but we didn’t have time to go in. So I’ve been I’ve been dying to go back for 20 years.
Sharla Jessop 6:40
I don’t know if it’s the same after the flood last year. How much of that got damaged?
James Derrick 6:44
Yeah, they had the hurricane come through, and I’m sure they’re rebuilding, but I’ve just been wanting to go back ever since, yeah, that was 20 years ago.
Sharla Jessop 6:53
Seems like yesterday. You know, that’s the interesting thing about I think people who are at the same stage that I am would say it’s so interesting to think all these things that have gone on. And it doesn’t seem that long ago. It seems like it was just not that long ago. So many things that I was telling you earlier, I can’t even remember all the things that I’ve seen and all the places I’ve gone to.
James Derrick 7:14
Yeah I remember my mom’s mom, who’s now passed away. I asked her about recessions, and she goes, Oh, I’ve seen so many in my life. She lived to be 99 years old. She was, Oh, I’ve seen so many. They just come and go. And I thought, wow. Like they feel like, make it or break it, for me, being an investment professional, but I admired how she, maybe with age, had taken a step back and just very calmly acknowledged, yeah, that’s life ups and downs, and.
Sharla Jessop 7:41
it’s a great perspective. I’ve actually watched our clients go through that, some of the clients we’ve had with us for as long as I’ve been here. I do remember that early on, when we would experience a lot of volatility, there was a lot of fear that was happening with clients. And I think over the years, you especially have honed in the management and strategies and our advisors have honed in being able to talk with people about not just the market, but what they’re feeling and their and what’s driving them emotionally to make decisions, financial decisions, and how to best structure plans that help them accomplish the things that they are want to do and not get caught up in the fear.
James Derrick 8:22
Yeah the whole behavioral finance area as a field of study is somewhat new. And certainly even when, when the ideas came out, people were like, Oh yeah, overconfidence, fear. That makes sense. Other biases anchoring these kinds of things, they made sense. But what do you do with them? And I feel like we have gotten better at incorporating them into the plans and into the money management, but I also think people have gotten smarter. And I don’t know if you feel that way, but I feel that way about our clients, like people are just well informed now.
Sharla Jessop 8:54
They are well informed, so maybe things aren’t quite as fearful to them. You know when you just hear it in the news. Now we have news at our fingertips, information all day long, which in some regards, can be a problem. You know, people are talking sometimes, yeah, but on the other hand, it keeps people have a feeling of what’s going on, or a sense of what’s happening in in the markets and with their money. And I think a lot of our clients, because they’ve been with us a long time, don’t get caught up in the short-term issues. Yeah, because if you get caught up in the short-term issues, like this year is a prime example of how crazy it can get in a short period of time in the market just driven by, you know, fear.
James Derrick 9:34
Oh sure, early February, there was no reason to sell, but that was the moment to sell if you were going to and, you know, the first of April was the moment to buy. But who could think of a reason to buy? I’ve seen that repeat so many times over the years, and I think, I think I’ve, I’ve learned a lot, and those who have made mistakes, they also learn most of them.
Sharla Jessop 9:55
Yeah.
James Derrick 9:56
Nearly all of them, at some point learn the lesson.
Sharla Jessop 9:59
I agree. I think most of them have been around long enough that they they understand it.
James Derrick 10:03
Yeah.
Sharla Jessop 10:03
The younger people who are just coming in are 10 times more resilient.
James Derrick 10:07
Sharla, could you take us through 2008. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a real recession, and there’s no doubt at some point we will. Take us through what that was like, because that was a financially scary time.
Sharla Jessop 10:19
It was it was harsh. That’s what comes to mind when I think of it. It was a harsh it was a really hard time, not only for us, but for our clients, and for our country in general, and probably around the world. And for those who aren’t familiar and don’t remember, that was the beginning of the financial crisis, which started off when Mikal and I had actually been studying, taking a course, and we were down in Palm Springs, California, and that’s when the news broke that the.
James Derrick 10:48
Lehman Brothers.
Sharla Jessop 10:49
Lehman Brothers, had gone under. And then Bear Stearns. The issue with Bear Stearns, and then one that really impacted our clients and us directly, was when the money market that we were using broke a buck. So when, when the money market make, breaks a buck, that means your dollar is no longer $1 and that’s the safest money you have is in a money market, we use that as a safety net, but it was not FDIC insured. And so there was not any floor or protection in that and so those were some trying times for us and for our clients. The clients got them 99.9% of their money back out. So over time, they were able to resolve and figure that fix it out. But it was pretty.
James Derrick 10:49
The stock market was far more volatile at the moment, actually.
Sharla Jessop 11:27
Oh yeah, we’re worrying about the fact that somebody’s money is worth 99.9% of what it was when the market had dropped, you know, was dropping 50%.
James Derrick 11:44
Yeah, fifty percent.
Sharla Jessop 11:45
A good way to put it in perspective. So what that’s taught us, first of all, going through that gave us a different perspective as advisors and as money managers, and I, I know it gave our clients a different perspective, because it was really volatile. And you couldn’t get away from the negative news. I mean, it was people were losing their jobs, companies were closing down, people were losing their homes.
James Derrick 12:09
The government was doing bailouts. And, and it was like $800, $900 billion bailouts. And at the time, that was a lot of money, not, I mean, 2020, put that to shame, with $5 trillion in bailouts but and free money, but at the time, those massive bailouts to the automakers and the finance companies were incredible, and people kept saying, well, the the only people smart enough to get us out of this are the people who got us into it.
Sharla Jessop 12:37
That’s a scary thought!
James Derrick 12:38
It was!
Sharla Jessop 12:39
Very scary. But you know, the reality is, the clients who were had a good plan where we had money that was shored up. Even though it was tied up for a bit, it was still pretty safe compared to what was going on in the market. But we had different levels of risk based on when they were going to need their money. So the people who were, we were using that plan with and who are following that, they came out fine. They came out of it fine. It was really hard for them in the midst of the plan, in the middle, and it was a it was important for us to stay focused on their long the long-term, and help them stay focused on the long-term.
James Derrick 13:16
Yeah, it’s interesting, because we talk so much about the long-term and we just throw it out there all the time, but it is a really significant couple of words, because as bad as 2008 was, you go back and you look at a chart of of the S&P 500 index, and you’ll see like 2008 was a big deal, but the recovery from 2009 all the way to 2025 where we are today is so much larger. I don’t want to jinx us or anything like that, but I it’s but just the point is, is that over a 15 to 20 year period of time, the market really has risen and recovered from hard times. And no doubt, if we have hard times in the future, we’ll continue to try to focus on the long-term.
Sharla Jessop 14:00
The market always recovers. I think that is words of wisdom that people should take to heart. Is that the market always recovers.
James Derrick 14:07
What about preparing for your retirement? Anything has anything surprised you? Because I know around here, like I’ve been surprised at how much work it is to take over, yeah. So tell me. You know, tell me what surprised you.
Sharla Jessop 14:20
What surprised me, is how difficult it is to pull myself away from what’s going on the day to day, the clients, my work family. You know that sounds odd, but when you’re with people eight hours a day, five days a week, or something like that, there you become part of a different kind of family. So starting to separate or disengage from that has been really hard, really hard from the clients. You know, some of the most rewarding times I’ve had that I’ve experienced in my career is when I hear from a client we were able to do retire and do this for ourselves and this for our children and this for our grandchildren, and do this bucket list item because of what you did for us, because we came to Smedley Financial because you helped us out, not me personally, but because of Smedley Financial Services. There isn’t a greater reward than that.
James Derrick 15:11
Yeah, we do have an excellent team here, and it is a beautiful thing when, when money becomes more than just money, but it to people, helps them fulfill some of their dreams.
Sharla Jessop 15:22
On the flip side, I’m a little bit worried, to be honest. You know, when people would talk to me about retiring, and I would ask them what they’re going to do, and all the excitement, things, exciting things they were looking forward to. Now I’m in that seat and I’m thinking, Okay, what am I going to do with my time? And we my husband and I are both really excited. We have some things lined up, and we’re excited to have time to spend with our grandkids and our family and and to travel together and do things that we want, but it’s a lot to think about that you’re going to have every day to do what you want.
James Derrick 15:52
Yeah you do have a lot of interest. Share with us some of the the fun things you enjoy doing outside of work.
Sharla Jessop 15:58
Well, we are very outdoors people. So we love anything, water, paddle boarding. Our children all have paddle boarding things. Bike riding, you know, Rich and I’ve been real enthusiasts of mountain biking and road biking and things like that. So we love being outdoors. As we’ve aged, we haven’t been able to do as many things as we used to do. So we’re kind of changing that. We’re looking forward this year to spending a lot of time up in the Wyoming area, doing some whitewater rafting and hiking and biking.
James Derrick 16:28
That sounds really nice, especially because it’s been so hot here, it’d be nice to get up there. It’s just beautiful country.
Sharla Jessop 16:34
We’re looking forward to it.
James Derrick 16:35
And one, one final question before we let you go, what final advice, financial or not financial, would you give to clients and those listening?
Sharla Jessop 16:45
To everyone I would say, save as much as you can. Live a balanced life, but save as much as you can, because you cannot go back and make up years when you didn’t save. You lose that compound interest over time, and you will be better off in the future and for retirement, if you will make saving not only habit, but a number one goal, and then also invest and stay invested. Come up with a plan, design your plan, and stick with your plan. That’s going to be your compass to getting where you want to go. Without it, it’s going to be difficult to make it.
James Derrick 17:14
Well, I can tell you, and everybody listening, that Sharla does a good job of both of these. I’ve seen over the years. She’s been a great example. And I’m truly, truly going to miss you, and I want to have you back for more podcasts and back in the office anytime.
Sharla Jessop 17:28
Thanks, James.
James Derrick 17:28
I can get you.
Sharla Jessop 17:29
Gonna miss you as well. Gonna miss Smedley. Thanks.
Shane Thomas 17:37
Thank you for joining the Power Up Wealth podcast. Smedley Financial is located at 102 S 200 E Ste 100 in Salt Lake City, UT 84111. Call us today at 800-748-4788. You can also find us on the web at Smedleyfinancial.com, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. The views expressed are Smedley Financials and should not be construed directly or indirectly as an offer to buy or sell any securities or services mentioned herein. Investing is subject to risks, including loss of principal invested. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. No strategy can assure a profit nor protect against loss. Please note that individual situations can vary. Therefore, the information should only be relied upon when coordinated with individual professional advice. Securities offered through Osaic Wealth, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Smedley Financial Services, Inc.® Osaic Wealth is separately owned, and other entities and/or marketing names, products, or services referenced here are independent of Osaic Wealth.
