Mei Qin, a Financial Advisor at Edward Jones is an astute leader with an insight for opportunities that bring great value to her organization. With her fine sense of judgment, Mei makes effective decisions, dares to do things differently, and drives positive changes. Born in a very humble family, she derives her strength from simplicity and serves as an excellent example of dynamic leadership. Her versatile professional experience of 15 years enables her to turn many challenges into triumphs. Today, a known leader in her domain, Mei is regarded as a person to go to in difficult situations.
Aspioneer caught up with Mei to gain insights about her journey to success.
Aspioneer (A): Can you tell us about yourself and your brand?
Mei Qin (M): “I am Mei Qin, a Financial Advisor, CFP® at Edward Jones. Headquartered in St. Louis, Edward Jones is a Fortune 500 company that provides financial services across the U.S. and, through our affiliate, in Canada. Every aspect of the firm’s business caters to serving individual investors and business owners in a human-centered and comprehensive way – helping them put their purpose into action and achieve financially what is most important to them and their loved ones. We operate across 19,000 locations including our HO, training centers, and frontline branches to provide professional service to clients in communities across North America.
“I lead by example. Being my branch team leader I guide other women leaders in Canada, by sharing my success and challenges in women leader panels at Edward Jones and Women in Wealth Conference more broadly, encouraging and supporting other women to step in to leadership, and taking a step forward in coaching and mentoring others.”
(A): What services do you offer?
(M): “At Edward Jones, we’ve designed every aspect of our business model around serving our clients. Our business model is centered on individual financial advisors across Canada and providing me with the tools and technology that I need to grow my practice and deeply serve our clients. We are a purpose-driven organization and our purpose is to partner together for a positive impact to improve the lives of our clients and colleagues, and together, better our communities and society. The financial solutions and services include GICs, bonds, mutual funds, stocks, insurance products such as segregated fund, annuity, life insurance, critical illness insurance, disability insurance, and long-term care insurance. Edward Jones financial advisors follow an established 5 step process to get to know each client’s personal financial and family situation and their goals, to create a customized financial strategy and portfolio, and partner together with our clients for life to help them achieve their life goals. Established business owners, high-income executives, and health care professionals are some of my biggest clients. My target market is the people who respect and value professional financial strategies and advice, and my team helps them save time so that they could focus their energy on the things they love to do and.
On March 14, 2022, we released our fourth annual Purpose, Inclusion and Citizenship Report, “Partnering for Positive Impact”. The report details our work across three impact areas: Partnering for Lasting Financial Strength, Promoting Healthier Futures, and Advancing Inclusive Growth. Through our purpose and partnership for positive impact, we can extend our reach into the thousands of communities we serve, providing access to financial knowledge for our clients and helping people fulfil their purpose and live a life they might not have known were possible. I encourage you to take a closer look at the report as a celebration of where we’ve been and where we’re headed. You may search our managing partner Penny Pennington or follow Edward Jones on LinkedIn. https://bit.ly/3CELNjS.”
(A): What’s your take on the importance of a healthy work culture?
(M): “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” is a famous quote from legendary management consultant Peter Drucker. Culture is a set of core beliefs and values that drive human action and behavior. We can have strategies, laws, and rules to promote equity, however, unless we change our hearts and our beliefs, we will not achieve equity. The challenge is however “how do we change culture?” At Edward Jones we start by looking in the mirror to identify our own unconscious biases, then move on to examine the biases we may have in our organizations and communities. Cultural growth and having an unbiased approach to every person is important to gender equity because it creates the conditions for women to thrive. It is well known that in societies where women thrive, children and families thrive. It’s a healthier ecosystem.”
(A): What are you doing for the women in the industry and what advice would you give to them?
(M): “I lead by example. Being my branch team leader I guide other women leaders in Canada, by sharing my success and challenges in women leader panels at Edward Jones and Women in Wealth Conference more broadly, encouraging and supporting other women to step in to leadership, and taking a step forward in coaching and mentoring others. . Research suggests that working with financial advisor, women are less transactional and more emotional. I’ve learned that some women are transactional, and some men are emotional. I don’t assume anything so I can start off a strong trusting relationship. Believe in yourself, especially your passion, learning ability, and your love. Take action and nothing can stop you. If there is a limit, I think the only limit is time , i.e. How much time you’d like to dedicate to your career?”
(A): How do you revitalize yourself?
(M): “Gardening, reading, watching news and learnings new skills like cooking on YouTube . I have a big sunroom where I flex my gardening muscle. I like to keep a healthy lifestyle, such as exercise, and eat healthy delicious meals. I love to travel to explore cultures and nature around the world and spend time with my family and friends in China.”
(A): Last but not least. The pandemic has been harsh on everyone. As we are approaching the end of it, what advice would you give to the business world to make a big comeback?
(M): “Society’s burden of care has always been disproportionally carried by women. On the bright side, a crisis always reinforces the importance of health, family support, and desire for greater meaning in one’s life. Across the world, the “meaning” and “place” of work in people’s lives have shifted. This opened up an entirely new way of life for women who can better manage the family and their work at home. The pandemic also made people reconsider the meaning of work and the meaning of life and focus more on what is important to them and why they do what they do.
Organizations need to recognize these emerging shifts and meet their clients’ new expectations with flexible financial strategies that enable optional lifestyles or a shift to work that is more meaningful and that could change their financial goals. It is also important to have the right tools and technology for employees and clients’ needs, such as virtual meetings tools and online solutions like e-doc and e-signature. This will help ensure progress in fostering stronger relationships within the organization and with clients.”
* Insurance and annuities are offered by Edward Jones Insurance Agency (except in Quebec). In Quebec, insurance and annuities are offered by Edward Jones Insurance Agency (Quebec) Inc.*
