Amy Provezis, from the Field Marketing team, sat down with Mustaque Choudhury, Managing Principal of the 1847Financial Houston Headquarters, to deep dive on his path to this industry and vision for 1847Financial.

Amy: Tell me about your background. How did you become interested in financial services and wealth management?

Mustaque: Sure. It's a long story. I got into this country in June 2005, and my first job was working with the shoe company called Payless. While working there, we had a  regular customer that would come every day to buy expensive shoes, bags, everything or just to see what’s new. One day we were talking and I asked, “What do you do for a living? She's said “I'm in the insurance business.” I said, “What type of insurance?” She said “Life Insurance – I work for MetLife.” So that's how I got introduced and realized, “Oh, there's money to be made.”

I applied to work at a bank, then got my licenses and that’s how I got to the financial side of banking; I eventually left banking and came to the insurance side and the rest is history.

Amy: I've known you for a while now, and I have not heard the story. That’s so inspiring! So how did your career path wind up in leadership? And what inspired you to become a leader, working with world class, financial professionals?

Mustaque: It started with a manager I had at MetLife; she was a great leader and once said, “As an advisor, you’re going to touch, let's say, 50-100, people in a given year. But when you’re in leadership, through your team, you get to touch hundreds, sometimes 1,000 – so the impact exponentially increases. When you're a leader, you become selfless for your team of advisors; when you’re a solo advisor, you’re only looking out for yourself.

The only way it makes sense for you to be a leader, is to be selfless and care more about the advisors’ and team’s success than your own recognition. There are so many ‘managers’ in our industry, but leadersdifferentiate themselves by being selfless and putting the financial professionals first.”

Amy: I’m happy that manager left that mark on you and your career. So what makes 1847financial special or different from other financial services firms you have managed?

Mustaque: I realized quickly that 1847Financial has the same mindset as me of being all-inclusive. Throughout my entire journey and leadership, I’ve always valued inclusiveness, whether you're a financial professional or a broker. 1847Financial is the only company that I realized actually operates with this philosophy. We want to embody this at locally in Houston, which inspired us to create our slogan: One Team. One Firm. One Family

Amy: I see that you’ve already put the slogan on all your swag as a reminder to put it into action every day. 

Mustaque: Yes, we incorporate it into every single decision that we make in our agency. If we say Brokers and FPs are the same, are we actually delivering to that model with our actions?

Amy: That’s a perfect segue into my next question. What type of resources can financial professionals tap into at 1847Financial in Houston?.

Mustaque: So in Houston, we have a phenomenal office manager in Jeana Kay and Karen with new business expertise, both with several years of experience at Penn Mutual.

On the marketing side, we have you locally and Mike Hamm as the leader. From the life & annuity wholesaler teams we have Jon Ernst, Jeff Borrowman, and Steve Schaack, Financial advisors at any experience level have whatever support they could possibly think of. The expertise they need, we have that in Houston at our fingertips – every contact is only one call away.  

Amy: I agree that it’s an immense amount of support. So what advice do you have for any financial professionals looking to grow their firm. What should they be considering?

Mustaque: If financial professionals go to our 1847Financial.com website, they will see every leader, whether it’s local leadership or national leadership. Some of the growth accelerators they should be considering is whether they currently have access to a Practice Development team who helps with succession planning, an Advanced Sales team who can assist on complicated cases, along with technology, products & platforms, and marketing support.

We really believe in our brand, our company, and have trust in every single person to do what's best for the company. What's best for the brand, what's best for the Houston Agency, and the best support 1847Financial can offer. In return we do the same thing for our financial professionals, so they know when they wake up in the morning and come to the office, we are always invested in their success.

Amy: Nice. So speaking of office, I hear you'll be doing the grand opening for your Houston office soon. Can you tell us more about that? Oh, we're very excited. By the end of March or beginning of April, we'll be in our new location. This will be a true 21^st century office, and will have the environment that appeals to millennials and Gen Z.

Financial professionals will be part of the family and feel welcome. Support-wise, we're going to double down on support we can bring to the agency, along with the dedicated space.

Amy: That sounds awesome! What financial professional wouldn’t want to affiliate with 1847Financial Houston? Thank you for your time spent today discussing your path to this industry and your 1847Financial Vision today, Mustaque.

Mustaque: Thank you. I’m looking forward to 2024! One Team. One Firm. One Family.