Poverty, divorce, illness, bankruptcy - nothing has stood in the way of Kathy Williams as she pursued and achieved her goal of financial success. 

My name is Kathy Williams. I am the President of Williams Financial Services Group, Inc in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  I have owned my company for nine years. I have been in the financial services industry for almost 24 years. My main role is as financial advisor that help families, retired individuals, and small business owners reach their economic potential. I do this by selecting investments for their portfolio, monitor their assets and protect their portfolio against major risk such as death and disability. I also help with financial planning which includes retirement and estate planning. I am an instructor for a financial planning course at Francis Tuttle here in Oklahoma City. 

I love what I do. I came to this field after college. I worked as an Insurance agent for a major company for fifteen years. I wanted to pursue more and provide my clients with better services. I felt a responsibility to become better informed for my clients and give them access to a wider selection of services. So, I made the decision to go out on my own. It wasn’t easy. I started with $10,000.  

I am the oldest of eight natural brothers and sisters. My mother remarried when I was sixteen to a man who had six children. I have always been responsible for others all of my life. I grew up poor in various housing projects in Philadelphia, PA.  When growing up I had an overwhelming desire to do better than my parents. I didn’t want to be poor. How to handle money was not taught as a child, in fact there was no value placed on it. Education, spirituality and being all what you could be were where the emphasis was placed in my youth. 

Little did I know that I would fall under the same financial mistakes that my parents made? I call it the scarcity mentality. You believe what you think financially. If you believe you will be poor then you will always be poor.  I believed I was poor and I tried to take away the feeling of being poor by getting myself in debt and buying the material things that I thought would make me feel “well-off “ as I would tell myself. Saving was never discussed in our home, nor was the disadvantages of debt discussed. Little did I know I was making myself poor. 

The desire to have the things that had the appearance of success was very important to me at a young age of 23. I had just finished College and I was ready to tackle the world and become successful.  I had started as a Life Insurance Agent with a major company and I had to look the part. I bought very expensive clothes and shoes and lots of them with credit cards.  

I had quick success with the company because I competed well with others. This success came even though I had an abusive marriage. After six months with the company I  decided upon a divorce which was a difficult one. I was raising my 2 year old child on my own and was living in a brand new city where I didn’t know anyone or have any family for support.  I drove myself  because, the manager that hired me said I couldn’t make it because 1) I was female 2) I was African American and 3) I was a single parent. I also had my own inner desire to not be poor like my parents and strived to be materially successful. It wasn’t enough. I wasn’t motivated enough by money. I hadn’t yet learned that I was only motivated by a need to fulfill a purpose in my life. A purpose I had yet to discover. 

It took years of pain, being homeless four months, losing my only car by fire that wasn’t insured, finally bankruptcy did I learn that you have to feel good about yourself within and have a purpose for your life. Material things weren’t satisfying the person I really was inside.  

When my drive to succeed returned because I discovered my true passion was helping people learn the value of taking care of their financial lives it catapulted my business. I was no longer just making money-but I was helping people to create better lives for themselves. This made a big difference for me. I was able to overcome the obstacles that came my way. When I decided to open my own business almost nine years ago, my family suffered financially that first year it wasn’t easy. My business continues to grow year after year to the level of success that now sustains us even after I’ve developed a seizure disorder- I didn’t let this stop me.  

I guess the main reasons that I never gave up is I believed in myself and I believed in the services that I provide are beneficial to everyone. This helped to fuel that burning passion inside. My strong sense of spiritually helps me remain calm and focused. I belong to many organizations that I can share my business and personal problems in confidence which helps me provide some solutions to ongoing problems. 

I’ve made many mistakes, too many to mention here. Each mistake has made me be the person I am today. All of my mistakes have given me the passion to share with others the importance of planning, invest for your future and eliminate your debt. Never, never give up no matter what, particularly if you are passionate about what you want to achieve in life. Nothing worth while comes to you easily. Set your goals and the values you will live by. Strive for that unrealistic expectation in your life. It can be achieved if you believe.  Believe in yourself, if you don’t who else will. 

Kathy Williams, President

Williams Financial Services Group

www.williamsfsg.com

Copyright © KathyWilliams 2004

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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