Mikki Valentine
Financial Advisor
What do you enjoy most about wealth management?
“Once we have gotten to know our people, we often become like hidden family members. I love being a part of the big moments for our clients as well as being there for them through their hardships. Whether you or your family realize it, we are in the background cheering you on.”
What is the biggest challenge?
“For me it is change. While I love the opportunity to learn and grow, sometimes, with the help of the internet, processes change too quickly and without notice. I have learned that sometimes things come down to being ‘right today, wrong tomorrow’ and as frustrating as that can be, I have learned to just roll with it.”
What do you love about working at Doussard Financial?
“This could vary on any given day that you ask me. Sometimes it is the clients I see, sometimes it is the challenge of the work, but most days it comes down to the office culture. I love that family and life come first and the way we care for our clients and their families.”
What brought you to the financial industry?
“Can fate be the answer? I was a peculiar child who was very interested in money and saving from a young age. I usually had multiple piggy banks for multiple goals, where I would save the change I found on the ground and the money I earned from crushing cans as a kid. I was also very interested in my mom studying accounting for her MBA and often “studied” her books with her at the kitchen table. When I began my career search, I wanted four things: 1) A short commute. 2) An opportunity for career growth. 3) A local company I could work for, for 30 years. 4) A company that cared for me, where I felt like I made a difference. It amazes me still, that I found all four of my desires in one spot, first try.”
Flashback to when you were 10 years old. What do you want to be when you grow up?
“At 10 years old, I was deciding between being a lawyer, a forensic scientist, and a police officer. I continued to pursue the career path of being a police officer in my first year of college. While I have always been interested in criminal justice, as I aged, I saw the toll it takes on officers I know personally. I became aware of the dangers to their lives and my views on it being a career for myself changed.”
What is important to you?
“My family has always been the most important thing to me. I lost my mom to pancreatic cancer when I was 16. Loss has been a big part of my life, from a young age, but the loss of my mom was the most impactful. This has pushed me to keep my family and my friends I consider family, close. Losing my mom before I was an adult, encouraged me to reevaluate what I wanted from my own life and changed my views of the world.”
What is a quote you believe and would like to share?
“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.” I was in elementary school the first time I heard this quote. My mom shared it with me. It has always reminded me of running out of the old Wal-Mart in Mount Vernon in a downpour with her giggling and splashing in the rain. Whenever I am having a stressful day and it starts to pour down rain, I just get a big smile because I know that it is an opportunity to dance in the rain.”