Change and Resilience
Each year, April ushers in a season of change (and tax deadlines). 2023 is no exception. As I think about the month ahead, I realize all of us will face changes in our day-to-day work. We will begin training on the web-based Fusion platform and learn the new processes before the May rollout. Many of us are preparing to host our advisors and vendor partners for our annual Synergy conference, and some will transition to a new office. April will be a transformational month for all of us.
While change is ever-present, how do you manage change? In times of change, there is often a period of transition when our routines are out of sorts, personalities are acclimating, and procedures are still being developed and tweaked daily. It can be stressful and exciting – we all process it differently. Mentally and physically – change can be a challenge.
My ask? Don't get frustrated - get curious. We don't learn at the same speed. Change in pace and process can be uncomfortable for some. Be flexible and embrace learning from mistakes. Above all, be patient with yourself and your coworkers.
Stay focused on the fact that at the end of the disruption, we will have an incredible new platform for our teams and advisors to use. We will have gained significant goodwill with our advisors and vendors as any in-person event creates. And TradePMR will have a beautiful new office for us to continue to grow and thrive.
Thank you for all that you do to support our advisors day in and day out.
Robb
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Aaron Wilhelmy 4/2
Alan Bruckenstein 4/3
Shari Banal 4/3
Teri Hopkins 4/7
Steven Trombetta 4/12
Codey Smith 4/13
Mark Rinehart 4/16
Brandee Robinson 4/16
Michelle O'Leary 4/20
Dan Plein 4/22
Jacob Smyth 4/25
Scott Victoria 4/27
Michael Williams 4/28
Kelby Bryant 4/28
Will Joseph 4/30
Enjoy your birthday and we are wishing you a great year ahead!
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We like to celebrate wins, big and small. We are so glad to have you as part of our team! This month we are celebrating many anniversaries! 🏆
Sergio Jimenez is celebrating his 11 year anniversary with TradePMR!!! Monika Baldwin is celebrating 10 years! That is amazing!!!!! Congratulations, we appreciate all that you do!
A big congratulations and thanks also goes out to: Hardik Patel and Curt Mansfield celebrating 6 years, Mary Kerr celebrating 2 years, and Andrew Bernard and Kassyne Lee celebrating 1 year with TradePMR!
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Taliyah Stewart- Cashiering Support Specialist- I will be getting married soon to my high school sweetheart!
Douglas Stossmeister- Business Administrator- I was born and raised in Alaska and just moved to Tampa last September! I enjoy playing volleyball, going to the beach, and kayaking.
Malcolm MacEwan- Intern- I played the drums in high school.
Charles "Chaz" Reiling- Chief Risk Officer- Huge Springsteen fan and have attended over a dozen shows.
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Thank you for everyone that participated in the Run, Walk and Bike challenge in March! Denise, Susan |
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Challenge of the Month
For the month of April we will be walking/ running 60 miles for the month of April.
Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to more than 80% since it opened 60 years ago. St. Jude is working to drive the overall survival rate for childhood cancer to 90%, and we won’t stop until no child dies from cancer. St. Jude freely shares the discoveries we make, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. #StJude
The person who raises the most money for St. Jude will win an Oura ring :) Here is the link for more information and to sign up for the fundraising page if you are interested:
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Mackenzie’s Personal Story
Hello, my name is Mackenzie Daily and on January 12, 2006 at the age of 9 my life changed in a drastic way. I was diagnosed with A.L.L. (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia). My parents had three options for hospitals and ultimately chose St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital. I was assigned to a Pediatric Oncologist named Dr. Pui, who is the #1 Pediatric Leukemia Dr. in the world. He travels often and teaches other hospitals around the world how to treat pediatric leukemia.
I was on chemo for 2.5 years, and had my last chemo treatment in August of 2008. However, I am still under the care of St. Jude. Now I am in the St. Jude Life Program and roughly every 5 years I am called regarding studies that I may be interested to help teach doctors and researchers what the long lasting effects are of the chemo that we are given at such a young age.
St. Jude will forever be a home away from home for me. I was in the hospital multiple times for infections, and chemo throughout my 2.5-year journey. I have created multiple friendships with the doctors and nurses at this hospital, and even had a few friends who were patients along the way. Dr. Pui has no kids, so all of his patients are his kids and he treats us as such. Anytime that he would see me in the hallway he would ask for a high five, or a hug.
My favorite memory was the day that I walked into my clinic with the nurses and doctors that I grew up with, and watching their face transform into happiness as they saw my baby bump, and knowing that I was able to start a family. Then to come back the following year with my daughter and watching them all smile, and laugh while telling me how much she looked like me was amazing. Even now some of the nurses that I had are now doctors, and have their own patients that they get to form an amazing bond with.
To know that if anything serious were to come up I could call my old clinic and they would help in any way. Including they provided an appointment to speak with a genetics doctor after I had my daughter so we could go over the risks was amazing. I am forever grateful for St. Jude, and the things they have done for me as well as what they continue to do with all families that come to them at the most difficult times in life. And to absolutely know that families don’t have to worry financially and they can be immersed and help their children feel better and heal is amazing.
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Countdown to MFA Enforcement
MFA creates an additional layer to prove you are YOU – making it harder for cybercriminals to break into your accounts. MFA is a best practice – an expected industry and regulatory security measure and a must have for cybersecurity insurance. MFA is used to access Fusion for the same reasons.
This year we will be enforcing MFA for our network/VPN access. The roll-out will be voluntary before we turn on the enforcement switch near the end of April. Get ahead of the game and proactively set up MFA at a time that’s convenient for you, so when enforcement day comes, you won’t be affected.
Setting up MFA is a relatively simple process. You can DIY your MFA by using the step-by-step How-To Guide that was emailed March 1. If you don’t feel comfortable going the DIY route or if something unexpected happens, please ask Support to help you out.
A BIG thanks to everyone who has already set up MFA and to those who will be setting it up before enforcement day!
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Tech continues to focus in on getting Fusion Web polished to perfection for our advisors by Synergy in late May. We've been hard at work wrapping up our remaining projects in Fusion Desktop so any necessary updates to Web can be made and include those projects before launch. To that end, we've successfully released the Fee Letter Improvements project, as well as the 2nd phases of BEP and Message Center.
With those out, the resources that were devoted to those projects can now spend more time on Fusion Web. It's going to be all hands on deck for a while making sure Fusion Web is the best product it can possibly be at launch and we're really looking forward to seeing it released.
As a final note, everyone in tech has gone ahead and enabled MFA for the VPN. We strongly encourage you to do the same as it will be a company-wide requirement in the future.
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Learn Marketing Lingo
Marketing ABCs and 123
Hello! And welcome to this month’s edition of Learning the Lingo! This month we are highlighting the Marketing team. From our brand look and feel from our employee and advisor events all the way driving lead and demand generation for our sales efforts, this team has their hands in a lot. So how do they talk about some aspects of their work?
ABM – Liked our recent video mailer? That was just one element of our larger 365 ABM or Account-Based Marketing campaign. What is an ABM strategy? Account-based marketing is a strategy that targets specific companies with personalized campaigns, rather than targeting large groups as a whole. In our current ABM campaign we are laser focused on existing RIAs whose businesses are being disrupted by a custodial merger. Why an ABM approach? This highly-targeted messaging helps build trust with prospects, which will ultimately lead to a shorter sales cycle. It also allows TradePMR to focus on quality leads, not just quantity.
SEO – One the Marketing team’s biggest investments in terms of time and money is spent on SEO or Search Engine Optimization. On our team we call it Google Juice. It’s the process of driving quality traffic to TradePMR.com as well as increasing the quantity of traffic. These days, there is no such thing as a set it and forget it website. Or a piece of quality content. Algorithms drive what you see when you search any term. What drives algos and puts your piece of content ahead of another blog, or video in search results? Title, URL, HB1, Tags, Keywords, UI, Schema Mark ups. Google updated their search algorithm more than 600 times in 2022. The target is constantly moving as our team attempts to move up the rankings.
CRO – What’s up next for the team? Conversion Rate Optimization! What does this mean? Think about when you are shopping online for a new work outfit – you click on a pair of shoes, then magically, you are showed something similar and before you know it, it’s been 30 minutes, you have five pairs of shoes – including some running shoes, a new bag and about 5 other things you didn’t think you needed in your shopping cart. THAT is CRO - increasing the percentage of users who perform a desired action on a website. Adding to a shopping cart, filling out a form, clicking on the next piece of awesome content. The team is currently working on updates to better capture our prospects on TradePMR.com and gethere.tradepmr.com. For our current advisors, we are working out a new and improved version of Insight. The number one request from advisors for a new Insight? Better search experience. Even our advisors want suggestions on what they should be reading next.
Fun fact? We call our team the Brand Activation All Stars (because marketing is only part of our job) and the biggest project we are working on now is SYNERGY23 and SYNERGY24. From conference agenda to vendor relations and event logistics – it takes everyone to pull off this annual event. Stay tuned for more information coming soon – including the agenda!
Sidebar
Common Accreditations in Marketing (Good News – Most are Free!)
AMA (American Marketing Association) + DMI Dual Certification
Hubspot Inbound, Content and Email Certified
SEMrush Certification
Google Certifications including Analytics, Search, Ads
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Recap: Scott Victoria on stage at T3 conference in Tampa |
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Just a reminder - RSVP for the 25th Anniversary Weekend In October! Please reply even if you are unable to attend. RSVP HERE
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Want to learn more about your coworkers' cultures? Check out our first Share Your Story highlighting Prakrati Nickels on the HR Confluence page. HR Confluence
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1. Have a clear vision
2. Never think small. Think big
3. Ignore the naysayers
4. Work your ass off
5. Don’t just take, give back
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Tips for Success from Alexa Gonzales, Operations Associate
Be Responsible in all aspects of your job.
Show up to work on time, take pride in your assignments, get the job done, and do not be afraid to admit you do not know something.
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May 31- June 2 Synergy
Oct 12 Oktoberfest
October 20-22 Orlando Retreat/25th Anniversary Fun
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World Autism Awareness Day: April 2nd
In recent years, major progress has been made in increasing awareness and acceptance of autism, not least thanks to the many amazing autistic advocates who have worked tirelessly to bring the lived experience of autistic people to the wider world. Additionally, medical professionals, researchers and academics in many countries are now incorporating the neurodiversity paradigm, coined by sociologist Judy Singer in the late 1990s, in their work.
We are moving away from the narrative of curing or converting autistic people and instead focusing on accepting, supporting and including autistic people, and advocating for their rights. This is a major transformation for all autistic people, their allies, the wider neurodiversity community and the world at large. It enables autistic people to claim their dignity and self-esteem, and to become fully integrated as valued members of their families and societies.
Passover: April 5th-April 13th
Passover, or Pesach in Hebrew, is one of the Jewish religion’s most sacred and widely observed holidays. In Judaism, Passover commemorates the story of the Israelites’ departure from ancient Egypt. The weeklong festival is observed with a number of important rituals, including a traditional Passover meal known as a seder, the removal of leavened products from their home, the substitution of matzo for bread and the retelling of the exodus tale. Passover will be from sundown on April 5, 2023 to sundown on April 13, 2023.
Many people who celebrate Passover remove all leavened food products from their home before the holiday begins and abstain from them throughout the duration. Instead of bread, a type of flatbread called matzo is eaten. According to tradition this is because the Hebrews fled Egypt in such haste that there was no time for their bread to rise.
Good Friday, Easter, Orthodox Good Friday, Orthodox Easter: April 7th, April 9th, April 14th, April 16th
Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. Members of many Christian denominations observe Good Friday with fasting and church services. The dates for Good Friday and Easter differ between two calendars: the Gregorian calendar and the Julian calendar, with Orthodox Christians following the later.
Easter is a Christian holiday that celebrates the belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the New Testament of the Bible, the event is said to have occurred three days after Jesus was crucified by the Romans and died in roughly 30 A.D. There are other events associated with Easter including: Lent, Holy Thursday, and Palm Sunday.
End of Ramadan- Eid al-Fitr:April 21st
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting, prayer, reflection and community. A commemoration of Muhammad’s first revelation, the annual observance of Ramadan is regarded as one of the Five Pillars of Islam and lasts twenty-nine to thirty days, from one sighting of the crescent moon to the next. During Ramadan, Muslims fast from dawn to sunset.
Eid al-Fitr is the “Holiday of Breaking the Fast” or the Festival of Sweets. It is celebrated by Muslims worldwide because it marks the end of the month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan. The date can vary year to year on the Gregorian calendar as it falls on the first day of Shawwal in the Islamic calendar which varies based on the sighting of the new moon.
Earth Day:April 22nd
Every year on April 22nd Earth Day marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. Earth Day is widely recognized as the largest secular observance in the world, marked by more than a billion people every year as a day of action to change human behavior and create global, national and local policy changes. Now, the fight for a clean environment continues with increasing urgency, as the ravages of climate change become more and more apparent every day.
As the awareness of our climate crisis grows, so does civil society mobilization, which is reaching a fever pitch across the globe today. Disillusioned by the low level of ambition following the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015 and frustrated with international environmental lethargy, citizens of the world are rising up to demand far greater action for our planet and its people.
This section of the newsletter was brought to you by the TradePMR Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee.
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Marianne Rapier, Cashiering Associate |
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What’s something that recently made you smile? My daughter just got accepted into nursing school.
Coffee or tea? Coffee, milk last.
What’s your favorite TV show? Too hard to choose, there are many I love. But if I really want a laugh-Impractical Jokers.
Would you rather be the funniest or smartest person in the room? Funniest.
What three items would you bring on a desert island? I’m sure if I was to try to build a raft it would sink & a shark would eat me so I’m opting to stay put. So, matches/lighter, bug spray because the mosquitos love me, and some books so I can read and imagine I was someplace else other than a deserted island. Maybe if I’m lucky one of the books would be: “How to Survive on A Deserted Island for Dummies”.
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An interesting fact about yourself? I’m not sure if others would find it interesting but I have a few tattoos and none of them were done at the same tattoo studio. In fact, each of them were done in a different state (coincidentally not intentionally).
Are you a cat person or dog person? YES!!!
If you could give your past self advice, what would it be? To stop being so afraid to take chances. I’m quite adventurous but not on the things that matter in life.
What’s your favorite food? Mexican
What’s on your bucket list? Kayaking around Alaska (fingers crossed I will get to do that next year). And going on a safari in Africa.
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