Age: 33
Title at work/what I do: Director at Connecticut Wealth Management LLC. Like all of my teammates with whom I work, my job is to organize, simplify, and oversee all aspects of our clients’ financial lives. Ultimately, the goal is for our clients to focus on the important things in their lives knowing that they have a trusted team of experienced professionals giving them real, honest advice. In addition to these responsibilities, I oversee our firm’s investment committee, spearhead the company’s Community Outreach program, and write articles for publication.
Town where I work: Farmington
Town where I live: West Hartford
College I attended: Amherst College
My passion, hobby or special talent: I don’t know if it’s a talent, but it’s special to me: The ability to make complicated subject matter understandable.
Twitter handle: @jsolomonctwm
No. of LinkedIn connections: 400
Favorite place to network: West Hartford Center
Favorite drink at a networking event: Beer
How do I create connections in my professional life?
Through friends, clients, their trusted advisors, and networking events, I am often introduced to other professionals in the Hartford area. More often than not, I end up gravitating to like-minded individuals who care only about doing what’s right for their clients. Sharing this trait with fellow professionals forges an immediate bond and one that I expect will continue throughout our working lives. One way I have been able to deepen these connections is by inviting these professionals to our firm and demonstrating how we operate.
What’s been my biggest challenge professionally?
I started in this field when I was 22, so early in my career I had to show folks that age does not necessarily equate to sound and honest counsel. I have heard countless examples of people receiving subpar guidance and poor service from their seasoned advisors; my biggest challenge has been to illustrate that good advice is more about an advisor’s credentials and objective approach than it is the number of years someone has been in the business.
What is the best advice I received?
The best advice I have received may seem trite, but it is just to be a good person. Whether it means being a good father, good husband, good son, good friend, or good advisor, I do my best not to let any outside influence obstruct my simple goal of being a genuine individual each and every day.
What do I want my legacy to be?
I want to be remembered, both personally and professionally, as someone who both never gave up trying to improve himself and who enriched the lives of the people around him through humor, generosity, and selflessness.
Check out the other 40 Under Forty for 2014 winners
Check out the Digital Edition of this year’s 40 Under Forty.
