Gladys Garavito has been a financial advisor with Merrill Lynch’s Global Wealth Management Group for four and a half years.
WHAT DO YOU DO?
Garavito helps people who already have some net worth accumulated. “I help those people manage what they have. They’ve worked hard to accumulate and save and they don’t know what they really should be invested in.” Garavito finds out what her client’s future financial goals are and then helps them manage their money to get to their goals. She also originates residential and commercial real estate loans.
BEFORE MERRILL LYNCH?
She worked for Morgan Stanley for four years as a financial advisor and before that she worked in New York for Dreyfus Service Corporation as a service representative for four years.
COLLEGE
She has a bachelor’s degree in fine art with concentration in illustration from the State University of New York - Fashion Institute of Technology.
After college, she took a position as an assistant designer with a menswear company in New York. It was an import company she traveled a lot for them to create the designs. She worked for them for five years, but became tired of the traveling and realized that she wanted a more stable and localized career.
BEFORE FINANCES?
She was a supervisor for a corporate travel agency, MVI Travel, for five years. While working there, she went back to school to work on a second bachelor’s degree to possibly become a doctor. Through conversations with doctors and friends, she realized that financial planning was her passion and decided to pursue that instead and has loved it ever since.
WHO NEEDS A FINANCIAL ADVISOR?
“Everybody who has a desire to accumulate wealth.”
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT FINANCIAL ADVISING?
“Making a difference in people’s lives.”
ADVICE FOR NEW FINANCIAL ADVISORS?
Garavito said it is a tough business. “You wind up being a psychologist and it’s a big responsibility. You have a huge responsibility to do the right thing every minute of the day.”
WHY MARKET TO THE REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY?
Since Garavito has been in financial advising for 12 years, she can be a little choosy as to which clients she works with and she really enjoys the real estate industry. “I like the quick decision makers. They are people who recognize the value that I would bring to the table in terms of what I could do for them. I think people in the real estate industry are people who do what they do well and who recognize that they need to hire someone who does what they do well so they can do what they do well more.”
HOW DOES HER PAST EXPERIENCE HELP HER?
Garavito said it has kept her fresh in terms of thinking and she tries not to think in a box. “That’s really what’s been at the basis of my success in everything. I think everyone gets bored in what they do, but I recognize when I need more challenges. I think that has made me more of a well-rounded of a person than I was when I started working. Since she traveled so much as a designer and while she worked at the travel agency, she learned a lot about other markets.
“It’s easy for me to understand global financing and as far as wealth for my clients, the value of being global. When I advise my clients, increasingly a bigger portion of their portfolio should be in international companies and equities.”
BEST PROFESSIONAL ADVICE EVER RECEIVED?
“Work hard, but smart.”
ADVICE FOR REALTORS WHEN DEALING WITH CLIENTS AND THEIR FINANCES?
Clients should work on their credit. “Concentrate on the basics. Pay your bills. Live within your means. If you have debt, do everything you can to reduce it and then increase your credit score. Rent until you can really afford to buy.”
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS?
Commercial Real Estate Women of Jacksonville.
WHY BECOME INVOLVED IN THE COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE WOMEN OF JACKSONVILLE?
“I was just looking for a women’s group and found CREW. I’ve been originating commercial deals, so I decided to check the group out. I was pleasantly surprised at the caliber of women in this organization. They really are professional and are about business. It’s not a social group.”
- by Michele Newbern Gillis