Why Advisor Karen Holloway Believes Financial Literacy Is the Key to Improving Personal and Community Finances

Get to know the people behind the financial advice in our Planner Profile series.

Karen Holloway can trace her career in financial services back to the sixth grade. “I credit my teacher who arranged for a banker to talk to us about money,” she says. “That was the first time I saw a compound interest table and I was fascinated by it. It gave birth to my desire to pursue a career in finance.”

Holloway grew up as the oldest of five children in Montego Bay, Jamaica. But in 1996, her mother sent her to visit her aunt in Florida. She thought she was just going for a visit but her family’s plan was for her to stay and attend high school there. “I understood because there is a big emphasis on education in Jamaica—but I was very shy in high school, so it was challenging,” she says. “But I made good grades and then secured a fully paid scholarship for college.”

While working toward her finance degree, Holloway focused on banking but took courses on a range of business-related subjects. “The banking side was much more transactional,” she says, “and the more I learned about financial planning and how it could help people, I thought: Oh! I want to do that.”

Today, Holloway works as a wealth management advisor in West Palm Beach, Florida. Below, she shares the journey that led her to become a financial advisor, the simple technique she uses to find personal solutions for relieving clients’ financial stress and how she’s committed to serving her community and inspiring others to leave charitable legacies as well.

What are your earliest memories about how money works?

My parents taught me that to get money, you have to work hard for it. They would always tell me, “Money doesn’t grow on trees.” They gave me my strong work ethic. Then the banker showed me how money could work for you.

What’s the best piece of financial advice you ever received?

It goes back to that sixth-grade lesson about compound interest. Even though I didn’t understand exactly how it worked at the time, I got the point: Start saving early. So from that day on, I started doing just that. I also learned how to budget, which helped keep my spending in check.

How did your career as a financial advisor begin?

I created an online résumé as an assignment for my organizational management class in college. In addition to my classes, I already had jobs at the mall and a bank, so I was not looking for another position. But a Northwestern Mutual advisor who needed an assistant saw it and asked me to come in for an interview. I went ahead met with him—and I got the job, so I took it.

Though the position was mainly administrative at first, it gave me a growing appreciation for the work as well as real, live cases of what I was learning in my classes. When my teacher was talking about how mutual funds work, for example, I was able to connect the dots and understand the application side of it. As my boss’s workload increased, he asked me to help out by working with some of the clients. My level of confidence consistently grew as I interacted with more people. After 10 years of working with him, observing what other successful advisors did and building up my own list of clients, I transitioned into the advisor role myself.

What do you love most about your job?

Every day, I show up not knowing who I’m going to meet, but I know it’s going to be fun and exciting. Meeting other people and knowing that I can help them relieve their financial stress really brings the job alive for me. I have not forgotten where I came from and I am grateful to be where I am today. Planning works and it’s done so much for me and my family—all of whom are here in the U.S. now. It’s so gratifying to see the peace people have after we get their plan in place.

Whenever someone tells me they’re nervous about having a conversation with me about their finances, I feel at ease because I know that’s not how they’re going to feel at the end of the conversation. My approach is simple: listen, guide, deliver. The most gratifying part is that since I have been doing work for so many years now, I've been able to see how people are actually benefiting from the planning that they’ve done.

What’s the most satisfying moment you’ve had as a financial advisor?

The one that stands out is a successful business owner who I had pursued for years. When he finally met with me, we had a great conversation and built his plan, which included getting insurance to protect his income. But a week later, he got declined because he had several underlying health issues. And he took it as a challenge to get fit and healthy. He hired a personal trainer and a nutritionist and even put me in touch with his doctor’s office so I could have his updated bloodwork and we could reapply.

His wife even called me to thank me and told me that she and their kids were also happier. I love that instead of just moving on from the rejection, he took it as a wake-up call to improve his lifestyle. He looks great but most importantly, his family now has the protection that they need.

What do you say to someone who is on the fence about financial planning?

I address their concerns head on. Some people are hesitant because they’re scared that they’re going to miss the money or worried that they’re going to make a mistake and lose money in the market. So I do my best to honor the moment they’re in. I put on my therapist’s hat and get them to talk and keep asking them questions about their experiences. And then I demonstrate how I will work to design the perfect plan for them.

I recently had a conversation with a new client who told me about all these warnings she had heard about financial advisors on TikTok. Instead of dismissing her concerns, I went through them with her, one by one—and she got off the fence! I showed her what does and doesn’t work and followed that up by outlining a plan to help her reach her goals, which she agreed made sense to her.

What are your clients’ biggest concerns right now?

I attract a lot of women clients, and we have many conversations about how they need to trust themselves to have the confidence to add investing into their financial plans. On the flipside, many of my male clients have no hesitancy about taking on risk. Striking that balance is crucial. If I’m talking to a married couple, I usually find there is opportunity for planning and financial literacy and getting them to a place where they are both comfortable that their individual priorities are being met, whether that’s making sure they are saving enough or feeling confident that they have the right amount of protection in place.

What’s your biggest goal for this year?

I want to continue to be more intentional with my service in the community and dedicate more of my financial resources to helping them thrive. One organization, called Path to College, asks me to speak about financial literacy every year. They like having me as a speaker because my story relates to many of the kids who come here from another country looking for opportunities. Being this involved allows me to see how donations impact the kids so I want to do even more this year.

How else do you like to give back?

I always have enjoyed doing charity work and over the years have worked with many organizations, including Place of Hope, which helps kids who have aged out of foster care or who don’t have parents to take care of them. But I have mainly dedicated myself to a cause that is very personal to me. I first started working with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in honor of my youngest brother who had lymphoma when he was younger. He was in Jamaica; I was here. He has since recovered and is doing well. But I stay involved with many local organizations because that’s very important to me. They always say giving is for others, but the truth is that it makes you feel good, too.

Doing this work makes my job even more fulfilling. Because now when I know there is a cause that is important to a particular client, I will talk to them about how they can make an impact through planned giving or life insurance. Maybe putting the organization down for 1 or 2 percent, whatever it is, so their giving can continue as their legacy.