Meet the Team: Niki Clark

Let’s get started by learning more about where you’re from and your favorite part about where you live.

I am originally from Washington State. I was born and raised there but once I turned 18 I left and moved to Memphis, Tennessee. I spent six years there with my family and finished college. After graduating and thinking about my next career steps, I moved to Dallas, Texas with a plan to only be there a couple of years. A couple of years turned into twelve as I met my now-husband and had a baby.

In late 2019 we started talking about where we could see ourselves living long-term and knew we wanted to give our daughter more experience outside of a big city and be closer to family, so we made the decision to move. It wasn’t an easy decision but we knew we wanted our family to find a home that was a little quieter and surrounded by more nature and near our loved ones. We now live in Eastern Tennessee, about one hour from the Great Smoky Mountains.

My favorite part about where we live is we are surrounded by the beautiful mountain range which you can see from our balcony. On the weekends you can find us out exploring the Smokies and all its hidden gems.

As a marketing success coach, you work with advisors on a daily basis, offering strategic guidance, improved strategies and best practices for our Lead Pilot tool. Can you tell us more about what a “typical day” looks like for you?

A typical day is there is no typical day, and that’s just how I like it. I truly love my job so much that it doesn’t feel like work. One thing I always start the day with though is industry reading. Not only do I find it interesting, but it also helps me stay on top of what is going on so I can better support our clients.

After that, if I am not in a meeting or on a webinar, I am building campaigns for our clients. It matters that time and effort is put into those because that is why they contact Lead Pilot, they trust us to take care of their marketing needs and I want to make sure I can deliver to the best of my ability.

If you could give advisors just one piece of marketing advice what would it be and why?

Engage with your connections online. Posting content is not enough. Granted, it is necessary, but you must engage with others. This is how your name and your company get seen by others. With all of the algorithms out there, we know that commenting and replying to others is a huge marketing strategy that is proven to work. If you don’t know how to start, start with what you know. Financial advisors are experts in an area that many people are unfamiliar with, so if a financial advisor can help others learn about finances, investments, industry news, etc., by replying to an inquiry or adding their experience on a subject, and do this consistently, they will be seen and heard more, which is exactly what you want! The more you are seen, the more opportunity you have to grow your network and ultimately your business.

Let’s talk about success stories – can you think of a time when you were working with an advisor who had that “a-ha” moment? 

I have had a couple of “a-ha” moments and when they happen I literally jump out of my seat with joy. We all know the workload of financial advisors, and to be quite frank, marketing isn’t their top priority, understandably so. They have people and families to take care of so all of us at Lead Pilot really try to keep this front and center when we are helping them. We want to give them strategies that work but that don’t require hours of their time.

Recently I was speaking with one of our marketing coach clients who wanted to get more traction on LinkedIn. They had just started posting consistently using our campaigns and started getting a good base of content out there but still not receiving much engagement. We all know this takes some time, so it can be frustrating. This financial advisor and I hopped on a call and discussed how to engage online with others. What posts warrant a comment or reply and what sort of comment they should leave. I recommended them doing this three times a week spending around 15 minutes each time focusing on engaging with others on the platform. A couple of weeks later on a follow-up call, they told me they had noticed a difference in activity. Their actual words were “wow, this really does work doesn’t it?”

Even though life is slowly starting to return to normal, what has been your “go-to” hobby throughout the pandemic?

Getting outside. I must be outside as much as humanly possible. There is something about the fresh air, and leaving the constraints of walls that is almost like a reset. I have picked up a few hobbies during the pandemic and our new life in Tennessee. I have started woodworking with my husband, gardening (which is a shock to anyone who knows me because of my lifelong skill at killing plants), hiking a lot, and learning how to live a more sustainable lifestyle.

We love hearing more about our team members’ furry friends! What are your pet’s names and what’s been their favorite thing to do with you during quarantine? 

To say I am an animal lover is an understatement. I love that our company is just as obsessed with pets as I am. We have three dogs, one being my mother’s who lives with us. Her name is Missy. She is a 14-year-old Yorkie mix. Part Yorkie, part diva. Then there is Wrigley. We adopted him last year. He is a two-year-old German shepherd mix who loves car rides and giving his paw to anyone who will take it. And last but not least is my bud, Sir Winston. He is a 15-year-old Terrier Jack Russell mix. There is not enough room here to talk about Sir Winston but let’s just say he has defied all odds and is still kicking it here. Never a dull moment with that dude. I created an Instagram account for all three @dogs_like_these.

Missy

Wrigley

Sir Winston

What did you want to be when you were little? And what was the first job that you ever had?

I wanted to be a veterinarian and the first job that I ever had was dog sitting and dog walking.

If you could choose a flavor of ice cream to describe your personality, what would it be and why?

Oh my. That’s tough. I didn’t know how to answer that so I just took a quiz at Benjerry.com that told me I am Half Baked.

“You’re always on the move or ready for action. Your friends know that they can count on you for a burst of energy whenever they’re feeling down. You are your own motivational speaker, ready to inject some pep whenever needed. So don’t forget to slow down once in a while and enjoy some much-deserved couch time with a pint of the flavor that matches you best.”

I’d say that’s pretty accurate.

Once we can all safely travel again, do you have places that you would really like to visit?

Take me back to Mexico, please! I am ready!

You are a huge asset to our team and to advisors using Lead Pilot. So far, what has been your favorite part about working at Twenty Over Ten?

I can honestly say I get to work with some really great people. We really do have an amazing group of people that work hard and want to help others.