At Cooper Parry Wealth, we’re lucky to work alongside some truly brilliant people.
In this second edition of our Spotlight series, we had the pleasure of catching up with Dani Nicholls to hear about her journey, experiences, and what led her to join CPW.
WHY COOPER PARRY WEALTH?
“I’d followed and admired the business for a number of years. In the Midlands especially, CPW is well-known and revered by industry professionals, where many people aim to be.
We’re widely recognised as a true financial planning firm with doing what’s right for the client at the core of the advice. The strong morals resonated with me personally.
By the time I’d joined, I had 10 years in the industry under my belt so felt I could hold my own technically and use my experience to help improve ways of working as well.
It quickly became apparent that as a strengths-based business, I wouldn’t be shoe-horned into a traditional role or career path – I could shape my future to best use my talents and benefit the company at the same time.”
HOW DID YOU KICKSTART YOUR CAREER?
“I studied Accountancy and Finance at university but it didn’t resonate with me. My saving grace was a Personal Tax module in my final year. When I finished studying, I applied for any job that had something to do with tax and the one which caught my eye was a Trainee Financial Adviser for a pension helpline.
A requirement of that job was study for the Regulated Diploma in Financial Planning so I spent my evenings and weekends studying hard. This opened my eyes a bit further and I realised that I needed a wider experience than just pensions. I moved into Paraplanning within a year which gave me a much more varied role.
Something clicked, being able to put into practice what I was learning, and I quickly passed my diploma. Studying had become a habit, so over the following years I continued and achieved Chartered Financial Planner status and Fellow of the Personal Finance Society before joining CPW and then became a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ with the CISI soon after.”
WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE PART OF YOUR ROLE?
“I love helping people. I’ve had some great mentors over the years but I also had to figure out a lot on my own at times which was really tricky – there wasn’t always someone I could lean on, learn from and bounce ideas off. If I can share what I’ve learned with our team and ease someone else’s journey, that’s a win!
I also love problem solving. In financial planning, there are so many moving pieces and often a few objectives fighting each other. Usually there is no singular ‘right or wrong’ route, with a few solutions getting to the goal. Helping the team delve into the nitty gritty to form a plan is very satisfying.”
WHAT’S ON YOUR BUCKET LIST?
“I love travelling to new countries/places and tend to book them when I get the urge to go… after planning every minute detail on a spreadsheet of course! Next up is probably Japan or Madagascar.
Other than that, there are a few things I fancy trying:
- Europe’s longest and the world’s fastest zip line (happens to be in Wales)
- To compete on Catchphrase or the 1% Club
- Go on an Arctic cruise – northern lights, whale watching, fjords, geysers… the lot!”
THINK CPW COULD BE FOR YOU?
We’re growing quickly and we’re always on the lookout for exceptional people that feel right at home in our progressive, inclusive, high-performance culture.
Check out our vacancies to find out if CPW could be your next career move.
