An Elevated Introduction: From Finance to Fashion

Good evening steemit fam! My name is Chris White and I wanted to take a few minutes to introduce myself. Born and raised in Augusta, Ga., I moved to Nashville, TN. in 2010. After visiting for a little over a week, the city worked its charm on me, the way it does with so many others, and I knew I had to call it home! I went back to Augusta, packed my bags, emptied my bank accounts (not really, we already had modern banking technology, it just sounds way better) and headed to Nashville. I moved in with my cousin and his wife for the first six months-ish, while I worked on getting a job and eventually made friends that I would call roommates.

After a few odd jobs, I eventually landed a job at Bank of America (I know, I know. Stick with me and you'll figure out why I'm here, now) as a teller. I worked hard for a year and was promoted quickly, to what the company called at the time, a Sales and Service Specialist. The person I replaced made a heck of a lot more than what they offered me per hour. Majoring in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance, I knew that negotiations were normal if you wanted to be paid fairly. So, I did just that. Only then did I realize, they weren't planning on paying me any more than what they had offered. So, I took the job, and leveraged it to get an even better position with First Tennessee Bank.

I know exactly what you're thinking! Good for you, Chris!! You moved from, "too big to fail" to, too little to succeed. In most cases, you may be right. What I realized, however, was that both banks operated the same, with profits in mind. Now, before you think I'm calling both of these banks out on the carpet, or talking "trash" about either one, I'm not. Both provide jobs and income for people and families. People and families who want to do to good for others. So, regardless of how bad you and I both want to change the "system", I want to do that without ruining the lives of those that are currently employed by these institutions.

Back to my introduction. While at First Tennessee, I worked my way up from a "Universal Banker" to a "Financial Services Representative". Basically, a hybrid teller/banker to a banker. Along the way, I succeeded in passing my Life and Health license, Series 6, and Series 63. You see, I wanted to become a financial adviser. I knew the bad reputation that the financial services industry had. Especially, given the implications of 2008-2009. I wanted to be that one bright spot. Where people walked away from interactions telling others, that guy really cares about us. He puts us before himself.

So, I approached a "boss" of mine (for lack of a better word), about studying for and taking the test for my Series 7. For those who may not know the financial industry, just another license I'd need to call myself a financial adviser. To my surprise, he declined. His reasoning was, while on the bank side, I wouldn't need it. My response was, I was upfront about wanting to become and adviser and not be "stuck" in retail banking. After a chat, we agreed to disagree and I politely let him know, based on this I'd be looking for another position. (I'm in the center of the below photograph at the company I left First Tennessee Bank for. Notice the measuring tape)

That's when I stumbled across a company that was an annuity company, and was number one in the space. I'll leave these guys unnamed because I've recently left and many of my dealings currently involve me returning to the office (you'll see). There, I achieved my Series 7, and because we were registered as a limited broker dealer, all of my dealings were with financial advisers. Let's just say at this point, I realized I didn't want to be a financial adviser. Let me be clear, for the most part, advisers really do have your best interest at heart. The ones that don't however, were the ones that motivated me to leave that company.

What I realized while I was there was, I have a passion for financial literacy. So, I began to research and study the effects of a society that is, for the most part, financially illiterate. That's when I had an idea. What if I developed a nonprofit that was focused solely on financial literacy. I could literally accomplish three things that would impact the financial industry in a positive way: educate consumers, reward the advisers doing it the right way, and eliminate the bad advisers by directing their consumers to good advisers. However, I don't have the time. My current position usually kept me at the office from around 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m..

Enter, measuring tape. While at the company I recently moved on from, a custom, tailored menswear designer came into the office about once a quarter and measured, designed, etc. all of our suits, shirts, and other business attire. I had always enjoyed dressing nice and really trying to present myself as someone who valued first impressions. Over the two and a half years I was there, this tailor and I became good friends. Kaleb began to let me know the reasons for starting his own line called Elevated Citizen, which turned out to be, many of the same reasons for me wanting to start a nonprofit. The end consumer was being taken advantage of. What a fun way to make a living while developing an idea and business model for a nonprofit that would eventually shake up the financial industry. So, I started dropping hints. (Below, the Elevated Citizen showroom in Bloomington, IN. Remember, it's all custom and tailored so there's no "retail" shop.)

It took about a year, and then Kaleb decided it was time to expand. He offered me a job. He wanted to focus more on the showroom and business in the Bloomington area, and let me focus on breaking into the Nashville, TN. market. So, here I am. Making the jump from finance to fashion, in order to work on an idea that will benefit society and hopefully, change the way the financial industry looks at the retail investor. In the meantime, I'm focused on patterning with local nonprofits as I develop the custom menswear line in Nashville. I'm currently partnering with Monroe Harding in Nashville, a charity that focuses on foster children, and donating 10% of all of my sales through Christmas to them. Great to meet everyone and introduce myself. Feel free to reach out with any questions at [email protected] or check out our Instagram, @elevatedcitizen and @elevatedcitizen_nashville!