Helga Fitzgerald

Forty-five years in this industry, and the part that still gets me is the conversation.

Not the paperwork, not the process. The moment a client feels heard and walks away with clarity they did not have before. That is what financial planning looks like from where I sit, and it is what has kept me engaged long past the point where most people stop counting the years.

I support Richard Casolari, Investment Adviser Representative, in new business development and client service. My clients would tell you I am knowledgeable and kind, and I think they would mean it as one thing, not two.

My career started at New England Life, and the habits I built there have followed me everywhere. I grew up in Richton Park, where small-town straightforwardness was just the way people operated. It stuck. I live in Joliet now, close to a family I am deeply fond of and grateful for.

When the week winds down, I am probably planning a trip, working a puzzle, pulling weeds in the garden, or out on a trail somewhere. My library book club gets whatever is left.