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After a scary accident nearly took her young life, feisty Candace Fraser enjoyed debating and arguing with her two overprotective older brothers and parents. Her extended family was so close-knit, that “if any one family member sneezed, another family member would call to say ‘bless you’”.
Despite the fact that her father was taken from her at an early age, Candace developed a resilient, strong, and positive attitude in which any goal was possible. With her linguistic ability and excellent people skills, it is no small wonder that Candace ended up as Business Development Manager at Investor’s Group.
“I will not hang up on you; I may put you on hold”, cautioned Candace in her first job as a Customer Service Representative at Royal Direct ten years ago. It was at this point that she realized how much she enjoyed assisting customers with “messed up” mortgages and other concerns.
In one case, her forthright, kind, and competent manner reassured the grateful customer so much so that it elicited an unsolicited bouquet of flowers. This experience illustrates the manner in which Candace places herself “in the customer’s shoes” thereby reversing years of service fees, long distance charges, and erroneous overages with her straightforward helpful style.
This early foray into the world of corporate banking enabled Candace to fit in at Investors Group with ease. She started out in the mailroom, then was promoted to Media Relations Coordinator, and ultimately advanced to Business Development Manager.
During her days in the mail room, Candace learned quickly to ask the correct questions to make her colleagues’ professional lives run smoothly. She would take a pad of paper on her mail cart, and when her colleagues asked her for the information they were seeking, she would write it down, and either obtain the information herself or direct them to the appropriate place.
Making people’s lives easier has been a common underpinning of Candace’s professional life. From 'Mailroom Administrator' to Business Development Manager, it is Candace’s passion to enrich people’s lives. Her current position enables her to build relationships in her search of quality financial planners. What is exciting about Candace’s role is that she is able to coordinate field training for motivated individuals who never thought of financial planning as a viable career option.
Candace is particularly fond of viewing the student transformation over the two year training period, and the fact that each advisor is supported by field trainers who mentor their students in securities, banking, and credit expertise.
Because of her excellent organizational skills, Candace coordinates differing training schedules for over 900 individuals each year at a dizzying array of locales. She is the dynamo responsible for travel logistics, transportation, accommodations, and awareness of trainer/trainee medical conditions.
Moreover, Candace is a firm believer of karma wherein “the good karma that you put out comes back to you ten-fold”. She is also a strong proponent of the saying, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”, a credo which she lives everyday. While believing in treating people the way that she would like to be treated, Candace emphatically states that “everything happens for a reason”. She advises, “Make sure people can live with the decision they make and that they are happy!” In fact she emphasizes that “clients and staff must be happy or it will not work.”
Candace’s future goals in the next 5 to 8 years involve finishing her certified planning designation and becoming a Certified Financial Analyst in corporate investment management at Investor’s Group. Another fond goal would be to work out of the Dublin branch of Investor’s Group, close to her supportive extended family. During her spare time, Candace enjoys reading a wide variety of books, having started reading at age 2 and showing no signs of abatement. She also enjoys traveling to the Caribbean, particularly to Barbados and St. Vincent. Besides her professional life, Candace’s hobbies give her great joy.
Her advice to new entrepreneurs is to “find something that you love that you are passionate about”. Candace warns that one must “be patient with the start-up because it usually doesn’t go smoothly”.
She further adds that “it never hurts to have a support system that can ground you and keep you sane”. Her final advice is to “be open to ideas and changes in the course of your dream because it may not unfold exactly as you had originally envisioned, but it may end up being exactly what you needed at the time”. These are wise words indeed as inspirational Candace continues to travel down the pathway of success.
Written by: Olga Cordeiro
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