Kim Uzzell is a Chartered Fellow of the CISI and a Chartered Wealth Manager. She has been working with people and their money since the late 1980s, predominantly as a Private Client Stockbroker and Wealth Manager, and latterly a Private Banker.
Alongside a career which has introduced her to the many aspects of behavioural finance, Kim is also a Certified Financial Coach and Certified Trauma of Money Coach, and works with the deeper levels of clients’ relationships with money using a range of modalities including clinical hypnotherapy, NLP, EFT and Belief Coding.
Having stepped away from the regulated side of her career, Kim spends her time providing financial wellbeing support to organisations and helping individuals tackle their money blocks and deeper money traumas so that they can create better financial habits and create stronger financial futures. She also provides CPD training to other coaches to enable them to better serve their own clients when facing money mindset and trauma matters.
Away from money, Kim runs the occasional marathon and loves to ski. She’s also partial to decent coffee and good quality chocolate.
Kim is delivering the breakout discussion ‘Developing honesty and disclosure in the client space’ at the IFW Conference on 21st May.
Find the full IFW Conference agenda here.
How would you summarise your passions, both in and out of work?
In work, there’s nothing that makes me happier than hearing from clients or session delegates to let me know that something has “clicked” and they’ve made a change within their financial relationship or money management. When it starts to fall into place, it creates more than just a bit of extra money in their bank account each month, often improving sleep, relationships and stress levels. It’s more than just money.
Out of work, I love to ski – there’s nothing like taking a moment when you’re literally standing on top of the world, to look around you and just take it all in…before getting a massive adrenaline rush and hurtling down the mountain at full pelt, to do it all again!
What’s your happiest memory?
I’m lucky enough to have many to choose from. Two that come to mind are being in the Olympic Stadium on Super Saturday in 2012, and also running my fastest marathon just before turning 50 – almost 45 minutes quicker than I was when I ran my first one 30 years previously. Sometimes, we really do get better with age!
What do you wish you’d been told about finance when you were 15?
I was very keen to get ahead quickly, and I bought my first house at 18 (when interest rates were 16%!!) and got married at 19. I was already a good saver, but I really wish it had been explained that I didn’t need to rush so much!
What made you want to work in finance?
I actually wanted to study music at college but my mum made me do Business Studies because she didn’t think I’d be any good at music for a career! Although we didn’t see eye to eye, being my mother she got her way. However, it did lead me to my first career, which was in the Trust and Taxation team of a large law firm in the days before the internet. I developed a love for capital gains tax and understanding the trust investments, so when an opportunity came along for me to become a stockbroker in the newly formed personal finance department, I jumped at the chance and never looked back.
How did this lead to you becoming a Certified Financial Coach and Certified Trauma of Money Coach?
I embarked upon my coaching, mentoring and training journey alongside my financial career in 2006 after the sudden loss of my father led me to go on a bit of a journey of personal discovery, as it does for many. Over the years I saw how financial fears, expectations and judgements (whether real or perceived) can affect anyone – not just those at the lower end of the income scale.
We sadly lost a client to suicide who, although she had plenty of money on paper, worried she didn’t have enough to fulfil her responsibilities as a parent. This hit me hard, because none of us knew what was really going on for her, so we couldn’t ask the right questions, give her the right reassurance, or help her get the right support. Whilst we may not have been able to save her, I was determined to help others, whatever their level of wealth, feel comfortable enough to talk about money.
This was almost 20 years ago now and at the same time I was going through a very toxic personal relationship with money and also felt very alone. I learned that my story and that of my client were not isolated cases and that there are so many who need support, guidance and the ability to explore their financial relationships in a safe place.
I want to be that safe place.
Coaching isn’t regulated, however, and coming from a very heavily regulated environment as a stockbroker, I’m keen to help raise the bar, so that when clients are looking for that support, they know they are getting it from someone who really does know what they are doing. Sadly, anyone can call themselves a ‘money coach’ and the potential for clients to pay for someone who has nothing more than a self-imposed title is huge. I want more for them than that.
Financial/Money Trauma is very much misunderstood and often mixed up with “money mindset.” Very few people truly talk about money trauma and we are therefore missing some key opportunities to strengthen understanding of people’s behaviours, and to have more meaningful, respectful conversations with our clients, colleagues, friends etc. I learned so much in the Trauma of Money coaching, but with it being very North America-centric, I wanted to create something that was relevant for those of us in the UK and Europe, hence the Financial Trauma Awareness programme was born.
How would you summarise the focus of your business?
I started my business with a focus on working with women, who are underestimated and under-represented both as clients and financial professionals. The gender wealth, pension and investment gaps were my topic of choice.
However, I’ve since spent a lot of time widening that reach, and there are so many more ‘gaps’ I want to fill. I want to show the whole world that you can earn, hold and grow wealth and become financially resilient without a fear of shame, embarrassment or judgement. It’s a bit of a mission!
Throughout my investment career, choice has been at the forefront of my mind when talking to clients. There are so many reasons why choice is restricted, both in the present and in the future and it is the reinstatement and creation of informed choice for as many people as possible that remains my primary focus.
What prompted you to join the Institute for Financial Wellbeing?
Coming from the very heavily regulated side of finance, I found I was getting more and more frustrated with the lack of professionalism amongst many people online calling themselves ‘money coaches’ when they have little or no experience of the workings and intricacies of money either from an emotional or a practical angle.
While I can’t change regulation (or the lack of) in this area, I want to ensure I remain as informed as possible, in a community where I can give the benefit of my extensive experience, as well as learn from others.
The public may not be protected in the way they are in other areas of finance, but I believe we all have a responsibility to create as much reassurance and confidence as possible, and I believe the IFW will be instrumental in facilitating this.
What drew you to financial wellbeing in the first place?
Although I had a fabulous career as a stockbroker, I also had a very toxic relationship with money on a personal level for many years.
It was an incredibly stressful time which ultimately broke up my marriage of 20 years, and throughout it I felt that I had no one I could talk to about the money stress. I felt full of shame and fear that I would somehow be “outed” and would lose my job, and both myself and my husband of the time would work more and more hours in additional part-time jobs etc to make sure that everything was paid. This was detrimental to our health, our relationship and our family life.
It wasn’t until I was working with other financial professionals in the coaching programme I took that I realised that there were many, many people in similar positions, either past or present, and who felt exactly the same.
This reminded me that while there is a huge amount of support out there for people to manage their money and address their relationships, there are huge numbers who, for one reason or another, believe they shouldn’t or can’t ask for that help.
We need to change this – and I want to do my bit in doing so.
What’s your top tip for someone wanting to improve their financial wellbeing?
Stop telling yourself that you are “just no good with money”. The more you say it, the more you will believe it. Instead, declare that you are “getting more and more confident with money” or something similar. Let’s start by thinking positively.
Who or what is your favourite wellbeing guru, podcast or book?
The book I refer most to, and often use with clients is The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks. I found it really useful when I was trying to wear all of the hats as a newly solo business owner, who was very used to having various teams around me in my corporate roles. I struggled to navigate tech, marketing, sales, creation, but this book helped me realise I don’t have to be good at everything, and to set my business priorities which was a real help.
What are you doing to advance your own financial wellbeing?
Every week I deliver interactive financial wellbeing workshops to businesses and organisations. I also deliver a CPD-accredited course in Financial Trauma Awareness.
With every session, I learn something new – about the behaviour of others, or my own personal responses, and I can then go and explore what’s going on behind it. We are all works in progress!
Which IFW member would you recommend we feature next. Why?
Hmm….not sure, sorry – although I would suggest if someone is being resistant, they should definitely do this – it’s cathartic!!
Is there an IFW member you would like to see featured in the IFW Showcase?Send an email to members@ifw.org.uk and let us know.
