Five Minutes with Petra Spirkova

Petra Spirkova joined First Wealth this month as a Chartered Financial Planner.

With many years of experience in the profession under her belt, Petra has a passion for lifestyle financial planning and helping her clients achieve their objectives.

Tell us about your journey – why did you join First Wealth?

I’ve been in financial services for 20 years now!

I started as an admin and Client Relationship Manager. Then took all the exams. In 2012 I finally became an adviser and achieved Chartered status.

After all of this, I took a few years out to have my two gorgeous children, and I came back to the financial services in 2018.

Over the years, I have worked with some talented people and enjoyed getting into lifestyle financial planning – which is where I sit now.

Joining First Wealth is such an exciting step in my career as I can really focus on the lifestyle perspective.

My role here allows me space to put clients at the heart of what I do by completing cash flow modelling, identifying their goals, recognising their fears, helping their wishes come true, and working together in amongst it all.

That’s why I joined. Because working to build my clients’ dreams is where I’m happiest.

What does your role consist of?

My role as a Financial Planner is to help my clients get clarity, confidence, and control over their finances. It’s about building and implementing a plan to show them their weaknesses and strengths, reduce stress, give them a vision of their future, and create positive habits.

This is all with a view to help clients achieve financial wellbeing.

What are you the most passionate about with your role or finance more generally?

I’m most passionate about being a helping hand – a sound board – for my clients.

For me, finance is all about helping someone to navigate their financial position to show them what is possible.

When clients realise what they are working towards can happen. When I get to see my clients achieve their objectives. And when clients gain confidence. That is a huge reward.

It’s powerful and humbling to be part of that.

What do you think the future of the financial services holds?

I think we are all feeling a bit apprehensive about AI and other technological advances. But I genuinely believe that where we are going with financial advice is developing better relationships with clients – and this is something that computers cannot understand or fulfil.

Partnership on a human, emotional level is becoming increasingly important. So, advice may be moving online, but I see personal relationships and trust remaining the core of what we do.

What career advice has helped you get to where you are now?

It wasn’t necessarily advice, but a recommendation, which ultimately made me make the leap into finance.

I have always pursued roles which have something to do with people and helping them to create what they want. But it was only when a dear friend of mine recommended the financial services as a career for helping people that I considered it.

That recommendation is the reason I am here now.

In your years of experience, what is the most valuable lesson you have learned?

Listen. Listen to understand and not to judge.

What motivates you?

I’d like to think that my motivation is a bit of self-realisation – I know who I am and why people trust in me.

But I also hate letting people down and am always trying to do better.

Can you recommend a financial planning resource (book or podcast, etc.)?

In terms of books there are so many that you have to be careful!

But some of my favourites are:

• The Financial Wellbeing Book by Chris Budd
• The One-Page Financial Plan: A Simple Way To Be Smart About Your Money by Carl Richards
• Lean In by Nell Scovell and Sheryl Sandberg
• Enough by Paul Armstrong

Who inspires you?

My husband, my children, nature.

I often get inspired with a walk in the woods or a swim in the sea.

Oh, and meeting interesting people from different walks in life… it is energising!

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