Kelly Morgan Accepts Invitation and Attends LPL Financial’s Achieve Conference

Last spring, I was notified to “Save the Date” for the invite-only, 2023 LPL’s Women’s Conference – Achieve. I have to admit, I was excited to be included. I attended the conference in 2019 as a NextGen advisor but haven’t gotten the invite since. The conference was held at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. Say what you want about San Francisco, but I love that place. It’s like a city is climbing up out of the bay. The fog, the views, the energy – I love it.

My mom, Patsy, and I traveled to the West Coast a couple of days before the conference started. She has a childhood friend who lives in Sonoma, California that has been asking her to visit for years. The Achieve invite provided the chance to make that happen for her. We flew into SFO, rented a car, and drove my mom over the Golden Gate Bridge on our way to wine country.

We spent two days in Sonoma County and visited La Crema winery. The town of Sonoma is quaint and full of great shopping. With all the demands owning a business includes, it was a special chance to spend time with my mom and make so many fun memories along the way. 

Back in San Francisco, I was able to attend a couple of pre-conference sessions and the general meeting. The room was packed with 250 of LPL’s female advisors. This conference sells out fast because advisors know Achieve offers some great content and continued education opportunities. But, to me, the best part is networking and hearing what others are doing in their businesses. I have several takeaways to fold into our business plan at GrandView for 2024 and set some new goals for going forward.

Besides hanging with my mom for six days, the other highlight was spending time with LPL’s CEO, Dan Arnold. He is from Birmingham and an Auburn graduate. I gave him a quick War Eagle but we both avoided football talk to keep the peace with non-SEC football fans. He talked with us about the growth I and three other advisors have experienced over the last year and presented some ideas LPL has about how to support us.

Being the only person represented in that meeting with a team, I asked him to press his team about how LPL can support offices built around a team. Since our meeting, I have heard from his support team and they want to keep talking. To be seen and heard by the CEO of such a large company was a fantastic motivator and a proud moment to be able to represent all the great work the GrandView team does daily in front of Dan and his entire team. 

I know for our clients, LPL Financial is a far-off entity that only sends letters and notices that don’t always make sense. LPL Financial means much more to GrandView than our clients and they like it that way. I must say, I left the meeting feeling rejuvenated, inspired, and feeling supported as we march into the next chapter of GrandView Financial Group. One of the biggest fears Bob and Larry expressed when we made the transition to LPL was getting lost in a large organization. I don’t feel that way anymore. We are building great relationships within the LPL Financial organization to serve the GrandView team better so we can better serve our clients.