A registered securities representative, and a life and health insurance licensed with over 7 years of experience in his industry. Born in Benin, West Africa, he moved to the US in 2007 to study finance and business. Geraud is passionate about helping the community through financial literacy, economic empowerment, and leadership development. Geraud’s growing organization is currently impacting families in Kansas, Nebraska, New Jersey, and Texas. He will be expanding into 3 other states (Iowa, Colorado and Illinois) within the next year.
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Why the choice of an entrepreneurial lifestyle?
“Very early on, I understood the concept of working in a corporate environment. It became very clear that I didn’t fit in. I have always wanted to create opportunities for others, and afford them the possibility to belong to a work culture that they actually loved and couldn’t wait to go back to. With that thought in mind, I quickly became psychologically unemployable a year prior embarking on the entrepreneurial journey.”
What would you say was the catalyst to your career?
“The opportunity to build bridges between some of the top money managers in the country and everyday families by providing them powerful financial education and a strategic road map to financial security has been my catalyst. The topic of money and how it works seems to be completely foreign concepts to most families. I’m on a mission to change the fact that nearly 8 in 10 workers report living paycheck to paycheck; 60% of Americans have less than $1,000 in savings; the average U.S. household caries a credit card balance of $16,883; the average life insurance coverage gap is $495,000 per household; and forty-five percent of Americans say they have less than $25,000 in savings and investments put away for retirement.”
What values are you adding to the lives of those you serve through your business?
“My team and I, we pride ourselves in taking an educational approach, and we offer sophisticated financial tools to families. What makes us unique is our mission to help every single family that works with us to become properly protected, earn income, become totally debt free as well as financially independent. It’s not something we just say, it’s at the core of who we are.”
What is your biggest challenge as an entrepreneur?
“My biggest challenge has been scalability and duplication. I believe that as leaders, we ought to duplicate ourselves through our organization, and empower our teams to take as much responsibility as they can. If our team needs our input before helping every client, or making any decision, we are not creating self-sufficient leaders, we are rather creating dependent followers.”
What advice would you give to someone who is new to being an entrepreneur and why?
“Being an entrepreneur is being a “work creator”, instead of a “work processor”. When you have a job, in most instances you are a “work processor”. Deciding to become entrepreneur means being willing to accept to pay the undeniable price of success. You must never stop learning the changes occurring in your space. Additionally, you ought to create an ecosystem around you, conducive to creativity, grit, innovation, growth, and disagree-ability. Lastly, you are not going to make everyone happy, therefore don’t expect the acceptance of everyone, yet, learn from your critics.”
What is your spotlight in the African Diaspora?
“The African Diaspora is dramatically under served, with a dire need for financial literacy and economic empowerment. We are resilient, over-comers, needed, and we are more than capable to be self-sufficient. We must be bridge- builders. It is up to us, to equip our fellow brothers and sisters with tools and information they need, in order to compete in the current market place, and this fast pace economy we all participate in.
