Kip Herriage, one of the co-founders of Wealth Masters, International, has a life story that might read like a fairy tale to some. Born to a lower-middle class family, Herriage had a dream – to be a financial advisor.
To that end, Herriage worked himself through school. His natural talent for finances led him to a career track that many people already on Wall Street could only dream about – a VP first at Oppenheimer at 28 and from there to VP of Investments for Raymond James, one of the largest financial services companies in the country.
Herriage was clearly at the top of his game. His financial acumen had earned him the nickname, “The Nostradamus of Finance,” and he was managing a $70 million portfolio for his clients.
However, all of this success came at a very high cost: 60-hour workweeks and 2-hour daily commutes left Herriage little to no time to be a good husband to his wife Cindy or to be around for their sons.
At a retreat with 100 of his top colleagues, Herriage had an epiphany. He wasn’t happy. He had the money and the power and the exciting career, but no home life to speak of.
According to Herriage, “This was not my idea of the American Dream and was certainly not the way I wanted to be remembered as a father by my two sons. In addition, I always knew that there was an entrepreneur inside of me just waiting for the right opportunity, and at some point I knew I would have to make the move in order to achieve the true freedom that successful entrepreneurs master.”
Four months later, at age 38, of Kip Herriage walked away from his job and into an uncertain future. Later that year, 1999, Herriage met his eventual partner Karl Bessey.
Five years after that, in 2004, Herriage and Bessey founded WMI.
Herriage says he was drawn into the world of network marketing when he started his career as a financial advisor. “I began to receive invitations to attend events sponsored by network marketing organizations, and I immediately recognized how like-minded and passionate these high-energy entrepreneurs were.” It was at one of these events that Herriage met Bessey.
Soon, Herriage was seeking out the top people in the fields of personal growth and network marketing. He’d realized that his Wall Street life had put blinders on his eyes, keeping him “from discovering many of the world’s best financial strategies, top money managers, and an entire network of the brightest minds around the globe.”
He had already recognized that Bessey was one of those minds. So, in 2004 he called Bessey with an idea – marry Kip Herriage’s financial expertise with Karl Bessey’s network marketing chops into a company that would help people create and manage their own wealth.
The result? A company that has reportedly made millionaires.
Kip Herriage’s story is literally a version of the American Dream. Even coming from a difficult economic background, Herriage was able to leverage his work ethic and intelligence into the kind of career that movies are made about.
Now, though, he’s doing something even better – helping others achieve those same dreams, but without the 60-hour workweek.
Overheard Thoughts