What If?

I remember being 10 years old–hiding out in my closet during thunderstorms with my NFL blanket, my red vinyl bean bag chair, a barely-working flashlight and hundreds of my favorite comic books. While the weather raged outside, I read about the adventures of my superheroes, which kept my mind off the storms. It was my favorite “safe space” during summer storms. I loved disappearing into comic book universes and dreamed of becoming Spiderman when I grew up. My love of comics continued into my pre-teens and beyond.

One short-lived Marvel comic series that made a real impression on me was the What If series. It explored how the Marvel Universe might have unfolded if key moments in its history occurred differently. What if someone other than Peter Parker had been bitten by the spider? What if Captain America was elected President? I loved the idea of looking at these stories with a new perspective. It made me realize that even in comics, choices were made and actions taken that could set a completely different path for my favorite heroes.

‘What If’ plays a big part in my role as Chief Operating Officer at Rather & Kittrell. I have two jobs: one, being to handle the business aspect of RK so the owners and advisors can focus on our clients and their success. Secondly, to evaluate, anticipate, and plan for the ‘What Ifs’ that could possibly derail our ability to serve clients.

We have focused time and energy as a firm evaluating four specific areas of potential danger within our firm. We spend time regularly discussing, preparing, and testing for possible threats to the business and our ability to serve our clients.

Depth of Service/Team Approach to Service: Great teams have deep benches with players who understand and are committed to their roles of ensuring team success. RK has strived to add strong individuals at every level of our firm who know our clients and are involved in the process of servicing them. You may meet with an Owner, a Senior Advisor, a Wealth Management team member or, someone on our operations group. We strive to have teams in place that know you and your family; helping to reach your financial goals.
Succession Planning: It only makes sense that folks who earn a living helping others plan should do the same for themselves and their business. RK Executive staff meets regularly to discuss “what happens if” scenarios regarding management, advisors, and staff with the goal to make sure our clients never feel an interruption in their service, knowing they have multiple contacts within the building who know them and their financial plan. There are plans in place to make sure this firm continues to offer great service to clients, despite any personal or professional interruptions which may occur in our staff’s lives.

Client Information-Privacy & Protection: Privacy concerns are in the media daily. RK completes quarterly testing with our technology partners in order to determine where we may see potential threats and vulnerabilities, and continue to be on the lookout for ways to improve our protection of sensitive client information. We train and test our employees regularly to be consistently conscious of suspicious e-mails, texts, or even people who might impersonate clients.

Disaster Recovery: RK has a written plan in place covering the ‘What Ifs’ of service interruptions, including local or regional disasters. We were tested on this during the latest pandemic and performed admirably. Our phones were easily transferrable, electronic files were accessible remotely by our staff, and we had already tested and implemented video conferencing that was available to everyone. We continue to partner with national firms to make sure our data is protected. We review our disaster recovery plan quarterly, test it, and continually analyze our technology for possible upgrade opportunities to ensure greater safety and reliability.
What I’ve learned as I’ve grown from that comic-loving child into a responsible member of society is that you can’t plan for every ‘What If’ scenario in advance, but it is incredibly hard to plan while in the middle of a crisis.

Unfortunately, I have never developed a Spidey-sense that alerts me to impending disaster, but I’ve had enough experience in life and during my fourteen years of planning and preparation as COO of Rather & Kittrell that I know where to look for danger. My job at RK requires me to plan for the worst, expect the best, and be ready for whatever surprises might come our way as we serve individuals, families, and businesses well.