Helping Clients Gain Balance: A Conversation with Morgan Sarraf

By Hightower Bethesda on July 13, 2022

We’ve all got secrets we don’t want to get out…most people won’t let just anyone organize their closet, for example, or see what’s in their bank accounts. Morgan Sarraf has done both; it was her previous role as a design consultant for a closet and home storage company that equipped her with skills that helped her succeed in her second career—as a financial advisor.

Morgan is one of many next-generation advisors with diverse life skills, drawn to Hightower for its growth potential, professional development opportunities and opportunity to work closely with clients to find ‘well-th’ in all aspects of their lives. She credits two female mentors – one late-career financial advisor and one mid-career professional – for putting her onto her new career path.

The late-career advisor, a former design client, inspired Morgan to look toward wealth management because of her empathy, ability to ask thoughtful questions and warm, problem-solving personality – plus, she said, the profession needs more women. Morgan’s other mentor, Leah Jones, a friend and neighbor who is a mid-career advisor at Hightower Bethesda, concurred on all these points, and gradually inspired Morgan to the idea of making a change and pursuing a career as a financial advisor.

Joining Hightower Bethesda in March 2020, Morgan embraced the challenge and got to work mastering an entirely new industry (in the middle of the pandemic!). In November 2021, she took and passed her CFP exam.

While it’s never an easy feat to jump into a new profession, let alone financial planning, Morgan shared that she found some startling similarities between her sales job as a custom-closet design consultant and being a financial planner—and insists it’s not about dirty laundry! Instead, it’s the intimacy and importance of creating human connections, the ability to problem-solve, provide advice and forge strong relationships.

“Working as a designer in people’s homes was a very intimate experience. I would be in their closets and then sitting at their kitchen table, conceiving of new ways to help them gain comfort and greater order in their lives,” Morgan said. 

Though she no longer spends time in people’s closets, Morgan is still very much involved with her clients, guiding them through decision-making and helping themfeel confident with a financial plan. She credits her prior experience with helping her develop the tact and empathy required to navigate the space so naturally.

Morgan said she uses the same skills to address these issues–whether it’s how to maximize room in a small closet or helping a couple plan for their retirement. In essence, success is about thoughtful client service, which has been top of mind for her as both a design consultant and a financial planner.

Lastly, Morgan brought to Hightower her ability to manage interpersonal relationships, as family members are bound to disagree over important decisions.

“People get very intense about their space,” she recalled, adding that her friends and clients used to playfully call her a marriage counselor for all the arguments she helped resolve.

Two years into her career as a financial advisor Morgan feels grateful to play a role in helping clients at some of the most pivotal moments in their lives.

“People come in at difficult times, at times of transition like retirement, death or divorce, and I get to help them through that.” She said, recalling how she watched one of her advisory client’s eyes fill with tears of joy after finding out that her mother would be able to support herself in retirement. “That was a happy and rewarding moment. It’s the reason why we do it.”