Today we’d like to introduce you to Silas Parker.
Hi Silas, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
The oldest of four boys, I was born to a very young family. We lived in a shack my dad built on family land in the Ozarks. He worked in a sawmill and my mom, just 17, stayed home. Dad joined the Army when I was four and we traveled quite a bit. Our family was full of love and wonder of the world, but we weren’t financially sophisticated. During these young years we created our own entertainment – Dad played the guitar and my mom played the dulcimer; my parents would strum on the front porch, playing bluegrass. Music was a constant.
At fifteen my father deployed to the first Gulf War and my mom fell apart, leading to a chaotic and complicated divorce. I fled the chaos at 15 years old as an emancipated minor and joined a sort of new family of friends who traveled and played music – you might call us gypsies of sorts. The music and my friends became a refuge.
At some point, I re-joined my dad in Germany, found a job procuring and stocking music for a warehouse, and took an opportunity to go through a sales training program with AAFES. I continued playing music with bands and even learned to speak a little German. But I eventually found myself back in the States, landed in Austin and worked odd jobs – everything from landscaping to framing houses, to assembly line work at a tape and reel company. One particular day at that company still stands out to me: they had encountered a significant problem with the assembly line, a problem sizable enough that they brought in corporate engineers to fix it. When they visited my workstation, I explained the problem and showed them what I thought the solution was, and ultimately, this saved a multi-million dollar contract for the company. One of the executives remarked that I was in the wrong business and belonged in sales – that was a bit of a confidence boost and still sticks with me.
When I heard about a startup wireless company looking for salespeople that tended to hire young musicians, I thought I’d found a perfect place for me. I asked for an interview and was hired on my philosophy that sales was simply problem-solving. Within six months I had the top numbers in the company and was given a store of my own. The store grew quickly, and I found my pace. We treated our customers like family, and found innovative ways to become a user-friendly location, including my idea to turn a side of the store into a drive-through for easy checkout. It wasn’t long before we were the premiere spot in the area for wireless communications, and within a year it was the #1 store in revenue for the company. I was given more stores, and eventually took over their corporate office, managing sales teams and working in product development.
It wasn’t long before I bought a house and got married, and, hoping to avoid the instability that I’d known as a child, decided to find someone to help us with our personal finances – an agent with New York Life. We had a lot of conversations and he often commented that I had a way of understanding and re-explaining some of the more difficult concepts we discussed. He asked if I had any interest in working in the financial services industry and that was a hard “no.” I was in the top of my company, we were about to franchise, and I anticipated a solid career. A year later, one of the owners died suddenly. They didn’t have a buy-sell agreement, which resulted in multiple lawsuits, and put the company in a tailspin. They never recovered. The remaining owner let me know it wouldn’t be long before they were out of business, and I was left to figure out what my next move would be.
So I made a list. The list included everything I wanted in the next step: I didn’t want to work for a company that could potentially go out of business. I wanted to be more of a consultant than a manager. I didn’t want a ceiling – I wanted to know if I worked hard enough there would be no cap on what I could do to help people or what I could earn. I wanted to believe in whatever product or service I was working with. And more than anything, I just wanted to help people. I spoke to a couple of mentors about my list, including the financial planning agent I’d come to respect, and decided to pursue the financial services industry with New York Life. It was a long interview process, and after the first week of training, I knew this was the company I wanted to partner with. They checked all the boxes on my list.
Throughout all this, music was and still is stress relief. When I’m playing, I feel good and I know the audience feels good and for that hour or two, all the other worries and stress go away. I am in a place of flow that is pure love and energy, and it feels like meditating. It’s a bit like salvation. It was an escape through my parents’ divorce. It was an outlet when I was finding my way in life. And it continues to be a constant even now.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Sometimes the most tragic situations give birth to the greatest opportunities in life. I often say I owe my life and career to WWII and the Gulf War. If it weren’t for WWII, my grandparents would not have met. I believe I’m, in part, a product of my Oma’s example of perseverance and resiliency through that time. If it weren’t for the Gulf War, my parents might not have divorced and certainly not so tumultuously. But their divorce was the reason I went out on my own and got a quick start in life. I learned lessons I may never have received if I’d gone a more traditional route. I used to think that not having a certain education, going through an upheaval with my family, and having to figure everything out on my own so young was a detriment. But after a lot of self-reflection, I realized it’s actually given me an edge. I’m in a Fortune 100 Company, doing very well in our market, and without most of the traditional background required. I owe my resiliency to the hardships I faced.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
As a holistic financial practice, Silas Parker & Associates takes great care to learn about the clients we serve, their current story, and the way they want that story to end. We serve as a guide to help them navigate around the complexities of financial decisions, and we help get the job done. We’re independently owned but have the benefit of partnering with a Fortune 100 company with a long track record of success that aligns with our client’s best interests.
What sets us apart? My background gives me a unique perspective. I’m able to take complicated discussions and ideas and help them make sense to clients. I don’t judge; I don’t use too much jargon, and I try to clarify. We see our clients as the hero in their stories; we’re here to serve heroes.
What I want readers to know: Our clients say we’re meticulous, pay great attention to detail, and look at the whole picture. We’re not solely focused on the investments; we make sure all the bases are covered. We work with a lot of clients who have worked with other advisors before, and we receive common responses: “I’ve never seen anything like this. No one ever explained it that way. I’ve never been through a process like this before.”
But perhaps the thing I’m most proud of is the accomplishments and progress that our clients make and the team we’ve assembled to help them accomplish it. We aren’t for everyone; we aren’t for the person who wants to check a box. We help people make true transformations and our clients are those who value guidance and leadership and their own time. Our clients invest in themselves, partnering with a team of professionals who will help make their happily ever after come true.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Hire great staff and do it before you think you can afford to. (Because you can’t afford to wait)
Contact Info:
- Email: info@silasparker.com
- Website: www.silasparker.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/silasparkeratx or /loveandchaosmusic
- Facebook: facebook.com/silascparker1
Image Credits
Robert Smith Photography (playing bass image)
