Meet the Team: Howard Brown

Yeske Buie is pleased to introduce you to our newest team member, Howard Brown. Howard joins the team as an Operations Assistant in our Vienna, Virginia office where he is a part of the support team that assists in the daily operations of the firm and delivering an exceptional client experience. This includes greeting clients in person and on the phone, data entry and migration to ensure that our information is accurate, safe, and secure, and participating in ad hoc projects to enhance the client experience such as template design and offering new perspective for our relationship building processes.

Prior to joining the firm, Howard worked for Blank Label Group as a Client Engagement Specialist, and has held a number of client relations focused roles in several different fields. From his experiences, Howard believes that when it comes to client service, it’s the details that matter the most. Learn more about Howard’s holistic approach to his interactions with Clients in this edition of Meet the Team.

In your role as Operations Assistant, how do you assist Yeske Buie’s Clients?

• I assist Yeske Buie’s Clients by keeping our offices running smoothly throughout the day – answering phones, greeting Clients, and offering general office support – and by assisting with data entry and migration to ensure that our information is accurate, safe, and secure. I will also be participating in ad hoc projects including template design and offering new perspective for our relationship building processes to enhance the Client experience. In addition to my work with our Clients, I am also looking forward to simply being as helpful as I can. I like relieving pressure off of others – whether it be our Clients or our team – and assisting with anything I can to make their day to day work easier and less stressful.

How do you feel your unique background will support Yeske Buie’s Clients?

• My background and previous roles have helped me become very skilled with detailed scheduling responsibilities and have given me superb interpersonal skills and I look forward to using these skills to support Yeske Buie’s Clients. I’ve recognized a theme throughout my roles in client service industries and that is that details matter! Even if you only have the opportunity to see a client once per year, I think it’s important to have different touchpoints with them whether that be sending them a birthday card, remembering a special occasion that may be coming up, or striking up a conversation about something that was mentioned in a previous meeting. I like to learn about the Clients I work with on a personal level so that I can fetch the information they need before they even know they need it!

What aspect of Financial Planning intrigues you the most and why?

• This may sound silly, but the part of Financial Planning that intrigues me most is the amount of planning that goes into creating a comprehensive financial plan. In my short time at Yeske Buie, it’s been wonderful to see how the firm pays attention to all the details for the entire family – for example, setting up not only the Client but also their children for success! – as I feel this is crucial for achieving the family’s long-term goals. This is something that I never really thought too much about before as it was not discussed at home. I look forward to learning all of the ins and outs of the world of personal finance as I feel that I have entered this field at the bottom and I want to learn and understanding its inner workings; I find it very interesting.

What Yeske Buie worldview aligns with you most and why?

• The Yeske Buie worldview that aligns with me most is Live Big. This is because to me, the rest of the worldviews seem to support Live Big; I see the other worldviews as a road map to our ability to truly Live Big. You might be surprised to know that I have dual citizenship with both the US and Spain. I was born in Spain and moved back and forth quite a bit when I was younger and eventually moved to the US permanently in 1995. With this, one of my Live Big goals is travel to every continent. I have been to many different cities all over the world, but have not spent much time in Asia, which I’m hoping will be coming up in my travels soon!

What do you enjoy doing what you aren’t working?

• When I’m not working, my wife and I enjoy exploring new restaurants and traveling both to far and local destinations – we most recently visited to Iceland and Wales. I also like activities where I can be creative and I enjoy spending time painting, crafting, and costuming. I am also an avid history buff and a historical reenactor. I am currently keeping bust with a project where I am working on restoring an old Spanish Civil War Solider uniform.