Texas Tech University

Alumnus Shares How He Found His Calling in the Personal Financial Planning Program

What began as an interest in an introductory course to financial planning led to a flourishing career for Evan Smith, who graduated from Texas Tech University in 2018 with his Bachelor of Science in Personal Financial Planning (PFP). In fact, Evan says he changed his major five times before he found his calling in the PFP bachelor's degree.

"When I heard about the prestige of the PFP program, I was interested and took an intro course and immediately fell in love with personal financial planning," Evan said. "It was a marriage between my two previous majors, education and finance."Alumni Texas Tech PFP Evan Smith

Evan learned through his intro course what it takes to become, in his words, a fantastic financial advisor, which drove him dig deeper into his studies. This, along with an assignment to create a financial plan for a fake client, solidified his career choice.

"Although it was a fake client, I could feel the love and passion it took to create a financial plan that would improve their way of living today and in the future," Evan said. "Now, I still build financial plans with the same love and passion like I did for my fake client in my intro class. Except this time, I get to see the joy from the client when I present an answer to their questions."

Along with his studies, Evan began an internship with PFG Advisors, LLP – a Lubbock-based collaborative financial advisory firm – in February 2018. Upon his graduation in December 2018, his internship became a full-time position as a paraplanner and he has since been promoted to Director of Financial Planning. Along with growth in confidence, Evan says he has big dreams for his future.

"My current position has enable me to grow in confidence and gain experience as I strive to reach my full potential," Evan said. "I have dreams and goals of establishing myself as a top financial advisor in the Lubbock community. With patience and perseverance, anything can be accomplished."

Evan thanks the Texas Tech PFP program for laying the foundation to his career and shares heartfelt gratitude for the program's faculty and staff who inspired him along the way.

"The faculty and staff are amazing. I am so thankful that my professors taught with passion and drive, because that passion easily rubs off onto the students," Evan said. "You can feel the love that they present with and they want to see you succeed, not just while you are a student, but even in your professional years."