What do Olympic training, religious ministry and finance management have in common? The answer is Leanne Martin, who recently opened a financial planning office in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Martin will be the first to admit that her finance career has been a bit of a crazy journey, however.
Martin, a former track star, was recruited by Stanford but chose to attend Dartmouth instead since the ivy-league college offered her an academic scholarship as opposed to an athletic scholarship. At the time, she didn’t know if she wanted to have to rely on her running skills to pay the bills.
At Dartmouth, Martin trained in the women’s triple jump for the ‘88 Olympics but unfortunately never had the opportunity to compete due to the delay of the games.
After graduating in 1988, she became a paralegal at Goodwin Proctor & Hoar. During her tenure there, she attended bible discussions for students and met her future husband, who was the leader of campus ministry. Together they began ministering inner city teens, were later married and had two children.
After 15 years of raising a family and working in ministry with her husband, Martin took a job as a financial advisor with American Express Financial in 2003. The finance industry was a great fit for her and she won the American Express Mercury Award in 2003, was named Advisor of the year in 2004 and received the Ameriprise President’s Award for excellence in 2006.
Later in 2006, she took a position as Vice President of Eastern Bank’s Wealth Management Division, where she was in charge of handling trust accounts and institutional endowments. While successful in her position there, she was eventually recruited out by former colleagues who invited her to start an independent firm with them. While risky, she left her pension and her assistant behind and became an advisor in Newburyport.
As business began to take off, Martin decided to return back to track, this time as a coach. She also made the decision to move her office to her home, giving her more time with her family. From track star to financial planner, Martin has the coaching spirit in her in all aspects of her life.