Telling the World What We Already Knew
Each quarter, Raymond James recognizes branch associate excellence with the Branch Associate of the Quarter award. The accolade’s tagline is “Exceptional performance does not go unnoticed!” As Raymond James is a global firm, this is a recognition opportunity for branch associates all over the world.
Since 2017, Sonja Ross has been providing our clients with outstanding service. It takes a special personality to do the job of Client Service Associate exceptionally well. One needs to be kind, nurturing, and compassionate, in addition to having a get-it-done/problem-solving attitude every day. The constantly changing regulatory environment prevalent in our industry makes the job even more challenging. Dealing with financial advisors who have high expectations (hopefully in a polite manner the majority of the time) is another interesting facet of the job.
Over my nearly 30-year career, I have been blessed with many wonderful assistants. When I was a young 24-year old rookie, Patricia Felgemaker switched operational jobs and we were each other’s first advisor and assistant and we learned and worked well together. Pat passed away in 2013. She had retired several years earlier and her husband and family remain clients of ours today. Many of you remember Juana Mahlandt, who worked with my father and me for many years before retiring not long after my father in 2008. Juana remains a client and is thoroughly enjoying her retirement with her children and grandchildren. She enjoys catching up with those of you she knows at our annual holiday celebration. Lauren Mitchell was hand-picked by Juana to succeed her and not only helped with the immensely cumbersome transfer to Raymond James in 2009, but really blossomed into a fabulous assistant until she got tired of her long commute and wanted to start a family of her own. We remain in touch and Lauren is thriving in her career both professionally and as a wife and mother.
When we were “in transition” in 2017, we were fortunate that Sonja was also a “free agent,” as the team she was working with moved to another division of Raymond James, while she was interested in staying in our branch. I credit Kelly with closing the deal with Sonja…Sonja seemed far more excited to work with Kelly than she was with me (totally understandable!). Nonetheless, the three of us quickly bonded. I appreciated Sonja’s tenacity in getting things done quickly and correctly; she liked the fact that I was somewhat organized…she had worked with many advisors who were not. Sonja’s pleasant demeanor and constant smile are incredibly welcome in a business that can be volatile from day to day. Consistency can be a truly beautiful thing.
What Sonja finds most challenging about her role is when there is a change to a process or a new system is introduced with limited time to prepare (this happens frequently). However, despite these challenges, she always manages to persevere and continue to deliver best-in-class service. What she finds most rewarding about her role is working with clients and knowing that she has earned the trust of so many of you. She has created many efficiencies in our practice via her proactive efforts, various checklists, operations manual, extensive task lists, and many other procedural measures that keep us functioning like a well-oiled machine.
Sonja is known to go above and beyond what most would consider reasonable and customary service. I specifically recall an occasion where she went out to a client’s home to help her go through her paperwork and documents as the client was trying to prepare for her first tax season after the loss of her husband. We did not ask her to do this. She sensed that the client was feeling a bit confused about where to start and was overwhelmed in the wake of the loss of her spouse and best friend of many years. She felt compelled to help as much as she could and so she did. That caring attitude, as valuable as it is, is not something we can teach. Either one has it or not…and we are truly grateful that Sonja has it!
In 2020, shortly after Solitaire joined Kelly and me, we realized that we were putting an awful lot of work on Sonja as our business continued to grow. We asked management for assistance and were blessed to meet Melody Cannedy, who has been a lovely addition to our service team. We tasked Sonja with being the lead on that endeavor as well. When I was asked by our complex manager if I wanted to be in the initial interview, I explained that Sonja was really the more important person for whom this needed to be a great fit. Like the great team player she is, Sonja showed no ego and welcomed the additional support. Sonja has proven to be a great mentor for Melody, as well as all of the assistants in the branch who seek her experienced counsel and guidance.
It is with great pride and pleasure that I share the news that Sonja Ross has received the Raymond James & Associates Overall Branch Associate of the Quarter! We cannot thank Sonja enough for the incredible job she does every day for all of us…we are thrilled that she is getting the firm-wide recognition she very much deserves! Thank you, Sonja for all that you do for our team, our clients and your community!
-Gary Weiss, June 2022
