From Teaching to Finance: Hannah Dennis on Building a Collaborative and Data-Driven Career

Welcome back to Don’t Retire… Graduate! In today’s episode of our “Diary of a Financial Advisor” segment, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Hannah Dennis, who transitioned from teaching young children to becoming a client relations associate and our resident marketing guru at BFG Financial Advisors. Hannah’s journey is a compelling example of how diverse skills—like those honed in the classroom—can create an immediate impact in the financial services industry. Hannah joined us after graduating from the University of Scranton and teaching for four years in the Baltimore area. Her background in education has been invaluable in shaping her communication style, her empathetic approach to clients, and her ability to keep all of us, especially me, in check! In addition to her client relations role, Hannah dove headfirst into the marketing aspect of our firm, helping to track and optimize our initiatives, including this very podcast. In our discussion, Hannah and I explored her transition from education to finance, noting the shift from an “island” of classroom independence to a collaborative team environment. She explained how data-driven decision-making from her teaching days now influences our marketing strategies, emphasizing the importance of tracking what’s truly working—whether that’s a successful webinar or a standout podcast episode. We also discussed the stressful yet rewarding reality of managing marketing in a busy firm and the value of slowing down to implement changes efficiently. Hannah shared what it’s like to be behind the scenes, wrangling not just the team, but also vendors, deadlines, and creative ideas. With the podcast and Diary segment both evolving—particularly with Diary moving to a webinar format through BFG University—Hannah’s skill set has never been more crucial. For some lighter moments, we talked about our firm’s annual summit, our karaoke adventures (stay tuned for a possible duet reveal!), and what our listeners can look forward to as we launch new and improved educational content in the coming year. Hannah’s journey is not just about a career shift but about leveraging strengths, embracing change, and always striving for personal and professional growth. 5 Key Takeaways:

1. Embracing Career Change: Hannah’s journey from teaching to finance demonstrates that transferable skills, like collaboration and data-driven thinking, are invaluable—even across vastly different industries.
2. Data-Driven Marketing: By applying her experience as a teacher, Hannah transformed our marketing approach—utilizing data to determine which initiatives, webinars, and podcast episodes best engage our audience.
3. The Power of Collaboration: Moving from a solo teaching role to a team environment at BFG allowed Hannah to learn from colleagues, share new ideas, and innovate more effectively than ever before.
4. Adapting to Growth and Change: Hannah’s advice to “slow down, trust the process, and implement change gradually” is a lesson for anyone stepping into a new role or industry.
5. Looking Ahead—Interactivity and Fresh Content: With “Diary of a Financial Advisor” moving to a webinar format on BFG University, our content will become more timely, interactive, and driven by what you—our listeners—want to see.

Join us as we share, learn, and grow together on the path to financial independence and a fulfilling, purpose-driven future. Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a comment (especially if you want to see our karaoke duet!), and share this episode with friends and colleagues on the journey to “Don’t Retire… Graduate!”   [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYAlhnCjcLc[/embed]