Today we’d like to introduce you to Christy Maxfield
Hi Christy , so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in a family floral business. My dad started working for my grandfather when he turned 17, eventually inheriting the business and running it until his passing in 2014. As the eldest of 4, I spent most of my childhood and teens working in the shop on holidays and weekends. In the small town of West Paterson, Dee’s Florist was a local anchor and it was cool growing up with people knowing your family and shopping at our store.
It was also a lot of work and I figured there had to be a better way to make a living, an easier way to get paid to do what you love.
After graduating from Montclair State University, my first job was with the Women’s Fund of NJ where I was introduced to professional nonprofit fundraising. Over several years, my fundraising career took me to a regional theater and WNET, New York’s public television station, before my husband and I relocated to St. Louis in 2005.
Shortly after relocating, I started working for Central Institute for the Deaf (CID) where I learned the ins and outs of the St. Louis nonprofit and philanthropic community. When I left CID in 2010 to co-found The Mission Center, L3C I was director of development and excited to explore social entrepreneurship. That experience opened the door to coaching social entrepreneurs and, eventually, leading the Square One program for Cortex/CET where I honed my expertise in business model validation. CET was also where I co-created and co-hosted more than 200 episodes of the Entrepreneurially Thinking podcast over 4 years. I completed my MBA at Webster University and then designed and taught entrepreneurship courses at the University of Missouri St. Louis and Washington University in St. Louis.
I left CET in 2017 to create Purpose First Advisors with the vision of helping owners build sustainably profitable businesses. I’m especially passionate about helping women and entrepreneurs of color grow businesses that create jobs and a foundation for generational wealth. This September, Purpose First Advisors celebrated its sixth anniversary. Our portfolio includes a mix of professional services businesses, consumer products and service providers, and construction companies. We specialize in using business valuation tools to build strategic growth plans designed to increase income, personal freedom, and business value. By starting with the end in mind, we help business owners prioritize and focus their efforts so they don’t have to choose between growth and wealth creation. Regardless of what their exit strategy may be, we want to help them access a full range of options for creating a life they love and a positive impact in the world through their business.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
One of the things I try to remember is that struggles/challenges/obstacles are to be expected. They are design features in life, not flaws. Smooth sailing is a false expectation that sets you up for disappointment. Some of the greatest opportunities I’ve had to learn and grow have been experiences that have challenged me in different ways. For example:
– Relocating to St. Louis nearly 20 years ago put 1,000 miles between me and everything I’d ever known. I had to learn a new city, meet new people and find a job. My entire network of resources and support had to be rebuilt from scratch and the process taught me a lot about my personal capacity to adapt to new situations and circumstances.
– Quitting my job at CID to go 7.5 months without pay to do my first startup taught me that my risk tolerance was higher than I thought. There wasn’t a time during that experience when I didn’t feel overwhelmed or question my sanity. This choice took me off a nonprofit executive career path into the uncharted territory of entrepreneurship, where I was constantly learning and adapting to new things.
– Watching my dad battle a long illness, never enjoy retirement and leave behind a business in debt that no longer exists, taught me that every business owner owes it to herself, her family and her business to plan ahead to meet whatever challenges the future holds. Owning your own business comes with an incredible amount of responsibility and a tremendous opportunity to lead by example.
There are always obstacles to be overcome. I understand my clients’ frustration about things not moving fast enough (or too fast), managing cash flow, leading people, doing the right things, not knowing what to do, being overwhelmed by the choices or discouraged by a lack of progress, working through self-doubt, and learning how to celebrate all wins, no matter how small. You need a great team to build a great business that fulfills your personal, financial and business goals. That’s what I wish for and hope everyone who is trying to bring their vision to life feels empowered to ask for and receive help to achieve.
We’ve been impressed with Purpose First Advisors , but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Purpose First Advisors exists to help founders and business owners build strong, profitable companies. A profitable business increases your income and personal freedom while building your business value and expanding the options you have regarding when and how to exit.
Our focus on succession and exit planning allows us to prioritize each client’s vision for their business and design a plan that moves them toward their desired end result as quickly as possible. We pride ourselves on building long-term relationships with our clients during which we help them increase their confidence as owners, prioritize profitability, build a talented team, and create the lifestyle they desire. For many clients, their business is a means to an end – a way to take care of their family, serve their community, fulfill their passion, and leave a legacy. Our job is to help them maximize the return on the investment they’ve made as the progress from hands-on operators, to strategic leaders and investors managing their asset.
We pride ourselves on client satisfaction with our ability to facilitate strategic conversations that are transformative, helping clients identify opportunities, overcome obstacles, and refine their business strategies for optimal results. Some of our clients have years to invest in continuing to grow their business. Others are actively seeking to exit. All of them trust Purpose First Advisors to bring curiosity, creativity, and compassion to our work with a singular focus on helping them achieve their goals.
How do you think about luck?
I was lucky to be born into a loving family with an entrepreneurial spirit and the encouragement I needed to explore my own path.
However, I believe most luck is opportunity meeting preparedness. Being prepared – planning, experimenting, exploring, learning – these things have helped me figure out how to make things work and prepare for the unexpected.
I’m not sure to whom to attribute the saying – ‘Pray like it depends on God, work like it depends on you.’ What it tells me is that I have to have faith in the unknown and unknowable while also putting in the work needed to achieve my goals. This creates space for serendipity and magic. Your work and your personal integrity are what get your name mentioned in rooms you aren’t in, generate referrals from people who’ve experienced the value you create, and inspire trust from clients who share their deepest concerns, hopes and aspirations. That’s not luck, that’s the upside of living with intention.
And when bad luck happens, what matters most is how you choose to react. There may be no silver lining to be had but the story you tell yourself about your capacity to survive and what it means to you and your business is what will lay the groundwork for more good luck in the future. I can’t emphasize strongly enough that good luck or bad, you can handle anything so long as you are willing to face reality and deal with it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.purposefirstadvisors.com
