Our Team

The Sunday Session was a project undertaken by photographer Robert W Mason

The Sunday Session welcomes Chris Smith!

I meet Chris at a local cafe in Kibworth, just five minutes away from his office. My first impression of Chris, is that he’s a busy man.  We relax into our seats and I start as I usually do, by asking where he is from.

Chris begins. “I grew up in Leicester. Then I moved to Scotland”.

“Why did you move to Scotland?” Quite a move I thought.

“I was a missionary for my church. I went to Scotland to share our message, to spread our word. After this I came back to Scotland to study, then a work placement in Suffolk, then two years in Nottingham. Since then I’ve moved all over. I think I lost count at twenty moves. It’s actually hard to know where I’m from, as it depends where I am at the time”

“Do you think your heart is in Leicester though?”

“No…. not really. My heart is probably in New Zealand. I spent nine years there. Not that necessarily I would go back and stay there. But when I think about where my fond memories are, I think of New Zealand, where perhaps I had a better work life balance. The intensity of society there is different; they have a great emphasis on what you do outside of work. People in the UK tend to live-to-work, whereas in NZ they tend to work-to-live.”

Chris continues. “I’m a financial planner. And so….I’m wired that way. Whether or not I became a financial planner as a career, in my mind I think like a financial planner, inasmuch as I evaluate my plans for the future. How am I going to obtain that?”

Chris goes onto explain that with his wife and three kids, he could barely make ends meet, while enjoying his life in New Zealand, Chris was continually concerned how he was going to pay for his children’s education, fund his retirement and ultimately his life goals. After six years he came to the realization that living and working in New Zealand was not going to enable him to fulfil his life goals.

“It was a bitter pill to swallow, to realise that I needed to come back to the UK, to be true to myself and true to my goals.”

As I’m writing this I can see Chris isn’t a guy who hangs around too long and interestingly I notice, from what I’ve heard so far, that Chris sits somewhere in the middle of these opposing lifestyles. At the same time as being influenced by the NZ lifestyle, he alludes to the fact that he needs in some way to live to work without directly identifying with this. When I talk to people featured in The Sunday Session I am essentially trying to find a significant moment of transformation which in turn steers their life. Perhaps this was Chris’s moment. Chris goes on to detail the idyllic lifestyle he and his family had there; living near the beach, close to the sea, coupled with good friends, low crime rate and a good supply of schools. Still there was a catch; making a comfortable living was very hard.

I add that planning for the future must bring security. Chris has fulfilled many of his goals. So in many ways it’s a self-fulfilling lifestyle.

I relate to Chris. My experience as freelance photographer is comparable but not the same. My planning is always to be ready; ready and prepared for the next job. As a friend once said to me; going into a new job is like going into battle. You must be prepared.

“I imagine that there is more rhythm to your work?” I offer.

Chris says. “The business is designed to give an ongoing service to my clients. Most of my clients I will see on an annual basis, and therefore, there is always activity. You know, one moment I’m seeing a client I’ve had for ten years on a Tuesday, a seven years client on a Wednesday, then a client I took on last year on Thursday. So my diary is full of reviewing existing clients. That keeps me busy; making sure the advice they receive continues suitable, on track, taking into account changing circumstances, needs and goals. People’s lives change. So what people needed five years ago may not be right now. I need to tinker to ensure that my advice maintains suitability. This keeps me busy. I like looking after clients and talking to people; that’s the part of the business I love. I begin to see my clients as friends over the years.”

“So it becomes a collaboration” I add.

Chris finishes with a helpful analogy. He sees financial advice as nudging the wheel in the right direction. Incrementally bringing benefit to his clients over the years. So, imagine you are on a flight and the course is one degree off. Not a problem in the short term, but over a twelve hour flight you could find yourself in the wrong country. I enjoy the thought as I’m writing this that maybe Chris pondered this analogy over the many long distance flights to New Zealand. I’ve found our chat insightful.

We pause for a moment, waiting for our minds to catch up to the present. Then off we go to see Chris’s location.