Wealth Beyond Riches: Building Prosperity With Purpose, Values, and Impact

How Passion Fuels Career Reinvention with Marcia Irwin (Ep.23)

• Abbey Henderson, CFP®

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Have you ever felt the pull to pursue a dream that seems radically different from your current career?  

Tune in as Abbey Henderson, CFP®, CEO Wealth Advisor & Coach, sits down with Marcia Irwin, who reshaped her life by embracing a new chapter in the performing arts after a successful career in finance. Listen to their discussion on how financial stability, a supportive community, and a positive mindset can empower a major career shift. 

Get inspired to take your own leap of faith with Marcia’s personal insights!

Key conversations include:

  • Aligning a career with personal passions can lead to increased fulfillment and satisfaction
  • Why financial planning is crucial in facilitating a smooth career transition
  • How a strong support network plays a vital role during significant life changes
  • The power of positive self-talk and mindset reframing to help overcome fears and uncertainties during new ventures
  • And more!

Connect with Abbey Henderson: 

Connect with Marcia Irwin:

About Marcia Irwin:

Marcia Irwin is a CFA Charterholder and a graduate of Georgetown University and the Wharton School of Business.  She is a proud mother of two high schoolers and recently left the Investment Industry having spent over 30 years as a Senior Client Portfolio Manager in the Global Equities space at Wellington Management, Manulife Investment Management, and Fiera Capital.  As a retiree, she has jumped right into her next chapter pursuing a long-time passion of hers of performing.  

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[00:00:00] Voiceover: Welcome to Wealth Beyond Riches with Abbey Henderson, CEO, Wealth Advisor, and coach at Abaris Financial Group. In this podcast, we help generous, fun, and passionate professionals overcome their biggest financial concerns while leveling up their lifestyles based on their values. We do this by exploring the five levers, which represent the diverse resources each person possesses throughout their lifetime. These levers encompass finances, health, mindset, relationships, and time offering a holistic approach to personal development and growth. Join us on this transformative journey as Abbey and her guests draw from years of experience to guide you in achieving your life goals while staying true to your values. But that's not all. This podcast will equip you not just to build personal wealth, but also to understand how your prosperity can contribute to the betterment of the world around you. By exploring strategies for giving back and making a positive impact, [00:01:00] we'll empower you to create a life of. Significance and leave a lasting legacy of positive change. 

[00:01:08] Wendy McConnell: Hello, and welcome to the Wealth Beyond Riches Podcast with your host, Abbey Henderson, where we talk about enriching your life in every way. I'm Wendy McConnell. Well, hello, Abbey. How are you? I am well, Wendy. How are you? I. I'm good. I feel like I say the same thing to you every time. I'm always like, well, hello Abbey. It's 'cause I always love to see your smiling face 

[00:01:29] Abbey Henderson: and I love to spend time with you too. So that's why it always sounds with 

[00:01:34] Wendy McConnell: Aw so sweet. It's a little love fest. Uh, but we're going to open up the love fest because we have a guest today. 

[00:01:40] Abbey Henderson: We do, and just to ref, to sort of set the landscape, refresh everyone's memory. Here at Abaris, we believe that true wealth comes from aligning your resources. We call them the five levers, which are time, finances, health, relationships, and mindset with your vision, [00:02:00] values, and desired impact. And so we are going to start. A series talking to people that have, have, whether they know it or not, really embraced those concepts and pivoted in their lives, their careers, to find more alignment.

And to that end, I'm so excited to have Marcia Irwin with us. Marcia is a CFA charter holder. A graduate of Georgetown University and the Wharton School of Business. She's the proud mother of two high schoolers. I give her so much credit for that. I couldn't do that. Um, and has recently left the investment industry, having spent over 30 years as a senior client portfolio manager in the global equity space at Wellington Management.

Manulife Investment Management and Fear Capital, and she's going to tell you about how she has jumped right into her next chapter, pursuing a [00:03:00] long time passion. So Marcia, thank you so much for joining us. Yeah, it's absolute pleasure. It's great to see you both. I so love your story because like you are my vision of what's possible for clients.

So, um. Why don't you sort of start at the beginning, tell us a little bit about your career in finance, how you, how you started there, how you got there. 

[00:03:24] Marcia Irwin: Yeah, sure. Well, it goes way back, so I don't know how much time we have. Um, 

[00:03:30] Abbey Henderson: don't worry, we can edit. When I was a little girl, no. 

[00:03:34] Marcia Irwin: Well, actually I will start when I was a little girl because, um, I, my first job was when I was 13 years old and I worked for my father's pizza shop and I distinctly remember just working in the shop and, um, really being fascinated with the business aspects of running a pizza shop.

And, uh, one of the things that he, um. He did in order to get [00:04:00] customers to come in was to give out coupons all the time. And I, I distinctly remember. Telling my father, I said, listen dad, if you keep giving coupons out, they're going to think that's the new price for, for the pizzas. And he says, well, I need people to come into the store.

And I'm like, yeah, that's great. But okay. So I just remember from that point on, I'm like. This is really fascinating. You know, how a business is run and you know, from a marketing perspective, you know, how do you really bring in customers? So from there I was really kind of hooked. I went into school, uh, to study investment management and, and marketing, um, or international management actually in marketing.

'cause I also had a fascination for the, for the globe. Mm-hmm. In fact, I did a, a work study, um, in high school in Germany. And so I really kind of got that bug early on. So I continued that in college and then my first job was actually on Wall Street. Um, and you know, I had an okay time. I [00:05:00] was pretty green.

Um, I worked for, gosh, JP Morgan at the time, and then it was eventually bought by Bank Paraba. Uh, but it was primarily in sales. And so I really kind of loved being in the finance industry and also really appreciate the sales aspect of it as well. So then went to business school and then, you know. It was a fun time, actually, probably two most fun years of my life because, you know, once you get into the business school, it was really a lot of like-minded individuals.

Um. And you really wanted to be there. I wanted to be there. And so that was really fun. More fun than college. Um, which was fun too. But you know, it was really more of a core curriculum. Um, but at that point I really kind of identified like three things that I wanted in every job because I'm like, oh my gosh, what am I going to do for the rest of my life?

I didn't really know what was out there really. Um, but the three things that I absolutely wanted to have. And [00:06:00] elements were, uh, one, some sort of analytical aspect to it. So finance industry really kind of served that purpose. Um, two kind of a creative. Maybe social aspect of the job. So marketing, sales was really kind of that outlet, um, that filled that.

And the third part, and I graduated in 1999, um, which is in the midst of this big tech bubble. Um, it needed to be, have some entrepreneurial aspect to it as well. So those three things, you know, having the analytical part, the creative part or the social aspect. Um, and then also just the desire to really build a business, uh, was really what I wanted in every single job.

So I actually found that, uh, in every job, um, that I've had since, uh, business school. So that's been really rewarding and it all ended up being in this client portfolio manager role. [00:07:00] Um. I never knew it existed, and I'm just so happy that I kind of fell into it because it really nailed all three of those aspects.

So as a client portfolio manager being in finance, that's the analytical part of it. Um, it's basically. I've worked for firms that have, that manage money on behalf of pension plans, um, and retirement or trust assets. Um, and our products are investment management teams. So these are teams that manage the money, right?

So we want to make those assets grow. So in my case, you know, they're primarily global equity management teams. And so my role as a client portfolio manager, which I've done for the last 30 years, um, is to essentially. Serve, um, as a business manager and a promoter of these teams. Um, really serving as a link between the investment teams.

So that's the analytical part, understanding how they invest and [00:08:00] being able to talk about it. So serving that link between them and then the external world, so those clients, prospects, and consultants. And so, you know, I'm essentially like a product expert. Um, so if a salesperson needed someone to talk about the product, they would bring me in.

So I'm representing the strategies as well as strategically positioning them. So as a business manager, quote unquote, they don't really call it that, but. You know, you are strategically positioning them, doing all the competitive analysis. You are thinking about the value proposition for the products, um, and then being able to kind of talk about them and, and tell the story.

Um, so that's essentially what I've been doing for the last 30 years and it's been fun. Can I 

[00:08:44] Abbey Henderson: ask you a quick question? Because I, I'm so curious. How do you think you were so clear so early on about those three key things? Did you have like a, a mentor or a, I'm just so curious because [00:09:00] so many people aren't that clear, especially that early in one's career.

[00:09:06] Marcia Irwin: Yeah. You know, I think. I don't know I this so long ago. Um, but I just remember being a little girl and thinking, okay, I, I learned early on that I need to advocate for myself. Like no one's going to be my champion. I know my mom and my dad love me very much, but there's only so much they can do, and there's only so much anyone can do.

And so I really learned early on, I said, listen, what's going to make me happy at the end of the day? And I really needed to identify those elements. And so they weren't specific to a job per se. Mm-hmm. But you know, I think people get caught up on, oh, I want to be a doctor, or I want to be a lawyer, or I want to be a specific role title.

Right? Mm-hmm. And it's all about the title, but you gotta think about, you know, if you're going to be happy. [00:10:00] What is going to make you happy in a particular role. So you, I learned early on you needed to identify those things. 

[00:10:06] Abbey Henderson: Well, I, I think that's amazing because however you, you came to it, I think it's something that a lot of people do struggle with.

Um, so kudos to you, and perhaps that's why you did have the courage to make the, the big jump that, that we're going to talk about shortly. But, um, tell me a little bit about, um, you know, what. Parts of your job in finance that you found really fulfilling, and then maybe the parts where you're like, Hmm, there's something missing.

[00:10:39] Marcia Irwin: Hmm. Well, you know what? I really loved what I did. I think it's because of those elements, right? So the finance, the analytical, the creative, and then also building the business. That's what really got me excited every single day. Um, is that building aspect. Um, you know, I think. [00:11:00] I, it was super fun, but when you're doing the same thing for a really, really long time, it can kind of get a little old sometimes.

And so I think, you know, if you think about if it's not fulfilling or what I didn't like, I guess maybe it's just some of the mundaneness of the same thing, but however, the role itself wasn't. Too mundane because no day was, was the same. So, you know, I did find ways to kind of renew and refresh it, but you know, I got pretty senior and kind of knew what to do, and so it became the same, same formula, if you will.

Right? Mm-hmm. 

[00:11:41] Abbey Henderson: It makes me wonder if maybe one of your values is also having a little bit of novelty in your life. 

[00:11:47] Marcia Irwin: Yes. So I found myself trying to reinvent the wheel often and it got more and more challenging as the years went on. 

[00:11:56] Abbey Henderson: Yeah, that makes sense. So was there, was [00:12:00] there a specific event or a tipping point where you were like, I'm going to, I'm going to think about what the next chapter is?

[00:12:08] Marcia Irwin: Well, I've actually been thinking about it. So I just retired just recently. So for the last five years mm-hmm. I've been thinking about, I would really, really like to retire. You know, I've done it for so long. I think it's time. But I kept getting these wonderful opportunities, um, to keep building businesses and, uh, Fiera had called me.

Gosh, I think it's, uh, about about three years ago. And so I really thought that my job at Manulife was going to be my last job. And so when Fiera called me with this opportunity to really build a global equity business, um, that was really exciting. I couldn't turn that down. Um, but more recently, and I guess depends on how you want to look at it, uh, I was kind of forced into retirement, so there was a restructuring, um, and I really took that opportunity.[00:13:00] 

To say, all right, I think this is my sign. This is it. I'm going to jump right into retirement. And so with my hand, I guess slightly forced, um, I kind of welcomed it. And I have to tell you, it was really scary. Um, but, you know, I'm really happy I did it. 

[00:13:19] Abbey Henderson: You know, I think that it's so great that you reframed that.

Event into something positive because it's really easy for people to sort of focus on a story they're telling themselves that might be negative. So to, to look at it from a positive perspective and you know, what, what can I learn from this? Or what opportunities does this present, I think is just such a great place to springboard to the next thing.

[00:13:49] Marcia Irwin: Yeah, no, absolutely. I mean, it, it was really okay, first of all, shocking. And it never feels great. No, because you're like, oh my gosh. Um, alright. [00:14:00] But, you know, at the same time I'm like, let's just, I. Turn this around. This is something I've been wanting to do for a while and it's a, it's a great opportunity to do that.

So 

[00:14:12] Abbey Henderson: and so now we've built this whole thing up. What is it you decided to do? 

[00:14:16] Marcia Irwin: Oh, well, so performing has always been a long time passion of mine, and I have been. Living vicariously through my son, who's a senior in high school right now, and he's been performing, he's been in theater since he was in kindergarten and uh.

It's been super fun watching him kind of go through his growth and his development, and I am so proud of him right now. Uh, he's really become such a, a wonderful, um, and extremely talented performer, and I just love seeing him have that, [00:15:00] I guess, energy and love on that stage. And I'm like, oh my gosh.

That's so great because that's what I used to do when I was younger and I'm like, I really, really miss that. And so now I get an opportunity to do that. So when, so when I finally got into retirement, I just started looking. It's like, gosh, do I look for a new job or do something else? And I'm like, I should do something else.

So I started auditioning and looking for opportunities to audition, um, for almost anything. So acting, um, commercials, uh, short films, uh, and then particularly musicals. I really wanted to get into musicals 'cause I was a singer. And, uh, I ended up auditioning for, for Boston University, um, pretty quickly right out of the gates.

And, um, I ended up getting called back and I just recently completed two short films, um, for the [00:16:00] university, which was I. A really fantastic experience. And, uh, and then I auditioned for a musical called Into the Woods, um, put on by the Western Friendly Society here in Western. So it's pretty local. Um, but man, the competition was fierce.

I was so fricking nervous,

and I just distinctly remember like, all right, you know, you're an audition on a Sunday. Uh. Sunday and Monday. And then, so I auditioned Monday. They said, okay, we will, uh, post callbacks on Monday night. I'm like, I didn't hear anything, and I'm like, oh, okay. That's all right. It's the first time. And then Tuesday came around, didn't really hear anything, and the callbacks were actually on Wednesday, and then Wednesday came around and I'm like, oh, okay.

I guess I'm not, I'm not, I didn't get it. But then Thursday morning I wake up. I get an an email in my inbox saying, congratulations, we'd like to offer you a [00:17:00] role. And I was like, oh my goodness. What a 

[00:17:02] Abbey Henderson: rollercoaster. 

[00:17:04] Marcia Irwin: I was like, oh, wow. So it was pretty fun. I'm really excited. So we don't start rehearsals until late January.

Um, and then the shows are in April. 

[00:17:15] Abbey Henderson: That's amazing. Um, do you, did you have any tips to share about sort of how you got yourself through those first couple auditions and maybe quieted the. The voice in the background saying, what have I done?

[00:17:33] Marcia Irwin: Yeah. What have I done? Well, you know what? I, I think, um, well, I mean, I'll just go back to like, making the switch in the first place. 'cause you know, I remember I said it was really, really scary. Yeah. And I think that the biggest fear is, is like losing your identity, right? Because we spend. All this time identifying ourselves [00:18:00] as so and so title mm-hmm.

At so and so firm, like who are we, we define ourselves by our jobs. And so I'm like, okay, well what is my job now? Right. And it doesn't have to be a job. So, you know, when you're thinking about making that switch and, and trying to find your identity, uh, that's pretty scary. And, and frankly I'm still kind of going through that, but.

Man, I'm having a little bit of fun. Yeah. Trying to do it. So, but I, but I think that's the point of going into retirement. It's, it's your opportunity, it's your reward after all these years, decades of hard work. You can do what you want to do now. And so I think what made me gimme a lot of comfort and quiet as you had alluded to, um, is the fact that I know that I have financially set myself up.

To be comfortable. I don't [00:19:00] have to worry where my next paycheck is going to come from, or you know how I'm going to eat, um, because I set myself up properly. Something that you probably do very well for your clients. And then the other piece of that is. Knowing who your village is. Hmm. Say more about that.

Right. And whether it be friends and in particularly family, my husband was more than supportive. He was so giddy and excited that I was going back to what I was truly passionate about. He was so supportive and that gave me a lot of comfort and excitement. I said, you know what, just give it a go. Give it a try.

I'm not losing anything. I have everything to gain. And so, you know, just going in there and, and granted, I think anybody gets nervous in front of people, so. So that was the nerves part of it. But I just knew, I'm like, I'm just [00:20:00] going to have fun with it. And if I get something that's great. If I don't, I just put myself out there again, 

[00:20:06] Abbey Henderson: that I think that's just amazing and huge, huge congratulations to you for having the courage to make that, that big, um, jump into something so different, but also so, um, perhaps unlike other.

Hobbies and jobs, like something that really puts you out there for, you know, both acceptance and rejection all at once. 

[00:20:35] Marcia Irwin: Oh yeah. 

[00:20:36] Abbey Henderson: Yes. 

[00:20:36] Marcia Irwin: There's no rejections. This is just, it just wasn't the right time. 

[00:20:41] Abbey Henderson: Exactly. Exactly. You're going to get, you know, I hope you don't, but you may get some practice on reframing. A lot of things 

[00:20:50] Marcia Irwin: do, and that's the other part, it's all mental.

Right. That's the other, that's the third piece. You know, financial village and, and mental. Hmm. [00:21:00] So if you just start to reframe things, your perspective means a lot. And what you tell your brain is extremely important because what you tell it, that's what you believe. 

[00:21:12] Abbey Henderson: I agree. Could not agree more. I.

Positive self-talk is something that all of us can probably practice a little more. Oh my 

[00:21:19] Marcia Irwin: gosh. And I keep trying to tilt that to my kids and it's so hard these days. Teenagers, I just, ugh. I just, I fear for all of them. Like, I'm so concerned because it's such a tough time to be a teenager. There's so many pressures.

There's so much competition. Oh, in college applications. Yeah. I was going to 

[00:21:40] Abbey Henderson: say in the midst of the process that you're in, and it's, it's your first in college, if I remember correctly. It is. Yeah. 

[00:21:47] Marcia Irwin: It's like, oh my goodness, I have to do this again. 

[00:21:50] Abbey Henderson: So since you mentioned your kids, I'm curious. Um, if this has added, uh, sort of a new dimension to your relationship with your [00:22:00] oldest, is he like coaching you through things now?

[00:22:03] Marcia Irwin: Yes. He quickly jumped on that. He said, oh, all right, 

[00:22:07] Abbey Henderson: mom, does he like run lines with you and, and, uh, tell you how to do your auditions? And he 

[00:22:15] Marcia Irwin: does. Yes. Very eagerly. 

[00:22:17] Abbey Henderson: Yeah, it sounds fun though. It sounds fun to have something that's, um, currently very much in common between the two of you. 

[00:22:28] Marcia Irwin: Yeah, it, it's actually really nice and we've definitely strengthened our bond because of it.

So it, it's really rewarding and especially with more time at home, I get to really connect with my family more. Um, and I think that's meaningful. And, uh, you know, I, I always, I've always been told, well, I think most people think that the time to stay home is when your kids are really little. I don't agree, agree with that at all.

Mm-hmm. Interesting. Trying to be at home is right now, like when they're teenagers in [00:23:00] high school 'cause they're going through a lot of emotions, a lot of stress. Um, and just to be there for them mentally mm-hmm. I think goes a long ways. And so, you know. Try to straddle that line between being a parent and being a friend or confident.

So, which you don't want to be completely a hundred percent of both, so. Right. 

[00:23:25] Abbey Henderson: Right. That makes sense. Um, so I'm curious if you have any advice for our listeners who are feeling called to do something else and haven't, haven't made the leap yet. 

[00:23:41] Marcia Irwin: Oh my goodness. Be brave. Trust yourself. I always tell myself, or tell my kids actually to trust themselves because they're going to do great things and I think, I think everyone with positive self-talk, I.

You just be brave. Take the [00:24:00] leap because things will work out, and if you need that comfort in order to make that jump, I'll go back to those three things that I mentioned. Set yourself up financially so you don't have to worry. Set yourself up or at least know who your village is. Your family, your friends, that way there's, there's a safety net if you feel like you're falling.

And then third is that mental aspect. So that reframing being positive and be brave. 

[00:24:29] Abbey Henderson: I love it. So if our listeners who are in this area want to come see you in something, where can we find you on stage and on screen coming up? 

[00:24:39] Marcia Irwin: Oh. Goodness. Well, the Boston University films probably don't come out until the end of their school year, so I'm guessing maybe June.

Um, and then Into the Woods, which is a, uh, a local community, uh, theater, which I think is going to be great. Uh, is showcasing in April, um, Western Friendly. [00:25:00] Society is the, uh, is the, um, is the organization. 

[00:25:04] Abbey Henderson: Awesome. Well, we will find some links and put them in our show notes for people that are interested. And I just want to thank you so much for joining us today and sharing your story.

And I, I just know that you're going to be an inspiration to others. 

[00:25:19] Marcia Irwin: Oh, thank you. And thank you so much for the time. It was really a pleasure 

[00:25:23] Wendy McConnell: speaking with you. I am so impressed. Wow. This is great. Um, Abbey, how can people get in touch with you if they have some more questions and want to have a retirement like Marcia?

[00:25:33] Abbey Henderson: Uh, so you can email me Abbey@Abarisfinancialgroup.com. I'm also on LinkedIn, Facebook. You can check out our website, www.Abarisfinancialgroup.com and uh, they'll Instagram. It. I'm well, the all too many places. 

[00:25:52] Wendy McConnell: Okay. 

[00:25:53] Abbey Henderson: Um, and the links will all be in the show notes. 

[00:25:55] Wendy McConnell: All right, perfect. So thank you both and thank you for listening [00:26:00] today.

Please like, follow and share this podcast with your friends. Until next time, 

[00:26:06] Voiceover: Thank you for listening to Wealth Beyond Riches. Click the follow button to be notified when new episodes become available, and be sure to visit our website at www.abarisfinancialgroup.com. 

The information covered and posted represents the views and opinions of the guest and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Abaris Financial Group


The opinions voiced in Wealth Beyond Riches with Abbey Henderson are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.  To determine what may be appropriate for you, consult with your attorney, accountant, financial or tax advisor prior to investing. Guests on Wealth Beyond Riches are not affiliated with Abaris Financial Group or NewEdge Advisors, LLC. Advisory services offered through NewEdge Advisors, LLC, a registered investment adviser.