Carrying on the Family Legacy: Kelly Schluckebier and Bailey Yother Throgmorton

Kelly Schluckebier and Bailey Yother Throgmorton are continuing their family legacy by joining their parents’ firms as financial advisors dedicated to providing top-notch service.

There’s nothing quite like family – and, as Kelly Schluckebier and Bailey Yother Throgmorton know, there’s nothing quite like a family business. Both women joined their parents’ teams, becoming second-generation financial advisors.

I recently spoke to both women about their careers, working with family and clients, and more.

The Path to Finance and Joining the Family Business

Bailey didn’t always picture herself in finance, much less working with her parents. In fact, she was on a pre-physical therapy route when her parents encouraged her to take business courses.

Those economics and accounting classes were so inspiring that Bailey decided to pursue finance after shadowing a physical therapist and then interning at Stifel in 2017. While it was unexpected and a little scary to make such a big switch, Bailey realizes in hindsight that it wasn’t all that surprising.

“When I was growing up, my parents drilled personal finance and macroeconomics into me. I remember them pausing The Big Short every thirty seconds to ask if I knew what a credit default swap or mortgage-backed security was.”

So, after Bailey graduated from the University of Tennessee with a B.S. in Business Administration and Finance in 2019, she joined her parents’ team as a Registered Client Service Associate – and she hasn’t regretted it.

Bailey has since become a financial advisor, participating in the Stifel Field Development Program hosted by Charlie Schwartz and Kristen Roethemeier. Today, she works alongside her parents Mike and Julie Yother, Carla Lamb, Cassie Conley, and Rick and Trey Bellar at Bellar-Yother Advisory Group, a business Julie started before Mike eventually joined when Julie took time off to raise Bailey and her sister, Abigail.

Like Bailey, Kelly was surrounded by finance growing up. Not only did her family instill the importance of saving and investing from a young age, but her father would also take her to client events and drive her to the office so she could walk to school. After graduating from Michigan State University and working on institutional sales at a mutual fund company, Kelly entered the wealth management side and became a financial advisor.

“My true passion was personally working with families and businesses, so I moved home and joined the Schluckebier Hood Wealth Management Group,” she says. “It was never a spoken thing, but going into finance and joining my dad was a natural fit. Having grown up watching him work, I was familiar with the hours and persistence that went into providing clients with quality service, and I was ready to continue that legacy.”

Kelly works with her father, Paul Schluckebier, passing the things she learned from him on to her clients. She also recently earned the Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor™ designation.

Working With Family

There’s always a chance that mixing personal and professional lives by working with family could be a recipe for disaster. Still, Kelly and Bailey have navigated it successfully and are loving it so far.

“Nobody is as invested in your success as your dad is, so I get that personally and professionally,” Kelly says. “We spend lots of time together in the office and at home. There’s this reassurance that if I need anything, my dad is always there, day or night. Most folks wouldn’t call their boss in the middle of the evening, but I can because I work with family.”

For her dad, it’s reassuring to know the business and client relationships he has built over nearly 40 years will be in good hands when he retires. His legacy will continue with someone he trusts and feels confident in. However, Kelly is conscious of their relationship.

“I’m driven to work extra hard to prove that I earn the work I get, fair and square,” she shares. “I never want someone to look at my success and think I got here because of my last name or who I’m related to.”

Bailey, too, loves working with her family – and all her other coworkers.

“We’re a tight-knit group,” she says. “One of the client service associates that helped train me used to pick me up after school, and our registered operations coordinator has worked with my parents for nearly ten years.”

For Bailey, one of the best benefits of working with family is having the ability to be open and honest. She’s always free to say what she thinks without fearing repercussions. Another benefit is simply having the opportunity to learn from her parents.

“I’m not just learning about managing money or wealth planning. They’re also teaching me about managing my emotions and running a business. It’s priceless,” Bailey says. “I witnessed the work they put in, even outside of office hours, when I was growing up, and I see the importance of being available to people from a different perspective now.”

While Bailey admits that it’s all too easy for the conversation to drift back to work over dinner, she appreciates that she can learn all the time and encourages anyone considering going into business with their parents to do it.

Legacy Matters to Clients Too

Kelly and Bailey aren’t the only ones who feel great about working with their parents. It also makes a difference for their clients, present and future.

“Having two generations of our family working together shows that we’re not just building a team to last for our current clients but their families – and even future families. That longevity, succession planning, and legacy give people peace of mind,” Kelly explains. “People take comfort in knowing I have the same values and principles that they appreciate in my dad. He has instilled those values in me from a young age, so our ethics are the same, and we do business the same way.”

Bailey has also found that people see the value in a multi-generation family business.

“Many clients have come to expect a certain level of service and a way of doing business, and they know I’ll continue to provide that because my parents trained me and passed on their values.”

Life as Part of the Stifel Family

Bailey and Kelly are also part of another family – the Stifel family.

Before Stifel, the Schluckebier Hood Wealth Management Group was part of a much larger firm, but coming to Stifel was a breath of fresh air. Not only did they quickly get to know everyone they worked with, but Kelly also appreciated having the opportunity to work with other women.

“I was part of the WIN group right away, and it’s incredible to have such a smaller, close-knit community within Stifel,” she says. “I also had plenty of support from women in the home office. You don’t get thrown to the wolves since there’s always someone I can call if I need anything.”

Just as Stifel has been an excellent fit for Kelly, her team, and their clients, it has also been a great fit for Bailey and her family.

“Referring to your employer as family has this negative connotation in my generation, but it really feels like that sometimes. The support our back office provides is unlike anything else,” Bailey says, alluding to her firsthand experience.

After graduating, Bailey wasn’t allowed to ask for help from anyone in the office because her dad wanted her to learn it for herself. So, she ended up calling the help desk … a lot.

“I’m sure they were sick of seeing my name pop up, but people spent so much time with me on the phone,” she recalls. “I learned so much about Stifel, their systems, and everything we have to offer clients. It’s really cool to have so much support because, ultimately, it’s our clients who end up benefiting.”

For Kelly and Bailey, working with family and becoming a part of the Stifel family has worked out well. They’ve received all the support they need and will be ready to carry on their family legacy when the time comes.