'As I walked on the firm's gravel drive in my heels, I thought I'd made a life error'

Paraplanning had never been high on 19-year-old Naomi Draycott's list of things she'd like to do in life, but nine years on she knows it was her life calling.

However, the 28-year-old paraplanner at Colyer Associates says her nerves gave way even before she got to the advice firm's door for her interview as an apprentice. 

"I knew I had made a fool of myself from the start. I was wearing kitten heels on a gravel drive.

"I had spent ages on my outfit for the interview - I had even gone so far as to reflect their brand in the colours I was wearing. But I got out of the car in my interview shoes, and immediately thought 'Oh no! I’ve made a life error'."

Draycott, who was recently a finallist in the Personal Finance Society's paraplanner of the year award, describes her entry into the profession as "an accident" - in common with many who say they "fell into it".

But she always had an interest in finance. "Mum and dad both used to work in banking. People used to tell me I would get into banking. 

"After school I did not want to go to university - I wanted to get a job, and a car and a house."

Pot washing to paraplanning

She started out in a clothes shop, which she loved. "I thought retail might be my career, but the shop closed down. I desperately wanted to earn and a friend of mine said if I needed money and free cake, I could wash pots", Draycott says.

"So three days a week, downstairs in the basement kitchen, I washed pots for a ridiculously low pay, though I did get free cake. And while I was doing that I was applying for jobs everywhere, particularly in estate agency and accountancy."

But the interviews got her nowhere. One lunchtime, Draycott's mum phoned her and said she had seen a job advertised on a local news site. She emailed it to me.

I walked out of there knowing that was the job I was supposed to have.

"It was a financial advice firm looking for a full-time apprentice, on a competitive salary, and just 20 minutes from where I lived at the time. I applied for it with just two days before the deadline. 

"Within a day, I was invited for an interview. Mum and I did a test drive to check how long it would take me to get there."

The day of the interview, her mum drove onto the gravelled driveway and Draycott got out. "I didn't know if they were looking at me but as I tottered up to the front door, I thought I had blown it.

"And then the floor inside was polished stone - so I was clacking all the way through and echoing everywhere. I figured I'd blown it at the start."

The interview was three hours long. "I didn't know whether that was a good or bad thing at the time. Mum told me not to get my hopes up but as soon as I got in the car I said 'Mum, I want that job'.

"I walked out of there knowing that was the job I was supposed to have. By the time I got home, an offer was waiting in my inbox."

At the age of 19, she joined Colyer Associates on November 24, 2014.

Were those your lucky heels?

She has never worn those heels again. "No. I thew them out. The office has marble and stone floor so heels means the noise drives everyone up the wall, including myself."

But she threw herself into the job, working with husband-and-wife team Pam and Michael Colyer, who had set up the firm some 16 years ago. 

They had one full-time paraplanner, and Draycott's role was to be the first step in growing the business. 

She says: "You do start at the bottom as an apprentice, but Pam was giving me lots of projects to help her with, and Helen, who was the paraplanner at the time, used to get me to sit with her to learn on the job.

"Pretty soon people were giving me cases to write up and asking me to find out information. I would phone St James's Place, which has business assurance and advice guidance schemes and protection helplines. 

"I would ring up and get answers and fill in application forms. Because of this, within six months I was learning technical stuff and doing paraplanning."

Moving on up

Within a year, Draycott started to study for the Personal Finance Society exams, and took her first one in 2015. "I love pensions - that was a godsend. I enjoyed that exam", she says.

"I've always been inquisitive. I always enjoyed learning. You can be 80 and have worked 60 years in this industry and still there is stuff to learn."

She also likes learning about the clients, and sometimes finding out bits of information that they might not have told the advisers or thought to tell them. but which might have an impact on their finances.

You can’t get bored with this job.

Draycott says: "You know, sometimes they say they're having a big kitchen extension done or that there's a new grandchild on the way. I let Michael know so he can factor these into his conversations."

But while she has been studying, she does not want to be front-office. "I am a big believer that financial advice firms should have two faces - front of office, and back office.

"I am good at checking figure and chasing information and making phone calls and finding out information. Being front of others is not for me. 

"If Michael has a meeting with a client and if there is a document that needs to be filled in there and there, or if we want to contact a client to ask them, then of course I will do that. I love making things easier for the clients.

"But I like paperwork and managing things, rather than sitting down doing face-to-face advice."

Teaching others

She says what she also enjoys now is "selling paraplanning to other 19-year-olds in kitten heels". 

Draycott explains: "You get the best of both worlds. You can be technical and keep on top of learning, as well as having that client interaction. You can’t get bored with this job.

"My advice for other starters is that you learn from making those mistakes. Sometimes you are so scared of making a mistake that you make a different one, especially if you are new.

"So it is important to step back and think, and talk with all the right people and learn on the job. Even though we are a small office we have so much support from SJP. You can always call someone."

She says the company has just taken on a new joiner so Draycott is helping her, as well as training herself. "I'd like to be chartered or get a degree.

"Also, because of consumer duty we have to make sure that we have got all the client servicing right, and seeing what more we can offer the clients, so I hope to be involved in that more."

As for 2024? "I have to sit the investment exam - and I’d love another apprentice. I love getting them in and watching them grow and learn."

simoney.kyriakou@ft.com