I literally grew up in the wealth management business.

I come from a line of business owners like my daddy and his dad before him. Even as a child I remember visiting the office of my father’s firm, thinking how cool it was that dad owned a business. I always wanted to follow in his footsteps. So in college I majored in Entrepreneurship and Computer Technology.

After college I joined the working world in another town. But two days after 9/11 we learned Mom had terminal cancer, so I moved back to Ridgeland so I could maximize the time I had left with my mother. Mom was a CPA and worked in the family business with Dad. She began needing help in the office, so I joined Bergland Wealth Management shortly upon returning to Mississippi. As her health declined, I dedicated more time to taking care of her. 

While visiting mom one day after she had moved to hospice, one of our clients dropped by to check on her. She had become so close with my mom that my mom gave her the most precious name, “Mama B.” As Mama B talked with Mom, consoled her and tended to her, it struck me that the family business involved much more than just “customers” and “client relationships.” I realized the work that we do affects people’s lives; we affect them (and they affect us) in a manner unlike any work I’d done before. I had been with companies that did good work and served people, but this had deeper meaning. I saw first-hand how my mom and dad were having a tremendous impact on their clients lives.  That’s when I discovered my calling as I, too, wanted to have a tremendous impact on people’s lives like my mom and dad were having.  

I officially joined the firm in 2002 and became a CFP^® Professional and wealth manager in 2007. I became President in 2019 as Dad ‘passes the baton’ and transitions into more of an emeritus role. I am grateful and honored to be carrying out my parents’ legacy serving people, carrying on relationships and developing new ones in the process. 

My husband, Scott and I love spoiling our dog, Cooper.  Cooper’s favorite activities are paddle boarding, kayaking, and hiking.  Fortunately, Scott and I love those activities as well.   When not spoiling Cooper, Scott and I love to travel. One of my favorite destinations thus far was the Holy Land (Israel & Jordan), which we toured in 2013 with our church family.  I will forever remember the raw emotions and feeling that overwhelmed me when standing near the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives as my gaze traveled down the Kidron Valley and back up to the Golden Gate of the Old Temple.  That was an experience like none other.

I’m so passionate about my calling in part due to one of the last lessons my mom taught me.  She said, “Tiffany, take the time to make memories because that is all you have in the end.”  My mom passed at the age of 54.  She didn’t get to retire.  I love helping people find the balance of taking time to make memories while preparing for their retirement ‘just beyond the horizon’ and seeing their plan to the end.

Bergland Wealth Management celebrated its 35^th anniversary in 2020.  Yet I remember the day my life’s mission was altered in that direction as if it were yesterday.

I had graduated from Louisiana Tech University, served in the United States Coast Guard, earned a Master of Divinity and Master of Education from Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi, managed a U.S. Congressional campaign for a good friend, was ordained by the Presbyterian Church in America as a minister, and then a year or two later laid down my ordination vows in order to do some political work at the local and national level.   Following this I went to work for an insurance company and quickly became successful in the insurance and securities business.  But it was an unexpected conversation with my father that the Lord used to redirect my steps once again and guide me toward my true calling.  

Walking into my father’s apartment one day back in 1982, I found him standing motionless at the breakfast table staring blankly out the window at the ocean.  He said, “I just don’t understand it… why my ABCD Government Securities Bond Fund was going down.”  His words struck me like a thunderbolt because I did not know the answer or how to help him.

My dad, one of the people I respected and loved most was almost paralyzed by the fear of losing his retirement security, and I was clueless in knowing what to say or how to help.

That encounter with my father helped me to see that insurance companies, banks, and broker-dealers sell products; and selling products doesn’t address people’s problems or help them to make the wisest, most informed financial and life decisions.  My calling and my passion turned to providing fiduciary advice that would help people (like my dad) make smart decisions and maximize the probability of accomplishing those things most important to them (him) – you.  That passion led to the formation of our family corporation in 1985 with the purpose of providing families and small business owners with fee-only, fiduciary comprehensive financial planning.  That passion remains at the heart of Bergland Wealth Management to this day.

I have a passion for this business to this day and have no intentions of retiring or walking away.  However, I have passed the torch to Tiffany and I am now spending my time doing more of the things that I’ve always wanted to do.  I spend more time reading books that I have always wanted to read and I love watching sunrises and sunsets.  You may still see me in the office and occasionally I sit in on meetings purely as I love this great industry.