Have Courage.
Courage is the root of all great ideas, great businesses, great leaders; but, most importantly, courage has been the driving force behind Silver Penny Financial Planning’s owner and Managing Partner, Charlotte Geletka.
A mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a leader, a yogi (just to name a few!), Charlotte Geletka will be the first to admit that she is not one who fits into the typical mold of a financial advisor. She is a woman in a man’s industry. With only 15 – 20% of financial advisors being female, fewer who are under the age of 40, and even fewer who own a business, it’s no secret that Charlotte is an outlier and she is shattering the glass ceiling to pave the way for other women to gain financial literacy and independence.
Often touted as the warrior for her willingness to ‘walk into the fire’, Charlotte has faced many and persevered through all challenges since she bought her company in 2017. Shortly after acquiring her business, she lost her office, brand, business partner, and staff. For most new business owners, that would be enough to veer onto a different path, but for Charlotte, it was her first lesson in getting comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Charlotte likens owning a business to earning an MBA in hard knocks. She has learned not to be scared of change. She has learned to stay on the razor’s edge. She has learned to get her hands dirty. She has learned that your attitude is imperative and that it is the key to success.
She has learned all this to not only go beyond being a good business owner, but to be an equally as good (actually, better) financial advisor. As the owner and managing partner of Silver Penny Financial Planning, Charlotte aims to pull back the curtain for her clients so they can see what’s really going on behind the scenes, all in an effort to uphold her company’s key mission statement: to simplify clients’ financial lives. She and her company do this by first capturing your goals then by providing a one-page overview of the in-depth financial planning process to ensure that it is user-friendly and you know exactly what is happening.
While Charlotte is on the front lines helping her clients, she’s also working behind the scenes to educate youth on financial literacy as well as encouraging women to become financially empowered. You can find her giving presentations at schools, giving women’s talk seminars, or writing her children’s book on financial literacy.
You can find Charlotte on Instagram (@silverpennyfinancial), or you can visit Silver Penny Financial Planning’s website at Silver Penny Financial.