Operations

Meet Lisa Marie Wise, Linda Gorgone & Jeannie Quy

• Lisa Marie Wise
  Operations Manager, Registered Office Assistant
  In 1996, one and a half years after Compass Point’s founding, Lisa Wise came to work for Mike and Tom. In the early days, Lisa had a hand in just about every activity at Compass Point from typing forms to answering phones to setting up seminars and greeting prospective clients. This background provided an excellent foundation for Lisa’s present position of Operations Manager. From her welcoming office right beside the conference room, she keeps the wheels of Compass Point well-oiled and efficiently rolling.
  
  An Operations Manager, according to Lisa, makes sure the company runs smoothly. Lisa, who is meticulous about detail, makes it as “hiccup-free” as possible. A big part of this task is keeping track of the ever-changing compliance issues.
  
  “People either like working on compliance matters or they hate it. I really like it,” Lisa declares. “I like knowing what the rules are and making sure we conform to them.”
  
  Lisa has always had her eye on a financial career and has never longed for any other occupation. “Numbers just feel like a natural fit for me,” she says. After studying Finance and Marketing at Salem State College, Lisa obtained her Series 6 (FINRA Investment Company/Variable Contracts Representative) and Series 63 (FINRA Uniform Securities Agent State Law) licenses. She is presently finishing her degree and is quite close to earning a BA in Finance.
  
  Lisa commutes to Compass Point from Waltham where she lives surrounded by family. Immediate family means husband Shane and two sons Shawn and Dylan. (Photos of Shawn and Dylan are on prominent display in Lisa’s office). But extended family and close friends pepper the Waltham area, and Lisa claims that time spent with them refreshes her and gives her life its meaning.
  
  What gets her out on 128 in the morning with her car pointed toward Compass Point? “I know people are depending on me.”
  
  That’s a responsibility that Lisa Wise takes very seriously.

• Linda Gorgone
  Receptionist
  On Mondays through Thursdays, Linda Gorgone is the voice on the Compass Point phone and the face at the front desk.
  
  “Greeting people, making them feel welcome and putting them at ease,” is how Linda sees her receptionist job.
  
  Accomplishing this may require offering coffee or tea, chatting with clients and providing cookies freshly baked every morning. (Surely Compass Point is the only financial planning firm that always smells of baking cookies.)
  
  “Here at Compass Point, you’re greeted by a human being instead of being isolated by Voice Mail,” Linda answers when asked what is unique about her company. “Do you realize how unusual that is these days?”
  
  Linda claims she can’t imagine working anywhere other than Compass Point. As a mother with daughters age twelve and fifteen, Linda appreciates that her co-workers are family people as well. “From Mike, Tom and Marty on down, family comes first.” And she credits her direct boss, Lisa Wise, with treatment that is extraordinarily compassionate and fair.
  
  Asked what gets her out the door in the morning, gets this response: “The kids. I have to drive them to school at 7:00.”
  
  Like most mothers of school age kids, Linda logs a lot of time behind the wheel of the car, but she enjoys relaxing in the evening at her family’s Danvers home with her husband and daughters. A monthly book group, dinners out with friends and neighborhood block parties are activities Linda enjoys. Strong family values—Linda recognizes them in her personal life and finds them in her business life as well.

• Jeannie Quy
  Receptionist
  On Fridays, from nine to five, Jeannie Quy will answer the phone and ask your name, and in doing so, will make you feel like a friend and valued client. Primary contact with clients is the first charge of a Compass Point receptionist, Jeannie feels. She knows that first impressions count and that messages must be delivered correctly. And she is a thorough professional.
  
  Asked if she thinks Compass Point is unique, Jeannie has a quick answer born of her experience. “It is—and it’s because of the people who started it. I worked at another financial firm [well-known name withheld] and it is the difference between night and day. At Compass Point, the approach is more personal; there is more integrity.”
  
  At university, Jeannie was a history major who thought she might go into archeology. “But I went to secretarial school instead,” she says with a smile.
  
  And if you weren’t busy being a Compass Point receptionist?
  
  “I’d probably be working at a similar job part time,” Jeannie replies. Then, with a verbal ninety degree turn, she adds, “Or running a catering company.”
  
  “Work ethic,” Jeannie says when asked what gets her out the door in the morning.
  
  To recharge her batteries, Jeannie reads, cooks and researches the next exotic trip she and her husband will take. Last time France, next time Turkey. Home is Peabody, Massachusetts with her husband and three grown daughters who pass in and out of the house.