How depths of 9/11 trauma propelled planning career
Dr. Nicole B. Simpson, CEO at Harvest Wealth Financial, will never forget where she was on the morning of September 11, 2001.
“That day forever altered the course of my life,” Simpson told InvestmentNews. “On 9/11, I was on the 73rd floor of the World Trade Center – I was in the building when the World Trade Center was attacked.
“When Tower One was hit, I was in Tower Two. The building began to sway back and forth, the lights flicked off and on – I didn’t really understand what was transpiring. None of us did. I walked over to my partner’s window and I remember seeing burning paper – it looked like a ticker-tape parade when the Yankees had won. And I don’t know why that stood out to me, but I felt very anxious to leave.”
After beginning to descend the steps from the 73rd floor, Simpson heard announcements saying that people didn’t have to evacuate. Once she reached the 44th floor, Simpson was about to board the elevator to return to her office when she suddenly decided not to.
Then Tower Two was hit.
“It forever changed my life,” Simpson said. “Because I really went through what we go through when we endure trauma. It was a very traumatic experience that impacted me physically, emotionally, and economically. Having had some diagnosis as a result of 9/11, I was now as this young financial planning practitioner in the position of living what it is that I advise my clients to do. And so, firsthand, I knew the experience of earning six figures and then going down to $18,000 a year while I was sick.”
The road to recovery was a long and arduous one. And while 9/11 was a national tragedy, one that everyone can emotionally connect to, for Simpson her trauma propelled her further into the world of financial
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