At the front of that room is the hostess –

Party with a Purpose indisputably the one who organized this

Transforming a Niche into a event -- and a woman with a flip chart
Market and a small paperback booklet, twin to
those in the laps of her audience. They
pour over these booklets like catalogs,
Limited by accepted policy and
but it’s not candles or cosmetics that
frustrated by the lack of support and
these women are shopping for: it’s
materials, financial advisor Debra
answers to their financial services
Hadsall turned a time-tested concept
needs.
into an innovative system for better
reaching an underserved market of
This is a party all right, but a Financial
investors.
Freedom Party for Women®, the
brainchild of financial advisor Debra
The time is early evening, the place, a
Hadsall who developed the concept as a
comfortable suburb in deep South
way to engage a previously untapped
Texas. The street is deserted, the light
source of women investors using the
almost gone. All quiet, except at one
home party sales model.
house where, judging by the cars lining
the curb, it’s clear that in here there’s a
party going on. A pachanga, as they’d Q: What is the Financial Freedom
Party for Women?
call it here, family style.
DH: The Financial Freedom Party for
Women – FFP for short – is a unique
Inside, there’s the usual cast of
and low-cost tool that serves two
characters: mamas, daughters, an
purposes: to educate women about
occasional baby or son-in-law, and the
financial management and to provide
usual dining room table laden with
investment and insurance professionals
homemade concoctions, some hot,
with an effective medium and the
some cold. Every now and then
materials for connecting with potential
someone wanders in, fills a plate and
clients in a meaningful way.
disappears into the living room.
Because, tonight, that is where the
Q: And you created it because…?
action is.
DH: Because in my experience, the
financial services industry is not meeting
the needs of the female client or the
financial services professional who
works with women, their families, and
friends.
Q: How does the FFP remedy this?
DH: Simply put, through the marriage of
two sales methods: the home party and
the financial services presentation.
Q: Why is this model particularly
attractive to women?
DH: Money management is a private
and personal matter, even more so to
women who tend to be uncomfortable
with money management and distrustful
of the financial services community. FFP
is designed to bridge that gap through a
process that connects them in a fun,
familiar, and supportive way.
Q: Are you speaking as a client or
Financial Services Professional?
DH: Both, really. Like many people
growing up, I didn’t know much about
how money works and wasn’t really
offered any education about things like
investing, insurance, and debt – and I
have a minor in economics! I knew
about having a job and making money,
but the concept of passive income and
an income stream from investments was
really not mentioned. It surprised me to
find that the women I was getting to
know through my networking – even
successful career women -- felt as
uncomfortable as I had about money
management.
Q: And you knew what you didn’t
like….
DH: Like everyone else, I have been
approached by advisors, insurances
sales people, brokers, and others in the
financial services industry. The sales
Cornerstone of the concept:
The FFP logo features original
artwork that serves to set a tone of
easy informality to make materials
feel less threatening and more
accessible.
process is pretty standard and not very
personal. I would receive a letter or a
phone call followed up by another phone
call and then a request for a meeting in
an advisor’s office. There was a
constant turnover in the advisors and
insurance agents in the networking
groups and each one repeated the sales
process. All a big turn off and leaving
me uncomfortable with entrusting my
money – and my future – to something
and someone I knew so little about.
Q: So you saw a need….
DH: When I joined the financial services
industry as a licensed insurance
producer, then a registered
representative, I did so because I saw a
need for middle-income women to have
useful and appropriate information and
financial solutions. That was important
to me because I never felt I had
affordable access to good financial
advice. I soon discovered that the
securities and insurance industries have
evolved slowly over the years and the
educational formats were very
traditional. Most presentations were
quite technical, pretty boring, and did
not easily attract an audience, let alone
audiences of women.
Q: Why is this, do you think?
DH: As I found when retailing financial
services, the main motives of
investment and insurance companies
are to teach the client enough to hope
she will buy the company’s product.
Use of these materials by
brokers/representatives is usually tied to
some type of production requirement or
commitment. For new representatives
(with small levels of sales, or no existing
client base) this is a problem. Also, not
all the seminars are targeted to the
entire financial picture, focusing only on
the areas promoted by a particular
company. For example, most
presentations mention little, if anything,
about debt management and focus
mainly on investing.
Q: But why the home party concept?
DH: The Financial Freedom Party (FFP)
was created when I found many other
women brokers, like myself, were
frustrated that women wouldn’t show up
at financial seminars. Only three to four
women would attend, even though we
mailed invitations with plenty of lead
time, followed up, and targeted our
efforts to women who needed this
information, and who were not already
working with a financial services
professional. One evening I attended a
home sales party hosted by a neighbor.
There were 30 or so women there and
they were buying a lot! A light went off in
my head. It was suddenly clear to me
that we need to change our approach in
the financial services industry. And with
the help of two other women brokers,
the FFP concept was born.
The Financial Freedom
Shopping List
The FFP walks women
through the money
management basics, up to and
including their financial
services needs. This is an
important service as for some
women, this kind of checkup is
a new and foreign experience.
On the list:
√ Will/End of Life Documents
√ Life Insurance as needed
√ Emergency Fund
√ Debt Management
√ Retirement Investment
Q: How is the FFP different?
DH: FFP is based around the power of
relationships. Women really are
relationship “buyers.” We don’t like hard
sell and we prefer doing business with
someone we know and trust. FFP is
built on the concept of one person
connecting with another person who
introduces the first person to a group of
her friends. In party plans, it is the
hostess who invites friends and
introduces them to the person with a
product or service. Successful parties
involve product education, relationship
building, and the chance for the
attendee to comfortably make a
purchase without feeling pressured. This
structure has been very successful for
many years in marketing products to
women.
Q: So where’s the value?
DH: The FFP gives an overview of a
variety of areas of money management,
offering a balanced overview of all
aspects of a woman’s financial life. It
isn’t about a product; it’s about
information and, along with it the
confidence that knowledge inspires; the
confidence, for example, to plan, to
invest. It also allows the attendee the
chance to meet a financial services
professional in a warm and friendly
environment. This is a big change from
sitting in an auditorium and experiencing
a Power Point presentation. The party is
really the beginning of the possibility of
networking relationships and, of course,
sales.
Q: You mentioned materials….
DH: The cornerstone of FFP is an
inexpensive booklet that actually
evolved from my first presentation script.
The Financial Freedom Party for
Women ®, A Little Book about Money
for Women is an unpretentious little
workbook is designed to educate the
reader about basic financial
management concepts. It also includes
everything the financial professional or
party host needs to know in order to
conduct a party – tips, a script, work
sheets, and role playing cards for “party
games.”
Q: How is that important?
DH: It starts the dialogue. The roles in
the game cards present hypothetical
situations, but are reflective of questions
women ask and situations that occur in
life. This is the springboard. Personal
questions arise. And, as each individual
situation is unique, questions relevant to
personal finances and specific to the
individual are directed to the appropriate
professional to ensure that the situation
has been evaluated carefully and
appropriately, thus setting the stage for
further discussion. (The Authors and
Publisher specifically disclaim any
liability, loss, or risk which is incurred as
a consequence directly or indirectly of
the use and application of any of the
contents of this work.)
Q: But it’s not promoting a product.
How does this benefit the Financial
Services Professional conducting the
party?
DH: It’s all about the relationship. Time
and patience are required. For some of
the party goers, the topics covered
during the party are entirely new
concepts. For a woman newly widowed,
or just starting to earn money on her
own, this may be the first time she has
needed to think about financial planning.
– or even about such simple things as
insurance or a will. The response to the
Financial Freedom Party has been
positive. Some of the attendees became
insurance or investment clients. Others
just simply benefited from the
information provided and became more
confident about their financial decisions.
I’ve had women come back months or
even a year later and say “now I’m
ready to invest.” I’ve even had clients
who never attended a party but were
referred to me by someone who had.
Q: If a Financial Services
Professional wanted to use FFP as a
marketing tool, is there any training
required or is it simply a question of
just buying and reading the book?
DH: Training is certainly available –
especially for anyone not comfortable
with presenting in the home party format
-- but FFP is structured so any Financial
Services Professional could hit the
ground running after reading it through
with just a little practice.
Q: Where can the book be
purchased?
DH: The first two editions of the book
are available at Amazon.com. The most
recent edition is available directly from
lulu.com and there is a link at
www.financialfreedomparty.com
Katherine Hause is a freelance writer
whose articles regularly appear in
business publications.

Debra Hadsall has been involved in the financial management

business in both public and private sectors for most of her adult life.
For more than a decade she has concentrated her efforts on
working with women and coaching them on how to be financially
free by teaching them how money works and getting them involved
in taking charge of their finances. She holds a degree in business
administration with a minor in economics and held a variety of
securities and insurance licenses. She recently released the third
edition of her book, Financial Freedom Party for Women®, A Little
Book about Money for Women, now available in workbook format

The Party Success Model

Want to learn more about how party-goers have benefited from attending parties and
how Debra placed business in the areas of mutual funds and variable annuity
investments, term life insurance, and legal plan sales? Please email her at
financialfreedomparty@gmail.com.

You may follow her blog about women, money, and other topics of interest to women at
www.financialfreedomparty.com

According to the 2010 U.S. census, there are 92,086,050 women in the U.S. between the ages of
20-64. If we can share the Financial Freedom Party for Women with only 10% -- 9.2 million women
– it would be transformative.”
Debra Hadsall

Copyright©2016 by Debra Hadsall