- 5 years with Northwestern Mutual Financial Network
- Former full-time musician in successful rock band
- In Top 10% of new representatives
- Achieved two career milestones in first year
- B.S., English, business minor, Vanderbilt University
- Age 36, married with one child
Tracy Hackney did not start out with a burning ambition to be a Northwestern Mutual Financial Network Representative. His father is a successful Northwestern Mutual representative in Chattanooga, and “in high school, I did spreadsheet presentations for his estate analysis sessions,” he remembers. But in college, “I wanted to be Bob Dylan.” Tracy formed a band that performed covers of other musicians’ hits. After college, he produced a record on his own, raced mountain bicycles and held a series of “day jobs” before joining another band, Bare, Jr. “We toured 300 days a year, opened for Aerosmith, and played on Conan O’Brien,” he remembers. “But I realized my life would go downhill as my success went uphill.”
Tracy also hated life on the road. “I let the band know I would leave within the year,” he says. “Dad always made me promise I’d consider the Network. So I did. I had never interviewed for a job in my life, and I think I wore a button-down shirt and a pair of khakis. But I have a lot of discipline, and I knew I could do it.”
Managing Director David Knox became his mentor. “I bought into everything he told me: Do the numbers, and become a trusted representative.” Tracy also completed all of his licenses in two months. “I didn’t have a clue how big my natural market was until my wife and I made a list.” He and an associate are now sharing staff. This exchange of resources leads to rewarding, beneficial, and long lasting relationships "We each have a vision for our practices and have the flexibility to create our own model," he says. “This business will stay challenging for years to come.”
Tracy’s advice to new financial representatives: “Do the numbers. My dad told me to ‘show up every day.’ This career is amazingly hard, but the potential is unbelievable.”
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