Toward the end of the movie Field of Dreams, there is a poignant scene on Ray Kinsella’s (Kevin Costner) Iowa farm/baseball field. Ray is facing financial ruin and foreclosure, while his brother-in-law pressures him to sell the land. Terrance Mann (James Earle Jones) interjects with a stirring, poetic defense of the field, convincing Ray that people will travel from all over just to experience the peace and nostalgia it offers.
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"The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time."
The monologue is ultimately a rallying cry for belief over cynicism — the idea that if you create something authentic and meaningful, people will naturally be drawn to it.
For those of you who have been a client of Impel Wealth Management, or its predecessor, Millennial Group, over the last two decades, you know that the one constant you could always count on was the high degree of professionalism and service you would be provided by Karen Johnson. Karen Johnson is a registered Administrative Assistant Cetera Advisors LLC. She has been a rock star — and my right-hand person — since joining me 19 years ago.
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In 2007, I was looking to add an experienced, licensed Client Service Specialist to my team, Millennial Group. Luckily for me, a business associate knew and had previously worked with Karen and suggested I talk with her. We met for coffee at the old Arabica coffee shop in Stow, near Eddy's bike shop, and I learned that she already had more than 20 years of experience. She had overseen the trust department trading platform at FirstMerit Bank and had also worked at McDonald and Co., which underwent mergers with both KeyBank and UBS.
During our initial conversation, I found that she had started in the business a year before I did. I also found out that she graduated from Cuyahoga Falls High School in 1982. Since I had graduated from Stow High School in 1984, we had a lot to talk about, given that the sports rivalries between the two high schools were somewhat akin to the Capulets and the Montagues. We knew many of the same people and had shared experiences growing up in neighboring communities in northeast Ohio.
Shortly after Karen joined the team, it became apparent that I had not only been incredibly lucky to meet her, but I had also made one of the best professional decisions of my career.
After nearly 40 years in the business and nearly 20 years working with me, Karen came to me last May and said she planned to retire in May 2026. She wanted to give me a full year to plan for, hire, and train her successors. She wanted to make sure the team was set up for future success as she and her husband, Ross, transitioned into retirement.
As I started sharing with clients that Karen was going to be retiring, there were two typical reactions:
“Oh my gosh, what are you going to do without Karen?”
This was typically quickly followed by, “Oh my gosh, what am I going to do without Karen?”
I will circle back and answer that question at the end of today's blog post.
I would like to take a few moments and share some of the most important things that I learned working with Karen over the last 19 years. I will do this through what I like to call “Karen-isms”… things that I have only seen done or said by Karen during my nearly 4 decades as a financial advisor. We will begin with one of the most interesting and unique things that she brought to the table when she joined us in 2007.
Karen-ism #1
Young man, I'm older than you, and I've done this longer than you (usually with a raised eyebrow).
This was Karen’s way of gently, or sometimes not so gently, pushing back on me when she wanted to question something we were doing on behalf of a client, or how I was allocating my time. I quickly realized that nothing is more important to Karen than ensuring we serve our clients with excellence. Mistakes were not an option. If she wanted to make sure we had fully thought through the cash flow or tax-planning implications of a decision, she would ask the question — and gently remind me that she had the experience and wisdom to do so on behalf of our clients.
Karen has also always been extraordinarily protective of my time. She knows that I generally work 70 to 80 hours a week. Because we both came into the business in the 1980s, she has a unique perspective on what it took to build a financial planning and investment advisory practice at a time when there were no salaries. Simply put: if you didn't work hard, your family didn't eat.
Karen knew and understood this and has told me many times to stay on the other side of the door, with my clients, where I can use my gifts and talents best, and they will take care of everything else. It has been incredible to have a team member and friend have your back like this and to be able to trust that everything on the other side of the door would be handled efficiently and correctly. Thank you, Karen.
Karen-ism # 2
If we build it, they will come.
After working with me for more than 9 years at Millennial Group, it became evident that it was time for my team to move on to a new home and a structure that would support our future growth. I had multiple conversations with Karen, Sarah, and Marie about my thoughts, hopes, and vision for creating an even better environment and service structure for our clients.
Without hesitation, Karen, in her best Field of Dreams impression, said, “If we build it, they will come.” Karen was very confident that we could build something unique that not only would draw our existing clients but would also allow us to continue to grow and build for the future, even serving future generations. Her confidence and leadership through the transition helped us build Impel Wealth Management from 180 clients and $160 million in assets in 2017 to a firm that today includes three Certified Financial Planners, five team members, approximately 300 client families, and as of February 2026, Impel Wealth Management has $395,496,585 million in assets under management through Cetera Investments Advisers LLC. Thank you, Karen.
Karen-ism # 3
I am THE automatic!
Two of our team’s core values are:
Clients are family
Contagious joy and laughter
I have always been a big believer in working hard together, and we should be able to play hard and laugh while doing so. There are many times when I'm sitting in my office with a client, and we hear laughter break out from the other room where team members are working together. While it may briefly interrupt the flow of a client meeting, I would take an office with joy and laughter over the alternative any day. Believe me, I have worked in the alternative. It is no fun.
Sometimes those moments of joy and laughter come from interactions with clients. One of my favorite examples was a client who called our office saying that they needed money from their investment account for a family vacation they were planning. Because the amount of funds requested exceeded the cash in their money market fund, Karen told the client she would have to talk with me about which trades to make to raise the additional cash needed.
The client seemed perplexed by this and stated to Karen, “I don't understand. Anytime I need money, I call the office, and it automatically appears in my bank account.” To which Karen calmly and confidently explained to the client, “I am THE automatic.” We have played and replayed this, and many other similar situations, in our team meetings, and it always brings joy and levity to know that we can serve our clients, who we love, this family, with excellence, and still have fun at the same time. Thank you, Karen.
There are many other Karen-isms I could share with you, but you get the idea.
As I said above, Karen truly believed that if you create something authentic and meaningful, people will naturally be drawn to it. From that original vision shared with Karen, Sarah, and Marie, the team at Impel Wealth has continued to grow.
And grow…
And grow…
Luckily, for you and for me, Karen took her retirement, the transition, and the future of success of our firm just as seriously as she took her job over the last two decades. We had many conversations about how to structure the future trading and operations team. Karen was actively involved in who we hired and has spent the last five months training Rachel and Nisse to serve our clients “the Impel way.”
Just as Terrence Mann reminded us that baseball has been the one constant over the years, Karen Johnson has used her tenure and training of our new team members to ensure that the constant that has been Karen will continue in the Impel Wealth family for years to come.
As Karen does what so many of our clients have done over the years — successfully transition from work life to retirement life — we initially tried to get her not to walk out the door…
But we eventually acquiesced and wish Karen the best as she and her husband, Ross, begin this new and exciting phase of life. Don't worry, you will still be able to see Karen and Ross at client events, where she will be on the other side of the table, benefiting from what she helped build over the last two decades. Please join me in congratulating my friend and partner on a job well done. Thanks to Karen, we will all continue “Moving Life Forward.”
© 2026 Jesse Hurst
Senior Wealth Manager
The views stated are not necessarily the opinion of Cetera and should not be construed directly or indirectly as an offer to buy or sell any securities mentioned herein. Due to volatility within the markets mentioned, opinions are subject to change without notice. Information is based on sources believed to be reliable; however, their accuracy or completeness cannot be guaranteed. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
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