Nate Tomkiewicz: Started as an Intern, Now We’re Here

This special series of blog posts spotlights the individual team members who make Berkshire Money Management great – and a great place to work, too. Today we’re celebrating Financial Advisor Nate Tomkiewicz, CRPC® as he marks six years with the firm. Happy anniversary, Nate!

When Nate Tomkiewicz was in 8th or 9th grade, his dad gave him a news clipping from the Berkshire Eagle announcing the hiring of a young financial advisor at Berkshire Money Management. The advisor had attended Berkshire Community College (BCC) and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA), and was an intern for the firm before becoming a fully-fledged advisor. Nate didn’t really know what the company did, but Berkshire Money Management was officially on his radar.

After high school graduation, Nate enrolled at BCC. He wanted to start an internship with BMM as early as he could, but Nate almost lost his opportunity to join the team after his freshman year. “I missed the ad.” Luckily for Nate, and for all of us at BMM, Nate came across the ad by pure chance in late summer, 2016.

Nate was focused on becoming a financial advisor from day one, and the team was happy to support his goal. Zack Marcotte, the advisor whose announcement Nate had read years earlier, was the one who helped him to begin studying for the Series 65 exam on his first day.

“I encouraged Nate to study for the 65 for the simplest of reasons – he wanted to,” recalled Zack Marcotte, now Director of Financial Planning. “He really knew what he wanted out of life, to be at Berkshire Money Management where he could use his passion for finance to help families like his very own. I find it remarkable someone of his age had so much foresight. All I had to do was nudge him in that direction and Nate took care of the rest.”

Before long, Nate was interning at Berkshire Money Management full time and fitting his coursework at MCLA around his work schedule. He kept busy with spreadsheets, research, scanning, shredding, running errands, listening and learning, and studying.

“It was all worth it. I wanted to spend my time at BMM learning because I got to do hands-on work from the beginning. Zack and Bill Schmick gave me a lot to do. They put a lot of faith in me.”

Nate completed his Series 65 in 2017, before graduating with his bachelor’s degree in business administration (a semester early). Nate officially became a full-time advisor in January 2018, and the rest is history.

“I’m fortunate that the first place I got in was the right fit. I got a three-year head start and I didn’t have to focus on a job search or worry about anything else. BMM was plan A, B, and C.”

Nate has this advice for students today:

1. If you are in the position to get an internship in something you’re interested in, do it! Get some relevant experience now to know if you will like the job or not.
2. Focus on finding a paid internship. The biggest benefit of his internship with BMM was what he learned on the job, but he couldn’t have taken the job without a fair wage. Gas isn’t cheap!
3. If you’re worried that you’ll be written off as too young, grow a beard (your mileage might vary on this one).
4. Consider interning with a smaller firm. You can do more as part of a small team and will be closer to the decision makers.
5. Nothing is guaranteed. You have to put in the hard work and earn it.

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Kimberly Campagna is Berkshire Money Management’s Marketing and Communications Manager.