CAISSA SPOTLIGHT: Meet Melissa Hoffman
SPOTLIGHT Interview
~What is your role at CAISSA? (i.e. How would you explain your job to someone new to financial services?)~
My role is Client Service Associate. My main focus is helping clients with account maintenance such as beneficiary updates, address changes, money transfers and compliance forms. I also answer the phone, order office supplies, and other tasks.
~What gets you excited about your work?~
The people I work with and the opportunity to help clients organize their finances for their futures.
~Why financial services?~
I didn’t set out to work in the financial industry. As with many people, I have had several different types of jobs, mostly customer service related, which led me to this industry about 7 years ago.
~What is the last test or next test you are working on?~
The last test I took was for my FPQP (Financial Para-planner Qualified Professional) designation about 4 years ago.
~How do you pass the time when you’re not in the office?~
I like to relax at home in the evenings and watch Netflix. On the weekends, I enjoy time with my kids and friends and doing anything outside.
~What’s a fun fact about you many people may not know?~
I love to watch my dad, brothers, and nephews curl!! One of my nephews was on the Olympic Gold Medal Team!
~Where’s your favorite place in the world?~
I have so many favorite places! Probably relaxing by a pool with an umbrella drink in hand!
~If you could choose anyone, who would you pick as your mentor?~
I would choose Sherryl Wolff as my mentor! She was a high school counselor and became my dear friend and personal attendant in my wedding! She’s very intelligent, intuitive, and kind. She’s soft spoken but also feisty! She knows exactly what a person needs and how to present it in the sweetest way! She has a wonderful husband and two grown children with kids of their own. She still lives in Mankato, so I don’t’ see her much, but I have the highest respect and pride to call her my friend!
~If you could meet anyone in the world, dead or alive, who would it be and why?~
I think Oprah would be an interesting person to meet because she’s a confident, intelligent woman who has had so many experiences in life!
~What’s your favorite indoor/outdoor activity?~
Watching sports at live events or on tv! Going for bike rides! 
~What was your first or weirdest job?~
I loved babysitting for my parent’s friends and started at age 12. My first real job at 16 was washing dishes at the nursing home, where my mom also worked. It didn’t last long and I moved on to working at the local convenience store until I graduated.