Phil Wheat, co-owner of Wheat-Givens Financial, said his investment advisory firm was established in McKinney because he wanted to base his business there to serve the community in which he lived.
He found his way to McKinney through a tragedy.
“I got a call in 1998 from a client who knew about my work and asked me to go see someone who had just lost her husband,” he said. “She was young with two young children and was going to need a lot of attention.”
Wheat said he observed how her friends and neighbors responded during this difficult time.
“Everyone always says, ‘Call if you need something,’ but they didn’t wait for calls; they just started demonstrating love and care,” he said. “Those are the type of people who live in this community, and I fell in love with McKinney. Many cities offer a nice address, but McKinney is a true community. Among other things, we take care of our own—McKinney, Texas, has a heart.”
Since then, Wheat has been serving the community’s financial-planning needs, and because of growth at the firm, longtime friend and client Lori Givens joined the operation in 2013 and is now a co-owner.
According to Givens, there is not a template for financial planning at the company. Services and investments are catered to customer needs.
“We want people to come see us because we like to get to know them,” Givens said. “Once we ask questions and get a good idea of their situation, their stage of life and their goals, we can move forward to help them.”
