James L. Stoddard, Jr (Jim) has been a financial services professional since 1993. He has worked in many different capacities but developed a niche in managing new business ventures.  He has created and led several successful organizations, including two money management firms, a life insurance agency, an international reinsurance company, and a Chinese insurance agency.  During his tenure as a life insurance executive, Jim played a key role in the implementation and distribution of one of the country’s first Indexed Universal Life insurance products.  

After years of unfulfilled “corporate life”, experiencing the lack of commitment to the middle-class cause, and continually fighting resistance to change by the established financial services industry, Jim determined the best way to facilitate disruptive change was to become an entrepreneur and form business entities dedicated to educating and serving the public on financial issues.  He now works as an author, speaker, and consultant specializing in financial services, new venture creations, and distribution.

As an extension of his mission to promote financial literacy, he serves as an adjunct professor at the University of South Florida teaching classes in Insurance, Management, and Entrepreneurship.

Jim is proud of his “blue-collar” background and values the many life lessons he learned growing up in a single-parent family.  He secured his first job at age 14 as a dishwasher to buy his first guitar and gained a strong sense of accomplishment and pride as a result.   The experience taught him that through hard work and focus, one can achieve personal goals and dreams.   At age 17, Jim left home with less than $100 in his pocket and worked his way through college eventually earning several degrees and professional certifications including an undergraduate degree in Finance and MBA (with concentrations in Entrepreneurship, Management, and International Business)

A native of Tampa Bay, FL, Jim strives for life balance and is passionate about guitars, baseball, outdoor activities, and learning.  His highest priority in life is his family – wife Laura and children Zach, Katie, and John.

Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.

– John F. Kennedy