Next week when County business and community leaders gather at the Chamber’s annual salute to small business, they will honor and celebrate the achievements of Kimberly Brumbaugh, Founder and CEO of Exton-based Brumbaugh Wealth Management.

Kim Brumbaugh grew up in the Media (Delaware County) area. When she was 14-years old, she took a cashier’s job at Carson-Pettit, the then Mercedes-Benz and Peugeot dealer on Route 30 in Devon.

She’s been in Chester County ever since.

She enjoyed the experience of working with the group high-integrity people at the dealership that when she graduated from Penncrest High School, instead of heading off to college as her classmates were doing, she accepted a promotion to service adviser at the luxury car dealership instead.

College was still in her future, however.  She opted to attend Widener University in Chester at night, all while putting in regular 60-hour weeks at the dealership.

Brumbaugh left Carson-Pettit and her position as manager of the dealership’s entire 40-person (including her future husband) service section in 1996 when the dealership was sold, taking a lifetime’s worth of experience and understanding with her.

That accumulated foundation of wisdom gathered in her formative teens and early twenties guides her professional, community and personal life today.

At Carson-Pettit, Brumbaugh worked with affluent people buying luxury cars and gained an understanding of how wealthy people think, their personalities, and expectations, knowledge that helped her become proficient in the wealth management profession.

Brumbaugh consulted for a number of high-lined automotive dealers before joining Karr Barth in Bala Cynwyd in 1998 and immersed herself in the securities and wealth management industry.

Brumbaugh’s goal in getting into financial services was to help people; It’s what motivates her, she says. “I always put others first. I measure success not by money but by how much of a difference I can make, the firm can make and living with purpose on purpose.”

Looking back on her time with Carson-Pettit, Brumbaugh recalls being mentored by some very successful business people, people and families who are still her clients today.

Her mentor’s level of integrity and the way he conducted business and his client focus is the model she used eight years later when she founded Brumbaugh Wealth Management in 2004.

“Its how our office runs today,” KB declares proudly.

“Even today we have somebody who answers the phone and have a very high-touch, client focused approach to serving our clients.”

From a customer’s perspective, Brumbaugh sees her firm’s differentiator as a focus on process and a willingness to develop a holistic, coordinated wealth management plan for each investor.  Her firm’s planning process calls for bringing a client’s accountants, lawyers, and bankers into the planning conversation, formulating a wealth management plan and then revisiting the plan on a periodic basis.

The firm’s fee-based approach allows her team to remain objective and be the quarterback “that makes sure every facet of a client’s wealth is coordinated.”

Although Brumbaugh’s prudent approach doesn’t fit every investor, when it works Brumbaugh Wealth Management retains clients a long time.

“Our average client tenure is about 14 years,” Brumbaugh boasts.

“The unusually high client tenure statistic comes as a result of our service and knowing our clients intimately.  A lot of people say they care. Our clients know we really do care.”

From Brumbaugh’s perspective, what makes Chester County great is its people.

People here, she says, “are good hearted, family oriented, grounded and willing to help one another.”

Even though Chester County is a vibrant, affluent county, according to Brumbaugh, she and many the people she knows recognize the importance of giving.

“It’s my business philosophy and the philosophy of a lot of other folks in the county, is they’re givers.”

“People in Chester County are willing to help one another,” Brumbaugh continues.  “Even though the county is one of the more affluent counties not just on the east coast but in the country, everyone is well grounded and haven’t let their wealth run away with them.”

Looking forward at the start of a new year, Brumbaugh is excited about the emphasis her firm is putting on assisting baby boomers transition their business as they get ready to retire.

To that end her firm recently recruited Michele Venema, a 27-year corporate banking veteran, to help grow Brumbaugh Wealth Management’s business in the “business-owner” marketplace.

“Small business owners want to retire, but cash flow and finding the right talent to bring into the firm are issues.”

The majority of a small business owner’s wealth is typically tied up in his or her business.  “The challenge,” says Brumbaugh “is figuring out how to liquidate that wealth over time and finding people who also experienced the economic downturn over the last five or six years, but who have the wealth and money and connections at banks to actually buy out a small business owner looking to retire.”

“Although economically things are getting better, it is slow and we are still finding people are a bit strapped,” she says.

The single best piece of advice Brumbaugh received came from Molly Shepard during a year-long leadership course in 2011. Shepard advised Brumbaugh to never compare herself with others or their success, to use her own measuring stick.

“We all tend to compare and size each other up,” says Brumbaugh, “but I’ve learned from [Shepard’s] advice to determine my definition of success and use my own measuring stick.”

Kim and her husband Mark have been married for 22 years, have three sons, one daughter-in-law and one grandchild. The couple live in Honeybrook Township with their 15 year-old son Justin.