3 minute read
Andy Burnfield talks Family, Finances, Leadership Longview
By Joycelyne Fadojutimi
Andrew Burnfield is a midwestern transplant. As a single parent he faithfully divides his time between his career and children, Amelia, ten, and three-year-old Sullivan. His, is a family accustomed to working for a living.
The son of a farmer, his earliest memories are of riding with his father and grandfather in a combine, harvesting corn and wheat. It was an excellent means of teaching him how to take care of himself, but his compassionate grandfather made sure Andrew also learned to care for those around him. Besides tilling the land, his grandfather was a missionary. "He spent time almost every year serving as a missionary around the world," Andrew says. "He taught me that if you love people, you show it through service to them."
Andrew's parents also worked hard in the mission field, serving in a variety of roles. Presently they partner with small rural churches that cannot afford to hire full-time pastors. Andrew grew up watching his parents, through sheer hard work, support themselves and their children despite difficult economic times. Although they were never rich, they and their children got by and were content with what they did have. "Work hard, persevere, suffer well. My parents had what many would complain is a hard life, but I have never heard them complain," he says. "We were content. We had a happy life."
Faith in God was key in their household, and He always provided for them. Andrew's parents' faith in their Savior was total and rare in its intensity, and they gave their kiddoes a happy childhood despite the ever-present specter of financial difficulties. They worked hard, and always had enough.
Theirs was a big clan, too. At family get-togethers it was not unusual to have twenty to twenty-five first cousins present in addition to him and his four siblings. With so many people taking care of each other, he learned early the lesson that it is one's Christian duty to be kind and caring to others. Now that he is a single parent, he manages his home on a single income, and finds extra time for his children’s needs. Besides running his small business, he helps with homework (and homeschooling during the COVID-19 shutdown,) juggling drop-off and pick-up schedules, work appointments, networking events, and other responsibilities. "Somehow I manage to stay afloat most of the time," he says. "I'm trying to suffer well and find joy in the midst of the storms."
After starting his higher education at Kilgore College, he moved on to Texas A&M, where he pulled down his Bachelor of Science degree. Since then, he has worked as a registered principal and an investment advisor with Registered Principal, Investment Adviser Representative with Primerica Advisors and Mortgage Loan Originator with Primerica Mortgage Primerica Mortgage. Typically, he chose a financial career with an eye toward helping others. After personally experiencing the consequences of poor financial decisions in his younger days, he learned from his mistakes and now uses his honed skills to insure others do not make wrong money moves, or if they have already slipped up, he is able and ready to assist them in recovering. "If I can help guide a family, walk with them through the challenges it takes to recover, and help someone meet their goals and dreams...that seems like a worthy pursuit," he says.
He does not see himself as having climbed the ladder of success but is still clinging to the bottom of that ladder. He attributes his success to his being "not smart enough to give up." Working in sales is always a challenge, especially in the finance industry. By staying in close touch with friends in similar businesses, he gleans information that assists him in his own career. He has learned that two heads are indeed better than one. "There is very little more difficult than waking up each morning, looking in the mirror and knowing success or failure depends solely in the person in the mirror," he says.
Being self-dependent forces all those in Andrew's position to be the best they can be, always a great asset in business. He has to depend on himself mentally and
