Meet the 2017 Executives of Influence
Shannon Spotswood, President, RFG Advisory Group
How did you go from managing hedge funds to marketing children’s clothes? “I had a strange experience. One day, I just knew my heart wasn’t in (finance) anymore. I knew it was time to start a new chapter. So the mother of one of my kids’ friends told me about a business she was starting involving baby clothes. Over the course of about a year, she started asking about what I wanted to do, and through all of these discussions I decided to go into business with her. It was exactly what I needed at the time. I learned so much – business plans, marketing to consumers. The retail world is so crazy. Even crazier is how we went from sorting through boxes in her garage to being in 150 stores across the country.”
What made you choose Birmingham? “San Francisco is my first love. But you look around and think, “This is my kids’ childhood.” We were in a fast-paced environment, and we worried about how that affected our kids and how they would grow up. We hit this moment where we just had a gut-check. The stars started aligning. My sister-in-law and brother-in-law live here. And my sister-in-law put a note on her neighbor’s door asking them if they were interested in selling their house. And, believe it or not, they were. So we hopped on a plane and moved to Birmingham. But beyond family, we came here because we are so excited about what is happening in this city. The urban renewal and development reminded us of the energy and possibility that we saw in San Francisco.”
