Alumni Spotlight: Douglas “Butch” Jeffries

JeffriesDouglas “Butch” Jeffries spent a short time growing up in Foley, Alabama and later moved to Montgomery, Alabama where he graduated from high school. When it came time to select a college, he knew he was going to South. The location was perfectly coastal and an offering of a Presidential Scholarship sealed the deal.

Butch attributes South and the Mitchell College of Business as being instrumental in not only his education but also his social development. Educationally speaking a great foundation was laid at the Mitchell College of Business directly impacting Butch’s business success. He graduated with a Bachelor’s in Finance (1987) and immediately began working for a boutique investment company in Birmingham.  In the summer of 1990, he found himself leaving the firm to become an Allstate Financial Specialist. At that time he was living in Baldwin County. His direction started north from there, literally. Butch was transferred to Atlanta, moved to North Carolina, then Pennsylvania and finally landed in Illinois all with the same company!

It was at South that he also learned to work with others well. An introvert by nature, Butch was challenged through his experiences of being part of a fraternity, Sigma Chi.  Dorm life, as well as not being from the area, gave him ample opportunity to meet and work with others. This extended to the classroom.  Some of Butch’s favorite memories include hanging out in the Mitchell College lobby between classes. Let’s be reminded the lobby then is not the lobby now.

Allstate went through changes in 2000 where financial representatives, once employees of the company, became owners of their own financial services firm. Then in 2015 Butch bought his first insurance agency, and just this year bought his second one – Butch is now owner of A to Z Financial Concepts, LLC and Jeffries Insurance Agencies in Illinois and Wisconsin. He has over 3,000 financial services clients managing $72 million in assets and $350 million in life insurance. Butch is proud of such an awesome responsibility to care for families and their futures. It’s through genuine established relationships that he is able to understand families and help set goals for his clients.  Butch believes in taking care of people – “I guess that’s where the South in South Alabama comes from.”

Having a degree from USA Mitchell College of Business has helped with many aspects of his career. Financial and life planning is about solving problems – have financial goals and objectives to meet while facing liabilities. “It wasn’t easy,” Butch recalls. Prepping for financial exams in college was like prepping for a client’s retirement. Even the final course taken in college was all problem solving, and it was hard. The requirements of those courses – research, working with clients – is exactly what Butch does today.

Butch lives by an Andy Andrews saying, “Everything you do matters, but everything you don’t do matters just as much.”  What he learned at South is that everything mattered! Students should aim to balance life. It is not all about the classroom. Yes, education is important, and so is your physical and social life. Work hard at all of it.

Butch was also President of USA’s National Alumni Association in 1997.

Inducted into Allstate Financial Hall of Fame in 2011

Financial Services Industry Top of the Table in 2015

Financial Services Industry Court of the Table in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016

3 Times Midwest Region Top Financial Specialist

 

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