Mayeux retires after 28 years in finance

After 28 years in finance, John Mayeux has retired. With most of his career spent helping clients manage their money and teaching them how to create wealth, John is finally able to relax with his wife, Kay, who was his high school sweetheart.
John’s father, Paul Mayeux, was an assistant vice president and loan officer at American Security Bank in Ville Platte, and he was a deacon at Our Lady Queen of All Saints Church. His mother was Gertie Mayeux, who had a master’s degree in theology from Loyola. She was a grief and marriage counselor, and taught religion at Sacred Heart High School. She was also an art teacher. John is number “lucky number seven” out of 12 children.
John went to elementary school at Sacred Heart, and when it was time for high school, he spent his freshman and sophomore years at a seminary at San Antonio, wanting to be a priest. When it came time to start his junior year, he decided to go back home and finish school at Ville Platte High. It was there he met Kay, who was a freshman at the time. Meeting her was what changed his mind about becoming a priest.
The couple married in 1981. Kay was working for B.P. Amoco Production Company, and John had just gotten out of trade school in Opelousas. He worked as a surveyor for an oil company, but the oil field dried up. Only 15 months after they married, Kay gave birth to Robert, their first of three sons. John decided to go to USL to further his education. By his sophomore year, John thought he was going to have to quit USL when he and Kay found out she was pregnant with their second son, Christopher. John began looking for work but couldn’t find a job. “I told him it was meant to be,” said Kay. “God wants you to stay in school, you’re going to stay in school.”
They lived on food stamps for a few months, took out loans, and had part-time jobs here and there. After three-and-half years at USL, John graduated in December of 1986 with a degree in accounting and finance, but he couldn’t find a job in Louisiana, so he tried Florida. His mother gave him her credit card to use for gas as he searched for work for two weeks, driving almost all the way to Miami. He finally found a job on Valentine’s Day, 1987. He, Kay, and the kids moved to Fort Walton Beach, Florida where he worked for ITT Financial and got to live at the beach. John got promoted after 18 months and they moved to Jacksonville, Florida, where Kay found out she was pregnant with boy number three, David.
Eventually, John’s father encouraged him to come back to Louisiana and open up a financial service because he felt it was needed in his hometown. John remembered his dad dressing up in a suit and tie to go to work and said he always wanted to be a banker like him. Back to Louisiana, John tried his hand at banking, working as an assistant branch manager at Premiere Bank in Lafayette. After a couple of years, he decided he didn’t like the politics of banking. “It was different. It’s not the old banking like what his father came from. Banks have changed over the years,” said Kay. “Banking didn’t work out for him, but he ended up with his own little bank in a way. You never know how God’s going to work.”
In 1994, John took a job with Edward Jones. The company had been unsuccessful twice in opening an office in Ville Platte. John got to open up two Edward Jones offices with Greg Manuel. Later, when Manuel passed away, John’s son, David, took over the other office, as David had just finished college and training in St. Louis.
John worked for Edward Jones for 20 years before he became a broker dealer for LPL Financial and started Mayeux Wealth Partners. He worked there for seven years before retiring. “Every job he had was a stepping stone. It was all a learning experience. We’ve been very fortunate,” said Kay. John added, “God has blessed us well.”
When asked what he has found most challenging about his job over the years, John said Washington, D.C. “What they do in D.C. affects investments and the markets. It’s a distraction. You become part owners in rich companies like Walmart, Costco, Dollar General, etc. You grow your wealth depending on how well that company does, but as long as you stay with good companies, you’ll do well in life, as opposed to putting it in a savings account.”
He said he’s going to miss his relationships with his clients. “You go through death and divorce and family changes, etc. Thankfully I had Gertie as a mom to help me help talk to people to give them counsel,” he said. “It’s like a doctor. You have to leave your patients to someone else.” He feels like he left his clients in good hands with Brandy Fontenot, who took over the business. Without her, he said, “I would not have retired, because I’m committed to the relationship with the clients.”
John said he had the best people working with him, adding, “The good Lord has taken care of us. I wouldn’t have retired if I didn’t have anybody capable of taking over. We managed $160 million. That’s a lot of responsibility. That’s like 700 different households, and every household is different.” He had three employees. He praised his team, saying they were fortunate enough to find Missy Soileau, the office manager. “I’m excited for Brandy,” he added. “I believe in girl power. I’ve seen many competent women do extraordinary jobs.” Kay said, “His mother was a good role model for that.” John continued, “Brandy’s going to do very well. She’s got a good heart. She’s very trust worthy. I trained her for 13 years.”
John said, “I’m 61 now and decided to retire and spend more time together. I’m just fortunate to be able to leave the business to Brandy. She’s confident and a very good person for this type of business.” Aside from Brandy and Missy, John and Kay were grateful for other members of their team throughout the years, including Arlene Doucet, Trisha Rhodes, and Mary Daire.
A couple of years ago, Kay was diagnosed with breast cancer. She is in remission now, but she and John decided they never know how much time they have. That was a factor in him deciding to retire to retire. “We decided while we’re healthy,” said Kay. “It’s been a struggle, but it’s been good.”
Upon reflection, John said, “I’ve had a wonderful career. I’m just fortunate that people trusted me. It’s a lot of responsibility. I’ve been working for 43 years and this is the first time I’ve never had a job. I have to keep telling myself ‘You don’t have a job.’ It’ll take time to adjust.”
“Going forward we’re going to do a little bit of traveling, and we’re going to help with the grandkids,” said Kay. They have six grandchildren and are expecting number seven in August. “I’m looking forward to retirement with no specific plans,” said John. “Just to be able to go and lurk around.” When asked if he’ll be bored and go back to work, he joked, “I’ll probably end up at one of my brother’s nurseries, because I love flowers and gardening. I have two brothers who run nurseries in Lafayette. I don’t know if they’ll hire me, but that’s hard work.” He laughed and added, “I have so many little things I need to do that I haven’t been able to do, and I’ll be able to duck hunt more.”
John and Kay will be celebrating their 40th anniversary this May. Reflecting on the stepping stones her husband took to reach his passion of brokering and finance, Kay said, “His mom always told him ‘You’re a duck that needs to find your pond.’ For Mr. Paul, that was banking. For John, it was in finance.”