Stoughton’s Rick Hern recently opened Inivas Financial in Stoughton.
Hern, who has been in the financial services field since 1999, is licensed both as a registered representative and investment advisor representative. He is a certified financial planner, and CFO since 2010, retirement income certified professional, and a business valuations consultant for small to mid-size companies.
“The tapestry of the town of Stoughton is woven with the lives of its people; the success of its businesses; the beauty of its parks; the structure of its schools, churches, buildings and homes,” according to a press release. “Stoughton’s history, since it was founded in the year 1726, is a beautiful culmination of all these wonderful threads that have intertwined over the years. The threads of the past, while still strong, have become soft and muted. The threads of the present are bright and more vibrant and flow through the fabric. They draw the eye towards the future knowing not what is yet to be but understanding that the beauty of the picture will continue for years to come.”
Hern is one such vignette within the tapestry. He was born and raised in Stoughton. In fact, he still lives in the house in which he grew up.
Hern attended Stoughton schools from kindergarten through high school, and has wonderful memories of all the years in between. The release states that he fondly remembers “the first day of kindergarten at the Clapp School and the little boys he met that day; now all grown men, he considers himself blessed to say they are still wonderful friends. Anyone that grew up in the Jones school area during the sixties and seventies share many of Rick’s memories of the trio of three school buildings. The Clapp, The Kimball and The Jones schools were more than just schools; they were wonderful environments filled with caring educators who gifted the students and the community with their never- ending commitment to education. If you were lucky enough to have been one of these students, you will certainly remember standing outside the Clapp School on June 14th each year; celebrating Flag Day by waving flags lovingly made in art class and saying the Pledge of Allegiance, which of course, was emceed by principal Jim Bryant.”
Hern is a 1984 Stoughton High grad. He credits Stoughton High teacher and coach Dan Mark for being an inspiration in his own coaching career.
Sports were a large part of Hern’s childhood. He enjoyed playing both baseball and hockey through high school and used this connection with sports as a way of giving back by coaching O’Donnell Middle School hockey from 2015-17. Giving back was a wonderful lesson taught to him by his beloved grandfather, Almando Savini. A self-made millionaire with a 10th-grade education, the Easton Motel owner was an entrepreneur always ready to give back to the community he so loved.
Although he’s passed on, Almando continues to be a huge influence in Hern’s life. Many of the lessons he learned from his grandfather definitely shaped his career choices and are deeply ingrained in his personal and professional life. Almando’s favorite saying was, “Ricky old boy, you won’t learn that in school.”
In remembrance of Almando, Hern named Inivas Financial in his honor. (Inivas is Savini spelled backwards.)
The building where Inivas Financial is located is yet another thread in the Stoughton tapestry. Located at 11 Freeman St., the building is owned by Mae and Arthur Dowd of Dowd Plumbing. The Dowds have done a wonderful job with the renovations, but anyone of a certain age who grew up in the town knows the space as the building where Pacheco’s Hardware was on the first floor, and the third floor (which is occupied by Inivas) is not only remembered as Oddfellows Hall, but where everyone who was anyone took dance class at Laura Carlson’s Dance Studio.
“I got into this business because I made a lot of mistakes,” Hern tells Snyder’s Stoughton. “I have a lawsuit against a life insurance company. It’s better to learn from someone else’s mistakes. If they can learn from mine, that’s all the better. During COVID, I do a one hour finance webinar. It’s the basics on all financial tools. They have to learn the basics first, before I’d take them as an client. That’s on me. After that, we can both decide if something I offer is right for them.”
The future tapestry yet to be woven will certainly capture Rick’s vision and commitment to his business and his life in the community. His focus on education is key. He has a Bachelors degree in mechanical engineering from SMU and an MBA from Northeastern. His amazing work ethic and his dedication to his clients are sure to weave a beautiful addition to the never-ending picture of the community of Stoughton.
Hern is divorced, and has a son, Anthony, 17, a Stoughton High junior who is captain of the golf team and a defenseman on the varsity hockey team. Hern has been coaching since his son was young, and even recently played goalie in practice for the varsity team.
We wish him luck in this new endeavor.
Mark Snyder, who has written more than 3,000 articles in newspapers and magazines, and published three books, and is the CEO of PMPNetwork.com, the internet’s entertainment superstation. He also started the Stoughton News group on Facebook, which has more than 10,300 subscribers. Have a story idea? He can be reached by e-mail via [email protected], via toll free fax at 866-655-8234, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MarkSnyderTVRadio.
