My love for investing began with my late grandfather, who prepared the soil, planted the seeds, and kept the garden fertile. My grandfather was born in 1905, and as was common in the farming community in the early decades of the 1900’s wasn’t formerly educated beyond the 6th grade. After the Great Depression he formed a commercial painting and contracting business with his brothers that found a niche in painting the large electrical towers along the highways in eastern Kentucky that proved to be profitable.Although this small family business was eventually successful, he realized to have real wealth he needed to invest. His investment philosophy was formed by trial and error, and after enough losses he learned that the key to success in the stock market was to focus on quality companies that paid dividends. When I was old enough to pay attention, my grandfather began to teach me the fundamentals of business and when you invested you needed to know how to recognize quality and good value. In college I made a connection between these lessons and my course work in business and economics. I entered the financial services business in 1984 at a privately held boutique in La Jolla California. One day the owner handed me a copy of Investment Quality Trends. “I think this is right up your alley Kelley. You and Mrs. Weiss appear to share the same philosophy. What she has is a system, and if you learn it and follow it I think you will do right by your clients.” Needless to say, he was right, and I became a big fan of hers.Today, the layout and appearance of IQ Trends has evolved, but the approach and philosophy has remained as Gerry created it in 1966. Today we have subscribers in Canada, the U.K., Asia, Australia, and much of the Middle East. A sister company, IQ Trends Private Client Asset Management, is a Registered Investment Advisor that offers managed accounts according to the IQ Trends philosophy. In 2009 I published a follow up to her seminal work, titled Dividends Still Don’t Lie, which has been translated into the Chinese, Japanese, and Korean languages, as well as a digital version and an audio book. Like Gerry, I enjoy teaching and have followed her lead as an active lecturer at The MoneyShow and other tradeshows across the U.S. and abroad. I have also been a guest and contributor to CNBC and Fox Business. At some point along the way my writing skills improved sufficiently that my commentaries have been published in Barron’s, Forbes, The Economist, MarketWatch, and many other business and financial periodicals.