EVERETT, OCT. 1: Everett local Jennifer D. Morgan is an award-winning global presentation, productivity, sales and technology coach. In September, she celebrated the debut of her first book, “Hearts, Minds & Wallets: The thin book that closes gigantic deals.”
Morgan is the CEO & Founder of Connective Communication with 15 years of experience working internationally in finance. She spent the last 10 years at JPMorgan Asset and Wealth Management as a Sales Coach and Global Head of Asset Management technology training. Her book shares real-life experiences and principles she has learned along the way.
Everett Post sat down with Morgan and discussed the core principles of financial success, her philosophy and the importance of effective communication.
Morgan will hold a book event at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, at Burkett’s, 2617 Colby Avenue. A portion of the hardback copy of the book will go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Q&A
What is your new book about?
MORGAN: The book is about business communication and the way the book has been written is in 12 chapters, a final chapter and an epilogue. The book has been formatted basically based on my experience on Wall Street, what you can do before a meeting pitch, during a meeting pitch and after a meeting pitch.
I’ve created tools and templates that have been used to close multi-billion-dollar deals. But overall, it’s really about having deeper, more connected relationships that can lead to transactional.
With the 40,000-plus people at that time whom I’d worked with, I put together formulas and templates based on neuroscience, psychology and experience, and they worked. Now, some of them I do borrow from other people because they’re just so good, but it’s really about how you present yourself in a way to speak with brevity, being succinct, but also have deeper, more fruitful conversations in life. So that’s really what the book is about.
So even if someone, let’s say, saw your book and isn’t in the industry that you are in, is this something that anyone could pick up and read and gain something from?
MORGAN: 150% yes. It’s definitely cross-sector. Even though my experience and background is in fintech, finance and technology, I’m being asked by people who are in medical, people who are solicitors, lawyers, and people who are in human resources. The templates that I created were really meant to be helpful.
So, definitely, this book I would say is good for anyone, college level, bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, rising stars, emerging talents all the way through tenured talent, because it has something for everyone in it.
What are the main points you want readers to take away after reading this book?
MORGAN: So I think the “high why” is the value-add that everyone is uniquely themselves, and what are we here on earth to do; to provide solutions to others, to be of service to others, and to really understand what we can do to elevate others in some way, shape or form. Harvard has done one of the longest studies on longevity on the planet. It’s about 87, 88 years now, continuous, continuous study. And it says that the number one overall marker of longevity is really a sense of community and connection.
Now, of course the basics are important. Sleep, eating, all of that’s important. But the biggest marker in terms of what’s going to help you to live longer is connection and community, and of course, conversations. Having deep conversations.
This book really looks to engage people and have them talk in a human communication and relationship level and I think more and more as we get more digital, which I completely support, I want to make sure people are still connecting on a human level because it’s so important.
Oftentimes in business, it’s about process, it’s about performance, it’s about outcomes. But at the end of the day, the unique identifier is how people are showing up, how they’re sharing information, and how they really are helping to be a value-add in the world.
What are some common misconceptions that you’ve seen regarding sales and finance?
MORGAN: I know I talk a lot about A.B.C., “Always. Be. Closing.,” and “Glengarry Glen Ross”, Alec Baldwin’s movie from the 1990s. But the used car salesperson’s approach to selling, that is, high-pressure sales, is a massive misconception, and it candidly just doesn’t work.
I really believe in A.B.C.R., I’ve changed it. “Always. Be. Client/Colleague. Ready.” Be anticipatory, be there in service for others and ask open-ended questions.
What happens is that a misconception or a problem we have is that people like to steamroll others with too much information. So if we could talk more in headline language and talk about what the subject is and then ask the person what questions they may have for us. Because I always say we want to talk about how the bicycle’s been ridden versus how the bicycle is built using what parts.
If we go too much into breadth and depth as subject matter experts, we may lose the person that we’re talking to and sharing information with. So really what I do foundationally is consultative sales, trying to figure out detective style, what is the problem? What is the pain point or what is the lack of information people need to understand in order to possibly have an engagement with us?
And I think that people misunderstand or don’t approach things as relational. If you create a relationship with someone, you’re going to have longer engagement and that can move to transactional. If you’re focused just on the transactional, you’ll do one quick hit or one hit wonder, and the longevity of the relationship won’t last. So, it is really about earning trust and being in service to others.
What really inspired you to take everything that you’ve learned and put it in a book?
MORGAN: I was home actually in Everett having dinner with my family in July of 2023. I resigned from corporate after 15 years, May was my last month with J.P. Morgan Asset Wealth Management.
And so what happened was, fast forward, I’m sitting at dinner with my parents, and our neighbor Maggie, 81 years old by the way, says, you should write a book.
Some responses have been shortened for clarity.
