Dec. 30—Leslie Roman believes one of the best ways to teach children about finance is with a share of stock.
The Gilbert woman and her husband, Rick, founded GiveAShare.com, an online company that enables people to choose from among 150 companies and buy one or more shares of stock as a gift.
"It's aimed toward everyone but when we first started it the idea was it would be aimed at children," Roman said. "What we found as the years progressed; there are a lot of people who liked the idea as a gift.
"People like to give something that is little bit more tangible. Give a child a share of stock and it's not going to the Goodwill pile next year."
Roman said that they often receive feedback from people who've purchased from her company.
One of her favorite stories involves a repeat customer who wanted to buy stocks for his granddaughter, as he had done it for his daughter when she was young.
The man said that his daughter's Disney stock split "and she used the proceeds from the one share and got a down payment for a house when she got married," according to Roman.
Stocks offered on the her website — GiveAShare.com — include Apple, Manchester United, Amazon, Nike and Starbucks.
According to Roman, the most popular sellers are Disney and Atlanta Braves stocks.
All that people need to do to place an order on the website is to select the stock, provide the name of the shareholder and address and pick a frame for the certificate. When purchasing stocks for underage shareholders, a name of an adult custodian must be provided.
The company will take care of the rest, registering the stock and shipping out the framed stock certificate.
Recipients receive the same benefits as any other shareholder, including annual shareholder reports, declared dividends and invites to shareholder meetings.
They also receive any special shareholder perks. For example, Carnival gives cruise discounts and Willamette Valley gives wine discounts, according to the company.
Roman said she and her husband first began buying a share of stock as a gift for each of their two nephews when they were 8 and 9. The couple at the time did not have children.
"Basically, the idea was we wanted to teach them about investing," Roman recalled. "My husband and I are finance people. We wanted to make sure they understood the value of stocks and through one share it would get them interested."
One of the nephews is not in finance.
Roman remembered buying the shares "was painful to do," requiring them to create an account with a stockbroker.
The Romans say their company offers a process that is easier, faster, cheaper and less bureaucratic than a stockbroker and it provides stock certificates, which brokers no longer do.
Clients include collectors who value the certificates signed by notables such as Warren Buffet for Berkshire Hathaway.
Roman said that she and her husband would keep an eye on companies set to go paperless and then buy their stocks in order to have the certificates. Once a company's paper certificate goes away it becomes a collectible, she said.
"Pixar in 2000 went paperless and we have Pixar certificates with Steve Job's signature on it," Roman said.
For companies that no longer issue paper certificates, Roman said the company will create a personalized replica of the stock certificate for display.
Roman said she didn't get involved with stocks until she met her husband. Both worked at Motorola and married in 1985.
Rick, an avid baseball card collector, received Topps stocks as a child from his mother, according to Roman. Topps, a baseball card company, first went public in 1972 with an initial offer of over 400,000 shares of common stock.
"It really started him on the road on being interested in stocks," she said.
Rick majored in finance in college and landed a career in that field. He's also authored "I'm a Shareholder," which teaches kids about the stock market and managing money. The book can be purchased on sale on Amazon.
The Romans soon went on to have three daughters, including twins, whom they also gifted with shares of stock when they were young.
The younger daughter picked Starbucks and was given 10 shares. She sold one share to buy her first cell phone, according to Roman.
"We had them pick the company they wanted and they then followed their companies," Roman said. "We made sure they looked at the various things they needed to look at.
"We talked with them what they are getting and we actually went to a Starbucks shareholders meeting, which is really interesting thing if people can go. You learn lot more about your company. Certain companies put on good shareholders meetings, Starbucks, Nike and Berkshire Hathaway."
Another daughter picked Nokia stock, which didn't do as well, Roman said.
"Although Nokia was big in the early 2000s, it didn't do well so she learned from that," she said. "There're no guarantees with any of these stocks."
The Romans' daughters are now adults.
Erin Clerici, 30, who double-majored in finance and journalism in college was brought into the company in October and eventually will take over when the couple retires, Roman said.
Clerici worked five years as a Bloomberg reporter including two years in New York City and two years in London, United Kingdom before transitioning into the business side of her degree.
The other twin, Jordan Roman, is a doctor and the youngest, Kacie Jordan, 27, is a veterinary student.
"She double majored in accounting and finance and minored in chemistry," Roman said.
Kacie worked as a CPA until about a year ago when she decided it wasn't right for her, she added.
"We wanted all of our kids to go out and find their own paths and be successful," she said.
Christmas is the busiest season for the company but "we get people who buy them for every occasion but mainly as a gift," Roman said.
The Romans do not have a storefront but work out of a guesthouse on their property. They have one fulltime employee and a part-timer who comes in as needed.
Roman said the business started off in 2002 as part time for her when she lived in Portland, Oregon. When the family moved to the Pacific Northwest, she did not have a job yet and was a stay-at-home mom, Roman said. The family moved to Gilbert in 2011.
Later when the business took off, her husband joined fulltime.
