Former TV star bounces back from woes

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By AARON BARNHART

The Kansas City Star

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) -- In our last episode of "Willie Aames Confidential," the onetime star of TV's "Eight Is Enough" and "Charles in Charge" was holding a yard sale in front of his foreclosed home in Olathe. Eight months have passed since then, and the 49-year-old Aames has since begun an extreme makeover -- not of his house, but of his life.

He's training to be a financial adviser.

That's right. Aames, who has filed for bankruptcy twice since 1997 and was selling his possessions in March just to make ends meet, has stabilized his finances and is well on his way toward learning this new profession. He hopes his story will inspire others who find themselves in similar straits.

"As of Dec. 12, I had no wife, no family, no car, no computer, no home, no electricity, no gas and no way to obtain any of it," Aames said this week. "How do you start over from scratch? I didn't know. But I thought that if I made it, maybe, just maybe, it would be helpful to some people."

No less than Thomas W. Butch, the president of Waddell & Reed Inc., and the VH1 cable channel -- which is aired a one-hour special on Aames Thursday night -- took an interest in the former actor after he hit bottom. Aames has responded by passing the Series 7 and Life & Health examinations, two of the three tests required to qualify as a financial adviser.

Not unlike a contestant on the weight-loss program "The Biggest Loser" who decides to become a fitness trainer, Aames could find himself hanging out a shingle as a financial adviser with Waddell & Reed by 2010.

"He will still have to do what all of our advisers do -- become adept at financial planning, at knowing our products and understanding how to ascertain products that are best for clients, marketing himself and acquiring a client base," Butch said in an interview. "I think he will have the capacity to do that very, very well."

On Thursday, Aames was features on "Broke and Famous" on VH1. The special, hosted by Sarano Kelley, a financial literacy advocate and corporate trainer based in California, chronicled Aames' rapid turnaround from a negative bank balance, estrangement from family members and near-homelessness to charting a new course for himself and repairing personal ties, especially with his 18-year-old daughter, Harleigh.

Much of the program, which began taping in March, had a reality-show air to it. It opens with a heated exchange between Aames and Kelley over some questionable decisions Aames had made in recent years, such as getting $3,000 worth of tattoos.

"Do you realize that all your investments are on the outside?" Kelley tells Aames. "It's stupid."

Up until that point, said Aames, the program was proceeding as he'd expected. And then: "I was sitting there, literally face-to-face with Sarano Kelley, when one of the producers said, 'You're on the radio in 10 minutes.' I said, 'For what?' 'We're throwing a garage sale."'

Aames immediately balked.

"I've done a lot to stay out of the public eye since last November," he said. That was when news reports surfaced that he had attempted suicide, reports Aames called "overblown." Within minutes of announcing his garage sale, hundreds of people had gathered outside his home.

"I was really nervous," said Aames, but he went along with VH1's plan and netted more than $5,300 from the yard sale.

Later, when he agrees to stick with Kelley's plan for financial accountability, including relocating to a $760-a-month apartment in western Johnson County, Kelley rewards him with a $25,000 check.

On the show, Aames is seen taking a woodworking job with Brown Midwest, an Olathe-based home builder. Mike Brown of Brown Midwest said Aames worked "three or four days" before leaving to concentrate on a financial advisory career.

"I have 50 people a day in this economy asking me for work, and most of them I take them out and say, 'Show me what you can do,' and that drives a lot of them away," Brown said on Wednesday. "But Willie, he showed up."

Once the cameras were shut off, that was when the real makeover of Aames began.

"The approach I take is real and lasting change," Kelley said in an interview. "They've got to confront their demons, their challenges, around making the change. And then they need to accept the help to execute the change. And in the case of Willie, one needs the necessary support to sustain the change."

Kelley, a former stockbroker with extensive ties in the financial industry, enlisted the help of two prominent area executives to oversee Aames' recovery: Waddell & Reed's Butch and Andy Heath, the vice president of investments at Stifel Nicolaus & Co.

"Sarano and I have known each other many years," said Butch. "He had done some coaching for our financial analysts in the Waddell & Reed system. He's someone I knew well and regard highly. So he called me and asked me point blank if I'd be willing to serve as a mentor to Willie. And I reflexively told him I would if he thought there was something of value I might impart to Willie."

With Heath or Butch routinely checking in on him -- and Kelley holding weekly 5 a.m. conference calls to oversee his progress -- Aames had a support system few homeless people have. He entered the Career Readiness Program at Waddell's Overland Park training center. Staff members there also joined his mentoring team.

"Here I found myself in this position, completely undeserving," said Aames, "with people willing to reach down and give me a hand and mentor me, but only mentor me. There ... were no guarantees. They gave me the opportunity to learn if I would take it."

Aames, who admitted he never studied much as a young actor, said he has been preparing five to 10 hours daily for his exams. He still lives in his budget apartment and has become financially adept for the first time in his life.

For Financial Literacy Month, in April 2010, Kelley is planning to mobilize 100,000 advisers, educators and celebrities to promote personal responsibility in managing finances. He plans to use Aames' story as a centerpiece in his promotional efforts.

Aames said he has no plans to leave the Kansas City area, where he has lived for 18 years.

"The thing about that garage sale that struck me the most was the generosity and the sincerity of the people that came out," he said. "I mean, that really choked me up. This is just an amazing city. I love this city."