Pros
Independence, great training, regional leadership in my area was and is fantastic, as are all the people I met while working for the company. If you can "drink the green kool aid", you will love it. The people that succeed are incredibly passionate about what they do and the company, and it's inspiring. Got to meet several former managing partners while working for the company. If you like being on your own without a boss, you will like it. You have support, but you have to seek it out and pick up a phone in order to get it. You really do get to build your business as you want to, as long as you are profitable and ethical, which is really empowering.
Cons
The business model just wasn't a great fit for me- you are very isolated, working from home for a good portion of your training. You have trainers and mentors but, as they are also FAs, their priority is building their own business and you sometimes feel like you are imposing. I am more team-oriented and did not like the idea of sharing my office with just a BOA, which I might not have had any input on hiring. As with most financial firms, getting as many contacts as possible is the priority, and left very little time for any sort of life outside of work (I wanted to go back to school for my MBA, and was told there simply wouldn't be time). If you are a woman, be prepared to be severely outnumbered- my region had the best m-f ratio in the country, but I heard from other women that it was a boys' club and that there was some perceived biases that you couldn't do the job and be a good mother and wife (I heard that from a woman in the South). Even though you go door-knocking during the interview process, I was shocked at how difficult it was day in and day out. Pay for FA trainees is on par with industry, but a lot less than I made at my previous job as a retail manager for a large cell phone company. Be prepared for 60-70 hour work weeks and sleepless nights stressing over numbers. From what I was told, it doesn't get better until year 4. It's helpful to have a spouse that doesn't work, but my husband has his own career and it was too much for us at this time.