Luke Winskowski is Head of Thrivent Advisor Network, a hybrid RIA platform launched in late 2019 that works with advisors interested in aligning their clients’ resources with their values. He is one of WealthManagement.com’s 10 to Watch in 2021. In this episode of Permission to Succeed, he and Doug Heikkinen discuss how financial advisors have responded to and evolved as the COVID-19 virus forced acceleration in all areas of their business. They also discuss:
Existing in the world of being remote
Key trends in 2020 that will drive action in 2021
What a purpose-driven advisor is, and how they add value to their clients’ lives
How mentors and personal stories have shaped Luke and his career in financial services
Why Luke is excited for 2021
Advice Luke has for those just starting out in financial services
Mike Hlavek is the Chief Operating Officer and Founding Partner of Concurrent Advisors, an advisor-owned partnership of independent advisors affiliated with Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., who work together to realize a common vision of creating a superior client experience while growing their own practices.
In this episode of Permission to Succeed, he and Doug Heikkinen discuss why Mike created Concurrent and what is driving the amazing growth of their collaborative network of advisors. They also discuss:
How the Concurrent model supports its advisors’ businesses
Why we are seeing so many advisors moving seats and/or breaking away this year
Three things advisors should consider as they start the process of breaking away
Mike’s advice for anyone starting out on their own
Raymond James is not affiliated with and does not endorse the opinions or services of Permission to Succeed or Doug Heikkinen. Opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speaker and are not necessarily those of Raymond James. All opinions are as of this date and are subject to change without notice.
Julia Carlson is the founder & president of Financial Freedom Wealth Management Group, which she founded at 23. In this episode of Permission to Succeed, she and Doug Heikkinen discuss how she grew Financial Freedom into a multi-million dollar business, and how a family emergency forced her to let go, trust her team, and learn how to create boundaries to achieve work/life balance. They also discuss:
The importance of investing in yourself to drive personal and professional growth
How creating a niche target audience can allow your firm to really focus and develop deep expertise
How Financial Freedom has reinvented their digital client journey in the COVID era to continue to bring in new clients
The importance of having confidence & listening to your inner compass to find the next right step for you
Disclosure: Securities and Advisory Services offered through LPL Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor. Member FINRA & SIPC.
Financial Freedom Wealth Management Group, LLC is a member of the SmartVestor program. The SmartVestor program is a directory of investment professionals. Neither Dave Ramsey nor SmartVestor are affiliates of Financial Freedom Wealth Management Group or LPL.
Food safety and the food supply chain are things we are all thinking about more often. Brandon Hernandez is a co-founder of Whole Brain Consulting and has decades of experience in the food supply chain services industry.
In this episode of Permission to Succeed, Doug Heikkinen and Brandon discuss how people work to keep the food supply chain safe, other trends within his industry, how he helps others evaluate and invest in opportunities, and advice that Brandon has for entrepreneurs.
How demand skewed the food supply chain at the beginning of COVID-19, and how businesses were forced to respond
How current space allocation on trucks to meet demand is going to affect small brands going forward
How the caloric density of nutritional food is going to drive food development as the population continues to increase
How Whole Brain Consulting works with private equity firms to evaluate potential investment opportunities in this industry
Brandon’s tips for moving past a “plateau phase” to grow a sustainable, thriving business
As a former collegiate & professional basketball player, Derek Bruton, the new CEO of Kingswood Holdings, U.S., understands that everyone on a team plays a specific role to drive its success. The challenge is to deeply understand your role and have the humility to play it to the best of your ability.
In this episode of Permission to Succeed, Doug Heikkinen and Derek also discuss working from home, actions he thinks financial advisors should be taking, and how to put lessons learned into action in the time of COVID-19.
About Derek Bruton:
Derek Bruton is CEO of Kingswood Holdings U.S. He brings a unique combination of M&A, RIA, RIA custodian, and B/D experience to the financial advisors he serves at Kingswood. A proven strategic and sales leader in the financial services industry for 30 years, Bruton has served in executive positions with leading RIA custodians such as Charles Schwab, TD Ameritrade, and LPL Financial. He has led the recruiting of over 5,000 financial advisors in his career, and has assisted with the strategy and growth of over 15,000 advisor businesses. Bruton graduated from Stanford University, and has completed executive business management course work at Harvard University. He lives in San Diego, CA with his wife, Helen, and their two girls. Bruton played collegiate basketball for Stanford, and professional basketball in Japan. He has FINRA licenses 7, 8, 24, 63, and 65.
This episode of Permission to Succeed features Doug Heikkinen and Erin Botsford, Creator of the Elite Advisor Success System™, a training platform for financial advisors and their assistants. A Barron’s Top 100 Advisor, Erin was in the financial services business for over 30 years and recently executed a successful exit. Today Erin invites advisors to model her success by learning what works when it comes to marketing for new business, closing on the first appointment, hiring and training staff, and building a firm that runs without the day to day involvement of the advisor. Erin teaches advisors how to focus on being the leader and creative force within their company, how to set themselves up for exponential growth, and when the advisor is ready, a successful exit.
In this podcast, you will hear:
Erin’s career journey from being a “recipe for disaster” in her first job as a stockbroker, to starting her own firm and becoming a Barron’s Top 100 Producer, to setting her firm up for a successful sale, to how she’s now giving back.
Why it is important to take your ego out of your business and make sure your firm can run without you
How you can prepare in advance to make your firm attractive to buyers
How to reassure your clients in today’s environment by making yourself available
Click here to download a free copy of Erin’s book, Seven Figure Firm: How to Build a Financial Services Business that Grows Itself.
Click here to learn more about Erin’s training program for financial advisors. Mention you heard her on IRIS.xyz to receive a special discount.
Recorded live at IMPACT® 2019, this episode of Permission to Succeed features Doug Heikkinen and Stacy Havener, Founder & CEO of Havener Capital Partners, discussing the current environment and how, despite having the odds stacked against them on an uneven playing field, smaller asset managers can set themselves apart by telling their story.
In this episode, you will learn:
Why Havener Capital chooses to work with underdogs
Why active management tends to be underappreciated until there’s volatility
How smaller, active asset managers can compete and win against the behemoths
How soccer led to Stacy’s career in the financial services industry, and the advice she has for others who might be interested in it.
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IRIS Media Works recorded 16 Permission to Succeed podcasts from our pop-up podcast “studio” in the Discovery Data booth at IMPACT 2019. Fueled by coffee and the conference energy swirling around us, we had a great time talking to leaders from across the financial services industry. Thank you to Discovery Data and to our guests for participating in this grand experiment. We hope you enjoy and learn from these conversations as much as we did.
Everyone has a story. In today’s new reality, inspirational stories about how individuals work to overcome adversity are especially important. In this episode of Permission to Succeed, Doug Heikkinen talks with JT McCormick, President & CEO of Scribe Media about his journey, the importance of focusing on the positive and finding the lessons that make you a better person, and how he came to believe that everyone has a story worth telling – even you.
About JT McCormick
Abuse, discrimination, poverty, and neglect were once the major themes of JT McCormick’s childhood. As an adult, JT drew on those experiences to write the next chapter of his life—one of success.
JeVon Thomas McCormick was raised in the slums of Dayton, Ohio by his father, a black pimp and drug dealer, and a white orphaned mother. Determined not to be a victim of his circumstances, JT received his GED and found his first job cleaning toilets in a San Antonio Restaurant.
From those humble beginnings, JT worked his way up from being the lowest-paid employee at a software company, to the President of the company. During his tenure, he helped grow the business to a multimillion-dollar, 100-plus person company that was repeatedly ranked as one of the best places to work in all of Texas.
JT McCormick currently serves as the President and CEO of Scribe Media, a publishing company that helps individuals from a variety of backgrounds write, publish, and market their books. Scribe Media has worked with more than 1600 authors, including members of The Nobel Peace Prize Committee and David Goggins, and was recently ranked the #1 Top Company Culture in America by Entrepreneur Magazine.
JT is passionate about conscious entrepreneurship and creating opportunities for at-risk youth. He has mentored young men and women in the juvenile justice system, as well as those in lower economic communities. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife, Megan, and their four children Ava, Jaxon, Elle and Jace.
This episode of Permission to Succeed (recorded on March 10, 2020)features Doug Heikkinen and Barrett Ayers, President of Adhesion Wealth, discussing how your P&L benefits when you build a deep understanding of your clients’ needs and goals, and how the current turmoil is actually an opportunity to pause and discuss strategies with your clients.
In this podcast, you will learn about:
The importance of focusing on your core strengths and outsourcing the rest of your tasks
Things you should consider when evaluating technology stacks for your firm, including putting everything out to RFP and hiring a consultant to make sure you get the solution you need
The value of saying no – a lot – so that you can say yes to things that are really important
Barrett’s life-long passion for fee-based independent advisors, and why he believes now may be the best time for fee-based advice in history
This episode of Permission to Succeed features Doug Heikkinen and Hugh O’Toole, Chief Executive Officer at Innovu, discussing how Hugh’s dedication to solving ‘the obvious’ has innovated the way companies view and leverage benefits to ensure a better quality of life for their employees.
In this podcast, you will learn about:
What is Human Capital Risk Management?
The challenge presented by the current siloed approach to benefits management, and how companies are moving toward a holistic approach.
The current trend of private money pouring in to figure out how to aggregate the employee benefits data silos and build a complete picture of employees
How Hugh’s journey led him to financial services, and how listening gets him unstuck
