Visionary Wealth Advisors: The Origin Story

On this episode of the Circuit of Success Podcast, Brett Gilliland shares with you his appearance on the Diamond Consultants Podcast in 2021. Brett shares his journey and how Visionary Wealth Advisors was born. This includes his “Jerry Maguire-Style” resignation.

A Northwestern Mutual Advisor’s “Jerry Maguire-Style” Breakaway Story

Visionary Wealth Advisors: The Origin Story

The recurring theme of “incongruence” runs through the narratives of advisors who have transitioned between firms or models. The challenge arises when there is a mismatch between personal goals and those of the firm, making it difficult, if not impossible, to effectively serve clients and expand one’s business. Brett Gilliland, while serving as a Managing Director at Northwestern Mutual, experienced a noticeable lack of alignment with the firm’s goals as he achieved success. Juggling multiple roles, including financial advisor and recruiter, Brett increasingly felt restricted in his ability to provide unbiased advice and desired more autonomy in serving clients.

The episode delves into the drivers behind Visionary’s remarkable growth, highlighting the significant role relationships and referrals have played in their success. Brett encourages advisors and business owners to ask themselves a crucial question he posed to Tim before leaving Northwestern: “What keeps you here?”

Tune in for the valuable takeaways for both employee advisors and business owners.

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IT’S THIS FEELING OF MISALIGNMENT BETWEEN AN ADVISERS

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goals and that of their firm, which drives

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change more than any other motivator.

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Because when your vision is conflicting with that

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of your firm, it becomes difficult if not

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impossible

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to serve your clients and grow your business.

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As a managing director at Northwestern Mutual,

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Brett Gilliland found that the lack of alignment

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could not be more apparent nor more limiting.

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In his role, He wore multiple hats from

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serving as a financial advisor, plus a recruiter

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with the responsibility

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for the training and development of novice advisors.

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But as he became more successful,

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he also became less satisfied,

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and the feeling of being at odds with

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the goals Northwestern

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became more apparent.

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He wanted greater agency over how he served

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clients.

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He wanted to be able to freely market.

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He wanted to give unbiased

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unconflicted

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advice without feeling pigeonholed into selling insurance.

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And ultimately, as he put it, He wanted

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to play in a different sandbox.

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So after thirteen years with Northwestern,

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he decided it was time to build something

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that was more aligned with his vision.

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And in March of two thousand fourteen,

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RIA firm visionary wealth advisors was born.

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But it’s his Jerry Maguire exit story that’s

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really compelling.

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And a true testament

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to the respect and trust he developed with

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his team at Northwestern.

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Today, visionary manages some one point eight billion

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in assets and has thirty advisors on the

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team.

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In this episode, Brett talks with Lewis Diamond

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sharing details about the motivation behind his move.

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His unique perspective as a managing director at

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Northwestern

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how he is able to fully realize his

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vision as an independent business owner, and of

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course,

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shares a resignation

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story unlike any other. Plus much more. So

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let’s get to it.

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Brett, thanks

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so much joining us today.

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Absolutely. It’s good to be with you. Very

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good. Why don’t you tell us about yourself

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and how you got started in the business?

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Yeah. I went to Eastern Illinois University and

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right out of college. I decided I wanted

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to be in the financial planning business. So

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back then, this was the early two thousand,

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I guess, two thousand Gilliland they were called

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stock brokers back then. And and that’s what

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I wanted to do. I knew that right

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out of college, and it really goes back

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to when I was about fifteen years old,

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my My cousin Dean was actually a stockbroker.

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And I drove the gold BMW. You had

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the speakers in the headrest, and that was

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pretty cool. Right? When you’re fifteen years old,

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and so I thought for sure. I wanted

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to do that. And so I went to

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a job fair and and found the financial

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planning stockbroker Gilliland here we are almost twenty

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years later.

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Perfect. And your your most recent employment before

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launching your own RIA was as the Madington

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director at Northwestern Mutual. Can you talk a

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little bit about that role in your day

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to day? Because my understanding is you were

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in a full time advisor. You had some

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other duties and responsibilities as well. Absolutely. So

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I was a managing director at my previous

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firm, and we were responsible for recruiting. That’s

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a big recruiting world where I was at

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previously. And so we were in charge of

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recruiting advisors to what we call our district

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office. I was in Edwardsville, Illinois. We still

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have an office there to this day, but

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that’s what I was doing. I was recruiting

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advisors into this business. We also had a

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college internship program where we would have anywhere

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from twenty to twenty five interns. I had

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a team of people that will whether it

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was a college unit or field directors or

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mentors,

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recruiters, a great team of people around me,

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but that’s what we had to do. We

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had to go out and recruit new advisors

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to the firm. These weren’t, like, industry folks.

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These were people were brand new, just like

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myself, right out of college, didn’t have any

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experience. So there was tons of recruiting, training,

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development,

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mentor meetings, one off drive by meetings, maybe

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being about how do you prospect? How do

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you make more phone calls? How do you

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find more prospects? So on and so forth.

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But then also was a financial advisor and

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did that at a high level as well.

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So it was one of the things I

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really enjoyed because

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I was doing multiple things throughout the day

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wearing lots of different hats.

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Excellent. It sounds like the Northwestern model of

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recruiting, it’s kinda like churn and burn. You’re

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expecting that a lot of folks aren’t gonna

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make it through the program. So I’m curious

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what separated the advisors

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that ultimately made it and went on to

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have successful careers. Yeah. I mean, there’s so

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many different things we’ve looked at over the

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years. And so when I at the success

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that we had from a recruiting standpoint.

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I learned that they grew up with what

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I would call. I’m using air quotes here

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since you can’t see me, but a normal

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background. And what I mean by that is

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they were blessed with a great family life.

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They had support at home, whether that was

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growing up as a child, but also in

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their adult life. And what, again, what I

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just call this normal life, which is maybe

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that’s fair. Maybe it’s not fair, but it

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it just it it seemed like they had

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a lot of support around them from loved

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ones. And I think that’s so important. This

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business can be very lonely, especially when you’re

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twenty three, twenty two, twenty four years old,

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and you’re running around trying to fry prospects,

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and it was completely different. The ones that

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we found that were successful, a lot of

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them were career changers. We had a testing

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program. If they did a certain test on

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this personality, we found that did well, but

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I also saw an athletic background. I mean,

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at one time, we had, I think it

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was sixteen advisors that I had recruited that

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were all college athletes.

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And that doesn’t mean you’re gonna only be

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successful if you’re a college athlete, but for

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us, that’s what we found where the college

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athletes

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were working in that environment. Right? Because you

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had to go out and make a name

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for yourself. You had to go out and

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prospect. You had to be driven. You had

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to go out and make forty or fifty

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or sixty phone calls every single day, and

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you had to get twenty five referrals a

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week. And you all these activity drivers that

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you had to do that quite frankly, I

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probably wouldn’t be in this business if it

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wasn’t for those things when I was in

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my early twenties, but I had to do

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it. And I found the people that were

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competitive and wanted to be great in things

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at life, those were the ones that were

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the most successful.

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Very interesting. And, I mean, so much of

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the industry’s

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attention. I know our whole business,

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not to mention, is focused on recruiting experienced

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advisors, because obviously, they come with clients, they

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can hit the ground running, already pre trained.

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Do you have a viewpoint though on if

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someone is building a firm from the ground

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up, what do you think is a better

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approach? Is it bringing on experienced folks with

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books or kinda what you did at Northwestern,

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which was career changers, ex athletes, and entry

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level advisors

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Yeah. I think it’s a great question. And

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and what we did was and I don’t

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know if necessarily we meant to do this,

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and I say we, Tim Hammond, my business

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partner who co founded visionary wealth advisors with

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me when we started visionary. So he was

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just a and I said just, meaning he

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was a wealth management advisor. He was doing

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fee based financial planning at Northwestern,

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and I was doing the recruiting, developing, training,

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and still being a financial advisor as well.

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And so the of us came together

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and almost immediately thought we could do this

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differently. I always say the sandbox was I

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was playing in was let’s just say a

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size of a piece of paper and I

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wanted it to be the size of the

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football field.

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And that’s what I saw in the RIA

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space that was out there, that the sky

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is the limit, and you can do so

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much for your clients that I couldn’t do

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at that time at that role. And we

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immediately went to no longer doing any career

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changers

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no inexperienced

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people. We just, like, literally cold turkey. I

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just went to the starting to recruit experienced

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advisors. And

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what we found was that people were looking

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for a platform

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where they could go

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and have some independence,

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but also be interdependent.

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And so the advisors that we have now

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are just doing so well because there is

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an interdependent relationship with us with visionary aim

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with those advisors. They own their own book

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of business. They own their clients, but at

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the same time, they’re not in business by

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themselves. Right? They’re for themselves, but not by

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themselves. Gilliland we just found that there was

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a really a big market out there for

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experienced advisors that want that type of platform.

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Understood.

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And let’s go back to when you’re still

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at Northwestern. Of course, you could have just

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stayed at the firm. You sound like you’re

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a successful adviser in your own right. Kept

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recruiting, kept leveraging the infrastructure.

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But instead, you opted to transition to form

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your own RA firm back in twenty fourteen.

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Can you elaborate on what some of your

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frustrations were and maybe what you felt you

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couldn’t do for your clients there? For me,

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it was as I was becoming more and

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more successful, I was becoming less satisfied with

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my career. And really what did it for

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me is I was fortunate enough to make

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what they call forum inside of Northwestern Mutual,

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which is, I think it’s, I don’t know,

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top two hundred and fifty advisors, let’s call

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it. And I remember not being real, real

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happy, even though I just had a phenomenal

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year with production. We had just led the

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company in recruiting for managing directors.

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So there was a lot of things going

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well, but for some reason, I still wasn’t

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satisfied. And I didn’t know what that was.

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And so I just kept kinda looking internal

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for me, and I wanted that entrepreneurial spirit.

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Right? I wanted to go out and build

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something. I wanted to go out and build

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a brand. I wanted to build something

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that our clients were excited about and proud

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of and and who they were working with.

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And I say all this, and there is

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a ton of great people at Northwestern Mutual.

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I still have friends there to this day.

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They’re doing great work for people. So it

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wasn’t necessarily that. It was just more for

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me was I wanted to do something more.

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I wanted to, again, to build something. And

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I think there we were building a nice

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income, but we weren’t building an asset. We

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weren’t really building a firm. Cause you’re doing

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it for the mothership, if you will. And

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for me, it just became again that I

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wanted to play in a different sandbox. And

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whether it’s to have a podcast or do

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some things that we do now that you

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just couldn’t do there in comprehensive financial planning

00:10:05.000 –> 00:10:08.000
where you’re not biased on either a product

00:10:08.000 –> 00:10:10.000
or what avenue they need to go down

00:10:10.000 –> 00:10:12.000
as a client. We wanted to be unbiased

00:10:12.000 –> 00:10:14.000
and have this independent

00:10:14.000 –> 00:10:15.000
firm

00:10:15.000 –> 00:10:17.000
that we could just say, this is how

00:10:17.000 –> 00:10:19.000
we’re going to serve clients going forward.

00:10:19.000 –> 00:10:21.000
Definitely. And did being in more of a

00:10:21.000 –> 00:10:24.000
managerial role kinda seeing how the sausage was

00:10:24.000 –> 00:10:27.000
made, did that change your vantage point on

00:10:27.000 –> 00:10:29.000
and I guess your motivation to leave? And

00:10:29.000 –> 00:10:31.000
did you get a better look or a

00:10:31.000 –> 00:10:33.000
different look on what was slowing or limiting

00:10:33.000 –> 00:10:36.000
down the advisors that were under your tutelage?

00:10:37.000 –> 00:10:39.000
Yeah. But I I think too is and

00:10:39.000 –> 00:10:41.000
I can’t say this for the previous firm

00:10:41.000 –> 00:10:43.000
in every city around the country, obviously. And

00:10:43.000 –> 00:10:45.000
again, there’s great people everywhere. But for us,

00:10:45.000 –> 00:10:48.000
it was the stereotype as well as when

00:10:48.000 –> 00:10:50.000
I threw that business card down,

00:10:50.000 –> 00:10:52.000
people would automatically just, oh, I’m good. I

00:10:52.000 –> 00:10:55.000
don’t need insurance. And I got so tired

00:10:55.000 –> 00:10:57.000
for twelve and a half years of doing

00:10:57.000 –> 00:10:59.000
that, that’s that really drained on me over

00:10:59.000 –> 00:11:01.000
the years. And it got to a point

00:11:01.000 –> 00:11:03.000
where that’s not what I’m about. It’s not

00:11:03.000 –> 00:11:05.000
coming and just trying to sell you insurance.

00:11:05.000 –> 00:11:06.000
Is is insurance, certainly part of a financial

00:11:06.000 –> 00:11:08.000
plan. Of course, it is. I think we

00:11:08.000 –> 00:11:10.000
all know that. People that are doing comprehensive

00:11:10.000 –> 00:11:12.000
wealth management planning, but it’s not the only

00:11:12.000 –> 00:11:14.000
piece. Right? And I think that’s where I

00:11:14.000 –> 00:11:15.000
think we got pigeonholed

00:11:16.000 –> 00:11:18.000
into thinking you’re just the insurance person.

00:11:19.000 –> 00:11:22.000
And that feeling wasn’t great, again, even though

00:11:22.000 –> 00:11:24.000
it can have some good products, it wasn’t

00:11:24.000 –> 00:11:26.000
great. And so we wanted more. And we

00:11:26.000 –> 00:11:27.000
wanted to go out, and I keep saying

00:11:27.000 –> 00:11:29.000
comprehensive financial planning, but that’s what we wanted

00:11:29.000 –> 00:11:32.000
to do and where we weren’t pigeonholed into

00:11:32.000 –> 00:11:34.000
this corner of you’re just that sales guy.

00:11:34.000 –> 00:11:36.000
It was more about the relationship and the

00:11:36.000 –> 00:11:38.000
impact we’re having on the community and the

00:11:38.000 –> 00:11:41.000
impact we’re having on those clients’ lives on

00:11:41.000 –> 00:11:43.000
more ways than just a life insurance or

00:11:43.000 –> 00:11:44.000
a an investment

00:11:44.000 –> 00:11:46.000
and what have you, there’s more to it

00:11:46.000 –> 00:11:48.000
than that. And I think that’s really what

00:11:48.000 –> 00:11:50.000
we’re focused on is the whole person here

00:11:50.000 –> 00:11:52.000
visionary is is building that with the right

00:11:52.000 –> 00:11:54.000
people. I don’t know if we can cuss

00:11:54.000 –> 00:11:55.000
on here, Lewis, but we call it the

00:11:55.000 –> 00:11:57.000
no a hole rule. Right? So no a

00:11:57.000 –> 00:12:00.000
hole is the recruit criteria here. And and

00:12:00.000 –> 00:12:02.000
that’s the first step is making sure that

00:12:02.000 –> 00:12:04.000
we wanna be around you, you wanna be

00:12:04.000 –> 00:12:05.000
around us, and that we’re gonna be a

00:12:05.000 –> 00:12:07.000
good fit. And I found that you had

00:12:07.000 –> 00:12:10.000
you had more control over that as I

00:12:10.000 –> 00:12:12.000
was researching what this RIA thing was

00:12:12.000 –> 00:12:14.000
is I had control over that versus just

00:12:14.000 –> 00:12:17.000
having to recruit quite frankly, a bunch of

00:12:17.000 –> 00:12:19.000
kids like me. Right? Twenty two years old,

00:12:19.000 –> 00:12:20.000
right out of college. And I always joked

00:12:20.000 –> 00:12:22.000
that I couldn’t even spell investments or insurance

00:12:22.000 –> 00:12:24.000
when I started, but it was, like, I

00:12:24.000 –> 00:12:28.000
wanna do more with higher more sophisticated people

00:12:28.000 –> 00:12:30.000
because that’s what the community wants. Right? That’s

00:12:30.000 –> 00:12:32.000
what they want in their financial advisor. And

00:12:32.000 –> 00:12:34.000
I just, quite frankly, I always say my

00:12:34.000 –> 00:12:35.000
gray hair and the wrinkles aren’t from four

00:12:35.000 –> 00:12:38.000
kids. It’s from having to recruit people that

00:12:38.000 –> 00:12:40.000
hopefully one or two out of ten of

00:12:40.000 –> 00:12:41.000
those people would make it long term in

00:12:41.000 –> 00:12:43.000
the business. And I just couldn’t do that

00:12:43.000 –> 00:12:45.000
any longer. Yeah. Definitely. And I think what

00:12:45.000 –> 00:12:46.000
you’re mentioning around

00:12:47.000 –> 00:12:49.000
feeling like you and your practice were kind

00:12:49.000 –> 00:12:51.000
of at odds with the mantra or the

00:12:51.000 –> 00:12:54.000
reputation of Northwestern is the term incongruence.

00:12:54.000 –> 00:12:57.000
We hear it often from advisors at many

00:12:57.000 –> 00:12:59.000
different types of firms, whether they’re at a

00:12:59.000 –> 00:13:02.000
bank dominated firm saying I’m not a banker.

00:13:02.000 –> 00:13:04.000
I like recommending bank products where it makes

00:13:04.000 –> 00:13:07.000
sense similar to how you probably enjoy recommending

00:13:07.000 –> 00:13:10.000
insurance products where it makes sense, but you

00:13:10.000 –> 00:13:11.000
don’t want that to be the driving force.

00:13:11.000 –> 00:13:14.000
If you have a vision that’s different from

00:13:15.000 –> 00:13:17.000
what the firm really wants you to be,

00:13:17.000 –> 00:13:20.000
then many advisors look at it as a

00:13:20.000 –> 00:13:22.000
means to kind of escape that box and

00:13:22.000 –> 00:13:25.000
build their own. So that’s perfect pivot point

00:13:25.000 –> 00:13:27.000
here. Before we get to what you coined

00:13:27.000 –> 00:13:30.000
your Jerry Maguire style moment, kind of a

00:13:30.000 –> 00:13:31.000
teaser for what to come. And let’s talk

00:13:31.000 –> 00:13:32.000
first about

00:13:33.000 –> 00:13:36.000
your due diligence process back probably twenty 12:20

00:13:36.000 –> 00:13:39.000
thirteen before launching the firm. So you’ve you

00:13:39.000 –> 00:13:43.000
founded visionary wealth advisors as a RA hybrid,

00:13:43.000 –> 00:13:45.000
but what else did you look at before

00:13:45.000 –> 00:13:47.000
settling on this route It’s actually amazing because

00:13:47.000 –> 00:13:49.000
I didn’t really look at too many things.

00:13:49.000 –> 00:13:51.000
I I would literally go in my office.

00:13:51.000 –> 00:13:52.000
I can picture it to this day as

00:13:52.000 –> 00:13:54.000
clear as can be, and and I would

00:13:54.000 –> 00:13:56.000
look up independence, and I would type in

00:13:56.000 –> 00:13:58.000
the financial independence and different things. I knew

00:13:58.000 –> 00:14:00.000
I wanted to stay in this industry. I

00:14:00.000 –> 00:14:02.000
love what we get to do every day.

00:14:02.000 –> 00:14:03.000
I love that we get to help people

00:14:03.000 –> 00:14:05.000
achieve a future greater than their past. That’s

00:14:05.000 –> 00:14:07.000
our firm’s mission statement.

00:14:07.000 –> 00:14:09.000
And that is so critically important for me,

00:14:09.000 –> 00:14:11.000
for our advisors, and for the things that

00:14:11.000 –> 00:14:13.000
we do for people, but it was just

00:14:13.000 –> 00:14:14.000
one of those things that I kept coming

00:14:14.000 –> 00:14:16.000
back to this independent

00:14:16.000 –> 00:14:19.000
RIA registered investment adviser and growing up in

00:14:19.000 –> 00:14:21.000
the insurance Northwestern mutual world. I didn’t know

00:14:21.000 –> 00:14:24.000
even know what an RIA was. But everything

00:14:24.000 –> 00:14:26.000
I read, I’m like, I want that.

00:14:27.000 –> 00:14:28.000
And I kept reading it. And I kept

00:14:28.000 –> 00:14:30.000
studying it. And when I say kept, I

00:14:30.000 –> 00:14:32.000
mean, this went on from November of two

00:14:32.000 –> 00:14:35.000
thousand thirteen to January of two thousand fourteen.

00:14:35.000 –> 00:14:37.000
So this was about a month and a

00:14:37.000 –> 00:14:39.000
half I can’t even tell you how much

00:14:39.000 –> 00:14:41.000
stuff I read on an RIA and what

00:14:41.000 –> 00:14:43.000
it meant. I scheduled a meeting with one

00:14:43.000 –> 00:14:44.000
of our custodians,

00:14:44.000 –> 00:14:46.000
and they came to Saint Louis, and I

00:14:46.000 –> 00:14:48.000
went and had a meeting with them and

00:14:48.000 –> 00:14:49.000
that was with Tim, my business partner. And

00:14:49.000 –> 00:14:51.000
it was just one of those things when

00:14:51.000 –> 00:14:53.000
I called Tim, and I said, Hey, what

00:14:53.000 –> 00:14:54.000
keeps you here at Northwestern?

00:14:54.000 –> 00:14:56.000
I was hopeful that he was gonna give

00:14:56.000 –> 00:14:58.000
me this long drawn out reason and why

00:14:58.000 –> 00:15:00.000
it was the greatest place on earth. And

00:15:00.000 –> 00:15:02.000
what happened was four and a half hours

00:15:02.000 –> 00:15:04.000
later we got off the telephone.

00:15:04.000 –> 00:15:06.000
From one phone call four and a half

00:15:06.000 –> 00:15:08.000
hours later in January of two thousand fourteen,

00:15:08.000 –> 00:15:09.000
early January

00:15:09.000 –> 00:15:10.000
and said,

00:15:10.000 –> 00:15:12.000
okay. I can’t do this without you. You

00:15:12.000 –> 00:15:15.000
can’t do this without me. Let’s go build

00:15:15.000 –> 00:15:18.000
something great. And literally fast forward, not even

00:15:18.000 –> 00:15:21.000
ninety days later, visionary Wealth Advisors was started.

00:15:21.000 –> 00:15:24.000
It was an incredible ninety days, and it

00:15:24.000 –> 00:15:26.000
was a lot of fun and still a

00:15:26.000 –> 00:15:27.000
lot of fun to this day. And I

00:15:27.000 –> 00:15:29.000
just looked back at that and I’m just

00:15:29.000 –> 00:15:30.000
I’m glad we took the risk to make

00:15:30.000 –> 00:15:31.000
the jump.

00:15:36.000 –> 00:15:37.000
The ecosystem,

00:15:38.000 –> 00:15:40.000
seven, eight years ago, is very different than

00:15:40.000 –> 00:15:43.000
today. But did you consider either plugging into

00:15:43.000 –> 00:15:45.000
an existing infrastructure

00:15:45.000 –> 00:15:48.000
or hiring more of a platform or service

00:15:48.000 –> 00:15:48.000
provider?

00:15:49.000 –> 00:15:50.000
Didn’t know, did not even look at those

00:15:50.000 –> 00:15:53.000
opportunities at all, not one of them. I

00:15:53.000 –> 00:15:54.000
mean, it was just one of those things

00:15:54.000 –> 00:15:56.000
we knew early on. We wanted to build

00:15:56.000 –> 00:15:56.000
something.

00:15:57.000 –> 00:15:59.000
And we just went all in, kinda burned

00:15:59.000 –> 00:16:01.000
the ships. It’s let’s go. Let’s make it

00:16:01.000 –> 00:16:03.000
happen, and we did. And, like I said,

00:16:03.000 –> 00:16:05.000
met with our custodians, and

00:16:05.000 –> 00:16:08.000
hired our, you know, legal counsel firm and

00:16:08.000 –> 00:16:10.000
and to help us build the RIA and

00:16:10.000 –> 00:16:12.000
then literally just the way it went. Amazing.

00:16:13.000 –> 00:16:14.000
Okay. So this is the, I think, the

00:16:14.000 –> 00:16:16.000
exciting part of the interview. You told me

00:16:16.000 –> 00:16:18.000
that this story when we were preparing for

00:16:18.000 –> 00:16:21.000
this interview. I wanna hear the story in

00:16:21.000 –> 00:16:23.000
as much details you can share. About resignation

00:16:24.000 –> 00:16:26.000
day. You coined it your Jerry Maguire style

00:16:26.000 –> 00:16:28.000
moment, and I think it’s such a unique

00:16:28.000 –> 00:16:31.000
story. It’s very different than how I think

00:16:31.000 –> 00:16:34.000
many folks would approach this, but it’s instructive,

00:16:34.000 –> 00:16:36.000
and I think demonstrates your conviction

00:16:37.000 –> 00:16:38.000
for why this was the right move for

00:16:38.000 –> 00:16:40.000
you. Yeah. It’s one of those days I

00:16:40.000 –> 00:16:41.000
wish I would have just been able to

00:16:41.000 –> 00:16:44.000
film somehow. Like, had this camera above my

00:16:44.000 –> 00:16:46.000
head or something. It’s just the emotions that

00:16:46.000 –> 00:16:47.000
went into it. I remember it was March

00:16:47.000 –> 00:16:50.000
twenty fourth two thousand fourteen. It was a

00:16:50.000 –> 00:16:53.000
kind of a dreary Monday in Saint Louis

00:16:53.000 –> 00:16:56.000
and, our managing partner was in Saint Louis.

00:16:56.000 –> 00:16:58.000
I was about thirty minutes outside of it.

00:16:58.000 –> 00:17:00.000
And I remember texting him that morning and

00:17:00.000 –> 00:17:03.000
just saying, hey, I’m gonna swing by your

00:17:03.000 –> 00:17:05.000
office. I can’t remember. Seven or 07:30. Do

00:17:05.000 –> 00:17:06.000
you have a couple minutes? And he said,

00:17:06.000 –> 00:17:08.000
is everything okay? And I said, but with

00:17:08.000 –> 00:17:10.000
my health and with my family, everything is

00:17:10.000 –> 00:17:12.000
okay. And that was kind of the end

00:17:12.000 –> 00:17:13.000
of it. What you don’t know about me,

00:17:13.000 –> 00:17:15.000
Louis, I’m a very nervous person. I grew

00:17:15.000 –> 00:17:17.000
up very anxious, and I call it my

00:17:17.000 –> 00:17:20.000
comfort zone callus, calluses on your hands from

00:17:20.000 –> 00:17:21.000
playing golf or working in the yard or

00:17:21.000 –> 00:17:23.000
doing whatever you’re doing. And and I think

00:17:23.000 –> 00:17:26.000
that we as humans can get these calluses

00:17:26.000 –> 00:17:27.000
around our comfort zone, and we don’t wanna

00:17:27.000 –> 00:17:30.000
break through those. And I’ve tried now for

00:17:30.000 –> 00:17:32.000
twenty years to constantly break out of my

00:17:32.000 –> 00:17:34.000
comfort zone, and this was one of those

00:17:34.000 –> 00:17:36.000
defining moments. It was arguably one of the

00:17:36.000 –> 00:17:39.000
biggest decisions, professionally, if not probably the biggest

00:17:39.000 –> 00:17:41.000
decision, actually, that I’ve ever made in my

00:17:41.000 –> 00:17:42.000
life. And

00:17:43.000 –> 00:17:45.000
so I went and resigned, and it was

00:17:45.000 –> 00:17:47.000
splashing water on my face in the bathroom

00:17:47.000 –> 00:17:49.000
before I went in there. I was so

00:17:49.000 –> 00:17:50.000
nervous, and I walked down. Because again, I

00:17:50.000 –> 00:17:52.000
was doing what you needed to do. And

00:17:52.000 –> 00:17:54.000
I was on the board for the managing

00:17:54.000 –> 00:17:57.000
directors at their home office national headquarters. And

00:17:57.000 –> 00:17:58.000
I was doing the things that you needed

00:17:58.000 –> 00:18:00.000
to do to be successful, but I just

00:18:00.000 –> 00:18:01.000
wasn’t happy. And I thought at the time,

00:18:01.000 –> 00:18:03.000
I think I was thirty six, thirty seven,

00:18:03.000 –> 00:18:05.000
I didn’t wanna do that the rest of

00:18:05.000 –> 00:18:07.000
my life, and I needed to take this

00:18:07.000 –> 00:18:09.000
risk. And this risk was I had twenty

00:18:10.000 –> 00:18:12.000
three, twenty four advisors in my district office,

00:18:13.000 –> 00:18:14.000
I owned the building that I was in.

00:18:14.000 –> 00:18:16.000
So I had my own lease because Northwestern

00:18:16.000 –> 00:18:18.000
doesn’t sign the lease. At least they didn’t

00:18:18.000 –> 00:18:19.000
at that time. I had my own lease

00:18:19.000 –> 00:18:22.000
in my own building. And all these people,

00:18:22.000 –> 00:18:24.000
right, that worked with us. So it was

00:18:24.000 –> 00:18:26.000
very scary. It was a very big risk.

00:18:26.000 –> 00:18:28.000
And I went in. I resigned, and he

00:18:28.000 –> 00:18:29.000
said, what would you like to do? And

00:18:29.000 –> 00:18:30.000
I said, well, I feel like I would

00:18:30.000 –> 00:18:32.000
to go at least tell everybody in our

00:18:32.000 –> 00:18:34.000
office that I’m leaving. I’m resigning. I feel

00:18:34.000 –> 00:18:36.000
like I owe that to them. I’ve recruited

00:18:36.000 –> 00:18:38.000
and trained and developed every single one of

00:18:38.000 –> 00:18:41.000
these people, and I’ve spent countless hours and

00:18:41.000 –> 00:18:42.000
blood sweat and tears with these folks. I

00:18:42.000 –> 00:18:44.000
owe it to them. And he said, okay.

00:18:44.000 –> 00:18:46.000
I can be there at 11:30.

00:18:46.000 –> 00:18:47.000
So I went and kinda just sat in

00:18:47.000 –> 00:18:49.000
my car. For a couple hours and just

00:18:49.000 –> 00:18:52.000
what just happened kinda moment and then went

00:18:52.000 –> 00:18:54.000
into my own district office and had everybody

00:18:54.000 –> 00:18:56.000
in the firm there. I was able to

00:18:56.000 –> 00:18:58.000
tell them what I did and that I

00:18:58.000 –> 00:19:00.000
was leaving and that I started this place

00:19:00.000 –> 00:19:02.000
called visionary wealth advisors

00:19:02.000 –> 00:19:04.000
named probably like a week before that because

00:19:04.000 –> 00:19:07.000
everything was happening so quickly. So long story

00:19:07.000 –> 00:19:08.000
short, that was about an hour and twenty

00:19:08.000 –> 00:19:10.000
minute meeting. And a guy in the back

00:19:10.000 –> 00:19:11.000
of the room, Joe is his name, Joe

00:19:11.000 –> 00:19:13.000
Reininger, and he says, raises his hand. He

00:19:13.000 –> 00:19:15.000
says, what about all those people that wanna

00:19:15.000 –> 00:19:16.000
go with red.

00:19:16.000 –> 00:19:19.000
And then my internal body was screaming and

00:19:19.000 –> 00:19:21.000
jumping up and down, but I had to

00:19:21.000 –> 00:19:23.000
stay really calm and collective. Right? But I

00:19:23.000 –> 00:19:24.000
was just that was Joe and I still

00:19:24.000 –> 00:19:26.000
to this day who’s with us. We talk

00:19:26.000 –> 00:19:28.000
about that. And so it was just one

00:19:28.000 –> 00:19:30.000
of those moments. Right? It was like, wow.

00:19:30.000 –> 00:19:32.000
Hopefully this happens. This is my Jerry Maguire

00:19:32.000 –> 00:19:35.000
moment. I’m leaving who’s coming with me, and

00:19:35.000 –> 00:19:38.000
I literally left my own office went to

00:19:38.000 –> 00:19:40.000
a restaurant, and I got the biggest table

00:19:40.000 –> 00:19:42.000
that you could get. And I sat there

00:19:42.000 –> 00:19:44.000
for ten or fifteen minutes by myself. And

00:19:44.000 –> 00:19:47.000
I’m like, oh, goodness. This is not good.

00:19:47.000 –> 00:19:49.000
And then all of a sudden, and it

00:19:49.000 –> 00:19:50.000
gives me chills thinking about it. All of

00:19:50.000 –> 00:19:52.000
a sudden, one by one,

00:19:52.000 –> 00:19:54.000
in comes these advisors.

00:19:54.000 –> 00:19:56.000
And it it’s the big hug. It’s the

00:19:56.000 –> 00:19:58.000
big bear hug of, oh my gosh. Let

00:19:58.000 –> 00:20:00.000
me hear more. Let me hear more. And

00:20:00.000 –> 00:20:03.000
within twenty four to forty eight hours, fifteen

00:20:03.000 –> 00:20:05.000
of those visors left and came with us.

00:20:05.000 –> 00:20:07.000
Holy cow. And that was incredible.

00:20:07.000 –> 00:20:10.000
That is incredible. And what was the pitch?

00:20:10.000 –> 00:20:12.000
How did you? Obviously, you built up

00:20:12.000 –> 00:20:15.000
trust and respect and all of that. That’s

00:20:15.000 –> 00:20:18.000
earned. It’s not pitched. But, obviously, these advisors

00:20:18.000 –> 00:20:20.000
are trusting their life’s work to you and

00:20:20.000 –> 00:20:22.000
their families So what did you say to

00:20:22.000 –> 00:20:24.000
get them over the finish line?

00:20:25.000 –> 00:20:26.000
Yeah. It was painting a vision. I mean,

00:20:26.000 –> 00:20:28.000
hence the name visionary wealth advisors. I mean,

00:20:28.000 –> 00:20:30.000
it’s what the future can and will be

00:20:30.000 –> 00:20:32.000
if you look up the definition. And so

00:20:32.000 –> 00:20:34.000
we wanted to paint this picture for what

00:20:34.000 –> 00:20:36.000
the future will and could be like for

00:20:36.000 –> 00:20:39.000
these advisors. I mean, I think anybody that’s

00:20:39.000 –> 00:20:41.000
in a an environment where and this isn’t

00:20:41.000 –> 00:20:43.000
just a Northwestern thing. This is any environment

00:20:43.000 –> 00:20:44.000
where you start over. Every single month, you’re

00:20:44.000 –> 00:20:46.000
starting over at zero, and you gotta go

00:20:46.000 –> 00:20:48.000
out, eat what you Gilliland

00:20:48.000 –> 00:20:50.000
you gotta just stay on all day long

00:20:50.000 –> 00:20:53.000
every single day. And it’s hard to build

00:20:53.000 –> 00:20:57.000
true long lasting values based deep relationships with

00:20:57.000 –> 00:20:59.000
clients when you’re constantly in sales mode. And

00:20:59.000 –> 00:21:01.000
I think those advisors knew that. Some of

00:21:01.000 –> 00:21:04.000
those advisors at that time were seven years

00:21:04.000 –> 00:21:06.000
in the business. Some of them were two

00:21:06.000 –> 00:21:08.000
years in the business. And it goes back

00:21:08.000 –> 00:21:10.000
to, yes, you talked about trust and respect,

00:21:10.000 –> 00:21:12.000
but it also went back to a relationship.

00:21:12.000 –> 00:21:15.000
And that relationship was built over two, five,

00:21:15.000 –> 00:21:16.000
seven years

00:21:17.000 –> 00:21:19.000
of being in the trenches with them. And

00:21:19.000 –> 00:21:21.000
being with them every single morning, literally Monday

00:21:21.000 –> 00:21:24.000
through Friday, 07:30, we would have meetings and

00:21:24.000 –> 00:21:26.000
it was training meetings and just setting down

00:21:26.000 –> 00:21:29.000
and talking meetings. It was accountability meetings. It

00:21:29.000 –> 00:21:31.000
was idea sharing meetings.

00:21:31.000 –> 00:21:33.000
And you do that for that long, you

00:21:33.000 –> 00:21:34.000
build this relationship,

00:21:35.000 –> 00:21:37.000
and then they see a future that’s greater

00:21:37.000 –> 00:21:38.000
than their past.

00:21:38.000 –> 00:21:40.000
And then they just they literally and I

00:21:40.000 –> 00:21:43.000
don’t take this lightly. Right? They literally resigned

00:21:43.000 –> 00:21:44.000
from their careers

00:21:44.000 –> 00:21:46.000
to go and follow this vision in this

00:21:46.000 –> 00:21:47.000
dream.

00:21:47.000 –> 00:21:49.000
And I look at them now seven years

00:21:49.000 –> 00:21:51.000
later, seven plus years later,

00:21:51.000 –> 00:21:53.000
they’re all doing better than they were doing

00:21:53.000 –> 00:21:56.000
before. Every single one of them, is doing

00:21:56.000 –> 00:21:58.000
better than they were before. So their future

00:21:58.000 –> 00:22:00.000
is greater than their past. Their present is

00:22:00.000 –> 00:22:02.000
greater than their past. And it’s just cool

00:22:02.000 –> 00:22:04.000
to look back at that and see the

00:22:04.000 –> 00:22:05.000
things that are happening now in these people’s

00:22:05.000 –> 00:22:08.000
lives, and it’s just unreal to me that

00:22:08.000 –> 00:22:10.000
to think that people would put their trust

00:22:10.000 –> 00:22:12.000
in something like that. With literally no business

00:22:12.000 –> 00:22:15.000
cards, no website done, no logo done,

00:22:16.000 –> 00:22:18.000
nothing. And they said, let’s go. We’re all

00:22:18.000 –> 00:22:18.000
in.

00:22:19.000 –> 00:22:21.000
Just an idea. Yeah. And it’s so different

00:22:21.000 –> 00:22:25.000
than most advisors that are breaking away to

00:22:25.000 –> 00:22:28.000
establish their own independent firm. There’s likely the

00:22:28.000 –> 00:22:29.000
key advisors

00:22:29.000 –> 00:22:30.000
are on board.

00:22:31.000 –> 00:22:33.000
They’re probably involved in the due diligence or

00:22:33.000 –> 00:22:35.000
at least consulted throughout the process.

00:22:35.000 –> 00:22:38.000
It’s oftentimes, though, it’s the support team that’s

00:22:38.000 –> 00:22:40.000
kinda left in the dark just for confidentiality

00:22:40.000 –> 00:22:43.000
purposes. But you really took this confidentiality Gilliland

00:22:43.000 –> 00:22:46.000
discreteness to a whole new level. It’s a

00:22:46.000 –> 00:22:48.000
pretty insane story. And I’m curious too. I

00:22:48.000 –> 00:22:51.000
mean, anyone who goes independent is taking a

00:22:51.000 –> 00:22:53.000
risk. They’re taking the risk of what if

00:22:53.000 –> 00:22:55.000
my business doesn’t come, taking the risk of

00:22:56.000 –> 00:22:57.000
not having an income for a period of

00:22:57.000 –> 00:23:00.000
time, taking the risk of not getting a

00:23:00.000 –> 00:23:02.000
big check by going to a broker dealer

00:23:02.000 –> 00:23:03.000
firm. So you not only did you take

00:23:03.000 –> 00:23:05.000
that risk, but you also own the building

00:23:05.000 –> 00:23:08.000
you’re in and did this without really knowing

00:23:08.000 –> 00:23:10.000
what the base of the business will look

00:23:10.000 –> 00:23:12.000
like How did you reconcile doing this and

00:23:12.000 –> 00:23:13.000
just going for it?

00:23:14.000 –> 00:23:16.000
A lot of, faith and hope

00:23:17.000 –> 00:23:19.000
just I mean, literally just faith and hope

00:23:19.000 –> 00:23:23.000
and trust. And I believed in relationships. I

00:23:23.000 –> 00:23:25.000
believed in myself. I believed in what we

00:23:25.000 –> 00:23:27.000
were gonna go build. Believed in the advisors

00:23:27.000 –> 00:23:29.000
and our team and our staff that came

00:23:29.000 –> 00:23:31.000
with us as well. And that was just

00:23:31.000 –> 00:23:33.000
the advisors. We also had who’s now our

00:23:33.000 –> 00:23:35.000
COO, Kate hurt is her name now, but

00:23:35.000 –> 00:23:37.000
Kate Solburger, she came with us from day

00:23:37.000 –> 00:23:40.000
one and Robin Edwards and so many others

00:23:40.000 –> 00:23:42.000
that just came with us Lauren Hubert, they

00:23:42.000 –> 00:23:44.000
were with us from day one back at

00:23:44.000 –> 00:23:45.000
that firm, and they said, you know what?

00:23:45.000 –> 00:23:47.000
Yeah. We’re also gonna come with you as

00:23:47.000 –> 00:23:49.000
well. And so it just it was one

00:23:49.000 –> 00:23:51.000
of those things that I think in life,

00:23:51.000 –> 00:23:52.000
sometimes

00:23:53.000 –> 00:23:56.000
you don’t make that big decision until it

00:23:56.000 –> 00:23:57.000
hurts enough.

00:23:57.000 –> 00:24:00.000
And for me, the upside was so great

00:24:00.000 –> 00:24:02.000
the downside, I was just so less than

00:24:02.000 –> 00:24:04.000
worried about it because I thought if I

00:24:04.000 –> 00:24:07.000
can make a career and do this and

00:24:07.000 –> 00:24:09.000
the amount of sales and the activity and

00:24:09.000 –> 00:24:10.000
the grit that you have to do, which

00:24:10.000 –> 00:24:12.000
I’m thankful for. I thought, you know what,

00:24:12.000 –> 00:24:14.000
even if this thing doesn’t work, we’ll figure

00:24:14.000 –> 00:24:17.000
it out. But honestly, I mean, I bet

00:24:17.000 –> 00:24:18.000
you know, there was a few sleepless nights,

00:24:18.000 –> 00:24:19.000
but I would say

00:24:20.000 –> 00:24:22.000
ninety five percent of the thought

00:24:22.000 –> 00:24:23.000
was all positive

00:24:24.000 –> 00:24:27.000
and just the expectations of what would happen.

00:24:27.000 –> 00:24:29.000
Yeah. Just thinking about what’s possible.

00:24:29.000 –> 00:24:30.000
So

00:24:30.000 –> 00:24:32.000
end of your first year as visionary,

00:24:33.000 –> 00:24:35.000
you had around three hundred million in assets

00:24:35.000 –> 00:24:36.000
across twelve advisors.

00:24:37.000 –> 00:24:39.000
And today, you shared your north of one

00:24:39.000 –> 00:24:42.000
point eight billion in assets and about thirty

00:24:42.000 –> 00:24:44.000
advisors. How have you grown the advisor ranks

00:24:44.000 –> 00:24:47.000
and what’s responsible for the very impressive growth

00:24:47.000 –> 00:24:49.000
and assets? Yeah. I would just say it’s

00:24:49.000 –> 00:24:51.000
going out and what we call playing in

00:24:51.000 –> 00:24:53.000
traffic. It’s getting to know people in the

00:24:53.000 –> 00:24:55.000
industry. Getting referred to great people in the

00:24:55.000 –> 00:24:56.000
industry,

00:24:56.000 –> 00:24:58.000
and whether they’ve been at a bank channel,

00:24:59.000 –> 00:25:01.000
an insurance channel, a wire house channel, an

00:25:01.000 –> 00:25:02.000
independent channel,

00:25:03.000 –> 00:25:05.000
It’s just us going out and talking to

00:25:05.000 –> 00:25:06.000
other individuals,

00:25:06.000 –> 00:25:09.000
but also our advisors referring us to individuals.

00:25:09.000 –> 00:25:12.000
I mean, so our advisors, they’re they’re happy

00:25:12.000 –> 00:25:14.000
they are fine with referring us to people

00:25:14.000 –> 00:25:16.000
that they think would be other good advisors

00:25:16.000 –> 00:25:18.000
inside of our firm. And so it’s just

00:25:18.000 –> 00:25:21.000
a it’s a collaboration of of people coming

00:25:21.000 –> 00:25:23.000
together for the greater good and building a

00:25:23.000 –> 00:25:23.000
platform.

00:25:24.000 –> 00:25:26.000
And look, the better we do at visionary,

00:25:26.000 –> 00:25:28.000
the better the advisor does, because we can

00:25:28.000 –> 00:25:30.000
offer more and more to them that ultimately

00:25:31.000 –> 00:25:34.000
helps their bottom line become more profitable. And

00:25:34.000 –> 00:25:36.000
when you’re brand spanking new and you have

00:25:36.000 –> 00:25:39.000
three hundred million, well, you’re charging for technology.

00:25:39.000 –> 00:25:41.000
You’re doing this. You’re charging for that. Well,

00:25:41.000 –> 00:25:43.000
as we’ve grown, it’s so we made a

00:25:43.000 –> 00:25:46.000
major investment into a platform, into our technology

00:25:46.000 –> 00:25:48.000
platform, and we pay for that for our

00:25:48.000 –> 00:25:51.000
advisors. Well, seven years ago, there we couldn’t

00:25:51.000 –> 00:25:53.000
even think about doing that. But today, we

00:25:53.000 –> 00:25:54.000
can.

00:25:54.000 –> 00:25:56.000
And then, you know, what’s the next three

00:25:56.000 –> 00:25:57.000
years in the five years and seven years

00:25:57.000 –> 00:25:59.000
and ten years ahead of that? What does

00:25:59.000 –> 00:26:01.000
that look like? So our vision is not

00:26:01.000 –> 00:26:03.000
about size. It’s not about x billions of

00:26:03.000 –> 00:26:06.000
dollars under management. Our vision is the platform

00:26:07.000 –> 00:26:09.000
that we build, and what it ultimately does

00:26:09.000 –> 00:26:10.000
for the interdependent

00:26:10.000 –> 00:26:12.000
advisor that’s on our platform

00:26:13.000 –> 00:26:15.000
that chooses to partner with visionary wealth advisors.

00:26:15.000 –> 00:26:18.000
How efficient can we make their practice and

00:26:18.000 –> 00:26:19.000
give them the best platform boss.

00:26:23.000 –> 00:26:25.000
Can you explain this concept of interdependence

00:26:26.000 –> 00:26:28.000
versus independence? What does it mean to you?

00:26:28.000 –> 00:26:30.000
Yeah. It’s a great question. And just in

00:26:30.000 –> 00:26:33.000
all transparency, I think if affirms, you will

00:26:33.000 –> 00:26:34.000
have people come on, especially a firm like

00:26:34.000 –> 00:26:37.000
ours where you individual advisors coming in to

00:26:37.000 –> 00:26:40.000
the firm, we’ve lost a couple of advisors.

00:26:40.000 –> 00:26:42.000
And so what happens is those advisors

00:26:43.000 –> 00:26:44.000
as they grow,

00:26:45.000 –> 00:26:47.000
they see the greatness in running and doing

00:26:47.000 –> 00:26:49.000
your own thing as well. Right? So I

00:26:49.000 –> 00:26:51.000
can’t blame those advisors for that. Now what

00:26:51.000 –> 00:26:53.000
can I learn from it? But I can’t

00:26:53.000 –> 00:26:55.000
blame them for wanting to do their thing

00:26:55.000 –> 00:26:57.000
and have their name on the wall. And

00:26:57.000 –> 00:26:59.000
that’s what some of these advisors, a couple

00:26:59.000 –> 00:27:00.000
that have left, that’s what’s happened.

00:27:01.000 –> 00:27:02.000
But the interdependent

00:27:02.000 –> 00:27:05.000
relationship is I know the cost that it

00:27:05.000 –> 00:27:07.000
takes, and the time that it takes, and

00:27:07.000 –> 00:27:09.000
the compliance, and the marketing, the branding, the

00:27:09.000 –> 00:27:10.000
web site, the cybersecurity,

00:27:11.000 –> 00:27:13.000
all the stuff that goes along with it,

00:27:13.000 –> 00:27:16.000
most advisors don’t wanna have to worry about

00:27:16.000 –> 00:27:18.000
things like a lease on a printer.

00:27:18.000 –> 00:27:20.000
Right? They don’t wanna sign their lease and

00:27:20.000 –> 00:27:22.000
and personally guarantee a lease on a commercial

00:27:22.000 –> 00:27:25.000
building. They don’t wanna do that. And so

00:27:25.000 –> 00:27:27.000
what we want is the adviser that’s interdependent

00:27:28.000 –> 00:27:30.000
that wants to be independent,

00:27:30.000 –> 00:27:33.000
but doesn’t wanna be in business by themselves.

00:27:33.000 –> 00:27:35.000
They want a platform. They want people. They

00:27:35.000 –> 00:27:36.000
want teams.

00:27:36.000 –> 00:27:38.000
Right? And that’s what we provide. And that’s

00:27:38.000 –> 00:27:39.000
what I think we’re really good at, is

00:27:39.000 –> 00:27:41.000
providing that for our advisors.

00:27:42.000 –> 00:27:44.000
And I think each advisor who joins you,

00:27:44.000 –> 00:27:46.000
even though they own their book of business,

00:27:46.000 –> 00:27:49.000
they all adopt the visionary brand. Is that

00:27:49.000 –> 00:27:52.000
correct? Yeah. So ninety something percent of them

00:27:52.000 –> 00:27:55.000
have visionary, just visionary only, but a few

00:27:55.000 –> 00:27:57.000
have visionary advisors and then, like, the insight

00:27:57.000 –> 00:28:00.000
group, for example, which is a team here

00:28:00.000 –> 00:28:02.000
with two of our advisors. They’re the insight

00:28:02.000 –> 00:28:05.000
group of visionary wealth advisors or the Verigieg

00:28:05.000 –> 00:28:07.000
group of visionary wealth advisors.

00:28:07.000 –> 00:28:10.000
And what’s the benefit of doing it that

00:28:10.000 –> 00:28:12.000
way? Can and the advisors that join you

00:28:12.000 –> 00:28:15.000
course, they have the option of having their

00:28:15.000 –> 00:28:17.000
own brand. And many people are excited by

00:28:17.000 –> 00:28:20.000
creating their own DNA and building their own

00:28:20.000 –> 00:28:23.000
own identity versus helping build something existing. So

00:28:23.000 –> 00:28:25.000
what’s the rationale for that? Yeah. And and

00:28:25.000 –> 00:28:26.000
look, I don’t think there’s a right or

00:28:26.000 –> 00:28:28.000
wrong. I think it’s just gonna, again, find

00:28:28.000 –> 00:28:31.000
that person that wants to be interdependent versus

00:28:31.000 –> 00:28:34.000
independent is what we’re looking for is the

00:28:34.000 –> 00:28:36.000
rationale behind that is, in my opinion, take

00:28:36.000 –> 00:28:38.000
Apple, for example, they don’t have the Diamond

00:28:38.000 –> 00:28:41.000
Apple store. They don’t have the Gilliland Apple

00:28:41.000 –> 00:28:43.000
store in Saint Louis. And in Brooklyn, New

00:28:43.000 –> 00:28:45.000
York, it’s the Diamond Apple store. Right? It’s

00:28:45.000 –> 00:28:47.000
Apple. And what do you know about Apple?

00:28:47.000 –> 00:28:49.000
It stands for a great product

00:28:50.000 –> 00:28:51.000
with efficiency,

00:28:51.000 –> 00:28:52.000
easy to use,

00:28:53.000 –> 00:28:55.000
good looking, right, all those things. You understand

00:28:56.000 –> 00:28:58.000
just using Apple’s the analogy here, you understand

00:28:58.000 –> 00:28:59.000
what Apple stands for.

00:29:00.000 –> 00:29:02.000
No different than what what I see and

00:29:02.000 –> 00:29:03.000
what we see is what we call the

00:29:03.000 –> 00:29:06.000
impossible company is we’re trying to build this

00:29:06.000 –> 00:29:07.000
impossible company. Don’t say I can

00:29:08.000 –> 00:29:09.000
say, how do we do it? How do

00:29:09.000 –> 00:29:11.000
we build this? And we’re getting feedback from

00:29:11.000 –> 00:29:13.000
our advisors and our team and our executive

00:29:13.000 –> 00:29:15.000
team. And and so how do we build

00:29:15.000 –> 00:29:16.000
this impossible company? How do we build the

00:29:16.000 –> 00:29:20.000
quote unquote Apple of financial planning. And so

00:29:20.000 –> 00:29:20.000
visionary,

00:29:21.000 –> 00:29:23.000
my vision, our vision is when I see

00:29:23.000 –> 00:29:24.000
that logo

00:29:24.000 –> 00:29:26.000
of somebody in the community sees that logo,

00:29:26.000 –> 00:29:29.000
they know what it stands for. They know

00:29:29.000 –> 00:29:30.000
that they do comprehensive

00:29:30.000 –> 00:29:31.000
high

00:29:31.000 –> 00:29:33.000
end white glove service,

00:29:33.000 –> 00:29:35.000
high touch, financial planning.

00:29:36.000 –> 00:29:38.000
They know they are really good people in

00:29:38.000 –> 00:29:41.000
the community. They give back, whether it’s their

00:29:41.000 –> 00:29:43.000
place of worship, or it’s a charity for

00:29:43.000 –> 00:29:45.000
cancer, or it’s their kid’s school, or their

00:29:45.000 –> 00:29:47.000
coaching in their kid’s baseball team in the

00:29:47.000 –> 00:29:47.000
community,

00:29:48.000 –> 00:29:50.000
they know what that stands for, and that’s

00:29:50.000 –> 00:29:52.000
what it’s about for people in my opinion.

00:29:53.000 –> 00:29:56.000
Amazing. And that’s a a good segue into

00:29:56.000 –> 00:29:59.000
my next question, which is about visionary’s mission

00:29:59.000 –> 00:30:01.000
and how this flows into your business.

00:30:03.000 –> 00:30:05.000
Yeah. So our mission statement is is to

00:30:05.000 –> 00:30:07.000
help people achieve future greater than their past.

00:30:07.000 –> 00:30:08.000
I mean, if if I had everybody that

00:30:08.000 –> 00:30:10.000
was listening to your show right now, Lewis,

00:30:10.000 –> 00:30:11.000
and I said, to raise your hand if

00:30:11.000 –> 00:30:13.000
you want a future greater than your past,

00:30:14.000 –> 00:30:16.000
I would assume most everybody listening would raise

00:30:16.000 –> 00:30:18.000
their hand. Right? Everybody wants a future greater

00:30:18.000 –> 00:30:21.000
than your past. And so our job is

00:30:21.000 –> 00:30:23.000
to slow down with our clients take them

00:30:23.000 –> 00:30:26.000
off the treadmill of life, set them down

00:30:26.000 –> 00:30:28.000
for an hour, three hours, ten hours a

00:30:28.000 –> 00:30:30.000
year, whatever it takes for that client, and

00:30:30.000 –> 00:30:33.000
really open that Pandora’s box and find out

00:30:33.000 –> 00:30:35.000
internally in their soul, what is important to

00:30:35.000 –> 00:30:38.000
them, what what makes them tick, it’s our

00:30:38.000 –> 00:30:40.000
job to unlock that. And then help all

00:30:40.000 –> 00:30:42.000
those things come out. And so then it’s,

00:30:42.000 –> 00:30:44.000
again, to help those people achieve a future

00:30:44.000 –> 00:30:45.000
greater than their past. And I know a

00:30:45.000 –> 00:30:47.000
lot of people say that and they do

00:30:47.000 –> 00:30:48.000
that. They’re doing great jobs in our industry

00:30:48.000 –> 00:30:50.000
of doing that, but that’s just to our

00:30:50.000 –> 00:30:52.000
core. That’s what we believe is to see

00:30:52.000 –> 00:30:53.000
that future be greater.

00:30:54.000 –> 00:30:57.000
And helping them daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, whatever

00:30:57.000 –> 00:30:59.000
it may be, helping them achieve that.

00:31:00.000 –> 00:31:02.000
Love it. And how about charity work and

00:31:02.000 –> 00:31:03.000
community engagement?

00:31:04.000 –> 00:31:06.000
Yeah. That’s huge. I mean, we have a

00:31:06.000 –> 00:31:08.000
lot of people involved in tons of charities,

00:31:08.000 –> 00:31:10.000
and whether they’re setting on boards, it’s being

00:31:10.000 –> 00:31:13.000
on, involved running events. And my wife and

00:31:13.000 –> 00:31:16.000
I, personally, we have a a charity of

00:31:16.000 –> 00:31:18.000
foundation. We started fourteen years ago called swing

00:31:18.000 –> 00:31:20.000
four Hope. F o r e because I’m

00:31:20.000 –> 00:31:22.000
a big golfer. It’s a swing for hope,

00:31:22.000 –> 00:31:25.000
and we raise money every single year to

00:31:25.000 –> 00:31:27.000
give back to those that have been affected

00:31:27.000 –> 00:31:29.000
by cancer. My mother-in-law,

00:31:29.000 –> 00:31:32.000
three of her sisters or mom and and

00:31:32.000 –> 00:31:34.000
two of her sisters all got diagnosed with

00:31:34.000 –> 00:31:36.000
cancer. My dad was six weeks after we

00:31:36.000 –> 00:31:38.000
started the foundation, had cancer.

00:31:38.000 –> 00:31:40.000
Her dad a year after that got cancer.

00:31:40.000 –> 00:31:42.000
So three of our four parents have cancer

00:31:42.000 –> 00:31:45.000
and or had cancer and think thankfully so

00:31:45.000 –> 00:31:47.000
far they beat that disease. And so we

00:31:47.000 –> 00:31:49.000
just make it our mission is that we

00:31:49.000 –> 00:31:51.000
feel like if we’ve been putting this earth

00:31:51.000 –> 00:31:53.000
to get, right, we all make great money

00:31:53.000 –> 00:31:55.000
from our wonderful clients, but we also have

00:31:55.000 –> 00:31:57.000
to give back to that community. And that’s

00:31:57.000 –> 00:31:59.000
just what we believe as a firm, but

00:31:59.000 –> 00:32:02.000
just individually as well for swing for hope.

00:32:02.000 –> 00:32:03.000
It’s a passion of ours that we just

00:32:03.000 –> 00:32:05.000
wanna help as many people as we possibly

00:32:05.000 –> 00:32:07.000
can And we help, you know, pay mortgages,

00:32:07.000 –> 00:32:09.000
pay their power bill, pay for them to

00:32:09.000 –> 00:32:11.000
get to and from chemo, whatever it may

00:32:11.000 –> 00:32:14.000
be, that’s what we’re about. It’s amazing. Our

00:32:14.000 –> 00:32:16.000
clients come out, our advisors come out, support

00:32:16.000 –> 00:32:18.000
the cause, and we just have a three

00:32:18.000 –> 00:32:19.000
or four events a year to really make

00:32:19.000 –> 00:32:20.000
a big impact.

00:32:21.000 –> 00:32:23.000
That’s incredible. We’ll put the link to

00:32:23.000 –> 00:32:26.000
the charity on the episode page. So folks

00:32:26.000 –> 00:32:28.000
can check it out and hopefully contribute.

00:32:29.000 –> 00:32:31.000
A really cool initiative. So two more questions

00:32:31.000 –> 00:32:33.000
for you. I know you’re the host of

00:32:33.000 –> 00:32:36.000
the Circative Success podcast. You’ve been doing it

00:32:36.000 –> 00:32:37.000
for four to four and a half years.

00:32:37.000 –> 00:32:39.000
So why didn’t you give a plug for

00:32:39.000 –> 00:32:40.000
it? What do you talk about? Why’d you

00:32:40.000 –> 00:32:43.000
do it? And ultimately, how does it impact

00:32:43.000 –> 00:32:44.000
your business?

00:32:44.000 –> 00:32:46.000
Yeah. Yes. So thanks for talking about that.

00:32:46.000 –> 00:32:48.000
Yeah. The circle of success, it’s been around

00:32:48.000 –> 00:32:51.000
for since February of two thousand sixteen, I

00:32:51.000 –> 00:32:53.000
think. And so we’ve had lots of shows

00:32:53.000 –> 00:32:55.000
and lots of great Gilliland and really What

00:32:55.000 –> 00:32:57.000
it’s about, I always say it’s the it’s

00:32:57.000 –> 00:32:59.000
to give people the best tips and tools

00:32:59.000 –> 00:33:01.000
for their life, right, whether that’s through wealth

00:33:01.000 –> 00:33:04.000
management, it’s through mindset, it’s through business topics,

00:33:04.000 –> 00:33:05.000
it’s through goal planning.

00:33:06.000 –> 00:33:08.000
All the things that we wanna do, we’ve

00:33:08.000 –> 00:33:10.000
had hall of fame athletes to big time

00:33:10.000 –> 00:33:13.000
business people to your normal everyday business owner

00:33:13.000 –> 00:33:15.000
running around on the streets we can learn

00:33:15.000 –> 00:33:18.000
from. And it’s really picking their brains and

00:33:18.000 –> 00:33:20.000
finding out what’s made them tick for the

00:33:20.000 –> 00:33:22.000
over their lifetime, over their career and what’s

00:33:22.000 –> 00:33:24.000
made them successful. It really, for me, it

00:33:24.000 –> 00:33:26.000
comes down to the four things that are

00:33:26.000 –> 00:33:28.000
the circuits of success. And it’s your attitude,

00:33:29.000 –> 00:33:30.000
your belief system,

00:33:30.000 –> 00:33:33.000
the actions that you have to take every

00:33:33.000 –> 00:33:35.000
single day, ultimately get your results.

00:33:35.000 –> 00:33:37.000
And when you follow those beliefs and those

00:33:37.000 –> 00:33:40.000
attitudes and that action, you will get results

00:33:40.000 –> 00:33:42.000
in your life. And so it’s really kind

00:33:42.000 –> 00:33:44.000
of peeling the onion layers back on so

00:33:44.000 –> 00:33:46.000
many great people from the men and women

00:33:46.000 –> 00:33:48.000
around the world and finding out what’s made

00:33:48.000 –> 00:33:50.000
them successful in those areas and how it’s

00:33:50.000 –> 00:33:54.000
helped them personally, professionally, emotionally, intellectually, financially,

00:33:54.000 –> 00:33:57.000
etcetera, to really live the life of their

00:33:57.000 –> 00:33:58.000
dreams. And, again, to help people achieve a

00:33:58.000 –> 00:34:01.000
future greater than their I mean, of course,

00:34:01.000 –> 00:34:03.000
you’re doing that podcast because it’s something you’re

00:34:03.000 –> 00:34:05.000
passionate about. You’re not getting paid to do

00:34:05.000 –> 00:34:08.000
it. So as a business person, have you

00:34:08.000 –> 00:34:10.000
been able to track it all? What’s sort

00:34:10.000 –> 00:34:12.000
of growth it’s it’s led to. And I’m

00:34:12.000 –> 00:34:14.000
asking because a lot of our adviser listeners,

00:34:14.000 –> 00:34:16.000
one of the things they envision is having

00:34:16.000 –> 00:34:18.000
a podcast or at least having the ability

00:34:18.000 –> 00:34:22.000
to and being able to generate business in

00:34:22.000 –> 00:34:24.000
a different way, scaled communication. What’s been your

00:34:24.000 –> 00:34:27.000
experience with that? Yeah. There certainly has been

00:34:27.000 –> 00:34:29.000
business from that. There’s no doubt about it.

00:34:29.000 –> 00:34:31.000
I mean, it’s one of those things you

00:34:31.000 –> 00:34:33.000
get done having a conversation with somebody for

00:34:33.000 –> 00:34:34.000
forty five minutes

00:34:34.000 –> 00:34:36.000
and getting deep into their life and their

00:34:36.000 –> 00:34:38.000
story and their Gilliland

00:34:38.000 –> 00:34:40.000
what’s made them tick, as I always say,

00:34:41.000 –> 00:34:43.000
I’ve just built a different relationship with that

00:34:43.000 –> 00:34:45.000
person. Right? Versus me just wanted having coffee

00:34:45.000 –> 00:34:48.000
and having a nice coffee meeting and talking

00:34:48.000 –> 00:34:49.000
about whatever,

00:34:49.000 –> 00:34:51.000
I have found that people that I and

00:34:51.000 –> 00:34:53.000
I’m not doing it to try to get

00:34:53.000 –> 00:34:54.000
them as a client. I’m really not. I’m

00:34:54.000 –> 00:34:57.000
doing it because for me, I jokingly call

00:34:57.000 –> 00:34:58.000
it my weekly therapy.

00:34:58.000 –> 00:35:00.000
I’m setting down with some of the best

00:35:00.000 –> 00:35:02.000
people in our world

00:35:02.000 –> 00:35:03.000
on leadership

00:35:03.000 –> 00:35:05.000
and the books they’ve read and the the

00:35:05.000 –> 00:35:07.000
failures they’ve had, the successes that they’ve had,

00:35:07.000 –> 00:35:09.000
what do they do from an exercise How

00:35:09.000 –> 00:35:11.000
do they eat better? How do they become

00:35:11.000 –> 00:35:12.000
a better dad or a husband or a

00:35:12.000 –> 00:35:14.000
wife? Whatever it may be.

00:35:14.000 –> 00:35:16.000
I selfishly get to do that every single

00:35:16.000 –> 00:35:17.000
week.

00:35:17.000 –> 00:35:19.000
With these people. Right? I’m learning. I’m going

00:35:19.000 –> 00:35:21.000
through therapy, but what does that do? That

00:35:21.000 –> 00:35:23.000
allows me, in my opinion, to give more

00:35:23.000 –> 00:35:24.000
to our advisors.

00:35:25.000 –> 00:35:27.000
I’m learning. Right? I’m growing. I’m in the

00:35:27.000 –> 00:35:29.000
trenches as well as an advisor. So I

00:35:29.000 –> 00:35:30.000
know what’s going on out there. I know

00:35:30.000 –> 00:35:33.000
the questions we’re getting from people. It allows

00:35:33.000 –> 00:35:34.000
me to be better for our advisors. It

00:35:34.000 –> 00:35:36.000
allows me to be better for my family.

00:35:36.000 –> 00:35:37.000
It allows me to be better for the

00:35:37.000 –> 00:35:38.000
community.

00:35:38.000 –> 00:35:40.000
And if we’re continually getting better day in

00:35:40.000 –> 00:35:43.000
and day out, we’re all gonna win. And,

00:35:43.000 –> 00:35:45.000
yes, do we get clients? Absolutely. Do I

00:35:45.000 –> 00:35:47.000
track it? No. Because the point of that

00:35:47.000 –> 00:35:50.000
is I wanna get better I want other

00:35:50.000 –> 00:35:52.000
people to get better that are listening to

00:35:52.000 –> 00:35:54.000
it. And our following, our listenership continues to

00:35:54.000 –> 00:35:56.000
grow week after week, and it’s just one

00:35:56.000 –> 00:35:58.000
of those things that I know we’re helping

00:35:58.000 –> 00:36:00.000
people get better. And then if I’m at

00:36:00.000 –> 00:36:01.000
a board meeting or I’m somewhere in the

00:36:01.000 –> 00:36:04.000
community, it I mean, weekly, something comes up

00:36:04.000 –> 00:36:06.000
about the podcast and people wanna talk about

00:36:06.000 –> 00:36:08.000
it. So it’s a great conversation starter as

00:36:08.000 –> 00:36:09.000
well.

00:36:14.000 –> 00:36:16.000
Final question that will let you get on

00:36:16.000 –> 00:36:18.000
with your day, something we always ask, any

00:36:18.000 –> 00:36:21.000
advice to advisors who may be thinking about

00:36:21.000 –> 00:36:22.000
making the leap independence?

00:36:23.000 –> 00:36:24.000
Absolutely. I would say,

00:36:25.000 –> 00:36:27.000
trust your your gut is usually right. And

00:36:27.000 –> 00:36:29.000
I shouldn’t say use it. For me, it’s

00:36:29.000 –> 00:36:31.000
always right. Maybe not at the level you

00:36:31.000 –> 00:36:33.000
think it will be as quick as you

00:36:33.000 –> 00:36:35.000
think it will be, but I do believe

00:36:35.000 –> 00:36:37.000
whatever your gut is telling you is what

00:36:37.000 –> 00:36:38.000
you should follow. Because

00:36:39.000 –> 00:36:40.000
if you go to your head, right, to

00:36:40.000 –> 00:36:43.000
your actual brain, your brain is gonna give

00:36:43.000 –> 00:36:44.000
you reasons. It’s wired to tell us why

00:36:44.000 –> 00:36:47.000
it’s gonna be so difficult, and it’s gonna

00:36:47.000 –> 00:36:50.000
tell us why you shouldn’t make that leap.

00:36:50.000 –> 00:36:52.000
Why all of your clients won’t come with

00:36:52.000 –> 00:36:54.000
you, why this won’t happen, and why that

00:36:54.000 –> 00:36:56.000
won’t happen. But what your gut’s telling you

00:36:56.000 –> 00:36:58.000
is I want more. I wanna be part

00:36:58.000 –> 00:37:00.000
of an interdependent an independent relationship.

00:37:00.000 –> 00:37:01.000
That’s what I’m seeking.

00:37:02.000 –> 00:37:05.000
And trust me, you will have more clients

00:37:05.000 –> 00:37:06.000
come with you than you think we’ll have

00:37:06.000 –> 00:37:08.000
come with you. We’ve seen it happen

00:37:09.000 –> 00:37:12.000
time and time again. And the number one

00:37:12.000 –> 00:37:13.000
fear people have, and I’m sure you see

00:37:13.000 –> 00:37:14.000
this, Lewis, is what?

00:37:15.000 –> 00:37:17.000
My clients won’t go with me. My clients

00:37:17.000 –> 00:37:19.000
don’t wanna move. My old firm or the

00:37:19.000 –> 00:37:22.000
firm I’m at is they’re the reason they’re

00:37:22.000 –> 00:37:22.000
my client.

00:37:23.000 –> 00:37:25.000
Oh, that’s just not true. They’re with you

00:37:25.000 –> 00:37:28.000
because of who you are. Even as a

00:37:28.000 –> 00:37:29.000
leader of visionary wealth advisors,

00:37:30.000 –> 00:37:32.000
I’m not naive to think the only reason

00:37:32.000 –> 00:37:34.000
somebody’s a client of a guy or a

00:37:34.000 –> 00:37:36.000
gal at our firm is because of visionary.

00:37:36.000 –> 00:37:38.000
No. It’s because of that adviser.

00:37:39.000 –> 00:37:41.000
They own the relationship. And if you truly

00:37:41.000 –> 00:37:42.000
own your relationship,

00:37:43.000 –> 00:37:45.000
I say take the jump because you’re gonna

00:37:45.000 –> 00:37:45.000
be very successful,

00:37:46.000 –> 00:37:47.000
and your mind will be blown

00:37:48.000 –> 00:37:50.000
six months from now when you make that

00:37:50.000 –> 00:37:51.000
jump of what actually happened.

00:37:52.000 –> 00:37:55.000
Yeah. Powerful advice. Brett, this has been a

00:37:55.000 –> 00:37:58.000
really cool interview. Thank you for enlightening us

00:37:58.000 –> 00:38:01.000
sharing your Jerry Maguire moment, and also just

00:38:01.000 –> 00:38:03.000
giving us some great parting words of wisdom.

00:38:03.000 –> 00:38:06.000
Absolutely, Lewis. Always good to be with you

00:38:06.000 –> 00:38:07.000
and, love what you guys are doing and

00:38:07.000 –> 00:38:10.000
you’re helping tons of people Gilliland just absolutely

00:38:10.000 –> 00:38:11.000
love it. So keep up the great work

00:38:11.000 –> 00:38:13.000
and appreciate you having me on the show.