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Barrier Busting
The Barrier Busting podcast offers insights, strategies, and inspiring stories that explore practical tips and powerful tools for unlocking our full potential.
Barrier Busting
Career Pivots: Transforming Setbacks into Success
Can the end of one career be the beginning of something greater? Join us on the Barrier Busting Podcast as we unravel the dynamic journey of Financial Advisor, Alex Kastrinakis, whose career pivots are a masterclass in resilience and innovation. From the bustling electronics repair era at Pittsfield Radio to the unforeseen challenges of GE's downsizing, Alex transformed setbacks into stepping stones, proving that adaptability is key when industries shift and communities change.
As Alex reminisces about his time as a small business owner, he paints a vivid picture of Pittsfield Radio as more than just a shop, but also a community cornerstone akin to a lively barbershop. The decline of the electronics repair industry might have spelled disaster for his business, but Alex's strategic pivot to the audio-video market demonstrates the power of recognizing and seizing new opportunities when competitors falter. Through this candid reflection, Alex shares insights on steering businesses through adversity and the innovative mindset that turned potential pitfalls into successful ventures.
Navigating health struggles, Alex's journey didn't stop with audio-video success. Encouraged by friends and mentors, he ventured into the insurance industry—a pivotal moment that eventually led him to his true calling in financial planning. In our conversation, Alex reveals the perseverance needed to overcome rejections and financial challenges to build a thriving future in a new field. This episode is a testament to the transformative power of believing in oneself and the fulfillment found in advising others as they navigate their financial journeys. Tune in for an inspiring story of unexpected career paths leading to personal and professional satisfaction.
Are you feeling stuck? Is something holding you back? Are there obstacles in your way? Well, let's smash through those obstacles so that you can live your best life.
Speaker 1:Hi, I'm Matt Brooks, founder of Matt Brooks Coaching, and I'm fascinated with how people overcome barriers and achieve success. Join me for insights, strategies and inspiring stories as we explore practical tips and powerful tools to unlock your full potential. This is the Barrier Busting Podcast. Well, welcome back to the Barrier Busting Podcast.
Speaker 1:This is a part of a series that I'm doing on pivoting career pivoting, pivoting in life in general and, if you recall, if you've been listening, if you haven't, I did a show on pivoting in life in general and, if you recall, if you've been listening, if you haven't, did a few show. I did a show on pivoting in general. I did a show on pivoting in your 50s and ageism, and I've had a guest on already who was a school librarian for 20 years, who's now gone into her own small business. I have a couple more guests coming on and then in a few weeks I'm going to have a job recruiter coming on for a couple episodes. So I think this is a pretty interesting series and today I have someone who's, I will admit, I've known a long time. He's a great guy and he's been through a few interesting pivots, both with his prior business and with his career, and I find his story particularly interesting.
Speaker 1:My guest today is Alex Castronakis, who is a financial planner for LPL Financial, where he focuses on helping families and small businesses pursue financial balance. For 30 years, Alex owned and operated several small businesses, including Pittsfield Radio, Electronic Entertainment Solutions and Superior Wireless, until he first transitioned into the insurance business and then, ultimately, financial planning in 2016, making the move to open his own financial planning business, Shire Wealth Management LLC, in 2022. You can learn more about him and his business by visiting wwwshirewealthcom. That's S-H-I-R-E wealthcom. Alex, it's so awesome to have you on the show. Thank you so much for joining us.
Speaker 2:Great to be here, Matt. Thank you.
Speaker 1:Well, I really appreciate it because I think you have done some interesting pivoting in your life and you didn't study how to pivot, so you just kind of went about it right and you figured it out very well. You were very successful. So we want to pick your brain a little bit. Let's talk first about the 30 years you were owning and operating a business. Tell us first about Pittsfield Radio. What kind of business was it? This is in Pittsfield, massachusetts I'm speaking of and what kind of business was it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so when I went to work with my dad at Pittsfield Radio in 1986 or 7. It was electronics parts, distribution and some peripherals that went along with that.
Speaker 1:And it was particularly successful because Pittsfield at the time was where GE was right. There was a huge business from GE, wasn't there?
Speaker 2:Yeah, we sold into GE and then we sold to anybody that really fixed anything that had to do with electronics, which in that day and time was a pretty big business as well.
Speaker 1:I remember, I remember the TV repairman and all that. Now we just buy stuff and throw it out when we're done with it. Right, that is true. I mean, you should see, I live in New Jersey and we all have these town dumps with recycling centers in them and there's this big, enormous you know, I don't know what the hell it is. It's enormous that you put electronics in and I went down there with a printer that died and I walked in and there must have been 300 flat-screen televisions in there right, Yep same in our town, and I imagine every other one out there as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So that that was the end of a Pittsfield radio when that age started to come up, right.
Speaker 2:When we started to build things that we didn't repair right. That was a big part of it. And then G? Uh downsized in the Pittsfield area as well. Uh, sometime in the nineties, I think.
Speaker 1:And, um, that we took a big hit at that moment as well. Yeah, yeah, um. But first let's go back to the business itself, cause I remember you really enjoyed it, right? What was the experience of owning your own business like for you?
Speaker 2:Uh, it was fun. Um wasn't always profitable, but it was a lot of fun and a lot of feel good moments. Um you know, we knew all our customers. They all came in or we went and visited with them and it was really enjoyable.
Speaker 1:I remember your store was kind of a hangout right.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, we made I don't know how many pots of coffee in a day. People would just come in Back when smoking was legal, they'd come in and smoke. I inevitably changed that because they were killing me, right um so, but it was kind of like.
Speaker 1:I remember it it was kind of like barbershop. When I saw the movie barbershop I was like, oh my god, that's pittsfield radio right, it was very much barbershop.
Speaker 2:No one ever just came in, bought something and walked out the door it was. It was always a an episode, so to speak, when people came by and it was great. That had to be fun, right. Yeah, it was a blast.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you, so you were in the store all the time, right.
Speaker 2:Till I first changed it. Yes, right.
Speaker 1:Right, okay, okay. So at some point that's what I want to talk about now At some point you see the writing on the wall for, for that type of business, things were changing and you begin to think that your business was becoming less viable, right? So what made you first start thinking this way? And then take us through the progression of your thinking to the point where you decided to make a fundamental change to your business.
Speaker 2:Sure, I mean it's probably going to sound a little bit simple, right? Um, sales were down, uh, way down, and continuing to decline, um, so you try to reach for further or more market share. Uh, but that was limited as well because it was declining nationwide. Um, when GE downsized, uh, I mean there was no coming back from that. The population of Pittsfield started to decrease, the repair industry was decreasing, so everything was, I mean, really starting to fall apart, and it became very apparent very quickly, because your sales are down. You know, being a business owner, you start to not have any money as well as a result of it.
Speaker 1:Were you freaking out at this point?
Speaker 2:Not freaking out, Uh, but it was pretty uncomfortable. Um, and you know you face hard choices, you know you do, you do what most people do is they're running out of money. You start cutting back in the business and cutting back and this and that, and of course cutting back still typically leads to less sales and lower return. So we tried promoting things which worked somewhat, but again you're promoting, so lower returns. But it was really clear that nationwide, that industry, over the next period of time, whether it be five years or 10 years or even 15 years, that business, the repair business, was going away at the level we were at, the small electronics, the televisions, the audio, the video. We were in the distribution of the antenna business. So people would install the antennas and at that point, you know, cable was paramount but not in all areas. But then there started to be the introduction of the satellite dish and all these other things and it just started to erode pretty much every business we were in.
Speaker 1:Quite frankly, yeah, so you know, you're sitting there and you're seeing this right on the wall. I mean, I'm sure you're thinking what the fuck am I going to do now? Right, right, and so you know how? Did you talk about the process of the wheel spinning in your brain to come up with the next solution, which which was a good solution, as I recall. So tell us all about that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was so kind of staying with what I knew, which was electronics, I decided to look at a couple different paths within that business, obviously not parts. One of the things that also happened in Pittsfield was a very well-known audio video store. That was quite large, mainly audio store, I should say. He decided to call it quits when this downturn happened as well. So I saw a little opportunity there not to beat him but to maybe fill that void a little bit. So I looked at a couple different things. Two specifically I looked at first I actually looked at the ham radio business as a whole because although we never sold ham radio equipment, all the parts and pieces we sold did go to a lot of the ham people because they built their own equipment, they fixed their own equipment, so on and so forth.
Speaker 2:Um, that quickly I quickly have many roadblocks with that, which were, um, the cost of acquisition, the minimum ordering system and the yearly sales volume that they wanted were astronomically high for somebody that was really just starting out, kind of like you're getting out of a flailing business, so it's not like you're cash rich to just go start something new.
Speaker 2:So it didn't take long to realize that was not the space I could occupy or our business could occupy. So that was when I said, geez, you know, the audio video thing might be kind of neat. Um, back then it was still kind of stereo, uh, and the start of the home theater was happening, but, uh, it was still pretty simplistic back then. So I jumped on that and I made a bunch of calls and talked to different companies and different people and looked at different brands and that was a much easier financial transition for us to get going in and, almost natural Cause, again, we sold all the people that fixed that stuff and then we had the retail people that would come in, because in the 80s and early 90s people actually did fix their own stuff as well.
Speaker 1:Um, so we chose that route and which was let me cut you off there to be clear that was you started with stereos it was very much stereo.
Speaker 2:yeah, speakers, speakers, amplifiers, cassette decks. Cd was out at that point. Dvd didn't come out until years later. But yeah, we sold just some components and then, as you know, that business is very liquid, so as things change, you are changing with them. Whether it was every year seemed like in the beginning it was every year and then it turned into every six months and then it turned into every month and then it turned into every day. But it did, it evolved very quickly. That business grew kind of quickly as it evolved out of the stereo business when other things came down the road.
Speaker 1:Right, I gotta, I gotta just cut in because I'm going to tell the listeners I've known Alex for so long that he actually gave me my first CD player. I remember it, I'm the first CD player. That was like, oh shit, now I got to throw it on my records. But it was great, it was awesome. So you moved you, you evolved out of stereos into entertainment systems, right, and you were selling them first. Is that right?
Speaker 2:Correct. So the, the Berkshires obviously became uh, I don't recall which year it was a very predominant second home area. Right, and construction. We had some really big construction booms and, um, as I was selling, you know it turned into, hey, can you come hook that up? And you know it was, yeah, you drive over and you'd hook it up or whatever. And and it just kept growing and growing and growing. It also was the start of when the home movie theater, the home theater, really started to blossom and people started to dedicate a room to a movie theater. Uh, and the vcr, you jumped on that though yeah, we were all over it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh, we were all over it. Yeah, you know, it started with the VCR at a low level and then I can't recall which year now the DVD player was introduced, somewhere in the 90s or 2000s.
Speaker 1:I remember walking into Pittsfield Radio one day, a place that was kind of real old school. It always felt like it was out of the 30s, you know, and you're drinking coffee and everybody's smoking. And then one day I walk in and it's completely different, looks completely different, and there's this massive TV screen and like home entertainment area. You really did a huge overhaul, not just the business, but how it looked, how it seemed to people, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we had to. We had to. You're right, it was. You know, the building was dirty and dingy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but dirty and dingy in the best way. I mean, come on, I love it, it was great.
Speaker 2:No, for the business we were in. It was like walking into what was it? Cheers, right. It was like walking into the bar, right.
Speaker 3:Exactly.
Speaker 2:Warm. I mean, it was, it was, it was a fun place. You know, when you're when you're stopped selling resistors, diodes, capacitors and tubes and now you're taking real money from people and uh, you know you, yeah, you know we did the floors, we redid the store, we put a ceiling in and instead of the one that was 14 feet high that was falling on you as it rained and stuff and things like that, and you know, we did the best we could with the space we had. And, yeah, that business really evolved really year over year over year, until it evolved into that age old saying, there, you know, be careful what you wish for, because you might get it. Which was it got? It started to grow so much that I couldn't really do it anymore. Um, I couldn't really do it anymore and, uh, I sustained some injuries along that ride installing, cause things were getting bigger and bigger and heavier and heavier.
Speaker 1:And uh, so you were doing the installs yourself too.
Speaker 2:I was doing it myself. We, you know you hired people when you could. Um was a very skilled labor field, an unusual skilled labor, um, and it was also skilled with, uh, what you call a high level of care, cause you're walking into homes that are whatever a million or five or $15 million and you're you're the last guy in, you're going into the finished home to hang the television or put the speakers in the ceiling or the walls or the control panels, hang the television or put the speakers in the ceiling or the walls or the control panels. So it's not a job for everybody, because not everybody remembers to wash their hands and not everybody is neat when they're doing things. And you know you got a brand new, freshly white painted wall and then someone goes over and puts their hand and leans on it and leaves a you know a nice black handprint on the wall. Um, so it was very detail oriented and and um, and they're just, I don't know.
Speaker 2:Today even, I think maybe there's more people skilled in that field, but I still don't think it's robust. Um, I think all those fields, all those blue collar uh, uh, skilled labor fields are, are suffering and need help every day. I mean, especially when you look at plumbing, electrical, all of those, those fields, um, and this is, I would say, actually a little more specialized. So, yeah, so not breaking the news here what we're talking about but when your business grew and now you're having trouble staying with it, plus you're not feeling great and you know you need some shoulders fixed and this is failing and that's failing, and you come to that realization like, huh, what am I gonna do the rest of my life?
Speaker 1:because probably not doing this oh yeah, I mean, I think so you. You suddenly, you know, basically throughout your shoulders doing this, and I mean it was from a lifelong of you know, you were used to do a lot of karate, other things and yeah you know, and finally kicked in and you had to have your shoulders replaced at a pretty young age, by the way. And so you come to this very sobering moment where you've pivoted your business. It's kicking ass, but you've got to make a change for you right Correct For longevity purposes of being able to work.
Speaker 2:Yes, there is. There's a serious hurdle now in front of me, because I think a lot of people said I'll just hire five guys. Right, I just, you know, there weren't five guys to hire, right, that was the issue. Right, if I could have just stepped back and stayed management, that would have been a great solution, but that solution wasn't there, unfortunately wasn't there, unfortunately.
Speaker 1:So you're saying really there wasn't the people in the workforce that you could attract, correct, at that time, because it was that specialized. So, without getting into what you then pivoted to, because we're going to talk about that after the break, I'm going to take a quick break in a second here. But you know, I'm just curious because I work with people about how to break through their barriers and in part of that is also how to handle their difficulties and when they face a rough spot, when they face an obstacle like this, you know people handle it in various different ways. How did you handle it psychologically? I mean, here you were, you pivoted this business it's really doing well, but you physically can't do it anymore and you can't find people that really you're comfortable hiring to do it. What effect did that have on, without going too deep, what effect did that have on you and how did you, you know, keep yourself going through that period?
Speaker 2:So I it's funny, I'm going to bounce back and talk about the original pivot as well, as this is the pivot I'm facing right. So I think the one I was facing when my body was giving me issues and you kind of come to this realization like, probably can't stay in this career, at this level anyway, um, I gotta be honest with you, that wasn't horrible for me. Um, I, I realized that I scaled back the installation. I stuck with the service. Um, so I, I, you know, you're, you're leaning on the customers you have and maintaining them, and you maintain them quite at a higher level that way, because you're omitting another portion of the business, right, and, um, I kind of rolled with that. I can't remember how long, maybe a year or two, um, and it was fine. Uh, I missed the larger scope of work. But the larger scope of work got so large I'd actually lost a lot of fun in the work.
Speaker 2:Um, you know, when you were doing a four or $5,000 job and you could do that maybe a day or maybe two, that was fulfilling. You know, you went to the house, you met the people, you blah, blah, you just do this, you do that, you go back the next day tutorial. They love you, you love them. You walk out the door, you shake hands. Well, you know, the 5,000 turned into the 50,000, turned into the 100,000, turned into the 150,000. And it just kept going.
Speaker 2:And now you're talking a six month project, a year project, a two year project and, um, you know it's, it's all at a higher level and it's what everybody wishes for. And then most people probably want it still when they get it, some people probably don't, because the responsibility level and the demands just continuously get higher along with it. And when the labor pool wasn't there to support that, that was very difficult. The business failing years earlier that led me to that career was mentally harder because the business having no money led to me having no money. So you know that can put you in some odd places.
Speaker 1:Um, so you know that that can put you in some odd places. Well, but also I I correct me if I'm wrong, but there was something personal about Pittsfield radio to you. I mean it'd been in the family but also there was. You had a you know you really had a love for that and that business the way it was Right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and it was, it was. You know my father was still there, obviously, but it was his. Yeah, yeah, and it was, it was. You know my father was still there, obviously, but it was his. So you, you, you try to preserve it and then come to the realization you cannot preserve it and your father, who wants to preserve it, cause it's the only thing he's ever known, and you know you're trying to break that news to him. And hey, by the way, you know, we're going into another business, um, you know because, and uh, but but I, I found that that was, that was grueling and um, that was mentally challenging and um, I don't want to say I was, you would, I would hide, but there were far less things I could do because of financial constraints and just the business failing type of thing.
Speaker 2:So you, you know, you, I'm not going to say you're depressed and hiding in a corner, but it's not comfortable and it's very, very difficult. And you do take it very personal, even though you, I would, you know, we were keenly aware had nothing to do with us, Right, it was just sheer economics or the marketplace at the time. But you take it exceptionally personal when it's your business. Yeah and um, and it was, that was a very, that was a difficult time. I mean, no joke, I don't know Anybody that knows me probably doesn't know that because it wasn't something I walked around and talked to people with and told them, but it was, that was a very difficult time.
Speaker 1:Well, I appreciate you sharing that with us because I know it was a difficult time for you, but I think it's important for people to understand you can face those difficult times and and pull through what you did pretty quickly. You found a really good solution for that business pretty quickly and it didn't. It didn't take off more rapidly than a lot of businesses would. So you know, you were able to sort of see the writing on the wall, make a turn, make like a left turn or a right turn, whatever you want to call it and find a solution. Unfortunately, that solution didn't last forever because of these physical problems, and we are going to talk about those and what your next pivot was right after this quick break.
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Speaker 1:Okay, back with Alex. So we just you revealed to us the challenges that you faced in pivoting your business and then coming to the point where your new pivot was very successful, but it was affecting your health to the point where you couldn't continue. You also were unable to find a qualified labor force to help you with that business, so you had to make a fundamental change. Now you had to essentially shut that business down and do something else. All right, walk us through your process here. What did you? I mean first of all, when was it? What was it that made you suddenly say I got to do something different? Now, I mean, that's a stupid way to say it because we already know what it is, but was there a specific moment where you just knew?
Speaker 2:When you go to bed at night and you roll over and you're in tears because you're in so much pain and you can't sleep, and you can't sleep because both your shoulders are just trashed. Yeah, I mean no joke. I mean I say it laughingly now because I can laugh at it as I look back. Right, it's kind of comical, but it wasn't funny at the time, was it? Oh no, no, it was. I mean it was excruciating. And then to get up and go to work, at some level, you know, you couldn't lift your hands above the height of your arms, above the height of your shoulders. And yeah, you, you know, and that just you know.
Speaker 2:For for me it was just like I'm done. I mean, I gotta tell you there wasn't a lot of thought. It was like this has run its course. Even if I take the year, cause they both needed to be fixed, they take a year, a year and a half off to do it. How can I come back and continue to do what led me where I am Right? I mean, it's not like it stops, it's, you're just going to do it again and again, and again.
Speaker 1:But of course you're, you're too young to retire at this point, so you've got to do something else. Right, and so what are you doing in your brain? You're going Holy shit, I got to. This is all I know.
Speaker 2:What am I going to do now? Right, talk us, talk us through that process. Yeah, yeah, I mean, I still firmly believe the pivot I made. The only one that gets it still is me. I don't know if anybody else really gets it, including my wife and family. I mean, they support me. But, yeah, I had to find something that was no longer physically physical, labor intensive, right, and?
Speaker 2:And I looked at a few things and I had a wonderful, wonderful friend of mine who has since passed. He was actually a friend of my dad's and older than both myself and my dad, my friend Cy, and he just kept saying to me you know, I want you to go see my friend Cy. And he just kept saying to me you know, I want you to go see my friend, I want you to go see my friend. And he was telling me this for like maybe six months to a year and I was going yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, whatever, I'm gonna look at this and the service thing is working well for me right now. I don't have to kill myself and and eventually, one day, I, you know, I had my surgeries, I had my shoulders fixed and, um, I called Cy up and I said you know what? I want to go see your friend Like do you want to tell me what it's about? He goes no.
Speaker 1:So you had no idea at this point who the friend is really, what the business is Nothing.
Speaker 2:No, no, the only thing I knew is that you, sy, was uh, a retired senior executive in the insurance business. Okay, so you kind of know that if it's his friend, it's probably an associate of some form, right, but I had no no idea. I mean, honestly, I got my car, I, from you know where, pittsfield, or I don't. Where did I live at the time? Um, oh, I was living in my house, hancock, williamstown area. You know, get my car and drive to Wellesley, mass, right, yeah, not not a hop, skip and a jump from the Berkshires here, and and I meet, uh, this just wonderful man, um, named Dick, just this amazing guy. And to this day I don't know if I even liked the business, but I sure liked him and he was just such a wonderful, wonderful guy, very similar personality to my friend Cy, and very short story of that's how I ended up in the start of the business I'm kind of currently in now.
Speaker 1:Right, but it still was different. So you went into the insurance business from that and you did that for a while, but you realized that something about it wasn't a perfect fit, and I think it's. I want to bring this up because in my episodes on pivoting I talked about. You know how when you decide to make a pivot, you decide which direction you're going. Don't assume that that direction is where you're going to end up. That direction, more often than not, is a road to where you're going to end up. So as you're going down that road, you're going to learn more, you're going to experience more, and it may take you in different directions, which is kind of what happened to you. So you go into insurance, you're there for a while, but you realize it's not quite a perfect fit.
Speaker 1:So how did you decide to transition from that to financial planning, which I know is your happy place? You finally found the sweet spot. You're really happy doing it. I want the listeners to know that right up front. But how did you know? I mean, you told me once that it's kind of a natural progression to go from selling insurance to financial planning, but I don't think most people would know that. So what happened that made you go. Okay, this isn't really right. I want to move to something else.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, I mean quick, funny story, I guess, and it goes back to everybody that got me involved. That got me involved. You know, cy, who saw me run an electronics business for many years, assumed I was a great sales guy and clearly, dick that I met hired me because Cy thought I was a great sales guy. And I take a lot of pride in saying this. I ran that electronics business for I don't know how many years. I mean it was 30 total, but the retail side of it was probably closer to 15, 20. But I take a lot of pride in saying I never sold anybody anything. People would come in. You would educate them on speakers and quality and let them listen to them. Whether it was a, if it was a tv, you explained to them the differences and whatever tvs they were looking at, and then they would watch them and you could make adjustments and and, um, you know, they would make a purchase.
Speaker 1:I, I don't sell anything to this. No, I think back. Think back in Pittsfield Radio. It was the coffee and the hang that did more to sell things than anything else the coffee, the worst damn coffee ever too.
Speaker 2:But it did, it did sell it was awesome.
Speaker 1:So you discover that sales is not your thing. Is that what you're saying?
Speaker 2:Well, I discovered that the way I sold through education wasn't selling Right, discovered that the way I sold through education wasn't selling right. Because the one thing you learn quickly when you're learning the insurance business, um, is that you, you actually have to sell. I mean, sell the product, not hard sell the product, but you have to sell the product. Um, not a lot of people just knock on your door and say, hey, man, I need life and disability policy. I mean, it rarely does happen. Um, so, granted, also, I have a job now that doesn't pay me until you sell something Right. So there's, there's, there's no income. Um, so explain that to your wife. Um, so, uh, and, of course, anybody that does do this, like I did. Um, clearly, no matter how genius your idea is because we all think we're geniuses when we make these thought processes and come to a conclusion that, hey, this is where I'm going right, this is a smart move for me. Please make sure, if you're married, you have your spouse's consent to go take a job that doesn't pay.
Speaker 1:All right, we are not going there. People, I'm sorry I'm going to keep you off of that yeah, but I mean, you know it's when you're going to jump off make sure you're you know.
Speaker 2:so you know and I knew that. But it was through that process of you know. You go through all your training and the educational aspects and the product aspects and you learn everything and you're like, hey, this is kind of cool, I get this, okay. And then you start going to talk to people and you know they're looking at you like, I don't know, your ears fell off or your eyes are glued in the center of your forehead or something you know. I mean it's like wow, I mean, am I that bad at this? Or or, or what?
Speaker 1:I can relate. I got the same problem. You know I have to sell myself as a coach, you know my coaching business and you know I'm very into helping people, but sales is not something I'm great at. So you know, uh, I get it. It's a challenge, it's a, it's a different world, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, so, um, so, yeah, I mean in in, in the environment I was in which I was what they call the captured insurance agent, right, I was directly under a major insurance company.
Speaker 2:Okay, Um, so in that business, you you do start by selling insurance, whether it's life or disability or long-term care or any of those peripheral products. They allow you to do health care and stuff, even though it's not their product, and they want you to do that for whatever a few years and then to round that process out as you're moving forward in your career. Then you're moving forward with getting some securities licenses, not necessarily an advisory license, but there's different licenses as you move through FINRA. If that's the path you're taking and you know you get your securities licenses, so maybe you can do mutual funds and 401k plans and things like that. And then the next level, above that, of course, is moving to the advisory license, a fee for service, which is a little different than the other Um and uh, and for me that made a lot of sense because to me that again, not selling, it was educating and people could make the right decision Right on track with my thing.
Speaker 1:Sorry to interrupt, but right on track with my thing about pivoting is you take your experiences and you frame them in the broadest sense possible, like I used an example in one of my shows of you know, if you were in management then you've dealt with a lot of different kinds of people in your life, so you know something about human behavior. So see your skills in a broader perspective and use them in your next pivot, which is exactly what you're talking about right here. Right, yes, yeah, yeah. So you go into financial planning and of course, in both these endeavors you know it.
Speaker 1:As you were going to go back to what you said a minute ago, I don't want to get into the how do you tell your wife part, but you know you're not making much money and it's a long slog at first to get it going, to get your name out there, to bring in clients, to have people. I know what that long slog is like. It's tough. It's tough and it's hard to stay focused at times. It's hard to keep believing in yourself because at first you're not getting a lot of good feedback good feedback being clients showing up, right. So what did you do to keep yourself focused and also to keep your spirits up during that period.
Speaker 2:I got. To be honest, I don't know how I did it, because there were so many bad days. Um, you know where you, you, you know you line up meetings and then every meeting cancels. Um, you have people fill out the paperwork and you get them approved, and then that we changed our minds. Yeah, I mean it. It it's a, it's a grueling business, um, um and uh.
Speaker 2:And then you have your successes, which, you know, in my case, carried me a long way. So, you know, when you, when you did the right thing and the client got it, understood it, um, those were, those were the moments. I guess that would carry you forward through the one, two or five or 10 bad experiences. At least, at least you hope. I mean, I can tell you now, I, 10 or 12 years, I've been doing this, um, and a few years back, when I was still with that major insurer, uh, four or five years ago, we had two or three kids come in right out of college.
Speaker 2:Uh, smart, smart kids, master's degree, one of them bachelor's. Smart, smart kids, master's degree, one of them bachelor's, the other one bright kids. And, um, you know another generation, they're younger, they couldn't take the nose. All of them left within 30 to 60 days. It's tough. They could not understand people saying no to them. It wasn't that they weren't doing a good job. They were doing a great job, right Um. But you know, I think the age we're at right. We got known a lot more.
Speaker 1:We have scars and thicker skin right yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know we ate some dirt, um, so, yeah, it's really interesting. But, um, you know, you, just, if you've made the decision to do this, um, and you are a hundred percent committed cause I think that's the minimum you need to be committed Right, then you're, you got to walk the walk, right, you got to go, I mean, and you've got to do whatever you got to do to push yourself through, um, whatever you got to drink in the morning or whatever you got to do before you go to bed at night, and you got to know there's going to be some dark days, I mean, I can tell you I went six or seven months without a dollar.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I know exactly what this is, and what keeps me going in part is the money I invested in it. Do you know what I mean? Like you say 100%, I say you've got to be all in, you've got to be all in. You. You say 100%, I say you've got to be all in. You've got to be all in. You've got to believe. If you don't believe, nobody else is going to believe, right, and so you've got to be all in. You've got to set yourself up to be a pro. If you have to invest more money to do that and you can invest the money, great, but you really just got to. If you're going to, you know, just really go for it. And but it is tough, I understand so, but you know, the good news is you, you made it through those that period and you now have a pretty good business, right, you're very happy.
Speaker 2:We have a, we have a great business. Uh, we're out from under, uh, the major insurer. We run our own, uh, brokerage and uh I don't want to say brokerage, I guess brokerage and investment advisory firm. And yeah, we have a lot of fun, we enjoy ourselves, our clients like us, we're open, we're honest, we educate them, they make the ultimate decisions. It's very rewarding, it's very fulfilling, it's um, it's very rewarding, it's very fulfilling and, um, it's kind of comical that you know now that you're not selling insurance.
Speaker 2:But people come in and you know we, we intake them and we do a full financial background on them and set them all up with the data they provide and you go hey, man, you know you're married, you got a house, you got two kids. You know what are you going to do if something bad happens? Like, oh, you tell me I need some life insurance. Well, you know you're married, you got a house, you got two kids. You know what are you going to do if something bad happens, like, oh, you're telling me I need some life insurance. Well, you know you really should consider it.
Speaker 2:So, you're doing it anyway. Oh sure, when do I sign up? You know, I mean now. You know, now there's no effort because they're looking at you in a different light. Sure, Right, I mean, you're an advisor.
Speaker 1:You're an advisor. It's a big difference, salesman and advisor in their psychologically, in their mind, right.
Speaker 2:Correct, correct, and and it's, it's, it's a more. Now it's more natural, especially for me, because I don't, I don't want to sell you anything. I mean, I just, I just just not my game. So, um, it's pretty neat and uh, we're, we're really happy. I have a wonderful partner, corey Um, and uh, he's, he's a bit younger than me but incredibly passionate for this field and, um, we, we, we really enjoy ourselves here and again.
Speaker 1:That's wwwshirewealthcom, that's Shire S-H-I-R-E wealthcom. You can find more about Alex and Corey and their business by visiting there. I've got one last question. We've been running a bit long, but that's cool because this is a very interesting conversation. First, I want to just mention highlight for you. I know that, as a former small business owner, you're very passionate about helping people with small businesses, so you're very passionate about advising people financially with their small businesses. I just want to throw that plug in, because you're not just someone who works with individuals and families, but you help small businesses. Right, that is correct, excellent. So finally, before we end today, because you've now made several pivots, I'm wondering if, for those who are listening, who are considering a pivot because I think the hardest phase is the considering the pivot Do I need a pivot? Should I pivot? And those who are considering a pivot, who need to pivot or who have to pivot, what advice do you have for them? I mean, looking back, what do you wish? You knew then that you know now.
Speaker 2:So I think it's incredibly important to know yourself and know yourself well, because, as I look back, I never realized I wasn't good at selling. I was good at educating people to motivate them to purchase something that they chose to purchase. That's really so. You really need to. Yeah, you need to know yourself. Um, your commitment level and drive to succeed, I think, have to be exceptionally high, because it's not necessarily smooth Uh, it could be bumpy. So I think those are probably two of the things I look back at and wish I had maybe realized I thought I would be instantly successful, um, and I wasn't. So, uh, those are two things, I think, that are pretty important.
Speaker 1:I think know yourself is really key because you, you really you can't fake it. I mean, people say, fake it till you make it. But I think that's a terrible saying because I think you know, maybe maybe you can take something you're skilled at and maybe you're not a hundred percent excellent at it yet, and fake it a little bit. But uh, you know, you can find yourself in a profession you really just hate and isn't a good fit and you're not going to succeed. And even if you do succeed, you're going to be miserable. So if you're going to make that pivot, you really got to take some time first to say who am I, what's my skills, what do I do, what do I love, what do I hate. You know I gave in my episode on pivoting after 50, I said, you know, when I did it I was in such a fog the thick fog of I could not figure out what the hell to do. Nothing was working. So I stepped back and redid it. I said I remembered in my former career if anybody came to me with an idea, I'd require that we first sit down and come up with criteria. You know, not just go hey, that's a great idea, let's do it, but let's game it out. Let's look at what is this, not just go hey, that's a great idea, let's do it, but let's, let's game it out. Let's look at what is this. What's the purpose, what's it going to serve, what are the long-term ramifications, what is the downside of this? Right?
Speaker 1:And so I started to go why am I not approaching my own pivot the same way? And so I started to make a bunch of lists, and the list I started with in my case was what I'm absolutely not willing to put up with ever again, you know. So I started. I wanted a list that said what do I want my day to look like, my typical day? You know, I made a whole bunch of lists in different ways, and eventually those lists helped me focus to where I wanted to be, and I wanted to be a small business owner. That's what it helped me finally ultimately see and what kind of small business owner I would be. But I had to start with these lists, and one of them was, you know, what do I not want to do? And if you go with what you don't want to do, that's the first step in knowing yourself in terms of what's going to work going forward, you know, and so I'm really grateful that you brought that up, alex. This has been a great show. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2:Yeah, fun time.
Speaker 1:Thank Alex. This has been a great show. Thank you so much. Yeah, fun time. Thank you. I hope we can get you back sometime and talk about money, because I think we could all use some advice about money, but in the meantime, thank you very much for being with us today. Everybody, if you've enjoyed this, as always, please hit the like or subscribe button so you can get notified every time I drop a new show. I want to offer you all one new thing. If you have ideas of a show or a topic that you would like me to do, I want to invite you to please write me. Send me an email. It's matt at mattbrookscoachingcom. Simple, matt at mattbrookscoachingcom. Send me an email. If it's a great idea, I will definitely consider it and go with it. In the meantime, be well and I'll catch you next time on the Barrier Busting Podcast. Thank you.
