Latest / Elevate Podcast: Powered by Braden / Elevate Ep 37: Diving Into Leadership with Tammy Williams, President of Cooke Financial Group

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Elevate Ep 37: Diving Into Leadership with Tammy Williams, President of Cooke Financial Group · Elevate Podcast: Powered by Braden

• 0:11
  Welcome to the Elevate podcast powered
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  by Bra. This is your front row seat to
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  the stories of local leaders, both
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  nonprofit and for-profit who are shaping
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  our communities. Every episode brings
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  you leadership insights, lessons from
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  challenges, and practical strategies you
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  can use today. And yes, we'll keep it
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  real and have some fun along the way. If
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  you're ready to elevate your leadership,
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  hit subscribe and follow us on LinkedIn
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  for updates and behind the scenes
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  content. Now, let's dive in.
• 0:42
  Hey everybody, Jason M here with another
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  episode of the Elevate Powered by Braden
• 0:46
  podcast. And this is a lot of fun. I've
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  done an awful lot of podcasts in my
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  life. you interviewed a lot of people,
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  professional athletes, those types
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  things, but never a professional
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  softball player. Excited about this
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  conversation. Tammy, welcome to the
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  show.
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  >> Thank you. I'm honored to be here.
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  >> All right, so we won't get to this part
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  of your story for a while, but where are
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  you at today?
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  >> Yeah, so uh currently president of the
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  Cook Financial Group, uh here in
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  Indianapolis.
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  >> All right, sounds awesome, but I'm super
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  interested to hear more about your story
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  before you actually get to cook. So,
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  let's go back to the beginning. Where's
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  your genesis? Where you from? Yeah. So,
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  uh I actually grew up in a really small
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  town, rural Missouri, son of Missouri,
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  like south of Lake of the Ozarks. So, uh
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  all my family and six kids. So, all my
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  family's nieces and nephews still
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  somewhere somewhere around Missouri. I
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  was the one that uh ventured out and
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  left.
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  >> All right. So, southern Missouri, small
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  town. How big was high school?
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  >> Oh gosh. Um I want to say maybe 80 80ish
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  people in my class.
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  >> 80 in the class.
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  >> Yes. So, everyone knows everyone. And
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  everyone knows each other's names and
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  mom and dad and siblings. Yeah.
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  >> All right. So, high school you start
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  playing sports. Yep.
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  >> What all sports you play?
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  >> Oh, I played um to start out I played
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  volleyball, uh ran track, and softball.
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  So, those were my three. And then I had
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  a really uh my volleyball coach uh
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  convinced me to play basketball for the
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  first time in my life my junior and
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  senior year.
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  >> Um
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  >> All right. So, you play you're playing
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  three sports. playing three sports. Yep.
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  >> And your basketball coach, the coach
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  says, "Hey, why don't you go out and
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  play basketball at two?" So, you pick up
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  a basketball your junior and senior
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  year.
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  >> Uhhuh.
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  >> And I I told someone the other day, I
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  think I fouled out of every single game,
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  but my family still makes fun of me to
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  this day.
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  >> So aggressive, athletic, all those types
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  of things, but just Okay. All right. So,
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  high school, lots of sports
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  >> and but softball ends up being where you
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  go. when did did you love softball in
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  high school? When did that kind of love
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  for softball start?
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  >> You know, I was um I was obsessed with
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  competing and being an athlete. Like it
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  didn't matter what it was. I loved it. I
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  would say volleyball and softball were
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  problem in favorites. Okay. Uh I loved
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  the speed of volleyball. I just loved
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  how quick the turnaround time of that
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  was. Uh how quick-paced it was. But I'm
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  like 53, so volleyball wasn't exactly,
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  you know, I wasn't getting highly
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  recruited by any means to go play at a
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  at a high level for volleyball. So, uh,
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  yeah. So, I I was much better at
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  softball. Okay.
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  >> I think um I honestly I didn't even
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  realize how good I was at softball until
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  I started playing at the collegiate
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  level, but I was a pitcher my entire
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  life growing up because again, small
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  town, you're at your best athletes where
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  it matters, right? And um so I was a
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  good pitcher but not great.
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  >> Okay. And so yeah, so all four sports uh
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  but softball is definitely my
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  >> All right. So most talented love to
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  compete. Youngest of six kids. Where did
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  the competition where did that come
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  from? Where' the fire come from?
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  >> Oh, I I think I always I think I was
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  born with a lot of it, but just growing
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  up with all the all my brothers. I have
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  four brothers.
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  >> Um and just wanting to play with them,
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  wanting to compete with them and their
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  friends and and that sort of thing. But
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  uh we were always a baseball family. Uh,
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  my dog's named after Aussie Smith that
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  played for the St. Louis Cardinals,
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  right? Well,
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  >> naturally,
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  >> his middle name's back flipped. That's
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  awesome. Love it.
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  >> Yeah.
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  >> All right. So, your dog's named Aussie.
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  We can definitely be friends.
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  >> Yeah.
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  >> All right. So, all right. Growing up
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  there, high school, playing all four
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  sports. You're going to go to college.
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  What's that look like? Where are you
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  going to go?
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  >> Yeah. So, I committed to Northwestern.
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  Actually, I was a late commitment there.
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  And um I was playing down in Georgia.
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  The head coach at Northwestern, Kate
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  Droan, still there today, which is
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  incredible. 20 25 years later, um saw me
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  play. I was uh I never got a hit. I just
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  ran really fast and tried really hard is
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  what I always saw her. Uh she never saw
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  me get a hit and uh offered me a
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  position to come Western. Yeah.
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  >> So So were you pitching at this point?
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  Were you pitching down there? Were you
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  playing a position?
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  >> So funny story. So, I had never played I
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  I was a pitcher my entire life. Broke my
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  hand and um so I couldn't spin the ball
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  yet. I couldn't like actually show up
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  and pitch. So, they put me at third base
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  because they're like, "This is the
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  closest thing it is to pitching
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  possible, right? Closest distance."
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  Yeah.
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  >> And so, they put me at third base for
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  again, first time in my life.
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  Northwestern's there. And they're like,
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  "Hey, I want you to I want you to come
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  be a shortstop."
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  >> Like, amazing. Great. Hey, I I've never
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  done it, but like if you think I can be
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  a short stop and want me to come play, I
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  am I'm in. Let's
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  >> go do it.
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  >> Yeah.
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  >> So, so no hits.
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  >> Never.
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  >> Tried hard. Did a really good job. End
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  up Northwest. Okay. So, so that was Were
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  you looking at other schools at the
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  time? Were you being recruited other
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  places?
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  >> Yeah, I wasn't highly recruited,
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  honestly. There were other schools I was
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  looking at, of course, but uh I always
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  knew I wanted to go to a city. Okay.
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  >> So, Chicago, check. Um, I wanted a great
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  education obviously and I wanted to I I
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  wanted to like be somewhere that I I
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  felt like was my home, right? And the
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  second I walked on campus, I loved the
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  coaches. Uh, I loved all the players I
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  met, just the feel of Evans. Um, but
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  yes, I just fell in love with the place
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  and uh never looked back.
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  >> Okay. All right. So, you're you're now
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  there obviously playing softball. What
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  do you what are you going to study,
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  right? because at some point you're
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  going to leave this place and go do
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  something else. So, what are you
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  studying at primary school?
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  >> Oh gosh, I had no idea going in. I'm
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  like, I want to help people. I don't
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  know. I love animals. I I I I really
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  didn't know what I wanted to do. And so,
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  I went into um learning organizational
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  change and psychology with a background
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  or a minor in uh business.
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  >> And through that, one of my favorite
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  things at Northwestern, you had to do
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  like internships throughout. And so my
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  last one was actually at Children's
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  Memorial in Chicago. And um I loved it,
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  but I realized it's not something that I
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  could do every day, right? Like I was
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  just it was so hard to see these really
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  sick kids and and go home at night and
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  have that separation and
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  >> and so um fortunately I was drafted to
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  continue to play. Um but after that last
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  internship, I'm like this is I need a
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  pivot. I need to like figure out what I
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  really want to do because I knew I'm I'm
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  sure like a lot of people, right? what
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  you ended up studying in college isn't
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  where you end up stay later in life.
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  >> Yeah, of course. All right, so let's go
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  back Fe before you get drafted. Super
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  cool to say to say I was right, but
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  let's let's walk through those four
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  years maybe some fun games or some fun
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  opportunities. I think you played
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  overseas a couple times. So talk a
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  little bit.
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  >> Yeah. So um I I was so unbelievably
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  lucky. I mean, I I fell into a program
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  that was already very very good and I
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  had incredible teammates, but um so I
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  show up, you know, freshman year out of
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  shape, like we're not not ready to be a
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  division one athlete. I think I am, but
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  everyone around me is realizes that I'm
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  not. And so we spend like six months and
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  we're just training and lifting and
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  training. And I had never been I I never
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  realized I was so out of shape until I
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  went there and realized what shape was
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  was. And um so the first six months I
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  never played shortstop and I had this
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  incredible another freshman. She was a
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  walk-on at Northwestern and um
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  one of the best humans I've ever met.
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  She was a shortstop and she knew she was
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  training me every single day
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  >> to play shortstop over and so she would
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  stand behind me and say like, "Hey, hey
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  Tammy, you need to go cover second base.
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  >> Go cover third. Go you're the cut." Like
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  and she just told me what to do for six
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  months. And um first game out, I had no
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  idea what I was doing, you know, and
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  just figuring out as a 18-year-old and
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  um that year we lost unfortunately the
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  national championship game though
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  >> and but we had two all-American
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  pitchers. I mean our lineup was just
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  incredible. And so to start off your
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  freshman year like that, like we were so
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  good because we were hitting off our
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  pitchers every day, grinding it out
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  together. I just thought that was what
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  college softball is like, right? And so
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  I was so fortunate all through college.
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  Uh we had an incredible team that I mean
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  so many people still hold the records
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  >> there today. So yeah, an amazing
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  experience.
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  >> It's amazing to think about this too,
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  right? So you played you never played
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  shortstop. You're a pitcher generally
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  speaking people come together.
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  Shortstop's the best athlete on the
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  team, best player on the team, best
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  hands, best arm, all that kind of stuff.
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  >> And so everybody there is a shortstop.
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  And yet here's this kid y
• 9:21
  >> hadn't played shortstop. Played short
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  stop for years, right? So, I just want
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  to make sure everybody hears that part
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  of a story cuz that's uh it's fairly
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  interesting. Usually it doesn't happen.
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  >> That's unique. Yeah.
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  >> Yeah. I I uh I was a center fielder and
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  I had hands as a center fielder because
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  I couldn't play short stuff. I always
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  wanted to. It was I was terrible. The
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  ball would get hit to me, hit me in the
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  chest, I'd kick it up, I'd throw really
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  hard to first base.
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  >> I mean, that happened to me sometimes,
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  too.
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  >> Yeah. No, it was it was daily. And so,
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  please go stand in the outfield. And so,
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  but the uh Okay, so you play your four
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  years and do you get an opportunity? I
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  think do you get drafted and then go you
• 9:57
  play overseas in Japan or when when does
• 9:59
  that come into play?
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  >> So, I want to say I was invited to USA
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  tryyous I think the first time as an
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  18-year-old.
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  >> No kidding.
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  >> And didn't make it because again I'm
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  like, you know, you don't know what the
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  next level is like until until you're
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  exposed to it, right? And so, uh, after
• 10:17
  my freshman year, I was invited to USA
• 10:20
  Triyouts for the first time. And, uh,
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  and then again, didn't make it, uh, was
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  turned down for, uh, didn't make the
• 10:29
  roster for 2008 for Beijing. And then,
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  um, after, so it was at the end of my
• 10:35
  college career, but then I was drafted,
• 10:38
  made the national team. I can't remember
• 10:40
  the exact timing of which is which, but
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  so, you know, I think I finished my
• 10:46
  collegiate career and I think a week
• 10:48
  later I had my first I had my first USA
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  game or first pro game like and I just
• 10:53
  kind of hit the ground running and so uh
• 10:56
  played USA and uh for the Chicago
• 10:58
  Bandits that first season out of college
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  and then was drafted to go play in the
• 11:02
  Japanese Pro League.
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  >> Oh, no kidding.
• 11:04
  >> Starting that winter.
• 11:05
  >> So you played professionally here in
• 11:06
  Chicago, so kind of stayed home. Yep.
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  >> And then played it. How it's I guess I
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  didn't realize Japan had a had a pro
• 11:12
  league. I mean, I knew that for
• 11:14
  baseball, but I didn't know for
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  softball. That's awesome.
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  >> It's amazing. Yeah. And so they're
• 11:17
  allowed two foreigners um for each team
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  and that every single team is allowed to
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  choose if they're going to have
• 11:23
  foreigners or not. And so yeah, one of
• 11:25
  the really lucky ones that
• 11:27
  >> So you got a chance. How long were you
• 11:28
  in Japan?
• 11:29
  >> Um so I started uh I've only played
• 11:31
  there for a year actually. Um I got hurt
• 11:35
  pretty early on. um tore some ligaments
• 11:37
  in my throwing hand which made it pretty
• 11:40
  difficult to to play softball. Um and so
• 11:42
  yeah, so I played over there but we
• 11:44
  would go over I'd probably been to Japan
• 11:46
  I don't know 10 15 times throughout
• 11:48
  played there. We'd always play the Jack
• 11:50
  uh in the Japan Cup for USA. Yeah,
• 11:53
  >> that's awesome. All right, so you're in
• 11:55
  Japan and you finally at some point you
• 11:57
  get hurt, right? Because eventually all
• 11:59
  athletes have to stop at some point.
• 12:02
  Yeah. So, as you're as you're finishing
• 12:03
  up your career, where do you what what
• 12:06
  are you going to do? What are you going
• 12:07
  to do next? Like, what what's what's
• 12:08
  what's the next step gonna look like?
• 12:10
  >> So, I took some time off um in the off
• 12:12
  season and in that season to obviously
• 12:15
  heal and then I kept training. Uh I kept
• 12:17
  playing for USA and for the Chicago
• 12:19
  Games after that and so uh but I was
• 12:22
  home for the L season, right? I was home
• 12:23
  for the winters, home in the fall. And
• 12:26
  uh so, you know, I was doing camps,
• 12:28
  doing clinics, trying to just figure it
• 12:29
  out. And actually the Depal University
• 12:32
  job opened in Chicago
• 12:34
  >> and talking to the coach, one of my best
• 12:37
  friends had actually played there. So I
• 12:38
  I knew I knew the coaches a little bit
• 12:41
  and um said, "You know what? I'll if I
• 12:44
  would commit two years to them, they
• 12:46
  would commit to paying for my NBA at
• 12:48
  night."
• 12:49
  >> And so what a deal.
• 12:50
  >> What a deal. I mean, right? I get to go
• 12:52
  coach softball, be around kids, see if I
• 12:55
  want to really be a college coach, and
• 12:56
  you're going to pay for my education at
• 12:58
  night. nob brainer. So did that for two
• 13:00
  years. Uh loved it. Loved the kids,
• 13:02
  loved coaching. I love people. So I, you
• 13:05
  know, I'm like I of course I like this.
• 13:07
  But um just decided I'm like, you know
• 13:10
  what? If I'm going to try something like
• 13:12
  now's the time, right? Like I I'm a huge
• 13:16
  believer that um it's like when I moved
• 13:18
  here, like take the opportunity, right?
• 13:20
  I can always supple will always be
• 13:23
  there. If I want to get back into
• 13:24
  coaching in two years because I just
• 13:26
  don't like the business world,
• 13:27
  >> they'll me back. Sure. Right. Like
• 13:29
  they're they're not going to say no.
• 13:30
  >> Believe me, you're back. You're going to
• 13:32
  be fine.
• 13:32
  >> I'm going to be okay. Yeah. Um and so,
• 13:35
  you know, I just took the leap and and
• 13:37
  so I started shadowing a few different
• 13:39
  um mainly dads actually of players that
• 13:41
  I was coaching. So, attorneys, um
• 13:44
  private equity guys, uh a couple of
• 13:46
  adviserss.
• 13:48
  >> So, so you you notice couple things I'll
• 13:50
  pick out, right? One of the things I
• 13:51
  want to go back just real quick to
• 13:53
  playing shortstop that first year the
• 13:54
  first six months there's a young lady
• 13:56
  standing behind you who played shortstop
• 13:59
  who is standing there telling you what
• 14:01
  to do knowing right you're going to take
• 14:03
  her position by the way that's pretty
• 14:05
  strong that's pretty strong character
• 14:07
  >> and then those types but also a great
• 14:09
  mentor
• 14:10
  >> for somebody to have when you're an
• 14:11
  18-year-old kid to have this you know
• 14:13
  behind your head tell what's going on
• 14:15
  kind of the the voice of God thinking
• 14:17
  hey you got to turn the double play here
• 14:18
  you're the cut off from short whatever
• 14:20
  the case Right.
• 14:21
  >> So, that's actually a really cool thing.
• 14:25
  But then as you're coaching, you're
• 14:27
  you're noticing
• 14:29
  something's going to change. Maybe I'll
• 14:30
  take a leap. Not quite sure what I want
• 14:32
  to do. You just proactively start
• 14:34
  asking, "Hey, you what do you do? And
• 14:37
  what do you do? And what do you do?"
• 14:38
  Yeah.
• 14:38
  >> And people are generally open to saying,
• 14:40
  "I'm a lawyer. I'm I'm this or I'm
• 14:42
  that."
• 14:42
  >> Yep.
• 14:43
  >> So, is that is that the process you
• 14:45
  >> I mean, I I I knew I love business. I
• 14:47
  always loved math. I love people. And
• 14:49
  I'm like, how do I how do I put all of
• 14:52
  those things together, right?
• 14:53
  >> And so, yeah, I just started I and it
• 14:55
  was like I was very fortunate. They were
• 14:57
  all people that I had trained our kids
• 14:59
  for years. Yeah. So, I knew them. I
• 15:01
  trusted them. I knew them. They trust
• 15:04
  me. So, it's like a So, so easy to say,
• 15:07
  "Yeah, you know what? Absolutely. Come
• 15:09
  come see what I do, Tammy."
• 15:10
  >> No kidding.
• 15:11
  >> Yeah. That's how I That's how I went
• 15:12
  about it.
• 15:13
  >> So, you get a chance to talk to all
• 15:14
  those folks as you're looking through
• 15:16
  and having conversations. What stands
• 15:18
  out to you? What do you think would be
• 15:20
  fun or something you want to try next?
• 15:22
  >> I um you know the adviserss the
• 15:25
  financial advisors that I saw and knew I
• 15:29
  again going back to my undergrad like I
• 15:31
  want to help people.
• 15:32
  >> Yeah.
• 15:33
  >> And so being able to show up and like I
• 15:36
  felt like they were really affecting
• 15:38
  people's lives like they were building
• 15:39
  really good relationships and so like
• 15:42
  that part of it is what immediately
• 15:44
  attracted me to it is just that that
• 15:46
  relationship side.
• 15:48
  >> Okay.
• 15:48
  >> Yeah. All right. So, financial advising
• 15:50
  sticks out to you of the long-term
• 15:52
  relationship. All that stuff's going to
• 15:53
  play. And you also have a pretty decent
• 15:55
  fallback idea, right? You have an idea
• 15:57
  that, hey, somebody might call me up and
• 15:59
  say, you want a coach? Yeah, believe me,
• 16:02
  somebody knows who I am. There's tape,
• 16:04
  there's videos, all this kind, right?
• 16:05
  Okay. So, you decide to take this leap.
• 16:07
  So, you leave the job and where do you
• 16:10
  go next?
• 16:11
  >> Yeah. So, uh I was done playing Leap uh
• 16:13
  at the same time, uh leave to Paul. And
• 16:16
  so one of the dads that I had like kind
• 16:19
  of shadowed, he was the CFO of uh an
• 16:21
  investment firm in a wealth management
• 16:24
  firm in Chicago.
• 16:25
  >> Okay.
• 16:25
  >> So, uh decided I was going to go it was
• 16:28
  and looking back now I like I'm glad I
• 16:31
  didn't really understand, right? I'm
• 16:32
  like I'm a kid. I I mean I'm in my 20s,
• 16:35
  but really I'm still a kid. And uh the
• 16:37
  book that I gave you, The Happiness
• 16:39
  Advantage, it's um so interesting to me
• 16:42
  because every single decision I make in
• 16:44
  my life, I'm like, "This is going to
• 16:46
  this is going to turn out great, right?"
• 16:48
  Like this is going to be awesome.
• 16:50
  >> And if it's not, I'll go back and figure
• 16:52
  it out if but like every single thing
• 16:54
  I'm like, "Oh, this is this is going to
• 16:56
  be an amazing next step." Yeah.
• 16:58
  >> And so at the time I I interviewed at
• 17:00
  like Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, all the
• 17:03
  big boys, right? Yeah.
• 17:04
  >> And and it just it was like the same
• 17:06
  thing. I went to Northwestern. I'm like,
• 17:07
  "Oh, this is where I want to be." And it
• 17:09
  wasn't that any of those like it just
• 17:11
  felt so corporate. Just it wasn't very
• 17:14
  warm.
• 17:14
  >> Sure.
• 17:14
  >> And um and this place it was and so like
• 17:19
  let's go for it. But it was
• 17:21
  >> it's an independent firm. I'm going out
• 17:23
  trying to make it start a business on my
• 17:25
  own, which is obviously looking back now
• 17:27
  it's it's not the safe route, right? Um
• 17:30
  but yes, started at David A. noise in
• 17:32
  Chicago was there for about two years
• 17:35
  and uh met Brian and Chris Cook.
• 17:37
  >> Okay.
• 17:37
  >> And uh they're two brothers u from Cook
• 17:41
  Financial Group and met them, loved them
• 17:45
  as people, their wives, just really got
• 17:48
  to know them. And so then they recruited
• 17:50
  me uh for a while to try to move to
• 17:52
  Indiana. I'm like, where am I moving?
• 17:54
  I've played at Purdue and NIU, but
• 17:56
  that's about the extent of my Indiana
• 17:57
  experience. And so, uh, finally, uh,
• 18:01
  summer of 2017 again, I'm like, if it
• 18:05
  doesn't work, if I don't like Indiana,
• 18:07
  Chicago's still going to be there. Yeah.
• 18:09
  Right. So, uh, made the leap and what,
• 18:12
  nine years later, almost 10 years later,
• 18:15
  >> so cool story, but by the way, I want
• 18:17
  people to take this out. Your your
• 18:19
  outlook on life, this is going to be
• 18:21
  great, right? And and the thing is is as
• 18:24
  I get a chance to look at you, the
• 18:26
  cameras aren't looking at you, but if
• 18:27
  you can see your eyes, they light up. I
• 18:28
  mean, great. You like truly believe that
• 18:31
  this next thing's going to be great. The
• 18:32
  book, I haven't read that one yet, by
• 18:34
  the way. Thanks for bringing it in.
• 18:36
  >> It'll be one that I get a chance to
• 18:37
  read. But what a That's awesome to think
• 18:39
  that this is going to be great. So now
• 18:41
  you get two years there, you get a
• 18:43
  chance to learn the business, you cut
• 18:45
  your teeth, you're in Chicago, though.
• 18:47
  Yeah.
• 18:48
  >> Where you've now been since high school.
• 18:50
  built relationships, build a community,
• 18:52
  you know, a bunch of folks. And now
• 18:54
  these two guys are saying, "Hey, we want
• 18:56
  you to move to India."
• 18:57
  >> And they say, "We want you to move to
• 18:58
  India." And you just say, "This is going
• 19:00
  to be great. Is it just jump in?"
• 19:02
  >> No, it took them a little while to
• 19:04
  recruit me. You know, it it was a little
• 19:06
  bit of um it I never thought I'd leave
• 19:10
  Chicago. You know, I my core was there,
• 19:13
  my home was there, my people were there.
• 19:15
  Uh, so it took them a little while to
• 19:16
  recruit me, but you know, I think the
• 19:18
  thing that really made me say yes to
• 19:22
  them is I knew they were really good
• 19:24
  people. Yeah.
• 19:25
  >> I knew they were a great family. I knew
• 19:26
  they were people I was going to love to
• 19:28
  like spend 40, 50, 60 hours of my week
• 19:31
  with. And so to me, I'm like, you're
• 19:33
  going to spend more time with these. And
• 19:35
  Chicago was a three-hour drive, right?
• 19:37
  You can always go back. You can always
• 19:38
  spend the time you want. So, it took him
• 19:40
  a little while to recruit me, but um but
• 19:42
  no, once I said yes, I'm like, "Yeah,
• 19:43
  this is going to be the best thing ever,
• 19:45
  right?" Uh I just think that's a that's
• 19:47
  a way I try to look at life, dive in,
• 19:50
  and then Yeah,
• 19:51
  >> because otherwise you never know.
• 19:52
  >> You never know. But somewhere the title
• 19:54
  of the episode's in there, dive in. You
• 19:56
  never know,
• 19:57
  >> right? This is this is going to be
• 19:59
  great. I think might be was the name of
• 20:01
  it. But okay, so now nine years ago, you
• 20:04
  come down here to Indianapolis. you're
• 20:06
  working with Cook Financial and and tell
• 20:08
  me more what what do you guys do? Like
• 20:10
  what's the breath of services guys
• 20:12
  deliver?
• 20:12
  >> Yeah, so we're um a wealth management
• 20:14
  firm uh focusing mainly high net worth
• 20:17
  ultra high net worth families um some
• 20:20
  nonprofits which also you know it just
• 20:22
  makes my heart so happy uh to be able to
• 20:25
  help those uh those organizations but
• 20:27
  yeah really focusing on you know
• 20:30
  holistic planning. Um I always tell
• 20:32
  people I want to be the CFO of their
• 20:34
  family. there's no question for for them
• 20:36
  that they shouldn't be sending to me and
• 20:39
  making sure that if I'm not the expert
• 20:41
  that I'm I'm connecting them with the
• 20:43
  right person. So, uh really just trying
• 20:45
  to be an extension of these families and
• 20:48
  that way our clients aren't worried
• 20:50
  about, you know, they're not losing
• 20:52
  sleep at night about what the market's
• 20:53
  doing or or their homes or their
• 20:56
  finances or or any of those things.
• 20:58
  >> Gotcha. All right. Primarily serving
• 20:59
  just clients here in Indianapolis,
• 21:01
  Indiana, all over the country.
• 21:02
  >> All over the country. Okay. Yeah, I
• 21:04
  would say um you know a lot of of course
• 21:06
  Indiana from being here but uh a lot of
• 21:09
  snowbirds at this point in life which is
• 21:11
  a which is a nice perk. I got to go down
• 21:13
  to Florida a few times and see some
• 21:15
  people when it was when it was really
• 21:16
  cold here. I took one for the team.
• 21:18
  >> Thank you. I appreciate you really
• 21:20
  appreciate people like you. Thank you.
• 21:23
  >> Yeah. But no, all all AC all across the
• 21:25
  country.
• 21:26
  >> Okay. So all over the country.
• 21:27
  >> So cool job, right? Cool organization.
• 21:30
  And as you think about the business you
• 21:32
  guys are in, there's been a lot of
• 21:34
  changes obviously since, you know, 1900
• 21:36
  to 2000s to the internet today now with
• 21:38
  AI. How is tech beginning to like creep
• 21:42
  into your business and and what do you
• 21:44
  maybe see happening today with
• 21:46
  technology and do you think you maybe in
• 21:49
  the next year or so maybe something's
• 21:51
  going to change even more? What's going
• 21:52
  on in tech with you guys? I mean I think
• 21:54
  technology AI the speed at which
• 21:58
  technology is changing now I you know I
• 22:01
  have no idea where we're going to be in
• 22:03
  five or 10 years right like where AI is
• 22:05
  going to be I mean the things that are
• 22:07
  coming out today are things that can
• 22:08
  read tax returns in 15 20 seconds uh
• 22:11
  read wills read trust um and identify
• 22:16
  >> uh any gaps essentially and what we're
• 22:18
  looking for rather than you know having
• 22:20
  to read an 80page document
• 22:22
  >> drop it in and then you and pull out the
• 22:23
  important information or the pages that
• 22:25
  you need to really um dive into. And so
• 22:28
  I think that that benefit is going to be
• 22:31
  huge for companies. Um the ability to
• 22:34
  you know the the part of our industry
• 22:36
  that will be really interesting to see
• 22:37
  how it adapts is um we call the analyst.
• 22:39
  So if you're uh you're if you're
• 22:41
  analyzing if you're a large cap earth
• 22:43
  manager analyzing Amazon today or you
• 22:48
  know uh Nvidia
• 22:50
  >> well what how much of AI
• 22:52
  >> can do that 3 five years from now I
• 22:55
  think that's the part of the space where
• 22:57
  you're just going to get a lot more
• 22:58
  information yeah really really quickly I
• 23:01
  mean from you know 10 years ago to today
• 23:03
  think about the information we have on
• 23:04
  Nvidia
• 23:05
  >> course at our fingertips I think that's
• 23:07
  just going to be even more so But I
• 23:09
  think specifically for the wealth
• 23:11
  management side, it's to me our focus is
• 23:14
  how can we use technology and AI to get
• 23:17
  me in front of clients more.
• 23:18
  >> Yeah.
• 23:18
  >> Right. Like how can I spend more time
• 23:22
  with people and managing the overall
• 23:25
  picture that I don't need to spend five
• 23:28
  hours of my day reading a trust document
• 23:31
  or going through emails or XYZ that then
• 23:34
  it allows me to put time and resources
• 23:36
  in a place that we should be using.
• 23:38
  Yeah, I think that part right there
• 23:39
  nails it, right? You guys are in the
• 23:40
  people business.
• 23:41
  >> You go out, you build relationship with
• 23:43
  people, they know, like, and trust you.
• 23:45
  You happen to help them with wealth
• 23:47
  management,
• 23:47
  >> right?
• 23:48
  >> But this the story is the same across
• 23:50
  almost all businesses.
• 23:52
  >> Leveraging AI to do those things that
• 23:55
  could be done by AI, reading something,
• 23:58
  giving me some information allows me to
• 24:00
  do what I call HI, human intelligence
• 24:02
  things, right? And those are those
• 24:03
  things that if I got an extra five
• 24:05
  hours, eight hours, 10 hours a week, I
• 24:07
  now can go build more people that know,
• 24:09
  like, and trust me, and I can build my
• 24:11
  business.
• 24:12
  >> And so, it's interesting. I think you're
• 24:13
  I think you're right. I think you're
• 24:15
  really dead on with the thoughts around
• 24:17
  AI and how it's going to transform over
• 24:19
  the next few years. And if anybody
• 24:20
  happens to tell you in four or five
• 24:22
  years, they know what's going to happen,
• 24:23
  they don't know. All
• 24:24
  >> they're all lying. If we say if somebody
• 24:26
  says, "I'm an expert, just run away."
• 24:28
  You know, I mean, it changes. It just
• 24:30
  changed now. Something else is out. So,
• 24:32
  I love that. So, let's move into another
• 24:34
  segment. Let's talk about community.
• 24:35
  >> Yeah.
• 24:36
  >> And so, one of the things you mentioned
• 24:37
  was obviously serving, you know, your
• 24:40
  clients, but also sprinkling in some
• 24:41
  nonprofits.
• 24:42
  >> And so, when you think about community,
• 24:44
  what's community mean to you? And kind
• 24:46
  of how are you guys out supporting
• 24:47
  community?
• 24:48
  >> Um, community means so I think so many
• 24:51
  things to me. One is uh our team, right?
• 24:54
  like how do we continue to build the
• 24:57
  Cook Financial Group team into a really
• 25:01
  great place to work into somewhere that
• 25:03
  people want to come every single day
• 25:04
  that they want to spend the rest of
• 25:06
  their career,
• 25:07
  >> right? Like how do we build that
• 25:09
  community and that culture? Uh that's
• 25:10
  one layer. The second layer would be uh
• 25:13
  the community of our clients. One of our
• 25:15
  my favorite things that we do, we do a
• 25:17
  lot of client events. And you know, I
• 25:20
  had a client tell me, I don't know, a
• 25:22
  couple weeks ago now, probably his
• 25:24
  favorite days of the year are our cook
• 25:27
  events. Um because he gets to meet other
• 25:30
  people like him, right? A lot of them
• 25:33
  are retired. Their entire community was
• 25:35
  their work, right? And so now they're
• 25:38
  looking for things to do at night.
• 25:39
  They're looking for fun events. they're
• 25:40
  looking for people like them that they
• 25:42
  can go have dinner with or just and so
• 25:45
  like that is probably one of my absolute
• 25:48
  favorite communities to build because
• 25:50
  it's it's getting people to connect in a
• 25:52
  really really genuine way. Um and so I
• 25:56
  love that aspect of the community like
• 25:58
  it was like that cook community that you
• 26:00
  get to show up and be a part of. And
• 26:02
  then the other one is obviously the
• 26:03
  communities in which we live. Um I am a
• 26:06
  huge animal lover. Um so I you know uh
• 26:10
  like the humane society uh near and dear
• 26:12
  I think to my heart uh again anything
• 26:15
  that it can just help the people or you
• 26:18
  know animals or anything like that
• 26:20
  around. So we work with uh a number of
• 26:22
  you know local nonprofits um as a team
• 26:25
  we go out and actually do community
• 26:28
  hours. We've done Habitat for Humanity
• 26:31
  uh the last three or four years. Okay.
• 26:33
  And it's just it's a really it's a
• 26:35
  really good way for us to step back and
• 26:37
  say like, okay, here's all the other
• 26:39
  things like outside of just what we see
• 26:42
  every single day, here's all the other
• 26:44
  things that we can go out and really
• 26:46
  impact a community or impact a life um
• 26:48
  that you don't get just from being in an
• 26:50
  office surrounded by the same people all
• 26:52
  the time.
• 26:53
  >> Sure. So, you mentioned you mentioned
• 26:54
  obviously a big animal lover. Your dog's
• 26:57
  named after Azie Smith, Cardinals fan
• 26:59
  growing up.
• 26:59
  >> Cardinals fan growing up. My brothers
• 27:02
  were um very angry with me. I was um
• 27:05
  converted to a Cubs span in Chicago and
• 27:07
  so it's still so I I have Cubs jerseys
• 27:10
  and Cardinals jerseys which is not
• 27:12
  >> it still works the heart of your back
• 27:14
  home, right? That's
• 27:15
  >> you can go from you know Willie McGee,
• 27:17
  Vince Ga, Aussie Smith, right to to the
• 27:20
  to the Cubs. That's just wrong.
• 27:22
  >> Yeah.
• 27:22
  >> Okay. So, but they still let you into
• 27:24
  family events usually.
• 27:25
  >> Just can't wear those shirts.
• 27:27
  >> Sure. We we know the rules. All right.
• 27:29
  So, normally we would get to, you know,
• 27:31
  what's fun outside of work, that kind of
• 27:32
  stuff, but we got to go back because I
• 27:34
  got an opportunity to talk to a
• 27:35
  professional, you know, softball player.
• 27:37
  So, maybe some memorable places you
• 27:40
  played.
• 27:40
  >> Yeah.
• 27:41
  >> And maybe some opportunities where, you
• 27:44
  know, maybe you hit a hit a shot and you
• 27:46
  knew that it was going to be a good one
• 27:48
  and maybe flip the batteries or
• 27:50
  something like that. You know, as we
• 27:51
  were talking about this earlier, uh, one
• 27:53
  of the things I think I have to say on
• 27:54
  this podcast is that I'm so happy that
• 27:57
  NIL was not around when I played.
• 28:00
  >> So happy. I mean, don't get me wrong, I
• 28:02
  would have loved the money.
• 28:02
  >> Of course.
• 28:03
  >> As a kid, you're taking the cash, right?
• 28:04
  >> Exactly. But that's the point. Like, I
• 28:07
  had such a home, such a community. I
• 28:10
  mean, these people are still some of my
• 28:11
  best friends.
• 28:12
  >> Four years.
• 28:13
  >> Yes.
• 28:13
  >> Day in day out training. There there's a
• 28:16
  lot to be said for them.
• 28:17
  >> There's a lot to be said for it. And
• 28:18
  there's hard times, right? There it's
• 28:21
  not all easy every single day, but
• 28:23
  that's the point.
• 28:24
  >> And so I'm so thankful that it wasn't
• 28:26
  just like, oh, here's a here's a big
• 28:28
  check to go to
• 28:30
  wherever, right? XYZ. And so, um, I
• 28:33
  think so many people lose track of that
• 28:36
  and like of what really matters in life,
• 28:38
  whether it's jumping school to school,
• 28:40
  whether it's jumping career to career
• 28:42
  for a paycheck, it's like what who are
• 28:44
  the people you want to be with, right?
• 28:45
  >> And like what what do you want to build
• 28:47
  somewhere? Um, so that's one of the
• 28:48
  things I I think I have to say. I was
• 28:51
  also on the NIL board for Northwestern.
• 28:53
  So I was on the other side of it. I'm
• 28:55
  just happy it didn't affect it and never
• 28:57
  made a decision.
• 28:58
  >> Yeah. For you, you didn't have to make
• 28:59
  that choice. And I think there's there's
• 29:01
  some kind of stat and I'm sure I'll get
• 29:03
  it wrong, but I had a friend that worked
• 29:04
  at NCAA. There's a number of young young
• 29:08
  kids who get into the portal but end up
• 29:11
  not getting picked up and then they
• 29:12
  don't end up back in school.
• 29:13
  >> Yeah.
• 29:14
  >> Right. And so that that's that's
• 29:16
  something different. and all in itself.
• 29:18
  And so who's helping some of these
• 29:19
  folks? And
• 29:20
  >> again, I think it's if I were a kid,
• 29:22
  believe me, I'd take the cash.
• 29:23
  >> Yeah, it it'd be hard.
• 29:24
  >> It would be very hard to to make it to
• 29:26
  be like Braden Smith, right? Braden
• 29:28
  Smith played four years at Purdue,
• 29:30
  right? Then leave, all that kind of
• 29:31
  stuff. Probably had an opportunity.
• 29:33
  >> He might be the last time we talk about
• 29:34
  something like that. Could be.
• 29:36
  >> Yeah.
• 29:36
  >> And so no NIL, which would be good. And
• 29:39
  so, but then maybe a couple of just some
• 29:41
  places to play.
• 29:42
  >> Um, so obviously we already talked about
• 29:44
  Japan. Uh, one of the most interesting
• 29:46
  places we would play, we would play in
• 29:47
  Venezuela every summer for uh, the Panam
• 29:50
  Games.
• 29:50
  >> Oh, cool.
• 29:51
  >> And amazing. Uh, it was it was again
• 29:54
  going going overseas and seeing how
• 29:57
  other people in the world live, how
• 30:00
  fortunate we are, right? Like we were I
• 30:03
  always tell people like I wasn't allowed
• 30:04
  off of my like a hotel uh, floor
• 30:09
  >> in Venezuela. like we were on lockdown
• 30:11
  because it wasn't safe for us to go, you
• 30:14
  know, and kidnappers and all that. And
• 30:15
  so I just think going over and seeing
• 30:18
  how other people live, it was a
• 30:20
  beautiful country. I mean, I loved
• 30:23
  seeing it, being there, all of that. Uh,
• 30:25
  but just anytime you can go experience
• 30:28
  something like that. Um probably
• 30:33
  favorite one of my favorite memories. So
• 30:36
  actually national championship game
• 30:37
  freshman year 18 years old. Um we or
• 30:41
  going No, this is leading into the
• 30:43
  national championship game. I'm sorry.
• 30:44
  We beat UCLA to get to Arizona. So we're
• 30:47
  playing UCLA and this pitcher just owned
• 30:50
  me, right? I was back to like being
• 30:52
  recruited by Kate, never getting hits.
• 30:54
  like she just I it was my my timing was
• 30:57
  so bad and I so I think I was 0 for
• 30:59
  eight off of her like something not
• 31:01
  great and um we give up the tying run go
• 31:06
  into extra innings eighth inning and um
• 31:10
  I'm like I I'm going to do this like I
• 31:12
  am
• 31:12
  >> y
• 31:13
  >> I am done I am so mad at myself for not
• 31:16
  figuring it out and um I will never
• 31:18
  forget I just sat there and like was
• 31:20
  mouthing the words like drive it over
• 31:22
  and over in my head just telling myself
• 31:24
  what to do. And uh I finally stayed back
• 31:29
  and hit one. A home run opposite field.
• 31:31
  >> Oh, sweet.
• 31:32
  >> And I'm like, "Okay, awesome. We're up
• 31:35
  by one again, right?" Yeah.
• 31:37
  >> And then, uh my best friend, I hit
• 31:39
  second, she hit third. Another redhead.
• 31:42
  Um follows up. Next pitch,
• 31:46
  same home run. I mean, like feet apart,
• 31:48
  backto-back home runs. And so that's
• 31:50
  what got us in Northwestern into the
• 31:52
  national championship for the first
• 31:53
  time. So that that's definitely a core
• 31:55
  memory I think of me. One of the best
• 31:58
  ones
• 31:59
  >> for you. It's awesome. 0 for eight then
• 32:01
  drop onto the machine. Crush it. Drive
• 32:04
  it.
• 32:04
  >> I was tired of losing.
• 32:05
  >> Yeah, losing sucks.
• 32:08
  >> All right. So, and so then I also got
• 32:09
  asked too, I mean, you know, are you
• 32:11
  playing I I go to church and we have
• 32:13
  church league softball. Would great be
• 32:15
  great to pick you up to bring you as a
• 32:16
  ringer. Are you still playing at all?
• 32:18
  playing any any any fun?
• 32:20
  >> You know, I'm I'm not um we always joke.
• 32:23
  So, actually at Cook Financial Group, um
• 32:26
  since I came, I've just recruited my
• 32:28
  teammates. Um you know, really good
• 32:30
  people that I I've known for years. And
• 32:33
  so, uh two other people that work at
• 32:36
  Cook are actually my teammates from the
• 32:38
  Chicago Bandits, one of them from
• 32:39
  Northwestern. Uh we have a new kid
• 32:42
  starting in June that's a Northwestern
• 32:45
  softball player. So we always joke that
• 32:47
  we're going to start a team like we're
• 32:48
  going to start a corporate team and you
• 32:50
  know the guys on the team have to hit
• 32:51
  like seven eight nine because they're
• 32:53
  going to really weigh us down over there
• 32:55
  but
• 32:58
  >> we're going to drag you dudes with us
• 32:59
  because we have some
• 33:03
  >> it's co-ed.
• 33:04
  >> Um but no so I don't I've been playing
• 33:06
  uh pickle ball
• 33:08
  >> I just started golfing.
• 33:09
  >> Now let's go to pickle ball.
• 33:11
  >> So you like pickle ball?
• 33:12
  >> A lot.
• 33:13
  >> It's a lot of fun. It's a lot of fun.
• 33:15
  It's And it's social, right? Anyone can
• 33:18
  play.
• 33:18
  >> Sure.
• 33:19
  >> Any speed. Get out and play and start
• 33:21
  playing golf, too.
• 33:22
  >> Yeah.
• 33:22
  >> You liking golf?
• 33:23
  >> I am. Um, you know, obviously not as
• 33:26
  enthusiastic about it as pickleball. I'm
• 33:28
  a better pickleball player than golfer.
• 33:30
  Um, but no, I love it. I love being able
• 33:32
  to be outside for a few hours and
• 33:34
  compete. And we're I'm getting there. I
• 33:35
  It's just taking some time.
• 33:37
  >> You got to have a couple of good shots
• 33:38
  to keep bringing you back.
• 33:40
  >> Yeah.
• 33:40
  >> You hit one, you're like, "Oh, yeah.
• 33:42
  There it was. I I'll come back next
• 33:43
  time, but if one of these days I'm sure
• 33:46
  I'm not going to hit one, I'm like,
• 33:47
  "Yeah, I'm out." And so, all right. So,
• 33:49
  doing those kind of things. So, but
• 33:50
  outside of work, when you're not a cook,
• 33:53
  obviously everybody playing pickle ball,
• 33:54
  but what are you doing for fun?
• 33:56
  >> Yeah. Uh, so Barry involved with
• 33:58
  Northwestern, all my people in Chicago.
• 34:01
  I I you know, I spend a lot of times
• 34:03
  with friends, family, anything athletic.
• 34:06
  Uh, absolutely love traveling. Um, I
• 34:08
  would, you know, that is, I think,
• 34:10
  something that I fell in love with
• 34:12
  playing. I was always on the road,
• 34:14
  always seeing new places. So, I would
• 34:17
  say that's the big one. Uh, traveling,
• 34:20
  just enjoying the world, seeing what
• 34:22
  else is out there and and trying to
• 34:24
  always continuously be adventurous and
• 34:27
  and curious and learn. Yeah.
• 34:29
  >> Whatever comes next is going to be
• 34:31
  awesome.
• 34:31
  >> It's going to be amazing.
• 34:32
  >> Yeah.
• 34:33
  >> Yeah. When you think about it, growing
• 34:34
  up, small town, 80 kids in your class,
• 34:37
  going to Northwestern, getting an
• 34:38
  opportunity to play for a national
• 34:39
  title, crushing home run after being 0
• 34:41
  for eight, playing in Japan, being down
• 34:44
  in Venezuela, right? Being able to do
• 34:46
  all those things, playing
• 34:47
  professionally, and then and then taking
• 34:50
  kind of the the thing on your shoulder
• 34:51
  to go, hey, I'm going to go figure out
• 34:52
  what's going to be next. So, I'm going
• 34:54
  to start asking these folks what they
• 34:55
  do, and I'm going to go figure that out.
• 34:57
  And then I'm going to jump in. I'm going
• 34:58
  to go to Indianapolis because whatever
• 35:00
  is going to happen next will be great.
• 35:02
  If it's not, I'll do whatever's after
• 35:04
  that.
• 35:04
  >> Yeah.
• 35:05
  >> And so the story one is terrific. Your
• 35:08
  career is amazing. But the biggest thing
• 35:10
  that I pick up out of it is that it it's
• 35:13
  about your attitude, right? Drive it,
• 35:16
  drive it 0 for eight.
• 35:17
  >> Yeah.
• 35:18
  >> Right. A lot of folks go the other
• 35:19
  direction. Their mind goes very
• 35:21
  negative,
• 35:22
  >> right? And so your mind went towards the
• 35:23
  positive was already I'm going to drive
• 35:25
  the ball. Whatever's going to happen, I
• 35:27
  could still get out. I get a one right
• 35:28
  to the shortstop. Crush it via out. or I
• 35:31
  could go to the opposite field and drop
• 35:32
  a bomb. Either way, right? But something
• 35:35
  cool is gonna happen if I just drive the
• 35:36
  ball. Yeah.
• 35:37
  >> And so terrific to hear your story and I
• 35:39
  I certainly appreciate you sharing with
• 35:40
  me and it's been terrific getting to
• 35:42
  know you.
• 35:42
  >> Yeah. Thank you for Thank you for having