Latest / Only Fee-Only / #158 - From Planning Firm Employee to Solo RIA Founder: Matt Ryan's Story

Transcript

#158 - From Planning Firm Employee to Solo RIA Founder: Matt Ryan's Story · Only Fee-Only

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_01: How's it going everyone?
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome back to the OnlyFe Only podcast.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_01: And as always, thank you for being here.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: In this episode, we sit down with Matt Ryan, founder of Focused Mission Financial in San Diego to talk about launching his Fiona RIA in 2022 after nearly a decade at other planning focused firms.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: Matt shares how boots on the ground marketing, like coffees, lunches, and golf has really driven the majority of his 51 client households, the shiny objects that did not pan out, how his clients processed evolved into a formal six-step system, and his work with self-employed households on solo 401ks and tax planning.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: He also gets into bringing on his operations specialist, integrating 10 clients from a retiring advisor's book, and being intentional about his next hire.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: His advice for newer advisors was absolutely phenomenal, but you have to listen to the episode to find out what that is, little cliffhanger.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: Without further ado, enjoy this episode with Matt Ryan on the OnlyFee Only Podcast.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_02: How's it going, everyone?
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to another episode of the Only Fee Only Podcast.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_02: I'm Peter Travolo.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_02: I'm joined by my co-host Brock Fuckles.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_02: And today we're so excited to have Matt Ryan on from Focused Mission Financial.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_02: Um, really excited to have him on, share how he's building his firm and how he's serving his clients.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_02: So, Matt, welcome to the show, man.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thanks for having me.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: Appreciate it, guys.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, you've bet you bet.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_02: So we've had the privilege of being able to meet in person through XY and being able to service some of your clients.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_02: But for those who don't know who you are, where are you based out of and what's your firm about, man?
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so based out of San Diego, California.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm born born and raised here.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm a San Diego native.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: All my family's here.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so uh I'm not going anywhere.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: But uh, but yeah, um launched my firm three and a half years ago after being uh being with another firm for for quite a while.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um but happy to happy to dive into any areas you guys want to as far as uh what FMF's all about.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: Is is San Diego is that the home of the USS Midway?
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: Am I thinking about that?
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: I thought so.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: The amount of uh field trips that I went to the USS Midway uh growing up is uh quite a few.
• 2:26
  unknown: Yeah.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_01: I was I was there with my wife.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: Actually, this is a funny story, Peter.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna appreciate this.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: The only feel only podcast was actually born while I was in San Diego.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: This is like full circle right here.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: We did our uh we did our first recording when I was in San Diego, and then I checked out the USS Midway.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: So um well, really cool, man.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: One of the most beautiful places in the entire world to live, obviously.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: And XYPN conference is gonna be there this year.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: So a lot of things going for San Diego.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, like when you kind of got into this world, like what was like that?
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I saw that you were like an intern at an advisory firm.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: So like you've basically been in the like uh RAA like investment advisory business your entire career for the most part, right?
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, absolutely my entire career.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: So I I um I don't know how many years ago, but luckily when in when I was in college, uh got dropped into like the CF, one of the early CFP college programs where you could do the coursework at at school.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I think there was at the time like 10 or 15 schools that had the program.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um in my school, just luckily had one.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: I started as an engineering major and then ended up switching into financial planning um and just kind of took it from there.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Had an internship in Virginia at uh my one of my uncles uh owned a firm out there.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so did that, and it was a fee-based firm, but largely fee only.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but RAA.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: And then after my junior year, I did another internship back in San Diego where I jumped on after after college and stayed there for seven years and then seven or eight years, and then launched my own firm, yeah, three and a half years ago.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I mean, what are some key lessons that you learned through some of those earlier RIAs that you worked at?
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: Oh man, where to start?
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: Uh learned plenty of plenty of lessons, definitely cut my teeth, uh, at those other firms.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um dude, my biggest one was patience.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like when I was in college, I had such a chip on my shoulder and I was like, oh, when I'm the you know, two years out, I'm gonna learn everything I need to know about running a wealth management firm and then I'm gonna start my firm and conquer the world.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: Uh but I think looking back, like 22, 23-year-old Matt definitely learned a lot of patience along the way.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um so that was probably the biggest one.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but I was I think I was really lucky that I just got kind of got dropped into this whole fee-only RAA world.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and really like at two very planning, like the first internship and then the the firm I was at for seven years, very planning focused.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: So I kind of got indoctrinated early on of like, this is how we serve clients.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: We're really planning focused.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, obviously the investments have an important piece, but um, the planning took a center stage.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: And that's cool, man.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you you learned a lot, obviously.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_01: Cut your teeth, like you said, at those first firms.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: But like everybody has a moment that goes out and is like, I'm gonna start my own thing, where they're like, I think now's the time.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I feel it.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: I want to do this, I'm about it.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: So, what was kind of like that urge?
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, was it because I heard what you said about being there early 20s, like in your 20s, right?
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like, thank God we're not all who we were in our early 20s when we all thought we had another big but having you know, getting that experience and then kind of making that move, like, was there like an aha moment, like it's absolutely time right now, or had you kind of been like stewing on it for a while?
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what led you to actually, you know, have the courage or the the finally like make the decision to make the jump?
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: That's a that's a great question.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: I got to get an answer for you.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: I'll I'll set the stage a bit though.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: So I I've always had that entrepreneurial spirit.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like the whole time I was working at other firms, I was like, I want to do my own thing at some point in time.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know when that's gonna happen, but yeah, no it will.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and I've always been one that has like ideas and the way I want to do things and my own opinions on you know how things should be run.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: And my wife is the first one to hear about all of those, right?
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: And so there was a there was a day early 2022 where I came home and I was expressing some of those, you know, opinions to my wife.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: And she looked at me and she just goes, Matt, you just need to shut up and do it.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: So my wife was the the spark that that kind of ignited uh the journey.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: It took me most of 2022 to kind of prep and get ready to to launch, but that was the kind of aha moment of like, okay, I'm I'm into my career.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like I'm ready to do this, and I just got the approval from my wife to take this journey.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: So let's give it a shot.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you just gotta get you just gotta give a hell yeah to your wife right there, man.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: That is off.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: Well, because in real quick, I I was just gonna say, like, we've heard a lot of people on the podcast where they're like, Yeah, my wife didn't really want me to quit my day job.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like, we've got a house, we've got bills to pay.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: And that's totally understandable as well.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: But it's cool that your wife was the one that was like, I love it, it's time to just do it, like, you know, so that's that's yeah, and and I think like my wife has 100% been the biggest supporter through this whole thing.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, all the kudos go to her.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, it we're super blessed to be in a situation where she has she has a great job and a great career, and we've got all kinds of family support.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: So, like when we did a little fear setting and like looked at what are what are the biggest risks here of like not scratching the stitch and going down this path.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like the biggest risk was like, okay, it doesn't work out for a couple of years, and then I go back and find another job.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like I I've got the you know, some credentials, I've got experience, like people are big firm big firms are looking for younger talent to come in and and be there.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: So I didn't have that big, big worry of like, okay, if I spend two years and this doesn't work out, you know, we're gonna not put food on the table for my kids, kind of thing.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_02: So what did the initial um launch plan look like for you as far as marketing, you know, setting your fees?
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what did that all kind of look like?
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: Ooh, uh from a marketing standpoint, it was boots on the ground.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: Like coffees, lunches.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: I really like in playing golf, like I like the personal connection, and I feel like I'm you know, that's one of my strengths from a marketing standpoint is like building those one-on-one connections.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: So that was the marketing plan is me going out uh and doing that, and then supporting that was like a newsletter.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: I do a lot of short form video content, nothing like what you guys put out, but uh, you know, I've been pretty consistent with it.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and that all goes to support like just those one-on-one connections that I've been building, you know, with with COIs and potential clients here in San Diego.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um so happy to dive into that more.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: But that was the initial launch plan.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't something that was super built out, it was, you know, I'm gonna hit the ground running.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it that's you know, different than what you hear most people saying, right?
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_02: Because there's a lot of this like shiny object create content or a LinkedIn outbound marketing or whatever it might be.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_02: So kind of how did you stay true to your business?
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: Well, don't get me wrong.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: I have I have chased plenty of shiny objects over the last three and a half years.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um but I keep coming back to the like when I look at the I've got 51 households, like when I look at the 51 households, the vast majority of those have come from me connecting with somebody and then either working with them or they've got somebody that they've referred.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: So um all the other stuff has been in support of that, but I've chased plenty of shiny objects as far as paid paid marketing and smart asset and all kinds of things that they're haven't haven't panned out as as uh initially thought.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: But it but the thing that I like that you did, man, and and like I think people need to hear this because it's not all like sunshine and rainbows and roses out there, right?
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: Like a lot of people like to be like, yeah, start your practice, put a couple videos up on LinkedIn, next thing you know, the floodgates will open and you'll have more leagues than you know what to do with.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, actually, no, you won't.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_01: So anybody telling you you could get super lucky and maybe you're the guy that can really make it happen, right?
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_01: Because we have known people that are like anomalies that are just like, holy cow, you have this, how many Twitter followers in two months or whatever it might be?
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_01: But the thing that I like that you said, man, is in the beginning, it really is it's like by all means necessary.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: You have to do what it takes because, like, if you don't have clients, man, you can have all the great ideas in in your head that you can possibly think of.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: And none of it matters if you don't have anybody to share it with and you don't have a sustainable business model.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: 100%.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: So, well, okay, man.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: So, like you got the firm up and running.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um, how did you kind of decide like, here's what my process is gonna be with clients?
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so what does it look like?
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: Like you meet somebody for the first time, like walk us through kind of what they're going to experience.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, this has evolved over time.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but our current process, which this is not how clients started, like they didn't have a super formal onboarding process, but now we have like a very formal onboarding process.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: And this a lot of this comes from I'm gonna I'm gonna butcher her last name, so she's gonna have to forgive me.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: But it's Libby Guev from the Efficient Advisor, like her first hundred-day process.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: Like we've taken that and kind of made it into something that works for us.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: But I mean, they have a very sis every client that comes on is a very systematized, you know, six-step process they go through from signing party, formal onboarding meeting, uh, a financial planning discovery meeting, an analysis meeting, uh, a financial plan review and strategy meeting, and then like the implementation and ongoing support stuff.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: So like there's a very formalized onboarding process and ongoing process, but I didn't start like that.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: Like I started just like every client, when somebody said yes, no matter who it was, I just like got a sheet of paper out and just started scribbling down like, okay, I need to do transfer forms, I need to do an LPOA, I need to do whatever else it was going on.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um so we've made a lot of progress, and a lot of that's due to the operations specialist I hired in August of 24, Philly Pridgin.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, she came on and like took on the operation piece and like has made that um so much more efficient and so much more built out, um, which is not my skill set.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: So uh that's been super helpful.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I mean you specialize working with self-employed um households kind of what's that like, and maybe what are some of the main pain points that you're seeing out there when they're coming to you?
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I definitely kind of outward outward marketing is is a lot of self-employed uh individuals.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: I would say probably half the clients that I have fall into that category, but the other half are traditional retirees.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I've got a fair amount of widows that I work with.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um but as far as the self-employed folks, like the solo 401k aspect and like get doing the tax planning for clients, I feel like those are some of the biggest pieces that I've found.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: Like the amount of solo 401ks I manage uh now versus like back in my previous firm is uh it's a lot.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: So uh and like set by rays and like the just retirement planning for self-employed folks.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like that's a big pain point they come in with.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um and then the tax planning, which kind of go hand in hand, right?
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: Like you set up a retirement plan to help save some taxes, and um you know, that's been been super helpful.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: Uh that answer your question.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, cool.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, it did.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I mean, right now it's you and one support person, right?
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_02: Cool.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_02: So kind of where do you see the firm evolving to?
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_02: Do you see yourself getting a junior advisor at some point?
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_02: You want to stay small and boutique?
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_02: What are you kind of thinking?
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I think that's the next phase of of growth is is allowing me, like I mentioned earlier, to like get back out there and do some of the boots on the ground marketing that I feel like I'm I'm good at and I get to play more golf and do those things.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um I love it.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: So bringing on a junior advisor is definitely that next step.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um we just came out of a period where I purchased a small book from a retiring advisor, and so that happened in December.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so we brought on 10 clients from that advisor in December, and we're just now finishing up kind of all of the onboarding for those.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's a lot to bring on 10 clients in one month for at least the way I'm set up.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, so we're just not getting out of that, and now we can start looking again towards the future and and what that next hire looks like.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to be intentional with it.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't feel like by any means I'm at capacity right now with the 51 clients, 51 households we have with the support that I do have.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: Uh but I want to make sure we hire that person before we get to that capacity level.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and that it's a good fit because coming into a small firm, like I'm sure you guys experienced that when you guys launched BC Brokerage, like the next person you come in, like it's just it's you two and that person, right?
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: So they've got to be a good culture fit, they've got to be of good alignment with like the values and where the you know the vision of the firm.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: So uh I'm definitely gonna take my time and figure out the right person to bring on in that in that junior advisor, lead advisor capacity.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and then I love that you said that, man, because it is like I don't want to say it's like a matter of of make it or break it, right?
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: When you like bring somebody on, but it's like it's critical to the culture because that person is literally literally going to like enhance and multiply what you have going on and just add that much more to what you have going on, or they're gonna be a total drag, right?
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like they could be somewhere in between where it's like, you know, they're helping out, they're doing some of the stuff that I don't want to do.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: But if you have somebody that comes on and they're an absolute rock star, and then they're like number two, and then you start to bring people on after that, like you two are gonna set the tone.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's gonna be a really big deal from like a planning standpoint.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, that's huge.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, they they say higher fat or higher slow, fire fast, right?
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: For a reason, because it's like the people that are contributing to it and bringing something to the table, like what but what more could you ask for?
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: But if it goes the other way, obviously, like that's not great either.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_01: So, like, do you have an idea how big you might want to grow the firm or like what maximum capacity is?
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: Like, we're not getting bigger than this because that just starts to interfere with my lifestyle.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like, here's the most I want to do.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: I I can I can answer that question when I look out like three years.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: I can't answer that question if I look out five to ten.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um I think from a short-term standpoint, like I want to make sure I'm at my kids' t-ball games and soccer games, and I can take them to swim on you know, in the afternoon.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so going forward, like I think the the my current setup with me and Philly, I think we can pretty much handle 70 to 80 client households um with how we do what we do, and then bringing on that next person, you know, in the next year or two is kind of the next step.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um going past that, I'm not sure, but I don't want to sacrifice like the time with my growing family, and that's you know a big part of owning your firm is you've got the flexibility to make those decisions, and uh we're at a good spot with the firm.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: So it's not like we need to grow super fast or get super big.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_00: Uh that's just not not at the the priority at this point.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: You ask me again in five years, I don't know.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but that's where we're at for at least the next two or three.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_02: So I mean, we talked a little earlier about some shiny objects.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um, if you don't mind like kind of sharing with some of the listeners, like what are maybe some of those shiny objects that didn't work out that maybe some other advisors could maybe avoid or, you know, at least do some more dil due diligence on before implementing it.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, definitely doing more due diligence uh than I might have for some of these.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um I would say one of them that that didn't pan out that I can see working really well for maybe a larger firm is the smart asset piece.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um I tried that, and you've got to be so quick on the callback and you've got to be like very involved in the follow-up.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: And it's it's a lot of time and effort for for like a solo advisor firm for the you know the lead advisor to do all that follow-up and scheduling the calls and trying to get people on the hook and making all those kind of cold calls out.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: So I didn't anticipate that going into that.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: I should have done a little bit more due diligence there.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I mean, I know people at Pure Financial where that's also based here at San Diego, and that's their whole shtick is like they buy leads and they are very efficient about following up and getting people in their in their flywheel, right?
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: So um can work out really well.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: It was real tough for a solo advisor at the time to to do that, um, at least in my my experience.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: That was probably the biggest shiny object I chased and most expensive one.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and that makes sense.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, if your only job is to answer the phones and and do all of that then uh and get back to people, then totally makes sense.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um so what is a a piece of advice that you would give to an advisor that's like just out there, they just started their firm, they're like, you know, overwhelmed with everything that they have going on.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what would be your advice to them, Matt?
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: Dude, stick to one thing at a time.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um and don't be afraid to invest into the business, uh, like monetarily.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: Like I feel like I was I was pretty um, like I wasn't, I guess I was not very frugal uh at the beginning.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: Like I wanted to put money into the business and like get the software, get the you know, pay for the marketing thing, sign up for the event, like all of those pieces.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_00: I wasn't afraid to like put some money into it.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: Whereas, you know, I feel like there are some advisors like XYPN does a great job of connecting you with an initial study group.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I've been in other uh you know, other advisor study groups where I've seen advisors where it hasn't worked out that weren't willing to spend a few thousand dollars on going to an event or trying a marketing thing or you know, investing in the the the software that they actually wanted.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so I feel like that's one thing that I I'm happy that I did and like really invested monetarily into it at the at the outset.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I think that's helped me grow as quickly as I as I have.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: So um yeah.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: And stick to one thing at a time.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: Love it, love it.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_01: Well, man, a lot of great things in there, a lot of golden nuggets.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you're a great guy to follow on social media, and I think people can learn a lot from you.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_01: So for those that want to follow along with what you're doing, where's the blessed best place to do that or connect with you?
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, LinkedIn's definitely the best.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um Matt Ryan should be fairly fairly easy to easy to uh easy to find on there, but LinkedIn is where I'm most active.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Matt, thank you so much for your time today.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: We really appreciate it.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, appreciate you guys.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, man.