Latest / Only Fee-Only / #77 - Trailblazing as a Chief Evangelist - Diana Cabrices

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#77 - Trailblazing as a Chief Evangelist - Diana Cabrices · Only Fee-Only

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: How's it going?
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Everyone?
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to the only fee only podcast and, as always, thanks for being here.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: This episode is incredible because we got the chance to talk to Diana Cabrises and she is absolutely amazing.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: She won the Women in Wealth Management Up and Comer award this year, about two months ago, which is absolutely fantastic, and she is the founder of Diana Cabrises Consulting and is doing an amazing job, really trailblazing this role of Chief Evangelist for a lot of different companies, a couple of them being well tender and white glove, as you probably know and this is a great conversation.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: We got to learn about how she's really dealing with the space, dealing with all this new attention, dealing with being able to kind of balance everything and believe me when I say she's doing an absolutely fantastic job.
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: She was amazing in this episode.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: She was vulnerable about what's been challenging and, just completely straight up, which I think you'll get the vibe for, here is Diana Cabrises on the only fee only podcast.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: What's up everyone?
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: Welcome to another episode of the only fee only podcast.
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: I'm Peter Travalo.
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: Today we have Brock, along with Josh Passler, and we're very excited to have Diana Cabrises join us today.
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: Diana, welcome to the show.
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: Thank you, peter Brock.
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: Josh, it's great to be here with you.
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: It's Tuesday, I'm feeling good and we're a great group, so I'm excited to chat.
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: I love it.
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: I love it and just had a great burrito.
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: So you know, everyone knows you now as a fractional chief evangelist to be to be wealth tech companies.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: But there's quite a background and quite a build up to that.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: So you know for those listeners, like kind of what's your background and how did you even get into the wealth tech space?
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I never, ever thought that I would work in the wealth tech space and that I would run a brand evangelism firm and really lean into this like marketing strengths that I've been developing over the last few years.
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: But I'll back up a little bit.
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: I entered this industry back in 2016 and I at the time was traveling around Europe.
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: I had like sold all of my stuff, my car.
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: I was supposed to be in Europe for three months, but I stayed for two years and about a year in I knew, all right, I can't teach English under the table anymore for pennies.
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: I've got to get a real girl job.
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: So I went online, I put my profile on this freelancer website called Upworkcom andI had a fintech company reach out and it's so interesting thinking now about how that went because it totally relates to my story today.
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: But they reached out and they said, hey, we want you to read this script and send us your voice recording.
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: And so I was like, all right, well, I think I've got a good voice, I think I can do this.
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: So I had no clue what financial advisors did I mean.
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: I just wasn't really in that world growing up.
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: My mom didn't have an advisor, so it was very foreign to me.
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: But I said, okay, I need the money and you know, transparently, I need the work.
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: So I did it and they were so happy with it.
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: They were like, oh, you're in, we want you.
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: You have an amazing voice.
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: That went on for like, let's say, two years where I was like smiling and dialing every day, calling financial advisors, trying to get them to sell their businesses.
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: That's when I learned that financial advisors just do not sell their businesses At least the ones in you know the Boomer range today.
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: They love what they do.
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: They never want to give up Succession planning, m&a recruiting that became my world for a couple of years really started to learn the language and the space.
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: I think anyone who enters this space like that's your biggest huge challenge is being able to talk the talk, and there's a lot of terminology, there's a lot of jargon.
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: So as I started to develop that confidence, I then moved to a company that would sell discounted technologies for advisors.
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: So it's like one big bundle and I had to start learning all the financial planning technologies, the investment management, all the different you know CRMs in the space and learn to pitch their product in order to sell the discount.
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: That was really an important part of my journey as well, when I think about where I am today, and then from there went on to marketing and that's where I spent the last three and a half years, you know, from 2019 to 2022 with Snappy Kraken awesome company, amazing team.
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: It taught me so much about what advisors need in their marketing and what they currently don't have, what they're not doing.
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: But it also gave me this unique opportunity, peter, to really put myself on the front lines of a company, and I had already been doing that.
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: But, like, really, every conference, every stage, every webinar, diana was there and people would see me and they'd like, oh my God, you're the Snappy Queen, the Snappy Queen.
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: And I'm like, oh, thank you so much.
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: But that started to have that association and then I realized I had that aha moment.
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: Right, going to all these conferences, tech CEOs would come up to me and they'd say, hey, how much do I need to pay you to do that for my company?
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: It was really good and I knew it.
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: I was like I've got something here and so love the folks at Snappy, but knew it was time to make that leap and I said, all right, I'm going to serve up my talents.
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: I'm going to package them up into this sort of fractionalized chief evangelist's role, this offer, and see who bites.
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: And I launched January of 2023.
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: And in two days I got my first client with a wealth box.
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: And here we are in December again.
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: I cannot believe it's been a year, but it has been an awesome year.
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: Oh, it's so great to hear and so just so the listeners know who are the current brands that you're representing, and then we'll be able to get a little bit more into all of that, but just so we lay a good groundwork for everyone on your background.
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: Totally so.
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: Wealth box was my first client.
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: They're a modern CRM that financial advisors actually love, using beautiful, beautiful interface.
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: Wealth tender was my next client, and so wealth tender is so multifaceted, but it's essential.
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: Digital marketing, I like to say hands-free, no-brainer, good SEO, media opportunities and compliant testimonials, which is new ish for advisors.
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: And then I partner with white glove, and white glove is the leading seminar marketing program for advisors.
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: What's cool about them is it's not just a service, because there are marketing consultants going to work for you, but everything's backed by technology, and I knew I wanted to keep the technology piece.
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: Part of what I do is working with tech companies and then, lastly, I work with the folks over at the AGC.
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: So that's advisors growing as a community awesome community founded by Taylor Schulte, justin Castelli.
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: We merged it with wealth tender and now, as community evangelists, I get to have a lot of fun with the group.
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean there's some awesome people there.
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: I mean you got, you know, brian Thorpe, justin Castelli, taylor Schulte I love, I'm gonna, I'm gonna rewind that real quick, because one of the things that I love that you said was, when you're like I got to go get a big girl job, right, you start doing this stuff on Upwork, that you got these jobs.
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: You had to learn how to sell technology right, like all these products, and there's a lot of people that are in jobs that maybe they don't like right now, but they're getting valuable skills.
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: So talk to us about how you were able to take that and what you did and transfer that into what you're doing now, which, if you look at it, is very similar from a skill and practicality standpoint.
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: So how did kind of going through that translate into what you're doing now?
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: Yeah, well, you know, marketing in sales are brother and sister, right?
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: Anyone who tells you that they're not, I mean, I don't know what world that they're living in anymore, because marketing and sales have to operate in lockstep and it's really all about positioning and it's also a lot of psychology right, asking the right questions, getting down to that real deep pain point that advisors are having and then being there as that solution for them.
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: I think with all those years of selling technology, I really got to understand what are the financial advisors pain points.
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: You know, why do they struggle so badly with their marketing?
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: You know what?
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: What are the things that they're saying now that are probably too complex for the average consumer to understand?
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: Again, positioning right.
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: So when I look back to that entire you know time in my career where I was learning and selling, I was really also learning to listen and then leaning into what they were telling me, to then develop my talk track that I knew, man, this is gonna give them exactly what they want, because they said it themselves.
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: I just had to listen first right.
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: So fast forward to today.
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: Right, I do the same thing, but in a more of an educational lens.
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: Like I can't call myself a you know, traditional salesperson anymore because I'm not selling anything, but I kind of like it.
• 8:46
  Speaker 3: It's nice to be in the seat right now, it's nice to not have to sell anything, it's nice to say alright, let me connect you with the team.
• 8:51
  Speaker 3: They're gonna take you through this next step.
• 8:53
  Speaker 3: I get to be that first entry point, that educator.
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: Mm-hmm, but that's also what the industry has been calling for.
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: Yes, extent, right, and you're a little bit on the forefront of that.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: And there's no doubt that when we were bringing Josh on that we're like huh, fractional chief evangelist, you know.
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: I mean Josh is a marketer and specializes in branding and stuff like that, but you know we definitely did take that in consideration.
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: So, like what are some of those pain points that you've seen with some of your clients and kind of like how your services right now are matching those needs in the market.
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so I think the biggest desire across any client that I have, even outside of that, across any financial technology company serving advisors, is the Technology map is growing really quickly, you know.
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: Let's just say, in the last year, according to data I think, the estate planning category like 44% growth and adoption by advisors.
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: That is huge.
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: So I think what's happening is, you know these companies know there's gonna be more competition and more competition and more competition.
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: But beyond just competition, advisors only have so much budget, right.
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: Advisors are only going to adopt so much technology.
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: Even if the entire map, as huge as it's become, can serve you and help you, it doesn't mean that they're gonna choose all of them.
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: In fact, they're just not.
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: It's too complicated, right.
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: So my clients and these tech companies, their biggest challenge right now is getting in front and being very visible and being that trusted source right, trust being the keyword.
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: Any good brand is built on trust and being that trusted source to go out and say, hey, you know we're over here, here's why you should take a look at us, here's why this is important, here's why you need it, and really being able to do that in a way that also connects to their other Technologies.
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: So, for example, a well-tender and white glove have a partnership right.
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: You do an awesome seminar with white glove.
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: Well, well tenders, that credibility booster, these, these Attendees are gonna be looking you up after the fact and now that they've met you, oh, they're gonna see all your reviews on well tender.
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: They're gonna see that you have a credible website.
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: Beyond just a website, you're listed in all these media opportunities.
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: So it's it's telling the stories together and helping them accomplish that Beyond just being front and center.
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: Having that transparency, you know, having that competitive edge.
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: I think most of my clients at least, this is what they're prioritizing and I'm already seeing the best brands, the fastest growing brands right now, and advisor tech doing the same thing.
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: So the technology companies out there know right now and I've seen the best ones doing this is having a dynamic Human or humans on the front side of your company, right to represent that brand, is Gonna take you so so much further right, building a brand is Worth it.
• 11:46
  Speaker 3: It's one of those things where you can't necessarily track everything, but in this small space there's, you know, there's only the pond is only so big, if you guys catch my drift with that.
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: So if you have the right people in your corner, that are influential, that people respect, again, there's that credibility, that trust factor representing your company You're gonna grow a lot faster.
• 12:07
  Speaker 3: It's just the name of the game.
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: It's just a numbers game, really, but I'm seeing that as well.
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: I'm seeing this shift and you know, when I launched my business, I thought, gosh, you know 50% of these tech companies.
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: Man, they could be doing a lot more video, they could be introducing series on education, this, that and the other.
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: Fast forward to now, a year later, I'm seeing maybe like 20% of that 50%.
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: They're already starting to do it.
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: So I think that's a shift we're seeing, as well as the humanized marketing shift.
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: No, for sure.
• 12:36
  Speaker 4: That's a good Josh what?
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: do you got me?
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: I see something on your brain over there.
• 12:39
  Speaker 4: Perfect timing, actually, you know just the fact that you mentioned, like the different marketing people can do, and and I'm actually gonna Take a step back and I think you're right when it comes to the branding, people do need branding and a branding and marketing.
• 12:52
  Speaker 4: They had, like that brotherly, sister, you know relationship with one another.
• 12:56
  Speaker 4: But when advisors are focusing solely on on marketing and they they're looking at the different mediums that they can Utilize for themselves, right, which marketing piece do you believe?
• 13:07
  Speaker 4: Whether it's video, radio, podcast, newsletter which one do you think is going to be?
• 13:13
  Speaker 4: I Guess number one medium in 2024?
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: Hmm, that is a great question.
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: Let me whip out my crystal ball really fast and I will answer it for you.
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: I'm just kidding.
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: There clearly are trends, right?
• 14:02
  Speaker 3: I was just giving.
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: I just did a whole training session with the sales team over at White Glove yesterday and we talked about these trends and we looked at sort of the ranking of different marketing activities from a study back in 2021 which we know has already changed.
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: So, for example, I think in 2021, advisors were really leaning into all things digital because of COVID, right?
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: So they were amping up their social media presence, although the success rate was a little bit low there, you know, they were making sure that they had a blog going on their website, trying to really get into the world of SEO to drive people there and, like the, that was really when you started to see the rise of the online advisor directories, like a wealth tender, really start to get that traction because they were looking for anything and everything possible to multiply their digital footprint, as they should have.
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: But since then, let's say, the shift started happening back in 2022, now into 23 and 24 and beyond is this sort of rush back to in-person, because these digital channels are great, but in some cases there are a lot of maintenance for me and let's face it like I know how to shake a hand.
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: I know how to get in a room and talk to somebody.
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: That's that's why I do what I do.
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: I'm good at that stuff.
• 15:13
  Speaker 3: So I do think and I I could be a little bit wrong here, but we'll just say it I do think we're going to see more of that rush back to doing local educational content, whether it is digitally through a webinar, whether it is getting in person at the local library, the community center, getting in person.
• 15:32
  Speaker 3: I think we're going to see a little bit more of that.
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: I've been following the conversation online as well, and seminar has kind of a negative connotation, unfortunately.
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: I think you hear that word and you're like oh, old school advisors, commission base, that's, that's who's that?
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: But that's really not true anymore.
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: That's changing, and so I'm kind of positioning it as just local prospecting events host a client event, tell them to bring a friend, bring in a Somalia.
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: There's so many cool things that you could do, and this is exactly what I was saying before about FinTech brands with humanization.
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: It's the same thing for advisor.
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: Everything can beat.
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: Like you can have all the email copy in the world, you can have all the blog posts in the world.
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: Nothing will beat a physical one-on-one handshake, meeting, exposure, relationship building with an advisor, because that's really putting a motion at the center.
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: So, to answer your question, I think we'll start to see more in person things coming on.
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: I do think the rise of online advisor directories are also going to keep growing.
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: I think testimonial marketing people are leaning into that more and more, just what I've seen in this past year more advisors are leaning into that.
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: So there's a variety of things truly Handshakes aren't dead Handshakes aren't dead.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: No, they're not.
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: I mean, there's something to be said for, like, when you do sit down, break bread like they talk about it in all the old school, like training and people talk about it but it works.
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: There's a reason that it's worked for so long and there's nothing wrong with being online and doing things in that capacity.
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: I think you have to do both but at the same time, if you lose the art of being able to connect with people in person, you're losing something big there.
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: Huge, huge.
• 17:11
  Speaker 3: I agree, and you just said it, that blend of traditional and digital, that's what I think we're going to start to see more of.
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: So I mean, how was your?
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: It seems like your head's got to be spinning a little bit, like you got these different brands, like what is Diana's capacity?
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: Like what's the growth trajectory look like for you January, and then two days later you land your first client, like are you going to have to hire people or are you going to have to duplicate yourself in a way Like what's your mission?
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: How do you want to grow?
• 17:37
  Speaker 3: That's a great question and definitely something that's on my mind all the time.
• 17:42
  Speaker 3: Right, becoming a business owner, I mean, I just I've learned so, so much, one of those things being, yeah, you work a lot more and you don't sleep as much, but there's a lot of payoff in so many other ways.
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: I think, for me personally, just everything I've learned from the financial complexity that I now have as a business owner, you know, to having to hire a CPA, to working on a new plan, that's, you know, not just me as a W2 employee anymore, and here's what I'm making and here's my goals.
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: It's now like, well, what about tax?
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: And how do we make sure we're being strategic with taxes on both the business side and the personal side?
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: So I think, just all to say, yes, I'm very busy, my head does spin, but I'm super grateful because I wanted this, I wanted to learn these things.
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: Now, the whole fractional model right, it's designed to essentially mean I may not necessarily work with all of my clients forever.
• 18:35
  Speaker 3: Right, it's part time, it's really until they need me, until maybe they feel that I've, you know, nurtured someone else in the org to be that face, to be that evangelist for them.
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: So what, we'll see.
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: As far as the client trajectory goes, my plate is completely full.
• 18:50
  Speaker 3: I am not open right now for any other clients, but I have other things that I've thought about.
• 18:56
  Speaker 3: Yes, one of them being how do I scale Diana?
• 18:58
  Speaker 3: Do I turn this into an agency?
• 19:00
  Speaker 3: Do I stay in this sort of solo prenuer mindset?
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: I've already hired some folks on the team women that I love that are amazing and talented, some content creators to help me, my sister I actually hired her as my admin, so she's like always in it with me every day, which is really cool.
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: But to go from, you know, sort of a one person, one face shop to multiple, it would be a lot.
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: So there's a lot to think about there, but I do think that it could be very prosperous, because I can't work with everyone.
• 19:31
  Speaker 3: That is absolutely the truth.
• 19:33
  Speaker 3: And then again, yeah, thinking about maybe staying the course and just feeling it out for another year.
• 19:39
  Speaker 3: There's other things that I want to do.
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: You know you probably have seen online I am really passionate about public speaking.
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: It's my number one favorite thing to do, and I've had people like reach out and say hey, I need help with this, can you help me be a better speaker.
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: I've also had a lot of people reach out this year who've said I want to launch an evangelist business or I want to be an evangelist at my company.
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: Can you help me, hey, diana?
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: When are you going to launch a course on how to be an effective evangelist?
• 20:03
  Speaker 3: So I would say, for something fresh that you might see in the year ahead.
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: I'm kind of leaning into both of those things.
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: We'll see how it goes, but I am very, very grateful for all the growth this year.
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, love that.
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: So, like, how about like networking within the industry?
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: And I also know that you're very proud, you know female founder and Latina.
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: You know, like, how is networking been in the industry?
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: And you know we can just tell by your choice of words and language, like you've got the it factor and you know You're able to place yourself in these correct rooms.
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: But you know, just now, seeing where you're at now and having a good client base, like what are maybe just some tips that you know and you it's fine to gloat about yourself a little bit, but like what's gotten you to where you're at today and been able to get you to move the ball in your career, like you've been able to.
• 20:52
  Speaker 3: Well, thank you.
• 20:53
  Speaker 3: Thank you very much for saying that and I think I've just always been a really hard worker, like I don't know life otherwise, and maybe sometimes to a fault.
• 21:02
  Speaker 3: My dog would probably tell you that right, he's like she takes forever to take me out.
• 21:06
  Speaker 3: I'm sorry I've been working all day, but no, I really appreciate that and I think Really what this has come down to and how I built the brand that I built and what which really helped me, that was my launch pad for this company.
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: If I hadn't built a brand and I would have launched this company, I wouldn't have experienced the same success.
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: This brand, this company's brand, even started six, seven years ago.
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: I didn't start this year, it started six, seven years ago and my tip here is to work the room, be kind to everyone that you cross.
• 21:39
  Speaker 3: You never know who you're talking to.
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: Today there's been so many people that you know.
• 21:43
  Speaker 3: When I didn't know who was who, I didn't know anything.
• 21:45
  Speaker 3: I would talk to them and have conversations and then fast forward a few years and I'm like dang, that person had a lot of power and I look back on my I'm so glad that I was just my authentic, genuine, nice, kind self Like that was planting those seeds along the way.
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: So, working the room, every event that I went to, I networked, I gave my card.
• 22:05
  Speaker 3: I genuinely wanted to know how other people were doing, what their careers were like, what they liked, what they didn't like.
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: I showed real interests and others and then I just did my best, like I'm never doing anything half-assed ever Hopefully I can say that on the podcast but I'm never doing anything halfway, it's always all of the way right.
• 22:24
  Speaker 3: So if I'm gonna go present at a conference, I don't care if it takes me 30 hours the week before and I'm pulling my hair out to make sure what I'm gonna put up there is Amazing, because I want it to be amazing and that has just helped me.
• 22:37
  Speaker 3: On the flip side of people, you know they meet me and advisors meet me too and they're like wow, your reputation really precedes you and I'm like that's really cool.
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: But why?
• 22:46
  Speaker 3: Because I just always gave it my all.
• 22:48
  Speaker 3: I was always kind and I worked the room.
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: That's my tip.
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah, now that's, I mean, that's beautiful.
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: It's such a good point too, because those relationships, those people that you met me, peter, and I when we first started BC Brokers, like Four years ago right, there are relationships that are coming to fruition four years later that you like never.
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: It was just a hand that you shook right and somebody that you said hi to and you know we were.
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: We were recently at the XYPN conference, right, and like, we were up at Stephanie Bogan's event and I at the end of the night there were like three people left.
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: I had no idea was even talking to Stephanie Bogan, right, we were just like having a fun conversation.
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: So, you know, it was just one of those things where, like, it naturally came into something that she came on the podcast.
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: Now she's like a good person that we know and it's funny how things and relationships kind of go that way.
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: So that's, that's a beautiful tip.
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: I think that's, since we started the podcast, one of the best tips that we've heard.
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: So that's, that's fantastic.
• 23:45
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so out to Stephanie.
• 23:46
  Speaker 3: She's amazing.
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: Yes, that's yeah she's got a lot of great tips.
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: But To touch on the like position of evangelists, you know, like what does that really entail and what would you maybe say just as a hint, maybe for a future course?
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: No crystal ball, but you know, like what would some of those bullet points be that you know, if you're thinking about this role as it's starting to become more and more popular in the industry, like, hey, you know you got to be able to do this like, what type of systems are you running?
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: Where's the line between Diana's time and client time and client a versus I don't want to say client B, because people think that's second place, but you know how do you balance your day and run the business.
• 24:30
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 24:30
  Speaker 3: So I think there's a lot of different avenues.
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: Anyone given Evangelists who call an effective evangelist can really go down, and it depends on where their talents lie.
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: So let's back up for a moment the evangelists, if you really want to think about it.
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: I like to say just, you know, picture in X, right, and you've got Sales, you've got marketing, you've got customer success.
• 24:56
  Speaker 3: And then that last quarter you could have partnerships.
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: You could even have PR industry relationships which really ride along with partnerships, and evangelists sits at the heart of that intersection, right, so they are designed to be vocal, to amplify your story, to educate, which is gonna impact sales.
• 25:13
  Speaker 3: Right, because you're gonna get sales leads from that, those efforts.
• 25:17
  Speaker 3: It's marketing because it's a marketing's message.
• 25:19
  Speaker 3: It's it's bringing life to go to market strategies.
• 25:22
  Speaker 3: You're not just posting a blog, but you've got a video on the blog with your evangelist talking.
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: So it's bringing life to go to market.
• 25:28
  Speaker 3: It's partnerships and really, you know, as you know, peter Brock and Josh, I mean you strike a partnership in this industry.
• 25:35
  Speaker 3: Woohoo, but that's not the end of the story.
• 25:37
  Speaker 3: Like, you've got to work to actually get fruit bearing from that partnership channel that takes people.
• 25:43
  Speaker 3: So, again, putting your evangelists on the front lines.
• 25:45
  Speaker 3: Maybe you host an exclusive webinar series just for BC brokerage and every quarter we're gonna do a full educational session, open AMA ask me anything that kind of thing right to build those Relationships.
• 25:58
  Speaker 3: And then on the customer side, and evangelists can even be effective there.
• 26:01
  Speaker 3: It doesn't have to be just a sales front.
• 26:03
  Speaker 3: Marketing is also customer experience.
• 26:05
  Speaker 3: Those two go hand in hand.
• 26:06
  Speaker 3: So maybe your adoption is low or you know you're dealing with a lot of you know People coming in and then coming right back out.
• 26:13
  Speaker 3: Right, the attrition is not where you want it to be.
• 26:15
  Speaker 3: And so now you have somebody doing content for customers.
• 26:19
  Speaker 3: Their entire onboarding experience is a video here from the evangelist, a call here from the evangelist building those loyal you know brands and fans, if you will, right up front.
• 26:28
  Speaker 3: So that's where it sits now.
• 26:31
  Speaker 3: When you take that and you put it, in this industry there's things that change right, this industry is regulated, so from out of the gate you're not gonna just sell to anyone here.
• 26:41
  Speaker 3: You've got to go through that.
• 26:42
  Speaker 3: Compliance.
• 26:42
  Speaker 3: Compliance can also be persuaded.
• 26:44
  Speaker 3: I help my clients on compliance demos because it just takes an effective communicator, someone who can take a Complex topic and break it down really simply and also be persuasive in the process.
• 26:55
  Speaker 3: That's important.
• 26:56
  Speaker 3: The last thing I'll say, going back to what I said a moment ago leaning into your strengths, here's an example I will never tell my clients that I will write their blogs for them.
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: Even though it is a brand evangelism strategy, it's a channel, if you will, to connect with people.
• 27:10
  Speaker 3: I am terrible at writing long-form content.
• 27:13
  Speaker 3: I hate it.
• 27:14
  Speaker 3: It like I literally despise it.
• 27:15
  Speaker 3: Yeah, no, it's just.
• 27:18
  Speaker 3: I don't know if it's a millennial thing, I don't know what it is, but I'm carol.
• 27:20
  Speaker 3: However, on the flip to that, I love writing a video script and I love making a fun video and I love writing social media copy and I love going to conferences and I'm really good at building presentations to go on stage, whether it's a keynote, a breakout, a panel, you name it I've done it.
• 27:35
  Speaker 3: That's where I'm gonna say here's my talent.
• 27:38
  Speaker 3: So if I did launch a course, I'd make that really clear and then you'd start to see more tips as far as in this industry, with regulation and compliance and all that stuff.
• 27:47
  Speaker 3: Here's how I would do it.
• 27:48
  Speaker 3: Here's what's gonna make it effective.
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: I yeah, yeah, that's incredible.
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: I love, I love the energy and I have.
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: I do have one more question for like cuz.
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: So you're, you're going like crazy right now.
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: You're going ballistic, like you're, you're growing like crazy.
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: It's a beautiful thing.
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: I remember when we had Carl Richards on the podcast here.
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: It's like, yeah, I was doing that and at some point he like kind of like I got a, like takes some time for myself, right.
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: So I have a question for you from like a Psychology standpoint like, what are you doing to keep yourself centered through all of this?
• 28:20
  Speaker 3: That is a great question, brock, and it's one that I'm still having to learn.
• 28:27
  Speaker 3: Yeah, to answer right, because and to really do I have worked a lot this year.
• 28:34
  Speaker 3: I have told myself for the next year ahead that I would like to maybe do a couple less conferences and Put my time in, you know, more productive areas.
• 28:45
  Speaker 3: I think this last year, especially in the beginning, I was afraid I had imposter syndrome and I was like, oh my god, I don't want to get forgotten about.
• 28:53
  Speaker 3: I love speaking at all these different conferences.
• 28:55
  Speaker 3: So I put myself out there.
• 28:57
  Speaker 3: I was applying to speak at any conference I could get my hands on.
• 29:00
  Speaker 3: I was messaging people asking I didn't care if it was for free.
• 29:03
  Speaker 3: I did get some paid engagements this year, which was amazing, but I put myself out there a lot and a lot of that answered to me, and so I was really busy.
• 29:13
  Speaker 3: This year I feel more confident.
• 29:14
  Speaker 3: I am really more, a lot stronger in who I am and my power and my role and my company, and so I'm not as like, I don't know, desperate, if desperate's the word, but I'm not as desperate to put myself out there as much.
• 29:26
  Speaker 3: I think the thing with my business is, I'm always going to be out there because that's how you can see that I am doing the work for my clients.
• 29:33
  Speaker 3: It's it's a whole you know public eye thing, but I will be focused more on eating healthy, exercising.
• 29:42
  Speaker 3: I did start going to orange theory this year.
• 29:44
  Speaker 3: I love orange theory.
• 29:45
  Speaker 3: Nice, slowing down a little bit.
• 29:48
  Speaker 3: Yeah, those are all important things.
• 29:50
  Speaker 3: I am still learning.
• 29:51
  Speaker 3: Like I said, I'm still learning.
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: You gotta have time for yourself.
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: And I'd say like just a couple other questions.
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: I mean, like what are you know you must go to, to Advisor conferences, what do you say?
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: And then just kind of like what's your daily or you know monthly, quarterly Routine, kind of look like like how do you segment your clients and your work and you know Setting boundaries, you know just on your personal life.
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: So you have some time off too.
• 30:20
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so let's start with conferences.
• 30:22
  Speaker 3: I actually just pulled up my list for you because I made a list for one of my clients and I've been to a few this year that I thought were really, really worth it and in the years prior to that.
• 30:31
  Speaker 3: So obviously, fearless investing summit is such a powerful conference for advisors.
• 30:37
  Speaker 3: There's a lot of advisors that go, there's a lot of FinTech that's there as well and it's just a lot of fun.
• 30:42
  Speaker 3: Well, stack I went back in May and I was really impressed.
• 30:47
  Speaker 3: I think there's definitely a level of complexity there with that event.
• 30:51
  Speaker 3: There's like four different events in one, it can feel a little overwhelming, but just being part of it like the, the exhibitor space, how everything is coordinated I think it was a really fruitful and I met a lot of advisors there as well.
• 31:04
  Speaker 3: Fpa annual I spoke out this year.
• 31:06
  Speaker 3: That was a ton of fun again packed with advisors, lots of podcasting, going on interviews.
• 31:12
  Speaker 3: I didn't go to X Y this year, although you guys went and you already know it's such an awesome conference.
• 31:18
  Speaker 3: Future proof future proof is such a different kind of conference.
• 31:22
  Speaker 3: It's outdoors, it's in California, there's this whole vibe to it.
• 31:26
  Speaker 3: It's not cheap, so that's to consider, but there is a good payoff if you make it worth it.
• 31:32
  Speaker 3: Not to mention, they introduced these breakthrough meetings, which were a first of its kind for any conference.
• 31:38
  Speaker 3: I believe in our space and I think this is going to become more of a trend.
• 31:41
  Speaker 3: Actually, I know it will.
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: But they're working thing.
• 31:45
  Speaker 3: Oh my god, I have like 10 meetings and I'm just.
• 31:48
  Speaker 3: Some people were like I had 30 meetings and I'm like, oh my goodness, talk about like ROI and making it worth it.
• 31:55
  Speaker 3: That's such a great program.
• 31:57
  Speaker 3: So future proof is definitely on the list.
• 31:59
  Speaker 3: If I were to give a shout out to one more I know everyone doesn't go, but I'll tell focus was fantastic.
• 32:06
  Speaker 3: It always is.
• 32:07
  Speaker 2: Mm-hmm oh.
• 32:09
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's such a great conference if you can go right.
• 32:11
  Speaker 3: I know that they don't maybe open the doors to everyone, no outsiders.
• 32:14
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and then what I'm excited for in the year ahead actually is shift yeah by the advisor to x team.
• 32:24
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, we could forward it off of us.
• 32:27
  Speaker 3: And then I think you asked me another question, but I already forgot yes, it was more just kind of like what's your schedule look like?
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: Okay yeah, conferences and yeah, client work and stuff, like you know, set a curiosity like how many hours are you working a week, like what's the role really entail?
• 32:45
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 32:45
  Speaker 3: So I have to stay really organized.
• 32:48
  Speaker 3: And this is a tip that I've gotten from most successful people around me is like how do you do it, especially working moms?
• 32:55
  Speaker 3: I can't even imagine I'm not there yet and I'm like, whoa, no way I could do that.
• 32:59
  Speaker 3: But the constant feedback has been staying organized and Like, really you have to be on it.
• 33:06
  Speaker 3: So I live and breathe by my calendar.
• 33:07
  Speaker 3: I do track all of my time.
• 33:10
  Speaker 3: I'm tracking this time right now that I'm speaking on this podcast with you, and then I kind of look back and I don't get crazy about it, but I look back and I see, you know, some weeks I'm over 40 hours, some weeks I'm right around, some weeks are even less, which I really love, because I have found I am not.
• 33:25
  Speaker 3: I do not want to be the 60 hour work week girl anymore.
• 33:29
  Speaker 3: Like I've been there.
• 33:30
  Speaker 3: It was cool when I was in my 20s, but now that I'm in my 30s, like no, thank you.
• 33:35
  Speaker 3: But there are weeks when conferences happen that it is beyond a 60 hour work week, and that's exactly why I know like I'm gonna be really strategic this year.
• 33:45
  Speaker 3: If I'm not going for my clients, then I'm probably not going, unless I'm being invited to speak and be paid in a keynote position, because I know that that's where I am.
• 33:54
  Speaker 3: You know like I realize I don't need to go just to go if I'm not speaking, we're going for my clients.
• 33:58
  Speaker 3: I'm not going.
• 33:59
  Speaker 3: So Organization is key.
• 34:01
  Speaker 3: Tracking your time is key.
• 34:03
  Speaker 3: Time management, I mean.
• 34:04
  Speaker 3: Every day I'm looking at my calendar the day before the, you know, the next day to make sure Everything is aligned so I can knock out all my high priority tasks.
• 34:12
  Speaker 3: I use a sauna, which helps me.
• 34:14
  Speaker 3: A ton Track of projects keep tack, because I've got all these clients you know.
• 34:18
  Speaker 3: So I'm constantly putting on a new hat and, just for a little insight into my business structure, every client gets one full work day a week, right?
• 34:26
  Speaker 3: So I say on average, you know each client's getting about eight hours a week.
• 34:29
  Speaker 3: I don't like to sell myself on the aspect of time because I think deliverables are a lot more powerful, but I do kind of do that just to help everyone understand where we're at.
• 34:39
  Speaker 3: So Monday is for me, tuesday is for white club.
• 34:43
  Speaker 3: Wednesdays well box.
• 34:44
  Speaker 3: Thursdays well tender than Fridays for me, again, nice.
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: That's fantastic.
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: That's fantastic.
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: You're a rockstar.
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: You bring the energy.
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: I absolutely love it.
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: I can't wait to see what you're gonna do in the years to come All the people that should be following you.
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: Where can they follow along?
• 35:00
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm so glad you asked.
• 35:01
  Speaker 3: Thanks for giving me the opportunity to share.
• 35:03
  Speaker 3: If you're an advisor who just wants to follow along for education I'm constantly talking about technology and marketing or if you're a fintech company and you're interested in learning more about evangelism what I'm doing for other tech companies, or a conference Organizer that wants another speaker this year, someone dynamic, diverse, please follow me.
• 35:22
  Speaker 3: There's a few different pathways.
• 35:24
  Speaker 3: First and foremost, my website, which is Diana cabri says Dot-com.
• 35:28
  Speaker 3: My last name is weird, but it's cab like a taxi, rice, like what you eat, with an s on the end.
• 35:34
  Speaker 3: And then I'm on Twitter as well.
• 35:36
  Speaker 3: Diana cabri says I'm on LinkedIn.
• 35:38
  Speaker 3: Diana cabri says email Diana.
• 35:41
  Speaker 3: Diana cabri says just Google my name.
• 35:43
  Speaker 3: You'll find me on YouTube.
• 35:44
  Speaker 3: Hopefully you'll find a way to connect with me, but my website is always a great place.
• 35:48
  Speaker 3: You can book a call with me directly from the website.
• 35:51
  Speaker 2: Awesome.
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: Well, diana, thank you so so much for coming on today.
• 35:55
  Speaker 2: We look forward to seeing what you're able to do, and there's no doubt you're changing the industry.
• 36:00
  Speaker 3: Well, thank you guys.
• 36:01
  Speaker 3: This has been awesome.
• 36:02
  Speaker 3: I loved our conversation and hope to see you guys on this conference circuit soon.
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 36:09
  Speaker 3: I said all right, Take care.