Latest / Better Planner / #7 - Make Content That Sounds Like You | With Sean Trace
Transcript
- Taylor Stewart: Welcome back Colin: You Taylor Stewart: to the Better Planner Podcast. Colin is here again. Colin, how are you? Colin: Doing well, Taylor, how are you? Taylor Stewart: I'm great and I'm ready to look like an idiot because we have a true podcasting video everything pro with us. The man, the myth, the legend, Mr. Sean Trace. Sean, how are you? Sean Trace: Doing well, gentlemen. I'm gonna just introduce a friend of mine real quick. This is Ratatouille here. It is my rat. This is Ratatouille. Taylor Stewart: Yes, is it your rat? Yes. Sean Trace: Ratatouille and I are doing quite well today. I'm sorry, baby. I just disturbed you. Ratatouille is a new friend, and Ratatouille and I are chilling in here today. We are doing the podcast thing. And yes, I keep rats next to me every time I podcast, because why wouldn't you? You know? Taylor Stewart: I Sean or I have talked Colin: can't keep my dog next to me is too Taylor Stewart: about Colin: much movement and yeah. Sean Trace: Dogs? I kick my dogs out. Dude, my Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Sean Trace: dog, like, I have a hardwood floor and like when I go to edit, like the dogs claws are like, and I'm just like, It's so horrible. Yeah. So Taylor Stewart: Yeah. So loud. Yeah. I I've told Sean this, but I Colin: Hahaha Taylor Stewart: actually had a pet pet rat as a kid, Colin. I don't think you knew that. My Colin: I did not know that. Taylor Stewart: my brother and I both did. His was albino, mine was like black and white. And it was super cool. They're like super cool pets actually. I know everybody thinks they're kind of gross like street animals, which those ones are, but they're really cool. They're really smart too. Sean Trace: Yeah. Taylor Stewart: and yeah, it it was that was an experience as a kid. But well anyways, the reason we asked good. Colin: Yes, I was going to say Taylor Stewart: Do it? Colin: we're telling rat stories. Maybe this isn't the appropriate place for it. So my mom was a scientist, you know, did basic research and she had a lab and she Sean Trace: Hey yo Colin: had hundreds of rats. And yeah, so I'd get to go in and turn the red light on and play with some of the rats. she did most of her experiments were pretty rat friendly. They had them going through mazes and You know doing different different challenges, but I don't know it might have struck a nerve with Shawn Taylor Stewart: Look that. We all have we all have a rat story. Sean Trace: Got a family friend. I since we're going down this rabbit hole or rat hole, fam Taylor Stewart: Rat hole. Sean Trace: family friend of mine. this is just tea. I mean, it is that time of day where I I was tempted. I did have my wine podcast before this. My wife, like tonight, my family was downstairs. and there is a method to my madness about all these stories I'm sharing. my wife Taylor Stewart: I believe it. Sean Trace: was downstairs, and everyone was got some friend was like, Hey, we got some plum wine. I just had to carry my sister-in-law and my wife up to their rooms right now because everyone was just tossed. Literally, Colin: Ha ha ha! Taylor Stewart: Ha ha ha ha. Sean Trace: she's like, I'm fine. Go to your podcast. And I was like, the one thing you're not right now is fine. Like so. it was fun. Taylor Stewart: man, we Sean Trace: But so a family friend, when I was back in the US on a recent trip, I was like, She works as a scientist, and it works at a in in a lab doing experiments and she was like I handle the rats and I was that's cool I have some pet rats and she's like I sewed two rats together last week Colin: Two together. Siamese rats. Sean Trace: Whoa how how how does that work like we're testing to see about and I was just like when she explained it I was like that's really interesting and I was like I don't think my rats would enjoy that too much and it was just like mm It's just the most Colin: Ha ha! Sean Trace: awkward moment ever. Yeah, it's like killing a conversation. But coming back to podcasting Taylor Stewart: Yeah. No, that's what I was saying. Wait w the reason we brought you on was to talk about rats. So this has been a great episode. Thank you everybody for joining and go get a pet rat. No, the the Sean Trace: There we go, ladies and gentlemen. Taylor Stewart: the reason we brought you on is because our this the whole podcast is about helping people become a better planner and all the different ways that that means. And marketing, we've talked a little bit in the Sean Trace: Yes. Taylor Stewart: past about marketing and prospecting and all this. And you are like one of the most active marketing people I know. And I would love to understand and help our listeners understand more of like what exactly you do you do. And then I wanna talk about like what works for advisors, doing it yourself, hiring out, because I know you've got a lot of experience kind on across that spectrum of doing stuff for advisors, Sean Trace: Yeah. Taylor Stewart: working with advisors. So just tell us more about what you do for like day to day and then we'll we'll talk about how it can apply to advisors. Sean Trace: I want to talk about the brands that I've built because I think that's Taylor Stewart: Okay. Sean Trace: something that I really lean in on and what I love. And I then I can talk about some of the people I I really success stories that I've seen and things. But Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: one of the things that I think is most interesting for me is with my own content. We started off with rat stories, and I I'd already told you guys about how I carried my wife up to her room today. Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Sean Trace: And one of the reasons I bring that up, and actually A lot of that was intentional. Like I grabbed and dragged my rats over here because Taylor and I had talked about rats beforehand and I Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: like I like to seem like it's spontaneous and random, but y I put thought into stuff, you know? I I do think I lean into that and think, what could be a hook? We now have hooked this episode. Like at the end of Taylor Stewart: Hmm. Sean Trace: the day, we've got a hook. We have been, we've pulled people in, they were sitting there, they laughed for probably the first couple of minutes as we were talking about my drunk wife and her sister-in-law and the rat. I I literally I pulled out a rat at the beginning of the episode. And so, Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. That's true. Sean Trace: I mean, the thing is is I think that like as we move into an age where AI is making stuff wild and interesting. I think Taylor Stewart: Uh-huh. Sean Trace: the stories and storytelling in the humanity is what's where it's at. And I think that, you know, Taylor Stewart: Mm. Sean Trace: as you can f find ways, and I don't want to say that be more authentic, you know, because I think that but be you, be random, be wild, be out there, you know? Like Taylor and I Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: just did an episode where we talked about dumb and dumber and personal finance and IOUs and stuff like that. Right? Taylor Stewart: Yeah, this is a video podcast. I can pull it up. I'm gonna pull it up. Keep talking. Sean Trace: Yeah, and so we had that, and one of the coolest things was is that it was something that we actually enjoyed and it was something that was it relatable. And I've had people message me about that episode already, going, dude, you know, I know that you're interviewing me in a couple of weeks, but can we please talk about something else? I was like, What? And some guy's like, dude, I've always wanted to talk about vampires. And I was just like, Dude, vampires and Taylor Stewart: There it is, everybody. Sean Trace: compounding interests, boom, right there. That is our dumb money lessons, IOUs. And Taylor Stewart: That's right. Sean Trace: one of the things, this is the correct use of AI. For all of you out there wondering Taylor Stewart: Absolutely. Sean Trace: how to use AI in your workflows, this is it. Right here. Taylor Stewart: If you're not familiar with the movie, this is what it was based on. The legend oops, who knows what I just clicked on. But the legendary movie, Dumb and Dumber. So yes. good. Sorry. Yep. Sean Trace: No, yeah, you're d you're awesome. But so I I'm talking to a guy a couple couple weeks about vampires and compounding interest, you know, and we were crunching the numbers. If you're a vampire and you invested in the in 1655, you know, like how much money would you have right now? You know, I was wild, you know. I did the numbers on it, and it was insane. It was insane Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Sean Trace: numbers, the compounding interest if you invested at that time. And the guy's like, this Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Sean Trace: is gonna blow people's minds, you know? And and it was Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: wild because It was like at that point in time when we looked at the compound, like if you invested safe, if you invested aggressively, Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: and if you invested kind of in the middle, and the numbers, the differences at that length of time Taylor Stewart: It's incredible. Sean Trace: were insane. Like insane differences in numbers. We're talking trillion dollars versus like the hundred like billions versus you know Taylor Stewart: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Sean Trace: some other insane number. Don't ask me about numbers. I'm not good. That's not my job. That's your guess's job. Taylor Stewart: Yeah. That's our domain. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So it's like so being Sean Trace: But y good. Taylor Stewart: authentic. Obviously that's new, but I I do think you are like amazing at that. like you're like an incredible LinkedIn follow. Like you learn you I feel like I know you. We've tried we've done a couple of episodes, but like you share, I know you. I really like you. Some people probably don't, but like that's like the whole point, right? I mean you're saying like anybody's gonna be that. Like I something I say all the time Sean Trace: So true. No, hundred percent. Taylor Stewart: is like you have to repel in order to attract. It's that whole magnet thing. And I think Sean Trace: Yep. Taylor Stewart: like the like the the fear for if we bring it to advisors, like historically so safe, so bland. And my dear friend podcast co-host is a textbook of this and it works for Colin: I was gonna say, feel a little bit described here. Taylor Stewart: But but and it works for him, but he shows his he shows his authenticity in other ways, Colin: I'm Taylor Stewart: which absolutely works for him. But like I do think like I think that's absolutely true. Like if if like rote content is just like really like state like just here's how something works, that's not gonna work anymore. So like showing yourself, connecting on the human level. Cause like for advisors, Sean Trace: Yeah. Taylor Stewart: a lot of times that is the in a way, the product is the relationship with you. And so show that Sean Trace: Yeah. Taylor Stewart: what that relationship could be like. So I love that. Sean Trace: I think the other thing too is, and this is what I find with my I have four podcasts. Why? Because I'm a bit weird like that. But I've got the Sean Trey show, I talk to like Navy SEALs, and Taylor Stewart: Mm. Mm-hmm. Mm. Sean Trace: I talk to like business leaders, I talk to elite athletes, and how do you succeed? Like, you you know, Taylor Stewart: Mm. Sean Trace: I today I I was like on LinkedIn, I was like, I filmed four music videos and I'm so goddamn tired. I had to hold the gimbal, you know, some Navy SEALs like How heavy was that gimbal? Two four-minute shut times. my god. it's so tough, you know? I've got my emo photo like sitting there going, Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Colin: haha Sean Trace: This is hard work, you know? Fucking on a sound stage and like I'm filming my beautiful wife in her beautiful outfit listening to music, you know? Like, and I'm talking to like s ne Navy Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Sean Trace: SEALs and they're like, okay. But like the really part, the c the cool part is is like for that podcast. Dude, I've never been in combat, you know, and I can relate to these guys as a father. I can relate to them as dealing Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: with stress. I can relate to them. And so for those, like I try to find my angle, and my angle's the dad who's just trying to figure shit out. And we got your first E rating right there. Okay. I don't know, man. I've got I've gotten Taylor Stewart: That's awesome. Colin: There we go, yes! Does one S-bomb Sean Trace: I've gotten quite a few that I I got the little Eve thing on there. I'm like, I feel like a nineties rapper right now, man. You know, like got the little explicit Colin: Yeah, there we go. Sean Trace: sticker. but you know, the growing money is all about like I was a dad, like who grew up with my d I love my dad. Love my dad, Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: one of the the best people you'll ever meet. He is the guy who will take Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: your shirt off and give it to someone. Not good with money at all. You know, and one of the things Taylor Stewart: Mm. Sean Trace: like it money avoidance was in my family in a big way. And so I got to this point and my daughter's like, Daddy, tell me about money. And I like, Okay, let's learn. Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: And I figured I my skills are I know how to ask the right questions and find the right people. So I created a money podcast. And then I had another one that's named after my company, Full Battery Media, where I talk about content and how to create content and stuff like that. And I talk to YouTubers and people. Like the cool Taylor Stewart: Mm. Mm. Sean Trace: part is is because I started a company in Vietnam, like I get to work with some really cool YouTubers and stuff. Like I get call I got a call like a couple months ago from Mr. B's team going, Sean. We have this trend Taylor Stewart: Really? Sean Trace: in Vietnam. Like, what is this? And I was like, well, let me find out. And I had to call them back the next day and say, it was nonsense. And but like they reached Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Sean Trace: out to me and I I built that, but that visibility came from creating that content. And finally, I have a a winery podcast. No, a wine podcast talking about wine because I grew up in the Napa Valley. But all of these are intentional. Like when I go and I do these things, I'm trying to meet people, I'm trying to get clients, I'm trying to find people that can do it. And and I think that that's the thing. But what I've found is the single most important thing through all of this is just showing up. Putting stuff out. The secret sauce for success is to literally be in everyone's face all the time. Like, hey Taylor Stewart: Ha ha. Sean Trace: guys, I'm back. God damn it, it's Sean again. Me like, hey-o! I had another tough day. I'm so tired holding my gimbal around. You know? Here's my pet rat, you know? Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Sean Trace: But I think that my my mix is, and you have to figure your mix. You know, if Taylor Stewart: Mm. Sean Trace: say I'm not a financial advisor, but the three of us are gonna attract all different clients. If I was, we would attract different clients. And that's important Taylor Stewart: Yeah, totally. Yeah. Sean Trace: to know, you know, Colin: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: that's important to see. And you don't need to attract everyone. Like this Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Sean Trace: is one of the things, and this is one of the things I point out to people, right? We have to start looking at different metrics. All right? Now. Everyone's like, I want to be Stephen Bartlett. So the other day, like my goal and I produce at a level because in the next five years, I want to be Joe Rogan big. I want to be Stephen Bartlett big. I want to be Mel Robbins big. And if I keep up doing what I'm doing, I'll make it. I know I will. It's just Taylor Stewart: Hmm. Hmm. Sean Trace: about showing up and keep continuing to crush it and making awesome thumbnails with Dumb and Dumber. But you know, that doesn't Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Sean Trace: have to be your motivation because I know people. I got one guy that I helped build his podcast. He's a professor. In a university, and he gets a hundred downloads for his episodes, you know? And he's like, Man, Sean, I wanted bigger, higher downloads. And I said, You had a hundred people that listened to that. He's Yeah, but I said, No buts, man. Like imagine you're a financial planner, and every episode you have a hundred people tuning in. If you signed those 100 Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Sean Trace: people, every single one of them, your business would be crazy. Crushing it, you know, like Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Yeah. Sean Trace: a hundred new business. Like, let's be real. And you, you know, and there's ways to do this that can really broaden things. And so when I look at content, there's three different categories right now that I recommend people to look at. You got short form, you've got talking head long form, and you got podcasts, and each of them do a little bit different thing. Short form is gonna, you know, hit the algorithm hard and it gets you broad reach, right? You get everyone gets to see you, you know. Your money's not the problem. You are. Something like that. People are gonna That's gonna get views, man. Like as a short form content, that's gonna get views, you know? Taylor Stewart: Yeah, yeah. Sean Trace: You suck at money. You know, those little things are like, you're great at money, you know? Those little things will Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Yeah. Sean Trace: pop off and get you views. But will they be the people that are gonna come in as clients? They might be. on a flip side, talking head is gonna get you that, like that authority. And you see it. There's some people out there that in the field. That are doing I I don't want to say name the names of different financial advisors, but like you'll look in other categories like a Stephen Bartlett, you know, the Diary of the CEO or Ali Abdal. Ali Abdal is like the gold standard for the Talking Head video. Everyone wants to have videos that look like him. And people know him because he's putting this content out there. And like he's like, Hi, I'm Sean, and I'm here to tell Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: you why you suck and you can be better. Like, I'm I'm making stuff like that on my Sean Trey show. Like, and like, you know, Taylor Stewart: Nice. Sean Trace: coming in and people tune in on it, man. They tune in on and they're dude, Taylor Stewart: That's amazing. Sean Trace: yeah, I need this stuff, you know? I don't know about you guys, but I'll turn on some of those motivational videos. And that's what you do. You build Taylor Stewart: Yeah, they across. Sean Trace: authority with those long form videos. Podcasts are a whole separate piece because for me, a podcast is a supercharge in your network. So let's say you got, you know, Joe Johnson, who's a financial advisor in in Mobile Alabama, right? He's down there and he's doing his thing. And he doesn't want to be a financial advisor that is like I'm a national guy. He just wants to be really big and mobile. And okay, cool. So what does he do? If I was him, I would start a podcast and then I would be going and interviewing all of the different local, you know, like you know, pillars of the business. They don't have to be his thing. You're not given financial advice. What I would do is I'd set up a simple content system. Go find out people that are doing well with money, right? And you do research here. This is where AI is great. Go to the local hospital, find out who the top 10 donors were to that hospital last year. What did they donate? Find out who those people are. Go and say, hey, I work with people with money. I would love to know how you made enough money so that you can donate $100,000 to the hospital. Like, how do you do that? Like, what did you do to get to that money? And then you go interview that person, they share it to their organic network. All those people are going and they associate you now with that person. And you know, it's borrowing. their thing and I'm not saying abuse that great power comes great responsibility but like you are getting your name out there and you're associating and Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Sean Trace: then you know if they share it and someone's like hey Tom who was that guy maybe they become a client and if they don't maybe their friends do you know and Taylor Stewart: Hm. Sean Trace: then just work your way through the community. And now if you really want to supercharge it after each episode use AI to scrub that transcript find what are the five talking points you can do from that make a long form video that you go hey In my last podcast, these were what we talked about. And here's what I want to tell you guys that I think would be an interesting thing. Now, this isn't financial advice, get through your compliance like that. But here's some things that I would recommend taking a look at. And if you really want to get special, switch that camera to vertical and make, you know, five punchy videos. Guys, this is something that you should be doing to fix your money. Boom, right there, you've got one interview that has turned into a content ecosystem. And you make it simple. When my wife and I went today to film her music video, we didn't film one music video. We prepped and we filmed four at this stage. Why? Because it made it easier for us. I'm gonna have a very busy weekend editing four videos. But it was easier because we set up the lights, we got everything set, we got everything fixed, we had all the people there, and we didn't have to do it multiple times. So you gotta think smarter with this, Taylor Stewart: Hmm. Sean Trace: these things. But at the end of the day, you're doing this because the simple rule is keep showing up. That's it. Taylor Stewart: Hmm. Well that's gold. I got a lot of thoughts there. You made it sound so simple. Like I I the there's no doubt in my mind that what you just described would work. But people won't do it. Like, wait, I gotta go to the hospital? Gotta reach out and send an email? Sean Trace: Yeah, right. Taylor Stewart: Do you have any thoughts on it? Like, how do you like is that just kind of like okay, just that you're just you're just too scared to try? Like if like what would you tell somebody who would just get in their own head about that? Sean Trace: Start small. Start Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: start start small. There are ways to do it. One of the things that I think is great is to start small and figure out like a achievable goals. Today I'm gonna pick Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: up my camera and record something. You know, there are ways to do it yourself, but I also also also also will say that there are some great, great, great people in this industry that can help you. There are people out Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Sean Trace: there that can, you know, there are teams that can go and there are teams that can supercharge what you do. And whoever it is that you work with, that's awesome. There are great people that you find great matches, but they can coach you, they can guide you, they can get you to that point. Like like let let's step away from per personal finance for a second and marketing and all that. You want to get in shape. Alright, I'm gonna tell you the truth. Go to the gym. But how many of us go to the gym Taylor Stewart: How'd you know? Colin: haha Sean Trace: and we're like dude. You know, so you get a cr a trainer, a coach. Because what does that coach Taylor Stewart: Yep. Yeah. Sean Trace: do? The coach doesn't make you lift the weights. The coaches, you know, might Taylor Stewart: Accountability. Sean Trace: set you up with a plan. They they tell you, dude, where are you at? Why are you sleeping in, dude? You have an appointment today. Come here and show up. And I'm not paying the coach. I can go online and see how to do that lift. I can go online. I can Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: use chat GPD to put the program in place. But the coach gets me there. The coach helps me show up. And I really think that there are if you're tech savvy. There's so much stuff out there that you can do it yourself. If you're not, then find people that can help you, you know? And and it's like Taylor Stewart: Well Sean Trace: there's ways to do it. Go ahead. Go ahead. Taylor Stewart: Well, I was the thing I'm running into is like I I'm relatively tax tech savvy and I can, but I don't because I just don't have the Sean Trace: Yeah. Taylor Stewart: follow through. So tell me more about that. Turn this into a pitch for me. Like how could you help me in my situation? 'Cause I'm not alone. Like we have a podcast. Everything you talked Sean Trace: Follow through Yeah. Taylor Stewart: about. Like where does somebody like I everything you said made sense and I know how to do it, but I'm not going to. So how could you or what or or somebody like you help an advisor or myself, you know, go from like You know, I've already come so far of like having a podcast and ideating a little bit, but like so like you could start before that or even like if you have a podcast, where do you somebody like you step in? Sean Trace: What you need to do is to create a plan. You must have a plan. I think that one of the things that I find, you know, even for me, I'm gonna go back to where I work, right? Yeah, so what are the bottlenecks? My workflow, because the team I built creates for me. And then I just help other people too. Because I just hired a new EA and she is 90% of the the messages I do in LinkedIn. Like I'm gonna tell you guys my LinkedIn strategy. It is crackheadville. And sorry, that's number two. Like now we are definitely now we are definitely in the E-rating. Razzing crack yeah, right. It's all coming back, it's coming. that's Celine Dion. now I got a copyright strike on us. Like, man Taylor Stewart: Rats and crackhead, it's all coming together. Sean Trace: So one of the things like so my system is I add about 150 people a week from LinkedIn. And we're strategic. So Taylor Stewart: Uh-huh. Sean Trace: for the Sean Trace show, I'm going out and looking for business leaders. I'm looking for resiliency experts. I'm looking for pro athletes. so for pro athletes, like say a pro athlete comes to me for a podcast and they're like, hey, you how do do this? Then we start talking about structures and things like that because it's it's hard to show up. But for the for this, my EA She handles like we email all those people. I have to then get them scheduled. Since I brought her on, I'm not having people no-show on me. Like, because we're getting the things sent out, we're getting the right dates set. You know, we're checking for time zones and things like that. You have to make it so easy that you just show up and you sit down and you go. And so the teams that are out there, what they do is they remove friction. And I know there are Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: a bunch of them in this financial advisor space, and I know a bunch of them, and they are all awesome individuals. Love them all. And I've worked with a bunch of these different teams. and great people. But the the the core thing that they do. They're lubricant. They are lubricant to Taylor Stewart: Mm. Sean Trace: make it so that what you have to do is show up. Because at the end of the day, if you can show up, You can succeed. And you know, and Taylor Stewart: Mm. Sean Trace: you just gotta automate the rest, you know. Script writing, how do you do that? Can you get people to help you? There are services out there that will automate the script writing for you. There are services out there that will do these things. Or, you know, if you're savvy, you can use some of the AI tools, but you have to humanize it and you have to figure out Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: your angle, you know. And I think that's the thing too. Whatever you work with, you find people that can help you make it yours. You know, if you're gonna talk about you know, consistency, dude, play among Moneyball reference, go to a baseball game and don't talk about the most important thing is investing regularly every month, and then you're gonna get ahead of like my god, dude. It's like you know, spice this up for me a little bit, you know? And so, I mean, like, but first, if Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Colin: Hahaha Sean Trace: I were doing that video, I would do my first shot of the baseball game, you know? So, Taylor Stewart: Hmm. Sean Trace: guys, I want to talk to you about getting on base. Cut, you're sitting down at your seat with a hot dog. One of the most important, one of my favorite movies ever was Moneyball. And I'm gonna tell you what was on. Now, Billy Bean came in with a radical new idea. Cut to another shot, maybe in line for a hot dog. The most important thing was getting on base. Freeze, cut again, yay! Someone hits, everyone cheering, right? You go to the next shot. Now, you're not able to do that unless you plan the whole thing out. So Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Sean Trace: planning is a big part. And you don't have to go, not everything has to be a home run. baseball reference. But you but you do have to kind of plan it. You gotta put it out there and you gotta Taylor Stewart: God, this guy's good. Yeah. Colin: And. Sean Trace: think through what you want to be doing, you know? And that can Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Sean Trace: be as simple as dragging your rats o the cage over next to the camera. Taylor Stewart: Is is that a type of thing you would help somebody with though? Like that level of scripting? 'Cause like it's so simple. Like, I mean that that made total sense. It wouldn't be hard once you know what to do. But like, do you go to that level of detail with people? Sean Trace: One of the things that I'm loving doing, one of the things that I'm loving doing is actually I'm like in university, one of my favorite roles was working as like a content professor. Like I taught university classes on this, and one of the things that I'm really enjoying doing of late because I see people have so many tools to make videos. And you know, my team helps people, but I also see that I think the weakness and the loss right now is we have so many tools, and again, there are so many great services on the market. Dude, you can do whatever you want. But one of the challenges that I think people run into is how to to make the story your own. And I think that one of the things that I'm doing, and like I was doing this. With this Navy SEAL, who's one of my clients. Dude is cool as hell. And he's like, what type of resilience, you know, what type of like content should I be making? You know, he's a cool, cool fucker, man. And he's like, you know, he's like, what Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Sean Trace: should I do? You know? And I was like, you know, I was you can do like a list. We're like, here are the three ways that you can be tougher than everyone else. You know, I was like, dude, tell me a story where you had to be tough. He's like, well, one time, Taylor Stewart: Mm. Sean Trace: my buddy got his hand caught in an elephant, you know, in in in the door of On the helicopter, and this is how we got home, even when his hand was fucked up. And I was just like, now that is the type of thing, and that's where that's a story. And that's one of the things that Taylor Stewart: That's a story. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Sean Trace: I'm working like lately with my clients, like, is is to work on coaching. Like, what is your story? What is your angle? And I mean, dude, use you can use AI. Think about your like use it to coach you. But like, I think one of the things that I'm working with people on is like just being like a content coach these days, and that's one of my favorite things because if you You want to automate it. And I think in the next couple years, we are gonna get more and more cool tools that let people do things. But right now, you know, I'm Sean, but I'm also the guy that has a 10-year-old daughter who's got a YouTube channel. I'm a guy that has a a a celebrity wife that I have to hold that heavy gimbal for. You know, my wife is Colin: Ha Sean Trace: a famous singer in Vietnam. I'm the guy who has multiple rats. That's why you should listen to me. Not because Of, you know, I did this or that, not because I have four podcasts. Listen to me because I've been there and I know how to put my story and use it as an anchor. You know, and I think that that's where if someone wants something to take away from today, I'm gonna be like Mr. Rogers here. What makes you special? Boys and girls, we're here to talk about Yeah, like right God, I need a cardigan for this, you know. Taylor Stewart: You gotta like put your cardigan on the Sean Trace: What makes you special? I can't do the Mr. Rogers voice. Hey boys and girls, you know? Mr. Feely. I mean, what a horrible name is that, Mr. Feely. Like, I if some kid if my daughter had someone at a school and that person was named Mr. Feely, I would keep them away from my kid. Colin: Mr. Mick, Mr. Mick feeling. Sean Trace: Mick Feely! I mean, is that a little racist as well? I mean, like Colin: Any better? Sean Trace: geez, man, I don't know. That channel that though though mr. Rogers, hands down, probably one of the greatest human beings that ever walked the planet. He was a Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Sean Trace: human being that was amazing. And but yeah, he anchored it, you know. And I think that one of the things is like, you gotta know your story. And if you can find someone like me or someone that, you know, that is a branding expert that can help you. I think so let's rewind. Before you make content, the most important thing is you need to understand your brand. You need to understand who you are and what you're selling. You know, Colin, Oakley, I see it behind you, right? Why? Colin: yeah. Sean Trace: Why why? Why the tree? Colin: Why the tree? Well, it's so hard to pick a name as you may know, every, especially every financial advisory name has been taken. You know, any, any river, any Sean Trace: Right. Colin: mountain range, any nautical term, it's all been used. It's all, yeah. Sean Trace: Nautical Right True North Financial Colin: Yeah, just get on, get on, you know, searching for trademarks and you can't find one. Why Oakley? It was the name of the neighborhood that I grew up in. So it had a personal Sean Trace: Boom. Colin: connection, but also it sounded established and, you know, I work with retirees and, and, you know, they probably don't want some newfangled, you know, new kid on the block. Yeah. So tree Sean Trace: And you got a tree. Do trees go fast or slow? You know, they grow slow. They grow slow. It's something that you do Colin: very slow. Yeah. Sean Trace: stably over time. So even right there with your choice of imagery, with your choice of everything, it built and showed who you are. Now you didn't you know have bamboo, you didn't have something else, you know, you had something that represented to you sh a symbol of strength, a symbol of longevity, a symbol, you know, well oak trees live a couple hundred years. These things seem simple, but they're actually really, really important. You know, like growing money with Sean Trace. The idea was to how to grow. Grow money. My wine podcast, Barrels and Roots. Why did I pick barrels and roots? Taylor Stewart: Mm. Sean Trace: Because I grew up in the Napa Valley. That whole area has become so pretentious, but that wasn't the way it was. When I was there and young, like, dude, winemakers were just dudes that would roll down the street in their flip-flops and shorts, go play bocce ball, and they would like, you know, have their bottles of wine. They're farmers, man. And Taylor Stewart: Mm. Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: like these were guys, barrels, you know, the wine, barrels, and then the roots. And my roots come from growing up in wine country, growing up around those Taylor Stewart: Mm. Sean Trace: vines. And the roots. Of the wine industry is in danger right now. It is actually getting hammered right now because people Gen Z is drinking less. And they were kind of stupid. They marketed entirely toward baby boomers and the boomers are. Dying, which is like literally Taylor Stewart: Mm. Sean Trace: a challenge when you have an entire industry that's focused on one area. So the roots are the idea of this industry is bigger than one group of people. It's been around for 5,000 years plus. Wine is an old thing, you know. And that Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: was something that I thought about when I created the name, you know, and Taylor Stewart: Mm. Sean Trace: what was my angle? Like, was it was humanizing it, you know? You have to figure out what your brand is. Like, who are you marketing towards? And these are simple questions that like if you still there. I want to make content. Who for? Like, who are you Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: making this for? You know, if you don't, if you can't answer that, you know, you're gonna have a problem. And and not saying that it's not gonna change. Like right now, we're dealing with an existential crisis for my daughter's YouTube channel. Like Eilani's Little World is one of my most successful channels. We created a channel channel when I was I was a kids teacher before this. And so that's actually something Taylor Stewart: Mm. Sean Trace: that anchors a lot of what I do for content, is that I taught children for 20 some odd years. My Taylor Stewart: Mm, mm. Sean Trace: It was my side hustle while I ran my production company, but living in Asia, it was something that just provided stable income as well. Now My perspectives are f are framed by wanting to teach. I just think that content is a great way to teach more. Now coming back to Ilani's Little World, when I started Ilani's Little World, it was pre-COVID and we started like a kids' channel because I was like, yeah, man, these key people are making a lot of money, and they look, mommy, I bought a new toy, 100 million views. I was like, give me the money, you know, but then Colin: Yeah. Sean Trace: Really quickly, we were buying new toys every week. Her room was filled up with toys, and I was like, this is massive consumerism and I'm not really okay with this. Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: so we we switched it to educational and we tried to make all these videos educational. Now, we did that for a long time, and my daughter wasn't vibing with it now. You know, she's 10, she's a preteen, she binge watches more YouTube than I would like, but she also understands the format. She understands she loves making crafts. She Came in, looked at my electric guitar over there, and said, hmm, studied it. And she's like, Can I borrow your guitar? And I was like, First of all, when you have a crafty ADHD kid who's like, Can I borrow this expensive thing? I'm like, what are you doing? She's like, Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: can I borrow? And then she's like, can I borrow your guitar? And where's the glue gun? And I like, okay, no. Taylor Stewart: Okay. Sean Trace: But then I went downstairs a couple minutes later, her room freaking trashed. And yet she she'd gone down to my my father-in-law, gotten all these extra cardboard, and she created this rad perfect replica of Fender Telecaster in cardboard with the strings made out of nylon and cotton and stuff. She binge watches these videos on YouTube about tutorials and stuff. Now, her channel is going through a shift. And we're trying to identify because who we were marketing towards earlier is not where we're going now. And we've evolved. And like that's the thing. When you start this stuff, you don't have to stay that forever. Maybe you're like, I'm the divorce guy, you know, and then later on, you're like, you know what? actually more of my clients are this other group. Run, roll with it, man. Have fun Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Sean Trace: with it. You can evolve. But if you don't have an idea before you get started, you know, and like think about it this way too. I've never told this story before. Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: There is a video out there of me that exists somewhere in the Zeitgeist that is probably the most cringe video you could imagine. When I was in college, MTV was at a T-Day and just starting out with the the different like like shows. And they had a show called Road Rules. I wanted to be on Road Rules so bad. It was like this travel, Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Colin: yeah. Sean Trace: people in this RV, and it's like like a big brother, but you're traveling in the RV, you do these challenges. I mean, this was like when Joe Rogan was doing Fear Factor at that time, Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Yeah. Sean Trace: you know? So my friend said, Hey Sean, let's get you on that show. I had a couple I was like, well, who am I? I'm Sean. I'm a black belt. Okay, that was something. Gorys, this is gonna go super, super E and it's super funny, super fast here. just getting me ready. and I was like, I'm Christian, okay, that was cool, and I'm a virgin. So I made the Road Rules video. I am the Christian Black Belt Virgin. Colin: And did you get on the show? Sean Trace: No! They did interview me though. They were like, we want to get you around some girls, my friend. We want to get you around some girls. But when I watched the video again recently, it was so cringe. Not because each of those things is a beautiful thing. I was saving myself. I was Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Yeah. Sean Trace: who I was. I'm still proud in my spirituality. But when I put that into a video, it didn't age well. It looked Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: like I was trying way, way, way, way, way, way too hard. Now, what's Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Sean Trace: wrong with it? If you try to build your identity around something that is authentic and you own it, dude, that's you. I was trying to say what I thought needed to be said Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Sean Trace: to sound interesting. And that's where you're dealing with that. Be authentic. Is your authenticity authentic or is it authentic? Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: Authentic. Now, my video was so cringe because I'm sitting there in the field picking flowers. Like, I'm just like, I want to meet a girl, and I'm picking flowers in a field wearing my karate key. Like sitting there Colin: Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Sean Trace: doing, and then the next shot after I pick a flower, it's like I want to meet the right girl. Then I'm flipping someone through the air. And I just like was like dude, if I ever find that VIN, I don't have that video anymore, but like MTV, help me find it. It's in the archives. I know they save everything Taylor Stewart: That's amazing. We gotta find that's amazing. Colin: In the archives. Yeah. Sean Trace: somewhere it exists. But I mean, it was so painful because if you want to do that, like I will not have any problem in 45 years. that I pulled out a rat rat on this video. And most of what I say, I won't Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Sean Trace: have any problem with it. And I think that's where you have to start because that branding was something that my friend thought up. If I actually could go back and take those things, what was I saying by saying I was a Christian, black belt and a virgin? First of all, I was proud of my spirituality. That's authentic. Second of all, I was proud of my achievements of getting a black belt. That ain't easy. And third, man, I wanted to meet someone nice. And that was what I was trying to say on the show. You have to find a way to say your truth in a way that feels organic. And knowing how to share that and where you're anchoring that is all beautiful. And try not to be cringe unless that's your thing, you know? But I think here's the thing, and here's the problem, and here's why people's Taylor Stewart: Mm. Sean Trace: here here's where people get stuck. It is I see a lot of videos, it is some people's thing. Like, you know, so Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's true. Sean Trace: you know, but one of the things I think is your videos are gonna look bad. Even if you have a great message. When you start they're gonna be bad, they're gonna be really, really bad. Sitting in a flower field picking flowers in a karate uniform talking about wanting to meet someone bad. When I did my first video with Ailani, we were like, let's talk about toys. When I did my first Growing Money, I was like, These are Dave Ramsey's first steps. When I did my first TheShawn Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: Trey show, I talked to people and I would said weird things. And it's all okay. It's all okay. It's all Taylor Stewart: Hmm. Yeah. Sean Trace: okay. You just have to start telling the story. Like, don't be afraid to put yourself out there. And understand that like right now there's probably someone out there going, I gotta find that archive. you know, but there's gonna be another person who's sitting there going, Man, Sean just said that. I'm not embarrassed about who I am, but I was Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Colin: Hmm. Sean Trace: embarrassed by that video, you know? And I think that that's the crazy part. Like, but the fact that I shared that, someone's gonna go Man, I did some cringe stuff in high school as well. And like, that's okay. Like, Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Yeah. Sean Trace: how can we then take these stories and make them authentic and real? Because in a profession that's as regulated as it is as a financial planner, in a profession that is as uptight. I think AI is gonna do more in a lot of our fields. And I think that people in your profession are gonna want someone they can trust. I had someone reach out to me the other day and To reschedule a podcast. And she's messaged me, and this was the happiest I've been with my podcast in a long time. When she messaged me, she's like, Sean, my daughter's sick and I can't come in tonight. And I said, Taylor Stewart: Mm. Sean Trace: that's totally fine. You know, cool. And she says, I knew you were gonna say that. And I how did you know I was gonna say that? She says, Taylor Stewart: Mm. Sean Trace: I I I see everything you post and the how you talk about your daughter. Taylor, Taylor Stewart: Mm. Sean Trace: you said that you feel like you know me really well. Taylor Stewart: Yeah, I mean, yeah, yeah. Sean Trace: And I I mean because I'm putting stuff out there and like I'm who I am. Like I think one of my top posts on LinkedIn was like this vit photo of myself covered in vomit that my daughter had been vomiting all day. You you you post you commented on you commented on thank you. I needed this because like right? You dude, you know. Yes. Taylor Stewart: Yes. Yes. Yeah. I commented on that. Yeah. I got vomited on yesterday, so I know it, yeah. But that's the point. You connect. You connect. Like Sean Trace: Because everyone on LinkedIn is talking about how much they crush it. People on social media are talking Taylor Stewart: Yeah, yeah. Sean Trace: about how much they're winning right now. Dude. I don't know what I'm doing. And I'm sure that most entrepreneurs. Taylor Stewart: Wooha Sean Trace: There was a guy that I had on my podcast, The Sean Trace Show, the other week, and he was a really high-level business coach. And he said he talked to one of the heads of one of the top three like AI companies that we all Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: know. He wouldn't tell me which one. He's like, one of the top three. I was there with the business meeting the last week. And he says, the CEO kicked everyone out of the room and kept me in there. And I said, Well, what happened? He's like, and the guy looked at him and he said, I'm a fraud. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm in the news all the time. I do not know what I'm doing. Like this is a problem right now. And like that right there is like, man, if someone that's like the head of a major AI company that we're all going, what are they doing next? You know, like Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Sean Trace: if they don't know what they're doing, it's okay. But I think that like building trust is about being vulnerable. Taylor Stewart: I I think the it's that like imp like kind of imposter syndrome thing, like you think everybody else knows what they're doing and has it figured out. Every step of life I found out like nobody knows and you just Sean Trace: Yeah. Taylor Stewart: they're figuring it out as you are and just you gotta just push that comfort zone. Like it's there's like like one thing I think about all the time, like now I'm thirty five with kids and like I remember when my dad turned thirty five, I was like, Wow, he knows everything, he's so old. And I'm like, Wait, I don't know anything, you Sean Trace: Right. Taylor Stewart: didn't know anything. Whoa. And Colin: Hahaha. Taylor Stewart: yeah, it's like it's it's in everywhere like starting a firm. Like you see certain people like everyone's just figuring out where they're at and you Sean Trace: Yeah. Taylor Stewart: gotta be have that security to just be who you are and just show it and like you're gonna connect with some, not others. And I think that's just like that's my major takeaway there. Of like you gotta just be you, show up. I don't know, that's not necessarily original stuff what I just said, but I love how you reframing that. Sean Trace: But it's but it's important, man. It's literally what we have to be telling people. Like, I I saw two things. I'm gonna tell you two things to not do with your content. Number one, this is gonna be a tool that you're gonna see coming out in the near future. I saw a put video of it today, they were advertising it. You can take a picture, upload a picture of you, and Taylor Stewart: Avatar. Sean Trace: it avatars, it will read out scripts for you. Don't do that. Don't do Colin: Haha Sean Trace: that. Don't do that. I remember we're going deep again. I'm sorry guys. I remember one time when dating apps first came out, and this girl sent me her photo, and I was like, yeah, we are gonna meet Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Sean Trace: up, and we meet up, we met up, it was not the same person. Colin: You Sean Trace: And I was just like, hold on here. And she she was cool as hell. But the fact that I wasn't what I was seeing Taylor Stewart: Yeah? Yeah. Sean Trace: was I was just like, I didn't trust this person. I'm like, are you gonna try Taylor Stewart: Yeah. How could you? Sean Trace: to steal my kidney here at some point in time? You know? I don't know. And so side note, Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Sean Trace: I went in for an MRI for some back pain a little while back. I found out that I have three kidneys. I have two kidneys, and I got one Taylor Stewart: What? Sean Trace: little one that's like, hello, how are you doing up here? Like in third kidney. Colin: I've never heard of that. Taylor Stewart: Third kidney? Sean Trace: And when I t I didn't hear about it, I was like, doctor, do I need to re-go look into this? Is this a problem? He's like, no. Does it cause you any problems? Your kidney levels are all normal. And he was like, I've got, I'm the little one up here. And I was just like, geez, that's so weird. and then my wife was like, we could sell it. And I was like, I'm like, what are you talking about? Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Well you only need one, you know. Sean Trace: You like right? you've got three. Colin: Yeah, you sell two. Sean Trace: Do you know what those run for on the black market? I was like, hey, what the hell? You're not even talking about doing it in a legit way. You're talking about the black market Taylor Stewart: Mm. Sean Trace: right now, V. And she's like, It's okay, baby. Just go to sleep. I Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: was like, no! No, no, I'm not gonna sleep now. I'm gonna sleep with one eye open. You know, so you know with but like I joke, but like if you don't have people's trust, you know? And the second thing that I think you shouldn't be doing is like Another AI thing is like I was reading about people that are like having AI handle all of their communication almost up to the level that it will do your calls for you. Like, I don't even Taylor Stewart: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Colin: Mmm. Sean Trace: have to call my clients anymore. I've got an AI agent Taylor Stewart: Mm. Sean Trace: that will talk to them on my voice. Dude, what are you even doing? Like, literally. Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Yeah. Sean Trace: I think that what people want. I've got this one friend of mine, Ish. Ish is this dude Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: that like He's a big dude. Like, and I'll go up and I'll be like, how you doing, bro? And he gives me this bro hug that I'm just like, I feel safe in the world. You know, Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: it's like, Colin: Hahaha Sean Trace: come in. He's a big dude. Gives me this big, big bear hug. And I'm just like, okay. Thank you. Thank you. It's what I needed right now. You know, and I think as a financial advisor, you have to realize that that's a huge part of what you're doing. And Colin: Mm. Sean Trace: Your content should be the thing that allows people to feel like you are their big bear hug. You know, and and how can you let them Taylor Stewart: Mm. Sean Trace: know that you're gonna be the big bear hug? I think that in this podcast episode, if people only watch this, they would with like have a couple things they would see. They would see Taylor is a facilitator. He's running these things, he's kind of directing it, he's directing the flow. Colin. If I wanted advice on someone who's thoughtful and really gonna think things through and give me, you know, Taylor Stewart: Ha ha ha. Sean Trace: he's careful. No, Colin's careful is his words. He was on my podcast Colin: FFFF Taylor Stewart: Yeah, yeah. Sean Trace: too. He thinks, and when he delivers, it has impact. And I'm the one who talks shit, but I'm gonna make you feel happy at the end of the day. And like that's gonna lighten the room and make it easier to Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Yeah. Colin: Hahaha! Sean Trace: get through your day. You know, like with my team, when we're handling challenging situations, I'll come into my team and Just I I bust everyone's chops like the whole day. I'm just giving shit the whole day. You Taylor Stewart: Mm. Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: know? And like but that's that makes it easier to get through, you know? Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Well, I'll say just one thing we talked about it before, like Colin and I have a more client facing podcast as well, the make the most of your money podcast. And we're not on affiliated different firms and everything. I don't think we've once had somebody we both people reach out saying they saw the podcast. It's n they know exactly who they're going to each time. There's not like, ooh, which Sean Trace: Yep. Taylor Stewart: one should I work with? People know. And it's great. Sean Trace: Yeah. Taylor Stewart: And it works for Colin: Yeah. Taylor Stewart: us. Like and I just I just think like I love it. And that's why I give him cra I told you right off the top, you know, he's the safe steady Kinda boring in a good way one. It's got the sturdy oak tree and everything. It's perfect. Colin: I'm Sean Trace: Right? And and see, and that's okay. It's okay to be that. You know? And you know right? Colin: And my wife agrees. Sean Trace: And your wife agrees, my wife's trying to sell my kidney, you know, like what can you do? We each have our different drinks. you know, Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Sean Trace: but I think that again, if you can map all this out. And you you come in and you kinda figure out your it th this is positioning. This is like brand building one on one. You gotta know who Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: you are, you know know who you're selling to, you gotta know what you're doing. But if you can do that, the sky's the limit. But I think that like the secret sauce is figuring a way that you can do it consistently, a way that you can keep showing up. And I mean, at the end of the day, I think you guys have two podcasts together because you have fun chatting with each other. You know, at the end of the day, you enjoy it. You know, you enjoy talking about money. For me, I enjoy waking up every day. And, you know, people go, eight o'clock. Till midnight, Monday to Friday, I'm in podcasts. I do four episodes a day between my different my four different podcasts. I'm booked out through August because I've created a machine. Taylor Stewart: Jeez. It's amazing. Yeah. It's awesome. Sean Trace: You know, I've you know, I've created a machine that that functions. But I do that because I understand the power of what you're doing. Now here's the other thing. Just as money compounds, content compounds as well. And you're building relationships, you're building these things. And one of the things that I realized is that now, especially the wine podcast, it's really interesting that like I walk I can walk into rooms now that I have no reason that I should be able to walk into, you know? Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: Like, dude the stash of wine that I have down here is ridiculous. Like it's Colin: Hahaha! Sean Trace: Wow. And my mom, people all send these bottles to my mom's house because I'm in and so they and like they're like, hey, well, let me send the bottle to your address in the States. And it goes to my mom's house. And she's like, stop sending the wine here. And I was like, Why? I'm drinking it all. Yeah, it's all gone. She's like, it's all getting drunk. Colin: He sent it to my house. Sean Trace: I can't try to drink less. Freaking hilarious, you know? all these fancy bottles, you know, and then like the other day I had this company reach out to me and they're going, We're trying to talk to the media leaders in the financial services industry. I was like, You're talking to the wrong guy, man. Like, but the fact that Taylor Stewart: No. Sean Trace: someone reached out to me after two years of making a podcast to think that I was one of the leaders of the financial service industry. Was like mind-blowing to And my numbers aren't huge, but like my network is really something that I've established. And here's the thing: one of the things that I think is most important, and it it's the core of what I do, and I think the core of what everyone should do is to build trust. Now, your trust is built through. how you show up to to people every day. You know, are you showing up in a way that's authentic? Are you showing up in a way that that develops that trust? Because if people trust you, you know, I I with my daughter I'm really picky about who I have around her. I have really I'm picky with the tutors I have. Like my biggest financial spend every month is on tutors for my daughter. Like I am very thrifty. But for my daughter, Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: we I step up, man, and I have Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: English tutor, Vietnamese tutor, math tutor, piano. She does Muay Thai. She does art class. She does a lot of different things because my wife Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Sean Trace: and I see it as important for our future her future. Our future. Sorry. her Yeah. Well Freudian slip right there. but you Colin: Someone's got to take care of you. Sean Trace: know, one of the things that like we found though is I I want people that I trust, you know, and I when I was seeking out people, her math teacher, when I was at working with her, she tells there's one thing she sold my daughter. My daughter goes to I live part in the world in V part-time in Vietnam, part-time in California. And my daughter goes to a Vietnamese school. And if for us, the price of international school was more than if we put her in Vietnamese school, then it's pretty solid, and then just bought a bunch of tutors a and paid for a bunch of tutors to work with her. So we did that because Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: I thought it was a better like her the international school's like, we're doing karate like there's it wasn't karate, man. It like, you know, like one old guy holding a pad, like kids kick it two times and then Colin: Haha Sean Trace: like they're done. but you know, when her math teacher came along and said, And she was doing her math things. And she's like, I'm gonna teach you a different way to do this. And and Emma's the this cute little like girl from Malaysia. She looks like she could be like, she's so sweet and cute, but she's like brutal when it comes to math. And she's like, Ailani, Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: I'm gonna teach you two ways to do this. And she's like, My teacher will get angry with me if I do it that way. And she's like Don't let your teacher know how you did it. And if she gets angry, Colin: You Sean Trace: she's wrong. And I was like, yes, yes. Because she's like, Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Colin: hahahahah Sean Trace: math, and you know, and that was a problem with my daughter at school. I I I give her teacher, I kind of cause problems because I push back a little bit hard. But the math right? Me? But Taylor Stewart: No way. Sean Trace: the math teacher was like, sent her homework back, and she was like, it's too messy. And I messaged the teacher, but was it right? Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Sean Trace: And she math teacher's like, I didn't check it, it's too messy. I said, Was it right? Were the numbers Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Sean Trace: right? And she's like, I wouldn't check it with the numbers. And so, and that's where like the math teacher, like the good one, the private tutor, was like, if it doesn't, she's like, got that Marie Kondo. Does it bring you joy? Is it correct? You know, if it's correct, Colin: Hahaha Sean Trace: your teacher can go beep, beep, beep, beep, you know, and I was just like, that got my trust. I will pay however much I need to pay for my daughter to excel at math because you know she was like sitting there and for a long time she's like, I'm not good at math. But her teacher helped her believe that she's great at math. It just was the wrong thing. A financial advisor is creating trust in the same way. I used to tell myself that I was bad with money. I realized I just wasn't making enough. Like I actually was good with money, but I was working on a teacher's salary and it wasn't able to pay my bills and my debt. Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: And when I made more money, I realized I actually am pretty thrifty. I make good Taylor Stewart: Uh-huh. Sean Trace: financial decisions. Occasionally I buy rats and things, you know. Taylor Stewart: Mm. Sean Trace: But, you know, most of the time Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: I wouldn't say that's my dumb purchase though. If I had to think there are other things. There are other Taylor Stewart: Who knows what else is back there? Sean Trace: things. Normally it's gear for me. But yeah. Yeah, man. That's Taylor Stewart: Yeah. that's amazing, man. Sean Trace: that's that's that. What other questions you got for me? Taylor Stewart: That's amazing. No, I I would just love to see, like, I mean, and we've been talking for a while and but like just if people can't do it themselves, like you don't have to talk about your own services, but it would be great if you did. Just like, how can Sean Trace: Yep, for sure. Taylor Stewart: people get help with this? Because this is amazing. Like it's absolute gold. And I'm like, man, I Sean Trace: Yeah. Taylor Stewart: couldn't you clearly the baseball script is what stuck with me. Just like that just rattled off your head. I was like, that'd be a great video. Like Sean Trace: Yeah. Taylor Stewart: How can somebody say, like, Okay, I'd love to do that, but I either don't know how or can't or don't want to do all the surrounding pieces? How can people help? Like whether it's you or other people. Yeah. Sean Trace: First of all, where you're at, there's different tiers. Tiers tiers tier zero. You're a financial Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Tier four, tier three, tier zero. Sean Trace: advisor that doesn't have a budget. Okay, Taylor Stewart: Uh-huh. Sean Trace: AI is your friend. Figure out how Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: to help it get you to tell stories. Figure out how to get it to help you to write the gr the right questions. Level up. Find people that can coach you. If you're tech savvy, find a coach that can mentor you on coaching. You know, and again, you can find that LinkedIn. There's a bunch of great companies doing this in the financial advisor space. You know, Fiverr. If you want to go to Fiverr, you know, you can go a tier above that. There are people who do that plus content. And there are people that are great with that. one of my favorite things is helping people. And if you everyone, anyone wants to come and find me, dude, I would love to be your, I'd love to be your marine. Recondo for content, you know, and it's like, you know, and just like Taylor Stewart: Yeah. How do people find you? Colin: Ha Sean Trace: one of my th look up LinkedIn is a great place to find me. you know, I am really, really active on LinkedIn and it's a fun place, you know. Look up Sean Trace. Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Sean Trace: I don't know there's that many. There's one dude who's in the name Sean Trace that's got a a golden retriever and he lives in Canada. That's not me. but he's a cool dude. Colin: You Sean Trace: I met him once. I was like, hey Sean, we got the same name. He's like, cool. Taylor Stewart: Well you know what's cool about this? If you've listened to this episode, they'll know exactly what to look for. Wine, Vietnam Vietnam, celebrity, daughter, like all the vomit photos, rats, you know, you should like people Sean Trace: All of it. Yep. Taylor Stewart: know you after this episode. If they yeah, that's awesome. Sean Trace: 100% man. And I think that one of the things too is if if someone wants to work with me, one Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: of the things I will be the like for me, I will tell you how I can help you. And if there are Taylor Stewart: Mm-hmm. Sean Trace: other people that can help you, I'll s I'll I'll send you in that direction as well. I know that I'm not everything for everyone. And I think that what you need to do is to find your team. Just like with financial advising, you gotta build out a team. But the one thing I will tell people that's the hardest thing is to do it alone. You know, if you need to find a CPA, you need to find a you know a CFP, you gotta find these people, you know, attorney that can build out your team. Come, let's talk, let's figure out how to get you a team, because that's the starting point. That's the starting point. Taylor Stewart: Yeah. So that a lot of people don't even know how to put that team together, whichever domain it is, and that's Sean Trace: Right? Taylor Stewart: that's a hard part. And I I yeah, I I struggle with that. Sometimes I'll do a prospect call and be Hey, if you have any questions about somebody else, just let me know. I'll I'll I'll be an open book and nobody really fully believes that, even though I've tried and offered, but like that's awesome that you'd be willing to do that. So Hey, quiet one, anything from you? Sean Trace: Hundred percent, ma'am. Colin: I was going say, yeah, once again, I've sat through the episode and absorbed and taken in far more than I've given. But yeah, this has been awesome. this definitely feels like it has been a therapy session, a business coaching session, because everything you've said applies to so many other domains in terms of being Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Yeah. Colin: an entrepreneur and running a business and assembling a team and just continuing to show up. I mean, I feel like that. That is, that's what's involved. That's the secret sauce right there. It doesn't make it, it's simple. It doesn't make it easy, it's, know, that, thank you. Thank you for Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Colin: coming. Thank you for. Sean Trace: I do have one request though, gentlemen. You Taylor Stewart: boy. Sean Trace: let me and my team make the thumbnail for this episode, and it will have rats, and it will have karate uniforms. Taylor Stewart: You got it. Yes. Absolutely. Done. Whatever you need. Would love it. No. This has been amazing. Colin: Yeah, you have to have to talk to our marketing Sean Trace: That's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah, man. Colin: department. Sean Trace: Right. I'm all in. I'm in. Taylor Stewart: We have a marketing department? We we need one. But yeah. Yeah. Colin: Exactly. Taylor Stewart: Awesome. Well, Sean, you lived up your legendary reputation. Thank you so much for coming on. This has been great. Any last thoughts for us Sean Trace: I appreciate it. I appreciate it. Taylor Stewart: or everybody else? Sean Trace: Go buy a rat. No, I mean no. They are great pets. They're actually actually really good pets. You know, just make sure it's Taylor Stewart: No but I just call they're cool animals. Yeah. Yeah. Colin: Mwahahahaha Sean Trace: not Peter Pettigrew and a human to disguise. That would be the only thing. It's a Harry Potter reference. for people that are not Taylor Stewart: yeah. Sean Trace: into Harry Potter, they're sitting there going, what the hell is he talking about? Just have fun. Taylor Stewart: And that worm tail? Colin: Haha. Sean Trace: You're right, wormtail man, you know what I'm talking about. Blast it off. He's missing a finger. Look at that ratch! He's missing a finger! You know. Yeah. That was a great episode. Taylor Stewart: Yeah, yeah, there you go. Yeah. Colin: Yeah. Sean Trace: get out and have fun. This doesn't have to be serious. Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Sean Trace: It doesn't have to be difficult. Get out and have fun with it. I mean, I know people get intimidated by compliance. They get intimidated, and I see it a lot. When I get people on these podcasts, you know, people are like, I gotta run this through, this and this. Your compliance at the end of the day is gonna watch out for things like, you know, like, guys, I'm here to tell you to put all of your money in, you know, but if you're just talking Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Sean Trace: about experiences for most of the time, they're gonna be pretty okay because they understand that you're just trying to to spread outreach and getting things out there. So don't get intimidated by stuff and don't Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Sean Trace: shut yourself down before you start. It's always easier to record that episode and send it to them afterwards than it is to sit there and run everything through first, you know. Colin: Hmm, ask for forgiveness, Taylor Stewart: Hmm. Yeah. Colin: not permission. Sean Trace: Yes, yes. Taylor Stewart: Yeah. Colin: Hehehehe Taylor Stewart: Awesome. Awesome. Well, thank you both. Sean will see you around on LinkedIn. Sean Trace: Yeah. Taylor Stewart: Colin, I'll see you next time. Colin: See you next time. Sean Trace: Yes.