Latest / Only Fee-Only / #142 - From Cold Calls to Community: Krystal Fortner on Building a Client-First Firm

Transcript

#142 - From Cold Calls to Community: Krystal Fortner on Building a Client-First Firm · Only Fee-Only

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_02: How's it going, everyone?
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome back to the OnlyFe Only Podcast.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_02: And as always, thank you so much for being here.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_02: In this episode, we talked to Crystal Fortner, who is the principal planner at Crystal Fortner CFP.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_02: We talk to her about her start in the industry at Morgan Stanley, to being at some small and mid-sized RAAs, all the way to starting her own firm, how she's done it, how she's grown, and everything in between.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_02: If you know Crystal, you know she is absolutely incredible and a great person.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_02: So this is bound to be a good episode.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_02: Enjoy this episode with Crystal Fortner on the Only Fee Only podcast.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: How's it going, everyone?
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to another episode of the Only Fee Only podcast.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Peter Travolo.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: I'm here with my co-host Brock Buckles, and today we're so excited to have Crystal Fortner on.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: Really excited to have her share her story and learn about how she came into building her firm.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: So, Crystal, welcome to the show.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: And Peter, I finally know how to pronounce your last name.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I appreciate it.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: It was great seeing you in Austin just a little bit ago.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: But for those who don't know who you who you are, do you want to just dive into your background and we can start there?
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Crystal.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: I'm based in the San Francisco Bay Area in the East Bay, right across from the city.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Been in a financial planner since 2013 and have worked in a variety of different settings.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I've been solo for just a little over two years now.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a career changer.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: I was a social worker in a prior life for 15 years and discovered a love for uh working with folks on their finances.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: Me in a nutshell.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_02: So what what kind of was that like aha moment?
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_02: Because a lot of people say, you know, they're in a different career, or, you know, we've met people that were engineers or all kinds of different walks of life and different professions before they decided to get into financial planning.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_02: Was there something that piqued your own piqued your interest?
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_02: Like, was it your own finances or kind of looking into that stuff more?
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what was the moment where you're like, I think I might be interested in doing this for a living?
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it it was dabbling in what little money I had managed to scrape together and invest as a social worker and just really going all in on educating myself about it.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I read Susie Orman's books.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: I know she gets a lot of flack, but you know, she she's got a good message to to share and started reading the Wall Street Journal every day.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, my colleagues thought I was completely bonkers, but then once they, you know, realized like, hey, I don't really know much about my retirement plan either.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: Let me go ask Crystal.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so it just kind of launched it, started as a hobby and eventually went back to school and got an MBA in finance, which was a degree I didn't really need to get to do this work, but I did it anyway.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um and just kept going from there.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I mean, today you're a fee only planner, you run your own firm, but you obviously didn't start there.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: So um, when you had that, you know, moment, where did you start in the financial services industry?
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: Man, I I think because I had a pulse, Morgan Stanley was willing to take a shot at me.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: You know, someone with zero experience in the industry.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: And man, if you've ever worked in the warehouse world, it is a different breed.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I lasted about a year and a half.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, tapped into this entrepreneurial spirit I didn't realize I had, um, was cold calling, networking, like pounding the pavement.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I swear that job, I loved that I did that um for that period of time because it taught me so much about the industry.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it taught me as much about how I didn't want to work with clients, as much as you know, all the other stuff that goes on in the warehouse world.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: It was very valuable experience.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm still in touch with some of my former rookie colleagues from there because we were sort of, you know, when you're in the bullpen cold calling, there's sort of this like, let's be miserable together and you know, get rejected thousands of times a day together.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so yeah, great, great experience.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: So what were some moments um at that firm that, you know, were like a highlight that you're like, eh, you know what?
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: This might not be the long-term plan.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: Or that might not be in the client's best interest.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: Oh man, I had this woman just like rip me to shreds on a cold call.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: Like she, oh man, like I've never heard someone use so many F-bombs in a short period of time on that call.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm just like, wow, it's it's about her, not me.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, that that was one thing that always sticks out.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: And then just um I think one one of the defining moments, I I was partnering with a with a million-dollar producer.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: And lo and behold, I I kind of discovered um unintentionally how she became a million-dollar producer.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: And it was from, you know, mostly selling variable annuities and whole life insurance policies.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, to, you know, people who um, you know, she didn't really want them to ask a lot of questions.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and you know, that that was certainly, you know, one of those moments where I'm like, wow, I I don't want to work with clients in this manner.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um so again, I learned a ton about uh about the industry from from that experience.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's interesting, isn't it, how the people that are doing really well but don't want you to ask any questions, it's like, huh, I wonder how you got to where you are now.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, I've seen that mentality, like, hey, don't worry about it.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_02: I'll take it from here.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_02: Like when they're talking to their clients, it's like, you know, I do this so you don't have to.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_02: That is the wrong answer.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_02: And I've always thought that I'm like, I hate seeing that because people do want to understand, at the end of the day, they're never going to understand the complexities of financial planning that you might.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_02: But the amount of, you know, permanent insurance policies and annuities and things that that we've had to untangle over the year, uh, over the years at BC Brokerage definitely shows there's people out there just like, hey, sit down, shut up, sign here, press hard, and we're gonna, we're gonna, you know, just do this for you.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_02: And so you can make a lot of money doing that, but I would say uh it doesn't mean that you have the best character.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: Totally.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: I I a hundred percent agree with that.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's just, yeah.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I I always like to tout, you know, like our industry likes people to just stay ignorant about their money.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: I just used that line just about an hour ago with a with a new prospect.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I I just don't want to work that way.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I'm glad to find people such as yourselves who also agree with that.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I found a whole community of advisors who who believe that as well and live it every day.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: So you were there for 18 months, and then what was your next step after that?
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and then I went on, you know, I mean, it was kind of it's kind of a blur, but I went through a series of small RIAs.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I moved back to the Midwest where I'm from.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I worked in the wealth management department of a regional bank.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then moved back to the Bay Area.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I I worked at um several mid-size.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I worked at one national RIA um that has a national footprint.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: Worked in a really small one in in Berkeley right before launching my own firm.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: So I kind of hopped around a bit, not really, you know, feeling like, oh, this is the one, like this is this is gonna be where I land.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, a year or two in, I'm like, this isn't it.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_02: This is yeah, this is not what I thought it was.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_02: And where where did you uh as as a person that lives in the Midwest?
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I have to ask you, where were you when you were in the Midwest?
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: I was in Champaign, Urbana.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: Okay when I moved back.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um I'm I'm originally from you know downstate east central Illinois, west central Indiana.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um from a very rural rural area.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: So Okay.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_02: Where was the what was the closest Indiana town, just out of curiosity?
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, well, everything's around West Lafayette, right?
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's true.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: That's that that should be the state capital for Purdue.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: But um Terre Haute is the the biggest town that I claim.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: Like, oh, do you know where Terre Haute is?
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, I'm from straight north of there.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_02: There you go.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I spent some time in Indiana State before graduating from Ball State, so I can appreciate that.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_02: So you go through this kind of string, you go to these different smaller RIAs, some of them have a national footprint, but then you're like, I think I want to do my own thing, or at least that's where I think this is going, right?
• 9:10
  unknown: Okay.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: I can remember, gosh, it was probably about seven or eight years before I actually did it, is when I had the first thought of like, maybe I want to do my own thing.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: It took me that long.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_02: And and what was the what was the finally like, I'm jumping in, I'm gonna go do it?
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_02: Like the final strawberry is like, this is it.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_02: I've made the decision, I'm gonna go make it happen.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I the last firm I worked for sort of left abruptly.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, just you know, didn't see eye to eye on some things and just decided to leave with no nothing lined up.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I was gonna partner with a friend of mine here in the area who has her own RIA.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: And long story short, that didn't work out either.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I just said, screw it.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: This is it.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna just do my own thing.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the stars were never gonna be more aligned for me to do this than they were at the time.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I was a little bit older in life, you know, had had the savings, you know, I had the runway.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um I'm just like, you know, if it goes wrong, like at least I would have tried it.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I never wanted to be that person that just sat on the sideline.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, oh, I wonder what it would be like.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: I I wanted to at least try it.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um and here I am.
• 10:27
  unknown: Yeah.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: So you launched with XYPN.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_01: Let's talk about that.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: What was that process like?
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and what was like the initial, you know, business plan?
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, it you know, XY made it so easy.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: Gosh.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I that was probab when when I finally decided to sign up with them, it was probably the third time I actually spoke with them about it.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um and finally did it.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: And they just made it so seamless.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: It was so easy.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and you know, they handled all the paperwork with California and all of that stuff.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: And um, I always like to joke around that um, you know, California here, you know, we can't pick up our trash, we can't get people in housing, but they can approve Crystal Fortner's registration in 24 hours.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: It was a one-day turnaround, and I was like, oh shit, like I gotta get the website up, I gotta get all this, you know, like I just was not prepared for it to happen that quickly.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and fortunately I had a couple of clients already like just waiting on me to to be official.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so you know, I I I brought on, you know, we're talking three clients, you know, it was enough to build my confidence and to think that this could actually work.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: So um, I mean, I couldn't have done any of that without XY.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I checked out a few other setups and just really felt like XY had what I was looking for.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and and I had known about them for quite a while.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: And um I I've got to be one of the biggest groupies of of Michael Kitsis.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: And so I knew that, you know, with him behind XY, like that that was the the place for me.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_01: So were some of the main priorities you were looking for, you know, some of the main benefits.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I wanted all the compliance help to get set up.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I wanted a community.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because I think that was one thing that I wasn't really um I knew about it, but I didn't really realize how it was gonna land.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there's one thing, you know, when you're working with colleagues, like you just go to their office and say, hey, what's this tax thing?
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: How does it work?
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: But when you're by yourself, you know, you don't have a colleague to go next door to ask.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: And so I knew I needed a team behind me to go to when I got stuck on things.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: And I have found that um through XY.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: And now I'm a member of all these other kind of offshoots um that all started with XY.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so I knew that um I was gonna have all the support I needed when I got stuck.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I feel like that's what a lot of people say because number one, it's like compliance feels like a nightmare to a lot of people.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_02: They're like, I do not want to try to navigate this alone.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_02: And a lot of the people that I talk to that aren't a part of XY that have started firms, that's their biggest pain point.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_02: They're like, all I do is think about compliance, it feels like.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so it's really nice that they have that as well as the tech stack.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_02: And I think, like you said, the biggest thing really is the community because it really, and we were all just at that conference together a couple weeks ago, right?
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_02: And it's like when you're there, you actually feel like everybody's looking out for each other.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_02: Whereas there are some other conferences, not going to name any names, or it kind of feels like who's the biggest dog in the room?
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what's the you know?
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I just have always really appreciated that about the community at XY and and the way that people are.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so you had some people when you were starting, you knew that they were kind of in the wings waiting on you to get the registration, which is insane that it happened in 24 hours.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, totally.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_02: But what was the growth plan?
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_02: Because you obviously had some time to think about that.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's really cool that you had cut your teeth a little bit at Morgan Stanley, like actually cold calling people.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_02: So you knew that that was an option if it had to be.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_02: But what was kind of your go-to-market plan and getting clients like?
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I didn't know this at the time, but I reached out to a fellow advice-only planner in the Bay Area who'd been doing it for far longer than I have.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, who, you know, she's one of those planners that um there's so few of us out here that um, you know, she was always booked up months in advance.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's my, you know, all of my prior firms referred to her for people who, you know, weren't looking for an ongoing AUM relationship.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um and so I reached out to her and had the, you know, I asked, hey, can I pick your brain?
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and this woman is such an angel.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: She gave me an hour of her time while on a Saturday while she was on vacation in San Diego.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and she graciously put me on her referral list.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so most all of my prospects come from her.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I the way I thank her, in addition to periodically taking her out for lunch and coffee, is I pay it forward by um referring business to other newer advice-on planners.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um so that I mean that that call, that that one call has been really impactful in my firm.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I just, you know, count my lucky stars that, you know, it's worked out the way it has.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but other than that, um, and I I'm a member of Advice Only Network, and I'm a member of NAPFA and a couple of other, you know, directories.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I, you know, I get a handful of prospects through there.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: But, you know, at this point, it's it's word of mouth, it's you know, just being a decent person and doing good work so that people will continue to refer to me.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: So it's worked out.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's crazy how it works.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, how foreign, right, of a concept from what it was like at Morgan Stanley, right?
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: Like if there was a lead, it was blood sharks in the water, you know.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, the idea of, hey, this client doesn't fit, you know, they could be a good fit for you.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: Here you go, just take good care of them.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_01: That must be such like a crazy idea.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_01: Because once when Brock and I learned of the fee-only space and the community and you know, just the like the way people think and the way that they actually want to serve their clients, it was just a completely different world.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like this whole it's almost cooler to be um not competitive in this space.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I can remember my manager at Morgan Stanley, you know, a broker up and left.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, whenever a broker leaves there, it's just like all hands on deck, we gotta retain the assets and God, it's just ridiculous.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: And and he was like, you know, the you know, he's going to Wells Fargo.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they're they're not doing this kind of thing at Wells Fargo.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: And me, like being new and naive and not knowing anything, I'm like, they're not?
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: They're not doing this at Wells Fargo?
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like, why wouldn't they?
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: And then I realized it's just his way of trying to motivate us to keep to keep assets.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: But now it's just like the people I've met and you know, sort of connect with, none of us are hard sales, none of us are competitive.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if they're not a good fit for us, well, I probably know five other people who they'd be a good fit for.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like, I don't know.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm I'm fortunate too.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like I was profitable right out of the gate.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I know my situation is highly unusual.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so I don't need the business that badly, whereas someone else might.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: And if it means them keeping the lights on, I'm happy to, you know, to share the love because you know, I I could also use a break sometimes.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_02: Totally.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_02: Well, no, that that abundance mentality in the feeling community too, and like the overwhelming majority of people being like, there's only so many feeling planners out here.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you got to kind of stick together because I believe those are the people that are doing the right things.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_02: And you're not, there's not the pressure from the top, right?
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_02: Because every people own their own firms to be like, this is who we are, this is our identity, and you're gonna sell this life insurance, you're gonna push these investments or whatever it might be.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and like what Pete said, the first time that we were ever in the uh XYPN like Facebook group, and I saw somebody getting referred or like, hey, this client's not the right fit.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_02: I think I almost choked on my lunch.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, wait, what is happening now?
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_02: I did not realize this was a thing.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but no.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: Why aren't they working on Sundays to win that business?
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, exactly.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_02: Like, where's the cold calling?
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so that's really cool.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_02: So, I mean, now you have your firm, like, what is the future for?
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_02: Like, how do you want to grow?
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_02: Are you pretty happy where you're at?
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_02: Is there a plan to bring more people on down the road?
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what are your what's kind of our your idea for the future?
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's such a great timely question.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_00: Because when I was at XY, I got so motivated to, you know, think about where do I want to, you know, where do I want this thing to go?
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I've always thought like, nah, I just want it to be me.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to manage people.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not looking to grow this thing.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I I am in a comfortable place where, you know, I can still do my CrossFit classes and run marathons while, you know, keeping a roof over my head and that sort of thing.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_00: But um, the conference really did get me thinking, like, you know, maybe eventually I do want to partner up with some folks who are like-minded and it's an easy transition.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_00: But I mean, those I think are just big grand ideas that I haven't really fleshed out.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, for I also have that, you know, philosophy of if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, like I'm kind of going with that for now until, you know, life presents me with another curveball where I, you know, I I think, you know, about doing something different.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_01: So very cool.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um any golden nuggets you were thinking of before coming on here that you wanted to kind of share with the audience?
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, well, I noticed one of the questions was um what advice you'd give a new planner um starting out at this.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I was thinking you know, there's so many different ways to answer that question.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, and just thinking about my own experience.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um you know, it's it's funny, like I actually would suggest folks spend some time in a warehouse because you get to learn about all the stuff that goes on there, all these convoluted products that they sell.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: So when you do get a prospect that's in this structured note that they have no idea what it is, you can actually speak to it.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you can help them understand, you can help them unwind it.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: I I just think it provides such um valuable experience um to the industry.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: And again, like if it's if it's an experience like mine, you can then take that and realize how you truly want to work um with clients.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean, I think now for me, this is the way I've always wanted to work with clients.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, when you're working in someone else's firm, you gotta kind of toe the line.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: And if it's AUM, you have to, you have to do that.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: If it's commission, you have to do that.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um until you're in a place where you're truly working the way you want to.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, absolutely.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_02: Well, that is fantastic advice.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and for those people that want to follow along with what you're doing, um, where's the best place to follow along with you, Crystal?
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I'm I'm so I'm so bad at social media.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm only on LinkedIn.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: I don't do anything else.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that stuff is so addicting.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: Like I just I just can't do the whole Instagram thing.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm pretty active on LinkedIn, and that's that's really the only place.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I've I at one point thought, oh, I'm gonna start a blog or something.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, oh God, the world does not need another financial planner blog.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um there's you know, I'm not that great of a writer, I don't think.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: So um so LinkedIn is the place.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: So come find me.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: Perfect.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Crystal, thank you so much for your time today.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_01: We really appreciate it.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thanks for having me.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's a pleasure, guys.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: Good to see you.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, all right.