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Invest in Yourself – Invest in Your Business · Financial Planner Life Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: Hello everyone, it's Elena back for this week's episode of the Financial Planner Life Podcast.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_02: And this week I'm joined by Ian Dempsey, Financial Advisor to Plan.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_02: In this week's episode, we cover all things personal development, how to push yourself to become the best financial advisor possible.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_02: We also talk about the power of LinkedIn.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_02: In this episode, Ian discusses how this is his most important business development tool, and he shares lots of hints and tips so how you can have your own LinkedIn social strategy.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_02: We also touch on um Ian's journey from self-employed to AR.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_02: Good morning, Ian.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_02: How are you?
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, I'm good, thank you.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: Apart from school strikes making a touch of my diary for the rest of the day.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, all good.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_02: School strikes and train strikes are a powerful combination in a way to mess up a daily routine.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_02: But thank you very much for coming on um and speaking to me this morning, Ian.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_02: It's great to have you.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_02: And it's the same question that I start with everyone on the podcast.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_02: But can you please explain a little bit about your career journey to date um and how you got to the point that you're at now?
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: So um I think like we said at the start, I'm I accidentally kind of fell into financial services.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: So my old mum was an IFA, my mum was a mortgage advisor for a bank, and I and it kind of grew up around that industry, but never really wanted to dabble in it.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: Just because as you're growing up as a kid, you never want to do what your parents do, right?
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: And and um found myself in a position where I needed a job, got a job working for a um subprime loan company that just progressed, they put me through my mortgage qualification, then I started doing mortgage advice for the bank, so um co-op financial services, then which was Britannia at the time.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: Then I moved to Santander, HSBC, St.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: James's Place, Quilter, and then most recently become self-employed with Two Plan.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: It's been a real journey, but uh along that kind of path, I fell out of love a little bit with financial services.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: So I really wanted to step out of banking and and try it in a in a different world just to see what I was like, and then gradually started falling back in love with it again.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_02: You mentioned then that you started falling back in love with it and you went through that period where you fell slightly in love out of love with it.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_02: I think everyone goes through stages in their career where they're a bit like sit back and go, Why am I doing this?
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_02: Or, you know, why do I enjoy this role?
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, bearing that in mind, how have you grabbed your role and grabbed this industry and managed to mold it into something that you're really passionate about?
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, great question.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: I think I think I think a lot of it just boils down to really kind of being comfortable with who I am.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I lived down near Milton Keynes, as you can tell by the accent, I'm not from Milton, I'm not from Milton Keynes.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: So there was stigma's probably the wrong word, but like there's there's almost like a bit of pre-judgment when you kind of hear somebody with a Geordie accent.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: And and as much as you have the jokes about north, north-south divide and stuff, I just always felt a little bit different down here.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, the the banks were great for a for a really good foundation in compliance and high volume stuff, but I just felt it was getting really prescriptive, as in you could just stick somebody in front of a computer and ask the same questions, and the vast majority of the time you come out with exactly the same outcome.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: And it got to a point where I needed to take that step out of bank and just you almost become institutionalized.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_01: I know other advisors that have got used to it because let's be honest, the the salaries are good, you get decent bonuses, you've got a laptop, you've got a car, um, you've got kind of routine built in, you're seeing a lot of clients and a lot of privileged positions, which is amazing.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_01: But I wanted more, and that's why I took the step out and and worked for a small practice over at SJP.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then just felt like SJP wasn't kind of the right fit for me, nothing against them.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: I think they're great, and then just moved across to Quilter and got to a point where I thought there's the there's one last roll of the dice, and that was to become an IFA.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: And I'd always wanted to do it because I'd worked in a restricted environment and just felt it's a better proposition.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: You've got more stuff you can play with, there's more tools in your kit bag, massive learning curve to kind of jump into that world from just a set of set of products or set of funds, if you like, to having all this stuff available.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: So it was a big change.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: That was part of it that kind of made me fall in love with it.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: And then over lockdown, just had a lot of time on my hands and spent a lot of time really looking at the process that I go through with clients and trying to unpick where the value is.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: So spent a lot of time looking at that and completely changed the way that I work, changed the way that I work, change the way I deal with clients, and by taking a different approach, it's worked, it's worked really, really well.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: I love financial services again, I love dealing with clients.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, there's there's niggles wherever you're gonna be, that the pet of work and all that is it's quite intense to kind of get through that.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: But that that's what helped me fall in love with it again.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: And it was taking me personal development probably more seriously than than I ever have done by not just doing the typical CPD stuff of 35 hours a year.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: It was like picking up books about life coach.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: And I used a coach, I used a social media strategist, I used a like a vocal coach so I could be better on video and come across differently, and just really invested in myself and thought this is a way that I can really develop as a person as well as develop as an advisor.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: And and I think that really comes across with clients by having quite a different approach to a lot of the industry.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, great, great question, great answer.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_02: And I think you mentioned there the Jordy accent coming from someone whose family's born and bred in Newcastle, my dad's side, it feels almost like nostalgic.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_02: It reminds me of my grandparents listening to the way that you speak.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_02: But I think you touched on something there that moving from a restricted environment into an independent environment.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_02: And I think from you know what I do day to day, you do speak to lots of people that come from a restricted background that are looking to make that leap into something a bit more IFA focused and be an independent financial advisor.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_02: So, from the experience of someone that's done that leap themselves, was it a big change?
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: Do you see the benefits yourself personally and working in a more of a whole of market environment?
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, it was massive.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: It was a huge difference because you you're typically recommended from a suite of maybe 10 to 12 investment funds to all of a sudden having everything at your disposable, disposal.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: And initially it was it was like a rabbit in the headlights, if I'm being completely honest, because it's just right there you go, there you can recommend, and then it is a case of, well, what can I recommend?
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's anything, anything that you can justify for a client that you think is the right thing.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: You've it it's a bit like doing your kind of shopping in the corner shop, and then all of a sudden you've got Costco and wait rose around the corner, and you can kind of go there and pick from everything.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: It's just it's such a difference to be able to do that.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I think the value that you can then add to clients by doing that makes a big difference.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: And over the years, because I get a lot of stuff from social media, you'd get people that will only work with IFA, they will not work with a restricted advisor because I mean the word itself restricted, I think, is is quite negative in its in itself, but ultimately people choose advisors, they don't necessarily choose a company that you want to work with.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: So I've never really struggled for business in a restricted environment because of kind of how I work and who I am, but I just wanted that extra set of tools in the kit bag to be able to look at everything and just evolve that over a period of time.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: And it's a it's still a learning curve.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: I've been at Two Plan for just over 12 months.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: There's so much more that I don't know.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and that kind of thirst for knowledge and constantly trying to expand, learn about new funds, fund providers, different tax solutions is just it's really important for me to be able to do that so I can constantly be evolving and and it keeps that hunger there as well because as I uncover more things I can do for clients, it it just triggers conversations a lot on different levels with different people.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but it's been it's been steep, steep learning curve because you've got to do your fund research rather than just pick one particular fund.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: There's there's so much more to it.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's a really interesting point because you speak to lots of people who want to make that leap, as I mentioned, but I think people might discontinue.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_02: And I think I haven't thought about it till this conversation that that leap isn't therefore easy making that change from something where you are looking at a panel of products to look into something that's you know, where you've got every single tool.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_02: And you I think the analogy you said then about the supermarket was absolutely great.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_02: So, how did you navigate that?
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_02: You touched on before that you're really keen on your personal development.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_02: So, in learning something completely different, how have you adapted to that and what tools have you had to bring out for yourself personally to be able to do that?
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I'm jumping in with both feet, like like quite simply from the start.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: Like the training support I've had to come across a two-plan has been phenomenal, but it's it's just I mean, use the analogy of a supermarket.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: Again, you've you've you've got like this a few things you can use to all this stuff, but then you need all the training on how to use that stuff as well.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: So it the first kind of week and a half was completely overwhelming because there's so much stuff to do, like in a restricted environment.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's do your legal stuff, do your documents, do your fact find, do your suitability report, present applications and all that.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: Fine, done.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_01: But you've got the added complication of fund research, you've got to have external tools, you need to build relationships with BDMs, you need to get registered on platforms, you need to make sure you've got your agency codes, all that stuff.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: And you're like, How am I going to do this?
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: In those first week to two weeks, we're just head spinning.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: But over a period of time, what I really love about a two-plan is we've we've got incredible functionality on Teams.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: Every advisor uses it brilliantly.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: If you've got any questions, stick a question on there within an hour.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_01: Somebody's kind of picked that up.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I just badgered the life out of all the training staff and support, how do I do this?
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: How do I do that?
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: How do I do the other?
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: If I was speaking to BDMs, they'll be like, right, tell me about your platform, how does it work?
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: What can I do?
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: What can't I do?
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, what do I need to know?
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: And then taking that information and speaking to other advisors, because the the challenge with BDMs is ultimately they want you to use their platform, they want you to use their investment solutions.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: And absolutely, there's some amazing ones out there who give lots and lots of support, but they're under a massive amount of pressure as well, because ultimately for them it's a sales environment.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: But using the information from them and going to speak to advisors and say, is this true?
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: Does that make sense?
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_01: Can this do that?
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: And then just slowly starting to paint the picture.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I think with all that stuff available, there's a danger that you can overcomplicate stuff for clients because you've got all this stuff.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: And initially, I thought, well, I've got to use this platform, I've got to use that platform, I've got to use every platform under the sun, every single fund option.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: But the reality of it is you don't because you, if you do your research properly and you stand by what you believe in and use the tools that are available to you, you can narrow that down quite significantly to what's right for that individual client, and whether that's looking at the DFMs, um, active funds, passive funds, different platforms, and then kind of going back to the other part of the question where you said how do I dig into that personally?
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's just mindset more than anything, it's been a big thing for me.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: So, really getting my head stuck into some books um about like resilience.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I've I've read like the Aunt Middleton stuff about negative situations.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_01: I've read three or four of his books since I started.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_01: The there's some great books from um Simon Sinek, Reason Why was it was an amazing one as well.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: There's one off the topic.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: James Clear Atomic Habits absolutely changed everything for me, and and really taking that all seriously to put me in the best position.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: Because I mean, you know, yourself, if you're feeling a bit groggy and under the weather, you're not going to be the best for your clients.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I need to be the best for my clients like every single day.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: So that stuff has become more and more important as I'm on my own and got all this stuff that I can work with.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_02: For people that are listening to the podcast, um, and who might be, you know, people in the audience that might be really wanting to step into the industry or potentially in positions where they're not financial advisors themselves.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_02: Do you mind explaining to a little bit about what CPD is itself and you know what are sort of the basic requirements?
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: So CPD is continuous professional development.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: So as a as financial advisors, we are all tasked by the regulator to constantly develop and put professional development in.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's 35 hours over the year that we have to do.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_01: 15 of our hours of those have to be um insurance and life related.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: It's about maintaining your knowledge, so maintain your understanding.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: So if a client asks you about life insurance or critical illness cover or a pension, that knowledge is just there.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_01: You can just pull it off the shelf and use it.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: Most firms that you work with have a structured program of you've got to do annual testing, you've got to do all this reading and all this stuff, but that will only take you so far.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: So it's about taking responsibility to take it from the let's see your 15 hours up to that 35.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: And how you do that is entirely up to you.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: There's there's a mountain of information out there, but it's really important to do that.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: Doctors do it, solicitors do it, accountants do it.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: We we have to do it as well.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: And it's it's about keeping your mind sharp with industry changes, regulatory changes, product knowledge, all that stuff, so you're in the best possible position to be able to deal with clients.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_02: Something really important because yeah, it's an industry that keeps on evolving, keeps on changing, and you need to make sure that you're up to date and on top of that so ultimately you can provide the best service to your clients.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_02: But as you mentioned, then, you know, initially in the podcast and just then touched on the books that you've really enjoyed reading for yourself and you're, you know, falling back in love with the role, continuing put your professional development and going above and beyond that has been really important to you.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_02: So you've touched on sort of like some of the books that you've really got um your head stuck into and sort of you know changing your mindset.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_02: But do you mind elaborating a little bit further on your personal development journey and what you've done outside of that CPD to allow you to be the most, the best financial advisor that you can be?
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, loads.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_01: I it I I really got into it when I was working at St.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: James's Place.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_01: I'd in the kind of the banks and the corporate world, it it's hard to find the time because you've got so much stuff to do every day.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: But um, when I kind of worked for St.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_01: James's Place at one of the practices there, there was the the guy who ran the business was massive into his personal development.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: He would go to coaching retreats, he would kind of suggest books to read, he would always be doing something, and it really started to pique my interest.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: So just I've never been a big reader.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: This that's part of the challenge.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_01: So but then I just started picking up books, started reading stuff, making notes, and just not just reading a book, but just dissecting it, posting notes, scribbles all over it, making loads of notes.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: That's kind of where it started, and it just built from there.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_01: Like, look watching stuff on YouTube.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: If I'm sat in front of the TV, and rather than watch, I mean, I never watched Corbination Street, so that's an atrophic example, but rather than watch like something like Corbination Street, I'll I'll just get my head into a couple of two, three-minute videos, and I'll just constantly be trying to improve and and put more tools in the kit bag to use the phrase from earlier, and then lockdown hit and LinkedIn was was kind of on my agenda, but I'd used it typically.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's how we met as well.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, typically used it as a almost like an online CV.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: So this is what I do, this is how I do it, and just started realizing there was a different way to use it.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: So I used a coach, so I spent some money to get a coach to use about use LinkedIn and social media more effectively.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: That then kicked on to using a um like a vocal coach to be able to be more confident in videos and and and kind of develop that speech a little bit better and communicate more effectively, which has had two knock-on effects of being confident in front of a camera, and secondly, actually being more confident with clients and being aware of filler words and all that kind of stuff.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: Then I used a career coach and a like a mindset coach, and then there was um another coach that I used who specializes in helping startups.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: So I was obviously just wanting to get started.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: So, what are the pitfalls?
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: What do I need to be aware about?
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: And it cost a lot of money to use that stuff, but I was in a real crossroads of whether do I do I plow on and start doing chartered exams to get my qualifications to a higher level, which is on the agenda at some point, or do I spend that money really focusing on myself to be the best that I possibly can as a level four qualified advisor first to be better with clients, better at processes, better under my standing myself, and and build a really strong business, and then do the chartered further down the line.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I took the latter option and it's it's paid, but it's a constantly evolving process, you know.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm constantly looking to kind of improve, use coaching, use go on webinars just to develop myself and keep it sharp and ultimately to have a little bit of a competitive edge as well.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_02: That's really interesting that you said you were at that crossroads of like taking your chartered exams or you know, investing in yourself as an advisor, because you brought this up at the beginning of the podcast.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_02: But very often, when people are looking for a financial advisor, they invest in the individual.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_02: You know, um one our marketing manager recently did a poll um on our LinkedIn, and it would look, I think the question was when you're a client looking for a financial advisor, what are the things that are most important to you?
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_02: And qualifications was one of the options, and that was the lowest out of what of people that voted.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_02: And I don't remember what the top one was, but I think it was really interesting to reflect on that because very often we view chartered as the gold standard of financial advisors, which obviously it's an excellent qualification to have.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but ultimately clients very often invested you as an individual and overlook that qualifications element because if you don't have the industry knowledge or experiences we have, you might not appreciate the value that those qualifications have.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_02: So when you're at that crossroads, what prompted you to make that decision and go, okay, we're gonna put the chartered exams on the back burner for now, and first we're gonna focus on better in myself.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, a big thing was the time commitment for charters, it's it's a massive amount of time to study and get through those exams.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I guess that that commitment felt really tough.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: It felt like a big leap to take.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: So part of me thought, well, realistically, I need to commit an hour a day every day for the next two and a bit years, and just thought, is there a better use of my time?
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: Because if I'm building a business and everything that comes with that and all those decisions, can I then do that and do the chartered stuff?
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_01: So I'd kind of work really well by just breaking stuff down into bite sizes, so that's why I use different cultures at different times throughout my journey to be able to really focus on one area to develop that, move on to the next, move on to the next, move on to the next.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I think the chart had felt like a really big commitment um in terms of time.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_01: I've got a family that I need to kind of look after and ferry around all over the place, so that's important that I can do that as well.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's on the agenda, but the and again, like as we're talking about this now, the kind of cogs are wearing round in my head, and I'm thinking, do I really want to do it?
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm not gonna rubbish it because it's a fantastic qualification.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: There's some amazing advisors out there that are charted, got fellowship and beyond.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: But like one of the biggest gripes that I have in financial services, and I hear this from clients all the time, is that we make it too complicated.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm a big believer in just keeping things simple.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_01: Like clients need to know the technical stuff.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, absolutely.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_01: But do that, do they need to know that from day one?
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_01: And can you put that in a terminology that they understand?
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: And and that's something that I think I've been really good at, and I'm still strong at being able to do with clients.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and I, as I said, not underestimating, you know, what the chartered exam is, but I completely agree.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I come from a background, as we touched on previously, when my dad's a financial advisor.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_02: And when I first, you know, moved into this industry where I was really delving into deeper and understanding all the qualifications myself, I turned to my dad and I was like, Are you chartered?
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_02: And he was there, like, I just never have the time for that, never had the time for that.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_02: And I look at my dad as, you know, he's my advisor as someone that's amazing in the industry.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_02: So I think it's not putting it all on a pedestal, and as you've you know, touched on, that there are other parts of you that you can invest in that still push your personal development forward and allow you to become a really good, you know, financial advisor.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_02: But you mentioned then that obviously taking those chartered exams is a massive investment in terms of time.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_02: But what you've been doing in terms of personal development, you know, reading books, you know, going to coaches, that also is a time investment.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, long-term, it's gonna pay off for yourself, but is an investment in your time as well.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_02: So I guess for people, you know, financial advisors that are listening to this that go, okay, I want to push my personal development a little bit further, but don't know where to start with that.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_02: Or where what would you recommend?
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_02: How could they go beyond that 35 hours and just push a bit deeper?
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that's that's that's not an easy one.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody's everybody's different, you know, they're gonna have different ways of learning, different, different styles, different, different kinds of formats.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_01: So some people read books, some people will have audible, some people will kind of watch videos.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_01: Uh for me, a blended approach of everything just works well.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_01: I couldn't sit there and read books for hours and hours on end.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's just about having a set amount of time, but I'd I'd say almost forget about the finance stuff to start with and and dig into some really good personal development books as a starting point.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: And it'll just I mean, I'm a big I've got loads of personal development books.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: Some of them that I'll pick up and read.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_01: And if I don't get that book within like the first three or four pages, I'll put it down because it's not the right time for me.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_01: I'll find something else and I'll read that.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: And it like it needs to ignite me from the start when I pick something up.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_01: If I'm if I get that book and it really does ignite me, I'll read it and then that'll lead on to another book that I'll need onto another book, another book, and then and various other things.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's I suppose one of the things is you need to be really self-aware of what you want to develop, like where are your weaknesses?
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: And that's hard, right?
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: Because you're you're almost kind of you're almost being critical to yourself and saying, This is what I need to work on, this is what I could be better at.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_01: But one of the great things that I did was just ask, I asked my partner, I asked me kids, and kids are brutal with feedback.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_01: They're like, What, what, what, what, what, uh, what are my strengths, what am I good at?
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: What am I not good at?
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_01: And my partner was really good and diplomatic about the kids, they were just ruthless, they just nailed me to the floor.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I won't go into the detail, but it was tough.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_01: And then just started kind of asking like clients, like, what did you what did you get out of this meeting?
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_01: What was really good?
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_01: What what areas could I improve on?
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_01: What other things could I work on?
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_01: And just start painting that picture.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: And once you start becoming aware of it, then I'll I'll use another analogy that I use with clients.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like when you buy a new car, you see that car everywhere.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_01: And it's not that you see it everywhere, you're just more aware of it.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: But when you're aware of those areas that you need to work on, you will see little YouTube clips, you will see stuff on Instagram, you will read emails slightly differently, and you'll just start picking up on it over a period of time.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_01: To go from not really taking your personal development seriously to go to 150 miles an hour is a big step, but just what's the next step?
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_01: What's the one after that?
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_01: There are some great financial books out there.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody knows about Rich Dad, Poor Dad, uh Richest Man in Babylon.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_01: Read them.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_01: They're great books, and it helps you understand where your clients' positions are, if they've read them, and also it gives you more tools to be able to work with clients as well.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_02: Well, you mentioned atomic habits, which has been on my reading list in terms of um personal development.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_02: So I think this is definitely like the push I've needed, almost like the sign to be there.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I need to order that.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_02: So that's what I'm gonna be doing when I get back to the office.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_02: But you know, you mentioned that we interacted first on LinkedIn, um, and it's obviously like a really big platform for yourself.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_02: You mentioned um obviously that you reached out to a coach that supported you with LinkedIn.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I think it is a massive platform.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um, we see the way that it is um in financial planning definitely evolving.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_02: So I guess for you personally, what shifted your opinion to start viewing LinkedIn a bit more seriously or viewing it with a bit more importance?
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_01: A real firm kick off the backside, if I'm being honest with you.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: Because it I I was I was employed at the time lockdown kicked in, and I've I've been through three or four redundancies in the past, and the writing was on the wall.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_01: I could see like early signs, and at the start, everyone, the the kind of company that with it were great and said, just look after your family.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone thought lockdown was going to be over in like two, three weeks.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, you know, and you're like, Oh, yeah, I'll be fine, just sit, just sit around.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, it'll be fine with another month, another month, another month.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: And it got to a point where like you get the the figures that your team are submitting, and I'm just going further and further and further down.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_01: I thought this is this is um the right the writings on the wall here.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_01: So just started to really look at how I can improve and and where can I generate business from because I can't go networking, I'm not really going to seek clients at houses.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_01: So found a coach, used her, and and I can remember the first session.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_01: She was like, I'm not gonna teach you about generating leads on LinkedIn.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, Well, like what's what's the point then?
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_01: I want to be right to teach you about teach about personal brand.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_01: I thought, personal brand is a just that's like wishy-washy kind of stuff, you know, because I'm I'm in the world of financial advice, and it's all has to be really serious, you know.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_01: Personal brand was just like way off the charts.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I thought, nah, had the session, said just start writing, start posting some stuff, write it down.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_01: The first time you write it, it's it needs a lot of work.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I didn't post anything for about two months, didn't do it, and she was just badgered and badgered and badged, just get started, just get started.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_01: And then I wrote the first one, and a couple of people liked it, and then I just kind of started writing, and it almost becomes addictive.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: And it got to a point where social media is great, it's sucking you in for spending time.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm sure we both spend far too much time on like Instagram, Facebook, and other places.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_01: But then the penny finally dropped to I could spend that time on somewhere like LinkedIn, and ultimately that's gonna help me build a business, help me build people, and and ultimately help me kind of make money, and it just it really started to resonate, and just getting those wheels turning and then keeping them going, that's probably the hardest part because you almost expect instant results, and it's not instant.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: You need to give that consistency and then you need to maintain that consistency for a long period of time.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: But if you can do that, the the possibilities are endless.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_01: The the things that have opened up on social media for me have just been nuts, like like working with people that I never even thought would be possible.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and they are people who've run great businesses that refer me clients, or they've become clients, and it's and there's there's always stuff that surprises me.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: This it's incredible.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_02: Because you use it, I think you mentioned this um to me when we first caught up, but it's one of your biggest business tools, if not like you know, your biggest business tool for bringing in new business, am I right?
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: 100%, yeah, absolutely.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_02: Which is crazy when you view it as a social media platform and you speak to people that are going out setting, you know, and again, there's so many different ways to, I'm not taking everything with one brush, there's so many different ways to sort of self-generate your own business, but like setting up, um, you know, making, you know, setting up conversations with accountants and introducers and estate agents and things like that.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_02: And it's almost there, like you have all this power in like one small magical box that you can hold in your hands.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_02: So it's it's absolutely crazy.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_02: And and you mentioned then that you know, it even took you two months after visiting this coach to to create this uh um this post and and get it going.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_02: And I think for lots of people we talk about personal branding and we talk about LinkedIn, and I think it is something that's really daunting.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_02: So now that you're in the flow with it a bit more, do you have a certain strategy that you use?
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_02: You know, do you have a certain social media strategy?
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_02: Do you just think of posts and write them down?
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_02: You know, how have you now you're in the flow with it, how have you managed to continue that?
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and again, like it goes back to the personal development.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: Like LinkedIn's an incredible place to learn.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_01: So I can I connect with such a diverse range of different people, people in marketing, people in sales, people that are trainers, coaches, and all the rest of it.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_01: And there's so much information out there, and it's a constantly evolving piece.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm learning every day.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_01: So if I'm if I want to have a marketing strategy, I'll be following people in marketing and pick up what they do, and it's just just evolve over a period of time.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_01: And it it's just that improvement.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_01: So that the vocal coach helped 100% by being more confident on video and being able to have the right tone, the right pitch, and how you talk when you're presenting your videos.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's still a work, work in progress, but then it's like editing.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_01: How do I how do I make the videos better?
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_01: How do I make them a little bit more polished so they stand out?
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but it's just having those people in your network that you can learn from because the the best creators out there and the best ones certainly on LinkedIn, share pretty much all of what they do for free.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_01: I do the same, like I'll share pretty much everything that I do, it's not going to cost you anything.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: You can learn a hell of a lot about finance by kind of following what I do.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_01: You could learn a hell of a lot about marketing by following someone else, and just taking those little snippets.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm forever like scribbling stuff down on my book or screenshotting it, and then every now and again I'll just take a day out of the business and sit down and go through it all and think, right.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_01: I need a bit more of a strategy.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_01: But like for me, LinkedIn at the start was just get posting, start posting consistently.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_01: And I think one of the big takeaways for me was to plan it in advance.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_01: If you're gonna get serious about social media, spend your time planning it in advance.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_01: So my typical planning would be on a Sunday, I'll spend a couple of hours after we've had the Sunday dinner and the kids are all kind of doing whatever they want to do, sit in the office with no emails or phone calls and just write content.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_01: So go through all my screenshots that I've made that week, go through all the emails that I've kind of saved, go through all the articles that I've read that are really interesting, pull stuff out.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the challenges when you first get started is you think you've got to invent all this stuff.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_01: You don't have to invent it at all.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_01: You can just read stuff and be inspired by it and put your turn and twist on it.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_01: That's like there's there's very little original thought in the world.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's all things that I've developed, and it's about seeing that, being inspired by it, changing it, writing it in my terms, or identifying areas that I don't like and kind of rewording that to make it more simple.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_01: But the the the strategy part of it is is really simple.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_01: For me, there are five areas that I talk about, which are going to be pensions, investments, money, protection, personal stuff.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_01: So that I have like five pillars.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_01: And if you talk about look to talk to anybody in marketing, a content market, and they'll talk about having pillars in place.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_01: So there's a there's a there's five word documents that I keep.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_01: Anything that comes up um relating to either of those topics goes in that list.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_01: And then on the Sunday, when I sit down, I'll write it and go through it and rework it.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_01: And ultimately, I people have got a short memory, right?
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_01: So you're kind of the stuff that I did 12 months ago, I can repurpose and do it again.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_01: So it's not like I'm reinventing the wheel every single time I sit down on a Sunday.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'll look back and think, well, that worked really well.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_01: Can I do it slightly differently?
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_01: So rather than a text post, I might do it as a video.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_01: Rather than you do it on LinkedIn, should I do it on Instagram?
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_01: Rather than Instagram, I should do it on Facebook.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_01: And once you've got those wheels turning, it becomes a lot easier to kind of stay on top of it.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_02: I think what you said then, in terms of like actually having a strategy in place and sitting down and thinking on a Sunday, what am I gonna post for the next week?
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's really important to highlight because if you want to reap the rewards of LinkedIn and social media and that marketing side of things, like you obviously have, you've got to take it just as seriously.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_02: And that is having your content plan in and being able to rechain your brain.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_02: So when you listen to something or see something that you think's gonna make a good post, knowing that down.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_02: Because even I'm the victim of like, that would make a great post, and then two days later I'm there like, what did I think was gonna make a great post?
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_02: I can't remember it anymore.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_02: So if you want to see the benefits of it, you you've really got to take that element of it seriously.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_02: One thing that you mentioned then also was video, and I think you know, all platforms definitely have a multimedia approach where you can do text and pictures and also video.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_02: But for yourself personally, why did you think jumping on camera and and speaking was really important, not just posting text posts?
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_01: Money's money's quite an emotive subject, and everybody gets has has got strong feelings about it.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_01: And for me, it was about not necessarily hiding behind the text because that I could that could be anybody, that could have been anybody writing that, but so so prospective clients and existing clients can see me and see what I'm all about.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_01: And and what I've really found was it breaks that ice.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_01: So if I get leads from from LinkedIn, a lot of people say I've been following you for six months, three months, or whatever.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_01: That that ice is already broken, so they're kind of coming to me to say, I need some help.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_01: So it's not a case of me trying to sell myself at all because that's already been done, and that's the power of social media to be able to do that.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_01: You've you've building that relationship and like think of it like a networking event.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_01: And what uh the Yananji I always use is like LinkedIn is an opportunity or any social media channel is an opportunity every single day to network with hundreds of thousands of people.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like you could not go into a coffee shop and stand and talk about what you do and have hundreds of thousands of people potentially listen to you, and and over time you'll find the right people, you'll find the right people, you'll you'll find the kind of people that connect with you that really resonate with your content.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_01: And again, one of the things I've learned from someone in marketing is just to test, test, test, and test.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_01: So find stuff that works, test it.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_01: Find something else that works, test it, improve it, and constantly keep evolving.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_01: And if you can do that, then it's it's always improving, always getting better.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_01: And like some of the feedback I've had is your content is getting so much better.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_01: And like even my even the LinkedIn coach that I use now tells people she coaches to go and have a look at what I do.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_01: She's go and have a look at what he does because he knows his stuff, like learn from him.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_01: And three, five, three, three, maybe five times a week, I get a request.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_01: The coach has just said I should follow you, which is amazing, right?
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_01: Because I'm kind of just implemented what she what she told me, and she's she's incredible at what she does.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_02: That just goes for someone also like yourself that's said how they're like passionate they are about personal development, to be able to be in a position where you wanted to learn a new skill and now you've really mastered that skill, and people are coming to you because they want to learn from you, just also goes to show, you know, building on what we were touching on previously.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_02: If you put your head down and really want to, you know, progress with something personally, you can do that.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I think you know, it all ties into what you said um previously, in terms of like, you know, making sure that what you um present to your clients is simple.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_02: Your tagline is advice without the BS.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_02: So what sort of on LinkedIn?
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_02: So what made you come to that?
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's how I am.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_01: Like I've always been pretty straight talking with clients, and and sometimes like in an employed environment to me, detriment because certainly in banking, you're you're kind of it's almost like a sales process rather than advice process.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_01: So you're expected to have X amount of appointments, you can expect to convert X of those appointments to a fact-find, to a recommendation to setting up investments.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_01: So you're expected to sell in front of everybody.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_01: So it's all sales training, objection handing, all that kind of stuff.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but but for me, it was it was it was more about um understanding clients and really listening.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_01: So again, back to the personal development piece of really listening to what a client is saying, and that's reading body language, that's listening to the the pitch, the tone, and seeing how people interact.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_01: And you've got to do that more because like most of my appointments now are virtually, so like that like the format we're in now, and that's can be a lot harder to read people, but I'm just getting a lot more attuned to picking up subtle signals and being really direct with clients.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_01: Some of the times now I'll I'll challenge them back on stuff.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_01: And if they're wrong, like it's very easy when you're in a sales, oh yeah, yeah, that's right, that's right, that's right.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_01: But now I'll kind of challenge back and say, I don't think that's right, I don't think that's wrong.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but because of how I kind of work and people see how I interact on social media, like I said, a lot of that work's already done.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_01: They like the direct approach, they like the fact that there's no fluff.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_01: For me, there's no jargon in anything that I do, it's about keeping things really simple because you can lose a client very, very quickly.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I've seen it happen time and time again.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_01: Interviews that I've sat in, those first 20 minutes where you go through a brochure about how great the company is in the FCA and all that kind of stuff.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_01: It just switches people off, you know.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_01: And and if you've switched someone off right from the start of that meeting, you've got to really work hard to pull them back into Ghana, get them listening to you and really understanding.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_01: Whereas my approach is is very different to get them really engaged emotionally and psychologically right at the start of the process, so that so they're there throughout that whole meeting.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_02: And that approachability um obviously leads into you having more of a consultative approach rather than a transactional approach, you know, pushing back and things like that.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_02: And that's something else that's very important to you as well, isn't it?
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, massive.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_01: It's huge.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like and and more so because of the emergence of fintech, probably more so with kind of what's happening with the AI world now.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_01: And certainly when I kind of when fintech was starting to come around, everyone's like, oh, it's gonna be virtual advice and nobody's gonna want to deal with people.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_01: And and I disagreed with that because actually some people still want to deal with people, but you might have that two, three generations down the line when everybody's used to that kind of stuff, but it was more about like protecting myself and protecting my business.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I want to be incredibly valuable to the clients that I deal with.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_01: So, first of all, they'll never have a conversation with another FA.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_01: Secondly, they aren't going to use fintech because they really value that relationship, and it just protects my future as well by doing that.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and that's not from a selfish perspective, that's just from thinking I can do a better job than some of this fintech can because of the approach that I take.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_01: And it's if it's really transactional and you're just going through a sales process, you could have a computer do that, and and I didn't want that risk.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_02: And I think one thing of you building up everything that we're speaking about, LinkedIn, you know, everything that you've been doing, putting yourself out there, videos, the posts, is all really important because you're building your brand, which at this moment in time is really important for you because you're going transitioning from this self-employed journey into becoming an AR.
• 37:13
  unknown: Yeah.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_02: So I think lots of people ultimately have you know that ambition to run their own business and be, you know, in charge of everything.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_02: So, how has that journey been for you so far?
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_01: Tough, like really tough.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I came in, I always wanted to be self-employed.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_01: I was made redundant from a from a previous role, probably three to four months before I'd really put some effort into thinking, right, what is this, what does the roadmap look like to go self-employed?
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_01: So I was kind of just chucked in at the deep end and it was sink or swim time.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_01: And those first two, three months were amazing, had like an incredibly successful three months.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but then that kind of tailed off a little bit.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_01: I call I I won't go at the reasons why it's not particularly exciting, but it tailed off a little bit.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_01: So what I found initially, though, was it's the weight of decisions that I had to make was hard.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_01: So you've gone from an employed role where it is literally sit in front of clients, talk to them about financial advice to you need accounts, you need to think about your marketing, you need to think about your sales strategy, you need to think about your health, you need to think about all this other kind of stuff.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_01: You need to think about having your own protection in place because if you're off sick, your business doesn't exist.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_01: So all the things I talked to clients about were also kind of, and it was just a whirlwind of stuff going around my head, and eventually kind of got to a point where I thought, can't do it all at once, I cannot figure all this stuff out.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_01: So, as I say to clients, let's figure out the next step, write all this stuff down.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_01: What's the next step in the accountancy stuff?
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_01: What's the next step in the sales strategy?
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_01: What's the next step in the marketing?
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_01: What's the next step in the business?
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm I'm pretty good at thinking like big picture stuff.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, partner tells me this all the time.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_01: She's like, just sit still and think about what you've got to do next rather than thinking about what you're doing like five years down the line or whatever.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_01: And that's hard because I'm always thinking about that stuff.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_01: But she was so right, and and that's what I needed to do.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_01: I need to think about that.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_01: The the big vision is amazing to have that, but you've got to think about what your next step is, and and sometimes that's all you can think about, and you've got all client work and all the rest going on.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's hard to find the time to do it all.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's hard, yeah.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_02: I think for for lots of people though, that is that ambition, though, isn't it?
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_02: I think, especially when you're a self-employed advisor, um, lots of people can envision themselves, you know, like running their own business and being in charge of all the ins and outs.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_02: And obviously, you've done it sort of supported by a network that I know is being really supportive to you along the way.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_02: But I guess for other individuals that are in a similar position and you know want to take that leap.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, I want to be an AR, I want to create something for myself, you know, before we wrap up, would be your one little nugget of wisdom.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, great one.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, an accountant that I worked with years ago said to me when he was kind of starting out an accountant seat, he said someone spoke to him and said, What kind of accountant do you want to be?
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_01: Like, do you what do you want to be known for?
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_01: And and that really resonated with me.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I started thinking, well, what do I want to be known for?
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_01: So if I've got a business that I'm running, what do I want that business and for me to be known for?
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_01: And if it's a specialist area, if it's fair, interacting with clients a certain way, get really, really clear on that.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_01: Because when you're employed and you're in that environment, you're ultimately banging someone else's drunk, you're filling someone else's pockets.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_01: And and I'll go back to another um kind of analogy is every like big client that I've ever dealt with, every single one of them, apart from maybe one or two, ran their own business, every single one, and and it really resonated with me.
• 40:31
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm thinking, well, if they're running their own businesses and they're being really successful, and I'm not seeing many people at that level in the employed world, then that's where I want to go.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_01: And it's it was just trying to be really clear about that.
• 40:42
  SPEAKER_01: I like I wish I'd had longer to plan the journey into self-employed, because I probably would have done it differ slightly differently, but just plan.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_01: That's what it's all about.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_01: Like, like plan when you want to go self-employed.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_01: What does that look like?
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_01: Figure out who your ideal clients are, how you're going to attract them.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_01: So that I mean that's that's more than one.
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_01: I've given you about five or six things there's something.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_01: I've just waffled on, sorry.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_02: No, I think that's absolutely great.
• 41:04
  SPEAKER_02: I think this has been a really good episode about like knowing your why and pushing yourself forward and just allowing you to reach a potential.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_02: And you're obviously in a position now when you are going to become an AR and you are gonna expand not only into a personal brand on LinkedIn, but a brand in its own right.
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_02: So it's obviously really exciting times for you, and it's been amazing to sort of talk through your journey and what things have really influenced that so other people can learn little hints and tips from you.
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_02: So thank you very much, Ian, for for coming on the podcast this morning.
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_02: It's been a pleasure to speak with you.
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for having me on.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_00: Loved it.