Episode Transcription 

This is the Ultimate Advisor Podcast, the podcast for financial advisors who want to create a thriving, successful, and scalable practice. Each week we’ll uncover the ways that you can improve your referrals your team, your marketing, and your business operations, helping you to level up your advising practice, bring in more assets and create the advising practice that you’ve dreamed up, you’ll be joined by your hosts Bryan Sweet, who is moving fast towards a billion dollars in assets under management, Brittany Anderson, the driving force for advisors looking to hire improve their operations and company culture, and Draye Redfern who can help you systematize and automate your practices marketing to effortlessly attract new clients. So what do you say? Let’s jump into another amazing episode of the Ultimate Advisor Podcast. 

Welcome back to your ultimate advisor podcast. This is Brittany Anderson and I have with me today Draye, Redfern and Brian sweet. And we are going to talk on a topic that gets all of us excited. So hold on to your seat, make sure your hats are on tight, and just be ready for this one. So we have spent the last few weeks talking about overcoming fear, talking about leaning into failure, talking about keeping your focus and avoiding the things that are going to throw you or have the potential to throw you off track. You know, for myself, I shared this mantra and I’m going to share it again, I live by the adage that I want to be the kind of woman that when my feet hit the floor in the morning, the devil says, Oh crap, she’s up. Right. So whether that applies to you or not, the thing that I want you to think about when I say that is what is that thing that you feel and you know, in your heart of hearts, that you were put on this planet to do that you were put on this planet to serve and to lean into. So when you’re able to and you think about how you can focus how you can avoid the whirlwind or the noise. When you begin to block out that whirlwind when you begin to block out that noise. When you work through the process of having fear work for you. When you decide that failure doesn’t exist, only learning occurs in those instances. This is what frees you to work on the core part of your business that pulls on your heartstrings and drives you to get out of bed every morning. So it’s all really led up to this point. And I can tell you that the journey is not an easy one. But it’s really pretty stinking simple. You know, this isn’t rocket science, none of the stuff that we’re talking about are new brand new concepts. These are all things that you’ve likely heard at some point in your journey. But where people fall short, is in tying it all together, and making it work for you to help you uncover where you add the most value. So what are you dedicated to? What are you exceptional at? You know, a lot of times we have conversations with advisors in our community. And the topics that come up are, you know, oh, well, I want to delegate but I just I don’t know if I can or if I’m ready for that. Or, you know, I do this really well. I don’t like doing it. But I know I’m great at it. So I just don’t think it’s time to get off my plate. And every single time we say the same thing. Is this what you feel you were put on this planet to do? I have yet to have any person not just advisors but any human being be like, You know what I was put on this planet for to get signatures on documents. That’s what it is. No, buddy, no adviser, no high achieving advisor has ever come to me and said that yet there are still advisors out there who are allowing those tasks and those activities into their day. So how can you focus your attention? How can you decide what it is that you need to delegate so that you can truly pursue what you were put on this planet to do? So Brian, I think you are a great testament to this. And I would love for you to share kind of your journey on how our processes suite financial how the dream architect came into play, and how really what it boils down to is you leaning into what truly sets your soul on fire?

Thank you, Brittany. I wasn’t sure to begin with if we’d have any time to actually to speak because of anybody I know. You could probably speak on pursuing. You know what sets your soul on fire for you. Not six, seven days, something like that. So Draye. And I really appreciate your letting us chime in a little bit here. All kidding aside, though, no, it’s, it’s been an amazing journey and on the dream architect, and it’s been one where I think Britney and I are now is clear as we’ve ever been on what we’re trying to accomplish. And, and we really want it to be not just a movement that’s available, you know, amongst our clients, but we actually want this to be a global movement going forward. And one of the things that we have always tried to help clients overcome is thinking bigger, and clients accepting just the status quo. That’s what I can expect in life. And that’s what I deserve. And at the same time, helping them create the life they can’t wait to wake up to. And so when we run across situations, and this is really the foundation of the dream architect, two components come into play, people not thinking they can have a better life, and or financial constraints affecting them not being able to live the life that they’d like. And so it’s the intersection of helping people have the right mindset and attitude, and then helping them financially create the methodologies that accomplish that bigger life that the dream architect was created. And it is truly something that Brittany and I get amazingly excited about when we can help others pursue their biggest dreams, and how fulfilling them for our clients, makes us feel and makes them feel. And in literally, every time we hear something successful like that happen, I literally get chills, we just had a couple of clients just yesterday, literally getting emotional, having completed the dream architect process, and living their life that they would have never guessed possible. And so it’s just a unbelievable feeling when that happens. And it’s also amazing when you get very clear on what your mission is, or what your passion or what sets your soul on fire. As we alluded to, in the last podcast, we had this decision that we was or opportunity that was brought to our attention. And when we sat down and thought about it, it really wasn’t heading us to our quote unquote, North Star. And so that was very easy to turn it down, if you will, or say that’s not where our time should be spent. Because it’s not helping us build this global movement within the dream architect. But I think one of the things that you also need to to understand is, you have to understand what is it that really makes you passionate about what you do, but then you probably need to make some changes, or adjustments, or some take some steps for it to occur. Because here’s a saying that I think is so appropriate. If you don’t do that, and it goes like this, if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten. So think about that. If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten. So if you don’t like where you’re at today, obviously making some adjustments and changes is very, very helpful. And I can take those steps and changes and also look at how fear and failure work to your advantages and opening doors that I never knew existed. And a quick example was when we put on our E ys, which is another event elite Wealth Advisors symposium, Britney and Draye were cordial enough to speak at that event. And after we had them speak with so many people come up to us and say, Well, how do I get what Draye talked about? And how do I get all those culture things in my company that Britney talked about? So Britney Draye and I got together and said, well, we should create a company that helps people accomplish all those things. Ie all limit advisor coaching. So if you’re really clear on what you set your soul on fire, those kinds of decisions can be made very, very quickly. Did we know the steps that we needed to take? Did we know exactly what to do? Absolutely not. But has it been a fun journey? Absolutely have we helped a lot of people? Amazing, it’s so fun to get those comments and hear the success stories that we have. So you know, truly, that’s one of the things that if you understand that this is the subject, or this is the topic that really, I love. And at the end of the day, if I did this 24 hours a day, I’d have as much energy at the end of the day, as I did at the beginning. That’s probably one good indicator. So, Dre at this point, I know you have a lot of big goals and targets for your Northstar, maybe share with us a little bit about, you know, what’s the driver for you on all of those?

Yeah, I’d be happy to I think some of these things, at least for me, it’s not necessarily like I’ll share my exact numbers and the numbers that I’ll share, don’t necessarily, it’s not about me, it’s about a scorecard, and how that scorecard can impact as many lives as possible. And so for me, this year, we are going to build an entire school, with classrooms and running water, and all of these things in an underdeveloped country massive deal that could change the course of hundreds, if not 1000s of children’s lives really excited to do that this year. Also, my my North Star in order to, to get me to this bigger goal is that within the next three to five years, I want us to be doing $20 million a year in gross revenue. So we’re, you know, we’re on track to be a company that can do those things in the next, you know, three to five years. And those things are, you know, becoming a reality that feeds into the primary Northstar for us, which is I want to have a net worth of $250 million, not because I want the private jets or the SIR any of those sorts of things. But those are nice, of course, but that’s not the primary objective is that the main crux of it all is I want to directly impact 1 million people’s lives. And that really comes down to you know, $250, a person on average to weather you know, whether that’s schooling or education, or water, or whatever it is, for some of these underdeveloped countries having a massive impact on the world.

And you know, unfortunately, more times than not, that requires money. And so for me, business, and the numbers and metrics are just a scorecard in order for help helping me to directly impact 1 million people’s lives over the course of my life. So that’s my Northstar. And I think that helps to use it as a filter, at least for me of Will this make a difference? Will that help us get to the bigger goals? Most of the time, it’s no, but many times it’s yes. But using that as the North Star, because that that sets my my world on fire, I’ve been so privileged, with the people that I’ve been around who have helped me, you know, being around people who are decades older than I am for a very young age, and learning and just digesting. And I think that there’s, you know, not I’d like to sort of pass that down in some form or fashion, and radically change the way that the world works and looks and operates. And I think that for me, having a grandiose Northstar like that makes it all happen. So whether it’s a million people, whether it’s 100,000 people, whether it’s 50 people, I was definitely it’ll definitely be one of the 50. But having a giant impact is important. I think that whether we hit the goal or not, it’s still going to make some radically transformed the way that people operate. So that’s the driving factor for us, Brittany.

Hey, Brittany here, stopping and pausing for a moment to talk about something that we’ve had so many of you inquire about and that is our ultimate advisor, mastermind. Now, I’m going to start by saying if you are not a growth minded individual, if you are not somebody who’s focused on taking your business to the next level, if you’re not focused on engaging your team, and helping them to help you in turn, level up the business, the service model, how you provide that wow experience to clients. If those things are not your focus, just fast forward right now, because the ultimate advisor mastermind would not then be for you. However, if you are looking to take your business to the next level, if you want to experience exponential growth and feel supported along the way, if you want to start working smarter and not harder, if you want to help your team members to work within the God given talents that they were putting vided and use those skill sets in a way they haven’t yet to help support you in your business to help them realize their biggest goals, their biggest dreams. If you want creative approaches to marketing, I know that can be an intimidating word. But we’re not talking here about the fancy Facebook stuff, or, you know, the latest and greatest, but rather looking at how you can market what you do, how you can express how you’re different, and how you can truly differentiate yourselves in a crowded market space. If those are problems you’re looking to solve, then you absolutely want to go check out ultimate advisor mastermind.com, to learn more about how we can help you on your path and journey to growth.

You know, you, you both made me think of so much and your shares. So, you know, I think that really did kind of put a big hug around what you guys were talking about, it really goes back to intentionality, I think. And it’s being intentional with what you do and what you focus on. And what you want most. It’s like Draye, you have these really, really big goals and targets for your future. And I believe wholeheartedly that you’ll get there just because you’re committed. And whether it’s in the timeframe that you’ve committed to or not, that doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’ve set that timeframe for yourself that you’ve set your intentions, and that you’re pursuing all that matters. So you know, really, if you think about it, like think back, let’s just let’s just use a smaller timeframe. Think back to what you were doing six months ago, what you decided six months ago, has absolutely contributed to where you are today. All right. So those decisions, for your business, for your health, for your relationships, for your family, for your teams, every decision you made six months ago, is what’s driven you to this point today. And the point of that is that whatever you decide today, is actually what’s gonna contribute to where you are six months from now. So again, if you’re focusing on things that don’t really matter, guess what, in six months, you’re going to be in a place that doesn’t really matter to you. So there’s, there’s this whole process, and there’s a million different ways you can go about this. But basically the whole methodology, you can apply this to yourself, you can apply this to your clients. But basically, it’s not ever accepting what somebody says on the surface. Okay, so if I were to do this exercise with Dre, I would bet I know where it ends up. You know, it’s where you really peel back the layers, and you get to the core of why something is important to them. So like for Dre, you know, him impacting a million people and him having these targets for his business. That’s all not for nothing, right? That wasn’t just something that Dre woke up one morning and was like, you know, what I want to do, I want to build a school, that sounds like a great idea. There’s an underlying foundation as to why that is a driver for him and why that’s important. So we’ve actually had sweet financial, we have been trained on this whole methodology of going deeper with clients of actually asking them, you know, if somebody gives an answer for what they want for their future, not just being like, great, you want a red car? That sounds wonderful. Let’s put that into your plan. That’s so boring. That’s a surface level answer, you know, you start going into Okay, well, this this red Corvette that you want, why is that important to you? And the person says, Well, you know, I’ve always wanted one, well, why have you always wanted one where that come from? And basically, after going through those multiple layers of why you get to the core that they’re like, well, actually, you know, my grandpa had that as his goal his whole life as he wanted a hot red Corvette, and grandpa died last year, and he’s never going to have that. And it’s been something that I thought would always be something we would do together. So that’s actually why I want it. That changes the conversation a little bit. And all of a sudden, you’re bonded on a level that is so much deeper. So I think about my own personal story. It’s funny as Draye You were talking, I was thinking about at Sweet, we hired a copywriting team. And the whole goal for them was to help us craft email copy, to be able to add value to clients add value to prospects. And they went through a discovery process first. And I was like, wow, this is really cool. They’ve got a defined process. I like to find processes. We’re all process driven suite financial, we’re process driven at ultimate advisor. This is your speaking our language. So they’re going through and they’re like, Okay, well, you know, what is it that you want to accomplish? And it boils down to what Brian talked about, with communicating how we can help clients with the dream architect, and they’re like, Okay, Brittany, well, for us to really get to the core of this. Why is that important to you personally? And I give some answer about us that the company and how we’re all share this vision, and it’s all exciting to us, and they’re like, no, no, no. Why is it important to you? And I was like, Well, I really want people to actually take action from these email sequences. And they’re like, Okay, well, why is it important that that you know that people take action? Why does that matter to you? And I was like, Well, I think it’s because people don’t always realize all that’s possible for their future. They’re like, Huh, that’s good. So why does it matter that that people don’t see those possibilities? And I said, well, because life has so much to offer. There’s so much out there, like, why wouldn’t you want that? And they’re like, Oh, good. So why does that matter to you? And I was like, ah, you know, really, because I hate to see people not live into their highest potential, their highest capabilities. And they’re like, Oh, now we’re getting closer. Like, alright, so so. So why does that bother you if you don’t like seeing people live into those highest capabilities? I was like, Well, I guess I can say I’ve personally witnessed it firsthand. They’re like, Ah, so So why does that trigger you? Why is that something that that you even think about? And I said, Well, honestly, because I never personally want what someone perceives as their circumstances to affect them pursuing what sets their soul on fire. And I went into the story about how I personally grew up with a hard working single mom, she was completely dedicated to her kids, she was completely dedicated to her work. But that same woman, I witnessed her cry over her checkbook, because she literally did not know in some months, how she would make ends meet. And looking back at being a kid, and going through that, I never wanted that. I never wanted someone else’s decisions to affect my future. And that has absolutely 100% attributed to me personally, chasing with everything in me what I believe I’m put on this earth to do. So as you can see, this started with copywriting. And by going deep on those layers, you get to the core of what drives people. So you know, Brian and Dre tease me a little bit about this topic. But seriously, think about it. Why did you get into this business in the first place? Why are you serving clients? It’s not because you’re just a helpful person, I bet you’re helpful. And I bet you’re great. And you’re wonderful. And all of those things that I would love to tell you, as a mom, that you’re wonderful, you can do this. But I would bet that there is some underlying reason something that has happened in your life that happened for you, that served you to this point that made you decide that you’re here to make an impact, and you’re helping people realize what’s possible for their future through wealth planning, I would put money on the table right now that that is true. So what I would want you to do or encourage you to do, and this isn’t even one of the top takeaways yet is to get to the core of why you are on this planet, and what you’re put on this earth to do. It might be some, you know, something in the essence of building a school, it might be in impacting your clients, it might be in some other charitable endeavor, it might be in some other form of give back. But if you don’t know the driving force behind that, it’s really easy to get off track. So, Dre, Brian, before I go on to these top takeaways, and round us out anything else you want to add? Brittany, you
made me think of this one thing. And that when you actually do get to the why behind, you know what, why you’re in this business, make sure you’re telling your clients, it should be part of your story. People want to hear that they want to know you’re a real person, and you really care. And you You will be amazed the impact it will have making you much more believable, trustworthy, attractive, financial adviser.

That is so true. And you know, I think Brian brings up a great point there that you know, something we do at Sweet is we encourage our advisors, not just our advisors, but our entire team to share their stories. Because you know, the story of Brian matters, you know, my story matters. But everybody’s story matters. And when you drill into it, I think part of what helps with retention, whether that’s clients or team members alike, it’s because you’re helping people uncovering that why. So again, you want to look at making an impact. You want to look at how you can serve your clients, your team, and reach those crazy awesome numbers that Draye was talking about. Well, it’s by helping people get to their why, and it’s by helping them lean into that and realize their fullest potential. So, I’m going to wrap up with three top takeaways. The first one is a quote you’ve heard us share before, but this is a little different spin I want you to actually write out so take out a piece of paper and I want you to write this don’t type it if you’re one that likes to type and take notes when you listen to things. I want you to physically write this because there’s a ecology behind the act of writing on paper. This is a quote by American businessman Keith Cunningham.

And it’s hell on earth would be meeting the man or woman that you are meant to be. Think about that you get to the end of time, and you meet the person that you were supposed to be. And you look at that and go, Oh, my goodness, you want that to be the person that you are. So write that quote down, stick it to your computer monitor, frame it, whatever it is that you got to do, but I want you to lean into that quote, because that is the foundation of why you should pursue what sets your soul on fire. The second component is Brian, use this term, but defining your true north, that’s your biggest driver. You know, for us at Sweet financial to put context behind this. It’s the dream architect. And it’s being able to help people with both money and mindset, and being able to help them realize all that’s possible for their future. That’s exciting. And that’s something that helps us get out of bed every morning and be excited to come to work. Because that’s not work. That’s helping people lean into all that’s possible. And then finally, because you knew I wasn’t gonna drop this, you got to get to the core of your why to do the work. There are amazing people amazing storytellers out there that can help and ask you questions. You know, we actually use a gentleman named Patrick combs he helped with crafting and writing and bringing life to Brian’s personal story. You know, there’s other resources out there that you can utilize that seriously sit down and start writing notes about why you got into this business. What are things that have happened in your life that you know, in, keep you motivated towards serving your clients that keep you excited about the future, it’s so important because it helps shape all of your decisions. So that wraps up today’s episode of The Ultimate advisor podcast. We’ll catch you back here next week.

Hey there, Brittany Anderson here. If you are loving what you’re hearing on our Ultimate Advisor Podcast, don’t keep us a secret. Share us with other advisors that you think would benefit from the messages that you are hearing. The easiest way to do that is to simply send them to ultimateadvisorpodcast.com. And if you want to learn a few other ways that we could potentially serve you as an advisor, go check out ultimateadvisormastermind.com. As always, we are so happy to have you here with us as part of the Ultimate Advisor community and we look forward to a continued relationship!