By the title of this blog, you might come to the conclusion that I am a big fan of the John Wick films and you would be 100% correct. In the first film, the character is a retired assassin and through a series of events encounters some people from his previous career and is asked “John, are you back?!?”.
I recently received my first major award, of any kind, in over twenty years at a conference for an organization I joined only 16 months ago. The award was the Member of the Year for the Exit Planning Institute presented annually to a CEPA who contributes significantly to the EPI advisor community as well as the overall exit planning profession. I was honored to be nominated and blown away to win.
21 years ago, in June, will mark the birth of my first and only child, my son Robert. He was born at 24 weeks and weighed 1lb 7oz. As a result of that early birth he had a TBI (Grade IV IVH) and has had multiple disabilities as a result. In short, I ended up selling all the businesses I owned in the next few years because I couldn’t really work effectively. I was betrayed personally and professionally and retreated to a much smaller world.
I kept working as a coach, with some stints for other jobs that I failed at, and that is what kept me in the game. My clients, really, are why I am ‘back’. There trust and belief in me is the rocket fuel for the growth and success I am experiencing right now.
In the fall of 2022, I published my first solo novel (I have been a co-author for a bestseller in the past) that was mine completely: Can I Borrow Your Car? How Financial Advisors Can Grow Their Business and Love Their Life. (available on Amazon if you are so inclined). The process of writing that book, in many ways, shattered the false prison that grief and depression had placed around me and was a really emotionally cathartic experience.
Humbly, it is my best work.
Shortly after publishing that book a great client and fly fishing buddy of mine, Matt Barrette, told me to go get my CEPA (Certified Exit Planning Advisor) designation so he and I could work to help businesses in our area grow value now and transition successfully in the future. Keeping small business alive and growing is a vital component of any community and making sure they transition to the next generation of owner is critical. The certification process changed my life.
As part of the course I got introduced to Scott Snider, President of the Exit Planning Institute, and the course towards winning Member of the Year began. Scott is brilliant, along with his dad Chris Snider, and has developed an amazing team at EPI with a very special culture.
I was offered the opportunity to help develop a class for their Academy and was honored to be a member of that faculty. An opportunity to present at the ‘23 Summit in Phoenix followed and was amazing and very rewarding.
So I have been involved, but the story is deeper. When I was up in Cleveland to shoot the video for the Academy I had the chance to get to know the EPI staff better, in the office and for an incredible dinner afterwards. At the Summit, those relationships were taken to another level.
I think, however, it was what developed after the Summit that earned me the win. (I still can’t believe I won, the other nominees are amazing).
I continually, as a result of my experiences and my referral system, look for ways to authentically and significantly impact strategic relationships. EPI is a perfect fit for me and my work. A large percentage of our mutual clients bases are exactly the same: successful financial advisors. We also share complimentary offerings that can significantly impact those shared clients.
As a result of getting to know the staff (primarily thinking of Johhny Weishar and Josh Koza) and asking how I could help, I was given just that opportunity multiple times. I have had dozens of conversations with other CEPA designees about how to get referrals and best utilize their membership thanks to the trust of the EPI staff. I never charge for this service and it rarely takes more than one session.
I got a lot out of those meetings, personally and professionally. First, I got to get a really good feel about how financial advisors understood what EPI was and what their CEPA designation could do for them. I also was able to get a really concrete fix on where the breakdown from earning their CEPA and then making $$ was happening. This help I was volunteering was actually one of the best research projects I ever commissioned.
In addition to learning and talking about referrals, I was able to expand my network and it was unbelievably cool to meet, face to face, some of those new friends of mine at the conference last week down in Marco Island, FL.
Enough rambling, here is what I would recommend that you take away from my story:
- Join organizations where it is a good fit. My experience with EPI has been so great because their has been zero friction between their values and execution and mine. The staff of any organization is the life blood of it and, unfortunately, often the most overlooked value of membership. Get to know them, all of them and figure out how to (a) show appreciation for their work and (b) how to help them enjoy what they do more.
- Get involved. At a minimum, go to the annual conference and any regional events. EPI has Chapters (20+ and growing) around the country that offer a more frequent and intimate meeting opportunity. I will be founding one of them here in my hometown of Roanoke, VA shortly. Even if all you do in an organization is network with your peers, if you have a plan to grow your business you will be able to ask the right questions and get the right input to do exactly that. Often, the best advice is from another professional doing what you are doing.
- Get strategic. Where is that community going and what are they great at and what are they needing some improvement with? The best ones are not only aware of where they need to improve, they are innovative and collaborative in the process. Don’t criticize, but instead ask questions and offer ideas. You will deepen the relationship by how you show respect and thoughtfulness even if they already are aware of it and are working on it. You just might find a way to contribute some new insight or volunteer to help accelerate the transformation (that is where the gold is!).
- Be the tortoise instead of the hare. Take your time (even if it goes really fast like it did ofr me with EPI), focus on giving on purpose and (if possible) at scale in a way that helps you as well. Remember, the real significant financial opportunities are always later on and you will only get access to them if you don’t shift into predator mode early on.
I got asked frequently, after getting the award, what I did to earn it. I honestly replied that I didn’t expect to win, but that my ‘secret’ was just trying to help the staff and other CEPA’s as much as I possibly could. It wasn’t hard because there wasn’t any friction between what our values were and what both companies were committed to doing for our joint client bases.
In many ways, I was ‘back’ before the award (the nomination made me cry in thankfulness alone). What is most exciting for me is the opportunity to try and do more for EPI and my fellow CEPA’s in the years to come as we all share a joint mission, of extreme importance, of helping business owners drive value now and transition successfully.
What are your thoughts and stories about how you have been successful in your organization of choice? What did I miss or what would you add?
All the best,
Mike
