A lot of advisors struggle with sales. Some fear being too aggressive Others are worried they'll become too busy. But is this stemming from a deeper fear of success?

On today's episode, we are joined by the founder of Sales Pro Insider, author, and speaker, Nancy Bleeke. Originally starting her journey in financial services, she has transitioned into training advisors and their staff at sales. A lot of advisors don't consider themselves as natural salespeople and Nancy is helping them become more skilled and confident throughout the industry.

Nancy sees balance as a personal decision that we have to consciously make. Balance to one person is going to look different to another. You can't achieve balance until you define what balance looks like inside of your own life.

If you enjoy your job, as many advisors do, it can be difficult to intentionally build those boundaries. Nancy has seen advisors struggle with balancing the roles and responsibilities of their business, something that flows into their personal lives as well.

Advisors are in this industry to help people. But in order to help clients, you have to convince them to make the confident decision to invest in your services. Sales is an essential part of the financial industry. With Nancy, we discuss why advisors struggle with sales and how it's impacting their journey to find balance.

Join us today as we further discuss:

• Her struggles with balance and how she had to reset her life
• How advisors struggle with balance inside of their business
• Why do some advisors struggle with sales and success?
• How Nancy is helping advisors confidently convert sales in their business?

TIMESTAMPS

1:18 – How did she end up in this industry?

3:42 – What is Nancy's definition of balance?

6:11 – Her own struggles with balance

9:13 – What issues do advisors face?

12:16 – The start and stop in business

16:35 – Are advisors reluctant?

20:40 – Being afraid of success

24:18 – How does her process work?

28:54 – Your mindset and approach

34:08 – Learning to listen

37:27 – Helping others and setting boundaries

RESOURCES

More About Nancy: https://www.salesproinsider.com/

Website: https://www.travisparry.com/

Email: travis@travisparry.com

Get Travis' newest book!

Watch our Youtube episode!

Prioritization and balance are key to becoming a successful financial advisor. Whether you have just started your career or you have been in the field for decades, financial advisors are notoriously busy and stressed-out individuals. A big reason we started this podcast was to help those in this situation. Today, we have invited Michael Kitces to the show to speak on his experience with business growth, work-life balance, employee hiring, and more.

Michael is a financial advisor, speaker, writer, and entrepreneur. His passion to help clients and advisors has grown into multiple business ventures including the very successful Nerd's Eye View blog. Although he kind of stumbled into financial planning, a few years in he realized it was something he was deeply passionate about. In 2008 he started to explore projects outside of just financial advising.

He now has a business empire. With such success, Michael has faced a lot of frustrations and challenges when. However, having a financial foundation helped him and his family separate business stress and financial stress. Having a plan before you start a new business or try a new venture is of utmost importance.

Michael also goes into building boundaries. With more of us working from home these days, it is important we highlight boundaries between work time and family time, and that we keep those commitments.

Feeling growing pains when it comes to hiring and training? The hiring curve can really detract from a healthy work-life balance if you are not proactive. Think about hiring employees before you actually need them. Remember, if you don't hire early on everything comes back to you at the end of the day as the business owner. Without an adequate team and support system, building those work-life boundaries can often seem impossible.

Lastly, Michael touches on the importance of prioritization. You only have a set amount of time in a day, a month, a year. How will you manage who and what gets priority of that time? This is something important to teach your new employees as well. Michael suggests the rock, pebble, and sand metaphor to truly help you think about time. What are your most important dedications? Your urgent tasks? Instead of saying "I don't have time" say "It is not a priority" your views on what is important in life will change quickly.

Michael knows what it is like to work overtime, miss family, and struggle with balance. He wants to help other advisors learn from his experiences and know they are not alone. Listen to the full podcast to learn more about Michael, his business growth, and how he makes time for it all.

TIMESTAMPS

0:48 – Welcome Michael Kitces

5:26 – What Michael does now

14:30 – A foundation for the future

24:11 – Managing work-life balance

31:30 – Challenges with business growth

35:57 – Hire and train as soon as you can

39:04 – How many employees does Michael have?

41:48 – Issues with training

47:40 – Envisioning a jar of time

52:15 - Team communication & productivity

54:27 – Final piece of advice for advisors

RESOURCES

Read more about Michael

Make Time Institute Website

Email: travis@travisparry.com

Get Travis' newest book!

On today's episode, Katiya Xiong, a business coach, and entrepreneur joins us to break down her passion for helping advisors. She believes in connecting with people on the human level with a high-tech approach. While she got into financial services by accident, she found that advisors need strategic solutions to meet the needs of their clients.

To find balance, Katiya truly believes in finding what you love and aligning your life with that mission - whether it's at work or at home. Balance for her is about staying in tune with her vision. Achieving balance is about aligning her priorities with her mission in and outside of business.

A big problem that many of us face is hiring help. From hiring the right people to being able to delegate properly we have all faced this hurdle at some point. Advisors need to have a clear vision of "who they want to be" and build from there. Having that vision helps team identity, marketing content, your company's mission, and your overall journey to find balance.

We'll further breakdown:

• The value of parents and balancing family
• How Katiya works with and listens to advisors
• Why advisors struggle with hiring help and finding their vision
• How Katiya is helping advisors find balance through her own work

TIMESTAMPS

1:05 – Why financial services?

4:48 – What is your definition of balance?

8:37 – The biggest struggles as a working mom

11:59 – Top issues other advisors struggle with

19:33 – Why do you think advisors struggle with hiring?

29:15 – How are you helping advisors?

33:39 – Do you broker disability?

35:49 – How to get a hold of Katiya

RESOURCES:

More About Katiya:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiyaxiong/

https://www.katiyaxiong.com/

Website: https://www.travisparry.com/

Email: travis@travisparry.com

Get Travis' newest book!

On today's episode, the founder and president of Capital City Wealth Management, podcast host, and father of six, Benjamin Brandt joins. His interest in finances started early with his grandfather. When his grandfather passed away, he saw the struggles his grandmother faced when it came to finances and wanted to help people in similar situations.

Balance for Benjamin means having abundance when it comes to the things that are important to him. He wants to be at home in abundance and grow his business in abundance. It is possible to be intentional on how much time we spend at home and at work.

Being conscious of your family and your spouse's needs and goals is essential when building a business. You don't want to be paddling against one another. A big part of balance and building a business involves collaboration with your spouse.

Join us today as we discuss:

• Re-investment in balance and in life
• Accountability with families and spouses
• Understanding value expansion

TIMESTAMPS

0:53 – How did you get into the industry?

2:59 – What's your definition of balance?

5:11 – How did you work through this process?

7:33 – How much is your family involved?

9:44 – What do you see in the industry?

14:00 – Why do advisors kick against this idea?

16:31 – What have you discovered since starting the podcast?

17:44 – Matching the skill set with listeners

19:03 – Do you have to convince people?

19:58 – Why do some advisors not podcast?

21:05 – Zoom allowing business growth

22:10 – How are you helping advisors?

25:04 – Where can you learn more?

RESOURCES:

More About Benjamin:

https://retirementstartstoday.com/

Website: https://www.travisparry.com/

Email: travis@travisparry.com

Get Travis' newest book!

On today's episode, Jeff Maas, the co-founder, and CEO of Retirement Security Centers joins us to discuss having a growth mindset and thriving off of challenges. Having an entrepreneur's soul from a young age, Jeff has gone from intern to CEO over the last 18 years.

Choosing to allocate where his time and energy goes is a big part of finding work-life balance for Jeff. Being purposeful today means you won't look back with regret later in life. As you enter a leadership role in your business it can be difficult to turn off the business mindset. But this is a skill we all need to practice.

To avoid the workaholic trap, Jeff sets up his calendar in a focused manner. Often keeping Mondays and Fridays as buffer days. On a quarterly basis, he's intentional about setting up his calendar to focus his time. Join us today as we explore these topics and more on delegation, scaling, and balance.

Join us today as we discuss

• How Jeff practices turning off the business mindset
• Setting up your calendar in 1/3 increments
• The struggles advisors face scaling and growing their business

TIMESTAMPS

0:58 – Welcome Jeff Maas

2:48 – What is his definition of balance?

5:17 – Work-life balance throughout his career

8:12 – How can you "turn it off"?

11:17 - What personal systems does Jeff have?

14:51 – Challenges with boundaries

19:22 – What struggles do advisors face?

22:16 – How should you delegate?

26:44 – How can you reach out to Jeff?

RESOURCES

More about Jeff:

https://www.retirementsecuritycenters.com/

Website: https://www.travisparry.com/

Email: travis@travisparry.com

Get Travis' newest book!

He sees balance as finding the middle ground in life. Balance can translate to so many different parts of your life, extremes aren't maintainable. As an advisor, you have to wear many different hats to be successful. Marketing to find leads, serving your clients, leading a team, all of these roles require different skill sets. You can be pulled in many different directions, finding yourself overwhelmed and out of balance.

Many of us struggle with the ability to "turn off" work. Especially in today's world as we are continually connected via technology. Finding a way to unplug and be present is important for our health and success.

AdaptFirst customizes investment solutions for your practice with various CIO services. On today's show, we'll explore how Advisor Cooperative provides advisors a platform to grow their business through cooperative idea generation, encouraging flexibility and balance.

Join us today as we further discuss:

• Why it's difficult to connect with people and clients in today's world
• Building and scaling your business as a new advisor
• Organizing and prioritizing your time for health and happiness
• How Advisor Cooperative is helping advisors achieve balance

TIMESTAMPS

1:10 – Why his hobbies are important

2:23 – Charles' definition of balance

4:40 – Issues advisors face in the industry

7:09 – What contributes to these issues

10:41 – Charles' personal struggles

16:30 – Advisor Cooperative and CIO Services

23:43 – How to connect with Charles

RESOURCES

Learn more: https://www.adaptfirst.com/

Website: https://www.travisparry.com/

Email: travis@travisparry.com

Get Travis' newest book!

Sol Rosenbaum, PE, CEM, has over 20 years of experience in the energy engineering space. As the owner and managing engineer of SR Engineering and Consulting, he leads a dynamic team that provides engineering support in the commercial real estate financing arena while focusing on green loan programs and property assessments. Outside of this, Sol founded The Engineering Mentor, a community dedicated to guiding aspiring engineers toward successful careers.

We'll spend some time learning more about Sol's career journey and the important role that networking, and relationship-building have played in his business growth. Then, we'll dive into the challenges he faced while scaling his busi-ness and the mindset shifts he's embraced to prioritize sustainable growth.

Here's some of what we discuss in this episode:

1:24 – Sol's journey in the energy engineering and consulting space + offering services that have set his business apart

5:39 – The value of networking for long-term connections rather than transactional interactions

10:43 – Some of Sol's struggles with balance in the early years of his career + learning to say "no" to prevent burnout

16:25 – Connecting with your loved ones even during busy and stressful times in business

20:33 – The importance of strategic niche development + clear branding when scaling your business

25:05 – The work Sol is doing as an engineering mentor

Learn more about Sol:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/sr-engineering-consulting-llc/

The Engineering Mentor:

https://www.theengineeringmentor.com/

RESOURCES

Learn more about :

Email: travis@travisparry.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC46ekvB-U-CJDdsd7aqJMuA

Get Travis' newest book!

Nina Nesdoly is a speaker, researcher, and consultant specializing in work stress and burnout prevention. With a background in neuroscience and management, she offers insightful workshops and training on building better work-life balance. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. with a focus on work-related stress and has been featured on impressive platforms like TEDx, where her talk on relieving stress was selected as an editor's pick.

Join us as we dive into some fascinating research on work-related stress and discuss the importance of prioritizing your well-being to find greater joy, meaning, and success in life.

Here's some of what we discuss in this episode:

1:32 – Nina's background in neuroscience and management + her personal experience with overextension and burnout

5:45 – The power of prioritizing your well-being + the prevailing hustle culture that prioritizes overworking and productivity

11:07 – The struggle of leaders, particularly middle management, when it comes to work-life balance+ the impact that a leader's behavior has on their employees

18:39 – Modeling and encouraging healthy behaviors as a leader + the power of forced vacation days and a 4 day work week

Learn more bout Nina:

https://workplaceclarity.com/

Nina's TEDx Talk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G1zyFoAaMc

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/ninanesdoly/

Tik Tok

https://www.tiktok.com/@workplaceclarity

LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nina-nesdoly/?originalSubdomain=ca

RESOURCES

Learn more about :

Email: travis@travisparry.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC46ekvB-U-CJDdsd7aqJMuA

Get Travis' newest book!