Intro Hook
Unknown: One of the things I used to say was my business. And he occasionally would jab at me just to try to get me to think different. He would say, “What do you mean when you say your business?” I said, “Well, you know, my business.” He says, “But you’re an employee.” And I said, “But it’s, you know, it’s my business.” He goes, “Well, don’t you mean their business?”
Unknown: He he really wanted me to think. There’s plenty of great employee models out there to potentially consider. But I tell them, listen, no matter where you go, make sure that this move is the only one that you’re competing for your clients.
Unknown: I slid the keyboard away from me and I kind of just pushed back in my chair and leaned towards her and I said, “Why are you opening this account with me right now?” And she said, “Oh, it’s easy. We trust you.”
Unknown: And that was the moment I there was no going back from that moment in time. It was just I couldn’t un I couldn’t unhear that.
Unknown: There’s no more exhausting place to be than in between stay and go for multiple years. You know, kicking tires a little bit like working at two places at once. one that you’re at right now and employed and then what could be on the other side. I’ve done it myself in another role. It’s the most exhausting place you can possibly be.
Unknown: I don’t really know what to say except it’s been kind of a rocket ship and and we’ve just been holding on with both hands and enjoying the ride.
Podcast Opening + Introductions
Corey: Hey everyone, thank you so much for joining the podcast today. Today we have Ali Rustin Passage from Tucson, Arizona. uh currently with Raymond James who was previously at Edward Jones for for almost 12 years.
Corey: Uh the reason I brought Ali on the podcast today on top of just being a great personal guy, he just has a great growth story about after leaving his previous firm. I I get the question all the time from financial adviserss leaving an employee firm. Corey, I have all this support. I have this community I could bounce ideas off of. I have all of this structure. How am I going to grow in a different environment?
Corey: And I think Ali just has a great growth story after being independent for over two years now that I thought would be really beneficial for any employee financial adviser considering going independent. Ollie, thank you so much for for hopping on today. I appreciate it, man.
Ali: It’s my pleasure, Corey. Thanks for uh having me on the the podcast.
Corey: Yeah, absolutely. if if you don’t mind before we get started, can you just tell um the audience a little bit about, you know, how you got started in the career and and your and your time at Edward Jones?
Background + Time at Edward Jones
Ali: Yeah. So, you know, I um I was recruited like many adviserss to um Edward Jones. A friend of mine worked for Edward Jones and he knew I had an interest in the business.
Ali: I had been talking to a team at Merrill um back right around the financial crisis and they kind of had slowed down or stopped hiring right in the 0809 kind of time frame and Edward Jones was hiring and so after kind of jumping through some hoops I was introduced to Edward Jones and had an opportunity and you know that was actually just I think I was a week shy of 13 years when when we ended up leaving.
Corey: Wow.
Ali: Yeah, it was it was a long time. It was a nice It was a good run. We had a good run.
What Ali Loved About Edward Jones
Corey: Throughout your time at at at at Edward Jones, what were some of the things that you that you really really loved about the company?
Ali: There was a lot that I loved about being at Edward Jones. You know, one of the things I think I hear a consistent theme about was the culture, but for me, the culture was really the people. I had a lot of friends there. I built some really great relationships.
Ali: I I I really felt like the firm did a good job of displaying client first behavior and I did appreciate that and I really enjoyed the planning piece. I always saw myself as somebody that wanted to help people plan, you know, think strategically and think through problems rather than just maybe a product. And for a while I felt like that was a really good alignment at Jones.
What Changed + Leadership Friction
Corey: So o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o over o over time being at Edward Jones for almost 13 years, what were some of the what were some of the things that you kind of ran up against that maybe necessarily didn’t like fit into the Edward Jones box where you opened your eyes to, you know, potentially see what else was out there.
Ali: Yeah. So I think that my journey through my time at Edward Jones, you know, was I I remember I remember thinking distinctly and I I mean I heard this a lot at you know different functions we would do together as a firm where people would say I one of my only regrets was not coming to Edward Jones sooner, right?
Ali: I heard that a lot and it it’s because in many ways it was so lifechanging for me, right? I mean, starting in the business, having that feeling like I owned my own business, having some freedom and in in ability to kind of help clients and and really be able to, you know, obviously put the clients first, but but plan for them, help them help them work through big problems and big big challenges in their lives.
Ali: And so I I I saw Edward Jones had a lot of opportunity for me and I and I felt that.
Ali: I think also being in leadership was a pro and a con for me. I I liked it and I enjoyed the leadership piece. And at the same time, there was a point where I I kind of realized that being in leadership and kind of making it into the because I’d served in a lot of different roles. I was at an area level. I’ I’d served in many roles in the region. I I kind of just started bumping into parts of Edward Jones that I didn’t like. and and that’s when I think from like an internal perspective on leadership I started looking around and also sort of separate from that I had some pressure.
The Uncle “Your Business” Wake-Up
Ali: So my my uncle, he’s one of my best friends. He’s he’s a mentor to me. We talk like every day. And you know, he’s he’s an engineer and a like a very successful entrepreneur.
Ali: And he I would say things, you know, things that I’d kind of heard around the firm. And one of the things I used to say was my business. And he occasionally would jab at me just to try to get me to think different. He would say, “What do you mean when you say your business?” I said, “Well, you know, my business He says, ‘But you’re an employee.’ And I said, ‘But it’s, you know, it’s my business. He goes, ‘Well, don’t you mean their business.’”
Ali: And he wasn’t trying to be mean, although I think sometimes he is. He he um really wanted me to think and and to start thinking kind of just thinking more for myself about there’s nothing wrong with being an employee. There’s nothing wrong with being at Edward Jones. It was in many ways was very good and very good for me.
Ali: But there came a point where I started to feel I don’t know what the word is but I started to feel like hamstrung maybe by by kind of some of the limitations I was bumping into at the firm and there was a water there was definitely a watershed moment.
Watershed Moment: Big Opportunities + “Fidelity Technology”
Ali: I mean there are things that add up. There are a lot of things that, you know, I went through over the years of not um they I guess they just they tack on and they build up and then you get frustrated and then I you know I but I kind of always thought all right I want to go I want to be in the leadership role. I want to do these things. I I did love the firm and I loved the people.
Ali: But there was this summer uh I want to say it was about late April, early May. And it was about a six-w week period where we got five statements from clients, all of them totaling every client had more than 5 million in about a six week period. I mean, it was it was an incredible moment for our team. My Joy, my my admin and I we were were just not really knowing how to handle it. A lot of excitement. It was it felt like uh you know like okay we we’re finally here like people have really noticed things are starting to go well.
Ali: And then over the next you know six or eight weeks after that we kind of proceeded to miss each opportunity and they were looking for things and some of them you know I I I didn’t want to just blame Edward Jones I didn’t think that was fully fair but but I did have to start asking myself could I have successfully onboarded these clients if I had different tools
Ali: And so we get to the last meeting and it happens to be the largest of the five or so clients and they they they commit to us. Uh the the the the wife said she wanted to join. The husband was said, “I’ll I’ll come but not right now.”
Ali: But anyway, we’re opening the account at a table very similar to the one you see in my background. I used to have a a long table and she’s sitting at the head of it and their financial data is on some charts and screens on there and I’m I’m starting to just gather some of the basic data to open the account and she she said as she’s just sort of staring at the screen she said Ali you should see the technology they have at Fidelity it’s amazing amazing just like there’s this moment I just I was What did she just say?
Ali: So I I remember it was yesterday. I slid the keyboard away from me and I kind of just pushed back in my chair and leaned towards her and I said, “Why are you opening this account with me right now?” And she said, “Oh, it’s easy. We trust you.”
Ali: And that was a moment and I I thought, okay, I I at least have to see what’s out there that that I may or may not be missing. If it’s if it’s if it’s available and it’s better, then I’ll know. And if it’s not, then I’ll know. But I there was no going back from that moment in time. It was just I couldn’t un I couldn’t unhear that.
Ali: And there were other things. cuz there were, you know, other clients would say things when, why aren’t you independent? Or, you know, as you’d compete for business, people would ask, well, the other guy I’m talking to is an independent. How are you different? And you so you’d hear things over time, but that one was a kind of a huge moment for me.
Corey on Customization + “Hard to Unsee”
Corey: Yeah. And that’s that’s huge when you when you told me that story. I I I just thought that that was, you know, the the the perfect example.
Corey: And you know through through my experience I do think Edward Jones has really good technology but on the independent side what you gain is a ton of customability and the ability to positively affect your client experience through customability.
Corey: If you don’t like one CRM, there’s four or five others that you can switch out that are potentially integrated to to use that may be potentially better or five or six different financial planning tools or risk assessment tools or or marketing tools that you could kind of plug into the Jones link of, you know, your independent firm to like really build a really cool custom uh uh customizable experience.
Corey: And I’ve had multiple people say it when leaving an employee firm like once you see that it’s really really hard to unsee.
Fear Turns to Excitement
Ali: Um so I just man you you just hit the nail on the head Cory. I think you know sort of the reasons to leave really aren’t the reasons I ended up leaving. I think the reasons to leave just ended up being the reasons I wanted to start looking around. Mhm.
Ali: And then when I started looking around, fear started turning to excitement because you are right, the amount of custom software that I can bolt onto my client offering here is is pretty incredible.
Tech Workflow + Jump AI Notes
Ali: You know, I um it it hits really close to home for me because one of my best friends, I I lovingly call him my little brother, you know, I’ve known him since I mean, he was my best friends growing up, little brother, and we’ve just been friends for like 30 years.
Ali: And um I used to have sleepovers and the older brother would always fall asleep early and so he and I’d play soccer or hockey in the hallways or or whatever.
Ali: And anyway, we’ve been friends for a lifetime. So he works in in the tech sector and whenever he gets new software um I’m usually a guinea pig for him like when he goes from one company to another he’ll call me up and so he showed me this workflow management stuff and I remember thinking wow this would be really great for our leadership teams instead of like the endless chains of emails that go along when you’re planning an event at Edward Jones and I just always got lost and and I remember talking to a partner about it in the home office and he was like man I would I don’t even know how we get that approved, right?
Ali: And the reason that kind of hit so close to home for me was I I mean, this was something that was a pain point for me, it wasn’t even client facing. It was just an internal let’s plan regional meetings or events at the time.
Ali: We were doing a a unique event in in in the area and it was kind of just before COVID. But but I remember it was kind of the firm, my experience of the firm’s culture that I I really couldn’t present new things. there was no I didn’t know of a pathway to be able to get something approved.
Ali: And on the flip side, you know, I’ve been independent for uh I think it’ll be two years in about 4 days now. And um I had a hand in I found this AI notetaker that transcribes notes and meetings for me.
Ali: I brought it to the home office. I went through they said, “Hey, do you want to be in the pilot and test this out?” And here we are a few months later, you know, we’re almost ready to launch it, I guess. And to be able to find something that I like that isn’t even on the platform and get it approved at my broker dealer. I mean, there are no words for that. It’s It’s just exciting.
Corey: And you’re talking about Jump AI, right?
Ali: I may or may not be talking about
Corey: I mean, I I just did a pilot of that the other day. This is what I was talking about from a technology standpoint versus an employee firm.
Corey: There are just, if anyone’s ever taken a look at Michael Kits’s like technology map, it gets bigger and bigger every year, but there’s thousands of third-party technologies out there to better your client experience and to help you work better with your team.
Corey: And I tried Jump AI the other day. I had an hour-long conversation with a financial adviser on Zoom, and it takes notes as you go. And when we were done with the conversation, I had the absolute best notes like I have ever had from any conversation ever.
Corey: It had clear next steps, like incredible detail, like no typos in terms of, you know, our or miscommunications between um my my my voice and like what I said and versus like what was down on the paper.
Corey: And immediately that came out with next action items that you could send to your staff. I mean, that’s probably going to save like five hours a week inside of my business.
Corey: And the sad thing is is you got that done on the independent side in, you know, a couple a couple weeks, a couple months. There’s some employee firms out there that aren’t going to have that for for five plus years.
Corey: So always just being five years behind is something for, you know, someone that’s really techn technologically savvy like really really frustrating.
Ali: Well, you know, Corey, it was a um really exciting moment because I you know, again, I’m all I can say about the software I piloted was it it it’s just like that.
Ali: And yeah, so the time savings is important, but you also have to weigh the quality of the note that it generates. So, yeah, you’re going to save time, but to write the detail that it sort of turns out, it’s going to take you hours that you just never would have invested.
Ali: And I have found it to be a total game changer. I’m I’m just thrilled that we’re going to be able to get this approved for more advisors in the coming months. And I’m excited to be at a firm that has that capability because I just didn’t feel like that was something that I could do when I was at Edward Jones. you know, I certainly didn’t know how to get it done and I tried.
Corey: I love it.
Other Mind-Blowing Differences: Products + Options Desk
Corey: When you were exploring other independent firms out there, you know, what were some of the other things that kind of blew your mind or that like you you couldn’t unsee after you saw it?
Ali: So, my uh my personality lends itself to being a little thorough. I looked at seven firms if I remember that. It was six or seven firms if I remember the number correctly.
Ali: Um, I wanted to get um I I looked at a warehouse. Uh, I looked at, you know, going to RAIA and then I looked at um three or four independent shops.
Ali: Like when I started kind of peeling back the onion, the software piece that we kind of touched on really was the the game changer. But there was also a lot of product, you know, that I was unfamiliar with. um being that I just didn’t have access to it.
Ali: You know, private credit, uh private placements, structured products, having an options desk has been really, really helpful. I don’t know how I didn’t have access to that before. Now that I have access to it. So, those were some of the really big capabilities that have made of a major difference in our growth story.
CRM Switch to Wealthbox + Integration Freedom
Ali: Um, I wanted to pin back on thirdparty software real quick onto something else.
Corey: Sure.
Ali: One of the other one of the other things that I I want to mention on software was I think you mentioned CRM in there. So, I did not like the CRM that that I had when I got here. It it works for some people. I just I think I was looking for something different.
Ali: And so I would say within the first couple of months I started looking around at different CRM and and and talked to my partners about it and fundamentally we we made a decision to move into a different direction with a CRM called Wealthbox and we absolutely love it.
Ali: Uh it was you know it was a lot of process. I appreciate the team. They did a really good job of sort of shifting and moving into that direction. But it it also was a complete gamecher sort of the depth of the software can go into documenting things for our clients.
Ali: The integrations Wealthbox acts almost like a third party hub for all of our integrated software and it’s approved here at Raymond James which really I was really grateful to find that out and the integrations continue to improve.
Ali: But that was the moment I started to have like an aha light bulb about how to interact with my broker dealer. So it isn’t just what they give me. It’s what they give me that I can also integrate with what I want to serve my clients.
Ali: And I think we we’ve sent so many clients back to Wealthbox that I just did my first podcast with Wealthbox not that long ago. they they asked me to to do a little testimonial video for them and I just was super excited. I’m like absolutely.
Ali: So I you know I I I don’t think I’d ever felt that excited about using a product before, but it made my life so much easier.
Ali: And just being able to find and source solutions to client needs or if you get a really big case and there’s some special software that you need to go get to help with that, you can go get it. It’s just a subscript. It’s just a subscription.
Ali: And so that that level of independence and freedom was something that I undervalued or underestimated because I just didn’t know how to think before.
Sponsor Break
Corey: Hey, breaking in real quick. I really hope you’re enjoying this episode and finding my YouTube channel of value. If you’re a high-erforming financial adviser that can use somebody as a guide or a resource to explore all your transition options out there in the marketplace, I’m a non-biased independent transition consultant that can help make this process so much easier for you. And another plus, it costs absolutely nothing to work with me.
Corey: If you want to have a conversation, please feel free to text, call, email, DM me. My contact information is all over this episode and I’ll let you get back to it.
Growth Story: Before vs After
Corey: So, you were talking about, you know, your your your growth story and and what’s contributed to your growth. Can you just talk about, you know, where you were prior to leaving Edward Jones? You know, where you are now and and and and what you think led to that in such a short time period.
Ali: Yeah. This Well, I can tell you is I was really scared. Yeah, that after making the move.
Ali: So, I think I said this earlier, but one of my biggest regrets was not starting at Edward Jones sooner and then I now I’ve kind of said now I just regret that I didn’t leave sooner.
Ali: But for me, we were so we were about 116 million um when we left and we were doing about 736,000 in T12 and um so you know the first few months was mostly just onboarding and it was it was pretty wild.
Ali: But very quickly the excitement of what I had to offer kind of hit and we we kind of just took off from there. And so fiscal 24 was our best new asset year ever. We we brought in almost 80 million outside of our um outside of ex excluding any clients that we had from Jones. That was just new new money.
Ali: I’ I’d never grown like that. I’ I’ve always grown pretty steadily, but that was three or four times bigger than any year I’d had at Edward Jones.
Ali: And um so I think as of right now we’re sitting at about 230 million for for just my team and T12 I think we just crossed 1.45 in in T12 um in January. So hoping to cross 1.5 here in the next month and it’s it’s I don’t really know what to say except it’s been kind of a rocket ship and and and we just been holding on with both hands and enjoying the ride.
Corey: That’s incredible.
What Drove the Growth: Excitement + Better Fit
Corey: So, I mean, if you do a deep dive into that, I mean, what where do you think I know you said you don’t like really know where that like growth came from, but like but like is it just you being like super energized and like excited to come to work every single day? Is it through marketing efforts? Is it through having, you know, just deeper conversations with clients? I mean, what do you think?
Ali: Yes. I I agree with everything except the marketing. We’ve done no marketing.
Ali: Um I part of why I I came here was I wanted to do marketing. I wanted to start doing podcasts. I wanted to customize my website and then the growth happened and we just haven’t had so that stuff sort of just went by the wayside.
Ali: I I think that if I could point to one thing that I’ve heard over and over and over again is clients have loved how excited I am.
Ali: And I I I can pin back to a moment. So I want to say it was the 22nd or 23rd of February that we we right around the 22nd or third of February of 2023 when we went independent.
Ali: And you know, it was a whirlwind of of a week, but I I get home on uh I don’t want to say it was Saturday, so four or five days after we went independent. It was the first Saturday. And it was my birthday. So I just turned 40 what 42.
Ali: I come home and my son who’s studying business at the University of Arizona came home that night to just see me for a few hours and they family wanted to get together and sing me happy birthday.
Ali: And you know, I’m getting home. It’s Saturday at 8:00 at night and I bump into him in the garage and he just gives me this big hug and he’s like, “How’s it going?”
Ali: And I I guess I was just telling him like how it was going and was so excited and and he just said, “Dad, I mean I I get real emotional talking about this cuz I don’t I don’t know. It was just it was a moment.”
Ali: But um he said, “Dad, I just want you to know how proud I am of you.” He said, “I I can’t imagine the courage it takes to walk away from a job where you’re super successful at it and and take a big chance and go do something like this.”
Ali: He said, “But I but I want you to know you’ve inspired me to take big chances, too.”
Corey: That’s awesome.
Ali: And and then he said, “I haven’t seen you this excited in years.” He said, “You something’s been missing.” And he said, “It was like a spark that maybe just wasn’t there.” and uh and he said, “I want you to know it’s back. I don’t I don’t I just haven’t seen you like this.”
Ali: And and honestly, that moment I I mean, obviously I got a little misty talking to my 21-year-old who’s who Well, he’s 21 now, but I think he was 19 or 20 at the time, but he’s always been a bit wise for his years.
Ali: I just I didn’t know how to process that in that moment, but he was right. I think just I’ve been really excited. I’m excited about all the software. I’m excited about the solutions that we have. I’m excited to be able to find new things.
Ali: And I think that excitement coupled with the technology and the offerings. You know, I we we own a bank. We have a FDIC insured savings account to $50 million. It’s the the amount of solutions that I have.
Ali: And so I kind of melded all that together and it was like a perfect storm for me.
Ali: and and also pin back to what I had said earlier that, you know, we were getting big referrals when I was at Edward Jones, but I wasn’t closing them. And I had a suspicion that some of that had to do with maybe where I was at.
Ali: And for me, the evidence was pretty clear that once we got here and we got those same kind of big referrals that we’d been getting, onboarding them was just a much easier process. And there was no I didn’t feel like I had to try to fit the client to the firm. The firm could kind of wrap around the client.
Corey: I love that.
Corey on Fear, Misconceptions, and the “Spark”
Corey: And what you said about your son is probably like the my favorite thing I’ve heard on this podcast. Like what an awesome lesson that you that you taught him. Um to be able to just like take risks and and and not live by fear.
Corey: there there’s just so many financial advisors out there that I speak to that know they’re not at their long-term place and they are just stuck because of fear.
Corey: Whether it’s um there’s just so many misconceptions out there that you need a brand, that you that you’re not going to bring your business with you, that by the time that you run a business on top of taking care of your clients, you’re not going to have time to grow. all of these different things um that hold people back.
Corey: So those are the exact things that people need to hear to so so so thank you for saying that as well.
Corey: And in terms of the energy as well, I saw that myself. I mean I used to recruit captively for some you know pretty big big box independent broker dealer firms as well. And when there’s something that you want to do, everyone’s heard the saying kind of culture of no.
Corey: You know, every time that you want to do something that’s like right for an advisor or in your case a client and you hear no, that’s just another like one pound weight just being wrapped around your ankles every single day and just sucking energy out of you.
Corey: And you know, people always ask me why financial advisors grow when they make a move. All the things that you talked about, the technology, the tools, the the the resources are awesome, but also just getting a breath of fresh air and starting over new. There’s a lot to be said about that.
Corey: And people noticed in my voice immediately from me making the move. Someone said to me, they said, “Corey, I don’t even need to know anymore. I know that you moved to the right place. Like, you just have this spark in you again.”
Corey: So, I I I really think that’s one of the biggest parts of it, just starting over fresh.
Kids Teach Us + Ownership Matters
Ali: Wow. You know, it really is. You know, you you said that um I guess the only thing I I might say is you said that I teach my kids and I really think my kids teach me things. I don’t think I think about things until they sometimes they say them back. Yeah.
Ali: But it it it’s just genuine, man. I I’m really grateful for my time at Jones. I obviously I got started and and and I wanted to stay there. I did. I loved it in a lot of ways, but after after time I I I guess the way to say it is the nose that you’re talking about, the nose, they do wear on you, you know, they they they pile up and everyone’s got their own reasons and there’s there’s a there’s a there’s a lot of reason.
Ali: I get still get a lot of phone calls from people that are that are scared and in the seat, you know, get regular phone calls from my buddies at Jones. Some of them are kicking tires. Some of them are more seriously still looking around. And you just listen cuz I think that there’s there’s a saying, what is what is the devil? You know, and it you just, you know, you know how to log in. You know where everything is. You know who to talk to. And it isn’t perfect. And and it nowhere is perfect.
Ali: I I can tell you after looking at seven firms was sort of that that also made it harder in some ways. There were things I liked at at all the different firms, you know, um and and including Edward Jones.
Ali: I mean, one of the things I really liked about being at Jones was sort of the simplicity, right? I didn’t have to think about other things. I could just kind of do it was very I I still think of it kind of as an easy button in a lot of ways. And I um I did appreciate and enjoy that.
Ali: But I was giving up a lot. And and and if there’s any one thing that I can pin to that I was giving up was my spark because I’ I feel like since I’ve gotten here, I’ve been re reinvigorated.
Ali: And it was a slog. I mean, the first 6 months we worked every day for it was six days a week for 10 12 hours a day it felt like. But I don’t really remember feeling I mean I know I was exhausted but but I also don’t remember feeling it that way.
Ali: Like if you if you told me I had to do it that way again I would I would cry.
Ali: You know I think one of the things that I appreciate about being at at Raymond James Financial Services is you know I own my book today. That was something that was really really important to me and uh you know having my uncle kind of poke at me most of my career and and I I I just I wanted to be an actual owner and you know I I love Raymond James today.
Ali: They they they’ve got strengths. They’ve got challenges. They’ve got opportunities. There’s they don’t they kind of aren’t shy about them which I really appreciate.
Ali: So that being said, if you know something didn’t work out, I I don’t have any fear. This this is my building. You know, these are my phone numbers. These are my computers.
Ali: So I wouldn’t have the amount of change on the client if we decided that okay, you know, I don’t know, many years from now, God forbid, I have to make a move. Corey, I got to make a move. What are we going to do?
Ali: But I um I can just say that the fear of clients coming with me isn’t there anymore. I mean these who’s g no one’s going to kick me out of my office. We just have to change some some stuff around. But but it’s mine and um I I just would much rather be an owner.
Corey: I love it.
One Move You Only Compete Once For Clients
Corey: I always tell financial adviserss they always consider different options. employee. There’s plenty of great employee models out there to potentially consider. But I tell them, listen, no matter, you know, where you go, make sure that this move is the only one that you’re competing for your clients.
Corey: You know, make sure that if you’re going to go through all this effort and this risk and have all of this disruption in your headsp space, like make sure that you know your clients are with you because of you and they’re going to move anywhere else that you go.
Corey: So, I think that’s an interesting point of, you know, talking to talking to you specifically, but I think so.
Ali: One of the things I liked about Raymond James was whether you were an employee or an independent, they had the same kind of advisor bill of rights.
Ali: I remember seeing that on the wall somewhere if I remember that correctly. And uh advisor bill of rights, you have the right to own your own book. Yeah, that’s employee or adviser. And uh that excited me.
Fear of Being Locked Out + Looking Around
Ali: So, you know, I I did feel some fear. I just just candidly I’d seen things. I actually have this I don’t know if this happened right when I got to Jones or right after I got there, but it was right around when I was hired.
Ali: I I distinctly remember, I guess word had gotten out that this advisor was looking to make a move. I don’t remember how it got to leadership, but leadership locked him out of his office. on just you like a random Wednesday or something.
Ali: And and that was kind of a like an early wakeup call when I got there that I I didn’t really heed right away, but it definitely went into the old memory bank.
Ali: And after years of of things, I started to realize I could be locked out of my I never had a compliance issue in my life. I never, you know, I just But I don’t know.
Ali: I didn’t want to cross the street the wrong way one day and run into a problem and suddenly I’m or you know in this case get found out that maybe I’m just looking around even if I wasn’t going to move. I was terrified looking around because I I I had seen that and I I didn’t want something like that to happen to me.
Corey: Yeah, that makes that makes a ton of sense.
Independent Side: “300 Clients Would Have to Fire Me”
Corey: And at many many firms I’ve seen 20 year 25 year people you know make a small mishap and then all of a sudden you know they’re fired they’re fighting for their reputation. they’re fighting for their clients and, you know, wind up bringing a small fraction with them of what they did because they were just so caught off foot.
Corey: where I heard another adviser say one time on the independent side, he had 300 clients and he said, “Corey, in order for me to get fired, like 300, all 300 of my clients would have to fire me.” Which is which is pretty powerful.
Ali: That, you know, I that’s where we’re at today. I actually only have I think 170 relationships. I think that’s something else that I maybe should mention or would be worth talking about.
Ali: You know, I I think I had in that 116 that we had at Jones, I think I had like 245 or 255 relationships or something like that.
Ali: So, our relationship size has been cut almost in half, right? So, we have half the relationships and and and almost twice the assets.
Ali: And it it was, you know, I’ve heard people talk about it kind of like doing a good night that you don’t get to pick. Yeah.
Transition Surprises: Who Comes and Who Doesn’t
Ali: I think couple of couple of um real painful things to go through is, you know, you make those first phone calls and I was sort of surprised, you know, I I our our recruiter I’ve actually become really good friends with also our Raymond James recruiter as well. His name’s Ed.
Ali: And it’s kind of funny. I remember just over the years of hearing things at Edward Jones where these recruiters don’t care about you and and some maybe don’t. I I don’t know.
Ali: But my experience with Ed was we’ve actually just become friends over the last couple of years and he doesn’t even really cover our territory anymore, but we can’t seem to stop texting each other about basketball.
Ali: And uh I just found that random because like we didn’t try, we just became buds and it and it and it just hung out and stuck.
Ali: But he he he told me something. And he said, “You know, Ollie, you’re going to have some surprises along the way.”
Ali: And he said, “There there’s always going to be a client or two that in your heart you think are probably coming with you, and there’s going to be a client or two in your heart that you think aren’t coming with you.”
Ali: And I remember like thinking as I was making these calls, like I remember this one lady in particular, I thought she didn’t like me. I just had a feeling that there’s no way she was coming. and I made a phone call and I read the script thingy and and she just said, “Oh, I’m so happy to hear this.”
Ali: And she told me a story about how she used to be um in medical consulting and she basically did the same thing and she was so excited that I made the move.
Ali: And on the flip side, I had a client who it broke my heart when they didn’t come. I mean, we were friends and we really he just took it personal that we didn’t tell him and um he got upset and you know, I’ve seen him at the Apple store. It was very friendly since, but I I I never called him again.
Ali: I just thought, you know, he made his choice and and I made mine and I wish them nothing but the best.
Ali: But there are surprises along the way. You’d be surprised. But but mo by and large it went how I thought it would go.
Challenges of Freedom + Operational Stuff
Corey: What were what were some of the surprises on the independent side that you know were maybe harder than you thought? Freedom comes with a price, right? And um you know what are some of the things like a year in two years in that you’re kind of you know struggling with? You’ve obviously had immense success but I’m sure there’s some you know some frustrations as well. Can you can you give some downsides?
Ali: Yeah, I don’t know that I can give downsides to being independent. Um I don’t I don’t really genuinely the seat I’m sitting in today, I don’t feel that like that’s not true for me per se, but but there are challenges.
Ali: I mean, like I said, the first thing is I knew how to get stuff done at Edward Jones. And I got here and departments are called different things and figuring out who’s where. Figuring out how to run payroll was really challenging, just annoying is more of the word.
Ali: Uh, health insurance, you know, we ended up using a PEO uh that we’re really happy with now, but that took a little time to get there. Yeah.
Ali: and the research we had to do and you know my partners have really been very helpful with that but just figuring everything out here where it is how to do it the nuances that Raymond James has because things things are different you know the process is different and some things I liked at Edward Jones.
Ali: I mean I really thought at least the account opening process at Edward Jones like you know once you had everything in the system that I loved that I thought they did a really good job there.
Ali: Um, Raymond James has upgraded a lot of the things that I had a painoint with in my transition uh since we’ve been here, which is kind of funny cuz the things that used to bug me two years ago don’t exist today.
Ali: But the onboarding of clients and the volume of work that it took from the team and I was really hard.
Ali: Um, one thing I don’t like at my broker dealer is I wish they did a better job in in integrated forms. They’re getting there, but they still have things that require forms sometimes.
Ali: And I’m like, it’s 2025, guys. Like, I can open an account on my phone with my face. Yeah, maybe we should maybe we should change some of this.
Ali: And I know they know. I don’t want to give them too hard of a time, but but it’s a fact. It’s like, come on, guys.
Ali: But that freedom to just be able to be honest because, you know, I I think that when I got mad or I got upset about things, I have no fear just talking to anybody in leadership and um that is really priceless.
Corey on Being the Client, Not the Employee
Corey: Yeah, it’s amazing. I mean, I work with people from employee firms all the time that are going independent. And even with the recruiters, they’re scared to kind of like bring up a frustration or, you know, or or, you know, ask for like something additional.
Corey: And I just have to remind them through the mindset that like you’re not an employee of a firm anymore. Like you’re the client. like if you’re unhappy, you can air your grievances and they’re going to listen to you and you know try to try to make a change.
Corey: It’s uh you know these firms are on the interview right right now to attract you over to their firm not the other way around. So it’s a really big mind shift for a lot of adviserss going from the corporate world and being an employee versus versus being a client.
“Honey Instead of Vinegar” + Culture at RJ
Ali: Well, you hit something on the head there. So, we as a team had a little almost fell the other way a little too hard for the first six months. I felt like we were almost too vocal. Yeah.
Ali: Uh no one no one said anything, but we were not shy maybe the first six, seven months about when we’d find things and said this is dumb and we why do you do it this way? What’s wrong with you?
Ali: But after a while, I remember talking to one of our partners in Phoenix and he goes, “Hey, man, you can say whatever you want here, but sometimes you’ll get further with honey instead of vinegar.” Yeah. But I think it was just uh I appreciated him saying that to me, but I was in kind of a bad mood that day.
Ali: But one of the things I’d realized was I had maybe been really not speaking my my truth all the time. I and I didn’t want to be labeled as a complainer or I just didn’t want to I’d seen people labeled in my old region. I didn’t want that for me.
Ali: And so sometimes I think I was held things maybe to my own detriment. And maybe I shouldn’t have maybe I should maybe that’s my fault.
Ali: But but the reality is once I got here I think I just let everything go and then I found kind of a happy medium now where but it’s a pretty cool place.
Ali: You know we we went to the first national conference right after we got here. was like like two and a half, three months after we got here. And we bump into Tom James, you know, the founder and billionaire guy, and just puts on his jeans like anybody else, super mellow.
Ali: We bumped into him at Universal Studios. So, there were like five, six of us taking pictures with him, and my wife just jumps in and photobombs us. We’re like, and he just had a great attitude about, but he’s he’s really, really nice guy.
Ali: uh also bumped into him and the CEO in the um home office in the hallway. So I did a bio visit with a client and we walk in from I think the north end of the building and they walk in through the south end of the building and it’s Paul Riley and Tom James and my client and I and we just start talking about football and we hang out in the hallway and it was like he’d known me for 20 years and and my client was just just blown away at how mellow and how easy that was.
Ali: I think, you know, culture exists here, too. And and and I heard uh um I think the thing about culture on the independent side is it’s just with the people that we want to be friends with and we create the culture here.
Ali: And there are there are just endless resources here. I’m in I’m in two different groups here at Raymond James where there’s probably 60 adviserss between the two groups and we’re always constantly sharing ideas and the the flow of the ideas is different too because we’re all there’s no agenda like not not one of us is jockeying to to go and get more shares in Raymond James, right?
Ali: It’s just we’re just we’re just there because we want to help each other grow and and that’s something that I I didn’t really anticipate or expect.
Ali: I definitely thought this would be more of alone versus more I’m independent, but I’m definitely not alone.
Community You Choose
Corey: I love that. I mean, I think a lot of people are scared to lose that community. It’s it’s it’s community that’s not forced upon you. Instead of instead of being forced into meetings where maybe you only like respect have the same values as, you know, maybe like 10 people in a group and the other, you know, 30 you don’t really like or or respect.
Corey: It’s, you know, it’s a group of people that you can go out and seek, like you said, that you that you really enjoy being around that that fill your cup, for a lack of a better word. Um, for me, find it.
Ali: Well, and for me, I’ve made more genuine friendships and connections on this side of the fence because again, I don’t I don’t have a nobody has a motive.
Ali: It’s just do you want to be my friend? You like being independent, too. Let’s talk. Let’s idea share, you know?
Ali: I mean, that’s how we learn about different software. I I try a CRM. Uh one of my partners found another bit of software. Another team we know found some planning software that we like that that collaboration across different branches and how they run their businesses and serve their clients.
Ali: It has really upped the level that our clients are feeling and and the consistent feedback that I’m getting from clients like two years in now from the clients that followed us is wow we’re really excited that you made this move.
Ali: You know Raymond James has features in its website that I didn’t really appreciate or until I was here for a while. But the vault clients love that being able to store their documents in a central place.
Ali: Having an understanding and a planning level that we’re really going to now was also something that we didn’t have. So community mixed with freedom. It’s a powerful powerful process here. Powerful place to be.
Ali: Powerful place to be.
Corey: I love it.
Stay or Go Advice
Corey: What’s what’s your what’s your advice to an adviser that’s thinking about starting their due diligence and trying to figure out like should I stay or should I go?
Ali: Yeah, that’s a I mean that’s a tough one because I have to say that you know Edward Jones is really great for some adviserss. I think there are some advisers who that’s the right place and and you should stay there.
Ali: But but I think when there is doubt, there is no doubt. That’s my humble opinion. I think if you’re if you’re questioning, you should go look.
Ali: you know, you’re going to see things and and and I’ve had some friends that are at Jones that looked and decided it wasn’t for them and they decided for now or maybe even forever to stay. And that’s awesome. I commend that cuz you did a due diligence. You looked into it. Maybe it was more than you wanted right now or more than you could handle or you just like it at Jones.
Ali: And there’s nothing wrong with that or whatever firm you’re at, right?
Ali: But if you’re in the seat and you’re asking yourself, could I do it differently or could I do this better? Or would I be happier on the other side?
Ali: I can say from my experience, the answer to all those questions was yes. Unequivocally, the proof was in the pudding for us. We just transformed our business and our client relationships in the last two years.
Corey: I love it. I love it.
Corey on “In Between” Purgatory
Corey: I I I would just tell financial advisors doing this over a thousand times, if you have that doubt, like Ali said, just take a look to see what else is out there.
Corey: There’s no more exhausting place to be than in between stay and go for multiple years.
Corey: Like Ali, you were saying earlier in in the process, there’s people that are out there and like, you know, kicking tires a little bit, like working at two places at once. one that you’re at right now and employed. And then what could be on the other side. I’ve done it myself in in in in another role. It’s the most exhausting place you can possibly be.
Corey: Either you know what I do through my process. It’s not convince you to stay or leave. It’s to get you the accurate information and point you in the right direction of the right firms that are going to best likelihood complement what you’re trying to do. So you can make that decision yourself. stay or go.
Corey: There’s plenty of people that work with me that wind up staying, but go through the process entirely. So, you could put your head down at night on your pillow and know that, you know, you’re either doing one or the other and and you’re not stuck in purgatory.
“Corporate Trauma” + “Ad as Advertised”
Ali: Man, that’s so so right though, Corey, because what I guess what I’ll say about that is when I first got here, I I I I like to paint the image of me standing in the corner with a pitchfork and telling everybody, “Get back.”
Ali: I think I had so much corporate trauma or whatever the word was. I didn’t trust anybody when I got here. I kept looking for the gotcha. I kept looking for where they were going to stick the dagger in my side or aha. Right.
Ali: And after I don’t know x number of months, you know what I I found was that there are some really great people that work at Raymond James. There are some people that I don’t like as much. There are some people when I call the home office that just wish they’d answered the phone a little nicer, but by and large 90% of my interaction with the Raymond James home office plus is ad as advertised or better.
Ali: Most people most people that I deal with here are great.
Ali: And what I what I started to realize was that my old firm wasn’t the only place that talked about and actually put the client first. that most places that you work at, most people show up wanting to do the right thing, wanting to do right by the clients.
Ali: That every company that has 50,000 people at it is going to have some jackasses, whatever the right word is.
Ali: But fundamentally, I just I didn’t I didn’t really anticipate that it’d be just just just great in a lot of ways.
Ali: Again, there are there are things you run into. If I get somebody on the home office that I don’t like, I just hang up and call back.
Corey: Love it.
Ali: It’s going to happen no matter my opinion. I think any firm that’s got scope and scale. So, yeah.
Would You Use a Consultant?
Corey: And feel free to give me your honest um answer on this question, but if you can do it over again, you said you searched nine firms. Would you would you work with someone like me throughout the process versus doing it all on your own?
Ali: Well, 100% Corey. I mean, not just someone like you. I mean, I’ve already made my decision that if we ever made another move, you’re my phone call. That’s that’s what’s going to happen.
Ali: I mean, you know, the the facts are I didn’t know what I didn’t know.
Ali: And I mean, as a trusted adviser, one of the things that I, you know, talk to my clients about is they delegate and they hire someone like me to help them who’s helped other clients through similar processes.
Ali: Why would I want to do it on my own again when I could have someone who’s done it a thousand times help me? It’s just it’s a no-brainer.
Corey: I I I totally I totally agree.
Corey Closing + Wrap-Up
Corey: Obviously, it’s just there’s so many opportunities out there, hundreds of different opportunities. You know, they’re all calling your office. It’s their job to highlight all of the benefits of these different firms, but it’s your job as an adviser that has potentially never made a move before or has made one or two moves before in your career to figure out where all the downsides like red flags and skeletons in the closet are.
Corey: Um, and along the way, just doing this over a thousand times, we’ve helped so many financial adviserss not only point the right direction to the firms that have the most benefit, but just help them understand some of the potential, you know, downsides down the road that they should be thinking about 5, 10, 15 years down the road as well.
Corey: And it costs nothing to work with us, which is the biggest benefit of it. you have someone that’s, you know, helped over a thousand adviserss by your side this whole time, helping you ask the right questions, negotiating on your behalf to to help you make the right decision and and leverage your time, which is so limited on top of being an adviser full-time um as best as possible.
Corey: So, um, if anyone has any questions, um, I have over 155 other videos on my podcast just like this just to get you real, candid, honest information about what life is like on the other side.
Corey: And if you’re ever ready to have a conversation, my contact information is is all over my YouTube page, my website, uh, my my uh my podcast as well. And um I really hope we could talk soon.
Corey: But Ali, I really appreciate the time, the candidness. Congratulations on all the growth. So awesome.
Corey: I’m uh I’m a golf nut. So I’m going to be knocking on your door next time I’m in Arizona. So you’re right.
Ali: I’m expecting you, buddy. We’ll go happy hour. I’ve got three great restaurants and two really good golf courses. Almost within actually La Paloma is within walking distance. You can walk out my office and in 30 40 yards you’ll be on the green. So, I love it. Look forward to doing some chip shots with you in the evening.
Corey: I love it. Thank you so much for the time. I really, really appreciate it.
Ali: Yeah, my pleasure.
