Do Business. Do Life. — The Financial Advisor Podcast — DBDL

There’s a point where being good at what you do isn’t enough.
Financial advisors are competing for clients, talent, attention, and trust. And when everyone starts looking and sounding the same, it becomes harder for people to understand why they should choose you.
Zach Nadler has spent more than 17 years working with Gary Vaynerchuk and the last eight building VaynerSpeakers. Along the way, he’s had a front-row seat to what separates people and businesses that become indispensable from those that blend into the crowd.
Zach and I explore why telling people what they want to hear can actually hurt your business, what the best partnerships get right about feedback, how great leaders respond when circumstances change overnight, and why creating a memorable experience often comes down to things that have nothing to do with spending more money.
We also get into what it actually takes to become a paid speaker, why having a great story isn't enough, and the question every Financial Advisor should ask before expecting someone to pay them to get on stage.

3 Insights From This Week’s Episode…

#1.) The Cost of Telling People What They Want to Hear
It’s tempting to keep clients, employees, and partners happy by avoiding difficult conversations. But Zach has seen how quickly that can turn a valuable relationship into a transactional one. We explore why the willingness to say what others won’t can become a major competitive advantage.

#2.) Why Great Businesses Are Hard to Copy
As companies grow, it becomes harder to maintain the personal attention that made people choose them in the first place. Zach shares what he’s learned from GaryVee and some of the world’s best speakers about creating relationships and experiences that don’t feel interchangeable.

#3.) What Pressure Reveals About Leadership
When COVID shut down the speaking industry almost overnight, Zach’s team had no choice but to adapt. We unpack what that experience taught him about staying nimble, making difficult decisions, and how a leader’s response to uncertainty can spread throughout an entire organization.

SPONSORED BY BELAY
If you’re an advisor and you’re still scheduling your own appointments, sending your own follow-up emails, or dealing with other tasks keeping you from bringing on other clients, you’re the bottleneck. BELAY helps busy leaders find world-class Virtual Assistants who can take tasks off their plate, protect their time, and help them stay focused on the work that actually moves the business forward. Learn more about BELAY and find the right assistant for your business here: http://belaysolutions.com/dbdl

SHOW NOTES
https://bradleyjohnson.com/191

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DISCLOSURE
DBDL podcast episode conversations are intended to provide financial advisors with ideas, strategies, concepts and tools that could be incorporated into their business and their life. No statements made in the episode are offered as, and shall not constitute financial, investment, tax or legal advice. Financial professionals are responsible for ensuring implementation of anything discussed related to business is done so in accordance with any and all regulatory, compliance responsibilities and obligations.
The Triad member statements reflect their own experience which may not be representative of all Triad Member experiences, and their appearances were not paid for.
Triad Wealth Partners, LLC is an SEC Registered Investment Adviser. Please visit Triadwealthpartners.com for more information. Triad Wealth Partners, LLC and Triad Partners, LLC are affiliated companies.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Imagine this. A new advisor joins your firm. Ten months later, he brought in roughly $40 million in new assets.
That’s what happened at Dana Dunkelberger’s firm.
In this episode, Dana and I unpack what happened behind the scenes to help one of his newer advisors ramp up that quickly, and why developing great advisors takes a lot more than handing someone a process and hoping they figure it out.
We also get into the uncomfortable part of getting someone ready, the role repetition and feedback play in their development, and the mistake many successful founders make once they start building a team around them.

3 Insights From This Week’s Episode…

#1.) Why Your Team Can’t Learn What Only Exists In Your Head
Experienced advisors often operate on instinct without realizing how much knowledge they’ve accumulated over the years. The problem shows up when they expect newer advisors to somehow replicate a process that was never clearly taught in the first place.

#2.) The Hidden Cost Of Avoiding Uncomfortable Practice
Role-playing a sales appointment can feel awkward, especially when peers are watching and pointing out what needs work. But Dana has noticed a major difference between advisors willing to expose their weaknesses and those who avoid that discomfort.

#3.) When The Founder Becomes The Bottleneck
The habits that helped you build the business can eventually make it harder to scale. Dana and Brad explore why founders sometimes struggle to hand over responsibility and how staying involved in everything can quietly hold talented team members back.

SHOW NOTES
https://bradleyjohnson.com/190

TRIAD SALES LAB
Learn how to break through the ceiling using the framework behind some of Triad’s fastest-growing firms. Discover the sales system that scales and apply right here: https://bradleyjohnson.com/190-triad-sales-lab/

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DISCLOSURE
DBDL podcast episode conversations are intended to provide financial advisors with ideas, strategies, concepts and tools that could be incorporated into their business and their life. No statements made in the episode are offered as, and shall not constitute financial, investment, tax or legal advice. Financial professionals are responsible for ensuring implementation of anything discussed related to business is done so in accordance with any and all regulatory, compliance responsibilities and obligations.
The Triad member statements reflect their own experience which may not be representative of all Triad Member experiences, and their appearances were not paid for.
Triad Wealth Partners, LLC is an SEC Registered Investment Adviser. Please visit Triadwealthpartners.com for more information. Triad Wealth Partners, LLC and Triad Partners, LLC are affiliated companies.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The bigger your firm gets, the easier it is to lose sight of what made it work in the first place.
I’ve spent 20 years in finance watching firms chase better marketing, sales processes, and growth strategies while overlooking some of the things that quietly determine whether a business gets stronger or loses its identity as it grows.
In this solo episode, I share three lessons that helped us grow Triad from an idea in 2020 to serving 100 firms nationwide—and a simple test for whether you’re building a firm that can truly outlast you.

3 Insights From This Week’s Episode…

#1.) When You're Sick of Saying It, You're Halfway There
Your mission and values can't live on a wall. Brad explains why every new hire and every new client resets the count—and why repeating what you stand for is how you eventually start hearing it repeated back to you.

#2.) Who's Sitting At Your Table?
The people around you can either accelerate where you're going or slow you down. Brad shares why the right table isn't just about surrounding yourself with smart people. It's about finding people who have been where you want to go and are willing to help you get there.

#3.) Save A Seat For The Person You Serve
At Triad, an empty chair sits in every conference room as a physical reminder of the member who isn't in the room. Brad explains how that chair has influenced what Triad builds, how the team makes decisions, and the conversations that happen behind closed doors.

SPONSORED BY BELAY
If you’re an advisor and you’re still scheduling your own appointments, sending your own follow-up emails, or dealing with other tasks keeping you from bringing on other clients, you’re the bottleneck. BELAY helps busy leaders find world-class Virtual Assistants who can take tasks off their plate, protect their time, and help them stay focused on the work that actually moves the business forward. Learn more about BELAY and find the right assistant for your business here: http://belaysolutions.com/dbdl

SHOW NOTES
https://bradleyjohnson.com/189

TRIAD SALES LAB
Learn how to break through the ceiling using the framework behind some of Triad’s fastest-growing firms. Discover the sales system that scales and apply right here: https://bradleyjohnson.com/189-triad-sales-lab/

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DISCLOSURE
DBDL podcast episode conversations are intended to provide financial advisors with ideas, strategies, concepts and tools that could be incorporated into their business and their life. No statements made in the episode are offered as, and shall not constitute financial, investment, tax or legal advice. Financial professionals are responsible for ensuring implementation of anything discussed related to business is done so in accordance with any and all regulatory, compliance responsibilities and obligations.
The Triad member statements reflect their own experience which may not be representative of all Triad Member experiences, and their appearances were not paid for.
Triad Wealth Partners, LLC is an SEC Registered Investment Adviser. Please visit Triadwealthpartners.com for more information. Triad Wealth Partners, LLC and Triad Partners, LLC are affiliated companies.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Four days after Anthropic released Claude for Financial Advisors, it was the main topic on our AI mastermind call. I get why. Asking one tool to pull your appointments, your Schwab balances, and your Orion data, and having it all ready before your first meeting, is hard to ignore.
But there's a gap between a tool being available and a tool being ready to use in your firm.
Most advisors are thinking about what this can do. Far fewer are thinking about where client data goes once it starts moving between systems, who is reviewing what the AI produces, or whether their compliance program holds up when a regulator asks how the firm uses AI.
So I sat down with Triad's CTO, Quin Kilgore, and our Chief Compliance Officer, Shannon McGinnis, for an early take. Quin brings the tech stack side. Shannon brings the side that keeps you out of trouble. I play the advisor who wants to turn it on today.
If you've been tempted to connect a new AI tool to your client data, or you're not sure your firm has an AI policy at all, listen to this before you do.

3 Insights From This Week’s Episode…

#1.) Treat AI Like A New Employee
Shannon shares a simple framework for thinking about AI inside an advisory firm. Just as you wouldn't hire someone, give them access to every system, and walk away, bringing AI deeper into your business introduces questions around policies, training, access, oversight, and ongoing supervision.

#2). Archiving Your AI Isn't Enough
It's easy to assume that if your AI tool keeps logs, you're covered. Shannon explains why the logs are only the starting point, and what regulators expect you to do with them.

#3.) The Weak Link Between Your Trusted Tools
Schwab and Orion grew up in a regulated industry. Claude didn't. We look at what changes when a newer, general-purpose tool gets connected to the systems holding your clients' data, and the question most advisors aren't asking about the connection itself.

FREE GIVEAWAY

Get Your Free PDF of Our AI Implementation Checklist by Visiting: https://bradleyjohnson.com/188-ai-implementation-guide/

SPONSORED BY BELAY
If you’re an advisor and you’re still scheduling your own appointments, sending your own follow-up emails, or dealing with other tasks keeping you from bringing on other clients, you’re the bottleneck. BELAY helps busy leaders find world-class Virtual Assistants who can take tasks off their plate, protect their time, and help them stay focused on the work that actually moves the business forward. Learn more about BELAY and find the right assistant for your business here: http://belaysolutions.com/dbdl

SHOW NOTES
https://bradleyjohnson.com/188

FOLLOW BRAD JOHNSON ON SOCIAL
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FOLLOW DBDL ON SOCIAL:
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DISCLOSURE
DBDL podcast episode conversations are intended to provide financial advisors with ideas, strategies, concepts and tools that could be incorporated into their business and their life. No statements made in the episode are offered as, and shall not constitute financial, investment, tax or legal advice. Financial professionals are responsible for ensuring implementation of anything discussed related to business is done so in accordance with any and all regulatory, compliance responsibilities and obligations.
The Triad member statements reflect their own experience which may not be representative of all Triad Member experiences, and their appearances were not paid for.
Triad Wealth Partners, LLC is an SEC Registered Investment Adviser. Please visit Triadwealthpartners.com for more information. Triad Wealth Partners, LLC and Triad Partners, LLC are affiliated companies. TP10265950813

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Nico Pesci’s firm went from bringing in roughly $150k–$250k in new assets per client to between $1M-$2M.
But the interesting part isn’t some new marketing funnel, sales script, or lead source.
It’s what changed in the way Nico thinks about the client relationship itself.
In this conversation, Nico and I explore why advisors can unknowingly limit themselves before a prospect meeting even begins, what changes when a $17 million opportunity walks through the door, and why high-net-worth clients may be looking for something very different than what the financial industry has traditionally sold them.
We also get into the challenge of taking what works inside a founder’s head and turning it into something an entire team can consistently deliver.

3 Insights From This Week’s Episode…

#1.) The Prospect You Almost Write Off
Nico talks about the assumptions advisors make about a small crowd, an unqualified list, or a prospect who doesn't look the part, and what those assumptions quietly cost.

#2.) Why Bigger Clients Expose Weak Sales Processes
Put a $17 million prospect across the table and suddenly even experienced advisors can start changing how they communicate, selling differently, or abandoning the process they normally trust. We explore why the size of an opportunity can create its own set of problems.

#3.) The Bottleneck Hidden Inside The Founder
There’s a limit to how far an advisory firm can scale when every important conversation still depends on the founder. Nico shares what he’s learned moving from solo advisor to founder and the new challenges that appear when other people are trusting you with their careers.

TRIAD SALES LAB
Learn how to break through the ceiling using the framework behind some of Triad’s fastest-growing firms. Discover the sales system that scales and apply right here: https://bradleyjohnson.com/186-triad-sales-lab/

SHOW NOTES
https://bradleyjohnson.com/187

FOLLOW BRAD JOHNSON ON SOCIAL
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FOLLOW DBDL ON SOCIAL:
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DISCLOSURE
DBDL podcast episode conversations are intended to provide financial advisors with ideas, strategies, concepts and tools that could be incorporated into their business and their life. No statements made in the episode are offered as, and shall not constitute financial, investment, tax or legal advice. Financial professionals are responsible for ensuring implementation of anything discussed related to business is done so in accordance with any and all regulatory, compliance responsibilities and obligations.
The Triad member statements reflect their own experience which may not be representative of all Triad Member experiences, and their appearances were not paid for.
Triad Wealth Partners, LLC is an SEC Registered Investment Adviser. Please visit Triadwealthpartners.com for more information. Triad Wealth Partners, LLC and Triad Partners, LLC are affiliated companies.TP09265933114

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.