1-year into the business

1-year ago, I left my prior firm and joined Modern Financial Planning.

I was a Partner, a young leader with a future mapped out at a solid firm. It certainly met my definition of success.

When my wife and I decided to relocate to Texas to start a family, I chose to re-evaluate everything.

The current path was very attractive. It's hard to explain, but something in me craved building something from the ground-up, uniquely my own.

So along with uprooting our lives, I started over to place a bet on myself.

I was formerly a Partner with a corner office and full client list.

Overnight, I was basically on my own, with too much free time.

Those early days were strange. I’m conditioned for long hours and important discussions daily.

Now I had…time, space.

Free time in the work day led to guilt. I still wrestle with that. I should have taken more advantage to relax.

I also broke my ankle and had surgery. That was not a pleasant period. But at least I had plenty PTO!

My practice today:

Happily I have 13 full-time clients. Plus a revolving door of 1-3 one-time projects at any given time.

I operate in 2 worlds (who I work with):

▪ 1) 40-50’s families in Technology (who mostly live in California).

Their needs are navigating equity comp, career capital + life trade-offs.

▪ 2) 50-60’s families approaching Retirement (who mostly live in Texas).

This is mostly family & friends driven. Needs are Retirement Planning & Investment Mgmt.

The practice so far is a classic barbell-shape.

How I feel about it:

I’m really proud of myself. Who knew I’d feel so rewarded while making pennies at the beginning?

I have a decade+ of experience, yet had imposter syndrome at times.

But then I’d meet with someone new, glide through a meeting, and remember “oh yeah, I’ve been doing this for a long time.”

But I did not do this on my own:

I can’t imagine starting this without the massive educational training & mentoring that was poured into me over the years. This is a hard, delicate job. I learned from true pros of their craft.

I couldn’t do it without my business partner. I’ve been put in a position to succeed.

And I certainly couldn’t do it without my spouse. Not just emotionally, but financially. Even though there is plenty of money in the bank, dependable income is psychologically invaluable. Not tapping savings has been a Win for us every month.

Where it’s all headed:

I have some choices to make about how big/small I want this to be.

I have a son coming soon, and I don’t know what my life will look like.

So I’m not in any rush to grow too quickly right now. ‘Slowing down to speed up’ kind of thing.

I can’t wait to see what year 2 brings!

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