Unveiling the Secrets to Engaging Next-Gen Investors and Leveraging the Great Wealth Transfer with Maddie Mitchell

Voiceover: Welcome to the FAST Podcast, Financial Advisor Strategy Talks with Lara Galloway, SVP of Financial Education at White Glove. Lara Provides advisors with an opportunity to hear from some of the best minds in the business. Follow along to learn quick tips to help you grow your business. From gaining new leads, to keeping current clients engaged and everything in between.

Now onto the show.

[00:00:00] Aric Johnson: Hello, and welcome to the FAST Podcast with your host Lara Galloway from White Glove. Lara, what's going on?

[00:00:05] Lara Galloway: Hey there, Aric. I am so excited to bring our podcast producer from behind the screen to in front of the screen with me today. So I've got a great show with Maddie Mitchell, who is our head of marketing here at White Glove.

[00:00:19] Lara Galloway: Let me just introduce her real quick for you. Maddie is an experienced marketing strategist, content creator, and social media specialist. As Director of Marketing at White Glove, she spearheads the B2B marketing strategy and collaborates with industry leaders to deliver educational resources and tools for financial professionals.

[00:00:37] Lara Galloway: She's driven by her passion for empowering advisors to achieve their goals for growth and through strategic marketing and the spread of financial education. So I am so excited to welcome you, Maddie Mitchell, to the FAST Podcast!  

[00:00:52] Maddie Mitchell: Thank you! I'm so excited to be here.  

[00:00:54] Aric Johnson: Hey, as good as an intro as that was, Lara, I got to say, the one thing you missed is that she keeps me in line and, and that's not easy to do. She's totally the boss and I appreciate her very, very much. I'm looking forward to the conversation today. And just something for the listening audience, if you're just listening to this, there is video. You got to go check this out. These ladies are dressed well, they're beautiful, they're ready to go, and I'm getting outta here.  

[00:01:17] Lara Galloway: Well, thank you for adding that and not letting me off the hook because yeah, Maddie, you do a great job of running this program for us and making sure that we keep Aric in line, so, awesome.

[00:01:26] Maddie Mitchell: Thank you.  

[00:01:26] Lara Galloway: Thanks for that ad.  

[00:01:27] Maddie Mitchell: Thanks, Aric.  

[00:01:29] Lara Galloway: What I'm super excited about today, I've been attending some conferences in the industry, as you know lately, and one of the topics that is coming up all the time, and that you and I have talked about a good bit, is how to help our advisors connect with these next gen investors. And you know what's so freaking cool about this? You're a next gen investor.

[00:01:46] Maddie Mitchell: Yes, I am.  

[00:01:48] Lara Galloway: So I'm really excited to just kind of have a little conversation about this, and I hope the advisor's listening to us today when they're doing workshops, when they're out there connecting with people in their community when they're sitting down one-on-one in their offices for these meetings, I hope they walk away with a few tips that I think is going to be so helpful to hear from you today. So, we just had a couple of next gen investor's advisors, Mason and Brandon from InvestWise, come in our office and they did a fabulous presentation on a financial education workshop for our employees, which I know you helped organize.

[00:02:22] Maddie Mitchell: Yes, I did.

[00:02:23] Lara Galloway: I really appreciate that. And I mean, maybe that's kind of a place to start too, just thinking a little bit about, you know, what's different when we're talking to next gen investors? What is, what is the, you know, what are you noticing right now that advisors are doing or not doing when they're trying to make those connections with people like you?

[00:02:43] Maddie Mitchell: Yeah, so, you know, it's interesting being on the side of the camera and as I consider myself as kind of this, "Zillennial" generation. Some people think there's a micro-generation between the Millennials and the Gen Z, where we kind of can identify with both and have a lot of the attributes of both Millennial and Gen Z generation. So I feel like I can bring some interesting perspective hopefully today and really everyone has heard this a million times probably already, but I truly think, I want to emphasize this, the biggest thing is a strong digital presence is going to be essential. It's not something that's going to be optional for these younger generations. So, let's just start there, I guess.  

[00:03:34] Lara Galloway: Yeah. Well, I'm just laughing because I literally have never heard the term Zillennial, so I just learned that today. So, thanks for always teaching me new things, but what a great point. Like, you know, it's amazing that there are maybe still people out there that need to be convinced that they have to be present online. So is a website enough?  

[00:03:56] Maddie Mitchell: It's a start... but that's not enough. Social media is critical. You know, there's a lot of data out there in research right now that says these younger generations are going online for financial advice. And I know that can be discouraging to advisors sometimes because they might be thinking maybe they don't even want to engage with advisors. And I don't think that's true. I think that's just where we start. It's our natural instinct when we have a question to go and Google it or to look online. We start gathering our research that way.  

[00:04:30] Lara Galloway: Yeah.  

[00:04:30] Maddie Mitchell: So that's always going to be our first instinct. And I saw a stat, I believe from Pew, a Pew research study the other day from 2022, and it said that Gen Z is five times more likely to look and acquire financial advice online, on social media, than people who are 41 or over. So that, that speaks volumes.  

[00:04:53] Lara Galloway: It sure does, yeah.

[00:04:55] Maddie Mitchell: But that's just the first step. So, we're going online, we're looking for advice when we have a question or just gathering facts to see what's out there. But I don't think that is to say that we're not, we're opposed to connecting with a financial advisor, because that's not at all, it's just step one. So you need to be online, you need to be on social media, you need to have a strong website and content out there that's going to draw us in and then go from there.  

[00:05:30] Lara Galloway: So, I mean, that makes really good sense to me. If I, I mean I can never remember what generation I am. I think I'm Gen X, we're the forgotten generation. I can't even remember who we are. Okay? It's really bad. We're not doing anything for ourselves. But the fact is I'm not a Millennial, nor a Zillennial, nor a Gen Z, I still, to this day, it's very much a part of my practice, whenever I am embarking on something new when I'm trying to, you know, we're actually planning a trip to Glacier National Park as a family this summer. The first thing I do is go research online and see what I need to know. Like I found out certain things like, you know, you gotta buy a National Park pass. Okay, well that's $80. And then you actually have to reserve a time to drive on going to the Sun Road. So if any of you are listening, if you've ever done this, this is like freaking awesome. I can't wait to go drive on this road, but like you have to have a time, a reservation, so we do our research online for everything in life, right? I don't care what generation you're from, the chances are we all start our research there. And I love what you're saying. If an advisor is not showing up in that research, then I'm finding their competitor.  

[00:06:39] Maddie Mitchell: Right. We're vetting you before you even know. Before you even know that we're looking for you, we're doing our research. And then like you said, from there you might go and you might ask, you know, your friends, your family, hey, this is research I found, but you've been here. What, what, what do I actually need to do? You know?  

[00:06:56] Lara Galloway: Right, exactly because now that's, that's exactly what we're doing. Now my husband's like, oh, I've got a couple of friends that went there last year. I'm going to now ask them for recommendations. But we didn't know what we didn't know. And I think you just made such a critical point, and that is that advisors, we, you know, we are vetting you before you ever know it. You aren't getting the chance to make that first impression a second time, right? So, okay, so, the need for that digital presence.  

[00:07:23] Maddie Mitchell: Yes.  

[00:07:24] Lara Galloway: The need for making sure that they're showing up in a way so that when we are looking around, when you know we are, and I say we, but now I'm going to go back to talking about you, when next gen investors are looking for gathering that information gathering stage, what sort of information is going to be compelling to you? Like, you know them talking about market trends and products and great things. What is it that is actually going to resonate and make you think, huh, I kind of like the way this advisor, I feel like I might want to talk to this person.

[00:07:57] Maddie Mitchell: Yeah, so what it really comes down to is educational content, but also authentic content. We want to see your personality, and I think the pandemic completely changed social media forever. Engagement and usage went up like crazy, of course, because we were all locked inside.  

[00:08:17] Lara Galloway: We had nothing else.

[00:08:19] Maddie Mitchell: Yeah, we had nothing else, we're wondering what our friends are doing. But it also stripped back some of that phoniness of social media. And there, there was this movement of realness where people started opening up about their lives, about their mental health, influencers started becoming more real with people and saying like, these are the struggles I'm dealing with, this is my family life, this is what's going on, so it completely changed social media. And now the younger generations, especially Gen Z, they want authentic content. They want to see what's going on in your personal life, and they want educational content that relates to them, but they also want to see pictures of your pets online, or pictures of your new, your newborn baby.

[00:09:01] Maddie Mitchell: They're looking for those layers of like, who is this person? You know? Little insights into their life, into their personality, because that builds trust and it makes them feel like they have a more genuine connection with you before even meeting you in person.  

[00:09:18] Lara Galloway: That's such a good point, because you know, the, the idea like, you know, I, you know, I've been doing a lot of speaking about the power of personal connection and emotional connection, and I think that's important for everybody, but especially with next gen investors, thinking about the fact that they actually want to get to know the person that is the expert. Like, you know, being an expert as a financial advisor, that's just table stakes. So going out of your way as an advisor to really prove your expertise is maybe not getting you as far as you think it is, and what instead you could do is add in a little bit of those relevant things in life about your hobbies or whatever and you know, when we are talking to our workshop hosts, these are best practices that we ask them to incorporate when they're introducing themselves. I mean, I watched one of our executive marketing consultants had an advisor who wasn't just doing very well with his webinars.

[00:10:15] Lara Galloway: He had been doing seminars, but he tried webinars and wasn't going well. And he said, you know, could you tell me what I'm doing wrong? And we always appreciate people who ask for help and coaching because these are the people who do the best. So, I watched his webinar recording and seven and a half minutes into it, from the very beginning, he was still talking about himself and his firm and the, you know, accolades and all this kind of stuff. Every service they provide, but none of it was about the personal side of him. So I don't even know how you can fill seven and a half minutes about what you do just as a financial advisor professionally, but he did. And if he had taken some of that time, I mean, seven and a half minutes is just too long at the beginning anyway, but if he'd taken some of that time and talked about, you know, his hunting dog, or his newborn baby, or you know, coming back from his daughter's wedding or something, any of that would've made me much more engaged. Much more interested.  

[00:11:11] Maddie Mitchell: That's a huge mistake that I think happens often, and when it comes to social media, of course, I mean, I even do it myself, where I feel like, you know, things have to be perfect. I have to post the perfect picture, the perfect video, the perfect everything. But people don't want that anymore. They want to see who you really are and your content does not, as an advisor, does not need to be perfect. If you have a video and your dog is barking in the background, don't edit it out. Leave it in. Or if your cat walks across the screen, you know, it makes things funny and it can showcase your personality a little bit and, you know, give an inside scoop into your life.  

[00:11:48] Lara Galloway: So you guys like, I just hear this, that you don't tolerate the phony and the fake anymore. That's just not going to play. And you're much more interested in connecting with people directly as a human. And that that's going to play in your decision.  

[00:12:03] Maddie Mitchell: Absolutely. And I think another thing that is huge as well is that advisors need to get away from these baby boomer driven models that they have. So we are also looking for that they are integrating digital tools into their practice and making things easy and efficient for us.  

[00:12:26] Lara Galloway: And what does that look like?  

[00:12:28] Maddie Mitchell: So, occasionally we might want to have a face-to-face meeting, but for the most part, I prefer virtual meetings because they're easier for my schedule. And I prefer webinars over in-person workshops. And I prefer to have an e-signature instead of printing out documents. And I've seen a lot of data as well that when it comes to personal financial advice, the data shows that we do want advice directly from an advisor. However, when it comes to things that can be automated, we do, we want technology and we want tech savvy tools. So it's important that advisors are aware of that and they're integrating those tools into their practice, even like if right now it's not super critical, if they're still servicing a lot of the baby boomers, but it's going to become more and more critical as they try to reach these younger generations.

[00:13:23] Lara Galloway: Well, and with, I think every time I do a podcast, I should always be saying the Great Wealth Transfer. I think I am. I'm probably batting about nine to ten, you know.  

[00:13:32] Maddie Mitchell: What is it, 68 trillion or something?  

[00:13:35] Lara Galloway: Yeah, exactly. Where is that money going to? You, right. I was talking to another one of our EMCs yesterday, and she was recently married, not too long, and she was saying that she grew up without any money, and there's not much to worry about as far as estate planning with her side of the family, but with her husband's family, they have a considerable amount of wealth, and she's freaking out because her husband's dad is like 85 and going through some serious health issues, and they have no idea what's happening with his money.

[00:14:07] Lara Galloway: He has one or two siblings and these kids don't know what's happening with the money. Why hasn't the advisor reached out to these kids and started talking to them? The man is, he's experiencing health issues, he's of a pretty advanced age, and his kids don't know what's happening. Chances are those kids are going to go find a financial advisor that they can relate to and retain that person, and they're going to get all that wealth transfer from,

[00:14:37] Maddie Mitchell: Yeah.  

[00:14:37] Lara Galloway: the boomer.  

[00:14:38] Maddie Mitchell: Absolutely. If they're not making that connection and reaching out and trying to bring them into the conversation...  

[00:14:44] Lara Galloway: Yeah.  

[00:14:45] Maddie Mitchell: They're not going to want to work with them.

[00:14:46] Lara Galloway: Yeah. That money will go straight out of your practice and into somebody else's, right? So, you know, you were talking about the adding in, so, I mean, a couple things I thought were great that you have to be online, you have to have a social media presence, you have to educate, you have to share some personal things, but also just that piece about learning to automate and digitalize those things in your practice that you can. And you know, so many of the resource partners we're working with now provide amazing software tools, platforms, that show beautiful, like demonstrations, really quick and easy demonstrations, of how annuities will play out if they put their money in a certain product, or how, you know, Asset-Map I love so much is one of our partners. They're, you know, showing you plug things in and you get a really great visual that can help understand, and you know, I know one of our another one, this is another thing that you and I have talked about is online reviews and I know how that is so important to you and, to me too, but definitely to the next gen investors as well. So can you speak a little bit about more of that online presence in terms of like the reviews and stuff that are critical for advisors?

[00:15:59] Maddie Mitchell: Yeah, absolutely. So of course we're all shopping online these days. Amazon is the number one online retailer. So we're shopping online for products, of course. And we're also shopping online for our services.  

[00:16:14] Lara Galloway: Absolutely.

[00:16:14] Maddie Mitchell: So, of course reviews are going to play into that. And when we're looking for products and services, that's how we're comparing. That's how we're, you know, if this looks the same, apples to apples to us, one advisor doesn't really look much different than another. Like we don't know the difference.  

[00:16:31] Lara Galloway: Right.

[00:16:31] Maddie Mitchell: So those reviews are going to really play into our decision-making process, and I think it's really going to be critical for them to take advantage of the new marketing rule if they haven't already. And I know there's some hesitation there because you know it's new! Not a lot of people are familiar with it, they're not sure, how do I approach this in a compliant way.

[00:16:58] Lara Galloway: Yeah.

[00:16:59] Lara Galloway: Well, and they haven't been allowed.  

[00:17:00] Maddie Mitchell: Right.  

[00:17:01] Lara Galloway: So the new SEC marketing rule made some big changes for people.  

[00:17:04] Maddie Mitchell: Yeah, and then they see people getting fined, it can be scary. I totally understand that. However, you don't have to be an expert and there's tools and resources available that can make the process really simple. I know, I think it was episode six we had Brian Thorpe on, who's the co-founder, or not the co-founder, he is the founder and CEO of WealthTender.

[00:17:24] Lara Galloway: I love Brian. I love WealthTender. I love their offering. It's such a great find in advisor service, but also, you're right, those, those reviews. They make them all compliant. I mean, yeah. You don't have to know how to do it yourself. They know how to do it.

[00:17:37] Maddie Mitchell: Right.  

[00:17:37] Lara Galloway: Yeah.  

[00:17:37] Maddie Mitchell: And if you haven't listened to that episode and you're interested in getting started and leveraging the power of testimonial marketing, I would say go back and listen because he shares a lot of great tips about how to do that compliantly and the steps you need to take.

[00:17:51] Lara Galloway: Yeah. Talk about credibility too. I mean, just the, you're so right I mean, my mom had to go see a neurologist for a bunch of migraines and stuff she's been having. She just got sick of it and, we all went online and started searching for neurologists. Now, that's not how we ultimately chose the neurologist because once we kind of understood there are different professions, there are different segmentations, like, you know, just like for financial advisors, some focus on retirement, some focus on wealth accumulation stage, some focus on the decumulation stage. So understanding, like that's what we're doing online, we're vetting people. And well, if they're getting poor reviews, we're certainly not calling them up.  

[00:18:29] Maddie Mitchell: Right.

[00:18:29] Lara Galloway: But we are going and looking at those reviews and if they get good reviews, okay, that's good. And then maybe now I'm going to start talking to some friends or calling people, making some appointments to decide which one I want to work with. So, I mean, we do that to go see a neurologist to deal with our brain, we're certainly going to do it to deal with somebody who is going to be helping us with our money.  

[00:18:49] Maddie Mitchell: Yeah, absolutely. Doctors, lawyers, any service provider, I'm always looking them up online. I think it's just part of our checklist now.

[00:18:57] Lara Galloway: I agree. I agree. And I, and again, I'm a lot older than you are and I do that too. So this is not, if advisors will listen to this, go in thinking, ah, nah, my not my people... Yeah, they are. Yeah, they are. Yeah. So I think it's, that's so great. So what else, I mean, we've covered a lot of ground here about how we can help these advisors think about the best ways to connect with next gen investors. Is there something else that you see advisors doing out there making a mistake that they should avoid?  

[00:19:26] Maddie Mitchell: Yeah, I think it comes back to, again, that authenticity and when it comes to social media, you don't need to be on every platform. And people, there's people out there right now that are saying, you need to be on TikTok. You need to start a TikTok. I don't care who you are. You have to start one to connect with the younger generation. Well, if you don't have the personality for that, and you're not comfortable behind the camera executing these little 30 second clips, don't get a TikTok. Because it's, you need to put your, your time and your resources into the platforms that are going to work well for you, and where you can be authentic and where you know, you're not trying to be something that you're not.  

[00:20:11] Lara Galloway: Facebook or no?  

[00:20:13] Maddie Mitchell: Yeah, I mean, Facebook, you can be on Facebook, if that works for you.  

[00:20:16] Lara Galloway: I mean, is that where you are? Is that where next gen investors are?  

[00:20:20] Maddie Mitchell: You know, there are some.  

[00:20:22] Lara Galloway: TikTok, but we're hearing...  

[00:20:24] Maddie Mitchell: That's another factor. You need to know who are you targeting? Are you trying to connect with Millennials? Well, I would say a lot of Gen Z are not present on Facebook. But Millennials? Absolutely. They still use Facebook heavily. They grew up with Facebook. So, yes. And then, you know, just, you have to do your research and know where your audience is.

[00:20:45] Lara Galloway: I would still think LinkedIn though, for everybody, like anybody, if you're looking for a business professional, no matter what generation you are, if you're looking for a business professional, are you not using LinkedIn to start vetting people there?  

[00:21:00] Maddie Mitchell: Yeah, I mean, I think LinkedIn, everyone should be on LinkedIn. I agree with that. So I guess I just said ...  

[00:21:04] Lara Galloway: That's a good one.  

[00:21:05] Maddie Mitchell: Yeah, that one, LinkedIn is the one exception, but...  

[00:21:08] Lara Galloway: Okay. Yeah.  

[00:21:09] Maddie Mitchell: And I think video content, if you're comfortable doing it, is huge because we know it gets like five times more engagement than a standard post. So if you want to reach a large audience and you don't have a ton of time to put into your content, videos are great for that.

[00:21:28] Lara Galloway: And how long should those videos be?  

[00:21:31] Maddie Mitchell: Quick.  

[00:21:31] Lara Galloway: Real quick. Define quick. I mean, be specific.  

[00:21:34] Maddie Mitchell: Under a minute?

[00:21:35] Lara Galloway: Yeah. Right. So if you're listening to this thinking, oh my God, I've got to shoot a 30 minute webinar, or a 10 minute video on something, not really, just pop in, turn on your iPhone or whatever camera you have, hit record, and talk about something that happened to one of your clients. Maybe you've got some next gen clients, or maybe you've got some boomers that you're talking to and maybe they finally brought in their family. Talk about that experience, right? And just give a one minute, like, just thought I'd share, this happened and it was really enlightening for me, I blah, blah, blah, I learned... so share what you learned in that, because wouldn't that resonate a bit more if they're like talking about an experience they had with some next gen investors?  

[00:22:17] Maddie Mitchell: Yes, absolutely. And don't be afraid to dumb things down. I know it feels like, you know, you need to be super professional and have this like buttoned up view, you're an expert... But you don't, you know, we know financial literacy is lacking greatly in America, so if you are using all this big terminology and industry language, we're not going to understand that and it's going to be harder to connect.  

[00:22:40] Lara Galloway: Yeah. Oh man, that's great. Well, thank you. I think you've given some really actionable tips for anybody that's trying to understand this generation that is quite different from the boomers that they may be very accustomed to working with. And I know the advisors I'm talking to are looking for these ways to build that bridge and it, it's not that hard. I think everything you've said is just bringing a bit more humanity into advising, right? I mean, I think that's kind of a good summary.

[00:23:07] Maddie Mitchell: Yeah.  

[00:23:08] Lara Galloway: Maybe that's not been a focus before, maybe with boomers, you've had to, you know, show true statistics that , you know, you can rely on this, you can take it to the bank, this is performance that I guarantee, or you don't guarantee, this is performance that I've seen and I think it's possible for you too. But you know, that's kind of just expected and now bringing that human side to the money decisions that you're doing.  

[00:23:33] Maddie Mitchell: Absolutely.

[00:23:34] Lara Galloway: Yeah. Awesome. Well, thank you Maddie. I sure appreciate you sharing this with us today. This has been an awesome interview.

[00:23:41] Maddie Mitchell: Yeah, thank you. And I do want to mention if this is a topic that those listening want to hear more about, we are hosting our annual Virtual Summit coming up here, it's going to be on June 7th from 1 to 5:30, 6 PM eastern time. And Julie Johnson, one of our speakers from XY Communication, will be talking more about this topic and specifically how to build trust with next gen investors, so it's going to be a great session and we'll be sure to link the sign up and the show notes, so just be on the lookout for that and for more updates if you're interested.

[00:24:16] Lara Galloway: I'm so glad you remembered to mention that cause I almost forgot. But yes, the Virtual Summit is going to be amazing and I got to hear Julie Johnson speak at the Shift Conference, which is all about the human side of money and building trust and being a financial guide, financial coach more, you know, these days, and her presentation was so great both on how advisors can better connect with women investors and with the next gen investors and build that trust. So I'm super looking forward to hearing her and all the amazing speakers we have lined up for the Virtual Summit. So I'm glad we'll link that so people can see what's coming up soon. Thank you, Maddie.

[00:24:52] Maddie Mitchell: You're forgetting one more question.  

[00:24:54] Lara Galloway: What? What is it?  

[00:24:55] Maddie Mitchell: You know it.

[00:24:55] Lara Galloway: Success! Oh my god, I got so distracted with the summit, so, okay. What's your definition of success?  

[00:25:01] Maddie Mitchell: I had to make sure we covered it because I was thinking about this last night, yes. I prepared for this. So this is what I was thinking about as I was trying to fall asleep last night and what I came up with is... success in my life,  

[00:25:15] Maddie Mitchell: I try to, it comes down to doing two things every day, and it's really simple. Doing one small or big thing to better myself personally, and one thing to better the life of someone else, which it could be as simple as giving someone a genuine compliment or calling up an old friend. And in my life, it could be as simple as reading a book or having a therapy session t o better my mental health. Just one thing every day, well, two things really, and I think sometimes we get caught up in these big goals we have for ourselves, and it can be discouraging sometimes. So I just challenge everyone to take a step back and look at it from a day-to-day basis, and what can you do now? What can you do immediately? What can you accomplish today?  

[00:25:59] Lara Galloway: This attaches so well to the conversation we just had. Like if you hear that like, again, advisors, a next gen investor isn't necessarily looking for giant goals and gains and huge, big picture things, but just help on how can I do the next best thing or one good thing a day that I get to feel good about. I love that.

[00:26:19] Maddie Mitchell: Absolutely.  

[00:26:20] Lara Galloway: Thank you for not letting me forget that.

[00:26:22] Maddie Mitchell: Keeping you in check, right?  

[00:26:24] Lara Galloway: Always! Behind the camera, in front of the wherever. Thanks so much, Maddie. I really appreciate you being my guest today.  

[00:26:30] Maddie Mitchell: Well, thank you for having me on.

[00:26:32] Aric Johnson: All right. I was actually just going to say, you know, she keeps us both in line and it's a beautiful thing.

[00:26:37] Lara Galloway: Yep.  

[00:26:37] Aric Johnson: I have a few comments and I actually have a question as well, because you hit on so many things and so many things are swirling around in my head. Everybody's heard the, the phrase past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. I think that's so ingrained in the culture for advisors that they take it very personally. I was, I was working internally with a broker dealer, coaching them on some things, trying to get them to do social media, and they were so gun shy because in the nineties, when email was first allowed, they got fined for doing something wrong. It was a $50,000 fine.

[00:27:08] Aric Johnson: Nothing to shake a stick at, but they, they were so stuck in that past, right. It doesn't mean that that's going to happen every time. If they don't adopt the, they're you know, they're just not going to move forward. I like to say, I think, Lara, you and I are both in this generation, I'm Gen X...tra grumpy is what I, what I tell my, my friends and kids.

[00:27:25] Maddie Mitchell: You guys don't have a cool nickname. That's why you forget it.  

[00:27:27] Lara Galloway: Yeah. I guess.  

[00:27:28] Aric Johnson: I just said I'm Gen X...tra grumpy. I mean, just...

[00:27:31] Lara Galloway: Extra grumpy!  

[00:27:32] Aric Johnson: Yeah. But you guys made online business stocking appropriate, right? That's what you guys do. You are really doing that research, like you said. And I, I think that that's what a lot of these advisors are missing. They're like, I, I don't want to put too much information out there. No, you really do. Because they want to get to know you before they know you.

[00:27:50] Lara Galloway: Yeah, they're highly educated investors.  

[00:27:52] Aric Johnson: Absolutely.  

[00:27:52] Lara Galloway: They're not coming in, not having any idea what they're doing. They're actually coming in highly educated. Yeah.  

[00:27:59] Aric Johnson: 100%. I can't agree more with that. And then my question to you, Maddie, is one of the things I think advisors are again, maybe not aware of is how powerful AI is. And, and I'm not going to get into Chat GPT too much, however that is the platform that most people know, right?  

[00:28:14] Maddie Mitchell: Yeah.

[00:28:14] Aric Johnson: But there are so many others that are out there, and it is absolutely very easy to ask an AI software, give me all the business information for this specific business, and they can ask it for positive and they can ask it for negative and it'll bring it all to them within 30 seconds. That's the kind of stuff that advisors need to know, because as these tools become more prolific, it's going to be much easier to weed out the ones that don't want to even have contact with and if you're not, don't have that online presence, you're done, you're gone. So all that to say, what, what are your thoughts as far as AI, your generation using it to be able to vet people?  

[00:28:50] Maddie Mitchell: Yeah, that's such a great point. And I will say that every single person that I know in my age group is already using AI. Whether it be for content purposes, for research, any aspect of their life, we've already started, you know, adopting those practices.  

[00:29:11] Aric Johnson: Yeah.  

[00:29:11] Maddie Mitchell: So it's such a great point, and I think that will only continue as these AI technologies adapt and new iterations come out of tools like Chat GPT they just get more and more intelligent, and I think you're right that people are going to start using it as a tool when they are vetting different products, services, online because it, it's just so efficient.

[00:29:34] Aric Johnson: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Well, all that to say just, I just want to back up what you guys already said, and I'm going to say it again before I end this, please attend the Virtual Summit. It's vitally important for your growth, the relationships are key, and without this knowledge, without, you know, the ability to do that or all these tips that you're going to get from the, the summit you're going to be left behind. And, and that's not a gloom and doom morning, it's just fact. It's just truth. So I hope that you guys have a huge attendance. So I thank you so much for the podcast today. Maddie, you're a fantastic guest. Of course. Lara, you're the boss. You did a great job and I appreciate everything you bring to the podcast. And our last thank you, of course, is to you the listening audience.

[00:30:12] Aric Johnson: Thank you so much for tuning in and listening to the FAST Podcast with Lara Galloway. If you have not subscribed to the podcast yet, please click the subscribe now button below. This way when Lara comes out with a new podcast, it'll show up directly on your listening device. And we humbly ask that you share this podcast, rate it and leave a review as this actually helps others find the show.

[00:30:28] Aric Johnson: And going beyond that, I said I'd ask you again, share this with an advisor that you know, maybe they're in your office or maybe they're just a good friend that you met at a conference one time. Let them know about the Virtual Summit. And the podcast, because y'all grow together, you know that you do business together and everybody can grow and and do better.

[00:30:44] Aric Johnson: Again, thank you so much for listening today. For everyone at White Glove, this is Aric Johnson reminding you to live your best day every day, and we'll see you next time.

[00:32:00] Voiceover: Have questions about the topics covered during the show? Visit our website at www.whiteglove.com or email us at info@whiteglove.com. Don’t forget to click the follow button to be notified when new episodes become available. The information covered and posted represents the views and opinions of the guests and does not necessarily represent the views and opinions of White Glove.

The content has been made available for informational and educational purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional investing advice. Always seek the advice of your financial advisor or other qualified financial services provider with any questions you may have regarding your investment planning.