nine years
I’m a day late writing this and I’m not going to lie, it’s a little weird to write this post here on the Daily Notes and not over on All About Your Benjamins, but these notes reflect who I am today and All About Your Benjamins is who I was in the past.
Yesterday, July 3rd, 2024, marked nine years for my firm, RLS Wealth. I still remember the morning of 2015, when I sat on my cousin’s patio in western Pennsylvania to check my email and saw an email from the state of Indiana saying that my firm’s registration was approved and that I could now conduct business as a financial advisor and owner of my own firm.
One of the happiest days of my life.
That version of me had no idea what was ahead of his Self and how much he’d grow not only as a professional and advisor but more so as a person. As I look back, I’m not so sure starting RLS Wealth was less about my professional growth and more about my personal growth. That’s not to say that I haven’t become a better advisor and business person over the last nine years because I have, and I’ve been fortunate enough to work with people that I genuinely care about and love.
The freedom to grow RLS Wealth at the speed I wanted, with the people I wanted, and the ability to try on different hats has allowed me to not only discover the idea of the authentic life, but find my own authentic life.
Over the last nine years in addition to growing RLS Wealth, I’ve:
I’ve wanted RLS Wealth to be a lifestyle practice.
I’ve wanted RLS Wealth to become a regional powerhouse—I even briefly changed my title to CEO.
I’ve wanted RLS Wealth to focus on entrepreneurs and create an awesome community for those entrepreneur clients.
I’ve helped launch an online community for financial advisors while running RLS Wealth.
I’ve wanted RLS Wealth to slowly grow to make sure I wouldn’t miss the boys growing up.
I’ve hired another advisor, only to learn at that time I didn’t want to manage other advisors—and I made the PERFECT hire if I wanted RLS Wealth to turn into a rocket ship.
I’ve helped that advisor launch his own firm to make sure he had the best chance to succeed given my change of heart–and succeed he has.
I’ve worked at a startup while running RLS Wealth, only to burn out, leading to a personal alignment of spirit, mind, and body that changed my personal and professional lives.
I’ve shifted my focus from traditional planning to life planning.
I've found my voice and unleashed a creative force I didn't know existed in me.
An Important Note: I say ‘I’ in all of this, but I’d be remiss to acknowledge the amazing individual who served as my Director of Operations for a majority of the years of RLS Wealth’s existence, Darlene–so technically the execution of all of this was ‘we’, while the vision to pursue was mine. Without Darlene I’m not sure I reach today’s version of my Self either–thank you, Darlene!
I’ve finally found my authentic professional Self that aligns with my authentic personal self, but I don’t believe that ever happens without starting RLS Wealth and going out on my own.
I don’t know what the next nine years (and the next, and the next…) will look like, but I do know it will be continuing to take care of my RLS Wealth family, doing more life planning, and helping more people find and live their authentic lives.
That’s the direction I’m heading, and all I can really do at this point is follow Michael Singer's lead, surrender to what the Universe and life bring, and trust that as long as I’m following my heart, listening to my intuition, and maintaining the alignment of my spirit, mind, and body, everything is going to flow to where I want it to.
To all of the clients of RLS Wealth reading this, thank you for allowing the last nine years to be such an amazing experience and allowing me to prove to you that you will always come first and my experiments second. I’m fortunate to have not a single client who makes me cringe or not want to answer the phone when I see their name on the caller ID–I know not every advisor can say this and it is a blessing.
It’s always fun to look back on what has been accomplished over the years, but I tend not to live in the past too long—the tough part for me is not focusing on the future too much. Instead, I want to appreciate where the last nine years have taken me and know where I want to head in the future, but prioritize enjoying the present moment, both personally and professionally.
It’ll be fun to see what next year’s note says on (or around) July 3rd.
See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,
JC
