Evan Fabricant is a financial advisor committed to helping his clients achieve their financial goals, whether planning for retirement or exploring efficient strategies to pass on their wealth to the next generation. Evan has been advising clients since 1997 and is passionate about forming genuine relationships and positively influencing individuals and their families.

As a firm believer in professional education, Evan holds several distinctions, including Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC), Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU), and Retirement Income Certified Professional (RICP). He is highly active in the Society of Financial Service Professionals (SFSP) and NAIFA, demonstrating his leadership by advocating for the industry's future and committing to legislative impact.

               

 

 

 

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: 

• [04:46] Evan Fabricant shares his backstory of growing up in the financial industry and the profound impact of familial support on overcoming challenges
• [13:21] The core values Evan learned from competitive golf that apply to financial advising
• [18:20] Evan talks about his current practice and the evolving financial advising industry
• [25:40] The importance of education in the financial services industry and Evan’s involvement with SFSP and NAIFA 
• [33:58] Leadership in the financial services industry: strategies and trends
• [38:47] Why seasoned financial advisors should mentor newcomers to drive industry success
• [42:46] Growing local chapters in the financial services industry
• [51:13] Tips for work-life balance 
• [55:03] The value of NAIFA and its impact on the industry

In this episode…

With the recent decline in financial service advisors, the industry is facing a labor crisis. How can industry professionals attract aspiring advisors and shape their careers?

From a young boy awed by his father’s role in the financial services industry to becoming an influential force within it, Evan Fabricant emphasizes the symbiotic relationship between personal and professional development. He highlights the significance of authenticity and maintaining a learner's mindset in mentoring young professionals for a sustainable future in the industry. Through active participation in industry associations and advocacy efforts, financial advisors can shape policies and programs crucial to practice development. Evan's story is a testament to resilience, the power of relationships, and his unwavering belief in the industry's future as shaped by dedicated professionals like him.

In this episode of Advisor Today, Chris Gandy and Suzanne Carawan sit down with financial advisor Evan Fabricant to discuss the impactful moments that shape a financial advisor's career. Evan shares how he got into the financial industry and the profound impact of familial support, the core values he learned from competitive golf that apply to the financial advising industry, the importance of education, his involvement with SFSP and NAIFA, and the value of mentoring aspiring advisors.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Chris Gandy on LinkedIn  
• Suzanne Carawan on LinkedIn 
• NAIFA  
• Evan Fabricant on LinkedIn  

Sponsor for this episode...

This episode is brought to you by the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, or NAIFA, the #1 association for producers in financial services.

At NAIFA, we enhance professional skills, promote ethical conduct, and advocate for legislative and regulatory environments.

By joining NAIFA, you gain access to a partnership that elevates your performance while providing greater purpose to your professional work. NAIFA members are happier, make more money, and stay in the business longer.

Get in touch with NAIFA and learn more about how to join NAIFA by visiting NAIFA.org.

Episode Transcript

Intro 0:02 

Welcome to NAIFA's Advisor Today podcast series, where we focus on how financial advisors work, live and give to their local communities and our greater financial services industry. Now, let's get started with the show.

Chris Gandy 0:20

Hi everyone in NAIFA land this is Chris Gandy, one of your co-hosts for advisors, today's podcasts, and I'm here with my wonderful other co-host, Suzanne Carawan. Hi, Suzanne.

Suzanne Carawan 0:30 

Hey, Chris, good to see you.

Chris Gandy 0:32 

It's good to see you. You're on a new computer today. So we'll see if we can get this done without any glitches. So we'll see. Suzanne, before we get to our esteemed guests today, can you share with us who would be our sponsor for today's packets?

Suzanne Carawan 0:47 

Sure, I'd love to so today's podcast is sponsored by Brookstone Financial, they are a new partner to NAIFA wonderful group. Our partner is Derek Gubala, we love working with him. And what we're doing is that they're an RIA boutique firm. And we are partnering up together to help on kind of do some best of breed, best practice sharing, etc. They've been a great support, you'll see them a congressional conference in just a couple of weeks. If you're joining us on Capitol Hill, May 20, and 21st. And you'll be able to meet Derek in person. And if not, they also have their own events. And we will see them also, they've got an upcoming event at the Gaylord National Harbor in September and we will be proud sponsors over there at Brookstone Financials event as well. And yeah, you can also see them on our member portal. They have a page there. And if you need to get in touch with them, we're happy to make that connection.

Chris Gandy 1:22 

So Suzanne, with no further ado, would you go ahead and introduce our guests for today?

Suzanne Carawan 1:46 

I would love to so I am so pumped to introduce everybody to introduce NAIFA nation, really because probably most people do not know Evan fabricant. And so Evan comes to us via the Society of Financial Service Professionals. But he is a rock star. And so internally, we call him Evan fabulous. So snick name is Evan fabulous. And you'll soon see why. But Evan thanks for being on the program. And I got to meet Evan in person when we were down at Richmond and NAIFA FSP did a joint that and we were delighted to be invited to come down and speak. So I've actually been able to shake hands with Mr. Evan Fabulous. So thanks for being on the program.

Evan Fabricant 2:29 

Can you call my wife and tell her what you just said? No, that's very kind of you. I feel like the bar is very high.

Suzanne Carawan 2:35 

It'll be recorded for posterity, it's there.

Evan Fabricant 2:37 

Oh my gosh. And you only met me one time. And Suzanne, and with full disclosure here, when we got the relationship started off, I was frustrated wanting to take some of the energy from SFSP and merge it into the local NAIFA Chapter. And it truly an honor to be here and years ago, I thought it would be a great idea for SFSP and NAIFA. To come together. I'm just sad that it didn't happen five or 10 years ago, but it's a great thing that it's taken place now. And I think the opportunities for Society of Financial Service Professionals NAIFA, and Life Happens to come together now is just truly an awesome thing. And I truly believe that NAIFA best days are joint organization, our best days are truly ahead of us, and not behind us. And there's a lot of work to do. And getting to know Chris through his podcast and watching his videos over the last several days, no one else is gonna be on with him. He's already laying a lot of groundwork that needs to be done and will be done. We just need to take his energy and create more disciples like Chris, and build up the local chapters and really get things rocking and rolling. It's truly an honor to be here. And I also just want to thank those people that came before us that laid the groundwork NAIFA, 100 years ago when NAIFA was established. So it's truly an honor to be here. And I appreciate your kind words. And I'm humbled by what you just shared. So thank you.

Chris Gandy 3:58 

Evan fabulous. All right, Evan so it's, it's you and I, we could pretend you're in your living room or a new deck. It is what it is. But we're going to have some conversation today. One, as we mentioned, the goal of this podcast is to uplift empower, and to inspire others around us. And it may be given tidbits that at the end of the day, they may be driving home might have came from an appointment employment another way they want to turn it on and they're like, yes, that's exactly what I needed. So with that being said, Suzanne has nicknamed you Evan Fabulous. So share with us a little bit about let's go back in time, how did you get into the industry? And tell us a little bit about your practice and what you do today? How long have you been in it?

Evan Fabricant 4:44 

Yeah. Well, as long as you so I've been doing this since 97, 98. And you know the fabulous part. I don't want to say there's nothing about me that's fabulous. You know the thing I would say if somebody says well what makes you fabulous I don't even know. Suzanne said it at that meeting. And I think what she was referring to it's not that me myself, am fabulous. I think it's what I'm willing to say when others voices are shaking. I'm willing to speak up and say, hey, we all need to go this way. When so many other people would rather just stay, as you said, sitting at home on your couch. People are sitting at home, most people don't want to get involved. They're waiting for somebody else to take action. So I'm very, very fortunate. I was very fortunate that I grew up right outside of New York City, in a town called New City, New York. I played competitive golf. My father has been in the financial services industry my whole life. He joined Connecticut General, back in the 70s. And he worked out of the Tarrytown, New York office. And then, Connecticut General ended up becoming Cigna. And then in the early to mid-80s, my dad felt it was time to join an organization where the products, Connecticut General was known for having great training. But my dad felt like he needed to broaden out the product offering. So we ended up going to Guardian Life Insurance Company. And his office was on Esquire Road, which was about two miles down the street from our house. And I am truly fortunate and blessed to be raised by two amazing people. Alan and Alan Fabricant, both with us today. My dad is 81, my mom is 79. And I had a role model that I could follow. And when I was a little boy, dinner table conversation was the financial services industry. And I remember being a little kid, my dad would take me on appointments. And he always wanted me to go into business with him. And he would always take me when it was time for him to go pick up a check. And he wanted to ingrain in me, he would say, okay, wait in the car. And then as I got older, he would say, okay, come on, in. And as I got older, it would be okay, you can come in the meeting, now you could sit at the table. And he would always take me when it was time to pick up a check. So back in the 80s, early 90s, 10,000, 15, 20, 30 $50,000 was a lot of money, he had one client who bought life insurance. And back in the 80s, you were able to take cash. And this guy's premium was right about $80,000. And my dad had $100 bills stacked in his home, in an office at home, he's like, look at all this. And I don't think that he was doing it to impress me, but he was doing it to impress upon me, the possibility of me going into the field. But little did I realize that a lot of times people get into business because they want to be wealthy and they want a great life. But I kind of did it reverse. I'm in the business now because I truly love what I do. And I got to play many rounds of golf as a kid, playing competitive golf. And now I really don't care to play golf. I love what we do so much. I'd rather be serving my clients. So kind of done it in reverse. But as I was saying, just so fortunate to have parents that advocated for me, being able to have a dad in the business as a role model, see the impact that he had on people's lives. So I knew growing up, I either wanted to play professional golf or I wanted to get in the financial services business. The one little hiccup for my dad, which didn't work to his favor, is I ended up going to Radford University in southwest Virginia. And I ended up on the golf team. Division One golf, my dad said to me, we were down in North Carolina. And this is really important to kind of get what Suzanne is saying, well, Evan fabulous is like I said, it's not that I'm fabulous. It's just I'm willing to do the things like you, Chris that most people are unwilling to do. And I remember being down in North Carolina and we were looking at schools. It was back in the day, when we didn't have the internet and they had the college books. I don't know if you remember those. The books were this thick of every college and university in America. And we were looking at the scores of the golf teams. And my dad was looking we were looking at UNC Greensboro and UNC Wilmington. I was looking at UNC Charlotte. I knew I wanted to be in the mid-Atlantic. And he saw Radford University up on the board. And he said Radford so he goes through his book, and he looks through he says, that's going to be a great fit for you. I go, thanks dad. And, yeah, I'm gonna want to go into school, not you. So he says, here's why. And this is what a lot of people don't know about me, is I had a learning disability as a child, and I probably still do. It's called dysgraphia. And I'm very visual. But when I hear something, I have a very hard time hearing it, if you show me a picture, it will be with me forever. It takes me longer to process what I hear versus the visual. So long story short, we drive up 77 after that golf tournament outside of Charlotte on the way home to New York and we toured Radford University. And I got to tell you, it's the most beautiful campus I had seen in the mountains overlooking the mountains. It's near Virginia Tech. And I refer to it I joke with friends of mine, I say our football team is undefeated bought in, and it is the University of southwest Virginia because Virginia Tech is nearby. We don't compete with Virginia Tech, not even close. But it's a smaller school. But the thing that I would say to people and we talk about success, Chris, and I know that you're a huge advocate of just one more turn one more turn just become 1% better. And I truly am fortunate and blessed that I grew up with a learning disability because it was having that disability that caused me to work that much harder. But also while my dad was working my mom was home taking care of my sister Jamie and I. And if it wasn't for the love and care of my mom fighting for me and advocating for me to get the IEP and the services I need, I wouldn't be here today. So just professionally having a dad, who was somebody I wanted to emulate having a mom who was a tiger, making sure I had what I needed. But the thing that didn't work out for my dad was the plan was for me to go back up to New York, and take over his practice, when I graduated from school, I met the second week of college, Tracy Triller, who is now my wife. And so I've been married, it'll be 25 years, June 26. And I met Tracy when I was 18 years of age. So being 48 years of age, being married to the same person for 25 years, meeting her when I was 18, I had the second good fortune were really good parents, the learning disability, and then being able to have somebody who gave me tremendous stability at a young age. And I truly am grateful for my parents and learning disability and for Tracy, because it allows me today to become the person I am today because I have the potential and I have the confidence because I know I've got the support at home. And I have the support of an awesome family. So that kind of gives you the backstory of how I got here. And my office is in Mechanicsville, I've made a lot of changes in the last couple of years of the way I run my business. But my office is five minutes from my home. And we have a tendency to evolve. And the thing that I've learned is, a lot of times we get into business, and then the business gets inside of us. So I got in it because of my dad. But now I can tell you story after story after story after story after story of the impacts that I've had on people's lives. And that to me is just, it's awesome to wake up every single day become better every day, and truly make a difference in people's lives. And a lot of times we don't see the seeds that we plant until 15, 20, 25 years down the road when we deliver the death claim when the child ends up going away to college, and you convince them to set up a 529 college savings plan. So that's my backstory, I'm extremely blessed to live in central Virginia, we have an awesome economy. And like I said, Chris, the best days of this industry, not for you and me because we can make more money for us. We're gonna do that as we serve more people. But I truly believe this industry needs guys like you and me to bring the energy and help people realize that it's not just about making a living. It's about allowing people to see the best inside of them. And we need to be able to mentor a coach them to the next level that helps.

Chris Gandy 12:25 

So Evan, let me rewind the tape. You skipped over this golf thing. So sometimes people will ask me, hey, what's your handicap in golf? And I'll say golf is my handicap is not very good at it. So with that in mind, share with us a little bit about the parallel. So why did you learn about this business from playing golf? And then doing the minutiae, being the ability to be at your best on command, but how do you relate some of the skill sets? Because there's a lot of people out there that are NAIFA members, they do play golf? Right? And so how do you utilize those skills? What are some of the things that you can share with us from playing golf at a very high level that's relative in golf that's makes you successful, they can make them successful in our business?

Evan Fabricant 13:21 

Great question. And when you bring that up, I go back to the learning disability, and I go back to my mom. And my mom always said, I knew we were going to be okay. Because as much as you struggled in school, you could spend hours and hours and hours hitting golf balls and practicing putting and practicing chipping. He says, I knew you'd be fine. If you just found what you were passionate about. I knew that you would be successful. And so the parallel between you could say any sport or golf is the passion for becoming better every single day. Now, golf is measurable. And you don't have any other teammates around. If you do play on a high school team, or you play in a college team, everybody's score counts. But when you're out there for four or four and a half hours, it's just you and your thoughts. The parallel I would give to this business is number one, dedication, this is with any sport, but I would say the dedication, and then the willingness to fail and the willingness it paralleling it to golf. When you're playing golf. It's not as if you're three holes in and you have a teammate right next to you going hey, why don't you take this shot? Or, hey, let me pass this off to you. Fortunately, and unfortunately about golf is it's you and your thoughts and you're out there by yourself. And so the same thing in our industry is you can be on a team in the financial services industry. But in many instances when you're driving out to that appointment, and you're thinking about self-positive self-talk or saying oh, this isn't going to work and why it's why this is gonna go badly. And I think we all have to visualize things before they happen. But there's tremendous parallels between golf In the financial services business, I've just been able to think being able to map it out. And I would also say, you have to do so much preparation before you go to meet with somebody. And if you're going to show up to somebody's home, if you're fumbling around trying to get all your stuff straight, and you walk in and you're not on your A game, they're going to see it, they're going to know it. So I would say golf in any sport, it's all about the preparation in advance. And that preparation, if you do the right things, the rest will take care of itself. And then when game day comes, or the day that you're on the golf course, all the preparation that you did prior is where it's going to show, you know, we all know, if we don't do the work up front, we're not going to perform our best on the court, in the boardroom at somebody's kitchen table. So there's tremendous parallels, but I would just say passion, dedication, discipline, but being able to fail, being able to have a bad day on the golf course and realize, you know, I get to come back the next day and work on it. So tremendous parallels, but just being able to think, and be with your own thoughts, especially in this business.

Suzanne Carawan 16:01 

So, you're really saying resiliency is what I'm hearing being resilient, right? Being able to come back and saying, Just do it again, let it go. Next.

Evan Fabricant 16:11 

Correct, it would just be the key to success is failing, we've got to fail as many times as we can, as quick as we can to get better. And Chris, I don't want to take this down a road where you may be going, which is about this business, too many people quit too soon. Or they just they don't believe in themselves. And that's a whole another thing about the preparation we need to do, not just running illustrations and running hypotheticals, but really becoming the best version of us. And it starts with doing the hard, hard work. And somebody could walk into an office and get hired and say, oh, first year, you're gonna make $100,000 oh, you're gonna make this, you're gonna make that, we know the success rate in this industry is unfortunately, very, very low. But it doesn't need to be that. And I believe that people need to work on themselves first, before they can be of service to other people. And people are focused so much on the exterior of oh, look at the nice car I have and look at my nice clothes and look at my handbag and look where I live. When we really in our line of work, we need to do the inner work, before people are willing to buy from us, people want to buy from people that they trust, and people that they look at saying, are they taking their own advice? And I didn't come up with that on my own. That's just the best people I've met in this industry and in business, have said, look, if you don't have your oxygen mask on first, you can save nobody. And that takes out a whole another conversation of what is put on your oxygen mask mean. But yeah, I have credit, golf to be part of the reason for my success. Absolutely. Answer that question.

Chris Gandy 17:47 

So, you got into the business. Tell us a little bit about your practice? How would it exist today? Are you doing assets under management? Are you primarily on the insurance side? Are you doing fee base plan? Like, share with us a little bit about your practice now? And then where do you see the practice going? And I'll ask this because I've asked it to numerous people on this call is with the integration of AI and a lot of the law changes that are happening, where do you see the industry going?

Evan Fabricant 18:20 

So to answer your question, we always have to be aware, it's not going to impact our business at all. And I'll explain why I'll come full circle on this thing. So this is a relationship is all about relationships. And the thing that I would say, and I listened to one of your podcasts, Chris, where you were talking, I think you were talking to a bunch of college students. And you had done an interview, maybe it was I think, was during the summer. And I had my general agent when I first got in the business, who's an active NAIFA member, Suzanne, you might know John Dooney. So John Dooney was my first general agent. And John Dooney said to me, he said, Evan, he said, you're going to be a new person for a very small amount of time. You're going to be a veteran, senior person for this much time. You got to pay your dues early. He says, so just understand that and he says, you're going to be the most underpaid for the first five years of your career. And then he says you're going to be grossly overpaid for the rest of your life. Well, when you're 22 years old, you can't see past this afternoon. I get what he's saying now, I get it. And when you plant the seeds, and you serve people, and you do it the right way, you can't help but have an abundant, bountiful harvest. And so when I was brand new, and I look back on my account, and I'll talk a little bit about some regrets. I have one of the it's a regret, but it's also I had to go through that to be where I am today. I mentioned earlier that my office is five minutes from my house, and I was fortunate to work with Wayne Cotton. He has the cotton coach, and I brought one You know, I started working with him in probably 2017 2018. And his whole thing is you got to be on profile. And when we're brand new, we have a tendency to reach out to everybody, we mess out to everybody. Hey, if they're breathing fog a mirror, you got to go see him. And at the time, that's what I did. But my market, Chris was going to be mom and dad, two kids, you know, both of them work and one of them stayed at home. But it was mom and dad kitchen table, two or three children, putting in basic life insurance, 529 plans and selling IRAs, I can show you my calendar, as I've got them, everything's color-coded. I can show you my planners for the last 27 years. And if you looked at that, you would say, oh, my gosh, but I look back, I made a huge amount of sacrifices. And I could tell you, if you tell me where were you in 1999, on January 27, I'll do is just pull up my calendars I've saved and that's more valuable to me than anything that in my journals. And I look back, it was mom and dad, two kids kitchen table, I'd have an appointment at four, six, and eight. And I was doing it three or four nights a week. And I got really good at it wrote a lot of lives. And so early on when somebody is young, that's the path I had to go to, and especially not being from Richmond, Virginia, being raised in New York and coming to Mechanicsville. I didn't have one gray hair, one gray hair in my head, I didn't have any bald which I'm starting to get bald. So I looked like I was 12 years old, who's going to trust me. So it took a tremendous amount of time to build that relationship. And I would say after about five or six or seven years, that's when things really began to click where people would say, Hey, I got a guy you got to meet. So it got easier. And then I probably transitioned into the business owner marketplace, your 5678. But I was still anybody who call me. Oh, that's great. We'd like to meet on Tuesday, Tuesday at 10. Or Thursday at two, you know what sounds best for you. And, and that's where my business was. But I also look at the clients that we're serving today. And I will tell you that many of the people that we're meeting with today, it's mainly our existing clients and their prestige, introductions from their people that they're dealing with. And to be able to work with somebody for 2025 years. Now those people that are retiring, those people are inheriting wealth from their parents and grandparents. So our marketplace right now would evolve from mom and dad to kids kitchen table at night, wholesale business owner market to where we specialize. We specialize in folks between the late 50s 60s, early 70s. So we felt focused on those people that are walking in our office that will hand us a Social Security statement, pension statement 401 K plan statements and say how am I going to live on this for the rest of my life. And that's where our area of specialty is? Why we've done that is, and I'm not going to say that if somebody's 25 years old, they shouldn't work the personal market. But what Wayne cotton had me do was we looked at our best 10 cases I had had in 2016, let's just say or 2017. And we figured out it was getting on profile. Who are they? What's the demographic? What's the income, where do they live. And we realize that my best clients were literally within five miles of my, where I live where I live workout, but a church. And so it was the people within the community that trusted me to help them with their financial needs. And so instead of trying to be all things to everybody, we just got really, really good at understanding the tax code for people that are getting close to retirement and helping them face the number one fear. And the number one fear that people have, is running out of money. And so the number one fear is running out of money. What's happening is people now are having to save for their own retirement through defined contribution plans was back a little long time ago, they'd have a pension. So now we're seeing our clients are inheriting huge 401k plans and IRAs from their clients, I'm sorry, from their parents, because the parents are afraid to spend the money. So we just gravitated to that marketplace. The one thing I would also say which some people will tell me not to do it, you know, you know your market, if they're not in their late 50s 60s 70s, you don't do it, you got to stay on profile. And I would respectfully disagree. Because if a client of mine asked me to sit down with their child with their adult child, I'm going to do it. I don't care if they have very little money. But I feel like there's some people who say I'm not going to spend my time doing it. And I'm not doing it because at some point they're gonna get their parents wealth. We do it because it's the right thing to do. So to answer your question, our market is late 50s 60s 70s. But we still have plenty of instances where we will work with people in their 20s and 30s.

Chris Gandy 24:30 

You hear so much about, there's less and less advisors in the business. When you when I first got in the business, we go to NAIFA meetings at launch and it'd be hundreds of NAIFA's members and hundreds of professional people to help other people look around now and there's less and there's less and there's less in the field. So the idea that you will take a meeting with those who will eventually become your clients, right, that generational wealth that moves on from one generation to the next generation. And retaining those assets as clients grow and evolve is super important. Talk to us a little bit about FSP. And kind of how you got involved in the societies and in how you got involved with NAIFA because obviously, they NAIFA and FSP now is connected as one and we're operating as such, and that brings, that gives us a great opportunity for us to connect. So share with us a little bit about how you get engaged with the society, which then either brought you to NAIFA or you are already a NAIFA member, I don't know the story. So tell us your story.

Evan Fabricant 25:40 

So for a lot of people, they want to get on here and not here. But you know, people want to put on their best foot. And the one thing that I think Suzanne and Suzanne, you know me a little bit, but not the full scope yet. And Chris you as well, is people enjoy people that are vulnerable people that will share their failures. And so I'm gonna bring this on here, I'll start I got involved with SFSP because John Dooney told me to get involved. He was my general agent. He says you got to get your CLU designation. Got to become a CLU. So I hold the record, self-proclaimed record as the longest student that got a designation, but it took them the longest amount of time to actually get the designation. So I was enrolled with the American College for a very, very long time before I got that CLU designation. And I'll tell you how I got to ChFC in a minute. But there was some failures that got me to that and everything happens for a reason. So I joined SFSP as a result of John Dooney. But what you said, Chris, you're 100% correct our membership, which I think that we can take this, and kind of put a bow on this and how we can serve and bring in the next generation as we go through this call. I got involved. And there were probably 150 members of SFSP, maybe 175. We had a lot of members, maybe 200. It was a lot in the early 2000s. And I got on the board, I liked being involved. And what we found is that people were, we did the SFSP, evening, where we would bring in a speaker, we would have entertainment, it was great. And the place was filled up for people. And year after year after year, it was going down, down, down, down, down to the point when our local chapter of SFSP merged with NAIFA, which I said was a blessing. We had maybe 45 members. So down from 200 in 20 years simply lost all the way down to 45. Members. And so I got involved with SFSP. And just over time, you know, you're the last guy standing there like Well, you haven't served, you haven't got up to serve on the board, but you haven't gone up the chairs. So I ended up becoming maybe was the treasurer and then the secretary then the President. Now the interesting thing is I finally got the CLU designation, I want to say in my 2013 or 2014. Because Dooney would say to me, how you doing on that how you doing on that? How you doing on that. And I didn't feel that it was fair for me to be the president of SFSP if I didn't have the designation, so part of what drove me was I got to have the designation, if I'm going to be the one out there, front and center, I got to be able to speak that, hey, it's important to have designations, I better have it. What would help me is the American College went from remember I mentioned that dysgraphia. So back in the day used to have to read a book, you'd have to read it. And there was no videos. And then when the American College made these vignettes with videos, boom, I got it, I was able to watch a video for each topic, and I was able to knock out the rest of the CLU designation. So that's how I got involved with SFSP. Now the interesting thing with the American College, do you remember Chris and Suzanne, back when the Department of Labor fiduciary rule was gonna go in and 2015 2016. You had to have a serious 65 to do manage money? Well, I had a six and 63 never set for the saving set for the series seven. Again, not a great student. So I was told by a gentleman by the name of Mark packet, he says, Evan, I asked him, I said, Are you going to get your series 65? He says I don't need to, how do you not need to? He says I have my ChFC designation. I said are you sure about that? Because you're my broker-dealer told me I could, are you sure about that? He goes yeah, I'm sure about that. So in the back of my mind, I'm thinking okay, if I have a hard time with the 65 I could always get my ChFC that's my backstop won't be an issue for me. I go take the series 65 Take the first test studied was getting at ease in my practice exam practice exams, but then had test fright go in there. And again, with the learning disability I learned I didn't have the extra time. So when I was in college, I had a their version of an IEP I was able to have extra time. Well that had expired, so I was not able to get extra time to take the test. So I go in and then after a while, everything just seemed to blur as I'm taking the exam. I push the button and like I had to a past I had to have gotten an A. This is probably 2015 I push the button. I get a 70, I failed by two, there's no way you 72 I take it again, I study really hard, I go back into three months, I push the button again after the second time, I had to have done better here, I get a 71. I'm thinking, whoa, I don't know if this business is for me. I'm telling you I need to go become a life insurance wholesaler, not to disparage life insurance wholesellers, I said, I just need to focus on selling life insurance. I can't worry about this investment thing because I can't get serious 65. They had never seen a grown man cry at the testing center, until I push the button and had a 71. I have just thought this, you got to be kidding me. I just thought this is going to be so embarrassing. And so ended up failing my first phone call as soon as I walked out of the testing center. Now this is in just to kind of paint the picture here is this is March of maybe 2015 had failed the second time. My first call was the American College. And I said what do I need to do to get my CHFC designation listed? Well, Mr. fabricate your three exams away. What do I need to do this and you need investment. You need this, you need this. I said, okay, so here's what I want to do, I want to sign up for the bundle. Well, you only have if you do the bundle, you have 90 days to knock this out. I said, Sign me up for the bundle, pass the investment course. And then it was too little elective. So I knew if I got through the investment course for the American College, which was easier than the series 65, I'd be absolutely fine. And so I ended up taking the three in the testing center, they saw me three times in like 38 days, because the first one I took 60 days. And it was like every week and a half I went in, got the ChFC. But why I share this is it was through sheer determination. And I am today a way better advisor. And I ended up getting our ICP behind that. And I don't say it to impress you at all. But it's to impress upon the fact that when we fail. A failure stepping back is a setup for future success. And it's one of the greatest failures I've ever had, which was the greatest thing ever had I not failed that sort of 65 two times, I would not be in that space where we just said the people late 50s 60s 70s I'd be half the advisor I am today, if I didn't have that failure. And that's how I'm passionate about this industry, because I believe advisors should get educated, they don't need to necessarily have a CLU ChFC. But they've got to take education serious, because you don't want to be in front of a client, tell him the wrong things. And then somebody like Chris, you or I walk in behind them and go, where'd you hear that from? So I'm passionate about Society of Financial Service Professionals. And then when we merged in or when we came together with NAIFA, this business has been so good to me, not from a financial standpoint that too, but it's allowed me to become the person I am today as a human, as a husband, as a father, as a leader in the community. If it was not for the financial services industry, I wouldn't be half the person I am today because of the situations I've been put into with clients. This has allowed me to be the common store. And without this industry, I would never have had the opportunity to be of service and make a huge difference in people's lives.

Chris Gandy 33:11 

So you mentioned leading from the front, right? So talk to us a little bit about, I mean, why can't I just be on the team? I mean, I'm on the team, I'm I come to the meetings I show up? I mean, there's a lot of people listening to this that they're saying, I want to their hand is in the back like this, it's not raising and jumping, jumping up saying hey, pick me. So why be in leadership? Why do that? I mean, it's, it's volunteer. I mean, come on. I mean, you know, you're not making money doing it. I mean, it takes time, energy and effort. I mean, what's the point in doing that? Why can't just sit on the sidelines?

Evan Fabricant 33:58 

I love your loaded question. So, here's the deal. I'm 48. And my dad, my parents were visiting a couple years back, my dad sitting in our backyard. And I like to have nice clean, nice manicured yard. My kids are playing in the backyard. And we had some friends over and my dad sitting in one of those Adirondack chairs, and he starts to cry. And I want to cry, tell them a story. And I said to him, I said, dad, why are you crying? He says, I'm so proud of you. He says, my dad passed away in his 50s he says I was in college when my dad died of a heart attack, massive heart attack. My grandfather, Jesse. He goes, my father never got to see me with you and your sister. And I get to sit here and watch your kids. He says I am the luckiest man to be able to see this. And when he did that, he started to cry. He cried one other time I saw him cry. And that was when 911 happened because he grew up in New York City and I grew up in Brooklyn, and that's where we're from. But that was the second time I ever saw him cry. And it was tears of joy. And so if my grandfather passed away in his 50s, I'm 48, and I'm lucky enough to live as long as my father was 81, I have fewer years, and Suzanne, I might have mentioned this at the meeting, I have less years in front of me than I do behind me. And the greatest joy that I get is not going out and doing something for me. But it's by serving other people, I get the greatest joy and I enjoy doing things for my family and for me, but to be able to see you motivate people and make people's lives better because of the energy and experience and wisdom we have. It's absolutely awesome. So I feel like we have a responsibility. And we live in a culture, especially coming out of COVID where the deep professionalization of society has happened. You walk down the street, I'm not judging people, but based on what they're wearing. Not at all. But think about people that you know, five, 10, 15, 20 years ago, not everybody, but many. They just don't have that same level of self-care, the same level of showing up the way they used to, they're just mailing it in. I was in a swimming by kids swim competitively. A good friend of mine said to me, he says, oh, hadn't seen him in a while. He says, hey, how's business going? You just coasting. His name's Toller cross, I said, No Toller. I'm not just coasting. I said, I'm pedaling harder now smarter. And I'm pedaling harder now than I did when I was 22 years old. I said, because I truly love what I do, and the impact of what I've done to this point, with the experience and wisdom I have, I can do way more in the next 20 years than I did. I could do more in the next year than I did in my first 10. If you know what I'm saying I don't even mean from a productivity standpoint, just impacting people's lives. But going back to your question, Chris of why what I would say to people is, somebody came before you, and somebody took a NAIFA membership, somebody took an SFSP membership, somebody lobbied on Capitol Hill, so life insurance, cash value can still be tax-free. Somebody laid the foundation before, so why not? So the reality is, if not me, then who? How many times have we all been in a meeting, and we all know what the right thing to say is that everybody's just sitting on their hands, they don't want to be the one that speaks up. And oh, they said that I can't believe they said that. I think we need to live in a culture where people are mutually respectful of one another. But they're not afraid to respectfully speak up, if it's for the good of the group, and not worry about the repercussions not in a negative way. But if it's for the good of the group. The other thing is, at the end of the day, people want strong communities, which now we're going to come back into where I think we can have huge impact. So if not me, then who, and then also NAIFA does amazing work on the national level, the lobbying the state, so NAIFA's a little different than SFSP, you've got national, you've got state, you got local. And from what I can gather, this is not a knock on NAIFA. This is just just pointing out what I see. And that is that a lot of these local chapters have struggled over the last five 10 15 20 years where they've just folded up. And I believe it needs to be inside out for this organization to work from the bottom up. And I think we have a responsibility to make sure that we have strong local chapters. And it's going to be from those strong local chapters that we'll then bring in the next generation of financial advisors. And another thing, Chris, on this and I know you were active with your chapter, Chris, are you still active in your local chapters, you go to the local meetings?

Chris Gandy 38:41 

I do I still participate. I participate with the state and the local, both here.

Evan Fabricant 38:47 

Yeah, and it's so you see it, and it's, that's where the real work happens. But if we look at it now, kind of close on this, and then just turn it back over to you. And I want to hear a little more from you, Chris, on your thoughts and how we grow the local chapters. But if we look at it, the average age of an advisor in this industry, and the industry is completely flawed. And so not all of it, a lot of it, which is the success rate in this business. If we put 100 people and sign them up to either go to an IMO or join a career agency system, the success rate after a year is gonna be about 70 to 80%. The following year, industry, this is just an average I'm not there might be firms that do way better, and there are, but after about that, you'll have about 10% of the people left. And from when I first got in the business, I think there's one person still left that I know maybe there's two but you get the point there's not there's not many, but to me, what doesn't make any sense is if you take an advisor who's 55, 60, 50, 70 They're sitting on a huge book of business. So let's just say I own a restaurant, and I'm a proprietor, so let's do we could use Chick-fil-A, for example. But I'm a proprietor for Chick-fil-A and my restaurant is completely full. Why would we create another restaurant, when I can't serve the people that are sitting in my restaurant now. And I think our industry, the example I would give is, our industry wants to bring people in, establish them, have them create their own restaurants. But yet, there's restaurant tours that already have people sitting down to the seats, and they can't serve. So I would love to see a culture in our industry, of taking the advisors that maybe haven't teamed up, or trying to do it themselves to say I have all these clients that I'm neglecting, I can't get to them all. How do I bring in and properly train, not that they have to bring in 50 or 100 people themselves and do like their field of 100, where they list all the people they know. But what if we could partner up, people come in in the business and say, okay, you're going to be with this agent, they're going to mentor you, that's going to take time, but they can interview him, or they could say you worked for the agency for six months, and then we bring you up. But there are so many agents and advisors that have been in this business for so long, that they're not serving the people that are sitting in the seats in the restaurant. And the agencies want to send these people out to bring in everybody they know where the success rate would be way higher. If an advisor who's got 1000 clients can bring somebody in and help them serve and take care of the people that are in their book of business. Because it would do Ken would multiple Go ahead, Suzanne.

Suzanne Carawan 41:23 

I was gonna say and ostensibly train them better, and then actually learn how to take proper care of them. I mean, doctors do it. That's how law firms work. Right? That's exactly how those models work is it is strange. I like your analogy to Chick-fil-A, why do we keep building new restaurants? Right, when there's still more people to be served?

Evan Fabricant 41:42 

Yeah. And what I mean by that is not that they could still get in the restaurant business. But don't send them out there to the wolves to say, well, we're going to throw you out there and see if you survive, and then we'll bring you in. And I've got a young man, his name's Adam Donahoe. He's great. He's 30 years old, he was in the business for five years in business six years. Fortunately, he's been with me for a few years, he's received from us what he needed to be able to survive, not that he wasn't getting good training where he was. But because of the sacrifice my office made for him, he's still here, he's gonna be here for the rest of his career. So Chris, I'm going to turn it back to you kind of get your thoughts on how to we as, and we're also we have tons of SFSP chapters, that it would be great to merge them in with NAIFA. But how do we, in your mind, grow the local chapters? And how do we build it from the ground floor up so these young people that are coming out of college have a chance to survive in this industry, and the next generation has a place to land?

Chris Gandy 42:41 

If you're asking me my opinion, I will happen...

Evan Fabricant 42:44 

I am, absolutely.

Chris Gandy 42:45 

I think there's three major things that we collectively need to do. One is we need to make sure the societies are part of the career curriculum of the finance committees at the universities. One, because they don't know who we are. When we say NAIFA, you know, they're like, Okay, who's that again? You know, there's historically there's probably 20 colleges with curriculums and financial planning. And they promote the CFP, but don't promote the association, which is little bass backwards. Right, and so, the idea of one getting them in early two is our collective mentors have got a leg go to grow, they're still holding on to every piece of the business and I'm gonna die with this thing, or, you know, whatever it may be, but we all know that there is no succession in our business because our families unless they're already licensed, can inherit the renewals and or the business itself and continue to make. So at the end of the day, the dream died, we do most of the time when it's just, it's not a historical. It's like an athlete who spends too much money. It's like, okay, that's the default, like, like, there's that. And then last, but not least, is you're right, there needs to be a career system, the way it was built, was built on a volume play. I believe the way it should be built going forward, is it should be built, investing that same money that they were investing into the career system into organizations that are functional, and actually work and they're successful. And that should be kind of the mentoring platform for young advisors, like I've said it in my office like an advisor has to earn the stripes. At the end of the day like who are you advising you don't can advise anybody you have any clients. So when you first get in and you're a advisor, you're in development. You know, you're one you're a freshman our coaches just tell us, the best thing about freshmen is one day you will be a sophomore. He said why best thing about being a software is one day you will be an upperclassman. So the idea would be one, you bring them in, and you teach them the fundamentals of insurance and building a business. Right? So, just because you sell insurance doesn't mean you have an insurance business, right? So teaching them the fundamentals of that, then teaching them the fundamentals of planning along the way, without them having to starve to death. Got it. And then last, but not least, is if they have the ability to fly on their own, then great, but it some people, let's call it what it is. There's a lot of people in our business that should not fly on their own. And they should be with a another advisor or another professional, working connectedly as a team, because at the end of the day, see, the industry is backwards is that we tell everybody come in the industry, you're going to be a super solo, you're going to be the highest score ever on the team. Guess what? You're the next Kobe Bryant. That's not how it works. Right? Is that how it works? Right, there are those select few and I will say the select few that have the capability of really building a business and selling insurance and investments and creating a model to do so. And so I believe that if you ask me, if you ask me, I think I think in an integrating that connection with you stand for something or fall for anything, our coach used to say that, you know, we stand for something, you'll fall for anything. And my mom says it too. And I'm kind of like, Why did I keep hearing the same thing, but if you're a part of our organization, you're away from it. That's the deal. Right? You can't go to Illinois, I went to University of Illinois can't go in where Michigan shorts underneath? And they're like, no, that's not how it works. You put on Illinois jersey, you have Illinois shorts on underneath, like you bleed orange and blue. That's the deal. You need to believe in this. If you don't believe in it, you may be talented enough, but you just can't play for this team, you can't represent this team jerseys bigger than you. And I think that's where we have to go. Now, how do we do it with NAIFA? is we need to really need strong leaders, we need to have strong leaders on a local level period, who's willing to actually say, which Susanna knows this about me is I actually took my board I went around the table, when I went through the chairs, like you said, and what I did was along the way, I saw people that would say, Yeah, I'll recruit people. But then at the end of the day, when you say, Okay, how many did you actually recruit? They're like, well, there's always some reason why. So someone willing to actually do, not saying you do what I did. But I went around the table, and I simply said, I'm counting on you for five people this year. Are you willing to do that? Yes or no, you're not willing to do that. It's okay, we'll put you on another committee. But we cannot have you sitting in a leadership position. Because at the end of the day, that's who the other people are going to look like. And that's what they're going to mimic. So I got a yes from everybody. And at the end of the day, that was probably our strongest year of recruitment for Chicagoland, which I think we were plus 40 something that year, year over year. And they're like, Well, that was luck and about, kind of, but it's just going back to the basics, right? And the fundamentals of the business, which was, you're not here, unless someone else is here before you, is simple, and bring somebody else with you along the way. Right. And if you decide to raise your hand into lead, leaders just don't do what's natural leaders do the things that are asked. So if you tell them exactly what you want from them, you will be able to recruit, train and develop wonderful people and have amazing partners along the way, who have strong locals that then can put on great programs can actually attract others because people want to be part of a successful thing. And so it won't look as fragmented, if not all of them look fragmented, are really strong chapters. And there are sort of some smaller chapters that do really well. But the idea that the assembly, your coach has to tell you, hey, the assembly, don't miss the assembly. Don't miss practice, because that's where all the good things happen. And so we really need to do that to grow. We need people to step up and be leaders. I mean, that's me, speaking from the balcony. But I think that's necessary for us to Excel into the future. If not, then we can sit on the sidelines and see what happens. But I'm not for doing that either. Because I want to play, give me the ball in the last minute. You want to be in the game.

Evan Fabricant 42:45 

Can I ask, Chris, can I ask you a question? So the thing that I would say is, you know, I mentioned earlier on the call that you're a man of all seasons, I mean, your depth of knowledge of all the different topics is extremely impressive. When it comes to the legislation when it comes to the issues with younger advisors, like we just discussed, and I heard one of the podcasts, you outwork everybody. And your philosophy is outwork everybody and I'm the same way, I've learned how were people smarter than the way I used to work. But how do you because it's amazing, you know, you're so involved with NAIFA you're involved with your local chapter. You're running an organization and recruiting and training and going on meetings. How do you find balance? How does a guy like you that we see the end result which is your Rockstar? But behind the scenes if we were to follow you around with a video camera from sunup to sundown, or while you're up, what makes you tick and what unique things do you do every single day that differentiates you that 1% every single day? So what are some habits and routines and rituals that you do that makes Chris Gandy Chris Gandy we don't see when the lights come on.

Chris Gandy 50:42 

You mean, what goes on behind the scenes when no one else is paying attention?

Evan Fabricant 50:45 

You got it. What are some rituals, habits, routines that you do to have you show up with a million-dollar smile, because you everything you've done, you don't play at Illinois, and you don't become a success you are just by happenstance, you've done the work. So you're an impressive guy. What happens when the cameras are off? How do you do what you do? What are some habits, routines that you would advocate for younger people and just for everybody, in general to be the best they can be?

Chris Gandy 51:13 

Of course. Well, I'll share a little couple things that I do is I'm very disciplined on the little things. Right? So I'm up early, because they all know, hey, we know we looked at Chris's Instagram, white peach actually boxing what is going on, and they're like, inspired to go do something crazy and say, I'm gonna try something different, right? That's not my cup of tea. It's not what I did. But I saw someone doing it. I'm like, okay, I'm in as good a shape as him if they can do it, I can do it. Right. And I've always, when I was growing up, I've always said, and even playing sports, if they could do it, I could do it. So I would watch someone do a play, I would watch them do a move. And I'm like, oh, that's a good move that go practice it. So I can do it just as good as they can do it. Right. And so, for me, it's a couple of things. It's being up early, because that's the only time I really get to myself. Right? And actually being focused on the little things on a day-to-day basis. Like, I still don't know if I still have I do in my office somewhere. But I still have my blue book. Yeah, I don't know what group you're with. But in NML, we used to have our blue book, which was like our calendar, and he would look at the numbers and you would stare at the numbers and you try to figure out the ratios and all that fun stuff. I still like doing it. Those are the things that drive the behavior. If you drive the behavior, it usually gives you the results. What is it with NAIFA is no one else is doing it. The NAIFA relationship is simple for me. It's like, if no one else is willing to do it, get out of the way. Let's go right, I'll inspire you to do it. And you and you and you and you and you and you and guess what, because you want to be a part of what we're doing. And it's, I've always said this, and I truly believe this is that passion is contagious. And it brings a level of momentum towards whatever we're doing, how many clients Evan have you talked to you where you leave the meeting? And they're like, oh, no, I have an SL sounds great. But whatever Evans said, that's what we're doing. Right? And they're like, happens all the time, right? I mean, people come in here, and you're like, okay, here's what I want to do. And by the time they leave, they're like, they want to run through walls. And I'm like, like, you should want to Roth IRA like, oh, oh, they're like, no, no, no, we're gonna go, we're gonna build this legacy, and it's gonna outlive me, it's gonna be the greatest thing ever. And we're just gonna go, let's go. Right? So how do you get that is you really got to find out what's driven you into the business and really the why you stay in the business. And that is really literally our organization is called the Legacy Group. Right? Why? Because you leave the world a little better, a little better. You found it you know, our hashtag right now is your dream, your legacy, your dream, our team, that is it. Right? So simple stuff. You know, that really keeps people motivated, really locked in on the goals and in what we're going. And I think NAIFA has the opportunity to do the same thing. But Evan, you and I both know, no one else steps up, then there'll be people left behind. And at the end of the day, we're not leaving anybody on the battlefield. They're going with us, right? And if they can't be there, we're going to pick them up along the way. And we're going to take them with us and we're going to allow the world to see what we see through the rose-colored glasses is great. And so until I take my last breath, that's going to be my legacy, whatever that may be is a literally the world a little bit and we found that this little bigger than Chris Gandy, the disciplines are necessary for us to excel, and you can't lead from the back. Yeah, you got to stand up there and you got to lead from the front. At the end of the day, you got to inspire others. do the same and take them with you to somebody did it for you?

Evan Fabricant 55:03 

Well, it's you bring up the thing about the blue book, I still have it. So I'm with MML Investors Services. So I've been with MML, I was with New England Financial with Dooney. And then in 2003, went over to MML. And I've been with MML since, but it's it. Suzanne said, she says you guys are two brothers from another mother. She said, when we spoke on Thursday wasn't Suzanne, the name of my doing business as his legacy partners. And so your legacy partners MML. And everything that you're saying and everything that you're doing exact same religion, we're not gonna leave anybody behind. And you brought up the thing about Chris, whenever you say, I want the Roth IRA, I want to do this, I want to do that. And we'll have people walk in, and I'll kind of lay it out like, okay, that's what I want to do. I said, Well, I hear you, but just don't tell him relax. But I just said, let's Kirby enthusiasm. I said, I hear you. Most people would want paperwork right now. So we're not going to do that. I said, I want to make sure that if you're at a cocktail party, you can explain why we did what we did. And I'm not going to take for granted that you came in here either you're an existing client, or you came in here as a prestige introduction, you're going to go through the same education process everybody else does, we're not going to skip a step in the process. And so everything you're saying, Chris, totally my religion. And yeah, I mean, we're not gonna leave anybody there. And we actually have our planning meeting tomorrow for the Richmond chapter. And so what's funny is about half the people in the room are going to be former SFSP leaders, coming together with some NAIFA folks. And I am truly excited about the partnership and becoming one with NAIFA. Because NAIFA's doing something that SFSP didn't, which is the lobbying side, and with what just took place with the Department of Labor, fiduciary rule, whether people agree or disagree, and I don't think it's as bad as it could have been. But that's just the beginning. And we can talk offline about some of the stuff that was in Biden's tax proposal, just the language that they're using inside of that is not healthy. It's very divisive. And the language that needs to be used by the administration, any administration and needs to be used by us is bringing people together and collaborative. And I think this should be the rallying cry at this stage of what's going on. And where we come together now of SFSP, Life Happens and NAIFA, coming together as one, and this is the moment where we become really, really strong. Because if we don't 10, 15, 20 years from now, their stuff that's going to get pushed through that first and foremost is going to adversely impact our clients and our ability to do our job less about us and more about the clients. Clients are going to suffer and it'll roll downhill to us if we're not active. And I know that there were Suzanne, how many people are signed up to go to Washington as of now? That's 600. Yep. 600 folks already going. Is there room for one more?

Suzanne Carawan 57:46 

Yes, please. Come on. Absolutely. There's always room.

Chris Gandy 57:49 

Oh, no. Oh, Suzanne. There's not there's only room Evan, if you bring someone. So that is works. Okay, so short. AAA. That's right.

Evan Fabricant 58:00 

You bring us up, consummate, you're, you're the consummate guy. I mean that you're exactly what I was telling my wife. I said, I'm doing this call. And I told her I said, well, that's what I need you to call my wife is what we call them this. But I was telling her about getting involved with NAIFA. And I said, Well, she goes well, how is it different? And I said, Well, they do lobbying and they go up to Capitol Hill. She goes, are you going? No, I got a lot going on. And we're going away in June. She says, I was telling that she teaches with these other young ladies. She says I was telling him about the chance you had to go to the Capitol. They thought, is he a fool? Why is he not going he can make a difference and to be able to go behind the scenes? Why not? So you have my publicly on record. I will be there. The last week of May I will go and I will bring somebody with me.

Suzanne Carawan 58:48 

Fantastic. So passion is contagious. That's why we call him Evan. Fabulous. So Chris, we got to move to the lightning round. And see what he's got here. Suzanne. Yeah. Now you don't get away with Chris, do you have time for the lightning round? Are we gonna let him get away? 

Chris Gandy 59:04 

No, no, do the lightning round spot. You're muted, Chris. Evan before we get done, I'm going to show you a super powerful. I don't know if we can do this Suzanne, I'm going to send I'm going to show I don't know if we can share this. I'm going to show you a picture. I'm gonna show you a powerful picture. And again, your goal is to do the same thing, right. So if I can do it, you can do it. Trust me. Don't ask me to hit a three-point shot. No. This one's a good point. So we'll start the lightning round. And, Suzanne, I'm going to send you something I don't know if you can actually pull it up on screen or not, but I'm going to send you something.

Suzanne Carawan 59:40 

Should be able to, all right.

Chris Gandy 59:43 

Evan, if you've seen any of the podcasts, you'll know that we want to get to know you offline a little bit and so I'm asking you some questions as if we're sitting in your backyard or we're on the ninth hole and you people want to get to know you a little bit. All right. So, Evan, question for you. What was your best game of golf you've ever played?

Evan Fabricant 1:00:12 

66 out of 66 and I was 14 years of age. I peaked at 14, 15.

Chris Gandy 1:00:23 

66. Now I don't have a point of reference, but I'm assuming that's good. Right, Suzanne?

Suzanne Carawan 1:00:30 

That's pretty darn good. Yeah.

Evan Fabricant 1:00:34 

That was like with my dad and some other folks best competitive round 68

Chris Gandy 1:00:40 

Have you ever had a hole in one.

Evan Fabricant 1:00:42 

Have not. Really interesting. Many eagles, but no holes and one.

Chris Gandy 1:00:48 

Holes and ones. Alright, so now let's get after so. So Evan, talk to me a little bit about your favorite sport.

Evan Fabricant 1:00:56 

A favorite sport? To watch or to participate in? Both? So I will tell you, my children are now doing competitive swimming. I would say swimming. Well for your I love basketball watching. But I do enjoy basketball but I will competitive swimming is awesome. Watching the high schoolers in the youth swim to me and watch them improve. So for me, I'm passionate about swimming.

Chris Gandy 1:01:32 

Evan, your favorite food?

Evan Fabricant 1:01:34 

Sushi.

Chris Gandy 1:01:35 

What kind?

Evan Fabricant 1:01:41 

I would say probably the ideal role. Like you will roll something outdated. And my wife doesn't really care for it. If you've ever had the little piece, Chris have you eaten sushi before. Suzanne. Yeah. The little fish eggs, little orange fish eggs. Around my favorite. It's different.

Chris Gandy 1:02:07 

If your friends were sitting around and they described you how would they describe you have no one word?

Evan Fabricant 1:02:11 

Authentic.

Suzanne Carawan 1:02:14 

Didn't even hesitate. Oh, authentic? It dropped that one. Yeah, no problem.

Chris Gandy 1:02:19 

Evan what's your proudest moment in this business? So far.

Evan Fabricant 1:02:30 

So it's a conglomeration of a period of time. So from July 2 2023, to November 6 2023, I had seven clients between the ages of 42 and 53, passed away. Being able to be there for those families to deliver death claims was, I would say the proudest period. And the last one of those passes was a good friend of mine, who was 52 years old. Left behind a 17-year-old and 14-year-old, a 14-year-old is currently with my son at school. And because of the work that we did, she's going to be okay, financially, girls are going to be taken care of, they're going to be able to go away to colleges and universities. And she doesn't have to worry about her finances. And so part of my enthusiasm, which is part of why, Suzanne, you might have asked me to do this today, I have such belief from what we do. I will tell you that period of time, from July to November was extremely stressful. But when the smoke cleared, and we saw the impact we had on people's lives from seeds planted from decades ago. That's the proudest I've ever been about being in this business.

Chris Gandy 1:03:42 

Last question for you, you could go back and have dinner with anybody in time. Anybody? Who would you go back and have dinner with him?

Evan Fabricant 1:03:53 

I'm gonna make them to his one. So it would be my grandfather's. My dad when he was sitting in my backyard. And he started to cry over what he was able to see. And his father was not. I would love to go to dinner with my grandpa Jesse, who is on my dad's side. And my grandfather Edie who I never got to meet on my mom's side. I would love to have dinner with those two men to learn more about who they were. And then who they were then formed who my parents became.

Chris Gandy 1:04:32 

All right, Evan, Mr. Fabulous. So good to see you. Thank you so much for being on the Advisor Today podcasts. Do you have anything for NAIFA nation FSP and NAIFA nation? Do you have anything for the advisors out there listening to you today as we wrap up?

Evan Fabricant 1:04:50 

I would just say to the members of NAIFA and SFSP if not you then who? Why not you and NAIFA in our industry is best days have to be, and they truly are in front of us, not behind us. And it's going to happen because of the work and efforts that every single person that's a member is going to do to make their community, this industry in our nation stronger.

Chris Gandy 1:05:17 

Thank you, Evan. Suzanne.

Suzanne Carawan 1:05:19 

Yep. We're introducing the Chris Gandy photo challenge that we're doing, Chris.

Chris Gandy 1:05:25 

Yeah. So Evan, I have some for you, since you're bringing a guest, to you know what, that's it. That was in a hearing meeting, that now that is what you call, once in a lifetime opportunity, right. And so I wanted to share that with you, because I wanted to tell you, if I could do it, you can do it. Right. And this is why you're going to DC so that you one day we're going to need to be and part of that was the finance committee. So you know they're passing the rules and laws. And we were there representing NAIFA as we got a chance to do that, collectively as a group. So those out there who would love to opportunity to do that step up. You got to lead from the front. Thank you so much for tuning into Advisor Today podcast. And thank you so much when we uplift, we empower and we try to make the world a better place collectively for all of us. Thank you for tuning into today's podcast. And we'll see you around.

Outro 1:06:31 

Thanks for joining us for NAIFA's Advisor Today podcast series. Make sure to subscribe to get future episodes. And if you're interested in coming on the show, let us know.