How To Incorporate Cultural Diversity in the Financial Services Industry With Rith Nou

Rith Nou offers her clients products to help meet different insurance and financial needs including college funding, retirement, managing costs for extended care, and income strategies.

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

Rith Nou shares how she got involved in the financial services industry
The struggles Rith had to overcome as a financial advisor
Time management tips to help brands thrive
How Rith incorporates different cultures into the market
Rith talks about her vision for a business opportunity she’s currently developing
The journey of becoming a NAIFA member and its importance
Rith shares why students should consider a career as a financial advisor — and the impact the industry has on future generations

In this episode…

Are you a young financial advisor trying to succeed in the market? Maybe you’re working tirelessly, but feel like you haven’t made the progress you were hoping to at the current stage of your career. When challenges arise, you can either be overtaken by obstacles or find innovative solutions. What practical solutions can you implement to ensure your business thrives in the face of opposition?

Being a financial advisor is challenging — and even tougher for immigrants. Familiar with the adversity immigrants face, Rith Nou, a financial advisor, recommends networking, meeting other successful advisors, and having open conversations while genuinely asking the right questions to help you. She now shares how her background helping immigrants led to a successful career in the financial services industry.

On this episode of Advisor Today, Chris Gandy and Suzanne Carawan sit down with Rith Nou to discuss how to thrive in the financial services industry. Rith shares the struggles she had to overcome as a financial advisor, time management tips, how she incorporates different cultures in the market, and the impact the industry has on future generations.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

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

Everyone, this is Chris Gandy from Advisor Today's podcast with my wonderful c-host Suzanne Carawan. Suzanne, how are you?

Suzanne Carawan 0:26

I'm good, Chris, how are you?

Chris Gandy 0:28

I am excellent. It's a wonderful day. So, Suzanne, we have a wonderful guest today, would you share with us who our guest is today, and also our sponsors for today's show?

Suzanne Carawan 0:40

Sure, I'd be delighted to Chris. So today, we've got Rith Nou with us. Rith works at New York Life, she's gonna give us a little bit about herself in just a second. But today's episode is sponsored by NAIFA's Financial Security Advocate Badge. If you aren't a member, you don't hold this is completely free to get. But it's going to take you through the one on one to a one and three, a one, a building grassroots relationship. So some of NAIFA's kind of secret sauce. And I think we'll probably get into that a little bit today with Rith because she's a big fan of advocacy. And she's had some cool experience as of late. But again, if you don't have that badge, you can sign up on the member portal. And we have a special NAIFA Live this week, where if you join us on Thursday of this week, we're gonna go through the entire program in real time. And at the end of it, you will get yourself that actual badge. We issued through credibly, you can put it on LinkedIn, you can use it in your marketing, letting clients know that you actually are out there being an active participant in the political process and advocating for their needs. So we're excited for that. So with that, Rith, thanks so much for being here with us today.

Rith Nou 1:50

Thanks. Thank you guys for having me. And what time is it that Suzanne on Thursday.

Suzanne Carawan 1:55

Two o'clock Eastern.

Rith Nou 1:58

Awesome. Awesome. Thank you. Oh, definitely. Excellent, great. I'm not sure what am I supposed to say?

Suzanne Carawan 2:08

Oh, Chris is trying to ask a question. Okay.

Chris Gandy 2:13

Let's start with I mute myself so you guys can't hear my background. I'm in a construction zone. I'm just joking.

Suzanne Carawan 2:23

The life of an advisor right?

Chris Gandy 2:26

It's comedy hour. So I don't want you guys to hear all the backgrounds behind the scenes. But with that being said, so how do you pronounce, so someone might see this? And they may say, Okay, I don't want to pronounce your name wrong. I know, when you approach people and you connect with people, it's important that you connect with them in a way that makes sense. So how do you pronounce your full name?

Rith Nou 2:48

R I T H. And in some sort, it means powerful.

Suzanne Carawan 2:56

Yes. That's appropriate. That's very apropos.

Chris Gandy 2:59

So with the powerful. Okay, so let's talk it's me and you we're having a conversation about life, fun, the business and really kind of insight. Okay, so sit back, relax the for our young advisors, people that are building your business that are unique in the business we want to talk a little bit about so share with us a little bit about your story, your journey, how did you get started in the business of financial services.

Rith Nou 3:29

I started in banking, I hated math growing up. And then I'm, like, still surprised that like, I'm still in financial like industry, but I knew from a young age of, like, helping a lot of immigrants at like, before I was 10, helping them call for bills. And like, we were refugees. And we came to actually, we were sponsored by a church, and we were placed in Chicago when it was crack and cocaine was introduced to the streets. So we were really in a bad part. And a lot of the Cambodians stuck together. We lived in this like dark building. And I just remember like, my mom would be like, Oh, my, my daughter speaks English, let her translate for you. So I always had this calling of like, helping others and from such a young age because of my mother. And she was pretty much like kind of like a single mom. So growing up, we ended up like moving around so much, but I ended up going into banking as a way to like kind of understand the American like financial system to kind of understand like, the foundations and how do how do we get to the American dream and let me try to do it the right way. And if I whatever I learned, I want to be able to share it right and then also create a legacy or imprint on someone like individually it doesn't have to be the masses. But I think one by one I think when we beaten All our roots in our genuine, like, why is right, and they will keep you going. And I think being here in Europe, I've been doing this for 10 years. And I actually ended up coming here from banking for eight years. And because my dad was retiring. And I realized how confusing it was to transition, right? If anybody's ever gone through any kind of transitions, like, especially for tying your parents who are immigrants, and trying to like do that it was really hard. But I knew that I didn't want the obligation out of all the siblings of paying for any other final expenses and all that. So I did my research, and I ended up coming to New York Life based on my research and got my parents insured, and I was offered a job. So this is how I got here in a very long story short.

Chris Gandy 5:56

So your journey is not a direct one. I think that's something to be said about our business, right? Our business is one where on a regular basis, we constantly are having to navigate it, even though your first direction might have been banking, you ended up in our industry as a opportunity and saw the opportunity and have run with it. 10 years in. So you're officially a bet now you're a bet.

Rith Nou 6:25

No, I'm still a rookie, and I'm still learning like, every time I meet people, I'm just like, very inspired by everyone's story. And it's refreshing, you know?

Chris Gandy 6:37

Yeah, I think everybody no one's it's interesting. Someone once told me, no one started off in any insurance business, being in any insurance business, we all started somewhere else. And somehow we ended up migrating here and creating this kind of unique culture. So let's talk about that struggle. You mentioned the fact that you are a younger advisor. Right. So we'll talk about that as a younger advisor. What was some of the obstacles that you had to overcome early on in the business? To start to see some of the success that you're having?

Rith Nou 7:10

Okay, thank you for I really feel very flattered that I like I think it's the Asian James, but I'm really not that young. I am 42.

Suzanne Carawan 7:19

In insurance world, that's young. Okay. Yes. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Rith Nou 7:26

I'm sorry. Like, can you repeat the question again Chris?

Chris Gandy 7:29

So the question is, can you share with us some of the struggles, what was the hardest thing that you've had to overcome? On your way up to having the success that you're having?

Rith Nou 7:39

I think the struggles is, and I think, like, just evolving, I realized that it's the, our own limiting beliefs about ourselves, it comes into surface in this business, and you have to really, truly get uncomfortable. And if you're a private or an introverted person, it's tough, but I met people who are introverted, and that have been very successful in this business. And I think the struggle is ourselves, I think we have so many, like, horrible self-talk that we just need to work through. And we really have to change our conversation in ourselves. And it's mindset, I believe our mindset has to, and I think the transition from like a nine to five, right? You go from the banking world, where it's like very strict nine to five and, and when you're doing this business, you're like, hey, you make up your own schedule, in your own time. And I think that was the other struggle, right? And then you get trained in the business to produce. But at that same time, they're not really training you how to run the business. So anything that comes into part with networking, and meeting other advisors, and having that open conversation and being genuinely you so that you ask the right questions that helps you. So if something isn't working for you, I remember the resilience that I learned about myself was making sure that I put myself in the position that I'm growing, and I'm learning and if the outside world is not giving me that, then I need to go chase after that and put myself in those positions. So that I can do and be successful as anyone else in this business. Right.

Chris Gandy 9:34

Well, I think there's something to be said, right? And so you said something pretty, a couple of things pretty unique. The first thing you did say is that don't just wait for something to happen and go create something to happen. So that's insight. Right? And that happens, not only from who you are and what you believe, but also from experience, right. So the idea of don't wait for opportunities to happen to be open to constantly learning Because you mentioned like being a sponge, maybe when you first come into business, you had a lot of knowledge and other things, but not in this business. Right? And the other thing is the industry pros is that they teach us to sell. It's interesting, I talk about all the time is that early on, I said, I'm going to teach people how to build a business that sells insurance and financial services, not how to sell insurance. There's a difference, right? So the idea is that we can teach a lot of people how to sell a policy, that's easy. But we like to teach someone how to build a business, a process a system in order support organization, or organization that allows for you to be able to take that and be able to produce you we just happen to be selling insurance, we can be selling widgets, right? If we understand how a business works. And again, we just happened to be the our widget is financial services, right? So that's it's pretty unique perspective is that you had to learn two things, how to make money, being a selling product, then you also had to figure out how to run a business. And unfortunately, those two don't necessarily go hand in hand, and you don't learn them all at the same time.

Rith Nou 11:13

Yeah, that's overwhelming, especially coming into the business, right, you don't realize that you are your brand. And that no matter if you're working for a company or anything, you are your brand. And I think when you really put yourself in the shoes of the consumers, or at least like clients, I think the difference between being in banking and here is like, I get to also get to pick and choose the clients I want to work with. Versus banking, I had no say in that and I think that we knew you. What's the, I think it was law of attraction, right? I think that the nothing is a coincidence. And I think that in like today, I did not expect you at all person. I'm like, like, I'm a little floored, like, oh, like, I'm really excited. I'm like, well, this is kind of cool. But everything comes to you in like, weird ways. And I like, like, to coming in as a surprise like that. Right? And it's, it's such a blessing. And you just start your day off with gratitude, and everything else is just beautiful.

Suzanne Carawan 12:21

I was gonna say you definitely have an abundance mindset. You definitely are looking at things from that standpoint. I'm sure it's part of your, your success. I wanted to tap into your, I think was interesting. You're talking about going from the banking world, a very, really structured days to now having your own business and being on your own time. Do you have any time management tips? Or how do you run kind of your life that it's you've been successful, because you're one of the 12% that have made it in this business more than three, four years. So you have probably some tips there on time management to share.

Rith Nou 12:54

I think I still at all, sometimes I think we were doing at that congressional conference, and I was literally dying out. And we were all in a group meeting with like a legislator. And she's like, when you've been here, I was like saying, like, I worked in the cultural market about like, eight to nine years. She's like, Rith, you're going into your 10th year. And I was like, wow, like, that's a pretty big deal. Like I didn't know, like how to time fly. But I think I'm sorry, I'm gonna have you repeat it because I want to answer it like...

Suzanne Carawan 13:28

Yeah, I was saying so for other advisors who are out there listening or building their business, you know, what tips you have, from a time management standpoint? How do you run, how do you conduct your business?

Rith Nou 13:39

I have a really great mentor, who's my business partner, Peter McAvinn. And I think that if you pick somebody that you really, truly admire, and the way they run their business, pick somebody like, it could be anyone, right? And I picked him and I also found another business partner who's been doing this for over 20 years. And I love his ethical, like, his process. And they teach us not to, like, try to reinvent the process or whatever it works, right, and then listening and actually asking him personal questions of how his day runs. It also helped me structure how I should be running my business so that it's successful as his because I think he's like a craft, Bill Belichick and Brady put together his brain is, is amazing. And when you find someone like that, you try to really hone into the kind of energy that they've put into it. And I think that one is getting a really good mentor that you can mentor and kind of look, even if you don't talk to them that much. But knowing and seeing probably worth I mean, I see his car in the morning, and I want to make sure Are the admin the same, like, at the parking lot at the same time running my business. And the way he runs his business, I want to be doing that. And when he walks into a room, you want to you want him as your advisor. And I want to have that same kind of, like profound energy that he brings in, and just his analytical skills is just amazing. And I get so much language from him, making sure that I go to his JIBs, because people all want to be ones like one of the most successful offices in the country. So everybody wants to see him. So when he has a classroom set up on Fridays, I'm there. I mean, and we talked about it, right? When you look at your calendar, have your non negotiables in there, but also, like, make sure that you have the day where it's to yourself. And I think it's just your genius to think of like how he runs his schedule in a little bit old fashion. But I feel like there's a shift right? In this world. And timing is everything. There's a shift of the old school, and you're bringing in the new school, but the new school has slipped a lot of the other like, hardships that you kind of build into this, right. And it's really hard to describe, because they didn't go through all the work in order to get here. So it's really hard, because they kind of skipped a lot, right. And I feel like I'm very fortunate because I'm in that middle crust of the old school, like retiring. And I'm watching as they grow, and I'm mentoring the younger ones. And it's such a difference. So and I think, but a second thing I would really advise give in to is to volunteer, I think that is so underrated. But I think volunteering really puts things into perspective. And anytime I mentor anyone, I always tell them, I'm like, find a passion, whatever passion you like, find a cause that you really, truly barely feel for you go and volunteer because it makes you humble and it keeps you grounded. And it keeps you as a student in the seat to keep learning. Because there's so much to learn. And there's so many, like abundance of like resources around, right, we're just not looking.

Suzanne Carawan 17:33

Yeah, that's true.

Chris Gandy 17:34

So talk to us a little bit about the way you've gone about I mean, you are young in the business, you've obviously had some success. Many people will be inspired by hearing you on this podcast. One, you understood, people will see the fact that you've embraced immigration and the importance of it to you. If not, then maybe you may not have this opportunity, or your parents may not have this opportunity to have you here and be able to participate in an industry that, at times, it's somewhat challenging to bring other cultures into this business. So share with us your cultural perspective. How have you taken your background and created a unique value proposition to the marketplace?

Rith Nou 18:23

I think coming in as an immigrant, I think I understand a lot of the challenges that the immigrants face when it comes to like, trusting an advisor. And being with like, someone who understands the cultural right, and I feel like it's funny how like, kind of like, God kind of puts you into all these things. And like it kind of combines it into it. Growing up, I always was the girl who started a multicultural, like clubs, in high school, in college, doing fundraisers. And it's funny because like, when you kind of like, get to the precipice of like your business, right? Because it really brings you back down to like, wow, like, all of that had to happen for me to be here. And I see. The market is insatiable. And I think that like, we just need to have more of those conversations and more interactions of having people with different backgrounds in a room together so that we can share it and I call myself a foodie, because I love food and I love fusion food. And love master chef and I think the one thing that really I love is having food as a conversation to bring cultures together. Right and I it's one of my things that I love doing and I meet so many people because we all have one thing in common, and it's the interest of foodies and well-being like different culture foods. So I think that has a lot to do with the cultural market and how I like embrace a lot of the different cultures. So growing up, I mean, I was born in Thailand at a refugee parent and Cambodian with my parents, ethnicity wise, but I always called myself a confused Cambodian because all my friends were South Asians. So doing multicultural dances, and then I embraced like the Latin culture because I love the music. So music, food, all the stuff that I love and like having that you combine, like, when I hear music, it gets me going. And I think that's how I entered the market like to introduce myself to like, hey, like, I love that music too. And, or I love this, too. I love Dancehall, and one part of a whole Zumba dance hall thing. And then I have my group of friends when I'm sharing and embracing my culture as much as they're sharing their culture, and the music and everything else and having that conversation. It's like a good start, right? No matter what color race you are, as long as you're humbling, you're embracing a different culture, you're good. And I don't think that there's I mean, I think just to stay open. And like, we'll just amuse you, because you end up being where you're supposed to be. And just embrace it. And a lot of things happen to stay humble.

Suzanne Carawan 21:36

Yeah, so one, you've got a lot of faith and then two Chris, we need to go with Rith, because it sounds like she's just party time all the time. Great party.

Rith Nou 21:46

Has anything to say it's like, that's it.

Suzanne Carawan 21:51

NAIFA people, I mean, you know each other when you find a good name a member, because we do like to get together and have a great time together. It's part of it. I don't know any name for members that aren't foodies, right. I don't like music. It's a real thing. Yeah.

Chris Gandy 22:03

So, Suzanne we found who we should have direct us on our food journey.

Suzanne Carawan 22:08

100%.

Rith Nou 22:09

Anytime, Boston, I will let you know where to go. And it will be ethnical food.

Chris Gandy 22:15

We take our podcast on the road to a food place we will have to consult you on where to go. So let's shift gears. So where are you going? Tell us the big vision you have for your business, your practice, and the impact you would like to have when people say, I worked with Rith, share with us that vision.

Rith Nou 22:39

My vision of what my business looks like, I mean, I've been told so many times, and I've been approached many times to, you know, everybody's like, well, do you want to get into being a partner role. And I'd say to myself, I'm like, no, I was a manager at the bank, and I don't want to manage people, I it's not my calling. And I actually really love what I do. And I'm very passionate at what I do. And I kind of know what I wanted to do when I first started. And that's how I ended up with one of my mentors. And we pitched it to me, because he's like, I've never met somebody Young, who knew exactly what they want. And my goal was to have a financial firm that is full of advisors that are multicultural, I want people to come to the firm, knowing that there's somebody that speaks their language, that understands their culture, and they want to work in that. And I think that like, that has also progressed a lot in this country now, that a lot of companies are honing into having a diverse group of people in their decision making, or pitching a sale, right? To make sure that they have like all the different views and I think one of the things I would love for is to create that. And we came up with a beautiful story and a mission statement. And I think we're going to create a business next year, we found a name and I don't want to share it until like it's really happened. But we're working in building the industry that the business that I always envisioned, having a really diverse group of people, agents who have share the same kind of belief, right? And be intentional about who you want to be with your practice, because it's about the people and where there are the heroes in the story. And I want to be able to have people who are in it for the right reasons.

Chris Gandy 24:39

Well, the industry is better because you are in it. I can tell you that. Not having met you in person. I'll get a chance to meet you in Boston. Right around the corner. I'll be in Boston speaking and we're playing around with the topic, but I think it's going to be very impactful. I'm going to share some insight, some stories, some experiences some challenges and defaults and failures, right? And then and hopefully in doing that, people are inspired to do that much more. So by you being here, you're inspiring others who are potentially listening to you wondering, what will I be when I grew up who I want to be like you? Right? So with that being said, a couple other things share with us about your NAIFA's journey. You're on NAIFA Advisors you on the podcast. So share with us the importance of NAIFA to you and why you decided to be so involved and then out there to our general public. What would you say to NAIFA members about getting other people who aren't NAIFA's members involved.

Rith Nou 25:53

First off, Chris, I'm really, really excited that you're going to be coming into the Boston office for NAIFA mass, because I think that we need someone with your powerful like, voice and story. And it's beautiful to see, like your success and like your composure and even love the whole media deep DEI that you put together, it was such an amazing, like powerful time that when we were at the congressional conference, so I really appreciate everything that you do. It's very inspiring. I am going to say that NAIFA was just like, it was funny because like, when I got into the business, NAIFA had you they you get credit CPE credits, and then you get like, like, all these things. And then my business owner, like, I don't know anything about this business or industry when I came, so I was really overwhelmed with it, because like, all these people were like, so friendly. And I was just like, okay, what's the catch here. And then I got invited to NAIFA for ice cut it. And then I asked my mentor at that time, and he's like, you know, NAIFA is advocates for our business. And I know that you have so many things going on. But because of NAIFA, we are able to do what we do every day. So get do the dues, and do the membership, and, get involved, if you can, but I know you're trying to just work on your business right now. But just pay the dues, it gets deducted out of your ledger, and they do a lot for our business. And I'm like, you know what, I appreciate that. And to be a young adviser and not know anything. Doing that, I felt like I was part of a financial group as a whole. And I kind of felt like I kind of belonged in like, as a financial person, because I was contributing to a bunch of other the industry as a whole. And I think the one that really, truly resonated with me was when Josh Ogara, who is our president now asked for us to join the board was like a kind of a meeting and I was really overwhelmed. Because I'm like, oh, I don't know enough about this stuff to be part of the committee, like, what am I gonna contribute? And then he like, kind of was like, so which committee you want to be in? I'm like, once, I was like, and then I also got my dad to come with me too. And I kind of felt suckering her into it. Because I was like, oh, we're gonna be on the committee, and then we're gonna have dinner and then we'll just get to figure out what committees it is. And if we fit right in or not, but we fit right in and like, they were like, such a great family. And we blindfolded like, right, and it was like, okay, and then Josh's was like, oh, we would love for you to be on grassroots because we don't have anybody female or ethnicity wise. Like, it will be great, too. I was like, okay, you know what Regina is passionate about DEI like, she went that route. And I was like, you know what, I'll just take up the challenge. And I went into grassroots. But even that was just like a lot because like, doing the political things, it's a whole different ballgame. And then I love selling life insurance and my mentors, like, if it wasn't for NAIFA, imagine life insurance being taxable. I was like, really? That was ever on the like, he's like, yes, right. I can't even imagine that because that's like my bread and butter. Like, I love doing that. And I think more people should know about it, right? And I'm like, oh, that's awful. I'm like, okay, NAIFA, you get my money. And I know I'm getting my money's worth, because you did that.

Suzanne Carawan 29:55

It's always having to protect that right and probably the real generational wealth transfer, you know, people, that's really the only opportunities that life insurance. Yeah.

Rith Nou 30:05

Yeah. And it's, it should be the foundation of any kind of financial planning, right. Um, so then we went to MDRT. And we got to be meet the national, right? Like, it was pretty big and like everybody was so welcoming. And I felt really, like, really good. And I really felt like a connection with everybody that I met at the MDRT that Kevin put together last minute, right, last minute. And again, I don't believe in coincidences. Because when I was there, I felt like I was supposed to be there and meet the people that I was supposed to. And we ended up going to apex at the Biltmore, I like asked my dad to pinch me because I'm like, I don't think I've ever in a million years, as an immigrant thought that I would ever be here. And it was such a beautiful place. And like, everybody was just so recently, and I still remember Tom, like coming up, and he was just so sweet. And meeting all the people and I met Chris at the apex at the bit more, and I was like, floored with him. I was kind of like, so like, and then when he did the rally of getting introducing the person up, and I was like, oh, my God, this is fire like, this is who I want to, like, introduce me onstage like, this is amazing, and how amazing that he made that person feel, right. So it's just like, I'm gonna copy it, I'm gonna do it. I don't think I did a great job. But I did one, because I was supposed to introduce somebody else as well, on stage, Cody, one of the other speakers, and he thought I did good. But I mean, it wasn't anything Chris did, but I tried. But it was so many great brilliant ideas and bringing so many different amazing walks of life and their stories and their history of like being in this industry, and they're wise, and we bonded a lot. And then we went to the Congressional conference, and it really solidified what NAIFA is about. And it's funny because of the whole thing between us and NAIFA like it was weird, but then our company had a really big conference call to talk about, like the importance of NAIFA, and joining forces with NAIFA and being part of NAIFA. So I really love that. And I think that maybe everything happens for a reason, because I think that here I am, I got to see that I want to make this better, like how can we make this like relationship better with NAIFA's, so that we can do the recruits, we can have those memberships where we can grow and evolve. And I think that's what makes NAIFA very unique and different, right? It's like, We are the foundation of that. And we are the collective of bringing all these people together so that we can have like, that kind of connection and be able to build and learn and grow from each other. Because we are the resources, we have the resources within, like, let's work on that and make that foundation better and stronger. And it's going to be so exclusive, like people are going to be running to us than us going to them because we're kind of amazing. And we have some amazing advisors here. So I don't know.

Chris Gandy 33:15

It's a cool club.

Rith Nou 33:18

Okay, you, whoever's listening to this should have FOMO if you're not part of NAIFA, just saying.

Chris Gandy 33:27

Those who don't know, actually, I just found this out that FOMO is fear of missing out. I didn't know. I'm glad you said that. I just I know I said I had no idea. So I'm just reiterating. So Rith, is there anything else you want to share with us? Before we get off to the speed round? You know, Speed Round is pretty much I'm gonna ask you some questions. First, to come off the top of your head. People may know you as an advisor, but people don't know you. So and that's Brown, we're gonna get to know you a little bit.

Rith Nou 33:57

I just want to say that Thank you, Suzanne, for thinking of me and NAIFA for everything that you guys have done for me, because you've opened my eyes to the political advocacy that we do. And I'm getting so many, like, meetings of politicians to events, and it's been a wild roller coaster, in this industry. And it's been very humbling. And Chris, thank you for having me as well. So I don't think I have anything else.

Chris Gandy 34:28

All right, Suzanne, do you have anything else before we go the speed round?

Suzanne Carawan 34:30

I think I asked one last question Rith which is we're about to launch into our future leaders program next month, which talks to university and college students and sometimes High School as well. So anything you want to say to them about why they should be a financial advisor like you? Why come into this industry?

Rith Nou 34:50

I think that's such an amazing thing that we're planning to do because I worked recently with a young couple I mean, they're also immigrants, and they have kids, two kids, that's all gonna house and they were getting into fights over financials, right. And how many relate marriages that you see. And you think about it, right, like their parents didn't know our system. Like they're learning off of what their parents taught them, which is nothing. But the only way I got into getting done was because the mom had life insurance for the father who passed away. And that's why they were able to keep that house, and it was passed on to them. And I sat there with three hours going budgeting with them. And it makes me sick to my core that our education system is failing our future generations, and not teaching that kind of literacy of just budgeting. And I think that, like, it's amazing to have something like this. And I think that for the future, people who want to come into this industry, I want you to think of this as a career. You're always growing, you're always learning, and you keep on being a student, a learner, a teacher, everything all in once and just stay open. And if you want a job that pays you well, and also give back in a way that you feel aligned, because I've never in my life. I always question myself when I'm in a job. I was working in the flower industry, I was working in the retail industry. And I always asked myself in the banking, I asked myself, I'm like Rith, I always ask God, I'm like, God, is this the job that you always wanted for me, because I want to live a life. And I know that that couple that I worked with for three hours on budgeting, they will never forget me. And they do send me people all the time. But because you do a good thing, you don't expect anything and don't have never expected anything, and fail often. But this job has given me this perspective of being aligned. Right. Like, I'm able to live my dreams. And it's also shows really well. And it's attractive to a lot of than the new kids and like the future generations, they admire it and they love it. And it is not an easy thing, because you also feel like you're on Celebrity because everybody's watching you. And I went through a divorce and I went through life, right? But everybody's watching you, because you I've always pulled that torch of trying to be the best person so that I can be a good role model to the young people that are watching. So it's not an easy task, but to take the challenge on and if you can help someone, I think that financials are the biggest things that we can truly help people. And that's part of the reason why I'm in this industry. And there's a lot of rewards and you meet a lot of cool people in this industry. So I'm really looking forward to doing the literacy for financial literacy in the schools and doing that.

Chris Gandy 38:18

Awesome. So, Suzanne, let's speed to the lightning round.

Rith Nou 38:25

I love this podcast. I didn't know what to expect, but it was funny.

Chris Gandy 38:31

So Rith, here's the here's, here's how this works. Okay, so I'm going to ask you a series of questions. Those questions, whatever comes to mind first, you just answered the question, okay. It's not a a well thought out process of a, rematch, and then we're not going to ask you political things. We're not going to ask you things that you don't know the answer to. Okay. It may provoke some thought, but that's about it. Okay, so. All right. Okay, cool. So we'll ask the first question. First question is you live in Boston? Yes. Yes. So we're gonna say the Red Sox. We're gonna say the Red Sox or the Boston Bruins.

Rith Nou 39:07

Oh, Red Sox. Why? Because I fell in love with the Red Sox before we fell in love with the Bruins. Okay. First Love. Yeah. My first love.

Chris Gandy 39:23

Okay, so All right, so here we go. Okay.

Rith Nou 39:28

Breaking the curse like you. That's like the most memorable. I am so grateful to God that I got to experience like championship with like Pedro Martinez and all like, the camaraderie Come on.

Suzanne Carawan 39:41

Maybe you do it. Maybe we should.

Chris Gandy 39:47

So you're ready to go. Here we go. So favorite restaurant in Boston to eat, everybody listen up.

Rith Nou 39:55

Oh my god. There's so many different ones. Well, God. Okay it's a hole in the wall, but I love it. I would have to go with on, God, this so tough. It's a little like Japanese like little Japan, it's in a mall, but you get all the different fusions of food and visit yakitori there's sushi, there's like, burger hamburger plates like I don't know, it's that's my favorite but it's a hole in the wall, but it's the most greatest food that a fusion you'll get.

Chris Gandy 40:34

Okay, got it. Mentor, who would you say is your mentor?

Rith Nou 40:42

I would have to say Peter McAvinn and Norman Chipman.

Chris Gandy 40:46

Okay. Why though? Why did those two come to mind?

Rith Nou 40:51

Because if it wasn't for them, I would not be where I am.

Chris Gandy 40:55

Okay, great. All right. If you could go back in time. Oh, conversation with anybody in history, whether dead or alive. Who would you choose to have dinner with and why?

Rith Nou 41:08

Oh, that's a really good one question. You guys can listen good questions. I never thought of that. That's really profound. Oh, God. I think George Orwell 1984. Yeah. It was a tough thing to me that and that's Fitzgerald, the Gatsby. Right. Those good ones? Yeah. But I will probably say George Orwell because I think his concept of the world is in like, the whole micro and macro. There's, it's such a small book or in an Animal Farm. Like, it just brings me back and there will be so many questions I would like to ask him, like, for his mind.

Chris Gandy 41:52

Advice, if I started in the business today, today, you were having a conversation with your 10 year old self the first day you started in the business? What advice would you give yourself now that you're where you are.

Rith Nou 42:09

My advice to my 10 year old self is, I would say fail often learn and find out who you are. And just dive into that. Because that's the story is that be present I think being present is probably like my number one. Because I think everybody says fail often all the time. But if I can say one thing to be advice is to be present. Because I think that's the secret sauce is to being present. And anything you do and whoever you're talking to, even if it's somebody a stranger, because you don't know that that profound conversation with that stranger could change somebody's life.

Chris Gandy 43:17

And then the last question, which is right up your alley. Okay, so if we had to give you, you became a chef today, and we had to get a name with your insurance proudlessness who what would we call you chef?

Rith Nou 43:32

Chef Rith. Why? My last name Nou means rainbow so powerful rainbow like I love my name.

Suzanne Carawan 43:45

That's pretty amazing.

Chris Gandy 43:47

Thank you so much, Rith. We appreciate all you do. The world is better because a you're in it, b, NAIFA's better because you're a part of it. Suzanne, Rith, do you have anything else really quickly, we have to wrap up. And then we're gonna go Suzanne, and then I'll close this out.

Rith Nou 44:02

Thank you guys. I love you guys. And I love my NAIFA family. So I hope everybody take something out of this podcast. I appreciate you guys. Introducing me to the podcast. I love it.

Suzanne Carawan 44:19

Yeah. Thank you Rith so much, you are just the epitome of what it means to belong to NAIFA. You're such a great example to everybody out there about what NAIFA's is all about and the kind of people that we attract. So thank you. Thank you guys.

Chris Gandy 44:31

And to all of you out there. Thank you for tuning in to today's Advisor Today podcast, where we uplift and promote the future of advisors and educate the people around us for the betterment of this family as a whole. So thanks, everyone. We'll see you next time. Thanks, NAIFA nation. We'll see you soon. And Thanks, Rith, we appreciate you being here. And thanks, Suzanne. We close it out. Thanks

Outro 45:00

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33 min read