Jason Foster is a wealth management advisor who believes in making finance enjoyable, personalized, compassionate, relatable, and realistic. With over 22 years of experience, he has achieved significant milestones, including earning the Rookie of the Year title early in his career and now running an independent practice. Jason serves as President of NAIFA California, demonstrating his dedication to shaping the industry's future. In addition to his financial career, he co-owns a promotional marketing company.

               

 

 

 

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

• [04:53] Jason Foster shares his career journey
• [10:19] Jason's strategy for balancing insurance and investment services
• [17:22] Innovative approaches for marketing and prospecting in the financial services industry
• [20:30] How to effectively market yourself in the financial industry
• [25:24] Jason discusses his leadership approach to driving growth and membership within NAIFA California
• [32:55] The importance of mentoring and coaching — in finance, business, and life
• [40:08] Jason explains the value of diversification and investing in oneself
• [49:02] Why financial professionals should get involved with NAIFA

In this episode…

In today's competitive financial landscape, the most successful advisors enhance their skill sets and actively diversify their services to meet their clients' evolving needs. This drive for continuous improvement is not just about personal achievement — it's about creating a lasting impact on their communities and the broader industry. But how do they balance their professional lives while contributing significantly to their community and industry?

Jason Foster, a seasoned financial advisor, delves into how he's significantly impacted the finance world and beyond. He talks candidly about his evolution from multi-line agency work to becoming an independent financial advisor and President of NAIFA California. Jason shares his innovative approaches to marketing, network-building, and the importance of diversifying into investments. He also speaks of his passion for coaching youth soccer, which he parallels with mentorship in the financial world, emphasizing the development and passion that drive success in both arenas.

In this episode of Advisor Today, co-hosts Chris Gandy and Suzanne Carawan sit down with Jason Foster, a wealth management advisor, about shaping success in financial services. Jason shares his career journey, strategies for balancing insurance and investment services, innovative approaches for marketing and prospecting in the financial services industry, and the importance of mentoring and coaching.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Chris Gandy on LinkedIn
• Suzanne Carawan on LinkedIn
• NAIFA
• Jason Foster on LinkedIn

Quotable Moments:

• "Have faith in yourself because you can do it — it's not hard. Just got to go and make it happen."
• "If I can find someone who knows how to market, that's who will succeed in this business."
• "You can't be afraid to spend money. It's like any business — you've got to spend money to make money."
• "Coaching is not about winning, it's about development."
• "You’ve got to go and find a couple of good people who are on the same page and want to run with you."

Action Steps:

1. Engage in continuous education: This approach opens opportunities for networking and collaboration, addressing the challenge of staying relevant in a rapidly evolving industry.
2. Diversify your skillset: By offering a comprehensive range of services, you can attract a broader client base and increase client retention.
3. Leverage technology for marketing: Investing in digital marketing strategies such as Google and Facebook ads to reach potential clients.
4. Participate in industry associations: Engaging with such associations supports professional growth and provides a platform for advocacy.
5. Mentor and coach others: Build a positive reputation and expand your influence, turning the challenge of community engagement into an opportunity for personal and professional development.

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 

Hello, NAIFA nation, so great to see everyone. Thanks for tuning in to Advisor Today podcast where we uplift the voice of you, the advisor, the financial professional, for the greater good of the association and the people in which we serve. I'm here with my wonderful co-host, Suzanne Carawan. Suzanne, good to see you.

Suzanne Carawan 0:39 

Good to see you.

Chris Gandy 0:41 

No, we're filming on a Friday, and so we get a chance to interview someone else that has an F in their name, too. But before we get to our wonderful guest from the far West Coast, Suzanne, can we talk about who's helping us sponsor and keep this podcast alive.

Suzanne Carawan 1:02 

Yeah, we can talk about that for short. Yeah, let's call it. It's foster Friday. That's what we'll call it. So we are getting ready for Long Term Care Month, which kicks off, of course, in November. And today's episode is brought to us by the Lifetime Health Center, which is one of NAIFA's, kind of overhauled, limited, Extended Care Planning Center. It's a new name for it, because we've expanded it to include all things about lifetime health and finance. And one of the special things that we're actually talking about today is that we have a new well, he's been an FSP member now a full NAIFA member, John Migliaccio, who is a PhD in financial gerontology, and he is doing we're going to give a shout out to him.

He's got a new inaugural series coming out with the editor of the Journal of Financial Service Professionals, Ken Takino, two of them are coming together at UMBC in Baltimore at the end of this month for an inaugural talk. And so we want to give a shout out to them, because NAIFA is on the forefront of talking about the intersection of health and wealth and everything about vitality and longevity and caregiving, and all of those topics are things that NAIFA members are practicing every day with retirement financial planning and whatnot. So that's what we're doing today. We're excited to do that. You can visit it at lhc.naifa.org So, yup. So, welcome Jason. So, Foster Friday.

Chris Gandy 2:25 

Foster Friday. So, would you care to introduce our wonderful guest today and welcome him to the I welcome him to the podcast, but if you would do the honor.

Suzanne Carawan 2:36 

Well, we have Mr. Jason Foster coming to us from California, and Jason is a long time NAIFA member and has gotten really involved, and we're going to hear about that today. And actually, today is also the debut of Jason fosters, and we're doing a new campaign of our members talking about how the typical NAIFA member is an overachiever, a renaissance person, and they do all sorts of stuff, aside from their financial services practice. And in Jason's case, he is a dedicated dad and dedicated coach. And so we've got some great pictures that he sent us to talk about how he kind of lives holistically. So welcome to the program, Jason.

Jason Foster 3:12 

Yeah, thanks guys. Glad to be here. I've been excited to be on this show with you guys. So finally made it, finally made it on. Finally, get my fame.

Chris Gandy 3:24 

Finally, Jason. You get a chance to people. Get a chance to put a name with the face. Those who don't know I met Jason in California. I met him a while back, and then he asked me to come to California. And ever since I've been going to California, it seems like he's excited about me coming back and spending time with him out there. So thanks for that invitation, Jason. I just have a couple questions for you before we get started. One, everybody that thinks about California thinks about surfing. Jason, can you surf?

Jason Foster 3:54 

Not anymore? Probably I haven't served it since I was a kid. So no, I grew up inland, so I wasn't right next to the beach.

Chris Gandy 4:02 

I think everybody wants to know that from California.

Suzanne Carawan 4:04 

They just assume you can do it.

Jason Foster 4:06 

Yeah, I probably could. I probably could get up. It might take me a few times.

Chris Gandy 4:12 

Okay, have you ever seen a shark or a whale?

Jason Foster 4:14 

Whale, yes. Shark, no.

Chris Gandy 4:16 

Okay. Have you ever been to Catalina Island? Yes, okay. He's officially, yeah, like West Coast Suzanne.

Jason Foster 4:25 

Born and raised, so yeah.

Chris Gandy 4:27 

Jason, it's great to see you. I wanted you to be on the podcast, because there's so many cool things that you got going on, and also your service to the association, talk to us a little bit about just your practice, kind of what you do on a day-to-day basis, so people can get a feel for your practice, and who you are, and kind of your space, your space.

Jason Foster 4:53 

Yes, so that's a loaded question right there. What do I do on a day-to-day basis? So, from a practice standpoint, focus in on planning for business owners, first off, so spend a lot of time doing a lot of tax planning, helping business owners find ways to save on taxes as well as, from a protection standpoint, help them protect what they're earning. So, I probably spend a good part of my day obviously, meeting with current clients and new clients from that standpoint. Then, sometimes a couple days a week, I split off early. Have to go coach Soccer. So we'll get into that here in a minute, I'm sure, and talk about that. But spend a good time doing that. But in between the kind of the fillers, right? You know, during my presidential year, here for NAIFA California. I probably put in a couple hours a day, at least on NAIFA stuff, too.

So, spread, a little thin. But for me, kind of I have to be careful, right? Because there's sometimes where I'll look at the clock, I'll be like, Oh man, I've spent three hours on NAIFA stuff, and I haven't even gotten to, you know, business stuff. So time management has become, actually, extremely important for me. Balancing that, time out. Been in the industry for 22 years now. I started my career with a multi-line agency. I actually moved from California. I spent some time in Arizona for about eight years, and I started a practice with Farm Bureau out there. So I had a multi-line practice with Farm Bureau for a while, and then decided, you know what, we're gonna move back to California. This was back in 2010 and I ran two offices for MetLife at that time, one in one, where I live now, in Marietta, and another one in Rancho Cucamonga. And so as a sales director, ran two offices for them, then they went through some structural changes, kind of shut down an office as well.

And so, I kind of departed from there, did a little wholesale and point of sale wholesaling for a company out of Hartford, Connecticut for a while, and spent about six years, net opening up a couple of channels, all while still personally producing kind of on the side as well. Then I then that kind of, it's funny how, like, things change real fast, right? Contracts change, companies change. So I found myself back in that square one again, unfortunately, because of just those changes, right? So I took a severance package and moved on from that, kind of, I'll be honest, bounced around a couple different places trying to find that right fit, that right home, and just kind of never as much as I loved the companies and stuff. Just never found that right fit. So I decided, you know what, I'm just going to go independent, and I'm not going to fly any flags, I'm not going to represent any carriers.

I'm just going to do my own thing and I haven't looked back since. So that's kind of where I'm at today. I kind of fly, fly solo. For me, it was kind of weight off my shoulders a little bit, you know, I don't have, you know, I don't have to meet quotas, figure out my contract and all this stuff. It was, for me, it was kind of just like, You know what, okay, because I do so many other things, and do, I have a whole another business, which we'll talk about, I guess, here in a minute. But it was a right fit for me to go fully independent at that time and so, you know, I have key partners that I work with. I don't know where the future will lead. I'm happy with where I'm at, what I'm doing, and you know, we'll, we'll kind of see where things go. I mean, I obviously get enticed to quite a bit with different offers. But I like, I tell them I was like, you know, not looking for another stepping stone.

I'm happy with what I'm doing, and I just want to kind of build my own, build my own book a business, business in general. So that way, you know, at some point I would like to have something that I could pass down to my kids, right, or hope that one, and I think I have one or maybe two, that that will definitely want to come in and, I could succeed it down to them, or work with them in the practice and kind of slow down, but that's kind of, in a nutshell, that's me and my background from a career standpoint.

Chris Gandy 10:12 

So, Jason, do you primarily focus right now on insurance or investments?

Jason Foster 10:19 

Both? Yeah. So it's a 50/50, I'm trying to go more investment, you know, it's just kind of, my background is obviously life insurance. So that piece will never leave. So, I try to, I try to have a nice blend of both.

Chris Gandy 10:45 

So, coming from that space, what made you take on and say, you know what, I want to evolve my practice and add investments to it. I think there's a lot of advisors, a lot of professionals out there. They're like, no, I'm standing in this lane. I'm not going to move. I know that's something that's something that's big and shiny. I'm not going to get into it. You embraced it, right? And you were able to put it, we'll use some set analogies, right? So you're able to pivot and add it, so it wasn't the tyranny of the or. Suzanne, so many times I'll talk to advisors, and they're like, I don't do that, I do this. And it's like, they choose one or the other when they can actually do well at both. So Jason, share with us your thoughts and why...

Suzanne Carawan 11:29 

Can I chime in, just to say, on that one, the consumer wants both, right? The consumer is looking for the holistic you know, you don't want to have to go to all these different people. If you can do both, that's much better, right? It's a month one-stop shop kind of method, and I can put all my trust into Jason with our portfolio. Yeah.

Jason Foster 11:47 

I think there's like, something like, let me go back really quick. I've never not done the investment side. I think that with the companies that I was with, there's so much pressure to produce more life insurance and insurance right, that it holds people back from doing the investment side right, and I'll be honest, like the last company that I was with, I won't name any names. Awesome, the great people. I love them. Great company. Everything about it, right? But it was that I was held back a little bit, right? Not that they were holding me back. I was holding myself back a little bit. So I'm not blaming them or nothing. But that pressure of having to go and really produce on that side, I think that's what holds people back a little bit, right? So when I took that off my shoulders, and I said, you know, I'm just going, I just have a good friend here in town.

I've known him since 2010 nine, 10, and he started his own RIA in 2015 and we've always just stayed in touch. We're just, you know, as buddies and stuff. And so when I went, when I've always consulted with him, talking with him, he's a very smart guy. And so, I was like, hey, I think I'm just going to go fully independent. He's like, we'll just come on board with me then, and we'll run right. And so, as the last year, we've just kind of been doing some things together and getting things up and going. And I think, we're working on a business plan now and stuff for next year, and it's been a pretty good partnership. I say he went from that, that life insurance, like as a managing director, you know, career style, to an independent RIA, because he, you know, just knew that.

And so he, he's really helped me kind of with that mindset of, hey, this is the holistic planning approach. The investment side and you're going to sell more life insurance by focusing in on this side. So, I just kind of embrace that.

Chris Gandy 14:14 

Someone told me that one day, I didn't believe it, until actually it happened. Someone said, if you want to sell more life insurance, you sell more investment? It seems like it's against the grain, right? You're like, wait a minute, but if I sell more investments, why would they want more life insurance? And one of the things that you learn through time is that when it comes to safety and security and opportunity, the insurance actually is a part of the plan, and people want to actually have it as a part of the plan. Versus, if that's all you got is a one hit wonder, right? They're like, hey, this solves all. They're like, yeah, no, what about that, right? So I understand the perspective, so come in, so I'm gonna go full circle for the people that are listening. So you came from the kind of career side, let's call it the career agency, agencies that had a broker-dealer, right? That relationship where you're taught to sell insurance, and then maybe you do some investments to full evolution of, you know what you've been at different levels from, if you were a managing partner or you were actually a sales director. Your job at that time was to teach others and to recruit others.

So you've gone through recruiting and trying to develop people and get them motivated and coaching them, and you're like, pulling your hair out. And you know, what I call the underpaid professional in our industry, is that that person is sandwiched in between, but still required to produce a little bit, or else you're going to go bankrupt and go belly up. So you're trying to figure out how to work with others, and then come full circle to say, forget that, man. I can do this based on all the work I've done. I can build something pretty significant. And then by doing that, you've aligned yourself with someone who has a like mindset. It's working. So to kind of bring that full circle, because I've been in that space similar to you, where you start off and you're just like, I want to write as much as I can. They put you in a room. It was like, how much insurance can I write? How many policies can I write? I would do 300-400 whatever. And then you realize that this is a treadmill that just keeps speeding up regardless of how fast I go, right, and so then you start to look around and start to realize there's only so many spots to run the team, or to build a team. And then you say, okay, that.

And so I think Suzanne, I'll just say this, and then Jason can comment on it. Jason, I love your comments on that is, do we sell the career of financial services the wrong way, you know, the way in which they sold it to us when we started, was okay, you're going to get into it great. You're going to create a great life for yourself, for your family, blah, blah, blah, blah, right? But the way in which the career is now, and you watch people now, and the options that people have, do we sell the career now the wrong way, by using the old methodology to bring people in, but then we're using the new model to actually build successful practices. I just want your opinion, since you've been on both sides.

Jason Foster 17:22 

Yeah, probably, I mean, I think, yes, I think that we're still trying to sell the career and we dangle that carried a little bit of, hey, this is a great, great career. You can come in. It's, you know, where you can make a lot of money and all this stuff. Well, reality is, I think the biggest problem in our industry is people. I mean, people could sell, but they can't get in front of anybody, right? So, I mean, that that's all part of the game, right? Like, I think, I think the good people, I think if we flip that, like I could teach somebody how to sell, and really it's, do we really sell? Right? We educate more than we sell. And you know, if I could find somebody that knows how to market and knows how to get in front of more people, those are the people that will succeed in this business. I think we go out and look for all these people that you know, have some sales experience. Well, the grass isn't greener. I mean that saying will be for real forever. Because I've been there.

I've lived it. I've flipped around a little bit, right? I've gone, I've been with three different companies on the career side. And it's not any different, it's just a different product, right? Or a different name, different logo, right? But everything is exactly the same, right? But you get enticed to go, switch over, because you're going to, you get promised this or extra, for me, I have kids, right? And so from that sales manager side of things, you get sucked into the stability part, right? And so, I got to that point, though, where I was like, I have to get out of this comfort zone, right? I'm not making any money. I'm just like turning my wheels, right? I'm starting over every time that I just need to just have faith in myself, because one, I know how to do it. I know how to market. I know how to, so, for those that are looking to do that, I just say, have faith in yourself, because you can do it like it's not hard. Just got to go and make it happen. You got to flip a switch and yes, if you, if you could find a good mentor to help and kind of guide you a little bit that always helps. That's the thing with NAIFA.

And the people in this organization, you know, many people I've met, great people, right? Like, I could Rolodex so deep that I could make some phone calls and say, Hey, what do you think about this? Or like, hey, here's what I'm thinking about doing. And they're gonna say, You're crazy, or, you know, don't, don't do it, I've done it, or whatever. So there's these relationships that, you know, of successful people that I have, and they've all helped me one way or another.

Suzanne Carawan 20:30 

So Jason, can we talk about that for a second? How do you market yourself? How do you do the prospecting? How do you get in front of people?

Jason Foster 20:37 

Yeah, so a couple things. One, I do a lot of networking here in town, I shouldn't say a lot. I do some networking here in town. I have a really good network referral group that I've been part of for two years now. I get quite a bit of business from that. It's B2B. So, that's what I'm looking for. So it works from that standpoint, where I get a lot of leads, I hired a company that does a lot of Google, Facebook-type ads, and they fill my calendar with prospects. I mean, again, there's a big cost and a big cost to that, right? But I will tell you, if you can, if you can afford to just do it, my return on investment is 10 times, right? So it was a little scary at first, because, you know, I mean, it's not like you, our sales process isn't our sales cycle, I should say isn't a quick one, right? When you're, when you're doing the holistic planning or anything, even life insurance, right? For that matter, they got to go through MediCal, everything else, you're looking at 30-45 days.

So it's not a, like a quick so you got to be willing to put in some money, right? And so I, you know, you can't be afraid, though, to spend money. It's like any business you got to spend money to make money, right? And so the same is true here. So I have a third-party company that does a lot of that, lot of marketing. I wake up and I got appointments on my calendar, right? I'm gonna be honest, like, is the best money, well spent, right? So, I have clients, I do a lot of, it's a lot of virtual which is great, because I could fit a lot more in the day, right, especially with my schedule and it works, but everybody's a little different when it comes to that. But that's what I'd rather. I'd rather spend a little bit of money than run around town all the time. I just stay part of this one networking group, because they've, I get, frankly, I get, a lot of referrals from, right? Yep. Then I have a couple CPAs too that refers to some business.

Chris Gandy 23:03 

So Jason, what I'm hearing you say, I'm gonna, I'm gonna tweak what I believe. I heard you say, heard you say, spend money, right? And so when we spend money, there's no return on spending money, right? But investing, there you go. When we invest we expect a return, right? And you bet on yourself because your skills and capability, like, hey, put me in front of enough people. I'll make it happen, right? Okay, got it. So let's shift gears for a moment. I'll shift gears a couple times. So you have served me. People on this podcast may not know you have served one of the largest NAIFA groups in the country, I believe, just right behind maybe Texas or maybe even head of town. I don't know if I asked Tom Michael, he probably said you served as the role of a leader. You served as the president in California. I'll repeat that. In California, you're a very humble guy. But after talking to you, you've, you've, you've, uh, everybody I've talked to in California loves you.

They're like, dude, Chase, like, don't know, free, he's the real deal, right? So everybody's like, no, he's the real deal. He's engaged like, whatever it may be. So one, what did you do to get people, to inspire people to just move in a direction of growth membership? What did you do from that position? Because I think at times people need to hear like, I think people don't volunteer because they feel like a, people are going to listen to me, or whatever it may be. But what I mean, you led one of the largest, let's call it groups, within NAIFA, for a year, and then you went through the chairs. So you were part of the leadership, part of that. So what were some. The things that you did to get people to collectively work together. And then two, what did you do as you were going through it, did you feel the pressure? Did you feel like it was a lot of work? Did you feel like, I mean, share with us the insight, first, perspective, and then second, kind of the inside of actually doing it and going through it, because now you're on the other side.

Jason Foster 25:24 

Well, almost on the other side. Still got two more months. But everybody keeps ending me into my term a little early. The funny thing is, like, most presidents are like, Yeah, I'm done, I'm just writing it out. Right for me, I feel like I'm just getting started, right? Like, I just feel like, well, there's so much momentum. And like, we look for good people, I mean, and I think when I say that, we're a huge state, right? And so we're so spread out. And we have a lot of us are down south. We have a good amount of people up north. And so, trying to find leadership from an affiliate side of things, as well as a chapter and everything else. I think, when I talk about committees and building out committees, it's really building out those areas and building out those committees within those areas, right? So that way we have presence and we have things moving throughout the entire state.

We don't want to just be dominant and down south. So we had to go up and find good people up north that really wanted to get involved at some not fully, but at some type of level, right? And so, I've been blessed to have a really good board on my team, like my team is, is about as solid as it can get, and it's going to be, continue to be solid for the next, I mean, for we got a pretty, pretty good bench right now, you know. And I'm not going anywhere. Soon to be past president. I feel like I'm just, like I said, just getting up and going and just getting started. So, you know, with Michael taking over, that kind of frees me up to really focus in on, really building out a few different projects that I've been working on for the last couple few years, and around programming it, and I bring up programming because I think that's where I could bring in more members, right, from a value standpoint. And so, for California, we kind of setback a couple years ago, and we said, You know what, let's focus in on, like, four events, four events a year. And that doesn't mean, like, the chapters and the affiliates will have their own but for us, we're like, okay, let's host four events any areas that we know we have the most members, right? And so we could bring value to them, but also the potential of bringing in new members, right?

Well, that's kind of evolved a little bit further now for me, I tell you, focusing on more on the investment side, and I've, you know, I go to these other conferences, and if you get a chance, I would highly recommend going to future proof, because it's just an unbelievable experience. But it brought a lot of ideas to me on like, how can I expand into this area that they built this conference where 4500 advisors across the nation come to and there's tons here in California. How do I tap into that market? Right? So in San Diego, two years ago, I started a business owner planning Summit, and so that's now this coming years, kind of evolved into more of a wealth management Summit, right? Still dealing with business owners, but kind of switching that gear into more of that investment focus. And I think by doing that, I'll be able to tap into that marketplace. And really it comes down to education, right? And if I get in front of these people, then educate them on what NAIFA does and why we exist and why we're here.

I think by getting in front of that captive audience, we'll be able to bring in more people from that side, right from the wealth management side of things, or that RIA space that we talk about, right? So, gearing programs for certain areas, right? And so there's that piece. Then, you know, we have Day on the Hill, in March, that's kind of our big one. And you know, I'm looking to build a program around that and really blow that one up even. Right? So we can get more people up north involved. There's some big agencies up there and it's just a matter of, you know, driving the people to these events. So you have this audience that now I could go and find, I'm just looking for one or two good people, right? Not necessarily. I'm looking for everybody to become members, but from a leadership standpoint, or just to get involved at a committee level.

I'm just looking to find, you know, one or two out of the 100 people that show up, right? That's it. That's all I need. You know, find, find that one person that comes in and just be, you know, is passionate. And what do you know, he's part of this Guardian agency with 100 people in the office right now, I got somebody that's, you know, going and telling all his buddies, Hey, we got to go to this event. We got to go, we got to do this and that. And so it's just, it's building that I keep bringing up the word vibe, right? Like, that's, like, it's, we need to build a strong vibe of, not necessarily be on, like, the drink, the NAIFA Kool-aid, but, like, get involved, right? Like, just have fun. Like, this is a good group. There's two sides, right? We got, I mean, you should join for the advocacy piece anyway, right? But, like, let's bring the vibe, right?

Chris Gandy 25:25 

Suzanne, the NAIFA Kool-Aid.

Suzanne Carawan 31:31 

Yeah, the NAIFA Kool-Aid.

Chris Gandy 31:33 

NAIFA Kool-Aid, we're coining that.

Jason Foster 31:35 

Yep, there you go.

Chris Gandy 31:36 

That's Jason Foster Kool-Aid. Listen, the NAIFA Kool Aid is good, and we need to, we need to share with others the Kool Aid that we're able to drink from, because we know it's good, right? And you've done a great job leading that state. Everybody respects you. You're killing it over there. I know the programs are awesome, I'm fortunate enough to have spoken at the one in San Diego, and it was missed out.

Jason Foster 32:06 

You just missed out.

Chris Gandy 32:07 

No. Man, I missed out on this one because of.

Jason Foster 32:12 

You were coming.

Chris Gandy 32:13 

I know. Man, you know what? Hopefully you guys had a chair and had my face, like, remember the football games, and you put technically here, he's not here. Trying to be in two places at one time. But let's shift gears. You, you, you mentioned coaching. Why is that important? I know that you and I talked a couple times, and you've made that a priority for yourself to be in your kids’ lives and be involved in that. But why is coaching such an important thing to you? And can you share with us a little bit about what you're doing in coaching?

Jason Foster 32:55 

Yeah, so I got into it so my boy started playing, one of them started when he was pretty young, the other one started about four years ago. And so, it's interesting because my son, he is both my son, but one's my stepson, overall, my real son, he basically, you know, didn't live close by, so I could not coach him, because of the distance, right? And not like they live far, but far enough to where it just time, right? It couldn't, couldn't get over. And so when my ex-wife moved closer, that's when I was able to and the boys are only four months apart, so they go to school together. They're the same age. They might as well be brothers. Been together since they were three years old, you know? They do everything together, right? So, I was able to not then when they, when they moved closer. I was able to really start my coaching side of the career, right? It's just, that's when Gavin, my stepson, he decided, You know what I want. I want to play this full time too.

He was kind of like in between. And so that's when I started, and then it just kind of evolved, I get sucked in right to this volunteerism, like here. So I grew up playing, and I grew up playing it at AYSO. So I put him in AYSO. And then it kind of sucked me into from coach to, hey, you should come be on our board, right? And so I got sucked into kind of being the board member. And then I got into the more they call it the extra program, which is kind of like club level soccer and just kind of evolved from there. I don't know something that, like, I'm pretty passionate about, as far as, like, just helping kids get better, but more or less, it's not about the winning. It's just that the development piece, right? Like, if I could help develop and touch, I've done the core level, and I've had kids, and I've taken kids that have never played soccer, or they've played, and they hated it so bad that their mom and dad kind of brought them back and said, hey, you need to do this, right? Kind of different ways there.

And by the end of the season, they love the game so much. And so each kids developed a little different, right? And I think that's where my management skills kind of came into play, right? And just from a development standpoint, everybody develops a little different, and you got to adjust per kid. And so, there's some I don't know, it's just another passion, I guess, you know, helping, helping kids just like the game, want to play the game, and more important, develop in the sense of finding what they like the most, right? So, like, I had this kid that he didn't like the game at all. He hated it. Actually, his mom brought him back, and it was his second year playing ever. And this is 12-year-old, 11-year-old kid, right? And he just didn't like it. And it took, it took me four or five weeks with him, right? And I figured out where his passion was. He loved to play defense. So I was like, I'm gonna make you the best defender there is, right?

And so that's what I did, and we actually went all the way and won the championship. He became a great little defender. He still plays today, two years later, and we'll see where he goes from there. But it's fun to watch kids just kind of grow into what they want to do, like, I don't know, like I just enjoy, I enjoy that piece of it. And if I could touch more youth and more kids, it's awesome, I get that's what feeds me, right?

Suzanne Carawan 37:32 

I think what my, one of my most favorite part, is watching when that moment when they go all in, and you just know, they're all in, right? You take these kids, and it's usually some haphazard group, and all of a sudden you can just see the team form and like, they're all in, and you're like, they're going all the way, because you can see it. And it's really because they might not be the best athletes either, but it's that, when you can get that, we got a coach that can have that kind of magic and get kids to go all in, it's something.

Chris Gandy 37:59 

Jason, I'll comment on that. I coach my kid in basketball and I observed. I pay attention to a lot of things. I've watched kid people coach kids. My kid plays soccer, baseball. He played a bunch. He played like anything and everything, right? And after playing at every level there is to play it in basketball, I've assessed that, and you just said it, you just reiterated it. And also I think it applies to NAIFA members, is the love of the game. And I think if you're able to help someone find the love of the game, you no longer have to convince them they have to go to practice, right? No, I have to convince them that you got to run, you got to do work when you're not here. You no longer have to convince them that you got to do an extra workout. No longer have to convince them because they fall in love with the game.

And so during their younger years, my advice to all parents is just put them in a position so they fall in love with the game. If they fall in love with the game, they'll be great at it for a long period of time. And I think coaches bring a lot of that out. So it takes a village to raise kids. Everybody's an influence on kids. And so you're doing good work there. You're influencing people in California through NAIFA. You're influencing the kids around your other kids. You mentioned the fact that you have another business, a business of a business.

Suzanne Carawan 39:37 

Typical NAIFA member, right there. There you go.

Chris Gandy 39:40 

Drop a nugget on that. But I will say that before you do, everybody in NAIFA, if you're listening to me, within your first two years, you got to find a love of the game. The love of what NAIFA is, what we do, how we do it. And you got to find some teammates that you really, really, really like and be like, man, let's go win together. So, but Jason, this other thing you got going, will you tell us a little bit about that?

Jason Foster 40:08 

Yeah, so a couple of years ago, I told you, I'm kind of part of this networking group, and you know, a bunch of business owners in there with a few of us decided, hey, let's start this promotional marketing company. Let's just kind of out, almost, not really, there was another guy that was part of another company, right? And since then is some changes, but overall that's kind of how this company formed. There's you guys in a room that said, Hey, we're going to just start this company that's going to produce shirts, hats, and we do full embroidery. We DTF, we bought the machines. We got everything's in-house. So, yeah, it kind of more or less started off like, more of like a hobby nonetheless. I mean, it's a business, but more of like, it's more of a hobby and to help but now it's kind of evolved into, now this business that is producing quite a bit, and we're doing a lot for sports teams, speaking of sports and a lot of the schools are starting to come and use us for all their jerseys, hats, baseball teams and stuff. And is kind of in a nutshell.

So I was at first that when I came on board, I was like, Okay, I'll run the financials, right? I'll be the CFO and stuff. And it was kind of, we went through some growing pains the first year, and it kind of evolved where I had to get more involved with the business, more on the sales side of things too. I don't spend a ton of time in it, but enough like it's there, and it's growing and we're doing well, pretty well now to where we're starting to pick up a lot more. We do banners. We do. We have a large format printer, flat thought bed. We have embroidery machines. We have a DTF printer, which is direct to or not direct, but kind of like screen print, but a little different. You print it out, press it on there. We do have screen print as well. So we do bulk orders and screen print. And then, whatever you want to put your logo on. We can do it so pins to cups that, you name it. So we built a team. We will get a team. I got a good production team. I got a couple of girls that kind of run the day-to-day. And I just got to kind of check in here and there for the most part.

Chris Gandy 42:51 

Jason call you, because we just went through a rebranding, and we got to repurpose all our stuff. And yeah, what we're saying, where's the swag? Like? I got to do, I got to do. We got to do table...

Suzanne Carawan 43:04 

Got to have your merch. Got to have your merch That's right.

Chris Gandy 43:06 

Table cost for prefer for programs. And we got to have the banner, you know, the banner that stands up behind you and makes you look like you actually have some money you're not just doing it out of your basement. We got to spend some money on that. If I can do other NAIFA member, man, I'd love to do it with you guys.

Jason Foster 43:23 

Yeah, please. Love to help. Love to help. Yeah, that. It makes it convenient when we have conferences and stuff, for sure, right to own, own that company, because we're able to whip things up pretty quick.

Chris Gandy 43:36 

It's pretty cool. So you're able to use jump into the lightning round here. We're able to use, I mean, you think about Suzanne, the bandwidth of a NAIFA volunteer. I just want to comment on it, the ability to be able to pivot during their career while still producing. Be able to recruit people into the business, be able to still volunteer their time, be able to spend time with their family, be able to impact the community in which they serve, and also have the ability to advocate for others in this industry and bring others into this and then create other businesses indirectly that help this business. I mean, I'd say that's a skill set. Every NAIFA member doesn't, doesn't have that, but I do think that for leadership, it requires that kind of skill set.

Suzanne Carawan 44:32 

I mean, what you just said is exactly how I recruit. That's it. That's the DNA of, let's that's what I when I say, That's so NAIFA. That's so NAIFA, because that's why you're over achiever in life, not just one thing.

Chris Gandy 44:44 

Listen fast enough, yeah, NAIFA Kool-Aid, are you drinking NAIFA Kool-Aid.

Jason Foster 44:57 

I go back to the vibe, right? Like. You got to bring that vibe in, dude, that's whatever.

Suzanne Carawan 45:03 

You got to bleed blue. Yeah, passionate people that's right.

Chris Gandy 45:07 

Love it. Jason, let's run to the, we're gonna run over the finish line here. We're gonna run to the lightning round, where I'm asking a series of questions. The goal of that is so people can get to know you, Jason, not necessarily you Jason, the advisor, okay, so Jason, what's your favorite food,

Jason Foster 45:24 

Pizza.

Chris Gandy 45:26 

Jason, what's your favorite book you've ever read?

Jason Foster 45:29 

Oh, gosh, that's a hard one. Let's go with man. Put me on the spot here. Credibility.

Chris Gandy 45:39 

Okay, Jason, what's your favorite movie?

Jason Foster 45:43 

Favorite movie? Gosh, that's a tough one too. Let's see. Why is it always when you're on the hot seat trying to figure it out, right? Oh, I know, but it is at the same time. There's you got to get a good one in there, right. Next question real quick. I'll think

Chris Gandy 46:09 

So, Jason, your proudest moment in the financial services business to date?

Jason Foster 46:16 

Oh, proudest moment probably, you know, if I go all the way back, probably becoming Rookie of the Year from the beginning of my career, right? So that goes back 20 years. So yeah, that's probably my, my proudest moment. And then from there, it just kind of went full speed.

Chris Gandy 46:37 

Last question, you can go back in history and have dinner with anyone, whether it's a president, sports star, anyone, or they're living or not living, you can go back and have dinner with them. Who would you have dinner with and why?

Jason Foster 46:53

Oh, man, so many people again there, going to the coaches side of things, maybe, have dinner with like, Coach K, something like that, right? So that'd be a fun, fun dinner to have.

Chris Gandy 47:15 

Why him? Why Coach K?

Jason Foster 47:17

Because his record winning, just, you know, the amount of people that he impacted from the game, right, and more outside of the game, right? It's not just, I think that's where, like, I try to instill, you know, from my coaching aspects of things, how to think differently, right? It's not just about the game, you teaching these kids, and especially at that level, right? Like how to go about life, right? So all these little things about the game, you take and becomes reality outside of the game, right? And so I think he did a fantastic, fantastic job with a lot of kids and in his program.

Chris Gandy 48:09 

Awesome. So Jason NAIFA nation is listening. Did you come up with a movie?

Jason Foster 48:15 

I did not. Gosh, man, I can't think of one off the top my head right now.

Chris Gandy 48:22 

Where people see you at conferences, like, Jason...

Jason Foster 48:25 

What's your favorite movie? I got to get quick on this, right? Yeah.

Chris Gandy 48:33 

Well, it's all good. Don't worry about it. You know what you're doing. Enough.

Jason Foster 48:37 

The funny thing is, I don't watch a lot of movies. That's, that's what's crazy. I just don't have time, right? So I do have a favorite movie. I'm sure, if I really think about it, I probably have one for sure.

Chris Gandy 48:49 

Yeah, well, and I can tell you, the vibe is high in California. NAIFA nation is listening. Is there anything else you would like to say to NAIFA nation, to those years that are listening?

Jason Foster 49:02 

I would just say, for those that are, from a leadership standpoint and struggling, you got to just go on, find a couple of good people that are on the same page and want to run with you. If you're just a member, get involved, right? Like, at some type of level, like it just doesn't have to be on the board. It could just be at a committee, right? Find something that we're always looking for help right in certain areas, whether that's just getting involved with the conference or whatever, right? So just get involved at some level. But specifically, obviously, from a NAIFA standpoint, we're an advocacy organization, right? So we got to get involved at some level there, and just, you know, we got to continue to fight the good fight that we're going to have to fight for years to come, and we're always going to be constantly attacked.

And this organization is the key behind, I call it our insurance, right? It's the key behind keeping us in business for the long term. And so, if there's a shakeup or anything, don't think your dollars don't matter. They matter 100% we need everybody to be on board. And so, that's it, man. Like I appreciate you guys having me on, and I'll continue to fight the good fight here, and stay involved. And we'll see where things lead from here.

Chris Gandy 50:32 

Jason, your future with NAIFA is obviously bright. Hurry up and stop doing what you're doing in California so you can come help us on a national level. That's me, that's me. That's a selfish commercial. We love your insight. I've spent time with you, and I just love the way you think, and you're a doer, you know, I like winning together. And I think part of what I think we ultimately love is we love to see winners, and we love to see people that win together, because that becomes contagious, and that increases our vibe, and everybody gets super excited, and that momentum carries us forward. And I think that's where we are as we close out today, want to thank Jason, Mr. President, NAIFA California, we want to thank you for being here and sharing your story.

You're always welcome to come back. Suzanne Carawan, who is always on point, and I'm your co-host. Chris Gandy, I'll go ahead and close it out, Suzanne, unless you have something else for me. If not, I'll keep rolling. Thanks for tuning in to Advisor Today, podcast where we give we hear from the leaders and the advisors of how to make this industry a better place for all of us, not only for ourselves to operate and to take care of our families, but also for the people in which we serve. Have a great day, and we'll see you next week.

Outro 52:03 

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.