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

• [03:05] Adam Solano discusses the intersection between financial advising and political advocacy
• [06:03] Adam’s political leadership journey with NAIFA and its impact
• [09:14] Key takeaways from running for political office
• [16:09] Why advisors should stay grounded and focused on their clients regardless of political changes
• [23:13] The crucial role of advocacy in shaping policy decisions that affect the financial services industry
• [31:24] Adam talks about the legacy of leaving an impact on family and industry
• [36:02] The challenge and importance of business succession planning
• [41:43] Advice for new advisors and the importance of patience

In this episode…

Is there more to a financial advisor than just number crunching and portfolio management? Can the discipline of financial services intersect with the dynamic world of politics? How does one champion the needs of their clients on a much larger stage, and why is advocacy so crucial?

Adam Solano, an expert in the financial services industry, delves into his multifaceted career encompassing financial advising and active political lobbying. Starting with his roots in NAIFA and his leap into the political arena, he shares the crucial importance of advocacy efforts and the influence advisors have on policy-making. Adam highlights the resilience needed to face electoral defeats, manage client relationships through political divides, and continue to spearhead industry change. He opens up about his philosophy of being “top-of-the-table” at work and home, reflecting on the critical balance between professional accomplishments and personal fulfillment.

In this episode of Advisor Today, Chris Gandy and John Richardson sit down with Adam Solano, a seasoned financial advisor, about balancing life as a financial advisor with political aspirations. Adam discusses the intersection between financial advising and political advocacy, key takeaways from running for political office, the importance of staying grounded and focused on clients amidst political shifts, and the role of advocacy in shaping the financial services industry.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Chris Gandy on LinkedIn
• NAIFA
• Adam Solano on LinkedIn
• The New Common Denominator of Success (Laws of Leadership) by Albert E N Gray
• Necessary Endings: The Employees, Businesses, and Relationships That All of Us Have to Give Up in Order to Move Forward by Henry Cloud
• The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool That Millions of People Can't Stop Talking About by Mel Robbins

Quotable Moments:

• "You have more capacity than you think, and that's my number-one takeaway."
• "I just have a passion for representing — you know, like we do with our clients."
• "If you're not at the table, you're on the menu."
• "Patience is power. We're in a ‘deferred compensation’ kind of business."
• "You still have a lot of control in what you do on a day-to-day basis."

Action Steps:

1. Continuously develop your political awareness and advocacy skills: Engaging in local and national advocacy allows you to represent your clients' interests effectively and stay informed about industry changes that might affect them.
2. Participate actively in professional organizations: Involvement in organizations like NAIFA provides networking opportunities, leadership experiences, and a platform to influence the financial advisory community.
3. Enhance your technical knowledge: Keeping up with the latest developments and understanding complex concepts is crucial in providing value to your clients and standing out in a competitive industry.
4. Prioritize work-life balance: This approach motivates you to stay productive and engaged at work while maintaining strong relationships and personal well-being.
5. Prepare for succession planning: Planning for the future of your business is essential for long-term sustainability and ensuring that your clients are well-served after you step down.

Sponsor for this episode...

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

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

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

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

Episode Transcript

Intro 0:02 

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

Chris Gandy 0:20 

Hi everyone. Welcome to Advisor Today Podcast, 2025 we're super excited about bringing you a new, revamped, rebooted Advisor Today Podcast, we're super excited about our guest today. It is the Inauguration Day. It's Martin Luther King's birthday, and it is championship Monday. With all that being said, before we get into our wonderful guest, we do have a sponsor for today's program, Zack, who is our sponsor for today's program.

Zack Huels 0:49 

Thanks, Chris. It's time to maximize your time and maximize your impact. Life Happens Pro helps NAIFA members spend less time planning communications and more time helping the clients and prospects who need your expertise. The Life Happens Pro platform makes insurance marketing easy, cost-effective and organized. Our newly updated platform gives you access to fresh and engaging content, including social media, graphics, monthly social calendars, post schedule, strategy documents, content collections and so much more. NAIFA members can get access to a Life Happens Pro subscription for 20% off, enter code NAIFA 20 when prompted during the sign-up process, access Life Happens Pro here, lifehappenspro.org.

Chris Gandy 1:29 

Thank you. Thank you, Zack. Thank you, Zack. We love Life Happens. It's an extension of NAIFA. It is our arm to be able to really tell our story. So with that being said, we want to welcome the Honorable mister Adam Solano. Adam, who is a long-time NAIFA member and a coveted NAIFA leader, has held numerous roles in NAIFA, also on this inauguration day, we thought about bringing you something unique. Adam has actually run for numerous offices. He's actually in the process of writing a book and longtime NAIFA member in leadership, MDRT guru, and super excited to have him on the podcast. Adam, yeah, thank you. Good seeing you.

Adam Solano 2:23 

Thanks. Good to be seen. Good to be here.

Chris Gandy 2:26 

We are super excited about having you. We thought about being an elected official. On today, it's Inauguration Day, and we think about the pageantry of passing of power, right? And Adam, can you speak a little bit? We want to talk a little bit about that, but tell us your history with politics, because you're also you're an advisor, and also you've run for some offices. So you know the difficult part behind that, and what comes with that?

Adam Solano 3:05 

Yeah, the genesis of it is lobbying with NAIFA, our Day on the Hill, the fly-ins that we would do. And it's fun just watching some of the preliminary things on the inauguration, day to day, seeing different parts of the Capitol, and you're like, I know that building. I've been in that building, I met with that person or their staff, and it was an awesome experience to be able to represent our colleagues and our clients, not just in Springfield, Illinois, when we do it, but especially in Washington, DC, and bring what we do and how we do it there give them some insight and understanding to what we do on a day to day basis, and what our clients are thinking and feeling and struggling with. And that's an awesome responsibility, and it really sparked, I mean, I ran for student senate and College. So I had a little bit of experience doing that, at least running for office, and being public about it, and trying to convince people to vote for you. So it really reignited some of that passion that I had for politics, that I really didn't think, I don't think I have a passion for politics.

I just have a passion for representing, like we do with our clients, and so it was really an interesting intersection for me to move from lobbying and advocating to running for a position. And the first two times I ran, for those of you keeping track at home, I've lost twice, but it's fun. I really enjoyed the process. It is an awesome responsibility just putting your name on a ballot. It's a very scary thing. Having the interviews on TV with the newspapers, having an opponent that doesn't like you. My first opponent, we've actually become good friends. So, when you get past some of the stuff and you see it's like, oh, that guy's got a spouse, he's got kids, he runs a business. Blah, blah. You get to see the human person, but it was a lot of fun and a lot of stress. I like to say gladiator levels of stress.

But a lot of the things that we do day to day was so transferable, applicable to running for office. I had a real advantage, to be honest with you, real advantage over other people, and no one knew me and in the political groups, and to be able to step in and bring a level of professionalism that I learned from our profession to the table and have a lot to offer was fun to be honest with you, right? And I think NAIFA, and I think MDRT and my colleagues who have sharpened me over the years.

Chris Gandy 5:42 

Adam, you've always been a very political like figure in our industry, right? I mentioned that you were in leadership. Tell us a little bit about the leadership you've had in NAIFA. I mean, you've done a lot of things.

Adam Solano 6:03 

Yeah, back when there was a NAIFA Chicago, so, as President, past president now of NAIFA Chicago, which at the time, was the largest local in Illinois. And then after that, became president of NAIFA Illinois, served on some national committees. Like, one of the first national committees I served on was the national membership committee back in, I don't know, 2003-2004 or something like that. Jeff Taggart was running it. Jeff's no longer with us, but he was a great man, a great leader. So, yeah, I mean, I've had some unique positions from a national level, and then on the local level, helping NAIFA Chicago, NAIFA Illinois, and then kind of being part of that process where the locals had kind of outlived their utility in our profession, and things were a little bloated, and you have this mechanism, this local structure that's still important, but not to the magnitude that we had it, because it just couldn't sustain and support the number of members. So kind of helping lead that. I know Kevin Mayu was, you know, a catalyst for that, and I kind of helped institute and implement that here in a state and local level. It was hard. It was hard work. I learned it. I learned a lot in that process. And you made, you made some friends, and you lost a couple, too, to be honest.

Chris Gandy 7:33 

It's politics, right? It's political in nature, right? Sometimes in politics, you can be friendly with people before you walk in the room, but at the end of the day, difference of points of opinion and seeing things differently is super important. We asked JDR, who is a wonderful NAIFA member and NAIFA trustee, to join us today. JDR has got some questions for you, because he understands the political game, because JDR has served as an elected official, and we love him for that, and he also is a NAIFA member. So JDR, what kind of questions might you have for Mr. Solano?

John Richardson 8:19 

Adam, again, good to see you again. I always love seeing your face at NAIFA functions. You bring a lot of joy into the room, and you always have a way of encouraging others. So again, thank you for taking time to join us today. I serve at my state level, on the State Executive Committee. You from the folks who are behind the scenes, helping people like you run for office, or encouraging folks like you to run. So thank you for raising your hand. You're right. It's not an easy task. And my question for you is, I've got several but one of the comes in mind is, if there were three key takeaways from the times you've run for office, for those folks who perhaps want to run for office, and they could learn a lot from this podcast today, what would you say are the top three takeaways from your experience in running for political office, that if you could do it all over again, or if you could mentor somebody, you can say, you know what, don't forget. This is important. This is important, and this is important. So Adam, if you don't mind?

Adam Solano 9:14 

Yeah, great question. I would say the first thing that comes to mind as I'm writing those down is capacity. You have more capacity than you think. And that is my number one takeaway. And as my children, I have four kids, is they're moving into adulthood, and they're moving out of the house, living on their own, and they're getting stressed out. I was like, look, you can do more than you think. So, running my business still qualifying for top of the table, and then spending almost three months of that year running for a big public office. Yeah, it was stressful, but it really taught me, hey, I've got more bandwidth than I thought. And as I look forward, I'll be 55 next month, in March, so almost next month. So, it's like, okay, I've got another lap or two left. So knowing I have more capacity, there's things that I want to accomplish with my life and business. So that would be one, you've got more bandwidth. You got more capacity than you actually realize.

Number two, be prepared. You have to be prepared. You have to be thought, and when I say prepared, you got to be thoughtful about what you want to say. And especially when you're in a public arena, especially when you're one on one with clients, you really need to be prepared. And then the last one is, be professional. There's going to be things that are going to try to throw you off your game. And whether it's in your professional life or your personal life, but in the public arena, one of the things I realized was the professionalism I learned for what we do. Dress up, show up on time, be polite, be kind. Those are simple things of professionalism that go a long way when you put yourself out there in a public way.

John Richardson 11:03 

So good. Thank you so much. Chris.

Chris Gandy 11:07 

Adam, you mentioned capacity. I'm sure people wonder all the time, like you see politicians when they're running, they're everywhere, right? And they're everywhere, and they're doing everything. Adam, what is the toughest part about running for an office? Because, not easy, obviously. I mean, it's a challenge, right? What do you feel is the toughest thing that just you know as an athlete, there's a lot of tough, there's a handful of tough, really tough things that I could tell you that most people have no clue about right, but running for an office is another form of athletics that I am unfamiliar with it so you could share with us what is the hardest part about running for an actual office.

Adam Solano 11:58 

Some people might say, speaking and doing things in public. That wasn't a hard thing for me, because again, I got a lot of experience with NAIFA and MDRT serving at the local level. So it was a little more. I had some experience there. The weird thing, oddly, was asking for money. Asking people for money. That was for me, when I asked people for money, now it's for them. Like, no, you're not writing that check to Adam Solano or Chris Gandy. You're writing that to whatever American funds, x, y, z, insurance company. And it's for them. But asking someone to give me money was super difficult. Literally, my wife would push me. She's like, get back out there and ask for money. I mean, literally, she would be out, like, ah. And that's part of it. Maybe came with an imposter syndrome, who knows? But that was hard. And then the other thing that comes to mind is, knowing clients are on the other side of me politically. And there was maybe one or two issues, problems, I would say, with client. I lost a client because of it, and that hurt, right?

I mean, you take that, our business, we take it personally, right? Those of us that are successful, whether it's, you know, athletics, like you did, Chris. I mean, when you fail at something, you take it so stinking personally, and so you can take things that way, so managing that in a dignified way, despite it hurting, and being able to move through it. I heard something recently when this coach just happened to be a little real. I saw an Instagram where someone had called their professional coach and said, hey, this happened, this difficulty happened, and the coach's response was good. Now you're gonna learn how to get through it. And so when those things happen to me, I learned and kind of created those neural pathways and those experiences to help me with other challenges and losing other clients and having other disagreements, and doing it in a dignified way.

Chris Gandy 14:04 

Adam, I just remember my coach saying to me a long time ago, and some of the mentors I have in this business, is that was your path that was chosen for you, and if it wasn't for you, then you wouldn't have that experience. So even though we take it personally, we're like, Oh no, we lost a client, right? That was the path. You just didn't realize it until it happened, right? And so it's a beautiful thing to understand that you're growing, right? And those obstacles come because of growth and because you're asked to grow. Talk just a little bit about...

Adam Solano 14:35 

Chris, can I add one thing to that? Because it was, one client in particular, that left, because of a difference in values as they thought they ended up. I had referred them to my neighbor. We live on a lake, and they wanted to buy property on the lake, and they're moving into retirement, and I'm like, my neighbors thinking about selling their house. So, oddly enough, about eight months later, they moved next door to me. And my wife's like, what are we going to do? What are we going to do? And I said, I love them as clients, and I'm going to love them as a neighbor, right? And so they're great neighbors. We've got a great relationship. So it's really unique.

Chris Gandy 15:19 

You said, professionalism, that's maturity on your part, right? Because some people will Harbor that, but it doesn't serve you. You have to let it go, right? That's a side of it that good leader talk to us a little bit about. Let's fast forward to tape. So today is Inauguration Day. Again, I'm an amateur. I don't know what I don't know. I just know the prestige that happens on TV, and some of us that are NAIFA members, our only connection with the government is really through advocacy or being in the housing. Some people that are NAIFA members have never gone before, right? So what should we expect today? I mean, what happens at an inauguration is it just, the hoopla and the speech and they pass the gavel and say, Okay, goodbye. I mean, Adam, tell us a little bit about today. I mean, what happens on a day like today?

Adam Solano 16:09 

Well, that's such a great, loaded question. I would, I would say, whether you're happy today or you're not so happy. You have to go back to what you do, right? You got to get up. The alarm goes off. Got to raise your kids, get them on the school bus. I got to pick up the phone. I know right when I'm done here, I've got to meet with Steve and my account manager. We just got him contracted with Mass Mutual. He's following a path. So, the stuff deep, the activity keeps coming, the things keep coming at you, and it really shows me on days like today, that we still have control of what goes around in our immediate vicinity. And there may be macro things that we like or don't like, but I still had to put this on today and find my buttons and put the tie on and everything else, and show up right?

The markets are closed. The President's literally getting sworn in as we're speaking. And I'm working. I'm with you. You guys are here with me, engaging. And those cars are still going by. Those things, you still have a lot of control in what you do on a day-to-day basis, and a lot of responsibility that you still have to complete and show up to on a day-to-day basis, right? I mean, you learn that in athletics, the show must go on. The show must go on.

Chris Gandy 17:38 

You show up, you show up and you show out, right? And at the end of the day, our clients expect us, regardless of who is the president, regardless who is in the Senate, regardless of all those things that are happening that we don't have control over, right? They expect us to be there and help them understand how some of the changes right are going to affect them, personally, professionally and financially, right? And so we become a, whether we're elected official or not, we've been elected by our clients to serve for them on their behalf. And that's where NAIFA becomes a wonderful thing.

Adam Solano 18:22 

Yeah, I mean, that's so well said. We are the voice of reason for our clients. And they're going to be right? That's what we try to be. We have to be sober-minded and be that voice of reason to them. Because, I mean, you've gotten the calls, right? You get them before election day. You get them after election day, whether it's a state or the national and you have to master the fundamentals and still discipline with them. And yeah, so that's what we do.

Chris Gandy 18:50 

Hey, what's going to happen if Trump wins? What's going to happen if Harris wins? Like, I'm like, stick to the path, right? It's like, what happens if there's a field goal for 50 yards? And guess what? Stay ready to throw a 90. To throw a 90-yard touchdown. Stick to the path we get. We have a plan. Stick to the plan, right? JDR.

John Richardson 19:09 

So switching gears a little bit. Adam, you live in an amazing community. In preparation for today's podcast, a little homework. Found out that you're just up the street from Chicago and you're just down the street from a Kenosha, Wisconsin, which I've got several clients and friends. They're near and dear to my heart up in Kenosha. So I kind of know the area of town you live in. And I got to know this is a kind of a silly question, but a serious one too. I assume you go to dogs and suds. And I got to know what is your favorite thing to eat at that amazing drive-in restaurant?

Adam Solano 19:42 

Yeah, dog and suds. One of the things I love about where I live, Gray's lake. It is a slice of Americana, right? You walk down Main Street, and I just love it. We have two big parades every year, and my daughter was a. I was in marching band and so for Fourth of July Memorial Day, it just, there's nothing better than having a bright sunny day in the spring, in the middle of the summer, with music going, everybody's happy. And also, when I was running to be able to participate in that but dog and suds, the other double cheeseburger with some cheese fries and a Diet Pepsi.

I don't know why you got to throw a Diet Pepsi in there to wash all that down, but good old dog and suds they had. They're expanding, man. They've got food trucks now. So they're, they're, I don't know what Robert Kennedy Jr., have anything to say about that, but they're going to expand their footprint. They're a staple in town. There's that. Plus Twisted Burger is another place where you could probably only eat once a week at most.

John Richardson 20:50 

Part of enjoying good food is also doing quality time with people you care about. So when you're not busy serving your clients and serving within the NAIFA world, or you're involved in politics, what do you do to have fun and to unwind?

Adam Solano 21:03 

Two things. I like to golf, and I try to golf at least by myself once a week, just to own around, unplug, and just enjoy the outdoors and then the other thing is enjoying the outdoors. We live on Third Lake, so just to sit at the end of my peer, I like to journal. So I'll journal there. And when you have a lot of people think Adam, you're so extroverted, I'm more of an ambivert. So I go to those things to recharge and replenish. And if you see me at MDRT or NAIFA meetings, I'm kind of like Batman. I'll scoot out the back door before anybody knows it, because I'm like, I'm done, man, I'm exhausted from all this talking and socializing and then I go just watch a movie by myself. But those are in you got to know yourself in that way, right? So those are two ways that I look to recharge and solitude. Yeah, good question. Thank you.

Chris Gandy 22:05 

Dog is JDR, dog and suds I think there's a couple of those floating around Chicago somewhere. I've driven by them, like, is that a dog and suds?

Adam Solano 22:16 

Yeah, I don't think they've, they've put a fresh cut. Well, they've probably painted it, but it's the same thing it was back in 1960 as it is today,

Chris Gandy 22:26 

Adam, talk to us a little bit about the importance of being on Capitol Hill, coming to Capitol Hill as an AFA member advocacy. Can you talk to us a little bit about that and why it's super important? One of the things as the wonderful president-elect, here is, I'm really looking to ground swell the grassroots, to have our best year ever of people show up in DC, right, and take over DC. I mean, we want to really give people an exciting part reason to be in DC, to show up, to be a part of this, because without representation, then we are an industry with a target on our back.

Adam Solano 23:13 

Yeah, I mean, I'll go back to a couple things. When you get prepared to go on the hill and meet with our lawmakers, our legislatures, our elected officials. You know, you have to have a level of respect for them no matter what you think they're going to do and or have done, for that matter. Our congressman, Brad Schneider, up here in the 10th district Congress. We meet with him every year. He's a great guy. He's been in our business. And so you can find friends and allies, even if you don't think you align with them, and having gone door to door and knocked on whatever, 567, 1000 doors, more, more people are in the middle. But when you go on the Capitol Hill, you really need to know you're representing two people.

You're representing yourself, and all of us, but also our clients and you really have to speak to both of those. You can't just be the in those meetings with self-interest. You got to talk about our constituents, right? Our clients are our constituents, and it's important to go in and advocate for them, and when what's going on and bring the pulse of Main Street to Washington, DC and our elected officials are open to doing that. So it's a great experience. If no one's done it, that's listening it, that's a must. You absolutely must do it.

Chris Gandy 24:35 

Hey, Adam, can you comment though, on how important it is to get involved with the order, even if you can't come to DC, right? I've shared with everyone, contact your local congressman, Senator, local representative, and schedule time to go see them, to tell them why it's important that our industry exists, right, and the lives we're changing, right? So how important is that? Because everybody can't come to DC, right.

Adam Solano 25:04 

Yeah, there has to be some activity that you have to do within our line of work, from an advocacy standpoint, whether it's just giving to IFAPAC a little bit of money going to, you know, we've got a luncheon coming up, actually, next, I think might be this Friday, actually, where we're meeting with state lawmakers. So there's plenty of opportunity to just dip your toe into it and become comfortable with it, because once there's a level of comfort, you can do a little bit more there. But it's critical, whether you're giving money, you're giving time, you're voting in local elections. And I'm sure, I know John Wheeler says this often, but it really summarizes the heart of it, right? If not at the table, you're on the menu, so to speak and not so to speak, I mean literally. So it's probably one of the most important things you can do. We all have had these great sales ideas that we've learned.

Chris, I've learned from you, you've learned from me. When you go to meetings, we're learning from colleagues. And we get great sales ideas, and we put money in our pocket and make a meaningful difference in other people's lives. But you have to also tie that into the love for our profession, our level of professionalism and what we do for others and get involved politically, even if you hate politics. It's not about politics, it's about maintaining what we do, how we do it, when we do it. I started the business 1993 so what's that going to be 32 years? Or something like that. In 1996 they passed the Financial Services Modernization Act. The business has totally changed from that one piece of legislation. Everything that we do changed from that one bill. And then there's been many successive ones, and we have to, if we're involved and we're getting impacted, and so our clients and our products and our resources, we have to be involved.

Chris Gandy 27:06 

Hey, Adam, you talked about, I'm going to coin that Main Street. JDR, that's our we're gonna get some shirts the pulse of Main Street. We're gonna get those when we go to Capitol Hill. That's gonna be awesome, right? The pulse, right? Because without a post, you're dead. I like that, Adam. So we are officially coining that. So Zack behind the scenes. We want to make sure we take that and run with that. That's going to be an Adam Solano sound bite, right? So we're gonna, we're gonna have some fun. We're gonna have some fun with that. Adam, talk to us a little bit about the word on the streets, man, is you're going to share now. You're ready. You're at the point in your career where it's time to share some of the knowledge, some of the opportunities, some of the ways you've kind of did your thing has been successful top-of-the-table guy, right? Everybody wants to know how they can make more money. But the word is you're going to be possibly sharing a book. A book may be coming out. Tell us. You heard it here first.

Adam Solano 28:06 

Yeah, had a couple of political runs, I got in the way of me finishing those things, but I came up with an idea with our friend John Nichols, who's past president the NAIFA, and he's actually going to be president of MDRT this year. So go to Miami for the annual meeting, and I started doing work. They have a thing called work-life balance. And so I had given some talks and written some articles about it, but I wanted to be able to speak a little bit more. In our business, we're always trying to take complex things and simplify it, right? So a client can get it and talk to, the husband and the wife can have a meaningful conversation about money without getting overwhelmed by standard deviation and all the other stupid stuff. And so I really wanted to do that with work-life balance, because it's very complicated, and it's so nuanced, and if you have work-life balance, it exists maybe for two seconds in your life, until the phone rings or something else happens.

So I came up with a phrase called MDRT at the office, top of the table at home, and it just kind of codifies the importance of having work life balance. Because how many of us have hired professional coaches to get to top of the table, or come to all our meetings to become top of the table, but we're just MDRT at home, like, I don't want to be MDRT at home and top of the table. I want it opposite, right? And now, if I can use the term, now, I'm kind of moving out of the I call it the chest-thumping years, the warrior years more into the legacy years of my life. It's a simple concept that I want to be able to spread and speak to, those that have big families or small families or single and what, what does it look like to be MDRT at the office, but top of the table at home? Yeah. And so that's gonna be the name of the book, and it's gonna be specifically for NAIFA and MDRT.

Chris Gandy 30:04 

Awesome, awesome, Adam, we look forward to promoting it, maybe having you back on when the book's out, and doing something with NAIFA members so they could get their hands on it sooner than later. We would love to promote that. And you are a loyal NAIFA. And thank you so much for your years of service, without guys like you paving the way, guys like myself, JDR, wouldn't have the playbook. I talked about the playbook, right? And using the playbook of other coaches that have been here and that we've learned from that we can continue to learn and grow together, right? With that being said. JDR, what else do you got? I know you got some more questions man.

John Richardson 30:46 

I do. And actually, you just teed it up quite nicely. So Albert E and Gray wrote a pamphlet or book called The Common Denominator Success. And I know you know about Adam, because in all of your political ads, you talk about how successful people have formed the habit of doing those things that unsuccessful people aren't willing to do, and obviously in many ways, have lived a successful life. But my question for you is a little bit on the deeper side, is so when the good Lord calls you home and you're no longer here, how do you want to be remembered? How do you want folks to think of Adam?

Adam Solano 31:24 

I just want my kids to, you know, remember me and the things that I've done and it, it's hard anybody who's listening to this, when you're a parent, it's hard to, I mean, your kids, they all run to the door when they're little, and then when they get older, they don't greet you at the door anymore. And then when you get a little bit older and they're going on their life, you want to be able to instill some wisdom. So my deepest goal or wish would just be for my four kids to say, yeah, my dad helped me whether get elected office, all that other stuff. That's really fine, but we find a lot of dignity in our work, and this might tee up the other I'm writing in a book on fatherhood. I'm trying. It's a deeper dive. And one of the things that as dads and moms, but I'm a dad, so I can only speak to that being a father is, the work that I do, I don't want it to trip up my children, right? I want it to propel them, and so that would be my goal, that someone says, oh, your dad was Adam and he did this or that, and they're not inhibited, they're not impaired by me that they become more, and I become less, and that's, that's the goal, that's tough, right?

That's really hard. Same with succession. In our business, I think one of the main issues we have with advisors is they, they can't become less. They have to hold on to everything. And it's really, really difficult. And now I'm in the grips of grappling with those issues. But if my wife and four kids can say I was a good man, right? I buried four friends in the fall, serendipitously, they all just kind of passed at the same time. And you hear each one of them where their kids were like, Dad was a good man, and at the end of the day, that's it. So if you like me or Chris likes me, that's fine, but it's the ones that you raise that are your flesh of blood that you want, not approval for. But I think you know that's your legacy, right? That answer your question JDR, I wish someone could rattle off my initials as my name. I mean, JDR, how cool is that?

John Richardson 33:44 

Well, what's your middle name, Adam, and we can make one today. What's your it's Anthony, Adam. Your AAS, is that right?

Adam Solano 33:51 

Yeah, it just doesn't roll though. JR rolls, right?

John Richardson 33:57 

Well, I appreciate you not only sharing your story, but also your heart with us, because I know our listeners, they want to know the not just a head-level conversation, but a heart-level conversation about you and what makes you tick. And I sincerely appreciate you sharing your drive as a father, as a producer, as a business owner, and being successful in all those different areas. It's not easy, but it's definitely worth it. So I appreciate you.

Adam Solano 34:23 

Well. Thank you for taking the time to be being prepared, and, you know, stalking me on the internet in professional ways, so that means a lot to be honest with you. You guys, this has been a great experience. And I love NAIFA, man. I love it. Great people.

Chris Gandy 34:41 

Adam, you can recoin that. And we are professionally, we are professionally persistent. That's what we are. We are professionally persistent. So Adam, talk to us a little bit about and then we're going to go to lightning round here. Talk to us a little bit about succession. You made some acquisitions over time. I've heard you talk at top of the taste of MDRT about your experiences doing that right, and how some failed and some didn't work out. How important is it for us to leave the industry a little better than we found it right to start thinking about because we don't know when that day is going to come. There's going to come a day right where whatever we built and whatever we have in place, they're going to have to go with that, right?

And so talk to us a little bit about the importance of succession and on both sides, right? There's a lot of people leaving the industry right now, so those young advisors out there looking around saying, hey, maybe I could grow through partnering and acquisition, and then on the other side, where you are now, where you've done that a handful of times, and now you're like, yeah, but yeah, I need to start thinking about what's next. So that's a two-part kind of question there.

Adam Solano 36:02 

Yeah, the hard thing is blending the emotional heart component. And where we've talked about heart on this today, the heart of it. And my business was my firstborn child, right? Claire was born in 1998 Lakeside Financial Group was born in 1993 it was my first kid, and this child will never emancipate unless I let it go and I didn't learn that and know that until there was there's Dick, there's Jerry, there was Mickey, there was Bob, there was Dave. I'm missing one person and I saw in some of those deals, if you want to call them, that they waited a little long, they didn't want to let it go. They didn't want to let that child emancipate. And learn from my work with NAIFA, specifically NAIFA, none of those opportunities would have presented themselves. And it was because of what I did with our professional association that, because I didn't ask for any of those, they all approached me and when I look back on those, my predecessors, they had businesses like mine, right?

They were kind of one-man two-man shops had maybe one or two staff. And I think the big difference now with technology, a lot of the industry is moving to teaming into firms. And so incorporating my experience, taking practices over, turning them around, into now this teaming structure, this firm-based basis that we have going on culturally in the industry. So it's a little more difficult. And I don't have a lot of, I had to stop at a pay phone when I started this business to get directions if I had got lost. I didn't have Siri showing me the way. So I feel like I don't have a lot to offer so to speak with someone that's new coming in, because the way they prospect and meet people and even meet online is so different, and even the way that we're working is very, very different. So it's a challenge. It's a challenge, not just with all the psychological components, the personal components, the control right? We're all part of it. Why those of us in this business are successful, we're good at being control freaks and kind of letting go and understanding that I'm trying to accomplish something more than just being number one, number two or top 10 or whatever it is on the list, within your agency and your co.

I'm trying to accomplish something more. And there was a colleague of mine with the current agency that I'm with that spoke mass mutual agency that that spoke last year, and he's like, you know what, I just decided to give that account to my junior associate, and I didn't want anything. And that was the one thing I learned. I was like, I want to know why? Why, Kevin? Why did you do that? And as soon as he said, I don't know, but I was trying to do something more that wasn't about money, and that's really a significant component of it. If you're just focused on the revenue and the money, you're going to miss the heart of a deal, and you're going to go to acquisition, and you're going to miss the heart of adoption. With a lot of people like me who feel very personally and very protective of my business and my clients and the hard work that I put into this for the last 32 years.

Chris Gandy 39:33 

Awesome. Adam, you know what, I'm telling you, we got to have you back man. I love the look. I love talking to you. You know you have years of knowledge, 32 years, and it's a testament to your commitment to yourself, the industry and higher calling. So, thank you. Thank you so much. We're going to move to the lightning round. I wish we had enough capital so we can have, like, lightning rods and like graphics and all those kind of cool things. We don't have that. But we're gonna move to the lightning round anyway. So Adam, in this round, basically what I'm gonna do is, I'm gonna ask you questions this Spitfire.

It's like you and I sitting around having a beer and saying, hey, Adam, so what do you think about this? What do you think about this? What do you think about this? And think about this? And so we'll start with things, but there can be things that you pretty much know. Adam, so just relax. It's not asking you, you know, and I'm nervous, yeah, nothing. So the first question is, you live in Chicago or the Chicago land area? So we're going to ask Cubs or White Sox.

Adam Solano 40:42 

Oh, yeah, cubs. I'm a Cubs guy, when I need to be.

Chris Gandy 40:46 

See, those are easy questions, right? We're going to ask deep dish or thin crust.

Adam Solano 40:50 

Oh, deep dish, little 90s. Deep Dish.

Chris Gandy 40:53 

Little 90s. You heard that one here first? John, JDR, put that one on your got to visit when you get here. All right. Adam, so we're gonna pick up the pace now. Okay, so favorite food, sir.

Adam Solano 41:03 

Favorite Foods. My homemade Solano spaghetti sauce. That's my favorite food. Me and my wife, we like to make Sunday.

Chris Gandy 41:11 

Is that something we can buy? Is that something we can get? If we come to the Solano household?

Adam Solano 41:15 

Brother, we'll have you over on Sunday. Wine, pasta. Football game going nothing better.

Chris Gandy 41:20 

Love it. Adam, talk to us a little bit about if you were to go back in time and give advice to a new advisor just starting in the business today. Right? You started, it was completely different. What advice would you give your 20-year-old self back in the day when you started your first year?

Adam Solano 41:43 

Put more money in your Roth IRA. But other than that, I would, patience is power. Patience is power, right? Just, patience is power, yeah, just be patient. Be patient, right? We're in a deferred compensation kind of business, right? And it develops. You just need to be your powers and how patient you are.

Chris Gandy 42:06 

Adam, what was the one skill you had to develop to kind of really grow your business?

Adam Solano 42:14 

Oh, boy, that's a good one. Everybody says prospecting. And I would say prospecting is certainly it, but I would say more recently, if I look back the last 10, 15 years, it's really technical knowledge. You got to prospect. Those are the things that you need to do if you're a younger agent, but an advisor. But once you have clients, you really need to increase your technical skills and your knowledge. So I would say that, because that's something I've been working on deliberately over the years, last 10, 15, years, you have this responsibility. You have to be able to meet it with your knowledge of your technical knowledge of our business. What we do?

Chris Gandy 43:00 

Okay, your proudest moment in the industry so far, sir?

Adam Solano 43:07 

My proudest moment in the industry would be the honor of carrying the legacy of my six predecessors without question. Speaking main platform MDRT is certainly fun. That was a great thing. Serving at NAIFA is a great thing. But having six men hand me the baton for their professional life and caring for their spouses, because they've all most of them have passed and their families and watching their children and their grandchildren become clients is I can't put words to it.

Chris Gandy 43:43 

Pretty awesome. Last question, you could go back in time and have dinner with anybody of the past. Who would it be? Who would it be, and why?

Adam Solano 43:56 

I love to meet with George, and assuming that he can see history from being in heaven, I assume is what's it like? Going back to the fatherhood theme here, you know, what's it like to be considered the father of our country, but not having children of your own right? And his children passed away, and just kind of here, right? He's just this great leader, this great figure, but I'm sure that's a pain point. I just, I don't know. I'd just love to hear his take on that is that, that's why he just seems so interesting, of a historical character, for me was just we view him, and when I found out he didn't have children of his own, and the two that he adopted passed away. Just fascinating to me for some reason.

Chris Gandy 44:46 

Wow, awesome. All right. JDR, do you have anything else for Mr. Solano before I wrap it up?

John Richardson 44:52 

Yeah. Adam, again, thank you for joining us, and I noticed that you're a LILI graduate leadership and Life Institute, and also a. A former moderator, so I got to know, what books are you reading these days and because Leaders are readers, so what are you reading and what do you recommend?

Adam Solano 45:08 

A book that I always recommend to folks is by Doctor John Townsend and Henry Cloud, called Necessary Endings. It's a great book. We all know how to start things as people and business owners. We stink at ending things. So it's a great way, a great lot of wisdom. And then, actually, a book. I've been reading a lot of Isaac Asimov lately. I don't know why, but I get into science fiction just to kind of detach. But yesterday I downloaded on my Audible. It's called The Let Them Theory. So just seen, it looks really interesting. I've heard the author speak. It'd be hard for me to explain it, but it's called The Let Them Theory.

And a quick tip on reading books, if a friend of mine's become an author, and he's actually, he might have a book, or he might have a movie made out of a couple of his books. He said, If you want to get through a lot of books, he's like, buy the hardcover. Soft cover doesn't matter. And then also listen to it, because we can hear faster than we can read. And if you dial up the audio to one and a half, if you can do two times, but at least a one and a half times, your eyes will move as fast as you can hear, and you'll get through a book and half the time. And you actually retain more of it, because you're using two senses, your site and your audio, to take in the information. It's called immersive reading, one of the best things that I've used to consume materials over the last two, three years.

Chris Gandy 46:40 

Awesome Adam. Adam, thank you for being on JDR, thanks for co-hosting this wonderful podcast, Adam, we appreciate you. We love you brother. Thank you so much for your service. We can't walk industry without you. You have been a staple in the industry, and have been a leader. I know a lot of people industry-wide, especially advisors, look up to you and say, I want to be like Adam Solano, so I will tell you that a lot of people are proud of you. So thank you so much for your service. We look forward to your future with NAIFA, MDRT and all the things in the industry and seeing you shine. So thanks everyone for tuning in to Advisor Today, podcast where you hear the voice, as Adam said, the pulse of Main Street. And with that being said, we'll see you next week, same time. Take care of each other, take care of yourself, and have a wonderful day. See you.

Adam Solano 47:39 

Bye, guys. Thank you.

Outro 47:43 

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.