The Reboot and Rebrand of Advisor Today

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, thanks for tuning in to Advisor Today Podcast, we highlight the voices of you the advisor and our collective good of financial services. So we've got something wonderful in store. This will be a little different for you today. We are on the Advisor Today, reboot and rebrand, and so you're going to see it a little bit different today. So we want to highlight that, and we're going to have a little fun today talking about the opportunity that we've got to change the narrative of Advisor Today Podcast, to kind of give it a little different, feel a little different flair. And we're super excited about the opportunity. So with that being said, Zack I’m going to, kick it to you for our sponsor for today's podcast.

Zack Huels 1:12 

Yeah. Thank you, Chris. Today's sponsor is, of course, Life Happens, and Life Happens is a longtime supporter and partner of our NAIFA organization, and of course, we recently merged with Life Happens back at the beginning of 2024 so we are excited to mark a one year anniversary of being partnered with Life Happens. And Life Happens. Of course, has an amazing consumer outreach that includes tons of marketing, especially around those awareness months, those ensure your love month, which, of course, is coming up in February, just next month, and Life insurance Awareness month in September, and all of those awareness months that we have throughout the year. So please take a look at lifehappens.org for those great calendars and social media marketing and Life Happens Pro Platform as well.

Chris Gandy 2:02 

Awesome, Zach. Thank you so much. So you may notice the fact that Zack is a young whipper snapper, excited about the opportunity, and we look forward to working with him. You may notice that Zack is also, we're going to call him the technician, because he is the guy that makes things run, makes things happen, but he also is quick-witted, so he will be helping us along in the podcast also. So Zack, thank you. With that being said, this is the Advisor Today rebrand. So because of shuffling of personnel and changes, we have an opportunity to change our podcast, and we have an opportunity to have other co-hosts in the podcast. So I want to welcome today some of those co-hosts, and for you guys to get to know him a little bit. If you've watched the podcast over the years, you might have seen some of these faces before, but now you're going to see them regularly.

So we're super excited. So we want to welcome we'll start with JDR, so John D Richardson, you might know from being around NAIFA, but John is great to see you. You are always dapper with the ties. And welcome to 2025, let me ask you a question, John, sure, why would you want to be a part of this rebrand? I mean, I'm sure you're busy doing stuff. You helping out Boy Scout. I mean, why would you want to be a part of something?

John Richardson 3:39 

Well, Chris again, good to see you again, and Happy New Year. So when you look at your calendar and you figure out, what do I want to do with my time? Because time is, as we all know, a precious commodity. It's finite. We only have so much time on this earth to make as much of a positive impact as we possibly can. So why would I want to invest my time in doing NAIFA-related activities such as this podcast, and the answer is simple. I feel like my purpose in life, much like I'm sure a lot of us do, we feel called to lead leaders, and so first we must lead ourselves, and I find that listening to podcasts is a great way to feed my brain, as well as reading books on audible, as well as doing life with other leaders, and I get all three of those through my involvement with NAIFA. So what better way than to pay it forward as a leader of leaders than to serve others through this podcast? So to answer your question, that's why I'm here, and that's why I'm happy to serve.

Chris Gandy 4:29 

JDR, that's going to be the theme for 2025 I think you're muted, so JDR, right. People call you JDR, or they can call you John D Richardson, or Mr. Bow Tie man. So John, welcome to Advisor Today podcast. We so look forward to your insight on numerous topics, and we're going to come back to you in a minute. But I know another wonderful co-host, that we're so excited to have to be part of this rebrand, brand reboot, is none other than Miss Kathleen Owings, Miss Kathleen, how are you today?

Kathleen Owings 5:13 

Great. Thank you.

Chris Gandy 5:14 

So same question we asked. Mr. JDR, 2025 I know you do a lot, and people that don't know you go back and look at the podcast. You were a wonderful guest, but now you're stepping up and saying, hey, I want to be a part of the future of this podcast. So why would you agree to do something so insane like that?

Kathleen Owings 5:41 

Well, I think the first is giving back. I've been a member of NAIFA for well over a decade now. NAIFA's given me a lot, whether it's connecting with friends in my community, getting to know more people. So when I was asked to do it, it really wasn't a question of, if I want to, quite frankly, I had to. One of the questions I had asked was to compliance, can I and the answer is yes, because I have a securities license, but it was really giving back. And I'll be honest, when I was on the podcast with you and Suzanne, I had fun. I enjoyed the conversation. I liked the questions that you asked. I felt like there was value that we were adding to our NAIFA nation, so I wanted to be part of that and add to that conversation, and then just really help enrich, similar to John, helping enrich people's lives. I also love podcasts. I get a lot out of them, so I want to add to our listeners and their lives, and hope we can help them in small ways.

Chris Gandy 6:36 

Thank you, Kathleen, so much. We appreciate your comments and none other than the Zack Huels. Zack, you're part of the rebrand, the relaunch, the reinvigoration, let's say, right? Why are you doing this Zack, I'm sure you have other things to do.

Zack Huels 6:58 

I do, of course, but this is really exciting for me. So I've been on the NAIFA staff for closing in on eight years now, which is hard to believe. And my background is actually in theater performance. So doing things like this and doing on-camera work, especially like I've done for NAIFA Live for many years in the past, or hosting webinars that John and Kathleen and yourself, Chris, have been hosts of or presenters of, it's just been a great opportunity to get in front of our NAIFA members and just NAIFA people in general, or people in the industry, and being able to put on a good show, put on good not just education, but entertainment as well. And I think that that's something that I'm really passionate about, so I'm excited to do it, and especially with a crew like this. I mean, I've gotten to know all three of you for many, many years now. I mean, John and I have been, I would say, I'll consider it, I'll say it friends since 2017 so, it's really nice to actually do this and be able to, in his words, do life with you all in a way that we're doing it like this in a virtual environment.

Chris Gandy 7:00 

Listen Zack, there's no friends on this show. That's not how this works. Not true. We don't like each other. That's how this works. So, let's not talk about that people are going to hear. Let's talk about what people are not going to here. So, JDR, what are things that people are not going to hear from you this year in 2025?

John Richardson 8:28 

Okay, so of all the questions, I thought that Chris could lead off with, that's probably at the top of the list. I didn't see that coming. So I guess I will find that question. So you're asking me is, what am I going to say no to in 2025. Is that how you're — is that what you're asking me? Is that right?

Chris Gandy 8:45 

Well, I think, John, there's a lot of things that we know we're going to hear from you like we're going to hear about the Boy Scouts, and we're going to hear about your planning. John, and would you go ahead and share with Nathan nation your planning year? Do you have that, you showed us before? So don't be jealous. Don't be shy now. Can you show us your sheet of how you're gonna see your year or plan your year out? Just show it. Come on.

Kathleen Owings 9:11 

Your calendar. Get it. Do you want me to jump in Chris with what you're not gonna hear from me while he's grabbing it? Okay, so you're not, Oh, there it is. We got the big old calendar.

Chris Gandy 9:22 

Yeah. So, so JDR, as you can see, is not color-challenged. He is super excited about his calendar. And so we may hear a little bit about the calendar and why JDR decided to do a little bit of that. But my question JDR is more along the lines, we'll go to Kathleen and come back to you to give you a little time. But what are some of the things that we're not going to hear from you in 2025?

Kathleen Owings 9:51 

So you're not getting your pessimism from me. I think we have inauguration coming up every election cycle. I hate to say this, but I feel like I have similar conversations with some clients, and regardless of what side people fall on, I do hear some negativity. You're not going to hear that. You're going to hear optimism. You're going to hear opportunities that we have. I like stretching myself and taking myself to new limits. So that is not what you're going to hear from me, that we need to hunker down and not move forward, because that is not how I operate. So that's my not.

Chris Gandy 10:30 

So from Kathleen, we're going to hear optimism, excitement. We're going to hear about new things, exciting things, right? We're going to hear about things that perhaps we've never heard about before, right? And we're going to continue to learn the depths of our dear friend, Kathleen, who will add value along the way in numerous ways. So JDR, back to you, my man.

John Richardson 10:52 

All right. So thanks for again, for giving me a moment to think about because that's a unique question. So what you're not going to hear from me is status quo. You're not going to hear this. Our industry has got a lot of folks who love to go to the tried and true cliché phrases, and that's great. But I am excited about our next generation of leaders. I'm excited to bring in thought leaders on board who gives a new perspective on where we're going as a nation. So what you won't hear, is like the standard, the male, pale and stale that we've always grown accustomed to, and that's great. But again, we want cutting-edge and want something new. Also, you'll find an opportunity through our conversations to realize that I don't believe in monologs. In fact, evil guys like on James Bond movies, they're awesome about monologues.

They tell you exactly and while they're monologuing, you're getting out of what issue or trouble you're in, then you escape, right? And that's how the good guys escape. So imagine a dialog or a conversation where we go from a head-level conversation to a heart-level conversation. That's what I do in my daily routine. That's what I do with people I do life with, and I want to have those kind of heart-level conversations with those folks who are listening to this podcast, so that when we meet in person, you're just like, I know you, because I feel like we've had that heart level conversation through this medium of podcasts, make sense.

Chris Gandy 12:15 

Thank you so much JDR, I knew I could throw a curveball at you and you'd be like, What? What are we doing? Come on. Zack, over to you, bud.

Zack Huels 12:26 

Well, like John, I wasn't expecting this one, but I think I've got something, and that's, I don't think you're going to hear default agreeableness from me this year. Something that I have maybe had, I call it a struggle, but maybe not. Is that I tend to find the good or the parts that I can agree with and people in conversation. But I think this year, I really want to try and push back and challenge people and ask them why they think a certain way. Because I want to try and understand why people think a certain way just a little bit more this year. So I want to challenge things a little bit and challenge that status quo in that way.

Chris Gandy 13:02 

And I'll just come in and say that as an organization, the way we move forward, we can't drive forward looking backwards. And one of the challenges, collectively as an organization that we've got on numerous levels, is we talk about the past, as if it is our destination in the future, and it is not. We've got to make changes. We've got to adapt. We've got to evolve. And so you won't hear from me discussions of the past, about the past. So we're going to walk forward together, and we're going to win together, and we're going to evolve together, and we'll all be better for it. So that's my thing we're not going to talk about in 2025 but let's just open it up. What are some of the topics that you guys are excited to talk about in 2025? We'll go to Kathleen first.

Kathleen Owings 14:06 

One of the things that'll be interesting. And I'm looking forward to, as Zack said, we've been getting to know each other over the years, but I want to get to know each one of you a little bit deeper and understand your journeys, because I think that's so important, understanding how people got to where they are. I know you said you said you don't want to talk about looking back, but I hope for our listeners, maybe we get a little bit on John's story, a little bit more on Chris's story, so more about Zack and myself that can contribute to their lives and maybe inspire them. So that's what I'd like to talk about as we're interviewing our guests, but sharing a little bit about ourselves as well, and helping our listeners get to know us on a more personal level.

Chris Gandy 14:50 

JDR.

John Richardson 14:52 

So I believe that when we connect people together with the great ideas, awesome, amazing things happen. So this year the opportunity to connect thought leaders with people who are part of our NAIFA family, or connecting other NAIFA family members together would be a fantastic opportunity. I'm excited about that. I do like to read. I'm a nerd in that sense, and I constantly am working through books on audible. So as we have people who are sharing their stories through the podcast, asking them more about what books they're reading, and so in turn, that we can then add that to our audible to do list as we work through the year. And also, like I said, when we meet people in person, I'd love to know what books you're reading, so that I can then share with you the eyes, the ideas that come from the books I've read. So, I'm excited about that, connecting people and ideas together in 2025.

Chris Gandy 15:46 

Mr. Zack.

Zack Huels 15:47 

Well, I'm glad you mentioned not wanting to talk about the past, because I think the thing I want to focus on most this year is the future and what it's going to look like for this industry and for this organization and for all of us as well. Plain and simple, there's a lot of technological advances that are happening rapidly, and I want to know what that looks like for financial services, and what it looks like for our world, our country, everything. So I think it would be really interesting to explore those topics and to see what changes throughout just the year of 2025. As we all know, technology advances at such a rapid rate that what we're talking about in January might be a completely different climate in December of this year.

Chris Gandy 16:35 

Exactly, I'm excited to talk about food. Listen, guys, everybody we talked to, we asked them your favorite food, right? We found out that we've got some people that love the same things I love. They love mac and cheese. They're like, oh, come down. We're gonna go eat barbecue. Like it's a thing, right? I've learned over time that food is somewhat calming to the soul, and there's a piece in it that always tells a story. And so I'm super excited to learn about the foods people like, beyond a couple other things. I'm super excited in 2025 to relaunch NAIFA into the future as the current president-elect of the organization, to wake up the people that have been sleeping for a period of time, they've been on the sidelines, waiting, waiting to be put in the game, put me in coach. And so I'm super excited about that, to give them a mission and a vision of what we're going to do in the future, and to really get people excited, because excitement is contagious.

And I'm super excited about that for the next 12 months. And to really get our hands dirty, to really figure out who are our soldiers who really want to be a part of it, and who are the ones just want to say they're a part of it and find out who those are. Along the way, we've lost some soldiers that either for one reason or another, they're not as engaged. To re-engage those people, because we're going to need them on this mission of grassroots advocacy and also changing the industry. And so I'm super excited about those things. I'm super excited about the leadership we've got and the direction we're going. And I think that the world that we look at today, we've only begin to scratch the 10% surface of what we're capable of doing at NAIFA and so I'd like to see us continue to move that needle another 10, 20% over the next year.

So there's a lot of things I'm super excited about, but really I'm excited about the food and getting to see you guys all in person, and traveling to Tennessee to see JDR, and going out west to see Kathleen, and oh, have fun stuff. So, let's pivot for a moment. We're on the heels of an inauguration. Let's get some comments. Kathleen, what do you — what are you thinking? What's going through your head? I mean, we've got some political things happening in the insurance and financial services world. Obviously, stay somewhere in the middle, obviously, because you know your compliance. I understand I'm compliant. That's cool. We're going to make compliance happy here. But give us kind of some thoughts of where NAIFA is, and kind of your perspective as you've kind of been a part of your state, and just the importance of it, especially during a new presidency.

Kathleen Owings 19:56 

I think one of the things I've always focus on, certainly through NAIFA is getting to know my elected officials, and we're going to see some shaking up, if you will, with the new inauguration, with the new president in place. But I think it's staying local, maintaining those relationships, and those people that are coming in, the new members that we have, getting to know them, because it's important to know your congressman, it's important to know your senators, their staff, the staff, quite frankly, is that consistency that may move across the hill to different offices over time. So we're certainly going to see some shakeups that happens every administration change. There's no doubt about it, but that's what I'm looking towards is, okay, who are my elected officials? Who do I need to reach out to? Who do I need to build those relationships with so we can share our story and our client stories with them. That's the opportunity that I see with really, any new administration or any change.

Chris Gandy 20:59 

Awesome. JDR.

John Richardson 21:02 

So Chris, as you probably know, I was elected to political office two years ago, and the reason why I ran for office is because politics these days, it's divisive, it's polarizing, it's a hot mess, right? So I wanted to do my part to make a difference, at least in the state of Tennessee, to move people back to a place where you can agree to disagree and still be kind to the other person. Now, recently, before we talk about the inauguration, I want to say this, unfortunately, after 100 years of amazing life, President Jimmy Carter passed, and I was able to watch his service from beginning to end, and a couple things stuck out. What I just, I just, I was blown away, never and I think you want to check the history records on this one, and this will definitely be a fun trivia fact. I don't think there's ever been a eulogy given at a president's service, or funeral service from a prior president who was already deceased. So you had Gerald Ford who ran against Jimmy Carter ran against Gerald Ford, and it was a very heated election. Of course, Jimmy Carter won in 1976 well, they went on a plane ride.

They made things right. I watched a bunch of other videos to kind of get their backstory, but he have two guys you've got on opposite teams mad at each other, but then afterwards, they actually built the bridge, and they came together. Now, Gerald Ford passed away many years ago, and his son was there, and of course, he wrote a eulogy for Jimmy Carter. And Jimmy Carter went one for Gerald Ford. Gerald Ford passed first, and so Jimmy Carter was there at Gerald Ford's funeral to give his eulogy. And just the other day, Gerald Ford's grandson was at Jimmy Carter's funeral in DC to read the eulogy his father had written for him, and it was like they were in the same room right in the eulogy together. It was beautiful to see two people, though politically opposite of each other, come together and show kindness and true compassion.

And you could look at their issues, they didn't line up, but they truly saw each other for who they were, as humans first, as Americans first. And I love it. So I'm excited about our nation and where we're going. And my hope and dream is that in 2025 as well as for the next four more years, you find more Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter moments where people find ways to bridge that gap and to work in a bipartisan way towards effective legislation here in the United States.

Chris Gandy 23:24 

Awesome. Zack.

Zack Huels 23:27 

I think you're right, John. And I think part of the issue, and why we don't see enough of that these days is how sensationalized everything has become. And, everyone's wanting that sound bite. But I think ahead of the inauguration, I think to tie it into financial services. All eyes are on inflation right now, and I know that's such an important topic for a lot of people. I think a lot of people are heading into this with optimism. A lot of people are heading into this with excitement and passion, and a lot of people are heading into it with uncertainty. So it's the kind of thing where we're now five years out from that, I guess, from the pandemic when it started, and that was sort of the end of the last time that Trump was in office.

So it'll be interesting to see what happens, you know, sort of picking up the pieces from the last time he was in office, and the last time that the administration was on the Republican side. So it'll be interesting. I think we are all going to be looking at this and wondering, you know, what's going to pass in that first 100 days that a lot of presidents say that they pass those things or in executive orders. So they were just going to be really looking forward to seeing what happens out of that.

Chris Gandy 24:43 

Awesome. Thank you. Zack, the one thing that we can be sure of is nothing is going to be the same. I think we all can agree to that. But one of the things that I am actually looking forward to is to see what they do with the tax, jobs and cuts act the TCJA, which is very important for us as NAIFA members, because we do walk around with a little bit of a target, because the insurance build up in the insurance sales of life insurance specifically has a significant amount of opportunity for them to solve some of these tax cuts in Acts. Okay? So you'll hear more from our political insider, Miss Diane Boyle, as we approach it, but that is one of the major things that they've got to solve this year, because it expires this year. And so if you don't know what that is, look it up. It's the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, TCJA from 2017 expiring this wonderful year under a new leader. And we do believe that either A, he's going to extend it, or B make some dramatic changes.

We don't know what direction that's going to go, but it will be topics for conversation. And what does that mean for you, and what does it mean for our clients, and what does it mean for NAIFA members we'll be thought out and well talked about on this podcast, because it's ours, and we can do that right, correct. Zack, we can do that right. We can do it from our perspective. And this is our world. This is NAIFA. We can talk about it. We can talk about it, how it benefits us. That's what we can do. So I'm just saying we can do that, and we can have some fun with it. So, let's do that again. This is not the talking heads on CNN or Fox or whatever it may be. But we can have some fun, because at the end of the day, we are coming from, we all love NAIFA.

We're coming from an organization in which we actually, regardless of our race, color, creed or our political affiliations, we figure out a way to still like each other, and so we'll figure out a way in which we can see the light and some of the things that we say, and we can see some of the opposition, but at the end of the day, we still come back to the fact that we actually are compassionate, because we're all human beings. So with that being said, Kathleen, we look forward to you being a wonderful co-host as a part of Advisor Today podcast. Any departing words, any wonderful words you want to share with NAIFA nation?

Kathleen Owings 27:29 

Chris, I'm excited to be part of this opportunity. I think the words that I want to share are I look forward to sharing more of myself. I think people have seen the things I've done, they've maybe seen the things you've done, Chris, I want to share more of myself with NAIFA nation and get to know them better. I agree with John. It's fun doing life with people, and getting to see people at conferences and just making this one of the best years that we can so I'm looking forward to it. Thanks.

Chris Gandy 27:59 

JDR.

John Richardson 28:01 

So my parting thought would be this. I want you guys, this little homework. I want you guys to write down as you listen to this, write down on a piece of paper, intentionally on paper, on purpose, what does support look like to me? How can this podcast add value to me as an advisor? And once you have that answer, I want you to email Zack and email Chris, or just let us know, and so that we can then fill that need that you have. So if it's sales ideas, if it's inspirational ideas, whatever you need to be a success, we are here to support you the advisor, and to take your game from wherever you are, whatever season you're into that next level. So that being said, help us know, to quote Jeremy Gwyneth, help us help you by giving us what we need to take you to that next level.

Chris Gandy 28:52 

All right. Zack.

Zack Huels 28:54 

Well, I feel a little selfish because I get to hang out with you three, and that's always great. I've told people many times that the best things about being around NAIFA is the people and getting to know a bunch of new people on episodes like this and future episodes, of course, as well, I think that's going to be just really exciting. So doing something like this is probably something I've wanted to do for a long time at NAIFA, and getting to do it is really exciting.

Chris Gandy 29:25 

Thanks, Zack. I'll wrap us up. Listen, I'm super excited for NAIFA. This is the future of NAIFA. Look at these wonderful, smiling faces, you've got everything from Zack Huels, who he's not going to tell you, but I dress him half the time. You don't know this like he's smiling. But some of the suits Zack wears, I'm like, hey, what are you doing with that suit on? Hey, you need a pocket square. You need some style. You need something. Zack, come on, man. Like we got to look, look the part. JDR, I always give him a hard time, just simply because he is unbelievably organized, and my job now is to figure out how to ask questions that he doesn't have answers to. So it makes him use the other part of his brain. And Miss Kathleen, my goal is just to unravel you a little bit. She is so put together all the time, and we just got to get her like, I need to see her mom thing like, what does that happen when she's stressed out? Right?

We want to see that part of Kathleen, because at the end of the day, we understand that we're all humans behind this. So with that being said, thank you for tuning in to the reboot, kind of a relaunch of Advisor Today podcast. Please continue to listen to podcasts. You can find it on all the mediums, Spotify, Apple Music. You can find it everywhere. We're out there. And again, the goal of Advisor Today is to bring you, the advisor, your voice to real life, and we're here to support you. Listen, we're a team. We want to win together, and again, we want to score together, and we want to actually make this the best year we've ever had. This is going to be a championship year, and we're super excited about where Advisor Today the podcast is going. I know you guys don't have props. Zack, I do. It's okay, right? I'm gonna pass you guys the ball. We'll have some fun, and we look forward to the future of Advisor Today podcast in 2025. We'll see you guys next time on Advisor Today.

Outro 31:33 

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.