Unlocking the Game of Financial Services with Kevin Tostado

Kevin Tostado is a San Diego-based financial advisor and a former film producer with three Emmys. After a 15-year career in the film industry, including directing and producing award-winning documentary Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story, he transitioned to financial services. As a career changer, Kevin brings a unique perspective on consultation, utilizing storytelling and strategic thinking to advise clients. He has received recognition as a 40 Under 40 winner and is now an engaged NAIFA member. With his engineering background, he takes an analytical approach to financial planning and strives to educate clients while advocating for industry best practices.

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

[03:15] Kevin Tostado shares his background in engineering and film and how they influence his approach to financial services
[04:34] Strategies behind Monopoly that translate to financial advising
[10:40] Early challenges and strategies in financial services
[14:00] Why Kevin prioritizes education and designations in the industry
[21:06] Kevin's unique sales process inspired by filmmaking
[29:31] The benefits of joining NAIFA and insurance advocacy
[37:07] Kevin talks about his experience meeting Kevin Mayeux, CEO of NAIFA
[41:37] Advice for upcoming professionals in the film and financial services industry

In this episode…

Transitioning to financial services from an unrelated career presents notable challenges. How does an individual from a distinct professional background establish themselves as a high-performing figure within the insurance and financial services sector? Moreover, can the strategies and insights acquired from a prior industry effectively inform one's approach to financial advising and client relationships?

Kevin Tostado, an esteemed 40 Under 40 award winner, shares his fascinating transition from an award-winning film producer to a financial advisor. He discusses the strategic parallels between the game Monopoly and financial advising, emphasizing the value of education and systematic approaches to client interactions. He shares his strategy for educating clients first and selling second and the role of NAIFA in advocacy. Kevin emphasizes the importance of being client-focused, prioritizing trust-building over immediate sales.

In this episode of Advisor Today, co-hosts Chris Gandy and Suzanne Carawan sit down with Kevin Tostado, financial advisor and former film producer, about his transition from film to financial services. Kevin shares his background in engineering and film and how they influence his approach to financial services, early challenges and strategies in financial services, his unique sales process inspired by filmmaking, and the benefits of joining NAIFA.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Quotable Moments:

"Understanding the implications of law and tax on financial products is crucial to providing the best advice to clients."
"An education-first approach builds trust and ultimately leads to more meaningful client referrals."
"Like in a film, it's not just about following a script — it’s about listening and genuinely reacting to your client's needs."
"I try to be the type of salesperson that I would want to do business with."
"With NAIFA, we have a louder voice when speaking with our representatives, which is vital for our industry."

Action Steps:

Adopt an education-first approach in client relationships: Sharing knowledge and resources empowers clients and builds trust, fostering long-term partnerships.
Focus on niche markets: Tapping into specific industries can help financial advisors provide specialized solutions and stand out in a crowded market.
Advocate for the industry through organizations like NAIFA: Being involved in advocacy protects client interests and strengthens the industry’s voice in legislative matters.
Pursue continuous learning and professional designations: Staying updated with knowledge and credentials showcases commitment to excellence and expertise in the field.
Master the art of adapting communication styles: Tailoring discussions to client needs and preferences ensures clearer understanding and better financial decisions.

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's podcast where we feature the top people in the US and NAIFA nation, that's killing it and actually doing a great job. We try to give the voice back to the people, back to the advisors, so that we can hear their stories and collectively learn from each other. So I'm here with my wonderful co-host, Suzanne Carawan. Suzanne, how are you?

Suzanne Carawan 0:45

I'm okay. Had a late trip last night back from Apex, but I'm here. And you know what we do at NAIFA, we show up. So I'm here.

Chris Gandy 0:53

It is great to see you. We have a wonderful guest today, one of our super 40 Under 40, and we're excited to have him, but before we get to that, Suzanne, can you share with us who would be our sponsor for today's podcast?

Suzanne Carawan 1:09

Yeah, so today's podcast is sponsored by Life Happens Pro as many of you know, life happens, the organization originally founded by at that point, NALU, I believe, rolled out became its own foundation. It was a Life Foundation that became Life Happens for 30 so years, and it's now rejoined the NAIFA family, and Life Happens actually creates there's two things I want to mention. One, all NAIFA members get a free, curated bundle of content that's co-branded NAIFA and Life Happens because it is Life Insurance Awareness Month, we still have a week or so for that. But also, if you want to upgrade from that, there's a Life Happens Pro subscription. Non-members can get that. Members can upgrade. But that's today's sponsors as a Life Happens Pro gives you some more automation and access to even more content.

Chris Gandy 2:00

Awesome. Suzanne, would you go ahead since you've got the microphone, I mean, why don't you go ahead and introduce our wonderful guest for today's podcast?

Suzanne Carawan 2:10

Alright, so under the Advisor Today brand, we roll the 40 Under 40 awards, and we are here this whole month, we have been focused on our 40 Under 40s and we finally get to speak with one of our last 40 Under 40 winners, Kevin Tostado. And Kevin was able to actually go up on stage two nights ago and receive that award in front of NAIFA nation, and we're excited to get to know him today and talk about some of the new faces and the new talent and the rising stars within NAIFA.

Chris Gandy 2:40

Awesome, Kevin, welcome to the podcast.

Kevin Tostado 2:43

Thank you so much for having me, Suzanne and Chris. It's a great pleasure to be here and a pleasure to meet both of you at Apex this past weekend.

Chris Gandy 2:48

So Kevin, the word on the streets are that you're a career changer and that your previous career is, let's say glitz and glamor, right? So can you share with NAIFA nation the previous life, some of the things that you did before and then what brought you into the insurance space.

Kevin Tostado 3:15

Absolutely, I'd love to share my background. So I got a degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering. But while I was working on that degree, I developed a passion for film and video, and started doing different projects around the campus, and decided that when I graduated, I would try and pursue a career in film. And did that for about 15 years. I produced and directed a couple different projects, including a documentary about The Game of Monopoly, for which I won three Emmys, and continued doing that until around the time my wife and I started having our kids, and she had a great job in tech, and I decided I want to really help support her career, and was already working from home, so I actually became the primary caregiver for our three kids for about six years, and once our youngest, who was born right at the beginning of the pandemic, when she was old enough to attend preschool full time, I decided, you know what, I am ready for a shift to do something outside the house.

And as much as I enjoy film, I want to do something that can provide a little bit more stable support for my family, and also still be able to have the flexibility to assist with the kids, pick up, getting them to all their different activities. And that's kind of when I really started looking into financial services.

Chris Gandy 4:26

That's interesting, where you sped through some of that you sped through. So I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna go back, Monopoly, huh?

Kevin Tostado 4:34

Yeah, absolutely. I've always had a good head for numbers and math, and I can't actually remember my very first game of Monopoly. It always was just kind of around the house and something I enjoyed playing. And as a teenager, I learned they had us and World Championships for monopoly, and I just said, you know what, I'm going to play at the US championship one day. And spent a lot of time practicing again, really good. But because they only hold them every several years, I happen to get interested right at the wrong time in the cycle, and then went off to college, and apparently missed the one that would have happened in between high school and college. And then as I was getting ready to finish up college, I realized, you know what, it's probably coming up again.

I'm going to start kind of getting my suitemates to play games of Monopoly with me and get ready. And then, sure enough, it was still two, three years out at that point, graduated from college and decided when I was kind of ready to take on my second feature film, I'm like, you know what? Nobody's on a documentary about the game of Monopoly before I'm going to be the one to do it. And so we filmed in nine countries. Shot over 300 hours of footage. 22 different states followed some of the best players from all over the world as they came together to compete for the title of World monopoly champion.

Suzanne Carawan 4:34

I knew none of this today. Now, did you know any of this, Chris.

Chris Gandy 5:42

Suzanne, listen, listen. Let me tell you the way I played Monopoly. I played the waiting game like, and I was the banker, like, the banker always got 10% yeah to the banker. So, at the end of the day, it was just like, I would wait people out because, people would get bored and start doing other things, because those marathon games. So I just will wait it out and then eventually, over time, I try and win. Now that wouldn't put me in the championship, obviously, but that was my strategy. Kind of interesting, Kevin, I'm sure there's strategy behind it, other than to go by Boardwalk and Park Place, right? There's strategies behind it, and there's that sections where people land on it more often than not, right?

Suzanne Carawan 6:30

So, but I did not know that. I didn't know it was like the Olympics, like, it's like a cycle, right? Like I didn't know you had to, like, wait to the next kind of things. Kevin, what was your favorite? What playing piece Did you always use? Who'd you pick?

Kevin Tostado 6:42

I generally would go with the iron, not because I'm like, oh, iron is the most amazing piece, or anything along those lines. It was more of a strategic it's one of the smallest pieces, and it kind of blends into the board a little bit more easily. And part of the rules of the game is that if you land on somebody's property, it's their responsibility to call out that you owe them rent. So if they happen to not notice that your small piece is sitting there on their property. Maybe you're a little bit likely to survive an extra turn or two because they didn't notice, and that money stays in your bank account, not theirs.

Suzanne Carawan 7:10

It's a little squatting thing. What about you, Chris, what'd you pick?

Chris Gandy 7:13

Oh, I was the Air Jordan shoe. It was a shoe before the shoe. That was the Air Jordan. That was like, that's the one I want, right? Everybody knew where the Air Jordan was at, right? I mean, it's an interesting game. So, let me just ask this, Kevin, you mentioned strategy. I mean, monopoly takes strategy. Let's talk about strategy. So what has been your strategy to get off to a good start in this career of insurance and financial services. I mean, I'm sure there's just like in Monopoly, you got to be strategic, and you have to do certain things, you know, and you have to put certain pieces in certain place. So tell us a little bit about how that relates to how you've been able to build your business so far.

Kevin Tostado 8:02

So I think, first and foremost, I try to be the type of salesperson that I would want to do business with. I am an education first that I always want to provide value to whoever I'm meeting with, regardless of whether or not it leads to a sale, like if there is something that they are unsure about, I want to help them understand the concept first, or review kind of what they may already have in place and provide that kind of value to them first. After that, if there was a solution that I can offer through what we offer at New York Life that fits a need and they have the means to do so, absolutely, we'll move forward with that. But I want to emphasize to any client that you know what, this is about making sure that you feel comfortable, whether that's just helping you understand your different options, reviewing what you may already have. And as a result, sometimes it takes a little bit longer to get to the point where we're actually doing a sale, but at the same time, I'm building trust, and I think I'm more likely to get referrals out of it as a result.

Chris Gandy 9:01

Suzanne, I'm sure there's a strategy at these meetings like Apex and we go to NLC. I'm sure there's a strategy. Maybe Kevin should be on our strategic team discuss what the strategy could look like as a young, up-and-coming superstar in the industry. I'm sure there's other strategies that he's going to be imploring prior to actually moving on to those pieces, right? And so he could be a, probably a fantastic help to all of us, to just think differently, right, about the way we go financially.

Suzanne Carawan 9:34

What I love about Kevin and his training in electrical engineering, etc, is he's already wired to think through multiple, not only multiple steps ahead, but then to go through the permutations of, if this happens, then what right? And go through all that. And I can already understand, like as a, as a client, you're not just thinking short term. You're taking in all the variables and then trying to synthesize them and say, Okay, so, have you thought all the way through this? And, yeah, that would absolutely help. Sure.

Chris Gandy 10:03

Interesting. Suzanne wired. No pun intended.

Suzanne Carawan 10:06

Yeah, exactly.

Chris Gandy 10:08

I heard that. I heard that. That was a good one.

Suzanne Carawan 10:12

That's right, I'm here all day.

Chris Gandy 10:14

So Kevin, tell us a little bit about when you first, when you first got into it? Were you nervous? Were you like, man, this is something I've always wanted to do. I mean, share with us a little bit about what was your largest obstacle, your first year in the business, or your first six months. I mean, a year is a long time, but lots of times you remember the beginning.

Kevin Tostado 10:40

That's a great question, Chris, so I wasn't nervous about getting in front of people, having worked in film, I've done Q and A's after a number of my different screenings, and been a lecturer at my church. And just the public speaking side of it, or just the conversational side, that has never been an issue for me. So really, it came down to, how do I make sure that I am actually providing the best recommendations for a client that take into account their suitability and just what makes the most sense for them. And that's really where I wanted to take the most time to really understand all the different solutions that we offer, as well as just kind of what are the different things I need to keep in mind when I'm making recommendations, what are the law and tax implications for what I'm recommending?

And while I'm not a lawyer and not a tax account, any of those sorts of things, I at least need to be prepared to at least have some understanding, so that way I can be making recommendations that really kind of take into account the whole picture. And it takes a while to kind of get to the point where you can understand all the different aspects. There's a lot of nuances in insurance and financial services, and I spent a lot of time early on getting myself registered. Quickly took my sie six and 63 within the first two months of joining New York Life, because I wanted to not only be able to offer all those different solutions to my clients, but at the same time, just be more educated and be a better source of knowledge for them. So that way, if they're asking me questions, I'm not having to be, I'll get back to you in that or I'll research that for you. And I will still be honest with my clients, that if I don't know something, there's someone else who does, and I will go find that answer for them, but I wanted to be a good source of knowledge for them.

And I think getting to the point where I could comfortably and reliably say, okay, these are all the different options ahead of you. This is what makes sense for you in a given situation, and having the skill set and the knowledge to be able to say this is the reason why this doesn't make sense to not just be okay, well, this is what I've been learning about, so therefore this is the best thing for you. That wouldn't be a true and honest answer with them if I didn't actually have the experience and the knowledge to back up that recommendation.

Chris Gandy 12:43

Suzanne, Kevin, I'll tell you, so it's interesting, because early on, you know, the best thing about our business is there's kind of that track of, like, where to go, kind of what to do, like, you said, the six, the 63 then, maybe you get the seven or the 65 like, there's kind of that track. I think part of our challenge is that once you get to a certain space in our career, that track kind of becomes nebulous. It kind of becomes kind of blurry. So if you're on that track, I would tell you. My advice would be, before you get off this track, build the next one, because there's no one, once you get to a certain point, there's like no more tracks, and you got to seek out those, those other tracks to kind of lean into, whether it's through MDRT, or it's through Lily, or it's through the LUTCF, or whatever it may be, you know, you have to lean into the next piece prior to leaving the last piece. Suzanne, you got comments on that?

Suzanne Carawan 13:51

I think that's an interesting way to put that. I haven't heard anybody kind of saying that. That makes sense.

Kevin Tostado 14:00

And I'll just jump in here at New York Life, they do really pride themselves on providing strong education for all the agents, and after kind of going through kind of the core curriculum that they provided, I jumped in right away on the practice models that they offer. So I've already earned my FSEP designation. I'm two classes away from finishing my Wealth Management Certified Professional designation, and both of those are also then helping me work towards my Charter Financial Consultant designation. I'm accruing my hours towards my CFP for down the road. Still got another couple 1000 to go on that. And I haven't forgotten about the LUTCF through NAIFA, and that it is something I want to do. But at the same time, I can't overwhelm myself, as my Managing Partner continues to tell me, Kevin, you could be the most educated person in the world, but if you're not taking the time to book the media. The time to book the meetings, you're going to take yourself right out of the business.

Chris Gandy 14:47

Yeah, I call them the intellectual of derelicts. There's a lot of people in our business that don't know how to sell insurance, which is interesting, right? Suzanne, I remember I brought a guy on board, and he was a CFP co. UCHFC, a JD, and he's like, this is kind of a no-brainer for me. He failed miserably. I was like, it was like, you can be this person in the room, but you don't have any clients, so.

Suzanne Carawan 15:10

Well, you know what they say, right? Those that cannot play became coaches.

Chris Gandy 15:16

Super smart guy, right. Kevin, that's not you. You're going to keep going, to keep going, you're going to do a great job, and you're going to be a great representative for the association and also for yourself and your family. Should be very proud. But with that being said, let's talk about, what are some of the challenges that you see now that you've let's say now you've kind of done okay, right? How long have you been in the business now Kevin?

Kevin Tostado 15:40

So I'm relatively new. I'm in my second year with New York Life right now, second year in financial services. So I am honored and humbled to be at the table with some of the other 40 Under 40 winners, who have far more accomplishments than I do.

Suzanne Carawan 15:53

But they definitely don't have three Emmys.

Kevin Tostado 15:56

That's true. That is one way I stand out, I think, among several others.

Chris Gandy 16:00

Kevin, but I'm going to fast-forward the tape. Let's see. So I'm friends with some of the New York Life guys, right? So there's their, like, Leaders Council, and then there's the, what is it called in at New York Life where, like, the superstars go. I mean, it's like the top of the top. What is that called?

Kevin Tostado 16:19

So we have several levels of recognition internally. So we have the Executive Council, which I qualified for and attended a trip in Nashville for last month. By that, you have the President's Council, and then the chairman's Council and Chairman's cabinet, Chairman's cabin. Top 50 producers in the company. We have 12,000 agents nationwide. So these are the crème of the crème. So they're going to be heading next month to Paris and then on to Italy for a week for their recognition. And yeah, certainly it would be a wonderful goal to get to that point. And we have one of the top 200 in the nation in our office in San Diego Megan Ward, who's been with New York Life for about 12 years, and she's a great person to have conversations with and try to model myself after.

And I think going forward, I think part of the steps that I'll need to take is probably hiring an assistant or someone to help me with so that way I can spend more time focusing on meeting with clients and helping them evaluate their situation, and less time on the busy work of the things that still need to get done and are important but doesn't necessarily require the experience or being an advisor to do, and then hopefully at some point, being like one of our other 40 Under 40s, Patrick, who's got his own business under Northwestern Mutual, where he's got six other agents working for him and really developing a thriving practice.

Chris Gandy 16:30

Kevin, my point. Let me rewind to take my point of saying what I believe I said is that you didn't come into, let me share with you a little mindset, even though I'm not, you didn't choose me as an actor in your movie, even though you could have, you know, you called me and got me at a Good Friday.

Kevin Tostado 17:54

Another one going. You'll be on that list.

Chris Gandy 17:56

Suzanne, can I be like the next? I could be the look I got gray. I could be like the Denzel, I don't know how this works, but my point in telling you that and sharing that with you is that where you someone shared this with me a long time ago, is where you are is a byproduct of what you believe, combination of your work ethic and a combination of a little bit of luck and in preparation, right? It's a combination of those things. But going somewhere, you have to act like those people before you get there. So let me give you an example of that. Before you can afford an assistant, you have to bring on one, right? This is one of the strangest businesses of all time, right? You have to actually make the investment, and it may fail, right? It may fail miserably right before you're able to, but you're an engineer-type fellow, so what you do is you say, okay, how many more policies per week do I need to do to be able to afford this part-time person?

Or what you do is you share a person with someone else, economy of scale resources. But you have to do that. So then you can delegate some of those behaviors that you could pay someone $10 an hour for, and then you could do the $15 or $20 an hour job. But it takes that. So it takes actually a leap of faith and a little bit of courage and in confidence of what someone else is doing and mimicking other people's behavior. So my question to you, Kevin, the real question is, how long is it going to take for us to get in the top 100 like that top, that's maybe not the top. How long is it going to take? It's a little bit of a challenge here, you know, to be the best of the best. I mean, you're talking to somebody whose mental mindset is everything. So how long is it going to take?

Kevin Tostado 19:46

I think I'm going to aim to be there in about three to five years. I can't give you more specific than that, but I want to be there in about three to five years. Give myself time to get a little bit more designations, once I kind of get that CFP finalized, I think that's going to be kind of the final piece that help to really open up some more doors for me, and provides kind of that extrinsic motivation that the other clients will be more accepting and more willing to say, hey, he's got that experience. Clearly, this is what he needs to be doing, and you should be talking to my guy.

Chris Gandy 20:15

Good, good. So, let's go back to I just want to take a different angle with this, Suzanne, let's go off script a little bit. So share with me. So I'm asking you a really unique question, because very few people have been behind the lens, sure, right? So, during a sales process, right from Fact Finder to case development to sitting with the client to make here the recommendation to delivering the policy. Okay, you with me, right? How does being behind the lens of a camera or actually being a part of a film, right help you in a say in the sales process.

Kevin Tostado 21:06

So I would say that being in film or any sort of kind of communication or marketing field prior, I think, helps give you some experience in refining your message and understanding the value of having a process and a script that you use routinely, because you take the time to workshop and make sure that you're using the best language with each prospect, with each client, but at the same time, you really have to listen and respond. The best actors are those who are not just parroting their lines back to the person that they're acting opposite, but they're listening and reacting. And I think that also is incredibly important when we're meeting with clients, if we are not paying attention to the words they're saying, the emotions they're displaying, their body posture, any of those different things, they all collectively give you a picture that helps to inform how you should be responding and the direction that you should be going with your conversation, to help continue down that path of getting to the sale. If you are just doing a process, doing it as a formula, but not actually responding and engaging, you are not going to close most of those sales.

Suzanne Carawan 22:13

Yeah, that's a really good point. I mean, you have a whole other layer of different perspective, oh, yeah, layer of training, of just watching what's also not said, and the body language and the this to where you can kind of tease that out and how to help them to be put them in the best light, if you will. Interesting. Yeah, it's really interesting.

Kevin Tostado 22:34

My mom and my sister both have Child and Family Therapist backgrounds, and I think being around the two of them have also accused me to be more aware of the emotional side of these conversations, and while we are not therapists, at the same time, we had a great panel during Apex about how when we're having those difficult conversations, that we don't just use the platitudes that we actually ask the questions we show that we care by having those conversations and Death and money and all those different things that can be difficult topics for a lot of the people that we meet with, but by engaging with them and listening and asking questions that invite them to share more and actually caring about the answers that we're hearing, it helps us to become better people and better agents.

Chris Gandy 23:19

Kevin, you and I both know. So I have some clients that are actors, entertainers and entertainers trying to be actors. And you know what I'm saying? Yep, there we have those guys, those people. And I have some people in the entertainment business, right? That's a bunch of them that work for Ron Howard's company, which is kind of interesting, imagine. So my question for you is, actors go off script. Man, they go off-script all the time, right? Good, bad or indifferent. What happens if you happen to get if your client goes off script? How do you either bring them back. What are some of the techniques you would use to get them back on script? I mean, because you're not saying, cut, the cut, cut, cut, let's do the retakes. Suzanne, you're not doing that.

And so what are you doing to get whether you're what, maybe you went off script, right? But what are you doing to get either yourself back on script or your client back on script when you feel like it's kind of not portraying or getting to the best place, or not moving down the path in which you want to move it.

Kevin Tostado 24:34

So especially in a first meeting, it's very easy to get caught in the weeds, especially as someone who has an engineering background and an analytical mind. I want to get into the nitty-gritty of things, and I have to stop myself sometimes because I want to over-explain concepts, or I want to get into the math of why something's going to work, or over explain an illustration, and I have to kind of reel that in on myself, and likewise, in having a conversation with a prospect. They may want to go down a rabbit hole of something sometimes, I'll need to kind of say, we'll get to that in the second meeting, or we'll get to that a little bit later on today, and try and keep them on track so that way I can be respectful of their time and not have it turn into a three-hour meeting when we budgeted 90 minutes.

And for myself, it's just a matter of trying to keep the focus on kind of how they are conversing with me, and kind of what kind of learning style they have, and making sure I'm being reflective of that if somebody is very emotional and I'm spending all my time looking at the data and the numbers are not talking about what it's actually going to do for them and their family, I'm not going to make that sale. So if it's somebody that I don't have a past experience with, somebody who was a referral, or somebody lead from the company, they called in looking for more information, and I know zero about them, I have to quickly figure out kind of how are they going to converse, and what form do they want that information in? So if I start going down the wrong track and seeing that they're not connecting with it, then I need to quickly take a different approach and figure out, okay, the numbers isn't what's attracting them right now, let's talk about kind of what this does.

Let's talk about the emotions. Let's get them thinking about their family, telling them, having them tell more about what matters to them, what's most important. And let's focus there for a little while to help me truly understand what's important to them, what matters, and let them talk for a little bit, even if it's taken up a little bit of the fact-finding time, but that gives me more of an understanding of who they are and what matters most to them. So that way, I can guide the conversation going forward.

Suzanne Carawan 26:33

I think you might hit the top in three years, because I'm sitting here thinking about you and your niches and client base. I mean, you've got deep diving, the caregiving side, you go, that's a you totally can be you understand the entertainment, more art size. You can go there with people that have that kind of thinking. But you also have the whole engineering side, which is such an underserved market in terms of financial services, right? Being able to talk to people that are technical and are again, come from that analytical mindset. Nobody ever talks about that underserved market. But we've got another member who is also undergrad in engineering, and when he practiced, that's what he had, he was killing it. Because nobody goes after the engineers kind of thing, or at least they do, but they don't have the same kind of language. So have you decided, like, where your niche is, or is it right now just see all of the above?

Kevin Tostado 27:28

I'm still early enough in my practice that I'm not trying to narrow myself down too much. One area of kind of business owners that I have been targeting recently is actually craft breweries. One of the projects that I did as a producer was a documentary about the micro-breweries of San Diego County, and so I got some experience in that field, got to know some of the kind of key players. And much like many other business owners, they have needs. They want to offer benefits to their employees, issues with recruitment and retention. Right now we've got about 125 breweries in San Diego, and it's not uncommon for an employee to go hop between them, right? Well, if they can provide better benefits to their employees, if they can offer a portable whole life plan, if they can make sure that they are providing long-term disability, those different types of benefits, they may not even thought about just because they're focused on making sure they've got client customers coming in the next day, let alone thinking five years ahead, that's where I kind of want to be there and help provide that long term perspective for them, and at the same time, help them to be more efficient with how they're spending their money.

Suzanne Carawan 28:27

You get free beer too. They give you the free beer.

Kevin Tostado 28:29

No, I don't usually get the free beer, but I am a member of the San Diego Brewers Guild.

Chris Gandy 28:36

Kevin, you're a part of everything, right?

Kevin Tostado 28:40

My wife keeps telling me, I got to start.

Suzanne Carawan 28:44

We get another renaissance man.

Chris Gandy 28:46

He's involved with everything, right? Let's just talk about, before we get into talking about craft services and all the fun stuff, like, Suzanne may not know what that is. I know exactly what this, I've actually done crafting, I've actually done, see. So we'll have some fun with that, but talk to me a little bit about with all the things you're doing. You're part of the Brewers Association. I'm sure you're a part of the, I don't know if you're part of the Screen Actors Guild associate and all the fun stuff that's there. I'm sure you're a part of a bunch of different associations. Why get involved with NAIFA? I mean, I'm sure your wife and your kids are like, you got enough going on, like, really more stuff, right? So, why get involved in with NAIFA? And how did you get involved?

Kevin Tostado 29:31

So I learned about NAIFA just under a year ago, and really learned that they are the primary advocate for the insurance and financial space with our elected representatives, and I felt that it's truly important that, because there is an organization that advocates for more than just one company, it has a much louder voice when speaking with our representatives. And so I joined the San Diego affiliate NAIFA, California, and got involved, and I'm on the advocacy committee, and helped set up a meeting with representative Jacob's office. We talked with one of her staffers in District during the August recess, and I'm looking forward to trying to get to our on the Hill day up in Sacramento in March, and hopefully to the Congressional conference in DC next May.

And I think it's really important that we continue to make sure that as an industry, we have a voice, so that way we can help guide what's happening. Because I see it too many times where the people who are making the decisions about what is best for us don't actually have the background or the education to understand what it is they're even making rules about see it so often with technology. And who better than the top people within financial services to help advocate on what changes need to go into effect, or what things are important to not change, going forward, to protect our clients who have done contracts with us and our companies, to make sure that what they have agreed to and what we've committed to, we continue to provide for them.

Chris Gandy 30:56

NAIFA is a journey. It's a journey, it's a passion, it's a love. In my previous life, because I wasn't an actor, I decided to play sports. Sports chose me, right? Because I didn't have the Denzel looks. But that's okay. As I get older, I think I have. But one of the things that I'll tell you is that you fall in love with the game, just like you probably fall in love with film and some of the other things. You fall in love with NAIFA, and it takes time, right? And that from your experiences, the relationships you build, the camaraderie between peer-to-peer conversations like-minded individuals. It's easy to talk to like-minded individuals when you're talking about, yeah, hey, la do you do? You know, $100,000 or $200,000 in a case, like, it's easy to talk to them when you're talking to a CPA, you're like, oh, yeah. How did that? Why would we do something like, you know, so you're having different kinds of conversation. You're talking to, sometimes a money manager. Why would we do that?

We can put it in a mutual fund. Like, you understand what I'm saying, like we're having like-minded conversation, it becomes a lot easier. And then last but not least is the involvement, the engagement, right? The engagement of being committed to the association. Because without representation, the association doesn't exist, right? And so becoming the best version of yourself. So then you can represent the association. Has been my experience, because this year, only in your second year, and your first year, really, with NAIFA, and kind of going into your second year, you know, I would just simply tell you to find the love for the game, Suzanne, that's our new thing, the love for the game. I like it, if I had some time, I used to have one of those, like, kind of cool backgrounds that look like this, see that, see Kevin, I got one of these. I love NAIFA things, right? And so it's kind of a cool thing, you know, that you accumulate over time, but I just tell you to fall in love with the game.

So who are the some of the most interesting people you've met at NAIFA so far, whether it's local, because I know a bunch of the guys out in California. Our past president, Tom, Michaels out there. I know Jason is out there. I know a lot of guys out there. And so usually I come to your national conference each year. I'm not coming this year, but now I got second-hand byted, so I may be there. We'll see. But I like coming to your conference because one, the energy level is off the charts. And number two is, I believe that some of the things that you can learn there, fast forward, your ability to not only learn, but to advance your practice. So get involved with that, but who are some of the most interesting people you've met so far? Let me stop.

Kevin Tostado 33:50

So let me start and thank Mark Sickman, our San Diego affiliate leader, who has really done a great, great job of making introductions for me. Within my first 30 minutes at Apex, I met Kevin Mayhew, the CEO. I met Tom Catherine, our president. I met Lars Willer up, a New York Life agent out of Modesto, who has been with New York Life a long time, just hit his 20th anniversary. So congratulations to Lars, and he kind of also kind of took me under his wing a little bit during the belong Awards Gala, and kind of just helped to kind of share his mindset with me, and he's been a very top producer with the company for many years, and so getting to have these conversations with people just casually at Apex, it was an excellent opportunity for me, as a relatively new NAIFA member, to really get to see kind of what is about, and see the level of service to NAIFA, to the industry, that so many of the top professionals have provided over the years, seen all the award winners and just how dedicated they are to their clients, but also to NAIFA at the same time.

And it was truly a great way for me to get some additional education, learn some great language from even yourself. You gave a great panel on how to find that $100,000 case and just getting to be among other top professionals like you said, like-minded, but at the same time, now that we've got FSP and life happens in the fold, those conversations with CPAs and with attorneys are going to get easier, because we're all going to have more of the same common language, and it's great to have them be part of NAIFA going forward.

Chris Gandy 35:16

Yeah, I call them the siloed assassins to the insurance business sometimes, they try to figure out ways we don't write insurance. And I'm like, I'm not sure I understand that, but that's another that's another podcast. But no, we really want to bring into the fold the partners, right? Our teammates, which is FSB, Life Happens. So Kevin, thanks for attending my session I look forward to in the future. Hopefully you're giving the session on how you were able to connect the dots, grow your practice, and you become part of the representation of what NAIFA looks like, the picture of the face, the future of what NAIFA looked like. So thanks for being a sponge. Thanks for attending. I can't do it without people like yourself. So, Suzanne, what else you got?

Suzanne Carawan 36:08

I think it's about time for the lightning round, Chris, ready to go.

Chris Gandy 36:13

Kevin, this is why we need you. We need like effects here.

Suzanne Carawan 36:19

Before the show.

Chris Gandy 36:20

It's like, I don't understand. Like, we got to, I know it's not in the budget, but I mean, we have enough NAIFA people that have capability, Suzanne.

Suzanne Carawan 36:28

We do. We have unbelievable talent in our population.

Chris Gandy 36:32

So we got a couple minutes So Kevin, before we go any further, share with us. So you got a chance to have a conference. You got a chance to meet Kevin Mayo, huh? I did. So you got a chance to meet Kevin. So tell me what your initial I mean, because I'm saying this, because I'm going to say what I'm going to say after you get done, sure. Tell me what was your initial impression of Kevin before you met him, and then after you met him. And there is another reason why I'm saying this.

Kevin Tostado 37:07

Okay, I think the only pre-experience I had had with Kevin was just seeing him in the newsletters and just kind of on the NAIFA website. Seems very friendly, and lived up to that when I meet him, he complimented me. I'm having such a great name, and being a fellow Kevin, and he was very welcoming and recognized my name as being one of the four under 40 winners, and immediately was congratulating me and just wished me a wonderful time at Apex. So it was nice to get to meet him, have a conversation, and through all the different times throughout the weekend that he spoke, it was clear he's got the passion for NAIFA that I see amongst so many of the other members as well.

Chris Gandy 37:45

Suzanne, you know why I asked him that? I don't know. Well, because the first time I went to a NAIFA event nationally in DC, I didn't want to go up to Kevin and meet him. I didn't meet him for probably four meetings, five meetings after that, right? And I remember John Wheeler walking over and saying, hey, I want to introduce you to Chris Gandy, blah, blah, blah. And then he stopped and talked to me for like, 10 minutes, and I'm like, you're the CEO of NAIFA. Why are you talking to me? I'm just an insurance agent, right? So, that was a long enough ago that I remember it. I remember our first interaction together, which is kind of interesting. So the reason why I say that is because I believe Kevin is one of the people, and I believe that he's a person that if you take the time to get to know, you'll realize, you know, his passion is contagious.

He's definitely a good leader. He's someone who can lead us to where we need to go. But we can't do anything without volunteers. And Kevin, we need people like you to embrace the message and to bring others like yourself into the business and show them the way. Let them see the world through your rose-colored glasses and NAIFA through your rose colored glasses. So with that being said. Suzanne, I don't know when the first time you met Kevin, but I'm sure it was a good experience.

Suzanne Carawan 39:06

My interview. Yeah, April of 2018, somewhere in there, yep, yeah.

Chris Gandy 39:12

So we all have Kevin experience, but this Kevin. So let's talk about this Kevin from San Diego. So Kevin, I just came from San Diego, actually, last week, you guys need to do something about that airport, because right now it takes like, an hour and a half to just get through, like half of my like, you tear the whole place up. I don't understand, but...

Kevin Tostado 39:32

Rebuilding Terminal One.

Chris Gandy 39:34

Literally, literally Suzanne, like, I'm there an hour and a half before, which is more than enough time when you have no bags and you have TSA, why did it take me an hour and 15 minutes to go four blocks Suzanne.

Suzanne Carawan 39:52

Yeah, one San Diego's more laid-back lifestyle than Chicago. But yes.

Kevin Tostado 39:57

I think we also, both pro and con in that our airport is so close to our downtown, it's one of the closest, whereas a lot of other cities, you're miles away from where the action is and it's you're literally flying amongst the buildings as you're landing in San Diego.

Chris Gandy 40:13

Yeah, that's awesome. I actually enjoy San Diego. So with that being said, Kevin, let's go to the lightning round. Shall we? So lightning round, we get to know you a little bit. So when people see you, they're like, hey, I know, Kevin. Okay, got it. So with that being said, Kevin, I'm asking some questions that, again, don't go into deep thought. I know you got the engineer, but this is simple, like, simple things. What's your favorite beer?

Kevin Tostado 40:34

Favorite beer? Let's go with Coronado. Big Weekend, IPA.

Chris Gandy 40:40

Big weekend IPA, Suzanne, let's write that down. We got a try. Yeah, right. This we'll put it on our list. We've got our barbecue in one place. We've got beer in another place. Kind of, it's kind of, kind of interesting. Kevin, let's say the most interesting person that you've met in the film industry.

Kevin Tostado 41:02

Ooh, let's see most interesting person I got to have a just casual conversation with Eric Roberts. He was doing a one-day cameo on one of the films that I was a producer on, and he just sat down next to me while I was doing some data backup, and we just had a nice, just casual conversation for 20 minutes. And he has been on so many different projects over the years, and just was happy to be on ours because we made a donation to his charity, and he just is happy to stay involved in the industry. Very cool man.

Chris Gandy 41:29

Wow. Kevin, advice for someone who wanted to become an actor, what advice would you give them? Suzanne, I'm listening.

Kevin Tostado 41:37

Putting together a demo reel. Just have some fun. Shooting some projects with your friends. Get involved with the 48-hour film festival. Where you have two days to write, shoot, direct, edit, finish a project. It's a great way for somebody who wants to learn about the industry to get involved, and they have those 48-hour film festivals all over the nation.

Chris Gandy 41:53

Kevin, what's your favorite food?

Kevin Tostado 41:56

Either pasta or anything. That's the combination of chocolate and Brownie.

Chris Gandy 42:01

Chocolate and Brownie. Yeah, we also have an ice cream stop somewhere. I don't remember where it was at.

Suzanne Carawan 42:09

Right? That's true.

Chris Gandy 42:10

We have an ice cream shop. So we have an ice cream shop. We got a mac and cheese like we got a home.

Suzanne Carawan 42:15

Kevin's gonna hook us up. We could do a whole tour of the micro-breweries in San Diego, exactly, all sorts of stuff we can do. That's right?

Chris Gandy 42:22

I think that hey, that's a fundraiser.

Suzanne Carawan 42:24

That's a fundraiser. Yeah.

Chris Gandy 42:25

Kevin, see that idea. So you just came out of nowhere. All right, so Kevin, your proudest moment in the business so far?

Kevin Tostado 42:32

That's a tough question to narrow down to one moment. Getting this recognition is one of them, and getting recognized as Rookie of the Year my first six months with New York Life, and I earned the title of Rookie of the Year for just my overall kind of performance in the office. And just at the same time, it's hard to weigh those against the peace of mind that are provided to families, to elderly couples, to people who are just getting started and knowing that, okay, got so much ahead of me, and now they've got some right strategies to put in place to help ensure they're going to have a successful retirement.

Chris Gandy 43:07

Kevin, the most interesting place that you've traveled to during this lifetime.

Kevin Tostado 43:11

Interesting place. I really enjoyed my time in Sydney, Australia. I've gotten to be there twice, once when I was filming the monopoly documentary, and once, after visiting a high school exchange student when I went out to Australia for his wedding. I'd love to spend some more time in Australia.

Chris Gandy 43:25

If you could give us one strategy about Monopoly, what is it?

Kevin Tostado 43:31

Don't go for Boardwalk and Park Place. Go for the oranges. They have the best return on investment of any color group on the game.

Chris Gandy 43:38

Suzanne. I mean.

Suzanne Carawan 43:39

What's number two? Number two is the reds.

Kevin Tostado 43:44

Number two is the reds. Jail is the most landed-on space on the board. And since the most common roll is a seven, that puts you dead in the middle of the oranges, your second roll from there is going to put you kind of right in the middle of the reds.

Chris Gandy 43:57

Been playing the game completely wrong. I just doubled down on the utilities and just...

Suzanne Carawan 44:02

Yeah, I love the railroads. I go railroads.

Kevin Tostado 44:06

Railroads are great for cash flow, but they're not going to win the game for you most of the time.

Chris Gandy 44:11

All right. Kevin, last question, you could go back in history and have dinner with anyone, whether it's an actor, actress, parent, someone who or someone who's living today, who would it be, and why?

Kevin Tostado 44:23

I think I would go with my grandpa, Harvey Krieger. He has been a very influential person on my life, and cancer took him during the beginning of the pandemic, and so I couldn't get to spend more time with him to have some meaningful conversations. He and I spent a week together after his wife, my grandma died a few years earlier, and it just I was the oldest grandson, and he and I had a very special relationship, and I would love to just get to have one more meal with him.

Chris Gandy 44:53

Great. He'd be proud of you. You're doing a good job, and you're representing your name, your family, New York Life and then a community in a positive way. So, Suzanne, yeah, more young guys like this. Like, where are they at? So, Kevin, listen, next year, I'm counting on you to bring a group of New York Life people from San Diego. We're going to put you guys in the front. They're my commitment where, listen, I know some people, and they're right. I can get you guys a premiere table at our event next year. So we're counting on you to influence those people and convince them, hey, man, you got to go.

You got to be a part of this. Because I think this Apex was, honestly, I don't know if you had a chance to attend some of the motivational things and the actual tactical stuff, but I would say that this, collectively, was a super impactful everybody I've talked to got numerous things. They met numerous people. So I'm going to let you Kevin, I'm gonna let you say, what did you get the most out of APEX?

Kevin Tostado 46:03

I think for me, it was getting to meet people, not just from New York Life, but from other companies as well, and truly, just helping to get a better sense of how I can better serve the industry and our clients as a whole. And hearing Morris Morrison speak was awesome. And I think the two of you should do a buddy comedy. If I do another film someday, it's going to be Chris and Morris, Morris and CO starring together, kind of like you've got somebody like a Shaq and Chris Hart, or Kevin Hart, where the kind of different heights, but different energies, the two of you would be fantastic together.

Chris Gandy 46:39

Hey, listen. You can produce it. NAIFA can own it. And we would, we would kill right? We have some very interesting perspective, but some very sincere missions in life and responsibilities that we don't discount. So thank you so much, Kevin, for attending, thanks for being a young advisor, and thanks for being a great example of what success could look like. Do you have anything else for NAIFA nation, they're listening.

Kevin Tostado 47:09

For those of you who are in California, our state conference e3 is coming up in early October. If you can make it Apex, please make an effort to be there at e3 it's great opportunity to get some good education, meet some of your fellow NAIFA members, and even if you're not yet part of NAIFA and somehow you're here on this podcast, come to e3 come check it out in Redondo Beach.

Chris Gandy 47:30

I did get that invite, brother, I might be there. I'm actually speaking at a business summit, accelerator Business Summit, with like 10,000 people, but I'm gonna try to get out there for a day with you guys. Celebrate and rejoice with you guys for a day. So that'll be fun. Suzanne, anything else before we wrap up?

Suzanne Carawan 47:51

I just along Kevin's note. I mean, if you, if you're out there and you're not a member, please consider joining us. Right? Do it today like Kevin's having a blast. Look at what he's doing. All this extra stuff he's getting to know people, etc. So I'd say, Come on in. And yeah, we hope that everything goes well for e3 and we look forward to multiplying you Kevin.

Kevin Tostado 48:10

And membership is discounted if you're in your first five years in the business. So if you're thinking, oh, it's probably expensive. It's really not that expensive for new members.

Chris Gandy 48:19

Well, I see tell people, Kevin all the time, they were like, I can't afford to be and I said, you cannot not afford to be in right? You can't afford not to be in it. So with that being said, I'll wrap us up. Thanks for tuning in to Advisor Today podcast where you also can get one of these fancy-like backgrounds. I love NAIFA. Thanks for Kevin for representing, uh, California, Suzanne Carawan, the maestro of the program where we uplift the voice of you, the advisor, so we can become a better version of ourselves, for the business and also for Napa and for our communities. We'll see you next time, same place, same time. See you. Thanks for tuning in to Advisor Today's podcast.

Outro 49:05

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.

43 min read