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Speaker 1:
This is Unleashing Leadership. I'm your host, travis Moss, with our season five co-host, dave Nurchi, and this podcast is all about the takeaways from lots of different books. This season's book is the Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz, and we don't just talk about his work, but we talk about our work. We talk about our observations and experiences regarding those takeaways and what we are really passionate about, which is taking good ideas and figuring out how to use them in our business. So our day job Seed Planning planning group is the company that we work for. I'm the chief executive officer, dave is the chief operating officer. We're both also shareholders in the company, so this is all about stuff that we do every day. As always, though, do us a favor, like and subscribe to us. Wherever you are listening or watching, I hope other people find the show and, before we get to well, let's do our takeaway, and then we'll come back and get our sponsor for the day. The takeaway today is the ability to achieve the vision, which is about competence, and if I buy in, do I think my leader can lead me through to get to the other side, and so this is really we talked about.
Speaker 1:
At the end of the last episode, dave got me going and I just kind of he tried to interject a couple of times. I just kept talking. This is the flip of that this is about. So there I was talking about as being the leader and the top leader trying to inspire people. Now he's talking about listen and Dave's a leader in our organization. But there was a time where I said, dave, do you want to buy in? Do you want to trust me on where we're going with this? So we want to get Dave's perspective today Before we do. This is brought to you by the Ditch the Suits podcast, which is the 2023 podcast of the year for all categories by Quill Podcast Agency. So that was just pretty cool. I just got to throw that out there to say it's a cool show. No-transcript. And get me to the other side and I just want to know your perspective on this. You've walked this journey. You made sacrifices to come here. What's the mindset when you're going through something like that?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I think there's two parts to it. When we first started talking, before I even joined Seed, I was very convinced to myself that I would not get back into the financial services industry, especially financial planning, wealth management, because I didn't believe in it. I didn't believe in the business the way, what I knew about it right, like my experience in it, and I just thought it was a failing, a bad business model, the way it was run. And I was very convinced. And then you and I would, we'd talk right, I don't know, we'd probably meet like once, a quarter or so.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, I don't even remember how we met.
Speaker 2:
I don't either, to tell you the truth, but I'd come into the office, right, and we'd sit and we'd just talk about, I think, just some random things. You might have had an agenda, but I know I'd kind of come in and just talk to you about, hey, here's what I'm doing, my current work, what are you guys doing here at Seed? And it would develop into me understanding a lot more about what Seed was doing. We talk about the purpose and the differences, and I started putting the pieces together of, okay, this is different and why is it different? And we're talking about leaders here, right, and and achieving the vision.
Speaker 2:
And I knew I believed what you said, what you were telling me and why seed was created. You know what you were trying to accomplish, that you weren't done doing that yet. Right, like, hey, we have this going on here, but here's what we're looking at, and that was exciting, right. So talk about inspiring people. I was inspired to think, okay, not only is seed already doing things differently and I can see that but that's kind of the whole like mantra and that's that's what drives seed forward. Is that everyone who's here is bought into? Hey, this is where we're going with this and this is why we're going to make a difference in this industry. So that was a lot different than my current situation, the job I was in. It was kind of like hey, show up, do what you're supposed to do, type of thing. Um, here's how we do things and move forward. Um, I, I really bought into that. Hey, I can make a difference here and I believe in what the difference would be.
Speaker 1:
Um, well, for those that don't know too, you're, you're where you were prior to, it was PWC. Yeah, right, and that's no, I mean, that's not a place for slouches.
Speaker 2:
No, a lot of people make that a career, to be a partner Right, and that that's the ambition when you first get there is that, hey, I'm going to be a partner at a big four firm and I'm, you know, consulting some of the biggest businesses in the world, right?
Speaker 2:
So I was in the financial sector there, working with all the companies in our industry, Right, and yeah it. Just the difference there was there was no inspiration of like what is the bigger thing. It was kind of like okay, I know what the path would be, I can make a lot of money, but is that all I want?
Speaker 1:
Right.
Speaker 2:
And does it mean if I move to seed I can't make a lot of money? Right, Like no, it just means it's going to be a different path to, to some of those things. But I was missing the fire there, kind of thing. And that's what you helped bring to me was, if you come here, you're going to help, you're going to help me achieve the goals and dreams and ambitions that I have.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 1:
So that that's interesting because you and your family so you and your wife sat down and made this decision and you've got kids and you're thinking about the future of your kids and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1:
So you guys make this pretty significant decision because it is a different path than PWC and where you were with PWC and so you made some sacrifices to come here Now you've gained.
Speaker 1:
There were some benefits to coming that you know the path at PWC and what it would have required for you, but still you gave up on the financial and this thing's probably at least timeliness of some of those opportunities, and you did so for a promise, right. And so I don't know if you want to talk at all about and maybe you already did because you were talking about some of these other things, but we've talked recently on this podcast about how money's not the thing, it's the thing you want to do with the money. That needs to be your intention. So maybe promise and intention kind of go together here, right? So when you're trying to think about why would you come and talk to me and believe me that I could get you know that, that I could help you with you know, number one, I can make a promise to you, and number two, that that promise was something that was going to deliver on these other things that you wanted.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, well, we it's funny we talked about in the last episode. You get a sense of people right when you meet them and you talk with them.
Speaker 2:
I knew I could sense you had a little bit of that crazy in you. But like the good crazy right Of, like the all right, this guy's like saying a lot of things, but I know he means it and I know he's going to do it one way or another, like no one's stopping him. And that's how I always. I always felt, um, that I should be doing more, could be doing more in the professional world. Right, if we were talking there, it's like, hey, I could be doing more and I want to do more.
Speaker 2:
I don't feel fulfilled in what I'm doing because I'm kind of just like you know, a number at the company and I and yes, you will grow and you will have impact there, right, a lot of people do it. But it wasn't what I wanted to be doing and that's what you, you brought to me was hey, here, here's the promise. Like we, we will make a difference. You know, whatever you could sum it up in a few words of I remember community being a big thing in there, yeah absolutely, um, that you gave me that hope and kind of inspiration of all right, this is possible.
Speaker 2:
I can have, you know, a great career. I can make money, I can do all this, but I can do the things that are really important to me, which is the reason I'm looking for change in the first place.
Speaker 1:
Right, yeah, yeah. I think the other thing too, that too that you know you could, you could say that and people could say, well, you know, maybe, maybe travis is just a good salesman, but you were at pwc and you were, and especially in our industry, you were dealing with the primo bullshit artists. Oh yeah, like, like the best of the best at saying something and meaning something else.
Speaker 2:
Yeah.
Speaker 1:
Right, and they I mean they even convinced themselves that they'd get it. You know what I mean, Because it fits the part, and so it's not like you're some novice off the street and somebody gives you. You know, put something sparkly in front of you. You've had a lot of sparkly put in front of you.
Speaker 2:
Absolutely. Yeah, no, that's a great point. I'm glad you brought that up because, like kind of the other point I wanted to make, it ties right into that. So, yes, I mean even like, I'm at PwC, for you know, I was there just under six years. So I see, you know, you figure out how an organization works, the people you work with, and you see all the shiny things. Oh, okay, this guy's got this, or you know, if I keep doing this, this will be the next step.
Speaker 2:
And you are you're, you're promised a lot, you're, and and by saying that it doesn't mean you can't get certain things, but it's a lot of you know, building up and kind of like you know, like puffing the chest and saying like you can be important, you can be this, you can be the one telling everyone what to do, or things like that. And it wasn't that appealing to me, especially as I kept growing there. Maybe at first I'll say some of it was appealing. It got less appealing, but what I noticed was you really had to play the game there. You had to play their game to make your way up in the ranks and get what you want I guess in quotes and it just wasn't. There was a lot of unfulfilled type of promises, of unfulfilled type of promises, and that's what made my mind shift, kind of change of okay, this isn't, this isn't what I thought or think it could be, because I have to be someone I'm not, or I have to change what I really believe in and sacrifice a lot of what I think good I could bring to the world to kind of abide by their rules and play their game, to go in the ranks and the opposite.
Speaker 2:
I'll talk about then the decision to buy into seed, right. So now I'm at seed and I'm hoping at this point, right, okay, everything Travis said to me, I believe in it, let's see if it works out. So now, fast forward and I'm asked to buy in to seed. And why did I buy in ultimately? Well, because all the things I was told and promised, whatever the vision that was created for me, was happening and I was part of that and I could contribute to that and I made a difference. And not just speaking an I, but I was able to make a difference with the people I worked with is a better way to say that. So it was true, everything was materializing the way that I was told it would. And that was the biggest difference of why I said I'm fully bought in my wife, Natalie, like, hey, this is the opportunity we have and this is why it's so important and everybody's on board, because it was different than any experiences in the past.
Speaker 1:
So I think that the just cause which we didn't have that lexicon then didn't, we didn't have that terminology but the, the passion and the vision and the kind of direction we had, strategic plans and stuff back then. Well, you know right now three-year plans that we always get done in a year, but it was like you know we had. We did articulate it, not quite like we articulate it now, um uh, but none of it was about counting dollars. It was about all these other things and it's still not about counting dollars. It's still about how do you become a better professional or how do you become a better person. How do you take the things you learn at work and and go home and use them and have better relationships with your, your family members and your community? And how do you bring the things that you learned there then back to work and teach and leverage those for better?
Speaker 1:
You know work environment and I guess maybe that's that's kind of neat because we always talk about the trust bank. Maybe that's what fills the trust bank, because it's certainly not money that goes in there. I can promise you money and a lot of places. You, once you learn how to make money, you figure out that there's money out there, right Right, and that's a trick for a lot of people. It's just figuring out. There's a lot of ways to make a lot of money. So stop thinking that the one opportunity is the only opportunity.
Speaker 1:
But if the place is coming to you and saying it's all about the money and it's not about the stuff that actually fills the trust bank, you have to ask what am I going to have to do for the money and am I willing to kind of sell that piece of me?
Speaker 1:
It's like if you watch Harry Potter right, every time the villain kills somebody, he loses a piece of his soul, you know. And you have to make the conscious decision. I'm okay with this, you know. You know going in in order to make the money. There's going to be some sacrifices here, and I guess that's what we're telling people right now is if it's all make the money, there's going to be some sacrifices here, and I guess that's what we're telling people right now is if it's all about the money, you have to think about what it's going to cost to get the money and when you're looking at a company, maybe focus on that. Is it about life and about, you know, doing these other good things and having the opportunities to be a part of that, knowing that if I'm part of that, that money will come as a side effect of that. So it's just redirecting that focus, I guess.
