Why Money is Just The Tool with Taylor Ranker

What happens when a man who once slept in his car and on park benches spends 37 years quietly

dismantling the industry that was supposed to serve people and ends up rebuilding it around the

human instead?

In this episode, Misty sits down with Taylor Ranker, founder of Questmont and author of Dead Cats

and Wealth Advisors: Exposing the Myths and Lies of the Wealth Management Industry. Taylor is not,

in his own words, a finance bro. He is a self described creative, a first time business partner alongside

his wife Sonya, and a man on a mission to turn a transactional, asset gathering industry into one that

actually leads, protects, and sees the people behind the wealth.

This is a raw, honest, and deeply human conversation about being forged in fire and refusing to let any

single season define you.

What listeners will take away

• Why wealth is only one tool in a much bigger life, and what changes the moment you stop treating it

as the whole point

• The difference between an advisor who gathers your assets and then golfs, and a personal CFO who

protects you, sometimes from yourself

• How Taylor turned homelessness, hard decisions, a false accusation, and decades of imposter

syndrome into tools that now serve others (his mess became his message)

• The “circle of vultures” reality of the industry, and why the structures, not always the people, are the

problem

• The Gap and the Gain shift that let a 61 year old say everything from here is the gain, plus the 25 year

plan that removes the tyranny of time

• The eye opening research: about 30 percent of wealthy families want their pets included in their plans,

and 0 percent of advisors ask, while 89.7 percent want tax planning and only 24 percent receive it

• Taylor’s three family operating models: carry your own water, if it is worth doing it is worth doing well,

and the best thing you can pay is attention

We close, as always, with the three signature questions. Taylor’s answers on what the unbreakable

advantage means to him, what he had to let go of, and what he still needs to release will stay with you.Connect with Taylor

Questmont: questmontvfo.com

Book: Dead Cats and Wealth Advisors

Connect with Misty

LinkedIn: Misty Carson MSHRM
Instagram: @unbreakableadvantage
YouTube: youtube.com/@unbreakableadvantage
Website: unbreakableadvantage.com

Watch the full episode on YouTube and subscribe so you never miss a conversation. The Shorts will

find you, but the full stories live on the channel.

You were not broken. You were built. Keep becoming.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

We've been through things that should have broken us. Trauma, loss, hardship. The kind that leaves a mark, but it also left something else, something most people spend their whole lives trying to find. I'm Misty Carson, and it's time we stop surviving and start building with it. This is the unbreakable advantage.

unknown 0:20

Where it all connects.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

Taylor.

SPEAKER_06 0:23

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Welcome to the Unbreakable Advantage.

SPEAKER_06 0:25

Glad to be here.

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Thank you so much for bringing champs.

SPEAKER_06 0:28

Yes. That's amazing. Tell me roll.

SPEAKER_00 0:30

I love it. I love it. It's a good afternoon pick me up. It's been a long day.

SPEAKER_06 0:34

You've been working hard.

SPEAKER_00 0:35

I've been work you've been working hard too.

SPEAKER_06 0:37

Just a smidge.

SPEAKER_00 0:37

Just a smidge. So tell the listeners who you are, what you're building at Questmont, and what you're working on right now.

SPEAKER_06 0:46

How about we start with what I'm not? I'm not a finance pro.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

Love that better.

SPEAKER_06 0:51

I'm a 61-year-old guy who has had a very atypical, nontraditional path into the wealth management industry, which is a term I friggin' hate. But we'll get to that. So I'm at a spot where, very happily married, 20 years, raised a son, my wife is now my business partner officially. She and I share the firm, we're growing a business.

SPEAKER_05 1:10

Congratulations.

SPEAKER_06 1:12

What we're doing is let me go back to this wealth management concept, if that's okay. When someone says the term wealth management, I imagine a guy or a gal sitting in a corner looking at a bucket of cash managing it. What the shit is that? Right? That's that's not that's not people-centered, that's not about human beings. So what we're doing is I I think that that industry needs an overhaul. I think it should be human-focused, I think it should be about um people, and I think the wealth literally is just one of the tools. That's it, one tool. And I I summarize that by saying if you have cancer, how much does the wealth matter? If you're going through a tough divorce, how much does the wealth matter? So I can't say this is fully formed, I want to be transparent, but it's a vision I have to kind of change the industry. The money's just the tool.

SPEAKER_00 2:04

Yes. That's so beautiful. And not everybody looks at it that way. Somebody had said once, and I'd never heard this before, they didn't want their wealth to become a burden. And people don't who don't have a lot of wealth, it's a very showstopping statement.

SPEAKER_04 2:20

Right.

SPEAKER_00 2:21

And but if you don't know what to do with it and you've never had it before, and you and I have talked about this, nobody in my family has wealth. I'm building wealth for the first time, first generation. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with what I've worked hard for, but I know I want to leave it to my children. I know no matter what, I have to leave it to my kids, which is part of your book.

SPEAKER_06 2:45

That makes you a family steward.

SPEAKER_00 2:46

I was gonna say I read your book and I love it. And I am absolutely that is a hundred percent who I am. Uh not just for my children, but my grandchildren. I want generations to come to have what I'm working with.

SPEAKER_06 2:58

So you know what you want to do with your wealth. Now it's just the mechanics of building it and then doing it properly.

SPEAKER_00 3:02

Fair point. Um can be that's what I heard. That is exactly. That's exactly what you heard. I know where I want it to go. I just don't know how to continue to build it and how to protect it. So those are my I figured it out at the age of 58. So I just turned 47.

SPEAKER_06 3:21

I'm still figuring it out.

SPEAKER_00 3:22

I love it, I love it. I just turned 47, so maybe I'll figure it out in the next decade. We'll figure it out. So you were talking about you don't like the term wealth management, and I'm gonna read something that you wrote because I thought it was very profound. You said you're doing your best to disrupt the wealth management industry into a human-leading and human-empowering one, where wealth, just use, like you said, is the tool that are you use to help the human behind it. What does that mean when you're in the room with a client?

SPEAKER_06 3:53

Oof. So first getting to know them deeply. There's a saying that Sonia and I have that in in most of the traditional brokerage house, I'm gonna don't want to say names, I don't want to get us sued, but the big brokerage firms you would know of, the big life insurance companies, right, they're about gathering assets. About gathering assets, right? So once they've gathered once the account comes in and they have the assets under management, they get to go golf. For my firm, that's when the true undertaking and work begins. Because we are extremely white glove and intensive. We give them the test so we know we actually give them the high net worth personality test so we understand their approach to wealth. Are they a financial phobic who likes being wealthy but hates dealing with it? Are they a gambler, which we kind of don't like? Hey Taylor, I sold my company for millions of dollars, let's throw it into crypto. Right? Um family stewards we love because for them it's very passionate how how they roll, how they do it. So we're just trying to really and in fact we're building the plane a bit as we're flying it because we're trying to really figure out we get paid through the wealth, right? That's the industry model. And so we've in the last six or seven years we've shifted to a model where the client pays us directly, frequently. That way we are completely beholden to them.

SPEAKER_03 5:13

I love that.

SPEAKER_06 5:13

And then we just create this very human experience. We actually call it the lifelong journey. It's a spelled out graphic. There's seven key areas, one of which is lifestyle.

SPEAKER_00 5:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 5:22

Not just money.

SPEAKER_00 5:23

Yes. There's a big difference between that. Everybody says that, and we've talked about this when thank you again for the invitation. The oyster party was amazing. I don't want a big home anymore. My kids are grown. I'm gonna live in uh an apartment or a condo. I would just want to see the water. I don't even need to be on the water, I just want to see it every day. The rest of my money, I want to invest in things to build more money for my children. I don't really need to spend that much of it. It's I just want to leave it behind. Back to that family steward thing. So I think there's something to be said about that for sure. You told me something in your intake that I'm gonna start with directly. You said, and I love this, this is so tailor. Quit trying to define me and my answers by one season. So talk to me about that. Why does being put in a box get to somebody?

SPEAKER_06 6:18

So let me be clear, I knew who I was answering it to. So I trusted that you would understand it.

SPEAKER_00 6:24

I did.

SPEAKER_06 6:24

That in the in the it wasn't meant to be rude or Oh, I know.

SPEAKER_00 6:27

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 6:28

I I thought about the question. I gave it some deep thought, and I've had so many seasons. I'm about to turn 62. Um, the first 10, 12, 13 years of my life were perfect, at least I thought.

SPEAKER_03 6:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 6:38

White picket fence, right? And then that we've got abruptly moved to Southern California from a farm town. So from a farm town of Pennsylvania where I was a good student, good artist, good athlete, kind of popular with teachers and girls. Months later, my life gets adjusted, and I'm living in Southern California.

SPEAKER_05 6:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 6:55

And so within four years of that, I was homeless. Mostly due to my own bad decisions, right? Um sh and not not shopping cart homeless, but sleeping in my car a lot. Um, couch surfing, occasionally on park benches, that actually happened. So that's one season. Season number one is zero to I actually wrote in the back of the book, they they make you do a biography, which I think is such bullshit. I wrote as if you care. Like here's my biography. And I wrote it in chapters. Chapter one is like the zero to ten. And then there's the seven or eight years. So that's second season is that period where I was mucking up. And then so candidly, I didn't grow at all emotionally. I didn't mature for seven years. So then I meet a cute girl who's my sister's friend. I fall in love. I had no business falling in love. I was about as mature as a you know, early mushroom. I don't know, I just was not ready. But I proposed because she was cute and we fell in love. Well, that's another season, right? So that lasted about five or six years. We ended up moving back to Pennsylvania, where we got divorced. I started a business. So season number four or five, you know what I'm saying? It's so it's too many. Got divorced again. Um in the middle there, I went through probably one of the most challenging things of my life. I became a you ready for this? Yes. This was a hard one to say. I became a big brother. Um, my my mother had done that, and I was so proud of her, and it was so neat to watch her have this young girl around.

SPEAKER_03 8:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 8:18

And so I thought, well, I'm a bachelor now. This is between marriages, and I have some money. Yeah. And I have a nice home, so I'm gonna do this thing. So I was gonna do it right. If I was gonna do it, I was gonna do it right. So I go through all the screening processes, all the crap. They come to your house, they look at your records, all that stuff, and I get um matched up with this young boy, Andrew. Sweet, pudgy, little awkward. All he wanted to do was sit in his room and play video games. But inner city kid.

SPEAKER_05 8:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 8:44

Met his mother, but that was brief. I didn't know I wasn't allowed to know much about them, other than I'd have to go there. So I do things like one day we would mow the lawn because I felt it was good for him to learn about work.

SPEAKER_04 8:54

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 8:55

But then one day we would go to a movie. And then we took him to a beach. My sister and I, and that was kind of funny because he'd never been in water, so I felt bad for the poor kid. Sat in a Chase lounge and ended up flipping it upside down, right? Stuck against the fence. Poor guy. So here's a sweet young boy, wouldn't look at a waitress at a restaurant. However, flash forward a few months, uh it's a Tuesday, I'm at the office and I get a phone call, and it's him. Hey, I think I left my Tupac Shakur tape at your house. Odd request, Tuesday at two, and I'm like, anyone who knows me knows I'm extremely organized and clean. Yeah. If there were a random Tupac Shakur tape at my house after he left, I would have known it. So I'm like, okay, I'll look. So I went home and scoured every where area we'd been, no tape. Call comes in again two days later, hey, where's my Tupac Shakur tape? You know. And I can hear her. This is a 12-year-old.

SPEAKER_03 9:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 9:45

And I get pissed. I think it was the third time I got pissed. I'm like, Andrew, some of us have to work. Well, what I didn't realize is his mother was on the line listening. A week later, I get a phone call from a detective, a local detective, and I'm thinking it's about a stolen Tupac Shakur tape. Yeah. And he says, No, Taylor, it's about the charges that have been filed against you. They had filed child molestation charges. So I went through a police investigation, had to hire an attorney, and thought my eff in life was over because of this wonderful thing that I had done.

SPEAKER_05 10:13

Wow.

SPEAKER_06 10:13

So somewhere between seasons five, six, and seven, I dealt with that.

SPEAKER_05 10:17

Wow.

SPEAKER_06 10:17

And in not in a big city. So it turns out I hired an attorney.

SPEAKER_03 10:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 10:23

Um, I offered to be polygraphed, all that stuff. It turns out the woman had a uh record of this, right? She had even done it to the big brothers, big sisters staff. And so Did she do it for insurance money? I don't I don't know. I honestly I think she's genuinely insane.

SPEAKER_00 10:41

Oh.

SPEAKER_06 10:42

Turns out she had three or four children, I don't even know how many, each one with a different father, and she put each of them through. She was effectively using Big Brothers, Big Sisters as a babysitting program. I stepped on her toes by saying what is true. I had to work.

SPEAKER_04 10:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 10:54

So um finally they got the boy in a room without mom, and he's like, Mr. Ranker's great, he never laid a hand on me.

SPEAKER_00 11:00

Oh my god. Yeah, shoo. I mean, that could have went to the wrong thing.

SPEAKER_06 11:04

There's about maybe ten people on planet earth that know that. Now everyone knows that. I thought my career was over. If that made the news, wouldn't matter if I was innocent or not.

SPEAKER_00 11:13

Yes. You're not wrong. But it didn't. Didn't God protected you in that moment, and now you're sharing it, and thank you for sharing it, because somebody out there listening is going through something similar.

SPEAKER_06 11:23

Don't quit, don't give up.

SPEAKER_00 11:24

That's right. And if you know you're right, you're right, protect yourself, but also don't not do nice things for the I knew my heart was pointed north.

SPEAKER_06 11:32

What I knew in that moment was my heart was pointed the right direction.

SPEAKER_05 11:34

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 11:35

The intentions were good, and I was very careful to never have him alone. My little sister, who's a school teacher, was always with me or someone, so it was kind of an insane proposition on their end, but that's what insane insane is is insane does, right?

SPEAKER_05 11:47

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 11:48

So anyway. But then I I rebounded, and part of what happened there is the girl that I had just begun dating stuck with me. Had that not happened, we probably I probably would not have proposed.

SPEAKER_05 12:00

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 12:00

So I got married a second time. Now we're into what season seven or I can't. You see why I didn't want you to I don't want to be defined by seasons.

SPEAKER_05 12:07

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 12:08

Sonia, who is the best friend I've ever had, my lover, my bestie, my business partner, my stability, she's didn't come in until season 15 or something. Yeah, there's another season or two. So that's why. Yeah. And then the Tampa season started six or seven years ago.

SPEAKER_00 12:23

Yes. So I appreciate it. And just so you know, I wasn't offended at all because I do know you. Yeah, and I I do know some of your story as well, but I also know you and your personality, and I know Sonia. And so for the people out there listening right now, a lot of nuggets in there. One, you went from complete stability to complete instability.

unknown 12:46

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 12:47

Uprooted. And then that formed the choices that you made, which had you homeless.

SPEAKER_06 12:54

Made bad ones, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:55

Making bad choices. And you got it back around, did something for somebody else that turned sideways on you.

SPEAKER_05 13:03

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 13:03

And now here we are, fast forward two marriages later, all of that stuff later, best season of your life, best place in your life, and best woman you could have ever found, specially partnered for you. She's incredible.

SPEAKER_03 13:20

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 13:20

So for everybody out there listening, you can still keep pushing forward. Take what is can be learned from those situations and use them to empower you to move forward. Super important. You've been in the industry.

SPEAKER_06 13:39

Can I just say that thought? Because one of my coaches who runs a company called Possibility, shout out to Possibility, challenged me about two years ago. He was pushing me and he says, Taylor, what do you think you're the best in the world at? Like I'm like, I'm the best in the world at nothing.

SPEAKER_03 13:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 13:54

And he pushed me, and I still am not a hundred percent sure of his purpose, but he pushed me. He wanted to know, he was trying to get at something. And he pushed me, and here's what blurted out. I think this is relevant to what you just sh said.

SPEAKER_03 14:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 14:06

I blurted out, Well, I think I'm the best in the world at taking my F ups, my screw ups, my insecurities, my fears, and my mistakes, and turning them into powerful tools for others.

SPEAKER_02 14:14

Oh, I love that.

SPEAKER_06 14:15

Mainly business owners, powerful tools. So what I didn't realize though is I was doing it, but I didn't realize I was doing it. So that's what in fact I had been doing for the last 15 years is trying to build this thing that will get into the circle of vultures, right? Where you like we protect our clients. We don't just advise them, we protect them. So I didn't realize that I was becoming that protector, but that's what he got at. So I had I have in effect taken all my messes and begun to use those to gird and give tools to others.

SPEAKER_00 14:47

Yeah, your mess became your message. I love that.

SPEAKER_06 14:51

That's true. My mess my messes. Your messes became your messages. Yes, I like it.

SPEAKER_00 14:56

Yeah, that's so beautiful. I think there's something profound. And I remember one of the first times I'd ever met you, I knew about your story from somebody else, and I remember thinking to myself, this man was forged in fire the same way I was. And I believe I told you that.

SPEAKER_06 15:12

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 15:13

I said, I just want you to know I see you.

SPEAKER_06 15:15

So if I were to answer You were so authentic, I was taken aback, but I knew you were true.

SPEAKER_00 15:19

I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_06 15:20

People don't speak that way. I was like, but I could tell this woman's true.

SPEAKER_00 15:23

I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_06 15:24

I remember it.

SPEAKER_00 15:25

Thank you. I would say my superpower, if I were to answer that question, what do I do better than anyone else in the world? I see people for who they truly are. And sometimes that's good and sometimes not so good for them. Uh I can cut through all of the stuff and see what's underneath, whether they're performing, hiding, exploiting.

SPEAKER_06 15:44

Can I borrow some of your superpower? Because I'm the gullible. I just assume at least in the last 20 years or so of my life, I always my heart leads, right? I I I walk into the room with good intentions. So I stupidly assume that everyone else has that. Now I've gotten wiser.

SPEAKER_05 16:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 16:01

But it's still how I lead.

SPEAKER_00 16:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 16:04

Sonia's kind of my protector.

SPEAKER_00 16:06

Yeah, I love that. I don't think that that's stupid. I think there's something beautiful about being vulnerable and wearing your heart on your sleeve. Mine comes from the abuse I went through as a child. I my radar goes off so quickly, I can feel the energy of someone's intentions.

SPEAKER_06 16:21

Can I pay you to be my bodyguard? I think you should.

SPEAKER_00 16:24

Because I will kung fu the universe for you, Taylor. I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_06 16:27

I'm going to summon you for that. But you'd be a great like.

SPEAKER_00 16:29

I will I'd be like, no. Yeah. Don't talk to them.

SPEAKER_06 16:31

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 16:32

Moving on. So you've been in this industry for 37 years.

SPEAKER_06 16:36

For a minute.

SPEAKER_00 16:37

Yeah, which is amazing. So from the outside, that reads as a long career, but from the inside, what is that really a record of?

SPEAKER_06 16:46

Stubbornness.

SPEAKER_00 16:49

I love it. That's the crust.

SPEAKER_06 16:51

I would like to say it's an epiphany, and that would be a bold-faced lie. I've had lesson, it's a it's a slow churn. Um we'll get to this later, but I've suffered from imposter syndrome. I didn't go to college. As a result of all those bad decisions, I blew by the college. So at first I was so excited. This this big insurance company, Equitable Insurance Companies, gave me a chance in 1987 after I had been through seven years of stupid decision making. My dad helped me get that in. They took a chance. So I stopped. I didn't drink for three years, didn't date. Um, but it was a commission-based job. You're selling life insurance policies, you're selling annuities, loaded stuff. So I got very good at it because I realized I had been given a chance, but I also I I liked I did like nice things. I wanted to make some money. But after five or six or seven years of that, I didn't like the transactional nature.

SPEAKER_04 17:43

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 17:44

Everyone I met, I was really hungry, and everybody I met was a cheeseburger. Right. And so even if I liked them, you're using them.

SPEAKER_05 17:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 17:52

So I sold some stuff that was helpful and some stuff that wasn't. And slowly but surely just saw wow. And so then I went to another company and then another structure and then another company. And I kept thinking the next one is the one that won't be like that. And the next one, but it's a very pyramidical hierarchical industry. It does I'm gonna say this. I don't think most of the big companies exist. Well, they legally don't represent the client. If it says XYZ insurance company or XYZ brokerage or XYZ bank, who do you work for? You work for them.

SPEAKER_01 18:24

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_06 18:24

I work for my clients. Yes. Our firm is very, very, very carefully structured so that we have huge platforms, multi-trillion dollar platforms that we can utilize, but we ultimately have our own separate boutique that we own, and the client pays us.

SPEAKER_04 18:39

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 18:39

And so it's very thoughtfully put together thing that's meant to serve the client. And one of the reasons I realize that's so important is guess who protected me in my professional journey?

SPEAKER_03 18:49

Who?

SPEAKER_06 18:49

No one. In fact, the circle of vultures preyed on me. Every general agent, every manager, every partner, up until Candily Sonia, I'm a rainmaker.

SPEAKER_04 18:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 18:59

I get shit done. I just kind of go and do it. And I realized I had a lot of hangers on in c in the industry. Like, and I didn't realize I all thought they meant some brought some good stuff to the table.

SPEAKER_04 19:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 19:11

And so it's just been this journey of figuring out, wow, when you build a team, you better be really careful.

SPEAKER_04 19:16

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 19:16

When you align yourself with an institution, what are their values? And I can tell you, it's not so much that the people in in the industry aren't noble, it's that the structures are dated. Yeah. Okay, I'll give you one. Goldman Sachs, right? They're both dead. Right? Yeah. Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, they're all dead. So when you hire those firms, you're not hiring those people.

SPEAKER_01 19:39

Right.

SPEAKER_06 19:39

They're hundred-year-old plus firms. I'm not knocking them, but that's a misnomer to me.

SPEAKER_00 19:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 19:45

Right?

SPEAKER_00 19:45

Yeah, because there's no person behind it. It was somebody who existed way long ago and probably didn't run their business anything the way like it's ran.

SPEAKER_06 19:56

Well, in and in their defense, they couldn't have. The structures didn't exist that way, right? And and that would be like saying, why didn't you um, you know, in the 1800s plow your why didn't you have a tractor? With the GPS. Right. It didn't have it hadn't been. So I'm not knocking them that way, but I am saying the models I'm challenging. Like, are those models outdated? And I think they are. And I think they'll improve, but it's going to take wake waking up the consumer. Yeah. The consumer has to be made awake.

SPEAKER_00 20:23

You said so many things. I could talk about so many of them. One is the imposter syndrome. I call that the loudest liar in the room. I think it's super important for people to understand that the voice inside your head will stop more forward progress than anything else that you'll ever come across. And learning how to quiet that or acknowledging in that it's being said and moving anyway, that takes some practice and then also some personal mastery. But without those things, you're never going to be able to get to the person that you're being called to be, not fully. So I think that that's really important.

SPEAKER_06 21:09

You also said By the way, I still I think I've gotten over imposter syndrome this morning at eight.

SPEAKER_00 21:17

I love that you said that too.

SPEAKER_06 21:19

Okay. I wrestle with it.

SPEAKER_00 21:20

Yeah, of course you do. We all do.

SPEAKER_06 21:22

And the further out I push, and the further I push, like dealing with more complex, more wealthy, big deal clients, the more I why am I in this room?

SPEAKER_02 21:31

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 21:32

I mean, I'm telling brain surgeons and entrepreneurs and masters what to do.

SPEAKER_02 21:36

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 21:36

And by the way, just a quick side, we believe that leadership, there's this line that my coach taught me. Advice, how does he say it? Advice informs, but leadership transforms.

SPEAKER_01 21:46

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 21:46

So we take the role of leadership. We are literally leading our clients in many cases. And so I asked myself, why am I leading this family? And yet I know I am and should.

SPEAKER_05 21:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 21:57

So it collides. The imposters, the heart, I guess. And the head collide. I'm not sure what's going on.

SPEAKER_00 22:02

Yeah, I built an entire framework around this for the book that's coming out that you can walk yourself through manually to talk you out of it. I recorded my second solo episode, which hasn't dropped yet, called The Loudest Lyer in the Room. The second thing I talked about- I love that, by the way. Thank you. The second thing I talked about was how our own voice and our mind keeps us from our greatness. And I talked about how I still have imposter syndrome as well. When I first moved to Florida, I remembered the job offer that I had gotten and what they had offered me. I'd never made that much money in my life. I was about ready to die on the phone. I said, let me think about it and I'll go back with you. I hung up the phone, Taylor, and I cried for 24 hours. I cried because all I could think is who is this trailer park girl who deserves this? If I take this job, they're gonna figure out I don't belong here. They're gonna sniff me out, they're gonna see through me. I'm gonna move my whole life and I'm gonna get there and they're gonna be like, we're sorry, we made a mistake. Like you need to move out. I didn't realize that I was still putting the ceiling of my circumstances and where I came from. I was still putting a ceiling on myself. Now I went from floor one to floor four, but I didn't even believe that I could get to floor six. And I did. And you that's something about breaking through those ceilings. You don't realize it until you're looking down at the broken roof and what you've accomplished. You also said that people in our industry are vaulters. And can be. Yes. I agree. And this is what my first podcast was about is about the games people in our industry play to keep clients, to gain clients. And that's why some people in this industry or the industry as a whole can get a bad reputation. It's really important to me and my moral compass. And I've left jobs because of this. I don't like the way that they move or the way that they do things for their clients. I'm also very client-centric. I will tell you the truth, and if I'm not the one for you, I'll tell you that too.

SPEAKER_05 24:06

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 24:06

Uh I would rather you go with the person you belong with and them do right by you than take it and take a paycheck. I won't do it. So I really appreciate that about you. And I think that's why I connected so tightly with you and Sonya in the first place, because I told you I read people.

SPEAKER_06 24:20

Yep. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 24:21

So I can see people.

SPEAKER_06 24:22

I'll show you off camera. How'd you read Sonya? We'll get to that.

SPEAKER_00 24:24

No, I love that. We definitely want to talk about it.

SPEAKER_06 24:26

She's such a different being than me. Like our values are remarkably the same. Yes. Her approach to the world is more skeptical.

SPEAKER_02 24:33

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 24:34

I for those who don't know her, she's my tall, beautiful stylist girlfriend. She's gorgeous. Nerd.

SPEAKER_02 24:38

Gorgeous.

SPEAKER_06 24:39

But she's a nerd. Like she I'm not a nerd. I'm this creative kind of entrepreneurial force, and she's this even cute. So somewhere we meet in the middle with our dreams and values. But so you would if if someone like you would probably still read that she's a good person with a decent heart, but I would be curious to know what how differently you see us or read us.

SPEAKER_00 24:59

Yeah. I will definitely talk about it. Another time. Let's talk about over half the hour. There you go. Yeah, that would be amazing. So you said in what you had shared with me in writing as well, that you have no regrets and you wouldn't change a thing in your past.

SPEAKER_01 25:10

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 25:11

Love that. Most people who say that say it as a slogan, but when you say it, I actually believe you because I can just you're just so raw and honest, and I really appreciate that. How did you get there to have grace with the times in your life when you know you could have made different decisions?

SPEAKER_06 25:31

So how could I know Joy without sorrow? How would I know Sonia is the right one for me without having other marriages? Yes. Right? How would I know what a good business partner is until I've had bad ones?

SPEAKER_03 25:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 25:46

So why would I regret any of that crap? Yeah. So let me just another real quick kind of lowbrow. You know, after you spend a few years in the in the space where I was doing drugs and partying and all that, you know, the occasional park bench sleeping in my car. And then I land this job selling insurance and investments, and they and they want me to cold call. You think that scared me? I was like, whatever.

SPEAKER_03 26:07

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 26:07

I could I could get told to buzz off a thousand times, and I was like, I'm sleeping in a warm bed tonight.

SPEAKER_01 26:12

That's exactly right.

SPEAKER_06 26:13

So I had a kind of courage that was forged like that rel that relative to that was wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 26:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 26:19

So why would I give that back?

SPEAKER_01 26:20

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 26:21

You know what I'm saying? So any of those lessons, now I did share with you, we talked about this, I wouldn't want my son to have to go through as much pain and adversity. I want to hold him accountable. Like, but you know what I'm saying? But I d would love to, and and by the way, thus far at 21 years old, he he hasn't gone done any of the stupid crap I did. But I wouldn't want him to have to go through quite as much pain because it does make me crusty. It does make me reactive at times. You know what I'm saying? There's still PTSD in me. I manage it. I'm aware of it. It's not going to stop me. It doesn't stop my love or the other, but it but it pops up.

SPEAKER_00 26:53

Yes. I appreciate that. There are things that still trigger me. Of course. Very and I've gotten better. I'll s even say out loud, I'm not exactly sure how I'm feeling about this in the moment. I only know I'm feeling something. I don't know where it's coming from. So you need to give me a few minutes to sit with this.

SPEAKER_06 27:10

Ooh, amen.

SPEAKER_00 27:11

Yeah. And then I will I will come back to you and we will have a conversation.

SPEAKER_06 27:14

That's an EI. Yeah. Emotional intelligence. Like knowing, otherwise you'll hurt someone.

SPEAKER_00 27:19

Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Or you're doing it off the cuff, and your initial reaction is never really why it's actually bothering you. There's something deeper. So you need to sit with it and dig in the dirt until you figure out what that thing is. So I believe that's super important as well. Your book is called Dead Cats and Wealth Advisors. It's a great book. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_06 27:39

Well, the rest of it, Dead Cats and Wealth Advisors Exposing the Myths and Lies of the Wealth Management Management Industry.

SPEAKER_00 27:44

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 27:45

And it the Dead Cats comes from, it's an old Pennsylvania Dutch thing, so it's something my grandmother would have said. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a lawyer.

SPEAKER_01 27:54

I've never heard that. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_06 27:55

It's a thing. Look it up. Or you can't swing a dead cat without hitting an insurance agent. So I use it, I extend it to my industry. You can't swing it. How many what do you think the general perception, if someone says, hey, Misty, I'm a wealth advisor.

SPEAKER_01 28:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 28:09

Are you just dying to talk to them more? No. No. Why? Uh there's something I you don't need to answer it now, but there's something about my industry. Yes. That's they deserve that.

SPEAKER_01 28:18

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 28:19

Right? So the industry deserves this bit of a black cloud. Right? So that's where that comes from. It's not that no cats were harmed in the writing of a book. Just everybody knows. The last pet that I had was before I got married to Sonia. I had a little kitty named Jupiter. So that's not about hurting cats. It's just an old wives saying.

SPEAKER_00 28:36

Yeah, that's so great. I'm gonna have to look that up. I lived in Pennsylvania for a couple years, in between Michigan and here. And I know a lot of Pennsylvania Dutch. I mean, I had pork and sauerkraut every year for New Year's, it was and potatoes. That was like a big thing. That's a thing. The pickles and the like breaded pretzels, like the pretzels with the meat inside, all the stuff.

SPEAKER_06 28:55

So I mean I call it butts and guts. It'll grow your butts and guts.

SPEAKER_00 28:58

That is hilarious. I love that. So you came up in a commission-driven world that you have said failed the very people it was supposed to serve. And what did you see early on that other people in the room could not see or chose not to see?

SPEAKER_06 29:13

Well I don't see here's the thing. I don't think I saw it early on. I was making money. I got to have fancy suspenders for the first time. I got to have nice necties. So for a while I could gloss over it, but ultimately I knew that it was a transaction. You know, unless you had more money to invest or to put it into insurance or something, I had to move on. So my card would say financial advisor, but what a ruse that was, right? I was a broker.

SPEAKER_03 29:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 29:38

So it was very slow. Like this is a very slow burn. I I'd I'd love to say I'm Elon Musk smart and I just figured it out. I did not. Right. Um what does he say? You shouldn't optimize a thing. Engineers get in trouble in trouble because they try to optimize a thing that shouldn't shouldn't exist at all. Right? So this thing, this wealth management industry or life insurance industry, which are separate but kind of overlap, I don't think they should exist at all in their current form. So that doesn't mean you don't need insurance, it doesn't mean you don't need money management, but the way the incentives are structured, but it took me 20 years. Like we did our first fiduciary type engagement in 1997, which was way before the industry. And that was kind of an accident. That just seemed like a good idea. It wasn't like we were oh taking down an industry. Oh, well, that makes sense. But we still sold a lot of stuff on commissions for the next 10 years, right? So I I I it was just a slow burn. I didn't see anything immediately. Um I'm still learning things in the last year or two or three. I'm like, oh wow, that's how the industry structured. Oh. So I I wish I could give you a better answer.

SPEAKER_00 30:46

No, that's a great answer. You've built Questma into a virtual family office for ultra successful families. And you've called what you do being a personal CFO, which is a great title, by the way. What is the difference between an advisor and what you and Sonia do for the families you serve?

SPEAKER_06 31:04

So keep in mind it's Sonia and I lead it, but there's an entire team. This is this is the virtual part was named long before Zoom. So what virtual means is insourced or outsourced. So we actually have a huge, huge national and now starting to be international network. Right? So what it what it means is when we take on a family, for example, if you're our client, in the early stages you're meeting with just me and maybe our tax attorney and maybe Joe or MBA and Sonia. But the third or fourth or fifth meeting, you might be meeting with someone from Seattle or someone from Philadelphia or an attorney from Philadelphia. And the reason is is we source the best experts. So what a virtual family office is, let me touch this. It's a unique structure where we literally bring the best experts in the world in finance and lifestyle to our clients.

SPEAKER_03 31:49

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 31:50

So that's what that the personal CFO really just means we're protecting them. We're, you know, kind of like a corporate CFO, it's just kind of a moniker.

SPEAKER_02 31:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 31:58

Um, but that's where the circle of vultures comes in. We're protecting them sometimes from themselves.

SPEAKER_02 32:02

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 32:03

Sometimes often. And so is that answering your question? Like it's it's not. It's it's a concept that was born. I didn't actually invent it. I just sort of decided 15 years ago that's the direction we're gonna go. We're gonna work with other business owners because we are them.

SPEAKER_01 32:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 32:18

We don't work for a big insurance company, we don't work for a big money manager, we work for the client. So we've developed this process, this virtual family office, where we literally act on behalf of the client.

SPEAKER_00 32:29

Mm-hmm. Beautiful. You told me something that got me all fired up. And imagine that. I know, me being fiery. Who would have ever thought? Yeah. You said one of the things you know about yourself is how remarkably resilient you are and that your business life could take off and elevate this much after 37 years. This is not what most people in your age in your season are saying. So, first, how blessed do you feel that you're continuing to still grow and to go and grow? And what changed I in you from what you wanted two decades ago to where you're moving to now?

SPEAKER_06 33:12

By the way, if you had asked me this question two years ago, the answer wouldn't have been as ebullient. Right? It's frustrating. Yes. You know, so this is this is it's been a again a build. Um there's a one of my business coaches, Dan Sullivan, wrote a and a partner wrote a book called The Gap in the Gain. If you're if you're a entrepreneur, you tend to have big goals and dreams, right? But we haven't met them. We haven't gotten there. So you slip back into the gap, right? You're judging yourself. So I realized something, and I mean like recently, like last week, everything in my life, certainly professionally, is now in the gain. I've exceeded every goal. I could retire. I have a great coming to Tampa has been great, like meeting you, I have a great circle of friends and business professionals. So everything I get to do from here on out is the gain.

SPEAKER_01 34:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 34:02

It's in the gain mode.

SPEAKER_01 34:04

Love it.

SPEAKER_06 34:04

Which it's that simple. So now I get to be creative, do go where my mind and heart lead me. But again, that's as like I had that realization one week ago.

SPEAKER_00 34:17

I love that though. And I love the honesty.

SPEAKER_06 34:20

That's why I'm still taking trust classes at the age of 61. Like, there's shit to learn.

SPEAKER_00 34:24

There is always stuff to learn.

SPEAKER_06 34:25

Yeah, I like I like it's complicated what we do.

SPEAKER_00 34:29

I want to just say, though, in this moment, the fact that you still acknowledge and not only acknowledge, seek out more education, more ways to help your clients, to serve your families.

SPEAKER_05 34:45

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 34:45

It says everything about how you structure your business and why people should work with you. Because most people who have gotten to where you've gotten to will rest on their laurels. They're going to be jet setting somewhere, on a yacht somewhere, and they're going to let but that's not you. You are literally hands in the soil, still creating, still growing, still moving. And I really respect and appreciate about that about you. And that is when I make my millions, that's the kind of person I want protecting me, is exactly how you and Sonia serve.

SPEAKER_06 35:23

I just wrote my well started writing my 25-year plan.

SPEAKER_00 35:26

I love it.

SPEAKER_06 35:27

So um again, I credit the coach. It takes away the tyranny of time. Right? So if you have big goals and you think, oh, I haven't achieved that in the next two or three years, you start to judge yourself or get frustrated. But if you take away the tyranny of time, oh I have 10 years to do that or 12 years to do that.

SPEAKER_05 35:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 35:46

And by the way, that will most likely extend my life and my productive life.

SPEAKER_01 35:50

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 35:50

By wiring myself that way.

SPEAKER_01 35:52

That's right.

SPEAKER_06 35:52

So why the hell would I st I I'm just getting good at this.

SPEAKER_01 35:55

I love it.

SPEAKER_06 35:55

I really am. Like I really believe, and I have to say this, shout out to my Tampa Bay friends and community. Like yes, we succeeded well in Pennsylvania, but we were limited. It's a different mindset, it's a utilitarian mindset. Good, hardworking people, but most don't dream big. Most like most of my cousins live within a mile of where they were born. Yes. They don't leave the country, they they haven't seen much.

SPEAKER_04 36:17

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 36:17

Coming here was like an albatross off our backs.

SPEAKER_04 36:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 36:21

Sonya and I need it out of that.

SPEAKER_04 36:22

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 36:22

And so coming here is it's just big enough and just open enough and just transient enough and just perfect. So we've blossomed a lot in six years.

SPEAKER_00 36:31

I have a similar ideology and also a similar journey to you. Tampa is the city that's meant for me as well. I've never felt so seen, so welcome, so I bel I belong here. This is where God was calling me and the place I needed and didn't really know existed. And of course I knew Tampa was on the map, but I didn't know what I would get in the community I would get here. I wrote about that in my book as well. I needed to leave my small town, the small town mindsets, and I needed I needed people who could see me for who I had become and not who I was. Because people couldn't reconcile.

SPEAKER_06 37:14

Oof, that that touches because Sonia suffers from that. Yes. They wanted to keep her there.

SPEAKER_00 37:19

Yes. They could not reconcile with the success that I had earned with the girl who grew up in the trailer park and was homeless and had a baby as a teenager. They couldn't see me as too distinct and they couldn't. They couldn't see it. They only saw me as that first version of me. And I had to disconnect from that to be able to continue to grow because that's harmful to your psyche, to your person, to your growth. It's depressing.

SPEAKER_06 37:53

Well, let me let me can I run with that a little bit? Absolutely. It's harmful to the rest of humanity because it holds you back. So all of the charity, all of the savings, all of the good works you might do, all of the raising of your kids, all of that is blunted and stunted when you stay in that mindset. So it it's limiting not just to Misty, but to everyone else that you might might have affected.

SPEAKER_00 38:14

That's so beautiful. Thank you. I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_06 38:16

And that's just kind of mathematically accurate, is it not? I have to. If you stay here, if you get here, like I love business owners, um b business leaders, business owners, they fund the healthcare.

SPEAKER_01 38:27

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 38:27

They create the stability that we need. Like this country kind of needs some stability. They create the jobs, yes, the taxes. So if we limit them, like if they were all limited, like Misty was limited, none of that stuff grows.

SPEAKER_00 38:40

I appreciate that so much. I hadn't extrapolated the thought out that far. I only knew that I couldn't be who I was called to be in the space that I was living. I remember being almost 40 years old and sitting on the front porch of my house surrounded by farm fields and sobbing because I knew that God was calling me to more, and nobody understood. Everyone thought I was insane. And I call them the naysayers, and they disguise their discomfort with my growth as love. And they say, You look at everything you've already accomplished, like you're already doing so great. Why would you give that up? What if you don't make it? What if you fail? And really, that is more of a reflection of their inability to follow their whisper. And and I can't let that hold me back. And and I don't have that here. Here I can fly. Amen. And I love it.

SPEAKER_06 39:34

My family in Pennsylvania loves me, by the way. They're just not quite sure what to do with it.

SPEAKER_00 39:38

My family loves me too, but they don't understand me.

SPEAKER_06 39:41

Right.

SPEAKER_00 39:41

And that's okay. Uh they still live in a small town, still limiting mindsets. My family still lives in a trailer park.

SPEAKER_06 39:50

I like a cousin who's known me all my life, two years younger than me, and he was ta talking to my dad just about a month ago, and he says, Well, when's Taylor going to retire?

SPEAKER_00 39:59

Never.

SPEAKER_06 40:00

And so recently we bought a plane recently. So I sent him a picture of the plane. I said, Hey, cuz, I'm not retiring. This is a work vehicle, just so you know. We're just getting good at this. I love it. And he just like laughed out. He thought it was great. He's like, Yeah, yeah, well, this is a dumb question. Yes. He didn't you know he knows me better.

SPEAKER_00 40:16

You said you want people to walk away knowing that they can have a fruitful, fulfilling life no matter where they currently are. Who is the person listening right now that you most want to hear that? And what is the lie that you think they're believing that you want them to break?

SPEAKER_06 40:31

The person maybe not so much for this podcast, well, maybe for this podcast. The person I'm speaking to in my life are other small to middle market business owners. They deserve better. They may not, what I've discovered is they don't realize that there are better tools out there. There's better treatment. And it isn't just about the money. Um so I'm really trying to raise the bar. So that's who I'm speaking to.

SPEAKER_04 40:55

I love it.

SPEAKER_06 40:56

Um how would I say that? Simple stuff. It's simple stuff. We do a bunch of research on wealthy families, business owners, which yes, that gives us a leg up. So here's an example. About when we we interview wealthy business owners, wealthy families, about a third of them, 30% of them, want their pets to be included in their death plan. It could be actual money provided, like Carl Lagerfeld left $500 million. Or it could be as simple as a local shelter that's a charity will take my pets, or it could be as simple as I want my my friend Misty to get my puppy.

SPEAKER_00 41:31

Right.

SPEAKER_06 41:32

Guess what percentage of financial advisors ask about that in their intake?

SPEAKER_00 41:36

I'm gonna go with one percent. Zero. Zero percent.

SPEAKER_06 41:39

Well, this is a year ago research.

SPEAKER_00 41:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 41:42

Okay, is that a people-centric business?

SPEAKER_00 41:44

No, because family pets are people's family.

SPEAKER_06 41:46

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 41:49

Amen.

SPEAKER_06 41:49

So if you were working with some sort of advisor, I again I hate that term, some sort of uh I don't know, life consultant coach. And yes, they might do wealth advising. They would know that.

SPEAKER_04 42:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 42:02

They would know about your kids, your grandkids, they would know your proclivities, right? They would know if you have cancer or not. Yes. They have to know.

SPEAKER_03 42:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 42:10

They would know if you have a child who has a spouse who's greedy or has a problem, they need to know that. I it's another simple one. 89.7% of wealthy investors want tax planning. Duh.

SPEAKER_05 42:22

Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 42:22

Duh. They don't want to overpay.

SPEAKER_05 42:24

Right.

SPEAKER_06 42:24

They've already paid a lot. And only when you do the research, only 24% of them are actually receiving it.

SPEAKER_03 42:30

Wow.

SPEAKER_06 42:30

And yet both the CPA industry and the wealth management industry, 90% of them claim to do it. So there's this giant gap. So I'm just trying to turn it into a more listening industry, a more human industry. So I'm speaking to business owners. There are three modtos I want to share quickly.

SPEAKER_01 42:45

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_06 42:45

Just popped in my head.

SPEAKER_01 42:46

Let's do it.

SPEAKER_06 42:47

If you ask my son, he could rattle these off.

SPEAKER_01 42:49

I love it.

SPEAKER_06 42:50

And he would he might huff a little bit, although he's starting to embrace them. It's really beautiful to watch him living them.

SPEAKER_01 42:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 42:56

So number one is we carry our own water.

SPEAKER_01 42:59

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 43:00

That means you dirty a dish.

SPEAKER_01 43:02

That's right.

SPEAKER_06 43:02

You better wash the dish. Otherwise, that spaghetti will end up in your bed.

SPEAKER_01 43:07

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 43:07

That's how that works. Right?

SPEAKER_01 43:09

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 43:09

And then there's another one. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well. If you have the time to do it, you do have the time to do it well. Even making the bed. And then the third one is that I love. Guess what the best thing you can pay is?

SPEAKER_00 43:22

Attention. Attention. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 43:24

I love that. And so that's kind of what drives my family. Yeah. And I guess by extension, our business.

SPEAKER_00 43:30

So three questions, closing this out. Thank you so much, Taylor, for being here. You're welcome. Really enjoyed this conversation. What does the unbreakable advantage mean to you?

SPEAKER_06 43:41

Damn, you're good.

SPEAKER_00 43:42

Thank you.

SPEAKER_06 43:43

Because you got me to answer this 30 minutes ago.

SPEAKER_00 43:45

That's I just pull it out of ya.

SPEAKER_06 43:47

No, it it what it means to me is it would I would go back to the question of what am I the best in the world at?

SPEAKER_03 43:52

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_06 43:53

And it's it's the ability to take my fears, which they're still there, they don't go away. My insecurities and even more so my mistakes and screw ups, but then turn them into powerful tools for others.

SPEAKER_00 44:05

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 44:06

That's what it means to me.

SPEAKER_00 44:07

So beautiful. What did you have to let go of to become who you are today?

SPEAKER_06 44:13

Fears and more fears and more fears. And then a few more fears.

SPEAKER_00 44:17

A few more fears.

SPEAKER_06 44:18

And some insecurities. Yeah. I still keep six insecurities. I need six. But I left the other hundred and six.

SPEAKER_00 44:24

Six is a good number, I feel. Six is a good amount. It still gives you things to work towards.

SPEAKER_06 44:29

So you might tell you different, but uh six, right?

SPEAKER_00 44:31

Everyone's got to have goals. Right. Yeah, you've got to have things to work towards.

SPEAKER_06 44:34

I'm really insecure about my hair, by the way. No, I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_00 44:36

No, I'm kidding. Your hair is great.

SPEAKER_06 44:38

No, but I have I have insecurities and fears, definitely.

SPEAKER_00 44:40

Yeah. I really I want to commend you and just express my respect and gratitude to you that you're sharing that that's truly how you feel inside. Because so many people won't do that. And then the rest of us who walk around feeling that way feel like there's something wrong or that we're broken or damaged in some way when in reality we all have insecurities. It makes us human. A hundred percent. But but not many people are willing to say it out loud. So I just wanted to take a moment just to express my gratitude for that. So thank you. Because people people need to hear that. So are you ready for this? Last question. What do you still need to let go of to become who you want to be tomorrow?

SPEAKER_06 45:36

The imposter syndrome. I know. It's it it is funny. Have I shaved a bit off of that, right?

SPEAKER_05 45:45

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 45:46

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 45:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 45:47

But it pops up.

SPEAKER_05 45:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 45:49

And you know, I'm on the stage and I'm next to somebody who's this extremely successful person and we're in a panel and he's sold this extremely successful business, and I know intellectually that I belong there.

SPEAKER_03 45:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 45:59

Because I know I have thirty-seven years worth of tools and wisdom, but something says, you don't deserve to be next to these guys. It's stupid. It's just stupid.

SPEAKER_00 46:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 46:09

You just don't have to squash that imposter syndrome.

SPEAKER_00 46:12

I you'll have to read my book. Okay. I'll give you a copy. I'll give you a copy. That's a given. Yeah, I'll give you a copy and I'll sign it like you did from me. I have a framework that I built around that called evidence over emotion. And I have to talk myself through that as well. And I'll tell you, I also feel like I conquered it pretty well for the most part. Moving to Tampa helped me a lot. Getting away from the small town, those mines.

SPEAKER_06 46:36

Can I harness that?

SPEAKER_00 46:37

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_06 46:37

So I've been, I mean, I have this idea that I want to form a board. Not so much for the business, but a board of advisors to help me deliver this vision. Because I I like I said it early on, the wealth management industry, in my view, as it currently sits, should not exist. This human-centric thing that happens to have wealth management as just a piece needs to evolve more. And I admit I don't know fully how to do that myself. I need some dissenting voices, I need some human voices, I need some tough voices. So I'd like to talk to you more later about how to take your journey, and probably probably a lot of this is in the book, but build out the human piece.

SPEAKER_00 47:14

Yeah. I would love to talk to you about that.

SPEAKER_06 47:15

I'm not even sure. For example, we have life transition counselors on our team. So when someone's going to exit their business or retire, about a year out, we start having them go through counseling.

SPEAKER_05 47:24

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 47:24

So that they don't end up lost or depressed. That's just one tiny piece.

SPEAKER_00 47:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 47:27

I don't even really know what the rest of the toolbox needs to look like.

SPEAKER_00 47:31

Yeah. We'll definitely have some conversations around that.

SPEAKER_06 47:33

Good. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 47:34

Yeah, I would I'd appreciate that very much. Yeah, the imposter syndrome for me, and I still feel it sometimes. I'm growing my own business. I got a cease and desist on my last company name, which was a blessing. I prayed for this. I prayed to God. I said, and the and I asked the universe, how can I align what I named and what I'm letting go of with the Unbreakable Advantage book podcast speaking, the curriculum that I want that I'm creating, and I got a cease and desist. So now I can't have playbook consulting anymore, which is great because I didn't want it. Uh but I didn't want to do the work of changing. So now we created the Unbreakable Advantage Institute, and I'm trademarking it because I'm not going to You know, you're creative. Thank you.

SPEAKER_06 48:13

You are remarkably creative.

SPEAKER_00 48:15

Thank you.

SPEAKER_06 48:15

I didn't I didn't really see you that way till recently.

SPEAKER_00 48:18

Aw. Well, I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_06 48:21

No, I mean I say it as a compliment. I that's a shortness in me. I didn't see saw lots of good qualities, but not this creativity.

SPEAKER_00 48:27

Yeah. I've had to be because like you, when I'm 16 and I have nowhere to live and I'm pregnant, and I've got to figure out how I'm gonna eat and where I'm gonna sleep. And then when I have the babies, how am I going to feed them? How am I gonna keep a roof over your head? I've had to be ultra creative in my life.

SPEAKER_06 48:45

You actually literally have to create meals. Correct. Like literally out of nothing.

SPEAKER_00 48:49

Yes. Been there. Sorry, been there. Yes. And I have learned how to change my own plumbing. I've changed my own ceiling fans. I've hung drywall. I've changed my own floors because I could only afford a certain kind of house in the beginning, but I wanted it to be nice for my family, but I couldn't afford for it to get fixed. Right. I've changed my own LED tail lights. Watch it. I just I figure it out. And that's just who I am.

SPEAKER_06 49:14

I'm just smiling for multiple reasons, but I figured out how to hire a guy.

SPEAKER_00 49:19

Well, to be fair, I I would hire somebody now, not always. But yeah. Actually, the house I just bought, I've lived there two years. I did all my ceiling fans with my sister. I changed all my bathroom fixtures with my sister. I changed all the hinges, all the door. I did that all. I painted my whole house, minus the ceilings that are 20 foot tall. I didn't want to kill myself because I would have, because I'm also clumsy. But I do a lot of those things on my own. But I do appreciate you seeing that side of me. Uh I I escaped a lot through creativity when I was going through the abuse. And I used that as a cre as an outlet to live in another place in space, and that carried into my life, and it's done well for me.

SPEAKER_06 49:58

I'm a little disappointed I didn't see that because I'm actually mostly a creative person. Like my first, my biggest passion was painting. I was an avid artist. So I actually designed the book cover.

SPEAKER_00 50:06

It's amazing. So mine was poetry.

SPEAKER_06 50:09

Well, that's creative.

SPEAKER_00 50:10

It is very creative. Well, don't be disappointed. That's why Friends Growth I didn't see it. That's why that's why friends grow and evolve. So, Taylor, where can the listeners find you, follow you, get involved with you in Questmont?

SPEAKER_06 50:24

So, hell, I don't even know our website. www.questmont.something. Help.

SPEAKER_00 50:28

Google it.

SPEAKER_06 50:30

Questmontvfo.com. Give me a call. Call myself.

SPEAKER_02 50:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 50:34

If you got meaningful questions.

SPEAKER_02 50:35

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 50:36

717-571-1324-717. Just please promise me call if they're meaningful questions.

SPEAKER_00 50:42

I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_06 50:43

I will give thoughtful responses.

SPEAKER_00 50:46

I love it. Thank you so much for being here. Thanks for having me. Holding space. Thank you for the bubbles. Yeah. No, thank you for the bubbles. You brought them.

SPEAKER_06 50:52

So I'm not a bad influence. Not at all.

SPEAKER_00 50:56

Not at all. So thank you so much for listening today. You can find me on LinkedIn at Misty Carson Ms H R M on Instagram at unbreakableadvantage.com. Also, brand new website just launched, www.unbreakableadvantage.com as well. Do leadership workshops. Love to help you. Have a book coming. Want to help everybody who's been through the mess, make their mess their message. Thank you so much for tuning in today. Love the conversation.

SPEAKER_06 51:22

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 51:22

And uh I'm honored to be here. Thank you. Until then, keep a coming. You showed up today, and that already says something about who you are. If this episode moved you, share it with someone who needs to hear it. Subscribe wherever you listen and connect with me on LinkedIn and Instagram. We were not broken. We were being built. Until next week, keep becoming.

unknown 51:48

Every moment where it all connects from that day.