Episode 30- Millionaire Mindset with Steve Ankerstar
My first millionaire to be a guest on the podcast is with me today, Steven Ankerstar.
Steve is the CEO & Founder of Ankerstar Wealth, LLC.—a fee-only financial services firm based in Round Rock, Texas. Steve has been investing for 30 years and is passionate about helping individuals create wealth over their lifetime. Prior to starting his wealth management firm, he served his country for over 20 years as an Air Force fighter pilot. Now he serves his clients and their families in both cultivating and preserving their wealth and financial well-being. Steve Ankerstar is also the host of the popular Ankerstar Wealth Morning Show.
If you want to learn about the mindset and determination behind becoming a millionaire and pivoting to entrepreneurship from the military, this episode is for you.
https://ankerstarwealth.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cruiserankerstar/
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Ankerstar Wealth Morning Show: https://www.youtube.com/@AnkerstarWealth
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I mean, everything had to be put in proper order. You didn't inflate your life before you had the funds and the security of seeing a business grow year over year, before you started saying, okay, now let's enjoy some of this wealth that we've created. This is To The Nines Podcast. I am your host, Tiffany Wicks, a mom of seven who doesn't subscribe to the idea that you have to choose between your family and a career.
I am on a mission to show the stay at home mom who has lost herself in child care and cocamelon and the overworked cork pulled out who isn't finding joy and purpose in their career that they can work for themselves making an impact in an income that serves your dream life. After leaving my nursing career to raise our family I needed more mental stimulation.
but didn't want to give up the privilege of raising our legacy. I've been in network marketing now for five years. I know the strategy and mindset it takes to be successful and to live a life aligned with your values and your purpose. Join me as I share my business tips, marketing mistakes, attitude shifts, you need to space out some time for you or ditch your nine to five completely and start working for yourself.
You have the power to change your life. Let's get started. This is just the beginning. Oh, hey, crew. Welcome back. I'm so happy to have you here on the podcast. And another incredible interview is about to take place. So I have known this man for many, many years. However, more on a professional level, he is more associated with my husband more so than I.
Um, I know his wife, I know his kids. They are fantastic. These girls are going to be powerhouses, um, in the world of commerce someday. But for now, what I'd like to talk to you about is Mr. Steven Anchorstar with Anchorstar Wealth. So this guy starts out as a pilot turned. financier in some respect, but did something that in the piloting world is completely off the grid.
I mean, to make a huge pivot into a completely different career field outside of what pilots generally do, like when you're an airline or an aircraft pilot in any respect, be it military or commercial, private, you generally pivot to other aircrafts. And it could be You know, small airplanes, big airplanes, but there are always some other type of flying gig.
But this guy did something completely off script and went to money, money. So Steve, I'm not going to do your bio. I want you to tell my people who you are, what your early life was like. Did you always want to be a pilot? Was there always money on the mind or how did that shape who you were as an air force fighter pilot?
And then who you became now? As the CEO and founder of anchor star wealth. So welcome Steve. Well, hello everyone. And thank you so much, Tiffany, for having me on your show this morning. Uh, love what you're doing here, trying to, you know, peel back the pivot from people's different experiences, uh, to help your listeners face the challenges that they see out there, or, you know, the, the different, uh, experiences.
Paths that they have in front of them. Uh, my story, uh, started way back when I was an only child, which it's kind of weird that I bring that up. Uh, but I say I survived being an only child, two kids now and wouldn't have it any other way. But, you know, I grew up in Ohio and we lived out in the country. And my only real, you know, I'm 54, so not young, uh, but you know, I didn't have a lot of the influences that you have today.
And, uh, by growing up in the country, my dad was air force. So, you know, I kind of only, you know, this back in the day when people listen to their parents, right. And the, you know, he was like, you know, if you don't know what else to do, go into the air force. So I was like, okay, you know, that, that, that seems fine.
Right. And as I grew up, uh, you know, TV was kind of the influence we had. So I used to watch a show, uh, called family ties. If you're old enough, remember, uh, uh, Alex P Keaton was my, or Michael J Fox was Alex P Keaton on the show. And he was a nerd in high school carrying on the wall street journal. And I kind of thought to myself at the time, it's like, okay, that's what I want to be when I grow up.
And then when I was a junior in high school, uh, I saw, went to the movie theater with my buddy, Mike and saw a top gun, uh, And, uh, it was 1986 and that movie changed my life because I walked out of Top Gun and I was naive enough to think, uh, that's exactly what I'm going to do with my life. Okay, stop it.
That is exactly how Adam got into it, was watching Top Gun. And when you say that you were naive enough, the other pilot that I've interviewed here on his episode, he says all the time, I'm just too dumb to know my limits. And that sounds like exactly what you're saying. Yeah. So, I mean, really skipping right to the pivot, right?
It's because if you knew and you hear a lot of successful people talk, cause I'm, I'm kind of a podcast junkie too. And, and you hear the story and they're like, well, if I knew now. You know, I would never have done it, right? Because that's why I say I'm naive enough to say I'm gonna make that happen. And, you know, I told my buddy, Mike, you know, I'm gonna be a fighter pilot.
And he, you know, and of course, I'm gonna do it in the Air Force because we have more airplanes. Right? So, you know, it was the he laughed. I went home and told my parents. And, of course, as parents do, they said, Ooh, that's fantastic. But let's have a backup plan. And, you know, my dad even said, You know, I, I know fighter pilots and, you know, that's, that's kind of not your thing.
I mean, when you're a nerd in high school, I mean, you're right. I mean, you know, I get it, but in my head though, I made a mental change to, that's what I want to do and I will do everything to make that happen. I went off to college, couldn't get a pilot slot. I got a navigator slot and actually turned it down because I was like, I don't want to sit in the back seat.
I want to be in the front seat or not at all kind of mentality. And, you know, I got onto active duty. I went up into the missile field where, you know, nuclear missiles and stuff and told my boss, I wanted to be a pilot. And he kind of laughed and he's like, no, you don't. And I'm like, yes, I do. So it took me a little longer to get there than most, but I finally achieved my dream of being a fighter pilot.
And I had a plan B, like if I wasn't going to be able to get to fly the airplane that, you know, be a, be a pilot in the air force, I was going to then go get out. Already had my MBA right away. You know, I got as a cyclone tenant, but so I was preparing myself for plan B to go out and be going to the finance industry, but I was like, well, if they're going to give me an airplane to fly, I'm going to stay in as long as they let me fly that airplane.
And then when I'm done with all of that, then I can pivot to what I really kind of wanted to do way back when. Uh, and that was going to the money business. Um, I do talk to folks and I talked to, I like talking to kids, um, and say, you know, sometimes money has a bad name, right? You kind of villain villainize, uh, rich people or, you know, billionaires.
And, you know, I tell them, it's like, Hey, put your hand up if you want to be rich. And, you know, a couple of hands will go up the bold folks. Right. And I'm like, well, you've got the right mindset. Don't be scared of saying that it's not, you know, evil, it's an enabler. And, and I'm like, I, you know, I was a teenager and I said, I want to be a millionaire.
And you know, that was a life goal. So I really had it. And then I started investing at age 16. So even though I was pursuing my, you know, trying to be a top gun, a fighter pilot, you know, you know, there was times when it did not look like that was going to happen, but, you know, I kept trying for goal a. But during the whole time I'm, you know, saving and investing, you know, it starts with 100 a month and buying individual stocks, which, you know, it's too scary for everybody, right?
Because you're supposed to be in these funds that make other people money. Um, but, you know, I started kind of started doing that on my own at a young age and of course, you know, 20 years later when I retired from the air force, uh, you know, I'm magically financially independent. So it's, it was kind of the, you know, I had one career that was, you know, I was all in on that, but the other one was working behind it.
And then when, you know, they took the airplane away, I said, okay, I said, I was going to stay as long as, uh, you know, there was an airplane to fly when they said, nope, uh, you have to go off to a desk job. That's when I was like, well, I think my 20 years are up. So, uh, I'm going to pivot into a new career at that time.
Okay, so let me back this train up a little bit because this was, this is really incredible to hear most mindset development. People will say when you are running after a dream, you burn the boats. You don't have a quote backup plan because then your head's not 100 percent aligned with your heart pursuing your goal.
You did. You 100 percent pursued your goal, but also said, I'm going to have something as a backup plan. Not if I don't get it because you had the confidence to say, I'm going to get it eventually, but I'm going to have this backup plan for, for what? Yeah. Well, that's a, uh, that's a fine point there because you're right.
Um, you know, I did have the backup. I wanted to be rich, right? I wanted to be a millionaire. Cause I thought, okay, if you could just get to 1, 1 million, then you're rich. Well, you know, that's kind of a moving target for folks. We asked people that have 5 million and are you rich? And they say, no, I need 10 or it doesn't matter where you are.
Right. Rich is like the next rung up. Well, it's all relative to to your lifestyle and your personal demographic and where you live and exactly the opportunities you had, you know, the adversity you had to face. I mean, you know, luck, luck is a big part of, you know, climbing that ladder, to be honest, for sure.
Um, and I said, I did have advantages as a, as an only child. And one of them was, I didn't know any better, um, because I didn't have, you know, I was naive, you know, Myself and I didn't have a lot of friends cause I lived out in the country. Um, so I mean, there's folks I, it was school and sports were kind of my friends, but outside of that, I was kind of reading and focusing on my future and things that, you know, would be considered, you know, abnormal, uh, as a child, but, but it kind of helped me focus.
On goals, but I knew and my parents told me, you know, it wasn't like I started like this, but my parents sat me down when I was 16 and said, Hey, you need to get a job so we can, you know, fund your, your IRA. And I don't know what an IRA is. Um, but I'm like, point of order, you know, nerd, you know, single child, you know, I've got two parents to battle, right.
At all times. I'm outnumbered, right. You're out. Now you're, you're significant. Yeah, I was out number two to one. So I mean, at all times the guard was up and I was like, point of order. You said, uh, my job is to go to school and get a straight A's or as close to it as possible. And you know, and I'm like, I've done that.
So why am I going to go get a job? And they're like, well, you have to have earned income. And then, you know, you keep the money that you make. We're going to match whatever you make into your IRA and you'll thank us later. So like with a lot of pursuits in life, you don't necessarily understand everything up front.
And that's okay. But I'm like, free money, right? Are you saying free money? Because free money, everybody likes free money. Yeah. That's what I'm hearing here is a free money coming my way. Yes, please. Yeah. So free money, right? So I'm like, okay, I can do that. And you know, I got a job at a golf course, which was glamorous until it was making coffee and then cleaning toilets the rest of the day, you know, it wasn't as glamorous as they kind of.
I thought it was, but you know, that was just what you did, right? You just got a job as a teenager. Um, and that kind of started that in the background. But one thing I was always true to myself was I was always saving and investing, even though I was all in on becoming a fighter pilot. And the way I was able to do that is just to automate it.
Right. Much like a hundred dollars a month. And you're like, eh, a hundred dollars a month. It does add up. It takes time, but it does add up. So folks that are out there, it's like, whatever you're doing, if you can peel off 50, a hundred bucks when you're, especially when you're young, do that. You'll thank yourself later.
Uh, so that's how I was kind of able to do that. But. You know, I faced the same, you're talking about pivots and I faced the exact same thing at the end of my career was, you know, I could leave and I was, I stayed with a security blanket, right? So it's got the military retirement at the 20 years that nobody has anymore.
And, or, you know, you don't have traditional pensions anymore, but then it was the choice of, do I go to the airlines? Like all my friends, which makes good money over time, you know, you get there. Um, And then pursue my business as a hobby, you know, to the side gig until it becomes the main gig years later.
Or like you said earlier, the all in moment of, I chose not to do that because I didn't want to get called, you know, get sucked in is what I call it. Um, which is the danger of having the day job. So for the budding entrepreneurs out there, you know, your own experience, uh, down this path as well is if you do cut the cord.
Right. Burn the, burn the boats or bridges or the reference you used earlier. Um, you do kind of force yourself into action, right? If you jump out of the nest. You're going to figure it out for you, figure out how to fly. So I would enforce, and I do say that, you know, for folks out there that hear that, and they're like, okay, yeah, Steve, that makes sense.
I'm going to go do that. Well, caveat that with, I did have the safety net of being financially independent from investing for a long time. Uh, so I was able to live off my investments, um, as well as a military pension. So that was one of the benefits that I had that, you know, makes it easy for me to say, yeah, just cut the cord and go all in, but, uh, But yeah, I did have a couple of breaks and I had a safety net there to where I could still feed the family, uh, even if things, uh, didn't go right that I will, I will say.
And since, you know, you've been good friends with Irene for a long time, which is my wife, um, the, the, the pillow talk or table conversation, you know, that you have as a couple, I said, you know, this honey, this is something I really want to do. And I know it can be scary, um, when a spouse is like, yeah, I don't want to go get a full time paycheck.
I want to go do this thing. It's kind of like, Ooh, okay. Um, you know, I love you and support you, but Ooh, right. Risk. And so I said, how about this? I got all my airline licenses. So I was ready to go. Um, it was going to be United for me out of Houston. So, I mean, I even knew exactly where I was going to apply and I knew people there and I was like, okay, I can, I can, I don't want to say completely snap my fingers and make this happen.
Yeah. But in short order, I could be back to a flying paycheck. So, but, uh, you know, Irene and I, I was like, how about this, hun? They say most small businesses fail in like three years. I go, give me three years. And, and after three years of me, you know, trying to, you know, just that beat your head against the wall, which can feel like sometimes when you're in a new pursuit and you feel like a failure and an imposter, you know, all those things that kind of go through your mind is I'm like, give me three years.
And if at three year point, if I'm not profitable and making money, Then I absolutely will say, okay, um, didn't work. I acknowledge that I'm not going to go, you know, continue to pursue if it's not working. Um, and then I'll go fly for the airlines and I'll be happy to do so. Um, so that's what I kind of think as far as those are the things you want to think about, not only as an individual facing a pivot, but also with your spouse and family, because everybody's in on the pivot, uh, you know, is, can you You know, kind of, you know, talking that out of let's, you know, if it's successful, which everybody thinks it is, that's great.
But what if it's not, where are we at and what can we do, you know, at that point? So when you talk about whether it's quote working or not, like that is really not definable, um, across the board for everybody. So for you and your new business and saying, babe, give me three. three years, which is kind of a lot of time when you're like, uh, there's no guaranteed paycheck coming in because Adam has a guaranteed paycheck, but it is 100 percent tied to his butt being in that seat pushing buttons and flying passengers.
If he's not there outside of, you know, sick leave, which is negotiated in their contract, homeboy's not getting paid a dime. So for you, what did Babe, this is working. Look like because there are so many scalable options based off what is working and what isn't. And in my world, when I convince people that they ought to have a side gig, most especially women, um, that they should have some level of earned income that they are solely responsible for scaling up or down based off their own preference.
And, um. veracity to work toward it. What is working could look like I got three sales this month. What did it's working look like for your business? Um, to say, give me three years to see if something is quote working or not working. No, those are, those are great points. And there's, there's about three things to kind of peel back in there.
So to answer your question first, and I'll kind of go back to the other things that, that, that made me think of is. Uh, you know, I was fortunate in the fact that I did have that steady income because I had the military retirement and, and I, you know, the, so what, by defining that I said, I set a business goal, uh, which, you know, you should, uh, you know, when you start something, especially a new gig, you don't necessarily, you know, you hear your mentor say, here's like some goals and stuff, and you're like, well, I don't know if that's achievable or not.
I don't know. You pick something. Right. And you do kind of force yourself to chase that number because that helps you stay motivated. Um, so I said, for, for me, I wanted to, every dime I made for the first two years, I was going back into the business. Um, so I went from, you know, the first computer I went out and bought for the business was a.
Refurbished hundred dollar think pad. Uh, you know, I got from like Best Buy. Uh, so it's like, okay, this is, I'm not going to go drop, you know, 1500 on an iMac on day one, which a lot of people think it's like, Hey, let's go. You'll spend all the money. Um, I bootstrapped my website. Right. So it's like, I went to go daddy and learned WordPress and just sat there.
And, you know, my, I had a, you know, had a website and a business card and a telephone and my phone's not ringing off the hook. Right. So if anybody started a gig, that's the, you're like, I'm ready. Where's all the customers. Right. Um, and then you learn a lot about marketing, what works, what doesn't. Sometimes it's just a complete dart throw, uh, is, you know, what, what happens to kind of kick things off, but it will happen eventually.
Um, so I kept kind of expenses super low. Um, as a family, we didn't necessarily do trips. You know, the normal annual vacation or whatever, um, you know, people do. So we kind of adjusted our lifestyle, if you will, which is, you know, I talk about that all the time in the money world is people tend not to have that capability.
It's like, they'll make good money. They'll inflate their lifestyle. But if somebody loses a job or somebody pivots to something new, can you now deflate your lifestyle and just be happy? Or do you now have to have all your stuff? So it went from, okay, let's leave, live within our means. I drove the same car that I had for like 10 years, uh, you know, and it was, it was falling apart, um, at a check engine light on, and I went to look at it and get it fixed and it was like, well, it's more than the value of the car.
And I was like, ah, it still drives. Right. Yeah. So I, I kind of went through here, here's your new wealth manager driving a, it was a Mercedes E three 50, but yeah, it would, it was about done, you know, limping down the road kind of thing. Um, So really that was the first one is like Whatever money I made for two years was just going into business.
And after that, then that was back to let's live off the income. And it wasn't a whole lot, you know, we're talking 10, 000 or so that third year or 20, 000, I can't remember exactly what it was, but it was enough to. You know, start to get that freedom and as a goal, my goal was the freedom and we were already kind of financially independent.
So didn't really have to work. I wanted to work because that's I want, I like working with people. I like, you know, helping. So I was like, I'm going to take everything that I've spent a lifetime doing and help others do that. But I also, you know, I'm competitive, hyper competitive, right? Like we all are, especially coming from, from the fighter background.
So it was the, okay, well, If I can build this, why not, you know, if I can get it profitable after three years, which I did, then it's just like, let's see how much we can grow it. And, you know, now it's, there's six employees and, you know, it's kind of getting a building next year. I mean, it's kind of grown into an actual entity now versus just kind of that, that, you know, solopreneur, if you will, trying to go make things happen.
That's amazing. You answered about every question. About ailing your life down. So the answer to that was yes. Um, he didn't just start a business and be like, all right, going to Tahiti next week, ladies. I mean, everything had to be put in proper order. You didn't inflate your life before you had the funds and, um, the security of seeing a business grow year over year.
Before you started saying, okay, now let's enjoy some of this wealth that we've created. Yeah, there's kind of two sides of that. So there's controlling your own spending. So there's not going too fast by going out and buying all the stuff and, you know, you know, going all the fancy things that cost a bunch of money.
It's just like, you know, kind of keeping that under control. That's one side of it. Then the other side of that. Is the, uh, I believe as a race car driver, I think it was, uh, Mario Andretti that said, uh, you know, if things seem completely under control, you're not going nearly fast enough. So there's the control, the spending and all that.
But on the other side, also that pushing yourself every day to get out there and do something new. And, and I would say the biggest challenge that as I've talked to and kind of mentored folks through this whole thing is you have to be comfortable not knowing what you're doing. Oh, for sure. I mean, gosh, fear is just prevalent in everyone's life that they're afraid to just give an opinion that has almost no backlash other than Aunt Sally might be a little pissed at Thanksgiving dinner, but they're afraid to even offer an opinion that goes against, you know, the salmon swimming upstream for the spawn, let alone like, hey, I'm going to do something entirely different.
Like go into finance management rather than be a commercial pilot. And, you know, when going back to the pilot stuff, tons of pilots are incredibly entrepreneurial minded. Like, I don't know that I've ever met a pilot that doesn't love him a good spreadsheet. Everything mapped out, everything will be grammatically correct.
All the minuses and the pluses and zeros, they will all be lined up perfectly. I am not a spreadsheet girl. You guys, I. I'm horrible at that because we're of the visionary, right? So that would not have been the career field for me, but tons of pilots have businesses, but they are not their main gig. It's their side gig.
Their main gig is security of the W two. Yes. And that, that can be quite the, uh, security blanket, uh, for sure. Um, but you're right when you go out there, there, there, there is time. So using the spreadsheet and analogy that you bring up there, you know, It's like, okay, you sit down with the piece of paper or Excel or whatever your planning tool is, or you're, you know, if you have a company like Scout and Seller, they probably give you materials that kind of say, here's what you should be doing, you know, month one, month two, you know, you're going to have some form of guidance that you're following.
Um, but there's a, there's a time to actually stop reading about it. And like, yeah, start doing it. Um, that's, that's where I see people get caught up for months. Um, you know, or my friends, which, you know, I love dearly. Um, you know, saying, Hey, I'm going out on my own, you know, this year and then this year becomes next year.
And, you know, every time we talk, they're like, you know, I'm mentoring them, but it's, I can, I can detect that it's the, they, they think they need more information when it's like, oh, you have enough, right. It's kind of like your children, right? So it's like, there's the edge of the nest. It's like, out you go, right.
You go figure it out. Uh, you, you have all you need to, to go forth and be successful, but you won't know everything. You'll spend a lot of time on Google trying to figure out accounting, how to pay taxes, you know, all, all of the miserable side of business, no matter what you're in, um, sort of thing. So that's what I tell folks is you have to be comfortable just going forth and, you know, doing right by people and, you know, and you'll, you'll kind of figure it out along the way.
Otherwise you just will never get there. So episode one, by the way, was all about going ugly early. And that's a pretty common fighter pilot term. So if you hadn't listened to the very first episode, that's what it's about. It's just about stepping out in confidence that, all right, I'm going to screw this thing up.
It's probably going to look like dirt. I'm going to sound like crap, but I'm just going to do it. And that is actually how my podcast got started is I talked about a podcast for quite a while. And there is a another, um, he's a Navy pilot that has sort of become my accountability buddy, I guess. Todd Mattson, his, uh, his podcast episode is also on there.
Um, I want to say he's probably the third episode. I'd have to look that up, but it was a great interview about how he became a pilot, which, oh, by the way, just like you, Steve was not an easy transition. He was told, Oh, so many times you're too fat. You're too tall. You're too this you're too stupid. And he was like, Yeah.
Okay. I'm still doing it. And then just kept pushing forward. So he is actually the one who called me out in my Instagram DMs about my podcast. Uh, he's like, Hey, uh, I keep hearing you saying you're going to do it. Like, at what point are you going to stop making excuses for why you haven't, and you're just going to do it.
I was like, Oh, yeah. Well, good morning to you, sir. I mean, I am not the kind of girl who gets offended when I get my ish called out, but, and he was also not afraid to give it to me straight. So I was like, you're right. I just need to do it. So that's exactly what I did. I consulted Google. I figured out how do I plug this dang thing in?
What platform do I use? And it took years before I was able to scale enough to hire an assistant, um, in order to manage this thing. So. You six employees, Steve, I did not know that. I knew that there was one, but that was actually my next question when it comes to scaling your business is how long did it take to scale it to the point where you have a whole freaking team now?
Well, it, it, uh, you know, I, I love the, you know, go ugly early, eh, you know, just kind of get out there and do it. And of course, accountability partners, you know, we're all different. Um, so yeah, it's, sometimes it's that truth bomb and, you know, I love, I love podcasts and of course we're on one and I have, I switched my podcast.
Yeah. To a YouTube channel because it was better suited for my audience and I was, I was better video than just pure audio anyway. But it's the trying to your, your first podcast is gonna be your worst, right? It that for your first whatever, draw a blank and say that's gonna be your worst. Right? So for me, with client meetings, it's like I can't sit across from a high net worth individual, um, without having a hundred meetings that didn't go that great.
Right. You gotta build to that point. So, uh, so I think that's, uh. Yeah. So, so really you do have to be comfortable with that knowing that, you know, you just get out there and you start it. So, so I went back to what you were talking about, but I didn't answer your question. So what was the, uh, the question you, that you asked there at the end?
I said, how did you know when it was time to start scaling and then adding a team? Yes. Perfect. A perfect question. So that's a good problem to have, but my problem was capacity. So when you look at. You know, whatever business you're in, uh, there's a certain level that the individual can handle and you transition, like I set up an LLC, you know, to kind of peel it back a little bit further.
Uh, you know, I'm sitting in Al Udeid, not Al Udeid. Um, yeah, it was Al Udeid over in, uh, Qatar, uh, right before I was, I was there, right, right before I retired and I'm in my little room and we had a pretty good setup there, you know, air Force style. But, uh, I'm in my little room with my computer and I'm googling how to start an investment firm.
No way. Which, you know, it's like, that's well before you retired that, that's literally hilarious, right? I'm like, it's like, yeah, I wanna do this. I had a year that I worked over, I was permanent party over at IUD working in the chaos. So we were working 12 hours, but. Every day for a year, but I also had plenty of hours outside of that to work to trying to, I got my certifications while I was over there.
So I had prep time while I was on active duty to be able to kind of get set up. But as I started this, um, and kind of didn't know what I didn't know and went out there and changed unknowns and unknowns by learning, right. Google and figuring all this stuff out. Um, Then I got back retired, you know, got, you know, got stood up, went through all that.
And as things started getting good, I started finding mentors and, you know, through podcast, honestly, that I finally met the guy that I was mentored by Michael Kitsis. I met him this summer for the first time. And I've been at this 10 years. But I was listening to what he says, you know, he's experienced veteran and, you know, he said at some point you're going to reach capacity for you as a person.
So you go into business either for, you know, for multiple reasons. So for the listeners out there, do find out why you're getting into business. Um, or think that through. And be honest with yourself. Are you in it for the money? Are you in it to help people? Are you in it because that's, you know, it's your passion, you know, all of those things can kind of play into it.
So I said, well, I'm financially independent, so I kind of don't have to work, but I'm also like a workaholic. That's my nature. So. What would I do all day long if I didn't work? Right. So, so it was kind of, you know, the challenge of doing the building something from scratch. But as I did that and he one day in a podcast episode I'm listening to, he says, at some point you're going to reach capacity and he goes, then you're going to have to make the hardest decision of your life.
And that is, do you accept your, your act capacity? Do you accept where you're at and say, this has been amazing. I've been very blessed. I set out to do this. I've achieved it. Are you now happy with a smile on your face and content with it being that forever, or do you now start to hire any, he said, It can be a lot of business owners will build their business until the business becomes a nightmare.
Right. So you, you know, you, you bought it because you want maybe extra income, but you also wanted freedom of schedule, which is a big one for me. Um, I don't want to be tight. You know, I was, I was always gone from my kids. I didn't want to always be gone anymore. I wanted to be at home. Um, all of those things that got you into, it's just like, well, if you outgrow that.
You might now have a headache from the business where it was supposed to be like this great thing and it becomes a nightmare because you have to guard against that. And the decision is either I am happy or you are going to have to hire. And in the financial business, it's about a hundred clients you can effectively maintain conversations with and monitor their financial situation, answer their questions.
It's about a hundred, a hundred families, if you will. Well, you know, I was approaching a hundred and I was like, okay, yep. I got, I need to make a decision. And then there was a little growth spurt where all of a sudden, the next time I looked, I was at 140 clients and went, wow, I blew right through it. So I immediately had to hire, you know, I kind of like, you know, in lack of decision is a decision.
Right? So, you know, just a little bit like, Oh, crap. Well, I'm here. Um, so I kind of had to hire or get rid of clients, which I don't want to do that. Right. Um, you know, or be miserable. And of course I don't want to do that. I'm not in it to be miserable. So that kind of started the process. And honestly, from So for the solopreneurs that are out there or considering it, it's like you're going to grow up to what you can make on your own.
But then if you start hiring people, you're going to face probably five years where you're not going to make any more money. The business is going to grow and make all kinds of money, but it goes to the employees, right? Helping you on this journey, but you don't make any more. You know, you don't really make any more until the.
Five years later, and then your salary now starts to increase from there. And of course, you know, managing people, you know, learning about offering, you know, retirement plans and healthcare plans, you know, and you know, the do's and don'ts of being a boss and all that stuff. A lot of people aren't interested in that because that's not their passion.
Their passion is their service or product. So, um, so that's how I kind of got to that point and made a decision. It's like, yeah, I want to hire people and I want a building. So bought a, bought a pre construction building. So it's actually being built right now. It should be ready, uh, in a little under a year from now.
Um, 3, 500 square foot buildings. So all of us are, however many we have on the team at that time, we're going to start operating out of there here in Austin, Texas. So, so pretty exciting stuff. Oh man, that is incredible in so many ways. And I could identify that. I mean, personally in my own business, I am right about there where I've hired help, um, and then she works 10 to 15 hours a month for me, and that's 10 to 15 hours.
I'm like, I don't know where I would have found those hours given what I'm already doing. So I'm so grateful to have Maggie as an assistant. And now I'm at the point where I'm like, okay, I've got to make another jump. Uh, but you feel like, well, the money's there, but you really would love to keep some of that.
But it's like, okay, do I just stay happy where I'm at right now? Or do I intend to grow even more? And with growth means you almost have to take a step back in order to take a big step forward. And that big step forward is really got to be a leap in faith because you've got proven strategies, tactics, and techniques to get you to where you are.
But what you've done up to this point isn't going to get you to that next point. But then you get to a point in your business where you're like, well, what is that next thing that I need to do? It can't be just. Do I need to pivot to another platform? Do I need to get a YouTube specialist? Do you have a YouTube specialist, Steve?
Do you have somebody that runs your social? I don't. Well, I have my daughter, Alice, and she helps me with it. Um, I, I do, uh, I pay for YouTube, buddy. It's 500 a year and it helps, it does all the SEO and stuff for you and helps you send the same thing out over Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, you know, with clicks.
So you don't really have to think about what you're doing. Um, but yeah, that's kind of the next step. Eventually we'll get big enough to where I'll have a dedicated, you know, social media slash marketing person, um, the, the, the runs all that. And, and for folks out there that are, you know, by themselves, the, you know, Uh, Fiverr and other people that are doing gig work.
It's just like, you know, I was a little leery at the beginning. Get over yourself. I had to get over myself and you know, somebody wants 40 bucks to come up with your logo, pay them. So yeah, sometimes you get burned, whatever, you know, whatever, whatever. Right. Just to keep things moving. Uh, my podcast intro and outro, I found somebody out of, you know, uh, just randomly on Fiverr, right.
You know, I said, I'll do that for 75. I'm like, okay. Uh, and made it better than I ever could have on my own. So, you know, trusting others and being okay with, and if it doesn't work out, you say, no, thank you. Pay them, you know, it doesn't, you don't have to be rude, right? You know, just, okay, thank you, and you just don't use them again.
Um, there are so many opportunities to build on the cheap, if you will. Uh, the, yeah, Fiverr is, uh, is amazing. Once I discovered that, I was like, okay, yeah, I don't have to do all this stuff on my own and spend all the time on it. Okay, so what I'm hearing from you is early in your life, you never said my goal in life is to be a fighter pilot.
My goal in life is to be a financial expert. Your singular goal in life was I want to be a millionaire. And then the millionaire is what chose the vehicle that you were going to accomplish that in. And, you know, what I'm hearing is the whole fighter pilot thing came about because it sounded like. Well, that sounds like a hell of a lot of fun.
So I will work on the millionaire aspect of my financial and career goals while I'm doing something that is a hell of a lot of fun, and then we'll work on those simultaneously, that's what it sounds like to me. Yeah, absolutely. And you know, as a, as a child, you know, everybody wants to be successful. But what does that mean?
Is that money? Is that, and it's like, I don't know, right? I, uh, you know, I, I want to be married and have a family and you'll stay married and you know, those things are hard to do. These days, right? Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Being married, being married, uh, way different skill sets here, folks. Yeah. Right. So, you know, it was like, you know, and I had a lot of that's based on hope.
I mean, obviously things don't work out sometimes and I get that. Um, but certainly, uh, you know, people ask me what's the number one key to financial success. And I'm like, well, there's two of them, uh, get married once and only once. And the second one is marry the right person. Um, and you know, and sometimes I'll say, Hey, what's the best investment you ever made?
And I'm like, Oh, our name's Irene. Right. Oh my gosh. What a gem is. You can't put a dollar on that woman. She is amazing. You know, the importance of a spouse and support system, you know, however you're arranged, um, You know, your, your personal situations are the support of those people are there, they need your back because you're going to face stressful times.
Right. There, you know, each business venture, you go out, there is a high probability of failure. There's, and largely it's you, right? You're the, not you're the failure, but you're the weakest link, right. Is your own motivation and, you know, getting over yourself and, you know, kicking yourself in the butt. Uh, you know, it's like, you know, people are like, what do I need to do?
I'm like, well, get out of bed every day and just move forward. Right. It's like, no matter what you're doing decision, take the football, move it like an inch forward in different areas. And I am the best analogy I'd heard is you're familiar with Dave Ramsey. I think you are. I think he was in an interview and Somebody, he had made it to like the big leagues, right?
So we're talking like a tonight show interview or so, you know, some, some big player was interviewing him. He said, Dave, it's just amazing what you've done. What's it feel like to be an overnight success? And you know, in his particular, you know, Tennessee accent and, you know, it doesn't swear, but he'll, he'll get close, right?
He'll, yes. I was so mad because this guy asked me, you know, what's it like to be an overnight success? I'm in my 19th year. He's I'm in year 19. I have like eight books of which, you know, nobody bought the first seven, but you know, it's finally the financial peace university. All of a sudden I'm, you know, money's flowing in because I've, you know, he was like, I'm in year 19.
It's not like I thought about this last week. So it's one of those things, just keep going, keep going, pivot as you need to. Uh, you know, and it will work, you know, and I tell folks when they're facing a, a fork in the road, I'm like, if you have the right, Personality and drive, whatever fork you take is the right choice, meaning you're going to make that work, right?
So you can go do this and make it work or go do that and make it work. Um, but if you have the personality to make things work, then just. Pick one and go and then what if that's not ingrained in your personality like the fortitude would you just say well then perhaps maybe you're not business owner material or would you say that there's a way to develop that?
That's a tough question. Um, it's kind of like his leadership and eight are taught kind of, you know, when you go to the military, it's just like you can learn a certain amount of leadership, but a lot of it is just. Who you are as a person. So I'll say, I'll answer it this way. I used to think when I, you know, I left the military, so which is a security blanket, right?
I mean, you can't get fired. They, they, you know, they tell you what to wear, what to do and who to salute. And, you know, and you do a good job and you're working hard. And I liked all of that because there was a big pension sitting at the end of it. Um, but during there, I became during the time I became increasingly frustrated because it's just like, look, I'm working twice as hard.
Is there, you know, other people, and I'm not working for me, right. It's not affecting my bottom line where when you're out there on your own, you know, you, getting out of bed and go and doing it affects your bottom line. Right. And if you want more money, then you got to go do the thing, whatever it is more.
Right. So, you know, you, you go from that and then, you know, you leave out into the entrepreneur world, you And I did it for like three years. I saw success. And then you, you kind of hit that success, you know, where it really takes off, uh, whenever that is for you. And I was like, this is great. And I was doing podcast interviews and that's when I started my own kind of led to that growth.
And I was like, everybody should be doing this was my opinion at the time. And I was really trumpeting. And, and I've walked that back now because I think I was just dead wrong. I don't think it is for everybody. Um, and it really shouldn't be trumpeted as it is, you know, as everybody can do this, because I do think.
A lot of people, if somebody goes into it and their heart's not in it, they didn't, you know, feel that this is my vibe. This is my tribe, you know, kind of feeling like, yes, this is the solution I've been looking for. Um, they're, they're probably gonna be frustrated. You know, they still may be able to power through it and make it work, but you know, they're not going to be internally happy.
You know, they're going to do it out of necessity versus now I've much more nuanced version of this is something to consider if you are frustrated in a big system, you know, if you're in a system and you're like, or if you're, you're not working and not wanting to do a full time job, but wanting to do something on the side, you know, it's just like, there's something to consider.
But you do, if you do, if you go down the road, you kind of, you kind of need to embrace it. Right. And you kind of need to love it. And people, you know, are all over here, blah, blah, blah, negativity, negativity, you know, who cares? You know, like I tell my girls, it's just like negativity rules the world. Tune it all out.
Do whatever you want. Uh, other people are experts. If somebody is like telling you something that there's some Facebook expert, right. Or Instagram expert. Right. Tune that crap out and kind of focus on what you want to do. Uh, that's not easy to your question. I don't know if it can be learned. Um, I think the best, uh, we can do as successful entrepreneurs is like your podcast is open the door.
Um, talk about the pros and the cons, um, and saying it's, it is great. It really is great. If you can create something from nothing. And now all of a sudden you're a business owner. It is that great. But I wouldn't say it's for everybody. Some people are perfectly happy to, you know, use their expertise, build a lifetime, uh, you know, and command higher and higher wages within a system, uh, you know, that they build a lifetime, you know, building that skill and get compensated for it.
That's a, that's fantastic. I will say one last thing though, that I thought was, I was an entrepreneur for two, two years or so when I came across this bit information and people are like, you know, being an entrepreneur, they're like, that's risky. And I'm like, yeah, it's high risk. If you go out on your own, it's not, here's the difference is when you work.
In a job job, you know, we kind of joke about you have nine bosses, but you know, you kind of have one boss and that boss can really kind of fire you for, you know, lack of confidence, lack of performance, you know, they, you know, they can kind of let you go or the company can let you go or whatever you consider.
But if you, if you have one job and you get fired, laid off or fired or cut from that job, your income goes from whatever it was to zero or, you know, some payout package or whatever. But if you're an entrepreneur and you have say 50 clients or 10 clients or 200 clients, and one of them lets you go for whatever reason, you still have, It hardly affects your bottom line whatsoever.
I mean, some bigger, some clients are bigger than others. And yes, you would feel, you know, like, Oh, that hurts, but it really does it, the risk isn't there because once you build the relationships and you're doing a great job doing your best for them, right. Um, you know, it's really a lot safer having, you know, a hundred different income streams.
If you consider each client, a different income stream, um, then having the one job where, you know, we have Dell headquartered here in round rock and they're doing 10 percent cuts every now and then. And folks that have worked there, you know, 20 years are now on the street. Making, you know, having to find another job, making zero while they do it.
So very different lifestyle, but I wouldn't call it being an entrepreneur or high risk. It's just different if you will. No, I can totally identify with that. So speaking of high risk and entrepreneurial and consider this. So what's the main piece of advice you would give to somebody who didn't start investing 16 years old and had.
You know, very money minded people speaking into both their left and their right ear and completely shaping their mindset around income creation. I don't know that so much that your parents were talking about entrepreneurial stuff, but they were definitely talking money to you early. If you've got a 45 year old man, he's been in a W 2, he absolutely hates for 10 years now, he is like, I've got to make a change.
What do you do? What would you say financially? Because that's your area of genius here. Financially, how should that man proceed with a pivot, side gig, getting himself set up so that he's not working to the bone until he's 79? Well, yeah, that is a great question. And I will say that. So I kind of mentioned earlier that the world is negative.
Like it's mostly this big negative influence media and you know, even your friends, you know, if you have negative friends, it's just like, well, you know, find a way out of that relationship. Right. Cause nobody needs that negativity. Right. You just don't. And you got like, well, you're being negative and I got to let you go.
Um, you know, and surround yourself with positive people that are doing great things and they're, they're good mentors and, you know, you're good, just solid. Conversations you have with them, right? Well, that's one thing. And then the other side of that is, you know, the world being filled with negativity is the world is, you know, filled with a backward looking mentality.
And this is one thing that drove me insane about the Air Force is we would spend, I mean, a debrief is good, which is backward looking. You land, you talk about it. But these investigations and everybody were, you know, going back in time and, and spending all our time looking backwards when really it's looking forward.
Um, so relating it to a stock, you know, people, if they buy a stock at a hundred and it's at 50, they're like, Uh, I want to hold it until it's 100. And it's like, no, it doesn't matter where you've been, right? It only matters where you're going. Is it going to go up from here? You would keep it. If it goes down from here, you would sell it.
Right. And people are like hard to divorce that. Right. So relating it back to the individual is when I first talked to everybody, you know, I say, you know, where are you at and where are you trying to go? And you know, and folks will, you know, most people are very humble, right? Especially if there's like an ego portion that you're kind of getting over when you say, Hey, I need to, I need some help.
Right. And you know, there's that kind of ego fence and we're getting past that with a lot of different areas, but money's one of them. Um, they don't want to share that. Okay. They're this age and they only have this much. And I go, well, first of all, let's, you, you think you're behind, everybody thinks they're behind, right?
So it's that you may not actually be behind, you know, you just think you're behind. And so we're going to take a look. But where you are, we're not going to have any judgment about where you're going or how you got here because it doesn't matter. I mean, you can build a beautiful, you can build a beautiful net worth and face a divorce for whatever the reason it is.
And, you know, both of you have less than half, right? Because the lawyers took, took their chunk too. Uh, and through, you know, It is what it is, but you can't change anything that has already happened. So what do we do from today to get you to that point of where you want to go? Um, so it's the really, you know, pulling the numbers out to the individual that's middle aged saying I've got nothing or I've got.
It's just like, okay, well, you know, if you work to this age and there's all kinds of tools that I use with folks that are visual, right? It's kind of a slider. It's like, okay, here's what your financial life is going to look like. Um, and, you know, embracing the honesty of that, which, you know, when you're younger, it's as you can do anything, right?
You've got your whole life ahead of you. I would say around 40, the term I use is adulting, you know, around 40 or so people, you know, whether you're off by yourself or as a couple, you kinda look around and you go, it's like, well, I'm not really young anymore and you know, you know, I've had a great time, but is it time really to maybe step outta what I've been doing and focus on the future me so that, you know, the, the 65-year-old me isn't really pissed off at the 40-year-old me.
Uh, that's got the, you know, the new cars and all, you know, the fancy trips. It's like. Yeah, you know, so they're, they're, that hits everybody different. But when it does hit, that's usually when they make that call to the advisor or start talking to a few. Um, and you know, a lot of folks are like, well, you know, I don't trust money people.
It's like, well, first of all, the consultations are always free. So you call 15 of them and you can ask the same questions. Right. So we're all happy to talk to people. And if, you know, Help you out points in the right direction. If you want to work with this, great. If you don't, that's great too. Right. Um, but kind of helping people become honest about the numbers and, and you know, what that future is going to look like is, is all you can do, but absolutely, you know, you can't hold yourself.
Uh, you can't be negative about the past, right? You, it is what it is, you know, in a perfect world. Yes. We all started at 16. Um, and I, and I, but I, uh, I'll close with this on this question and say, okay, you know, that feeling you have right now. I could have done this a lot better. It's like, teach your kids, um, you know, teach your kids about money.
It's not taught in schools. It's taught in the house. Um, like so many things that are really important. Um, it's like, yeah, teach them, teach them. It's like, Hey, I could have done this better. And that's tough as a parent. To show your vulnerability, uh, but it's just like, yeah, you know, I've made all these mistakes, you know, let, let's learn, let you learn from them.
Um, and here's what you could do better, or here's how you can do what I did sort of thing. Um, so teach others while you, especially while you kind of feel that burn of, Hmm, I could have done that better. Okay. So speaking of teaching others, you not only manage wealth for people, but you do have a speaking component to what you do, right?
Tell us more about that. Yes. Um, I do a daily update, which has become more of a weekly update. Now we're kind of, we're, we're in growth phase. Um, but I try to take to the, there was a while there where I was doing a daily update. So what I would do is every morning in this little studio I have set up here at my house, um, Is get up in the morning and anticipate before the market opens.
What are the, what are the three questions my clients are going to ask me today? And it's kind of a time saver. So a lot of people are like, Oh, wow, that's cool that you taught, you know, do it's like, no, I'm totally selfish. This is saving me time, right? Because there, you know, there's, there's clients you never hear from and that's fine.
That's, you know, that's the right relationship for them. There's the clients you only hear of when they're about to, right? Quit because the market's about to, you know, the world's ending that, you know, that, or there's the clients that have the questions of, Hey, what's going on with, you know, uh, target today, the target's up like 15 percent or, or, you know, if something's down, it's like, what's, so I'm trying to get up in the morning and go, okay, what am I?
You know, question having folks that portion of the clients, what are they going to ask me today? And then I'm going to answer that. And then I'm a shotgun it out through an email. So if I I'm being selfish in the fact that it saves me time, because I don't have to answer the same question over five different phone calls because I answered it in the video, or if somebody reaches out and say, Hey, I can say, Hey, watch the video.
I did talk to that this morning and then call me afterwards. If you didn't get enough from the video, right. If I didn't answer your question, exactly. Uh, so, so that was kind of the speaking thing that, um, you know, I, I do for the business and I still do some public speaking stuff, um, working with Kendrell right now to, uh, you know, follow up on another pilot they just had Mace Curran, uh, she was one of my students, then a female Thunderbird.
Now she's off in the speaking, uh, circuit. So basically I've never, never met a microphone I didn't like. Uh, so, uh, and part of that I do, I don't charge. Which is different from the paid professional speakers. So it's like, I'll talk, um, and you know, sometimes it generates business. It doesn't, but it generates, you know, good, goodwill.
And, you know, I like going out and telling, telling the stories. And if anybody can, you know, just like your podcast, if it's helping anybody, whether they tell you or not, you know, there's somebody out there that something clicks and it changes their life. Or helps them, you know, helps them to make a little change in the right direction, you know, even though you may not ever get that feedback, you know, you're making a difference by putting it out there.
Oh man, that is so true. So if you want to know more about financial stuff that's going on in the market, if you're in a position where you're like, I have no idea how to even navigate this landscape, but I know I need some help get onto cruisers. Uh, okay. So. Cruiser. Yes. His name is Steven, but it was his pilot name in the air force.
That name is still the first one that I think of that. I have to be like, nope. His name is Steven. So cruiser Steven, same person, um, same amazing human get onto his YouTube channel and start doing some investigation and some self learning because I think it is, uh, irresponsible and unfair to go to a professional and say, Hey, I know nothing.
Tell me all the things it's like, really? Google's right there at your fingertips. Let's start doing some investigation and figuring things out on your own first. And then whatever, um, margins you need cleaned up in your own personal education, then go consult a professional, but don't waste his damn time.
Don't waste my time. Don't waste anyone's time because we all have, you know, a finite amount of it. And none of us know exactly how much that is. So do your due diligence. And research things yourself. Steve has done a fantastic job of creating a platform that is educational based. You have a podcast, you have a YouTube channel, you have an entire, um, wealth of information that is free to the public.
And tell me what you do in Anchor Star Wealth that helps people either create wealth, maintain their wealth, grow their wealth. Tell us more about that. Yeah, absolutely. And you said it best. There's kind of the free version. And that was another motivator for, uh, folks that may not necessarily want to hire an advisor because they're at their core.
They're a do it yourself. Totally respect that. I did that for years. Um, now that I'm in the business, I can see. Everything kind of like, eh, I would have been smarter to use an advisor. And that sounds like I'm just selling the service. I'm not selling me. I'm saying any advisor that they're an expert in the field.
Right. So even though you think, you know, a lot, you know, it's kind of eyeopening sometimes, uh, but certainly offering the free material for people to just want the education, uh, love you, bless you, you know, go educate yourself to the max extent. Um, and then if you want to, you know, if you end up working with an advisor, myself or anybody else that's out there are going to have kind of two things they offer.
There's the investment management side of it, which is. Make the money grow, right? Take where I am in the Steve, I worked hard for these dollars. And it's like, well, I go, I know, so let's make your dollars work hard for more dollars. Right. Instead of, you know, I work hard for the dollars. They sit in the bank and then the bank, you know, pays you a little bit for that privilege.
It's like, no, put your dollars to work, treat your dollars like employees. And you wouldn't like employees just sitting around, not doing anything. Right. You'd be like, Hey guys, why don't you go do something productive? So that's kind of the investing piece. So investment management, that's the either grow your wealth or protect your wealth.
If you're already financially independent, there's a lot of conservative ways to continue growing the wealth. And then the other side of his financial planning. Which is the, when you have the questions of, uh, how long will I need to work? Um, you know, what, how much money is enough? What, what's, what's that number that I'm going for?
Um, how do I claim social security? Is it even going to be there? Um, what if one of us steps away from the workforce? Um, how do I budget for college? You know, it's more of the how planning type side of it. So most firms do both. Uh, most advisors do both. Um, We kind of, you know, we, and we basically charge for the investment management and then do the financial planning for free.
Um, most firms charge separately for financial planning because they can, but I think it's dumb because if I'm as a fiduciary, if I'm effectively growing your money, But the best I can, I need to know all of the financial planning pieces to be able to do so. So I'm already, I've already done the work. So why would I turn around and charge somebody 1, 500 for that?
Uh, that, that's not fair at all, uh, in my opinion. Um, so yeah, so that's what any advisor will do for you. Uh, it is a personal relationship just like a doctor, lawyer, priest, uh, you know, whatever, you know, having an advisor is an open, what I call the open kimono moment, right? That, that they know everything about you.
at that time. So it's very personal. Of course, all the safeguards are in place, right? Everything's confidential. Nobody needs to know even whoever referred you or whatever. Um, so it's a personal relationship. I will say that for the relationships I have, you know, you're loved, you're loved, you know, by your clients.
You know, they're just like, they're excited to talk to you. They're always like, thank you. Thank you. Thank you for taking care of us, uh, sort of thing. So if you're looking for that, somebody to help kind of, you know, pilot you through life with your finances, um, then reach out to either myself or another advisor, but seek somebody that you trust.
You can communicate easily with, um, and then you can put on your team to kind of help you go through life. Well, and I love the fact that you're doing this business. You're growing this business, but you don't have to do this business. You don't have to grow this business. You're doing it because you love what you're doing.
You love helping people. And for me, when I'm hiring somebody to do anything, whether it's mentorship or, you know, off script work. I want to hire them because they are truly fired up and invested in you personally. Um, not just their bottom line, because if you're willing to love somebody so much and help them so much, you almost don't even need to worry about what the return looks like for you, because that's going to be automatic.
I mean, that's just the entire energy of the world is going to flow right back towards you when you offer so much love. And no doubt that's how your business has grown. Um, because. Hey, you're just a very, you're a nice person. I've known this guy for a very long time. You're just a nice dude and you're very generous.
You're very kind. You're amazing to your family. Great support system. I mean, I can't say enough good things about you. Um, and it's not only because guys I have hired. He does manage part of our wealth portfolio. Okay. There you go. I will throw that out there. Why not? Because I just know him because I know him.
I know he's a good person. And I know that although I'm the quiet client that never says anything, cause I'm like, ah, he'll do his thing. I trust him to manage the money of ours that he gets. I don't need to DM him. I don't need to message. Hey, are you doing your job? Cause I'm like, yeah, bro. That's why I hired him because I know he's doing the best by me individually and for our family.
So I thank you for your incredible service, um, both as an air force fighter pilot. Thank you for your service to what you're doing within your business. Um, and just thank you very much for coming onto this podcast. I'm going to link all of my All of his things into the comment section, but so for the people who are more audio than visual, tell everybody where they can find you and give us your top three pieces of financial advice that folks need to put into action today to live a more aligned, wealthy, vibrant, and abundant life.
Tomorrow. Okay. That sounds good. And first of all, I'll say thank you so much for the kind words, uh, the feelings mutual with you and your family. It's been a pleasure, uh, knowing you guys and now working with you guys. Of course, I wasn't going to bring it up, do the confidentiality thing, but you know, you brought it up so that I could talk about it.
There you go. And you know, it holds true. I mean, I send out client gifts every year. Tiffany's a portion of that with her scout and seller business. Um, so. You know, it's nice working with people that, that you love and respect, uh, and that are enjoyable to work with. Um, so that's that, that's the first piece.
The second piece is, yeah. Where can, where can you find me? All the links will be included in the show, but what's nice about having a unique name like anchor star is basically if you put anchor star YouTube, you'll find the YouTube channel anchors, anchor star wealth, you'll find the website. So really, if you're looking to get in touch with me there, or even if it's just casually through LinkedIn, like, you know, Hey, what's up?
That guy was fun to listen to hit me up on LinkedIn. And then maybe if we have some business to do later, we do, if not, Hey, great. Thanks for the connection, uh, sort of thing. So top three financial, uh, pieces of information. Uh, the first one is like I said earlier, get married. You know, if marriage is your thing, you know, get married once and only once.
Um, the financial power. of two people pursuing a goal. Their, their, their life together, uh, is, is unbelievable. Uh, and I just sent this out yesterday on Facebook and I, I did get the reaction. I thought I would is, is I said, Hey, uh, how, you know, how about planning a financial date night? You know, it sounds corny, uh, but you know, You guys are, you know, it's, it's worth your time to just sit down and talk about your life together.
And of course, yeah, I got a lot of, you know, people in just like, Ooh, that does sound fun, you know? But, but yeah, I mean the power of the money talk, right. You know, and, and you know, couples don't like that. Right. And it can be uncomfortable, but being on the same page is, is unbelievable. So that's number one.
Um, number two is start early. Uh, so again, you can only start where you are, but if you do have others that you can influence, such as kids, grandkids, um, other people's kids. And so, you know, as you talk to folks and interact, um, tell folks to start investing early, um, investing. It's never perfect. Uh, you're going to, you know, have things go up and down.
You kind of have to just be comfortable with that. Uh, but certainly to, uh, it used to be popular for kids to, you know, buy them a share of Disney stock because, you know, it's like every kid knows Disney, right, because there's an exposure to it now and more along the lines of buying a share of Apple stock.
Right. Because, you know, there's, there's I everything, uh, around your house. Um, so that's the second one, you know, start early. Or start now, right? If, if, if just, you know, it's not going to get better if you wait. Um, and then the last thing I would say is that, uh, you know, always, always move forward, uh, with your goals, which is, uh, part of that is financial.
Um, you, you know, money's a tool. You know, our, our tagline is maximizing life through maximizing wealth. So I used to think like, you know, as a kid, I was like, I want to be a millionaire. Um, it's like, okay, got there. And now I can understand that, you know, your first million, you could take it and basically just give it away because it's the skills that you've learned that made the got you there, you can do it all again in like, a 10th of the time because you know, once you get there, you go, Oh, I got it.
And then it, then it kind of takes off from there. So, um, but money is a tool. Um, there's everybody's situations different, whether you want like millions or, you know, most people can honestly build up to about half a million through their lifetime and retire comfortably and be happy, you know, happiness is a choice a lot of times.
So just go, yeah, I like our house. It's old. We've been at, we raised our kids here. We're going to stay here because you know what? Yeah, we could go buy a fancier one, but who cares? Right. Um, you know, we're going to choose to be happy where we are. Um, so that's the always move forward with your goals, whether it's, you know, facing, uh, leaving the workforce and pivoting to be an entrepreneur or, you know, just starting a side gig and seeing how it works out, um, to all of that is just, uh, move forward financially and, and in life would be the last thing.
I love that. All right. Thank you so, so very much for being here. Again, folks, please go follow Steve, um, on the social channels, get connected with him on LinkedIn. If you need financial, um, advice or you need some sort of guidance, like it's free to have a conversation with him and his team and say, how can you help me move forward with this?
If you're not happy where you're at, um, that was a huge piece of our entire interview today was being happy where you're at starting today. So if you are not pleased where you're at. Do something, put your feet to the ground, put your fingers on a keyboard, pick up that cell phone, make a change because tomorrow's not guaranteed.
And, uh, yesterday's already gone. So thank you again, Steve. And, uh, we will chat soon, my friend. Yep. You bet. Thanks, Stephanie. Thanks everyone for listening. All right. Ciao.