Evan Vladem: How I Mix a Passion for Sports With Financial Advice

Speaker A: This podcast is brought to you by Wells Fargo Advisors. Looking for a firm your clients can't outgrow? Wells Fargo Advisors offers financial advisors full balance sheet solutions with wealth planning, investment products, banking and lending that meet the needs of affluent to ultra high net worth clients. Build your practice your way and on your schedule with independent and employee model options designed to meet your needs today and tomorrow. Learn more@uh joinwfadvisors.com hello and welcome to the WayForward.

Speaker B: This is Greg Bartalas and my special guest is Evan Vladim, a financial advisor with Associated Investor Services. His niche is multi generational wealth transfer and inheritance, family businesses, young business owners, athletes and sports business executives. Today we're going to be talking about how leveraging a passion for sports and building a team around that shared passion can deepen relationship with, with clients and prospects and help advisors build better firms. Welcome to the podcast, Evan.

Speaker C: Thanks for having me. It's really great to be here.

Speaker B: Well, I'm really excited you're joining. This is definitely, um, going to be a fun, um, podcast, but I think they're going to be lessons gleaned, um, that will transcend sports where advisors, regardless of their passion, will, um, be able to leverage them both to help their firms and clients as well. Um, I want to just begin the conversation saying that you have an awful lot of credibility when it comes to sports. Um, it's kind of been a constant in your career. I'm going to run through a few things very quickly, but this is just to give a brief overview of your past and your, again, your, your exposure to sports. So you've, um, you've written for several University of Florida publications. During the national championship run, you were a bad boy for the Baltimore Orioles during spring training. I applaud that. As an Orioles fan. Um, you covered the White Sox for MLB.com, you worked for the Tampa Bay Bucks in professional football, head of PR for the Arena Football League in your 20s, um, you worked in the NFL. You worked at a sports agency focused on sponsorship and marketing for major brands. Um, unrelated to sports. You recently published a children's book, uh, and love to hear about that too. Um, so with that introduction, uh, tell me a little bit about yourself, your firm, and how sports plays a central role in everything you guys do.

Speaker C: There's a lot of things there that you just listed off, so we have time. Yeah, you know, uh, yeah, I am passionate about, uh, a lot of things. One of them being sports and writing. I absolutely love writing. And I think, you know, writing is Great. Because essentially when you're talking to clients, you have to interview that client. And that's what I did in my past during those days in sports. But, uh, so I work at Associated Investor Services. I'm a partner. Um, I'm in my late 30s. The firm started in 1972 as an insurance and pension firm. My father joined the firm in 1989. He was a CPA and he launched the firm's wealth, uh, management division. Currently we have 30 people working at the firm, about 6 advisors, and about 1.6 billion under management. And we're an independent firm. We're with a, uh, broker dealer, ozaic, at this point.

Speaker B: So tell me about the centrality of sports to your firm, both in terms of, you know, who works there and the clients you serve.

Speaker C: Yeah, so you mentioned my background in sports. So before joining the firm, I worked in sports for about 10 years. And I mean, I had tons of incredible experiences. Uh, I worked in sponsorship at an agency. My father, who started the firm in 1989, uh, at the wealth management division, he actually never asked me once to join the firm. Uh, it was his partner who asked me late in my, you know, 10 years into my sports career, hey, have you ever thought about joining the firm? And, I mean, I honestly had never been asked about that. And I, I was very excited that he opened my mind to it. And, you know, I thought about the opportunity and I joined the firm. But, uh, if we fast forward a bit, when I initially joined, it's a legacy firm, uh, a lot of the staff and my colleagues and peers that were there had been there for about 30 years. Somebody just celebrated their 45th year anniversary. I didn't really have anybody there that was on the same wavelength. Yeah, not saying they weren't on the same wavelength, but, but age and all

Speaker B: that will color your worldview and your experiences.

Speaker C: Sure, yeah. So, uh, you know, uh, we had been trying to find that succession plan. I was one of them. But at this point, it's a very large firm. We do retirement plans, we do group health insurance, we do wealth management, we do insurance. So, you know, it wasn't just going to be me that was going to, uh, you know, run the firm and take over all these clients because we have a great deal of clients. So, uh, the retirement plan partner, Steve Fradestern, he was interviewing a fellow named Travis Ruane. He had worked, uh, at an affiliated network of advisors. And we got to know him. We talked about sports, we talked about our background, we talked about my background. And he's like, you know what? I really like what you guys are building here. I'm going to tell my boss and we're like, wait, you're going to tell your boss that you're interviewing at another firm? And he's like, yeah, my, my boss played 10 years in the NFL, played for the Miami Dolphins, guy, uh, by the name of Sean Wooden. And he told his boss, sure enough, both Sean and Travis ended up joining the firm.

Speaker B: And.

Speaker C: And I'm very proud today to call them both my partners. We also have our group health insurance owner, um, who's a G2 advisor like myself, who runs, um, our health insurance practice.

Speaker B: Wow, that's a great story.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: That's awesome. And how does that manifest, um, with. I don't know, when you. Does that help? That awareness is out there. So when potential talent, do they actually kind of come to you and find you to some extent because they're aware of that and they might feel that you're similarly aligned on that level.

Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, there, it's. It's been interesting because, uh, as. As far as talent, it just kind of naturally has happened. And, and you're talking about, you know, team members. Um, so it's weird because we've somehow found an attraction to former athletes joining our firm and people that are just so passionate about sports. So, uh, we've recently hired, uh, a new paraplanner. His father played for the Miami Dolphins, and he was a teammates of Sean. We hired a new associate, uh, advisor. That associate advisor played football. And his father, Zami, Dolphins legend. So, uh, and we have another young, uh, paraplanner that just joined us. I mean, he's this crazy, passionate Buffalo Bills fan, but that's okay. Even though, uh, but we've just.

Speaker B: That'll be allowed.

Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. Uh, but we just naturally have been able to attract similar people that have. Have that same passion point in sports.

Speaker B: Yeah. What's interesting is in terms of the clients that you serve, um, it's kind of, to some extent, you're serving at least like a niche within a niche because you have sports. But then you're talking about, like, former NFL players often transitioning out of the game. And that's a really interesting, um, niche. And, you know, that seems to have really grown from genuine relationships. It's not a prospecting strategy where you're, you know, looking at spreadsheets and then saying, gee, I think we can target this group. It's just an organic extension of what you guys do. And it seems maybe you can't really fake that Stuff people, they will know and sense it when it's genuine.

Speaker C: Yeah, I mean you have to really have, and you have to be authentic. So. And that's really the only way you can get into any community. Ah. You know, whether it's sports, whether it's athletes, whether it's former athletes, you have to really have an authentic voice and naturally connect with whoever you're speaking with. It doesn't matter what it is. But uh, you know, I would say 5 to 10% of our business is athletes. And a lot of them, like you mentioned, they're former athletes, they're athletes transitioning out of the game. And most of that is due to the fact that Sean, he played in football for so long, he actively is involved within football. He's a chairman of the Maxwell Football Club, he's the president of the Miami Dolphins alumni. So he's an active, natural, authentic voice within that community. And then you know, with my background too, you know, being in the sports world for 10 years, being in locker rooms for such a long period of time, we really have the ability to naturally connect with some of these people. And you know, I'll add to that where our cfp, uh, Lawana Crow, we uh, probably about seven years ago we uh, got our NFLPA Financial Advisor designation. Uh, mhm.

Speaker B: Okay, now you mentioned 5 to 10%. So that's, I mean what, what's the

Speaker C: majority Now I would say the majority of our clients are business owners, uh, who have the ability to touch all uh, aspects of our firm, you know, their individual financial situation, their family's financial situation, their retirement plan for them and their employees and their group health. That that is the ideal client. And, and those are a lot of the people that we serve, those business owners. I think just naturally too based on what we're going through at the firm, we're going through a next generation succession plan and we've naturally been able to talk to next generation family businesses and business owners and really you know, dive into some authentic conversations, uh, around that. But I would say ideal client, the typical client, you know, it's that business owner, uh, the family, uh, the next generation of that family that's uh, preparing for an inheritance, you know, the transitioning athlete out of the game or entertainer and, and it's all transition that I think that, that we can authentically speak

Speaker B: to when prospective clients become clients and they are in that transitioning stage. Most of these people I assume maybe already had an advisor that they're leaving. Are many of them maybe just only now getting an advisor like, how do you break that down roughly?

Speaker C: Well, I would say, I mean, as far as families, just because the firm has been around for so long in South Florida. I mean. Yeah, my father's, you know, he's been, been working with these clients and these families for so long. I naturally was in with the kids. I, I know a lot of these kids from growing up. Okay. Uh, uh, so, so I would say that, you know, that uh, as far as the, the next generation, they, they, they started with me or they started with my father and now they're adults and now they're doing whatever they're doing successful in the business world. And so not necessarily another client, but we've really been able to expand on that business. Especially, you know, unfortunately, you know, we've seen some clients inherit, uh, a great deal of wealth and we've really been able to maintain, uh, those assets just because of that relationship with the kids that I've been able to develop.

Speaker B: Yeah, no, that's great. And I mean, what's really interesting is in a way you have the best of both worlds because you have those long term relationships. Um, but I think it's, you know, really good that you had like a first chapter in your career with, with the sports and the writing and all these other things where you could, you know, cultivate your own passions and do it on your own terms and then come here, come to the business and you're bringing in something new. Um, you know, again, in many, many times when families involved, sometimes from the, you know, boom, straight out of school, they go into the firm and they don't really know anything else. So I think it's helpful that you, again, you see, you've seen more of the world in different, uh, uh, places and then you could bring your own unique value, add to the firm.

Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, like I was saying earlier, I've been able to build off a lot of those things or those skills that I did in my past career and use them even more in what I'm doing today. So, you know, it's funny because I, yeah, I loved my background in sports, my career in sports, and now luckily, it almost feels like I'm even more involved in that aspect. Not necessarily on the field where I, you know, just because of the nature, we get some pretty interesting experiences. But you know, it's, it's uh, it's something that we talk about. It's something that is a part of our culture at the firm and it is something really fun that we've been able to build.

Speaker B: Yeah. And I like how your firm has something called chalk talks, um, where you basically, it's like an intimate event, Tell me if I'm wrong, where you bring in a pro athlete and um, they'll talk candidly about their career and business. Tell me about those.

Speaker C: Yeah, we really try leveraging that angle. I think in some of this, maybe I learned in my background marketing career. But, but we do these chalk talk events where we want to create a really intimate, behind the rope type of experience for clients, for prospects, for friends. And we keep it to about 15 to 20 people max. And we want it to be the most natural, open conversation with athletes and celebrities. And uh, you know, we've, we have a lot of these relationships. I will say thanks to Sean. But we've, we've got athletes like Rick and Keel, who is a, he has a really interesting story. If you don't know it, check out Rick and Keel story. He's a former pitcher turned outfielder with the, uh, St. Louis Cardinals. Yeah, yeah. And, and he was in New York Times best selling author. So we had him, uh, with a small group of clients. We've had Pierre Garcon, who, I, uh, mean, he had a great long career. Uh, we had O.J. mcDuffie, who's a Miami Dolphin. Great. We've had several others. And the experience that these clients get. We don't talk business. We talk to these athletes about investing what they did, how they set themselves up, what their playing career was about. But it is just such a natural event that people and clients and prospects love. And it's almost like after the event they're like, I want to get invited to the next one. And you know, it's, it's, it's limited, so it's really fun. It's been a, a, ah, great, uh, experience that we've been able to roll out to some clients.

Speaker B: No, I think it's great. Um, you definitely have the exclusivity, you have the intimacy, you have the honesty. A lot of things to recommend there.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: Now here's the thing. Like, a lot of people like sports, right? Everyone loves sports. But you obviously took it to another level and I guess with the, there might be a virtuous, uh, cycle of sorts when you're working with athletes, then the referrals, and then the more that, who you serve or work with, then it kind of mushrooms. And then once that gets bigger and bigger, your legitimacy in that space only grows. Right. It's just hitting that tipping point, maybe.

Speaker C: So, so you, you talked about passion and you know, potentially teams Building off of passion, uh, especially around sports. I mean, yeah, I would say for us, you, you can look at sports, be like, hey, I'm a sports fan. Uh, but you know, I, I think sports gives you ability to, to just dive really deep into these communities that are completely connected, whether if it's a fandom or, or whether it's, you know, playing a sport. Uh, you know, golf could be addictive. I'm completely addicted to tennis and that literally I, I played in a tennis tournament, a USA tennis tournament this weekend. And in a short period of time I've become so passionate about tennis where I don't think you can be like, hey, you know, tomorrow I'm going to start playing tennis because there's a great network that you can build and a great community that you can build around tennis. You have to really commit to a, uh, specific passion. So I've, um, my goal is to be the best mediocre tennis player in Florida. And I play in tennis tournaments across Florida. Uh, I played in the state championship. Uh, I mean I'm mediocre, but I've been able to meet, just open my network up to this community of, of tennis players and they reach out to me after matches, uh, naturally. And a lot of these tennis players that I've been playing with, they've become clients and we, we hang out and so, so it's something where you, you know, I was just in, uh, we're at the Barons Team Summit. I was just in, uh, uh, an event. They talked about niche marketing and getting into communities and one of the communities they mentioned was uh, collectible cars. Uh, and yeah, you have to do it authentically. You can't just say, tomorrow I'm a collectible car guy. You have to really know the space. You have to really talk the space. Because a lot of people can just see right through it.

Speaker B: Yeah, I mean maybe, uh, if you, if you're doing that on the surface, you might be like, okay, but the minute you start digging in two layers deep, three layers deep, your, your ignorance will quickly be revealed.

Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, you're absolutely right. You have to, you have to know it so well, you have to be in it and, and it has to come off as, as natural. So uh, yeah, there's, there's several things that I'm passionate about and uh, you know, I've committed to.

Speaker B: So yeah, I mean, what's interesting with like, I'll just use tennis for an example. I mean there's the obvious, um, connection with other, you know, people, like minded people who are playing, and you guys have the immediate bond and understanding and mutual respect and trust. Um, and then you said some will become, you know, have become clients. But there are other, I'm sure, other ancillary benefits whereby you, um, you know, there might. They might be X amount of trust established. And they may have a question that, you know, I'm like, let me just bounce this off Evan. Like, I can trust him. M. I trust. I know his judgment's pretty sound. Let me talk to him. Hey, Evan, what do you think? And then that might lead to something else, and then suddenly you're two degrees of separation from some other big opportunity, and you just don't know how that energy and goodwill will manifest.

Speaker C: Yeah, I think when you start with a shared passion or shared connection with somebody, it just creates a level of trust and comfortability. And this business, it's about trust. It is, uh, ah, it's about being comfortable.

Speaker B: Well, that's a really profound point you just made, because everyone says correctly that, oh, this is a relationship business. It is. And also, you really need trust at the end of the day. And it's like, well, that's true, too. And how do you engender trust? Well, you know, that's more just a little bit common sense. Be honest. Be direct. This and that. And some people can't help themselves. They just come off as slimy. And like, I don't think I trust you. But to your point, when you have a shared common interest, uh, that's a powerful thing. And you're not always going to have that. But when you have it, by definition, you're kind of seeing the world in a similar way, at least on this point. And that can be very disarming. And you have room to explore and get to know each other.

Speaker C: Yeah, no, exactly. I think, you know, just the ability to develop a relationship out of that is great. Uh, I'll tell you a quick story on tennis. My cpa, currently, who we've been, uh, doing business together, uh, in referring clients. We met through a business networking group that. That happened to be a family business networking group. We both found out that, well, he is a big tennis player. He played Division 1 tennis. His wife played professional tennis, and me, m. I'm trying to play tennis, uh, at a mediocre level, but I'm playing. So not only were we able to open up this relationship based on tennis, which we played, we got together, we hit, uh, you know, we developed this deep business relationship. He works with his family. He's going through the same type of succession plan or a similar type of succession plan that I'm going through right now. We went to the Miami Open together. We've really been able to generate and develop this relationship based on, I guess, you know, two things that we're really involved with and we're really passionate about tennis and the whole family business succession thing, which is, which is tough.

Speaker B: Yeah. And I think, you know, just another way to think about all this is now as you were talking, the idea came to be like that shared interest or passion could almost be like a key that unlocks a door. So you both walk through the door together and then from there you can explore all these possibilities. But unless you can open, unlock the door, you know, nothing else is possible. So I, of course it's not always going to be the case, but I'm saying in certain situations it can be, um, extremely powerful for all the reasons you mentioned.

Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, it really is powerful.

Speaker A: This podcast is brought to you by Wells Fargo Advisors. Looking for a firm your clients can't outgrow? Wells Fargo Advisors offers financial advisors full balance sheet solutions with wealth planning, investment products, banking and lending that meet the needs of affluent to ultra high net worth clients. Build your practice your way and on your schedule with independent and employee model options designed to meet your needs today and tomorrow. Learn more@, uh, joinwfadvisors.com this podcast is brought to you by Wells Fargo Advisors. Looking for a firm your clients can't outgrow, Wells Fargo Advisors offers financial advisors full balance sheet solutions with wealth planning, investment products, banking and lending that meet the needs of affluent to ultra high net worth clients. Build your practice your way and on your schedule with independent and employee model options designed to meet your needs today and tomorrow. Learn more@joinwfadvisors.com

Speaker B: well, I'll just say this right here. The way that Evan and I, um, got to know each other, it's very interesting. It's very organic and very on point. So I write a weekly newsletter, gets sent out every Tuesday afternoon. And Evan's been a longtime, um, subscriber and um, on occasion I write about, you know, a little bit about baseball or sports card collectibles and I'm a big collector. And um, Evan shot a couple emails and then, you know, like once or twice a year we would exchange emails. So we chit chatted a little and that's how we got to know each other. But it was precisely because there was that common interest and um, had I not revealed that to the world, know, this wouldn't have happened. And Had Evan not said, oh, gee, let me reach out. Um, so very simple acts, but. But very powerful. And here's, you know, proof in the pudding.

Speaker C: Yeah. Uh, sports collecting. I mean, that is a. That is a passion of mine. It's been something that I've done since I was a child. Me and my father would go to sporting events, go two hours early, stay two hours late, and get autographs. And I have some really interesting sports memorabilia, and I've been doing it for a long period of time. And, uh, there's such a. Such a deep community within collectibles, especially now within sports cards. It's. I mean, the craze has went off since COVID the amount of people that love sports cards. So it's something that I love. And, I mean, last night we went to dinner and we talked about collectibles for an hour straight. It was a great conversation. So, you know, using it as something that naturally, uh, you know, opened up our communication in that line.

Speaker B: It's crazy. I'm aging myself here. I've been collecting since 1975, and I still remember m. Um, the eureka moment was I opened a 1975 pack of Topps cards, and that was the first year when I started collecting. I was like seven. And, um, and I got to top Hank Aaron. It was his second to last card, and it was like card 660 in the set. Not a great photo, like, profile. And he had the painted hat because he was under brewers anyway, but that was like a bigger than life thing. And that was shortly after he broke, um, Babe Ruth's home run record. And, um, so cards to this day have. There's an element of nostalgia, to be sure, but it's part of Americana. I love baseball stats. Um, uh, I like the investment angle. I love the, um, you know, just trying to figure out what might go up in value, but not buying it just for that. That's part of it. It's like having to, like, the players do a lot of different things. So it's a great, um, fun thing. And, um, I do have a decent autograph collection, but I think nothing that. I have a couple good autograph stories. But your collection, you're pretty hardcore. You have some really serious autographs in your collection.

Speaker C: Yeah, I've. I mean, growing up, it was a different type of autograph where I would go after, uh, autographs of sports celebrities. But during COVID when a lot of people got into the autograph and memorabilia and sports card game, I mean, the prices skyrocketed. They literally. They skyrocketed so when I started exploring some of the the new cards that are out there, I said, I'm not going to spend $10,000 or $20,000 on this card. I'm going to do something unique and create my own hunt and create my own niche within what, what I want to collect. So I started collecting strange autographs and strange memorabilia, strange stories. So I brought a couple with me that I want to show you that. So one that I was very proud about. Uh, let me take this out.

Speaker B: Sure, sure, sure. Unfortunately, this is not being filmed this time, but this is.

Speaker C: So this is a Tanya Harding. Uh, it is a card signed by Tanya Harding. They only make 15 of these in the world. It's number 14 of 15. I'm sure many people know.

Speaker B: Thank you.

Speaker C: Who Tanya Harding is.

Speaker B: So sure I do.

Speaker C: So, uh, I this. So I wanted to collect these strangest stories in, in sports. So I got Manateo's rookie autograph jersey patch card. I got, uh, if you know, Fritz Peterson.

Speaker B: Oh, Yankees.

Speaker C: Ah.

Speaker B: And something. Go ahead.

Speaker C: You just. I, I, I think the listeners might have fun if they Google it. Yeah. Uh, the wife swap. So that, that's an interesting story. I have his rookie card, and, you know, I put these cards behind my desk, and I had clients come into the office and say, you know, I've, I've legit autographs. I have Bill Russell's autograph. I have some cool stuff on my wall. But specifically, clients walk in, they're like, what is that? It was Tanya Harding. And, and I'm like, oh, do you like sports? And it, it gives me the opportunity to open up. Uh, but then once I start telling them about my collection, I think it's just such a great natural icebreaker where they, you know, we're about to talk money, we're about to talk finances. So I've been able to utilize it as a natural icebreaker to clients and just open up conversations.

Speaker B: I love it. And you don't even have to say anything, but you just visually put it there. And if they make the connection and, uh, then it's like, great. They'll. And if they're not, some of them, they might just. Eyes will glaze over it and no big deal. You just get down to business.

Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, but, but sometimes I do. If it's a zoom meeting, I might pull out the autograph, but select people,

Speaker B: but depending on the individual. Sure, sure.

Speaker C: Correct.

Speaker B: Um, but what's really cool is in your collection, you go far astray from just sports. I mean, you're in the realm of politics and other areas of life.

Speaker C: Yeah. So, you know, over the years of collecting, I wanted to get a little more serious but just continue to expand. So I'm going to show you this. I was really excited about this one. This was my first real, I think home run item.

Speaker B: Mhm.

Speaker C: That I was able to. This is a, uh, Helen Keller certified authentic cut. It says cordially yours, autographed by Helen Keller.

Speaker B: Wow.

Speaker C: It's interesting.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: How many people have that?

Speaker B: Exactly. Wow. And their handwriting is so distinctive. It's um, really interesting. Like really, really long. Ls, like, they're like capital Ls, but they look like elongated upside down sevens. Kind of. Um, but this is fantastic. Yeah, this is really nice. Big image.

Speaker C: I got a fake one initially. I did get a fake one of those. I, I buy my stuff on ebay and it was this attic sailor or something and this guy said he had a Helen Keller autograph. And I made the mistake of not buying a PSA DNA encapsulated uh, autograph. So I brought it to get, uh, uh, certified and I wanted to verify that it was a real autograph. And people, when I brought the Helen Keller autograph to this stand at a, at a card show, I was like, hey, I want you to look at this Helen Keller autograph. They looked at me like Helen Keller. I was like, could you guys do, uh. So they, they, they, they were like, come back in three hours. We'll be able to do it. Sure enough, I came back. I was like, how's, how's it looking? They're, they're like, it's not looking that good. So, uh, you know, I gave them a little more time and I found out it wasn't real. So now I only buy encapsulated autograph.

Speaker B: Yeah, you do have to be careful. There certainly are frauds out there. And especially the bigger the get, the more risk. So that's, that's definitely a smart approach.

Speaker C: I, I, uh, so just is my collection. So I have one more that I want to show you. But so I have Princess Diana that I'm really excited about. I have a, a letter, an envelope that she sent out. It has the stamps on it. It's really cool. It has her, her, her, her initials, uh, and autographs. I have a Teddy Roosevelt, uh, Thomas Edison. So I started getting really into this and I started building. And this is, this is my favorite. This is a government postcard signed by Jackie Robinson.

Speaker B: Wow.

Speaker C: And It's a Gem Mint 9 autograph. And it's it's incredible because the postcard looks very beaten up and it looks very aged. But the autograph, It's a gem. Mint 9.

Speaker B: Yeah. It's a beautiful autograph.

Speaker A: Wow.

Speaker C: So, yeah. So this thing, uh, is something that's really special to me. And you can see it is a postcard. So there's writing on the back, too.

Speaker B: It was addressed to someone in, um, 225 Burberry, Lexington, Kentucky. Interesting. And what year do we have here? Oh, it's, um. Can't read the postmark, but. Yeah. That's fascinating.

Speaker C: Yeah. Uh, so I've really gone down this path of. I have a hit list, you know, I have a hit list of things that I hunt for. My latest. I have a Dalai Lama autograph that I recently got. Um, I'm excited about. I know, I know. You have tons of collectibles.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Yes. These are great, by the way. The. Congratulations. Really beautiful. Yeah, I'm more of a. Just a straight up card collector. I do have, um. I have, you know, a few hundred autographs in my collection, but they were more when I was younger, and a lot of them were just more, you know. I'll give you a few stories here. These are just a handful that I think, um, that strike me as amusing or whatnot. So the first story is very. Is ridiculous. And it's short. Um, it was mid-80s. I, uh, was with some high school buddies. We're at Yankee Stadium, where I think, um, uh, left field, left center, you know, just behind the wall. And it was before the game, and the Milwaukee brewers were. And it was. Don Sutton was like having a catch with, um, Rick Waits. They were both pitchers. And, um, I had the idea, um, to have them sign my sneaker. So I took off my shoe, threw it onto the field. I threw a pen down. I think Sutton was like, what? But whatever. So they signed it. They whipped the shoe back to me. I don't know about the pen. Um. And, yeah, I clipped the thing. The sneakers. Ancient history. And the autographs, like, it's almost impossible to tell what it is, but I still have it. And there you go. Ridiculous.

Speaker C: You couldn't wear that shoe anymore, right?

Speaker B: No, no, no.

Speaker C: You had to cut the shoe.

Speaker B: Exactly.

Speaker C: I have a couple shoe autographs myself. And after it, once you settle down, you're like, oh, I've ruined a pair of shoes. I don't know, 50. That's a pretty cool.

Speaker B: That was like, yeah, 40 years ago. Um, so here's one that's a little. That's more endearing. And has an element of sweetness to it. 1979, 1980, I was living in the suburbs, and around the corner from me was Ulf Nielsen, who is a hockey player for the New York Rangers. He was a star in Sweden. Him and a gentleman named Anders Hedberg, they both came over. And around that time, Sports Illustrated had a big, um, feature article on them. And at this point, I was, like, really into hockey. And I was, you know, collecting the, um, hockey card 79.80. And that was like, Ulf Nielsen. So I went. I was like, all right, I'm going to go to his house and I'm going to have him sign Sports, um, Illustrated. And I brought along, like, three of his tops card. And then in packs, they had these little, like, hockey team posters that, um, they would fold into four, and they put, I think, one in each pack. So I brought, like, three team things of the Rangers. And it was a nice sunny day, I remember, and I was kind of nervous. And, um, you know, walked over to his house, rang the door, and, you know, there he stood there, there was Ulf Nielsen. And I was really nervous. And, uh, I'm sitting there and I'm, like, all nervous, and I'm like, um, um, uh, Mr. Hedberg, can you please sign this? And then he looked down, he said, I am Ulf. And I was like, oh, my God, I got his name wrong. I couldn't even get that straight. And it was ridiculous because Ulf is brown here and Anders was a blonde. But anyway, he signed all of that stuff. So that was really nice. Like, I, like, it was a little organic, but there's a story behind it. And then March 1987, um, the COVID of Sports Illustrated was Cal Ripken Jr. His brother Billy, and their father, Cal Ripken Sr. Um, the headline said the Ripken Gang. And I, you know, Ammon was a big Oriole fan. So I was in Sarasota that week holding the Sports Illustrated. I just bought it on the newsstand. Um, and they were playing, I think, the White Sox in a spring training game. And long story short, went to the front, all three of them signed the COVID Um, it was, like, so serendipitous. Like, comes out that week, it's my team, I'm there. They sign it, I leave it. So that was one that had, um, the most personal meaning, where everything came together. Um, and then I'll just end with one which involved my daughter. Um, it was about 13 years ago. I went to a card show, um, with her. And again, I mentioned I don't usually sign pay for autographs, but there was Minnie Minoso, and he's in the hall of Fame for baseball. And he was in his late 80s at the time. And, um, he played in MLB for actually five decades, uh, which is a record. But the last one was like, they gave him one at bat to check off the box. There was a little gimmickry at the end, but he still was a Hall of Fame player. Um, and I was like, all right. My daughter was like, roughly five years old, six years old. And I'm like, this would be pretty cool. So, um, went online and took a picture and he had a ring, which was like an honorary ring from the 2005. I think the White Sox won it in 2005, and they gave him the honorary ring. And, um, he was just really sweet and playful, and then he was like, he proposed to her.

Speaker C: Wow.

Speaker B: And I got a picture and he signed the whole thing. And the poor guy died a year or two later. But I joke with my daughter. I'm like, you know, MLB hall of Famer proposed. You know, hey, so that's what I love. Autographs can have a fund or sometimes great stories as well, depending, you know.

Speaker C: Yeah, yeah.

Speaker B: So, but, um. But, yeah, but, but. But sports cards are more my thing. Like, more, um. I don't know, it's more the vintage stuff. Um, 50s, 60s, 70s. I think in the future I'm going to go much further back in time and I just kind. You just follow your muse at different times. I. I'm a big believer in that. It has to be fun and. And, um, of course, if you want to have the profit aspect, but it just should be whatever is meaningful to you because there's no right or wrong way to collect. It's just whatever moves you at a given time. And that's always going to change. And that's what makes it fun.

Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I absolutely love it. So it. It is such a fun thing to do. And especially when you have a hunt and you have this interest and passion in collecting, and it just gives yourself a moment to step away, and it's just you. And you're getting deep into what you love and what you're passionate about. I mean, we work hard, you know, we work really hard, so we deserve to have some of these passions and these things that we really can unwind to.

Speaker B: That's right. And I think, like, um, to your point, um, it's a great escape when you're in. When you're immersed in it, you kind of forget about all that ails the world, at least temporarily. So I think it helped. There's also like a psychological aspect. It's like this little oasis of comfort where you can kind of geek out and the hobby's always there for you.

Speaker C: Yeah, but, but see, uh, but you can use it. You can use the hobby, you can use that passion for business and just the relationship. Like, like this podcast, what it's about, it's. It's the power of relationships and how you can really expand on those. Utilizing a passion.

Speaker B: Absolutely. And you know, it's so interesting because, like, I might have a neighbor and like, demographically we might look similar in terms of age or income, whatever, but we might be put together in a room with a coffee and it might just be really awkward. And like, man, we don't have much to talk about. Right. But we. Oh, but you would think. And then you could have someone in a whole different part of the planet and if your interests are aligned, you'd be babbling endlessly like, you know, longtime friends.

Speaker C: Correct. Yeah, I mean, it's powerful. So.

Speaker B: Absolutely. So, um, I hope if you're listening still, you didn't mind that long. Digression. But hey, we're being passionate about it. So, um, before we wrap up, I do want to ask you for some actionable ideas. So for people listening, um, if you could underscore this with like a few, yeah, actionable ideas. Points to take home.

Speaker C: Yeah, I, I mean, look, at the end of the day, I think the most important thing is to be yourself and, and, and show who you really are, because that's what's going to build a deeper relationship with a client, with a prospect. And, and like I was saying, it's, it's powerful on that. I mean, you do have to be prepared. You have to be very prepared, um, from the business front, you can't just say, hey, you know, let's find their connect, uh, on the shared interest. You have to be prepared for that meeting. So that's very important. And you really need to leverage your passion and try leveraging it and going deep within a community because there's just so many opportunities. Once you naturally get into a community and you live in that community and you don't, you don't need to, to try and you need to be there authentically and you need to, to build and it would bring, it will bring, uh, good, uh, things to you and, uh, at least from a relationship perspective, and that'll help bring in some business.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And again, just like, again, authenticity really seems to be the backbone to all of this and, um, to just be genuine. Right. Keep it real.

Speaker C: Yeah. Have that authentic voice that is very important.

Speaker B: Excellent. Excellent. Well, um, I really enjoyed this conversation. It was a lot of fun.

Speaker C: It was.

Speaker B: And, um, yeah, thank you so much for joining.

Speaker C: Thank you for having me.

Speaker B: Absolutely. My guest was Evan Vladimir. For more podcasts and the latest wealth management news, visit Barrons.com advisor for the way forward. I'm Greg Bartalas.

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