Everybody, yeah, we got drill bland in here. We got a, this is different for black CFP series. This is someone who is currently studying a student of the CFP. So we'll be able to walk through. That process from a little start to finish, obviously I'll throw in my story with that as well, but without further ado, drill, why don't you tell us about you, your story and how the hell you even got to, to where you're at.

Jorrell Bland:
1:52

Hey yes, my name is Jorrell Bland and to tell you the truth, like many people who have found their way in this profession. It was by accident. Growing up, I'm originally from, Harlem, New York born and raised. I'm one of three children. My mom was NYPD. Dad was an MTA bus driver. I started out my life in the polar grounds, living in the apartments early nineties, not the best neighborhood to be in where there was a lot of things going on outside. Actually my grandmother was murdered in the building across from us. And my mom had to go and deal with that whole situation. One of the great things I'll say about it is my parents provided a home that no matter. What was taking place outside inside of our four walls, we understood what accountability was and knew that, if we wanted to be great we had to focus and love one another and do the right thing. They really taught us right from wrong. I've actually moved quite a bit. We move, I've. I'm about, I'm 30 now and I've moved about 18 times in my life. It's the good thing about that is though, I understand that change is inevitable and I'm always ready for that to happen. Growing up, I always thought I would be a professional athlete. I actually was really good at sports. I played basketball. I also play football. And I went to a high school upstate New York, which was a powerhouse in New York State. Played varsity football. And even though basketball was my number one sport, I was just better at football because my coach would always tell me I'm five foot nothing. I had the opportunity to go over to West Virginia University and really be able to walk on to the football team my freshman year. But getting myself there, once I got to the school I knew that I wasn't going to be a preferred walk on. It was Dana Holgeson's first year at the university and he had open tryouts. And, I was scared at first, but decided to go and take that journey and decided to try out for the team. I made the team. Now it's not all as spectacular as it sounds because, I was a tackling dummy, I was a running back. We had some of the top players there, like Bruce Irvin coming off the end and here I am to get swallowed up. But real, I realized pretty early that, Making it to the NFL was not going to be for me and to focus on, my degree. And one of the things that I always said was I wanted to have a fallback to be able to go into business. And, The main reason why I decided to study finance was, going back to my upbringing, in my neighborhood, most people know nothing about finances. They look forward to social security as a retirement plan for them. And I just looked around at everyone else and realized that life wasn't for me. So I wanted to learn how to take care of my own money. And in turn it turns out that a lot of people need. Help with their finances as well. And I always said, if I can find a place where I can talk and do well for myself, I'll be all right. And I wound up stumbling upon financial planning by taking the financial planning curriculum in my school. And I just really fell in love with it. I love doing the case studies and doing the planning and, being able to change people's lives, because in my opinion, people work all their lives to accumulate these assets. And their real goal is to be able to enjoy their life. And I think that everybody deserves to have somebody there to help make that a reality. And I decided to, make that my profession and, become an advisor. However. Coming out of school in 2015, there were not many jobs that were able to be had. So I actually started out doing landscaping. So I was swinging a pickaxe 12 hours a day and just moving rocks and planting. And then I wound up moving to a warehouse where I was sterilizing equipment with gamma radiation. Is that safe? I don't really know, but we won't worry. We won't worry about it. But then from there, my mom had an advisor at a large insurance company and She decided to have him speak with me and I was promised the ability to be an advisor and planner. So I wound up drinking the Kool Aid and, working at that place for four years. But in my, my tenure at the company, I realized that it was really more, Of a sales driven where you eat what you kill. And I really wanted to provide a service. So I needed to, branch out. And one thing that my mentor there put me on to was Michael Kitsis. I don't think he realized how deep I would go down the rabbit hole, and just CFP. Reading about the, becoming a fiduciary and doing the right thing and, from there, I knew I had to make a change and plus, working at that, the place where it's all only commission, one, it's really difficult to be a fiduciary and my ideals just did not align with it. So to be. Completely real with you. I did not make a ton of money, and I used to always say that my rocks to Richard story will be a real one. Because I'm coming from, working at the company, I'm sleeping in Harlem or my aunt's living room floor, my blow up bed, surrounded by six Yorkies going into work every single day, scraping up quarters to get dollar pizza. But I knew that the path that I was on was meant for me and whatever's meant for me. Can't be taken from me. And I wound up meeting Larry and finding Midland after my four year tenure, and to be quite honest, it's one of the best things that happened to me when I first met with him, we were only supposed to meet for about a half hour, wound up talking for two hours. And it just felt like it was the right fit. I knew what I wanted and I knew that I wanted to be with somebody who was a fiduciary and wants to do right by the people that they serve. And that was him. So now, it's been. Four years or four plus years and working at the firm and I've continued to level up and, now I'm the associate wealth advisor here. I started that career track and continue to move forward. And now I'm studying for the CFP because to me, being in a role where I'm taking on. A lot more of the relationships in the firm. I think it's my duty to make sure that I can provide the best service as possible and be able to give the best advice and guidance. Like I said, these people work very hard to get everything that they have and who am I not to provide that best service and advice as possible. That's just, how I was raised and truly who I am. That's a little bit of the story of Jarrell and how I got to this point to be in front of you today.

Stoy Hall, CFP®:
8:28

Absolutely. That's a that's a hell of a story and very similar to mine, my own. And you had mentioned that your mother was in NYPD and your father worked at the bus line and that's service, right? And that's where you come from. So when you said you got insurance, I went Oh, Nope. Been there and there. They sell you on that service shit. And then it's not what it's cracked up to be. Like you said, I don't, you don't regret that time. I don't regret my time. I learned. And you move forward. And obviously Larry's good buddy of mine. We just spoke at shift together. So I'm glad that you're at Midland as well. When you talk about the CFP exam I get mine done. I got mine done in 2018. Okay. But then we didn't have the behavioral component of it. Which I don't know if that's good, bad or indifferent. I know it's way better now, but I don't know if it's makes it tougher. I failed it twice, right? I studied mine pretty quickly as well. Now, luckily for me, some of my college courses, I think, Build in three of them but I filled it in March by five questions. I filled it in July by five questions and then really finally passed it in November of 2018. And I know the stress level of all of that. I know going through that and I've mentored a couple other CFPs since then. Talk us through the, just the studying, right? I don't think people quite understand. How much studying goes into the CFP, right? I'm a huge proponent of, I believe the CFP or it doesn't matter if it's CP or not, but we need like a doctorate level type feeling for our industry when it comes to a designation, right? We know that JDs have JD. We know that doctors have doctorates. In our world, the CFP right now is the equivalent of that. Why don't you talk us through how in depth these courses and the training actually is.

Jorrell Bland:
10:18

Yeah. Yeah. So first it's a lot, it's definitely a lot. You have to go through depending on what program you're going through. Me personally, I'm going through the American college. And you have 7 different courses that you have to go to go through and they pretty much say it's about, 40 to 60 hours each course of study time that you'll have to go into pass because throughout each course. Now, the way they have it set up through the module is you have. Weekly discussions that you have to do, you have to do all of the reading you have a review and that's pretty much your homework assignment. And then after the end of that 10 week process you have a testing window, and then you have to go in pass a review. Maybe 130 question exam to move on to that next module and you continue to do that. So you're doing that, the fundamentals of financial planning investments you have retirement planning, you have taxation, you have a state planning. Insurance and risk management. So you're going through all of these different things. And at the end of all of that seventh class, you actually have to do a capstone where the board wants to make sure that you're capable to dissect the person situation, create a full financial plan that will be conducted by their standards to be able to give that advice. And even after you do all of that. Then you have to get ready to sit for the board exam, which is about six hours over one day, which you can have to take. But to prep for that exam you also have to do a review. Now, can you do it without a review? Sure. But they highly suggest that you do take a review. So the review I'm getting ready to jump into is that Dalton review. And They're telling me that, it requires up to 250 hours of study time to be able to be prepared for that final exam, come July for myself. I personally, I have to sacrifice. A lot of time, so I'm studying 20 hours a week for this exam. I'm work 3 hours a day, 5 days a week. And then Saturday, I actually study 5 hours in that day. And then I take Sunday off, but, even Jesus needed to rest, to make sure that I do that. So I make sure I do that. And, it becomes tough, especially now at this point where I'm in that lockdown mode, where I can't really have any distractions because this is so important to me and it's so important to my development in my career. I have my girlfriend where, sometimes she has to take a back seat. I'm like, Hey, listen, I got to get up early and I got to study like, Oh, you want to go to this place? I would love to, but I've got this penciled into my calendar that I have to do it. And to me, I say, what's one quarter for the rest of my life? It's just sacrifices I have to make. Like even, this weekend I'm going to go upstate and see my parents, but my parents. And live in upstate New York, and if I'm taking the train because we don't want to drive out there, it takes me 5 hours to get up there. And that's just, it's not really conducive of the things I'm trying to accomplish at this time. So it's a, it takes his toll, and then, As you're studying, sometimes you can get down on yourself because some of it can be mundane in the process, but you got to remember, what you're doing it for. And, your why and for me, my, why, when I first found out about the CFP, to be quite honest 2015 I had did my I was in one of my financial planning classes, had to put together a case study. And at the end of my name, they put Jorrell R. CFP. And I was like, Man, that looks good. Yeah, man, that looks good. And then it wasn't until I started doing more of my homework in 2020 about the actual CFP itself, where I realized how, Underrepresented people who look like me are at that time they had came out with their research report that have 90, 000 CFPs, only 1200 of them were black. And I just felt that, we couldn't, I couldn't stand for that. Like I wanted to be one of the ones who continues to push not only, the profession forward but also, my race because honestly, Before coming into this profession, I have no idea what financial planning was. And I know so many people who look just like me don't know either. I would walk out of my apartment in Harlem, get on my way to work and nobody knew what I did. All I knew was I wore a suit every day, and I'm just wanting to make that change. So I think it's really important that, I am visible and I'm outspoken so that I can shine a light on a profession that can change so many different lives. Since that time that research came out it's gotten a little bit better, a little bit better, a little bit, but we'll take it in increments, I think the last time I checked, we're about, 98 90, 98 thousand CFPs, 99, 000 and 1900 black CFPs. So about 1. 9%, we're looking to crack the 2 percent mark and then the two would just continue to, continue to progress. I think it's important that. We continue to shed our knowledge. And like you said, you're doing the mentoring and showing people the way that's something I try to do, even though I'm going to be honest, I face some imposter syndrome when I first did some, mentoring, because I always felt like, who am I to tell anybody anything? But I realized that. I am the perfect person because, I don't come from, a large background and family with money and, I'm just a, a little black boy from Harlem who's trying to make it and I've had a lot of different turbulent times in my life and things were not easy and if I can do it, so can you. I found that I think I'm the perfect person to help out and lead people to learn from my mistakes and stop them from getting, pigeon hold into certain places. Yeah. Yeah.

Stoy Hall, CFP®:
16:12

That, no you're right. There, there needs to be more of us. We need to be louder for each other because ultimately our people have never seen or rarely have ever seen any minority for that matter, in this type of position, one as a CFP, but two talking about money, I grew up the same way. There was no way I knew really anybody that dealt with money. The only one was my uncle and he's state farm regional director, but that's okay. You know what I mean? That's cool, but that's nothing to do with anything that we do. It doesn't even touch the surface. Talk to us a little bit about your philosophy and obviously at Maitland. I know them and people listening can go tune into the couple of episodes that we've done with Larry, but from your perspective and who you work with. Give us your vision in really what you do.

Jorrell Bland:
16:57

Yeah. Yeah. Here at Midland, I'm able to plug and play and, we have our core values that that are near and dear to me, as well as to the firm, the first one being, proactiveness and proactive and responsive communication. One, I think that's so important because a lot of times when people are having someone deal with their money, when they have questions, they don't want to have to wait, to the end of the year or have to call a 1 800 number and speak to a bunch of different people all the time, we make sure that the families we serve know that we're always available to them. And if we're not able to get right to you right away. We're going to respond to you within 24 hours, whether if it's me, it's Larry Carmen, anybody else, we're making sure that, we're taking care of the families that we serve. And now, for us, especially me, what I believe that my job truly is to really be able to understand. Whoever's sitting in front of me, figure out what their goals and objectives are and really learn what they imagine their life to look like, and then try to create a roadmap to make that a reality. Now, a lot of times when people think about working with an advisor, we're always talking about the quantitative portion, but so much more of it comes down to that qualitative side and understanding what's truly important to them. Cause sometimes some people may come to us and, Not even worry about the finances. They may say, Hey, look, my son is, starting in the workforce and looking to find a way to get in it. Do you know anybody just being that person to be able to like, you know what? I have a few contacts in the space, I can't make any promises, but, I'll reach out to them and see, what I can do. And I was able to actually, Find somebody a job, which was, very rewarding situation. And then even, one of my favorite things that's actually happened to me in this last year. I had a family who I was working with who never ever thought they would be able to buy a house. And then going through the planning, a situation came up where they had a few months to either buy the house or they had to get out. And we were able to put them in touch with a mortgage broker who was able to teach them different tactics, such as getting the seller's credit to bring down what they have to bring to closing just little things and being able to be that quarterback to handle all of the areas of their financial life that are not just pertaining to. Investments and asset management because financial planning is so much more than that and realistically, being a good person is more than that. Being able to, take care of them the way I would want to be treated or, my future kids or my mom, that means more to me than anything. And I think that's exactly what we're able to bring to the families we serve.

Stoy Hall, CFP®:
19:36

Yeah. And it's about you nailed it. You were talking about financial planning, right? Planning means. Ongoing planning means when shit happens and comes up, you're there for them, right? Our industry gets lost in a lot of, we're bringing the investment side, right? Like investments only is what it is. That's just a tool in my opinion, but people bring up like creating a financial plan, right? I'm going to go see a financial planner. They'll give me a financial plan and I'll be good. And that's a good start. In my opinion, it's a very good start. Someone just has a financial plan. And the problem is. As soon as you write that financial plan, it's usually out of whack somewhere, right? Because something happens in life and ultimately what we need to do is the planning and it's ongoing. It's a journey, right? We listened to your journey just to get to Midland and all the ups and downs and twists and turns and all those things that happen. It happens to everybody every day. In life and what they need is they need guidance. They need that person that they can rely on. You have found it at Midland with Larry. Others have found it with you as the advisor. Like they need a strong person to guide them in this thing called life. Now I'm going to throw something out there because I told you I'm going to throw something out there before. And you and you're newer to this game of social media, you're newer to being the face in, in speaking out. Talk us through and I had this when I first started, talk us through a little imposter syndrome and how it feels to be out there now and what you had to go through just to do your first video, let alone, this podcast.

Jorrell Bland:
21:09

Honestly, for me personally, I'm typically more of a private person. I don't really post on, before I didn't really post on social media, whatsoever. I wasn't a picture taker because I didn't want to be a person who lived through my phone. I wanted to actually experience what was going on. And then also. Even my story, I've had a lot of, trouble telling my stories because, I don't want people to, Make different kind of insinuations about who I am based on my background or where I come from or judge me for certain things. So I was always taught that, keep things close to the chest, keep it close to the vest. And that was really difficult. One of the things that I had to do was realize that. I don't have to tell people everything right away, I can give it in portions, I can still protect myself and, I wear my heart on the sleeve. I get it from my father, but I can, protect myself in that way. And, And really look to just try to, put it out there in pieces. One thing I found out is doing social media is also a lot of work. I did not realize, how much work it is to, not only come up with content, but. Put it out, then, respond to people and do that because I still struggle with that because it is so difficult. But I'm learning as I go. I definitely faced a lot of that imposter syndrome because again, like I said, like, why would these people want to hear from me? Like I'm 30 years old, yes, I've been in the profession, for eight years, but. People have dogs older than me, So it's just been, one of those things where I'm trying to navigate try to decide, what my voice should sound like, because you have to figure out, who you are. Before you actually put that out on display and then, being able to be authentically you. So I think that's really important. But sometimes you gotta give it a little bit of doses, a little bit of doses. So that's been the real struggle for me trying to keep up with it. Because you have to be consistent and two, three, four times a week, different content. And a lot of times I found that. A lot of it doesn't even really need to be all about finances. People want to hear about who you are. And that's the big thing of why I need to continue to do it. Because when you look at, millennial generation, like I said, I'm a millennial and all of my friends who are looking to work with an advisor, they don't want the advisors of yesteryear. They want people who they feel. Are real and are actually people they want to know what you do in your spare time. They want to see you at, an engagement party dancing, they want to see you hanging out or hiking or anything like that. That's what we care about because I know I'm that way and, I'm in that demographic. So it's important for me to put myself out there and. Is it a lot? Is it scary? Yes, but I do realize that doing it will put me in a much better place in the future and allow people to, know who I am and also allow me to really find my tribe, and it's hard to find your tribe if you're not being open and authentic you won't attract the right people who you're looking to to be around. So Yeah, social media important, but difficult,

Stoy Hall, CFP®:
24:26

it's exhausting, right? It's exhausting, crazy. We were at shift conference and before Larry and I got on stage, I had a podcast episode. I did, then I spent an hour and a half, almost two hours doing 40 different reels and shorts. Content and then do that. It's it's so exhausting. And it's funny cause a lot of us were there after we had got done talking and we were talking about, we don't love doing it. We need to do it right. Like our duty for everyone else is to do this type of content. Because in our industry, it's always been about money and power. It's never been about education. It's never been about the power of actual people and humanity. It's been about, can I get your assets to make you more money, but I'm going to make more money than you. That's been the way our industry has grown and sadly is still prominent in that way, but in order for them to understand who we really are and what the real conversations are like with clients, we have to be in there. We have to be in social media. We have to be out there as much as all the other content because if not, who's going to do it? It's not, I promise you it's not going to be the big front. It's not gonna be Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab. It's not gonna be them. There's no way Merrill Lynch is doing it, right? None of those things are happened because it comes down to us as individuals as the planners to do and so I'm happy that you're in the game now. Also sad for you a little bit because it's exhausting, but I'm glad you're, I'm glad you're in the game.

Jorrell Bland:
25:54

Yeah. And I feel it's important for us to pay it forward. So like you're talking about that financial literacy and education, being able to give that away, and because. Realistic, the average person, a lot of my family members. And when I talk about, finances, they need it to be, I don't want to say like dumb down, but they need me to bring it to a level where, they're like, tell me like I'm in kindergarten, like I need to know the basics before I can learn these, high level topics. And a lot of times just telling them the basis of things can really change their life, just telling them what the five 29 plan is. It's it's an education savings vehicle, showing them what that is and allowing them to do that, it puts them in a good place. And I like to tell I always try to tell stories, for me personally I eat my cooking. So I have a 529 plan where I'm putting money away from college for my future kids. I don't plan on having kids anytime soon. However, I'm doing it because, I'm still paying back student loans. And if I can put, my future children in a situation where they don't have to do that, then I just set them up to, be better than me. And really, that's my goal. I think that we all stand on our previous generation shoulders. And my goal is to make sure that, my kids can do better than me and their kids can do better than them and so forth and so on. But it starts with me because I'm that pathfinder.

Stoy Hall, CFP®:
27:16

Which is a, which is heavy too. It's heavy. In our industry, majority of us, minority CFPs are the pathfinders. We are the first generation. We are the ones that are, bringing this light to this tunnel, this long ass tunnel. Right? That is on us. And that's heavy for a generation in a person, ultimately. That's something that we don't get to fall back on. We don't get to fall back on books of business. And billion dollar IRAs that have been around forever. We don't get that. That's not in us. Not to mention the majority of our clientele base also are first gen or second gen and don't have. Hundreds of millions of dollars to fall back on from their legacy plans. And that's what that that's, what's different. That's what's changing and shifting. We literally had a a post today from Thomas Kopelman and everyone jumped on it both LinkedIn and Twitter, by the way, and he was saying that there's a shift in our industry, the shift away from investments and investment management, as that just now was a tool and a commodity. A shift to financial planning and I'll throw in that it's more of a modern family office where we are quarterbacking everything and bringing Those experts and professionals to our clients right not making them go find them We're bringing them to their doorstep to make sure that plan is in place And so we had brought that up and everyone's all over the map a little bit But ultimately we all agree It's a shift towards financial planning and the way we're going to shift towards financial planning is we need to know that we have Professionals You have some type of board certified exam for us right now. That's a CFP, right? In order to get done and that people can trust that in that light. I told you I'm from the insurance world. They call themselves financial advisors. Now they don't know. They don't do that. They do mutual funds, maybe some stocks. Yeah, that's not financial advising. That's just investment stuff. And guess what? Everybody investments make up a very small piece of your entire pie. Because if you cannot get your budget, your insurance in order and all of those things in order, you should not and cannot be putting money into investments. And so it doesn't matter what return we can get you. If there's 0 in there, zero times, whatever is still zero, right? So we got to focus on those other things. A lot. And so Bravo to you to understanding that and finding the firm that can let you ride that way. Now let's get into sports, right? We're both football players. I think you're a running back. I finished my career as a linebacker. As of today, I want to see me

Jorrell Bland:
29:41

in the a gap.

Stoy Hall, CFP®:
29:42

Oh

Jorrell Bland:
29:43

don't do

Stoy Hall, CFP®:
29:43

that. Now don't do that. I'll put them back on. I will bring my ass all the way up there in New York and I will put them back on.

Jorrell Bland:
29:51

I stay in shape. Yeah, I still be, moving weights. They'll be on the field, okay. Okay. Let's see.

Stoy Hall, CFP®:
29:57

What do you believe that grind of being specifically a student athlete? Which never felt like a student athlete, it always felt like a full time job, pounding my body, and then, oh, by the way, I still have to go to school. What do you think that has done and adapted you as a person? What were those, that time that you were an athlete?

Jorrell Bland:
30:16

Taught me two words. Discipline and commitment, like to me, being an athlete and being a part of a brotherhood, one of the main things I never wanted to be was the weakest link. I refuse to be the weakest link it also taught me to stay hungry. I was always undersized. So it put a chip on my shoulder and I may not be the most talented person, but I always knew that nobody was going to outwork me. So it really put that In my mind and became a, ingrained and at the core of my being. So being able to overcome and just persevere I really got that from, playing sports day in and day out. Understanding that there are different. Personalities on the team. So being able to, have conversations with people from multiple different backgrounds, not judging them. Honestly, I think without, sports and athletics, I don't become the man I am today. Stop me from getting in a lot of trouble. It's really hard to get in trouble and get caught up when, like you said, you're getting up, you got your, you 6 a. m. workout. Then you got to go to class and then you got practiced and you got mandatory study hours. And, that it makes it really difficult. You still got to watch film and I got, do more homework. It makes it really difficult to get caught up. And I think that's definitely a blessing, for me. Yes, like sports is everything to me, honestly, like honestly. And I, and I didn't come from my immediate family. My dad didn't play sports or anything. So I was the guy who, I went out there and went at it alone, I didn't even think my parents were going to come to my senior night when I was playing until I walked out in the field, get ready to walk out my coach and they popped in. But yeah, I think that it allowed me to be able to find. Again, that like that tribe and find family members and be able to look out and and seek out people who are willing to pour into you to make you be the best version of you as possible. I can definitely take criticism because of it.

Stoy Hall, CFP®:
32:22

Yeah,

Jorrell Bland:
32:23

definitely do that. So I think those are. Like some of the big things and again, that drive, we all looking for that ultimate goal and, and luckily, for a lot of athletes who most of us will not go pro, but we turn that same mindset that made us great athletes. And we take it right to the workforce and, we have that drive and that commitment and that diligence to continue to progress. And, that discipline and that regimen really. To continue to progress and we have really good careers. So I think any youth should be in anything like sports organized. However, will it be football for my children? I don't know about that. You may look at soccer, see some of these contracts is going out there, baseball. Yeah, I'm not sure, but yes, I think sports has really molded and shaped my life and put me in a good position to succeed, even if it has nothing to do with athletics whatsoever,

Stoy Hall, CFP®:
33:15

what do you miss the most?

Jorrell Bland:
33:19

Honestly, the thing I miss the most spending time with the boys, man. Honestly, that was, we still, I still got my group chats. So we still talk about it, like getting pizza, be throwing hot pepper flakes on it, just the dumb things. And it was just, I missed that, that camaraderie and, actually I was able to go down and see a few of the guys over this weekend. We just talked about the good old days and don't get me wrong yeah, playing was great, I'm a running back. I was getting hit every play, even if I ain't got the ball, I'm getting hit. And do I miss that? Not really at all, that camaraderie and leaning on each other and just being together and being a unit and really that journey that we went through together. That's what I missed the most.

Stoy Hall, CFP®:
34:01

Absolutely. We Desarte Yarnway. I don't know if you've met him, but he was running back too. And we were chopping it up. It's what do you, we're talking about what we missed. Obviously it's the boys, it's the family. You are so close. You do so much and grind together that. That's what you're going to miss. We're talking about, it's like we trained for nine months, basically eight and a half months to get 11 opportunities to play like opportunities. You weren't guaranteed to play, right? Like you could have been on the bench. You could have been hurt. Like just eight and a half months of 6 00 AM workouts and summer workouts and grinding and tearing our body apart just to have 11 potential opportunities. To perform at the best of your abilities and when you think about drastically different than anything else that you have to deal with in life, right? When we talk about finances all the time and in the grind of all of that we're making decisions every day though You're in the game every day when it comes to money It isn't training forever. And then those little opportunities. And that's something that I love to talk about with, athletes, but also our clients is like, Hey, you might feel like you're in this grind every day. Because you are, but from my perspective as your coach, you're training, right? You're training. Yeah. You might have those little decisions every day, but for us, that's just training those big opportunities. Those 11 usually it's not 11 for people, but every year, there's gonna be about 2 to 4 big decisions that you make that will sway your journey one way or another, right? Some of it is A new career, having a kid, getting married, but also some of it is figuring out, how do I get that next step of a promotion? How do I invest back into myself, both my mental and physical health to reach another level, right? And that's, what's really cool about our position is we are a quarterback, we are a coach, we are a consultant, but we're the ones that can keep you in this path and that track. Again, kudos to you to join in this firm or the firm and getting involved with the CFP. Now, before we let you go and let everyone go, what is one thing that you want everyone to take from you, your journey in order to either fulfill their purpose, come work for you, or with you, what is one thing that you want everyone to take away?

Jorrell Bland:
36:19

The main thing that I want People listening to Takeaway, don't ever quit, it may seem you're at the point of maybe no return, you don't know which way to go, you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, but just keep those feet moving, just keep going, because what's for you is for you, nobody will ever take that away from you. And you will reach the promised land. Eventually it may be a long, dark road, but don't ever give up because the guarantee is if you give up now, you're never going to make it, but you have that opportunity that if you keep going, you'll get more than you ever could have imagined and really. That's all I hope you take away from, speaking with me, meeting with me. I want you to be a better person and be better off that because you had a conversation with me or met me. I want to leave you better off than the way I found you. And that's what I have to say.

Stoy Hall, CFP®:
37:15

You heard it from the running back. Don't stop your feet. Don't stop the feet moving. Where can we find you at? People want to reach out to you.

Jorrell Bland:
37:22

Yes, I am on Twitter. I probably should know what my handles are, but

Stoy Hall, CFP®:
37:27

don't worry about that. We got you.

Jorrell Bland:
37:29

So I am on Twitter. I'm on LinkedIn. And if you want to see some other stuff, I'm also on Facebook as well.

Stoy Hall, CFP®:
37:35

Absolutely. And hit us up, chop us up, communicate. We love to chat on those social medias as well. Again, you heard it from our man, Daryl bland, the resident running back. Keep your feet moving. This is no BS wealth podcast. Come check us out on our new website as well. But like we always say, just keep grinding. Just keep running.

Black Mammoth:
37:54

My

Jorrell Bland:
37:54

man pleasure.

Black Mammoth:
37:55

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