Episode 221 – Success Served: Unveiling the Recipe with Bryan Sweet

Episode Transcription

This is the Ultimate Advisor Podcast, the podcast for financial advisors who want to create a thriving, successful and scalable practice. Each week, we’ll uncover the ways that you can improve your referrals, your team, your marketing, and your business operations, helping you to level up your advising practice, bring in more assets and create the advising practice that you’ve dreamed of. You’ll be joined by our hosts, Bryan Sweet, who is moving fast towards a billion dollars in assets under management, Brittany Anderson, the driving force for advisors looking to improve their operations and company culture, and Draye Redfern who can help you systematize and automate your practices marketing to effortlessly attract new clients. So what do you say? Let’s jump into another amazing episode of The Ultimate Advisor Podcast.

Brittany Anderson 01:06

Welcome back to The Ultimate Advisor Podcast, Brittany Anderson here. And today we are going to the lip the script a little bit. So I have with me our very own Bryan Sweet, one of the founders of ultimate advisor coaching, you know, we got to talking and said, we’ve done a lot of you know, chitter chatter amongst myself, Bryan and Draye, we’ve shared some insights. We’ve been on this podcast together for a really long time. But I haven’t ever had just a one on one in depth conversation with Mr. Sweet himself. So I got to give him a proper introduction to get this started. He is the creator of the dream architect and the dream architect life, which he’ll touch on here in a bit. He’s the founder of sweet financial partners. He is the co founder of dare to dream enterprises. He is once again the co founder of ultimate advisor coaching. And the unique thing here is that each and every one of these ventures, each and every one of these businesses is all centered around helping people to pursue possibility and realize a future that is even larger, and even more filled with potential than what their past had brought them to this point. So Bryan, welcome to the show.

Bryan Sweet 02:24

Well, so great to be on. And yeah, it’s kind of weird that we haven’t had an interview like this. So I’m excited.

Brittany Anderson 02:31

Yeah, and you know it for those of you that are just now tuning in, you got to go back a handful of episodes and find the interviews with Brian Heckert, John Walsh, itis and Ron Greenberg. Because we have three new partners who have been lifelong, lifelong, almost lifelong friends of Bryan Sweet’s, they’ve been in a study group together for a really long time for well over 20 years now. And that’s really what sparked this little conversation here. So Bryan, without further ado, I would love for you to share with our audience, what got you started in this business?

Bryan Sweet 03:08

Yeah, well, before I go into that, I would just love to say I am so excited to have those three on board at ultimate advisor, they’re going to add such magic to the group. And it’s gonna be so fun to create new opportunities with them. So but yeah, as far as like, how did I get started in the business? As Brittany, you might have alluded to once or twice, you know, I’ve been in the business longer than you are old. And maybe about the time now you would have, you still wouldn’t have been born yet. But when I was in college, I was very, very fortunate to have a college mentor who was also a district manager for an insurance company. And I wasn’t quite sure like most people what you wanted to be when you grew up, I knew it was some kind of business opportunity plan. Fortunately, since I didn’t know, he said, Well, why don’t you just sell insurance until you kind of get this figured out. So after, you know, the shock and awe of that to my mom, you know, I went and pursued that and I found out one you know, I love the relationships that I created the opportunities and so that kind of got me on the path to this industry. And then one thing led to another and got into the financial services aspect. I found I liked that a lot more than the the life insurance component and, you know, just lots of evolutions later. Here we are.

Brittany Anderson 04:48

You know, we joke about you being in the industry longer than I’ve been alive. And you know, I personally think it’s hilarious, but there’s there’s something to this. So you know, 44 years in the industry. That’s something that shows that you truly love what you do. And you love the industry that you’re in, because people don’t stick around as long as you have, when they don’t have a true passion for, for what they’re doing and for who they’re serving. So, I would love for you to share, what is it that you love about the industry?

Bryan Sweet 05:18

Now? Well, first of all, I’m having more fun in my 44th year than I’ve ever had in the industry. And, you know, that, obviously, is maybe telling you something about that question. But there’s a couple of things that I love, I’m very much a people person, but I love to help others solve problems, and help them control their future. So be overcoming problems and concerns. And, and I think just maybe more from a personal standpoint, or somebody considering being an advisor, I’ve been a disciple of Dan Sullivan’s for, you know, 25 plus years, and he has these four freedoms that entrepreneurs should strive for, and their time, money, relationship, and purpose. And, you know, if you do this industry, right, you actually have control over all four of those. And, you know, we created the dream architect life, for our particular platform. And, and fortunately, because of, you know, those principles, I feel like I live that.

Brittany Anderson 06:35

So, for those that aren’t familiar with who Dan Sullivan is, he is the creator of the Strategic Coach, massive platform that truly transforms the lives of entrepreneurs. And Brian is in Dan’s most elite group, the freeze free zone frontier. And basically what it is, is, and this is where I’m saying this with purpose, so what what Dan has put together is brought together some of the brightest minds from across the globe. And what they’re all there for, is to truly take their own unique abilities, their own level of success that they’ve had to this point, and really apply that in a collaborative nature so that people can support each other and create brand new concepts and businesses and waves of impact by really just staying in their lane. So it’s a truly magical group. But Brian, you kind of indirectly dropped in there about, you know, creating the dream architect life. And I think this is really an important thing that we should pull out here. Because it’s, it’s different, it’s innovative. And we’ve had a ton of advisors that are kind of perk your ears up to what you’re doing. So can you just talk a little bit about what that is, and maybe touch on the five pillars that we’ve developed as well?

Bryan Sweet 07:45

Yeah, just to give a little context, through Strategic Coach, I created the dream architect as our wealth management process back in 2011. And one of the things that’s happened is I’ve kept seeing irregardless of the amount of wealth that you had, for other problems continue to come out. And those other four problems, our purpose, or lack thereof, especially when you’re going from something to something, health and longevity. And if you don’t have your health, you really don’t have anything, legacy and experiences. And so through the free zone and other masterminds that we belong to, we’re working with other individuals who are experts or best in world class in purpose, health and longevity, legacy and experiences, and then adding our wealth component. And it’s just been magical because of the need for these things. And we’ve been holding three day intensives, where we actually put people through body and brain scans and introduce them to some of these magical people. And it’s just made one the business fun, but it’s been so impactful. And excuse me, especially from the standpoint of the health and longevity, we’ve actually saved a few people’s lives by finding some things that were wrong with them that they didn’t have any idea could have caused issues.

Brittany Anderson 09:21

Yeah. And, you know, it’s so interesting, Brian, and you know, you mentioned a little bit ago about how you’re having more fun in your 44th year than you ever have been. I’ll just tell our listeners right now you get Mr. Sweet going about these five pillars and the impact and all of that he will not stop because he’s so excited about it. And it’s been truly my honor and privilege to be alongside you with that, Brian. It’s been so fun and being able to truly see this kind of trickle effect of changed lives has been absolutely magical.

Bryan Sweet 9:53

Part of it part of the reason I’m also having fun as I get to do it with you. 

Brittany Anderson 9:58

Oh, thank you. Well, let’s let’s pivot here a minute, because I think that, you know, you are such a visionary by nature, and you’re constantly looking for ways to enhance how we deliver value to people. I mean, just in what you talked about there, we’ve gone from wealth management, you know, within the core business of suite financial, to essentially for other ways of adding value into people’s lives. So with that, when you’re taking this bird’s eye view, looking at the industry as a whole, what are some of the things that you see actually need to change? What can you add for commentary there?

Bryan Sweet 10:34

No, I think, a couple of things. I think, you know, total objectivity of always doing what’s in the best interests of clients. I think a lot of advisors take the short term approach, I can get some business by doing this or saying this, but long term, it’s not in the best interest of the client, that always always comes back to haunt you. So the quicker, you know, advisors can learn that the better. I think there’s also some, especially in the annuity, arena, some very unsuitable products, that, you know, kind of tie in with what I said before, shouldn’t even be sold. And, you know, clients don’t know what they don’t know. And you can make anything sound good or bad. And, and, you know, you need to use your financial expertise to help them and not, you know, lining your pockets, if you will. And then I think, you know, with new people with, there’s a lack of training going on today, that, you know, we used to have advanced training, where they put you through literally years of different experiences and guidelines to get you up to speed. And now, you know, you jump out of college, and you know, you’re an advisor. And so that’s one of the magical things about ultimate advisor and the new people we’ve got on board is we’re going to be able to create those types of things to help people get to where they want to go faster, especially if you know where they’re at, doesn’t have some of the, you know, the basic things that they need.

Brittany Anderson 12:19

Yeah, and I think there’s, there’s so much to be said, and we’re so fortunate with anybody that comes into ultimate advisor coaching, be it through the mastermind through some of our, you know, more course driven type experiences, you know, we really do that for that, that advisor that’s always acting in the best interest of their client, that is the Giver by nature, that’s a collaborator that’s really trying to not reinvent the wheel and is trying to grow their business. So I think we’re so fortunate within this community, but unfortunately, clients don’t always have the same call it qualifiers to understand you know, what the difference is. So I think that’s such an important thing to push on here, is staying true to your core values, and to live in integrity, I think those are two really important things. So Brian, you know, some people might might look at you and say, Okay, you have all these cool, crazy ventures going on, you’ve got a bunch of exciting stuff in the pipeline, you have been in this industry for over four decades. Now. Why on earth? Do you want to support other advisors in their girls and in their journey at this point? So why do you?
Well, good question, and I do get asked that a lot. But, you know, I think it’s one of those things that if I look back, I’ve had several people that helped me mentors, get to where I wanted to go. And, you know, to a certain extent, I want to be able to help others that are willing to take action and willing to do the necessary skills to get to another level. And I think it’s just a little bit of a payback. It’s an amazing industry, but it’s definitely not easy. And there are some tried and trued things that can narrow the focus or speed things up that, you know, if you learn from, you know, maybe a wildly old veteran that’s been there and you know, been kicked in the dirt a few times and gotten up each time. And you learn from that. I think that can be really valuable.

Bryan Sweet 13:28

Well, good question, and I do get asked that a lot. But, you know, I think it’s one of those things that if I look back, I’ve had several people that helped me mentors, get to where I wanted to go. And, you know, to a certain extent, I want to be able to help others that are willing to take action and willing to do the necessary skills to get to another level. And I think it’s just a little bit of a payback. It’s an amazing industry, but it’s definitely not easy. And there are some tried and trued things that can narrow the focus or speed things up that, you know, if you learn from, you know, maybe a wildly old veteran that’s been there and you know, been kicked in the dirt a few times and gotten up each time. And you learn from that. I think that can be really valuable.

Brittany Anderson 14:27

Yeah, you’re right Bryan, I think is just such a good a good point to to mention something about your study group brothers, I’m gonna call them you know, we’ve had three out of out of, well, let’s call it this way. There’s five of you in the study group, three of them have come on board and to ultimate advisor coaching and we are bugging the other one to come up. So I think that people are definitely curious about what it takes to create a long standing long lasting study group type relationship. So we’ve talked about Ron Greenberg and John Walsh itis and Brian Heckard. Joining into ultimate advisor, we’ve talked about how you guys have been in a study group for so long, I would just love for you to highlight Brian, number one, what are some of the things that you guys have done over the years to create a successful study group? And then number two, a second part of that question is, you know, what do you think that’s done for your career? Personally?

Bryan Sweet 15:26

Yeah, I would tell you, it’s probably one of the three best things that has ever happened to me, we’ve been together for over 25 years. And, you know, it started out with 11 people. So it wasn’t always five, the name of the study group is given grow. And the reason it went from 11 to five is that the other six weren’t willing to give, and they just wanted to grow apart. And so we, you know, whittled it down over the years. And, and we’ve just had this core group, and it’s probably several components. But as you alluded to, you said, brothers, I don’t have any siblings, but they truly are, I would be honored to call them my brothers. They are really, as close to me as is any humans that I know. But I think what we’ve done for each other is one accountability. We, if you said you had a goal, or you had an objective that was important to you, we we stood by you and encouraged you or God on your tail, if you weren’t doing things until you accomplished it, if you were doing something, you know, DME or something unproductive, you know, we were kind enough to, you know, let you know what that is, and tell you why it might not be in your best, best interest. And it, it was just one of these things that started out with just us. And then we started bringing in other key members. You know, like our client, service people, other advisors, and we just kept developing it. And over time, we even got to the point where we’ve been traveling the world with our spouses, and meeting people all over the world, we’ve been on podcasts, you know, in other countries, while we’re doing some of our travels. And I just think it’s a defined purpose, everybody wanted to do better, and we all helped each other, you know, get there. And I think you don’t see that a lot. And, you know, maybe we’re just really lucky, we’ve even written a book on how to have an effective study group, because, you know, from what we hear, that’s kind of amazing that a group would stick together that long, but truly instrumental, especially, you know, if you’re in an office, and you got two or three people, and you’re the only advisor, there’s not a lot of people there to help you keep you motivated, keep you on course, and it’s really easy to let yourself down, it’s really difficult to let your friends or a colleague down.

Brittany Anderson 18:24

Yeah, you know, it’s so it’s so interesting, because, you know, I’ve been so fortunate to be able to go to some of those study group meetings. And you know, that whole adage of work hard, play hard for our audience members, do not be deceived. These guys know how to have fun, but they also know how to buckle down and get the job done. And when Brian talks here about accountability, and you know, making sure that everybody’s staying true to what their commitments are, he is not exaggerating, that is what that group does. So, you know, I think I think that what we’ll do is we’ll go ahead and drop the link to that particular book in the show notes, I think that would be something that would be really impactful. So if you’re tuning in, you know, whether you’re a seasoned veteran advisor listening right now, or you’re somebody who’s newer, an up and coming, there is a lot of value and surrounding yourself by the right type of people who can hold you accountable, who can help you grow and who can help you realize your fullest potential. And, you know, shameless plug here. That’s really what ultimate advisor coaching is about, too. It’s about putting you in a room with people that want to give, that want to share that want to collaborate that want to share their very best ideas, because they understand that by sharing their best ideas, somebody else is going to come back and put value stack on that to help bring that idea to the next level. So I just think it’s so magical what’s been done with you know, you, Brian, and the study group, guys and what that’s really evolved to now with their involvement here. Thank you. Absolutely. So Brian, with your years of experience Is and your involvement, you know, you’ve had so many collet mentors, you know, relationships over the years of people that have really helped you grow. So what piece of advice would you give to an advisor that’s looking to grow? to maybe help them not reinvent that wheel?

Bryan Sweet 20:16

Yeah, that’s, that’s actually a very easy one to answer, Brittany, and I would just tell you, it’s learn from others who are where you want to be. So, first of all, learn from somebody that’s in the industry, and actually out there doing it. And because there’s a lot of people that, you know, have programs, but you know, they don’t have the background where they’re in the day to day and, and all the things that go on. And I think one of the key things is I’ve been doing this 40, some years, and the other guys and ultimate advisor, they all run practices, they’re all in the top 1% of all of their industries. And, you know, there’s a reason we all got there. And you know, we’ve had the mistakes, and we’ve learned from them. And you can, you know, learn by mistakes that we’ve made, instead of making them yourself. 

Brittany Anderson 21:18

Which is always good. I wish that that applied to my children, because they don’t always learn through my mistakes. So hopefully, advisors are different.

Bryan Sweet 21:25

Yeah, I can help you with that one, Brittany.

Brittany Anderson 21:31

You know, Bryan, you make me think about it. I think this is a little bit of a recency thing. But at the time that Brian and I are having this conversation, we just got back from Salt Lake City, Utah. And as part of these five pillars that Bryan has been talking about, we held a health and longevity event, at a clinic out there with a wonderful, wonderful partner of ours, his name is Regan Archibald. So we had an event, we had clients, and we had an advisor, their advisors there, and I’m going to give a shout out here, he has no idea that I’m doing this, but I’m going to give a shout out to Chad rushing. So Chad rushing out of pinckneyville, Illinois, you know, he has been somebody, Bryan, that, you know, you make me think about somebody who’s willing to take the bull by the horns, and, you know, really just lean into their next potential and their next possibility. And, you know, Chad has embraced this notion of the five pillars that we’re teaching now, and what it means to really become this next level advisor 2.0. So my challenge and the reason I bring this up as my challenge for our listeners here is that if there’s something that you’ve wanted to accomplish as an advisor, something that you’ve wanted to bring to your client base, don’t sit in that moment of analysis, or analysis, paralysis, right? Take action towards it. Put yourself in a room with people, like Bryan just said, who are doing the things that you want to do and accomplishing the things that you want to accomplish. So, you just frame that Bryan, and it made me think, man, we’ve got some really cool advisors in our communities that are doing big things. And you know, the impact that we’re going to be able to see as this continues to unfold is something that’s really exciting.

Bryan Sweet 23:16

Truly amazing, and Chad’s a great, great example of somebody that you know, gets comfortable being uncomfortable, and that’s really, so critical is no growth that occurs, you know, without being uncomfortable.

Brittany Anderson 23:34

Amen. So, Bryan, you know, when you are involved in so many different businesses and you know, you’re operating at your best self, your highest level, what is something that you do that you you know, to unwind to decompress to kind of let the stresses of the world go away?

Bryan Sweet 23:55

Yeah, well, I would say a couple of things. One, just, it’s a very easy thing is me just being outside whether it’s on a walk or you know, boating or you know, taking a hike or whatever the case may be, I think just being out in nature and you know, smelling the roses and listening to the birds saying that makes life you know, pretty, pretty darn good. And then I also would just such a big fan. Once again, I’ll credit Dan Sullivan for for this they’re called free days and I love to travel and you know, I haven’t really found a place I don’t like yet so we keep doing it but I truly get reinvigorated when I travel. You know outside of my where I live in you know where my normal day to day is and I can truly unwind I never call the office I never look at you emails and you know, you just totally on on Ravel yourself when you can do something like that.

Brittany Anderson 25:09

You know, I always like hearing what Highly successful people and highly driven people do to unwind. And I think there is something that is so powerful about, you know, getting outside, being in nature, moving your body, you know, doing things that truly serve yourself. And I think that is one thing that if we could stress to our advisor community, especially the type a driven individuals, Brian and I can relate in a lot of ways to this, it can be really easy to get into the grind, and get excited even about the work that you’re doing to where it can feel like you can work on it endlessly. But if we don’t pause, that’s where the danger zone sets in. So that’s why I asked questions like that.

Bryan Sweet 25:51

Yeah, you know, and Brittany, it’s really kind of funny, you know, as I mentioned, I’m having more fun than I’ve ever had. But I will tell you, the more time off that I take, the more productive I have become. And what it forces you to do is one, let your team do things that you’ve never given them permission to do. But it also forces you to understand, how do I get a lot done in a short period of time, and what helped, or whose do I need in my life, to keep moving all these things forward. And, you know, I have just found that I’m really good at just maybe a couple of things. And as you know, technology isn’t one of them, but and the more you can spend time in the things that you’re really, really good at, you’ll also typically really enjoy them, and delegate everything else, or find who you don’t have to hire staff necessarily, but, you know, go out and find the best person that does whatever you’re missing, and hire them, you know, it’s gonna cost you a little money, but they’ll get it done better, they’ll get it done faster, and you’ll be able to incorporate it into your practice quicker to move you up levels and make that cost back. And I would always look at that as an investment. Not a cost. But and I think people just don’t have enough courage in themselves to let go, and I can’t stress enough is only do the things that you love. And either hire delegate or find out who and for everything else. And believe me, if you just listen to one thing. You know, that’s that’s the magic formula. As far as I’m concerned.

Brittany Anderson 27:49

I’m so glad that you went that direction, Bryan, and for our listeners, you know, if you’re sitting there hearing Brian saying, you know, stay in your lane, do the things that you’re great at, do the things that you love, and you have passion for and then essentially delegate the rest. Bryan has been teased before that he is like the master delegator. I know some of your colleagues are like, Bryan, what do you do anymore? I’m good at delegating. But But seriously, though, like, think about it like this. And this is where, you know, anytime you tune into this podcast, we want you to be able to walk away with specific action that you can implement immediately. So taking into consideration all that Bryan just said here, you know, if you were to just do a brain dump of all the tasks that you’re working on, that take you away from revenue generating and or relationship deepening activities, you don’t have to go and find 10, who’s immediately, but you can start with one. So starting with that one that really frees up your mind frees up your brain capacity, and lets you focus and just see the progress of what delegation looks like. That’s at least one step in the right direction. So, Bryan, I want to ask you the same question that I asked the other three new members of our ultimate advisor coaching tribe, what skill set do you bring to ultimate advisor coaching that’s going to help others to grow their practice?

Bryan Sweet 29:14

Yeah, great, great question. I think it’s just helping advisors realize their bigger potential, and getting them to realize that literally, they can achieve anything with the right mindset. And most of the issues that we all deal with is the six inches between our ears, and the sooner you can understand that and, you know, deal with that. I just found as magical for people.

Brittany Anderson 29:51

Yes, and, you know, Bryan’s modest in his commentary there. So if you couldn’t tell and listening to this conversation, Bryan is a true visionary. By nature, somebody who’s always seeing the forest through the trees and is always seeing the possibility of what’s next. So him being able to share that with you, our advisor community and with those that continue to come into the program, it’s absolutely going to be a game changer for you and how you focus your attention how you grow your practice, you grow your team, and how you really create that life that you can’t wait to wake up to. So Bryan, thank you so much for carving out time today and having this conversation, there was so much value that our advisor community is going to take away from this.

Bryan Sweet 30:34

Well, it’s it was an absolute pleasure to be on today, Brittany and appreciate you all the things that you do for us at Sweet Financial and all the other things that we do and I’m looking forward to meeting a lot of the people that are listening to this podcast and helping out in any way we can. 

Brittany Anderson 30:52

Love it. Well, that wraps up today’s episode of The Ultimate Advisor Podcast. We’ll catch you right back here next week.