Don Ross from Ross Wealth Advisors

by | Mar 9, 2022

Our guest is Don Ross from Ross Wealth Advisors.

As Don explains, they believe everyone should be able to live the retirement they’ve always wanted. Their team of professionals can help their clients create a well-thought-out strategy, using a variety of investments and insurance products and services, to help them address their financial needs and concerns.

But how did he get here, offering the sage advice he gives his clients?

OJT – on-the-job training. Thirty-three years. That’s the unique thing of what we do. We are an independent fiduciary. So it’s our job to build you the best plan. We work with a lot of singles, widows, widowers, everybody situation’s unique.

Don talk about how he has always had an entrepreneurial spirit. Just jump in and do it.

I was about 12 years old, and I started cutting the neighbor’s yard. And then I did the following neighbor the next neighbor down. I had a trailer behind my bike, going down the street to the neighborhood.

Being an entrepreneur means you have to believe in yourself, your product or service, and make your clients a top priority.

When I watched Shark Tank, I see some people up there plugging stuff like, Are you kidding me? But if you believe in it, it doesn’t matter. And that’s all that matters, whether they go bankrupt or they make millions of dollars. That’s the beauty of being an entrepreneur because you did it.

Don’s take on the importance of how he grows his business.

I know I could step back from day to day, but my clients know they can call or text me. That’s important to me, you know. Doing paperwork? I mean, I’ll screw it up. I don’t go into the database. I never touch that. So I just like being with people.

Entrepreneurs love the opportunity to grow their businesses. But many don’t think about how to say it’s time to move on.

That’s why I have a succession plan in place, which I think every small business owner should have. So you don’t leave your clients hanging.

A lot of business owners are scared to talk to their competitors. But are entrepreneur competitors really in competition?

Two of my best friends, one of them is a fairly big car dealer here in town, a Ford guy, and another friend of mine, the Chevy Guy, both behemoths and what they do, their best friends. They share ideas. They’re not competitors. You’d think that, but they’re really not. But the mindset of most people is, Oh yeah, they’re competitors.

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Transcript

Glenn Harper:

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Welcome everybody, another episode of the aspiring

Glenn Harper:

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entrepreneurs, the Harper and Company way, I'm Glenn

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Harper. Kind of kind of run this show a little bit.

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I got my sidekick here, Julie, what do you do, Julie?

Julie Smith:

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I'm the barista.

Glenn Harper:

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Oh, that's right. So that's perfect.

Glenn Harper:

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So she's in charge of really everything except what I say.

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We got a special guest today in the studio.

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We got Don Ross, a National Guard pilot, a financial

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adviser, good friend, great financial adviser and just an

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all around great American.

Glenn Harper:

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Hi Don, how are you?

Don Ross:

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Hurrah. Hurrah.

Glenn Harper:

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All right. What? You're dressed in your fatigues today, what

Glenn Harper:

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you got going on?

Don Ross:

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Oh, I was just going to do some of my Army Reserve

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obligation. You know, you've got to do so many, so many

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hours a year and something that full time.

Don Ross:

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So.

Glenn Harper:

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So I think at some point you used to fly something in the

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military.

Don Ross:

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Well, I flew Hueys and Blackhawks, but I retired from that

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in 07 and re-enlisted in '18 because I missed it.

Julie Smith:

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So what did you miss about it?

Don Ross:

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The the guys and the guy, you know, other fellow soldiers

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and just wearing the uniform, it's it's a privilege to wear

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the greatest uniform in the world, British military uniform

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in the world. And so, yeah, I love it.

Don Ross:

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I'll be fifty nine and I got to be out one more year.

Glenn Harper:

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We don't talk about age on this show.

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How do you how do you find time to do your real job, which

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is a financial advisor?

Glenn Harper:

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Correct? Want to give a little plug on what you do and how

Glenn Harper:

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you do it?

Don Ross:

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Well, we we do retirement planning.

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We help people make sure they have the proper income plan

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portfolio, a state plan tax plan and predominantly

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retirees, those that are 50 to 60 or, I say, retired within

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five to 10 years retiring.

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Are you in shape?

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Basically, the question I get, Hey, are we on track?

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So we look at their portfolios and help them make sure they

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have the right plan in place.

Glenn Harper:

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What's their biggest question?

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They ask you.

Don Ross:

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Will I run out of money?

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I want to avoid paying too many taxes.

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And what if I get sick?

Glenn Harper:

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Those don't sound like complicated questions at all.

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How did you learn to, you know, answer those questions and

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prepare them properly?

Don Ross:

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Ojt on the job training.

Don Ross:

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Thirty three years.

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You know, I mean, everybody, that's the unique thing of

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what we do, and we are an independent fiduciary.

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So it's our job to build you the best plan and each couple

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or individual, you know, work with a lot of singles,

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widows, widowers, everybody situation's unique.

Glenn Harper:

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Got it. How did you on the on the job training?

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How did you decide? Did you work for a company before you

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went on your own or did you always start off as an

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entrepreneur?

Don Ross:

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No, that's the one of the big firms, which is usually

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recommended. And then you can see the light and either you

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want to be part of that big firm that has a very.

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Most of them have a very distinct philosophy on how they

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want you to advise clients.

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So it wasn't a big fan of that.

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That's why I went on my own

Julie Smith:

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As you decided to make that decision and you were pivoting

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towards that. Did you have a mentor or did you have someone

Julie Smith:

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who was kind of helping you think through that and what

Julie Smith:

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that kind of looked like?

Don Ross:

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Nope, just took the leap.

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That's part of being a risk taker or an entrepreneur is

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like, you have faith and you just go do it.

Don Ross:

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And there's two options you're going to do it or you're not

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doing it. It's all. I understand it.

Glenn Harper:

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So I suspect that's the same as flying helicopters, either

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you can or you can't.

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And it's really complicated to do it, but you've got to

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make the decision that you can do it and you just have to.

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You have to succeed, right?

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There is no there is no option for failure or setback at

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all.

Don Ross:

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Yeah, I mean, it's really about it's really I think you know

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about fear. You know, some people are like, Oh, I couldn't

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do it. I need the systematic paycheck or something like

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that, but back to the helicopters.

Don Ross:

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My favorite part of flight school is who wants to be the

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first student in the front seat?

Don Ross:

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And I'm like me, you know, it's like,

Glenn Harper:

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Let's do it. Do you think you're a program that way, like

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when you are were born?

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Or is that something that throughout your growing up, you

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just kind of recognize that you want to be independent?

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You don't like to be told what to do.

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You want to do it your way.

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Or is it something that you kind of evolved into later?

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I mean, you feel like you had those tendencies when you

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were young?

Don Ross:

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I must have, because when I was about 12 years old, I stole

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my dad's lawnmower to start cutting the neighbor's yard.

Don Ross:

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And then I did the following neighbor the next neighbor

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down.

Glenn Harper:

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And that's like when you take it.

Don Ross:

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I had a trailer behind my bike, going down the street to the

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neighborhood. I grew up in a suburb of Columbus and Upper

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Trunk, and I, you know, I used that self-propelled mower

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and then I built that into a business.

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But here's where it really hit me is I'm a I'm a busboy at

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Luby's, which is like a burger joint.

Don Ross:

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Yeah, like a fish's.

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And I got my first paycheck and I realized the paycheck was

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less than me cutting to neighbor's yards.

Don Ross:

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Get it! I had more money that way.

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Less taxes, yes.

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And I was like, Wait a minute, something's not right here,

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and I kind of rendered my well, I don't know what it's

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called. Then I was 15 years old.

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I said, Hey, I can't do this anymore.

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I'm going to quit and built my business into a company that

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I sold and started in the financial services.

Glenn Harper:

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When you say you build a business that was the landscaping

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company like,

Don Ross:

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Yeah, sort of lawn care, build that up to a lawn care

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landscaping business.

Don Ross:

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And then I sold that in 87.

Glenn Harper:

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How old were you at that time?

Don Ross:

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I sold in 87.

Don Ross:

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I was twenty four.

Glenn Harper:

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So you did this for about 10 years.

Glenn Harper:

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The landscaper?

Don Ross:

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Well, I mean, I started as a lawn care and then probably in

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college and I was, you know, enlisted in the military too.

Don Ross:

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At 18, so I was in college and.

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My head and I really built it up.

Glenn Harper:

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Did you have a bunch of employees or subcontractors?

Don Ross:

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Yeah, at four four.

Glenn Harper:

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So that's a kind of a big deal at that age.

Glenn Harper:

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So you definitely had tendencies growing up that you just

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knew how to figure it out.

Don Ross:

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I didn't think of it. I just did it.

Don Ross:

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My my father sold steel for Bethlehem Steel, and he'd

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always, always, always, always wanted to be self-employed.

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And when he retired, he finally did that.

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He started a couple of businesses and did well.

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And so it's in the blood.

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But the years of, you know, raising a family of six kids,

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two dogs and a wonderful mother of mine, he couldn't really

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afford to.

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He didn't, actually.

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He didn't. 69. He left Bethlehem for a while to go start a

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steel company in Williamsport, PA, and it was just it just

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didn't work. And they took him back, you know, great

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blessing. But he, you know, it's got to be in his blood.

Glenn Harper:

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So it's kind of probably weird that most people can't

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comprehend the fact that at 15, 16, 17, you're running a

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business with four employees making money because that is

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was terrifying.

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But it just seemed like an automatic thing to do, and it

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was way better than going working for the man.

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It just hard. People just can't comprehend

Don Ross:

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That I've seen.

Don Ross:

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Think of it. I just did it.

Don Ross:

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Yeah, I just did it. And you just don't think about it.

Glenn Harper:

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And when you decided to sell it, it was because you're done

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with being a landscaper or you want to do the next best

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thing or.

Don Ross:

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Yeah, I always wanted to be in a financial service.

Don Ross:

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So eighty seven was a fun year.

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I bought my first house.

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All my landscaping business started in the financial

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services.

Glenn Harper:

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So and then from the financial services, nobody really.

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We always find generally entrepreneurs always have some

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sort of mentor or somebody that they hook up with that kind

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of just takes them under the wing and gives them some

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secrets and just kind of helps them along their way.

Glenn Harper:

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Did you have anybody like that?

Don Ross:

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Yeah, I was. I started one of the big firms.

Don Ross:

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I don't know if I need to say the name, but.

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And then you're paired up with a mentor.

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But he I was we just didn't connect.

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He was he was two, which is good.

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He was to buy the book, but I wanted to go out, you know, I

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was walking the halls of a horseshoe medical school, you

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know, recruiting young doctors.

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He's like, Oh, you got to do a process.

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I'm like, I don't do processes.

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You know, I'm walking the halls.

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Hey, you need a financial advisor, you need a financial

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advisor. And long story short, I mean, two years later, I

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sold that book because I went back in the military to go to

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flight school, so I started over three times.

Glenn Harper:

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When you start over like that, you look at yourself in the

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mirror and go, What is wrong with you?

Don Ross:

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Most of our producers entrepreneurs would never say that

Glenn Harper:

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When I say, what's wrong with you, just I said, like a

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tongue in cheek your leadership and laughing at yourself

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and going, I can't believe I'm doing this again, but I can.

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I can't imagine you doing something different working for

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somebody else at that time because you just you just knew.

Glenn Harper:

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No.

Don Ross:

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And that's kind of the funny thing is, wait a minute, dude,

Don Ross:

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you're also in the military.

Don Ross:

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Well, not full time. That's why I didn't go full time.

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I probably would have punched out a commander.

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So that's kind of funny, but I do like the regimen of of

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the military.

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Which is kind of ironic for an entrepreneur.

Don Ross:

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I mean, it really is I'm.

Julie Smith:

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You definitely have to follow a lot of processes, so it

Julie Smith:

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feels like you get your fill of that and then you kind of

Julie Smith:

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go rogue over here.

Don Ross:

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Maybe I had a couple of commanders that didn't like my kind

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of free spirited thinking, but in aviation, which that's

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what I did for many years, that's processes that I love.

Don Ross:

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I love flying. And because.

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There is a process, but on the other side of what I've done

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for 30 some years, I don't like processes, so some of the

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financial services business. My number one process and only

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goal I care about is are my clients getting the best value?

Don Ross:

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Gotcha. Right? I mean, you've known me a long

Glenn Harper:

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Time, long time. And it seems like the the military and also

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what you're doing in your financial advisor role.

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You are really a big team guy like, you know, you can't do

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it on your own. I think that's probably one of the reasons

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you like the military. You got a whole team that's got your

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back. And when you went on your own as a financial advisor,

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you didn't really go on your own.

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I've known you long enough that you always surround

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yourself with good people, good relationships that kind of

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augmented what you do for a living and kind of supported

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you with your strengths and weaknesses.

Glenn Harper:

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They would augment that. Is that a fair statement?

Glenn Harper:

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Yes.

Don Ross:

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I mean, I am part of a network of independent advisors

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around the country, and we share best practice with each

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other. We're all entrepreneurs.

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A lot of them left big companies like I did.

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I have some colleagues that were former schoolteachers, but

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one of them said years and years ago he goes, And I like

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this line, he goes, I ain't very smart, but I surround my

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people myself with the best of the best.

Glenn Harper:

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I think that's a fair statement.

Glenn Harper:

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You've always had an incredible again, you're just a

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relationship guy. I've been privileged to know you for a

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long time and you just know everybody.

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You're like, You walk in, you're like the mayor.

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And but. But that served you well because again, I don't,

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you know, entrepreneurs before they make the jump or when

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they're deciding on that to do it or not, they're just

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they're very scared. But then once you make the commitment

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to do it, there is no turning back.

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I mean, you don't. It's OK to start every day negative.

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It's fine because it's going to work out, OK, what do you

Glenn Harper:

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feel like? That's a fair statement.

Glenn Harper:

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Yeah.

Don Ross:

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You know what, I you know when I watched the Shark Tank?

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Mm hmm. I see some people up there plugging stuff like, Are

Don Ross:

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you kidding me? But if you believe in it, it doesn't

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matter. I mean, they're trying to sell the sharks on some

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things, like for lack of better grammar.

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Ain't nobody going to buy that, and they either all fight

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over it or they're all like, there's no way but that person

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or that couple, whoever is up there, they believe in that.

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And that's all that matters, whether they go bankrupt or

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they make millions of dollars.

Don Ross:

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That's the beauty of being an entrepreneur, because you you

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did it.

Glenn Harper:

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Do you feel like, you know, we see entrepreneurs that we've

Glenn Harper:

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been privileged enough to hang out with them for like 32

Glenn Harper:

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years and thousands of them, and they all have these kind

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of tendencies and you're either going to do we call do

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business where you're kind of doing all the work and

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running the whole show and doing it kind of solo.

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And then eventually you make a transition to one to build a

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business. Where do you think you're at in your journey?

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Are you still doing business or are you trying to

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transition to building a business?

Glenn Harper:

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Where do you think you're at

Don Ross:

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My financial services?

Don Ross:

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Yes. I'm still looking for new clients, but I'm not looking

Don Ross:

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to have 15 employees.

Glenn Harper:

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Is that what you mean? Well, like it seems to me in the last

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few years you brought in some talent to kind of take over a

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lot of those roles that you used to do and all the

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paperwork. And so you're not maybe you're still doing sales

Glenn Harper:

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and the relationship side, but you've handed off a lot of

Glenn Harper:

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those duties, correct?

Don Ross:

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Oh, 100 percent.

Don Ross:

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And because I have a succession plan too, I don't want my

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client. You know, I always say this my my wife, Joni, you

Don Ross:

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know, she hates when I say it.

Don Ross:

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But if I stroked out tomorrow, I don't want my clients

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being left in the. You know, on their own alone, right?

Don Ross:

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Or, yeah, I mean, that's important to me, so we have junior

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adviser and some other staff.

Glenn Harper:

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But you do have aspirations to be, you know, manage, you

Glenn Harper:

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know, $20 billion and and be like Bobby Axelrod or you more

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like a small boutique.

Don Ross:

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I sit down with my clients one on one.

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We call each other, text each other.

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We celebrate birthdays and all that.

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I don't want to be a and I have colleagues that, you know,

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they want to bring in $100 million a year.

Don Ross:

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That may not mean anything to you or the listeners, but

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that

Glenn Harper:

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Seems like a lot of work.

Don Ross:

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I want to sit down with one on one and not, you know, not

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bring you on as a client.

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And then maybe I'll see you in four years.

Don Ross:

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I mean, I bring on clients that haven't talked to the

Don Ross:

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adviser in two years and they have big, big accounts.

Julie Smith:

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So it seems to me like you're just relationship driven and

Julie Smith:

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you've kind of figured out how to bring in a team and put

Julie Smith:

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those people around you to do the things so you can

Julie Smith:

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continue with the relationships, but maybe take a step back

Julie Smith:

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from the day to day.

Don Ross:

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Yeah, yeah.

Don Ross:

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I know I could step back from day to day, but my clients

Don Ross:

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know they can call or text me.

Don Ross:

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That's important to me, you know, doing paperwork.

Don Ross:

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I mean, I'll screw it up. I don't go into the database.

Don Ross:

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You know, that's Joni.

Don Ross:

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I never touch that. No, no, no, no.

Don Ross:

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So I just like being with people, and I got that from my

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dad.

Glenn Harper:

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Would you suggest, you know, a lot of entrepreneurs, you

Glenn Harper:

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look at the ones that are just doing the grind.

Glenn Harper:

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They they love being an entrepreneur, but they are just

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burnout. They're not really having fun because they haven't

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figured out how to delegate and empower their team around

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them. If there's anybody I know, nobody has more fun at

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what they do than you.

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Why is that? What is it an attitude thing?

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Is it just because you've been blessed with that gift of

Glenn Harper:

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gab and just your thing?

Glenn Harper:

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Or is it because you have a great team?

Glenn Harper:

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Why is it that you have so much fun doing doing your

Glenn Harper:

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entrepreneurial journey?

Don Ross:

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Well, in my my eyes, it's easy.

Don Ross:

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What I do.

Don Ross:

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But most people are like, you're talking about people's

Don Ross:

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life savings. That seems pretty scary.

Don Ross:

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Well, it is, but if you don't embrace it and have done it

Don Ross:

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for many years, that's that's why it's it's it's easy.

Don Ross:

:

I don't know.

Glenn Harper:

:

It's funny.

Don Ross:

:

You say to me, like if I think about what you do, I'm like,

Don Ross:

:

you know, my eyes are crossed, but that's what you do.

Don Ross:

:

Just like, you know, the the airline pilot or the

Don Ross:

:

kindergarten teacher, I mean, it's all about having the

Don Ross:

:

passion for it, then it's not work.

Don Ross:

:

I mean, you've heard the old, you know, if you love what

Don Ross:

:

you do, you work a day in your life.

Glenn Harper:

:

But I mean, I know you well enough to.

Glenn Harper:

:

I don't think you go to the go to the office every day and

Glenn Harper:

:

call it work. I don't think you look at it that way.

Glenn Harper:

:

You go and have some fun.

Glenn Harper:

:

You help some people out.

Glenn Harper:

:

You do. Your thing is that, you know, like I said, how long

Glenn Harper:

:

did it take you to develop that swag?

Glenn Harper:

:

Because again, when you first started out, you know you got

Glenn Harper:

:

to make a paycheck. You got to raise family.

Glenn Harper:

:

You got to do those things.

Glenn Harper:

:

When did it switch over where like, Wow, this is fun.

Glenn Harper:

:

Let's not worry about it. Let's just have a good time with

Glenn Harper:

:

it.

Don Ross:

:

Oh, many years ago.

Don Ross:

:

Long time, because it's always what I want to do.

Don Ross:

:

That's why in 87, I sold business, bought my first house,

Don Ross:

:

graduated college, finished my first enlistment, started in

Don Ross:

:

the financial services, always wanted to do it.

Don Ross:

:

I don't know a buddy of mine.

Don Ross:

:

Years and years ago before I even started, he was I wanted

Don Ross:

:

to be like him. He's still in the business.

Don Ross:

:

We talk once or twice a year.

Don Ross:

:

And so it's like, I wouldn't know what else to do.

Glenn Harper:

:

So there is no end game, right?

Glenn Harper:

:

You're not going to like, retire tomorrow.

Glenn Harper:

:

I can't imagine you're not running.

Don Ross:

:

Oh my gosh. No, we I mean, Saturday by noon, I'm like, Let's

Don Ross:

:

go, let's go. And I've already played paddle tennis for two

Don Ross:

:

hours, you know, so. No, but that's why I have a succession

Don Ross:

:

plan in place, which I think every small business owner

Don Ross:

:

should have. So you don't leave your clients hanging, not

Don Ross:

:

that they would, but that's the way I look at it.

Glenn Harper:

:

It makes you sleep good at night.

Glenn Harper:

:

A lot of entrepreneurs, they also have these tendencies to

Glenn Harper:

:

want to start up other business and do and do other things.

Glenn Harper:

:

Do you have any of those tendencies?

Glenn Harper:

:

Are you happy with where you're at?

Don Ross:

:

I'm happy with where they're at, where I'm at, because

Don Ross:

:here's what happened in:

Don Ross:

:

I was thinking about going this, and I did actually go and

Don Ross:

:

work on Capitol Hill for a while.

Don Ross:

:

I want to do that. I want to do this.

Don Ross:

:

My dad looked at me and I'll never forget this.

Don Ross:

:

And he's still alive.

Don Ross:

:

Ninety one years old.

Don Ross:

:

He goes, Hmm, sounds like a great idea.

Don Ross:

:

You're going to be a jack of all trades and master of none.

Don Ross:

:

And what that means is you if you don't focus on what your

Don Ross:

:

core business is.

Don Ross:

:

And then they'll all be mediocre.

Don Ross:

:

I mean, all right, let's say you want to open up a little

Don Ross:

:

corner restaurant. Well, Glenn's attention is going over

Don Ross:

:

there. What's going to happen to Harper and Co.?

Don Ross:

:

Correct? Unless you have, I mean, unless you have a really

Don Ross:

:

good team in place, which I know you have a great team.

Don Ross:

:

But I don't think my personal opinion is since I'm, you

Don Ross:

:

know, not a very smart guy is you need to do what you do.

Don Ross:

:

And if you want to do other hobbies, do hobbies correct?

Glenn Harper:

:

And I think that comes down to when you lie down trainers,

Glenn Harper:

:

when they make the switch to actually building a business

Glenn Harper:

:

that can also almost run without them or they don't need

Glenn Harper:

:

the day to day attention, it's more like once a week meet

Glenn Harper:

:

your board of directors or whatever, then you can do those

Glenn Harper:

:

other endeavors. But you don't ever want to get rid of the

Glenn Harper:

:

mothership because that's when the provided everything

Glenn Harper:

:

right. I can't imagine you just walking away from that.

Don Ross:

:

I would say, I mean, there's some great companies in this

Don Ross:

:

city and around the country, in the world that these men

Don Ross:

:

are women have built this company.

Don Ross:

:

And then and then they put a team in to run it.

Don Ross:

:

But they did it that way or they built it to sell it.

Don Ross:

:

I don't even have aspirations to try to start anything

Don Ross:

:

else.

Glenn Harper:

:

Yeah. No, that's fine, that's fine.

Don Ross:

:

That sounds like work.

Glenn Harper:

:

Yes. We don't want any part of that.

Glenn Harper:

:

This is having too much fun.

Glenn Harper:

:

What is your do you have like a.

Glenn Harper:

:

A dream client that you would like to on board or a dream

Glenn Harper:

:

business deal that you bring on board, that you're going to

Glenn Harper:

:

advise them on who is like, you could go that person or

Glenn Harper:

:

that company if I could just get that there, there are

Glenn Harper:

:

investment accounts.

Glenn Harper:

:

Is that something that you think about it at all or is it

Glenn Harper:

:

like whoever comes along that were before?

Don Ross:

:

Absolutely. Every time we do a review with a client, I had

Don Ross:

:

three yesterday and and they leave, they give me a hug

Don Ross:

:

high. Five me in the meeting was five minutes business.

Don Ross:

:

15 minutes. What are you doing?

Don Ross:

:

What are you catching up with? I'm like, I say to Joni, How

Don Ross:

:

do we duplicate them?

Don Ross:

:

And you know, we're so we're still out looking.

Don Ross:

:

We get some great referrals.

Don Ross:

:

And that client, if you if you want to know what it looks

Don Ross:

:

financially, you know, they they've saved half a million

Don Ross:

:

dollars to two and a half million.

Don Ross:

:

That's that's who we serve very well.

Don Ross:

:

Ten up.

Don Ross:

:

They need a different planning level I'm not interested in,

Don Ross:

:

but the kind of clients, they're just salt of the Earth,

Don Ross:

:

you know? I mean, I retire a lot of cops and I don't know

Don Ross:

:

how far your podcast.

Don Ross:

:

Obviously, your podcast could be anywhere

Glenn Harper:

:

Hundreds of millions of people worldwide, multiple

Glenn Harper:

:

languages.

Don Ross:

:

But as far as central hire, I retire a lot of police

Don Ross:

:

officers. I mean, you want to talk about salt of the Earth,

Don Ross:

:

OK, guys, schoolteachers, entrepreneurs, military.

Don Ross:

:

But I look at the kind of people they are and they they

Don Ross:

:

benefit and they can. They take value with what we provide,

Don Ross:

:

and we're a collaborative effort, and that's why we

Don Ross:

:

celebrate their birthdays.

Don Ross:

:

We do fun stuff together and they're like family.

Glenn Harper:

:

And the reality is, you know, if you're not producing the

Glenn Harper:

:

desired results for them from the financial advising side,

Glenn Harper:

:

getting the appropriate returns, managing risk, ensuring

Glenn Harper:

:

that they've got their cash flows, they go to retirement,

Glenn Harper:

:

you know, they would leave. So obviously you're doing that

Glenn Harper:

:

well, but then you're going a little bit further and you're

Glenn Harper:

:

doing more of a personal relationship.

Glenn Harper:

:

Oh, yeah. And is that something that obviously you've

Glenn Harper:

:

always done it that way? But do you did you have to pivot

Glenn Harper:

:

at some point and go, wait a minute for me to really get my

Glenn Harper:

:

name out there and do these things even better?

Glenn Harper:

:

I've got to go and kind of modify how I do that

Glenn Harper:

:

relationship. And is it more sincere?

Glenn Harper:

:

Is it more genuine?

Glenn Harper:

:

Is it more surface level?

Glenn Harper:

:

You know, how do you how do you, you know, navigate that?

Don Ross:

:

I just regardless of whether we're out doing workshop events

Don Ross:

:

or getting referrals, I just I just be me.

Don Ross:

:

I mean, for me, pretty straightforward.

Glenn Harper:

:

Gotcha. Do you feel like we look at every entrepreneur they

Glenn Harper:

:

have? Like, there's something that they're just really,

Glenn Harper:

:

really good at, you know, obviously hand eye coordination

Glenn Harper:

:

with helicopters a little bit different than the average

Glenn Harper:

:

person. But you know, from a financial advisor standpoint

Glenn Harper:

:

is it's something that is your superpower that you can

Glenn Harper:

:

predict the market or is your superpower, that you can

Glenn Harper:

:

predict relationships and you can provide a valuable, you

Glenn Harper:

:

know, consistent return.

Glenn Harper:

:

What do you think your superpower is?

Don Ross:

:

Creating a really good relationship with that client,

Don Ross:

:

because if you look at in our industry the reasons why

Don Ross:

:

people leave and advisor, you brought it up a couple of

Don Ross:

:

times return.

Don Ross:

:

That's like fourth or fifth on the list.

Don Ross:

:

I mean, we all want to get everybody thirty five percent a

Don Ross:

:

year on their money, but it's just not realistic.

Don Ross:

:

I mean, look, why not look at the first few first few weeks

Don Ross:

:

of this year? We're we're down, but my clients understand

Don Ross:

:

that we're going to have that roller coaster ride and we've

Don Ross:

:

built that into their plan so they don't have these high

Don Ross:

:

expectations. And I've showed them an income plan or the

Don Ross:

:

rest of their life that they're not going to run out of

Don Ross:

:

money if they're not.

Don Ross:

:

And so they don't get wrapped up, you know, with the

Don Ross:

:

markets.

Glenn Harper:

:

Do you find, you know, I love asking financial advisors this

Glenn Harper:

:

question because it's kind of fun.

Glenn Harper:

:

Do you find that, you know, if you have a client, they've

Glenn Harper:

:

got x dollars with you and you're kind of controlling the

Glenn Harper:

:

narrative on how that works and how it's invested with your

Glenn Harper:

:

portfolio managers and how you operate that.

Glenn Harper:

:

And they come to you and say, Hey, look, I want to take

Glenn Harper:

:

out, you know, 10 percent of this and go make a alternative

Glenn Harper:

:

investment or start a business or something like that.

Glenn Harper:

:

Are you are you very you get supportive of that.

Glenn Harper:

:

You try to understand it more or do you try to have them

Glenn Harper:

:

get some advice on it?

Glenn Harper:

:

Or you're like, No, no, that's the stupidest thing I've

Glenn Harper:

:

ever heard.

Don Ross:

:

No, a I look at it.

Don Ross:

:

This is their money.

Don Ross:

:

And if they don't enjoy, it has no value in.

Don Ross:

:

And when we're getting to know each other, I'm asking all

Don Ross:

:

kinds of future questions.

Don Ross:

:

The biggest thing I'm helping people do is how to buy a

Don Ross:

:

second home. What most people want?

Don Ross:

:

Yeah, because remember, they're mostly retired and they're

Don Ross:

:

not looking to really start a small business now on this

Don Ross:

:

side. There's a few that want to be consulting because

Don Ross:

:

they're experts on what they've done.

Don Ross:

:

In fact, I think I sent a few to you and yeah, they can

Don Ross:

:

take their expertise from the companies they they retired

Don Ross:

:

from and set up, you know, hang out their own shingle.

Don Ross:

:

And that's fun.

Don Ross:

:

I'm all about quality of life.

Don Ross:

:

The money will take care of itself.

Don Ross:

:

It's how do we make sure you're confident you can spend

Don Ross:

:

your money and not be freaking out and waking up at 3:00 in

Don Ross:

:

the morning? So that's what we're about is quality of life

Don Ross:

:

and the rest of the things will take care of themselves.

Glenn Harper:

:

Have you ever, you know, not one time so far in this entire

Glenn Harper:

:

talk? Have you ever talked about profitability, lifestyle

Glenn Harper:

:

making money?

Glenn Harper:

:

It's all you're just doing what you love.

Glenn Harper:

:

Was that always the case?

Glenn Harper:

:

Was the money ever motivation?

Glenn Harper:

:

Because obviously you do what you do.

Glenn Harper:

:

You're obviously you're successful at it.

Glenn Harper:

:

Did you ever do this for the money?

Glenn Harper:

:

You just do it because you enjoyed it?

Don Ross:

:

I guess I never thought of that.

Don Ross:

:

I never thought of it now, obviously.

Don Ross:

:

I've been doing this a long time, I've created a very

Don Ross:

:

comfortable lifestyle.

Don Ross:

:

But. I guess I didn't think about it as a money, because

Don Ross:

:

since day one, you know, cutting that first yard for a for

Don Ross:

:

a for compensation, I just did it because I did it on my

Don Ross:

:

own. I. Someone wasn't directing me,

Glenn Harper:

:

I guess, to further elaborate, like when you became the

Glenn Harper:

:

financial adviser and said, Okay, I'm going to do this.

Glenn Harper:

:

This is my calling.

Glenn Harper:

:

So if I could just get $100 million under assets under

Glenn Harper:

:

management and I can make a million bucks on that or I want

Glenn Harper:

:

to make five hundred million under asset make you know?

Glenn Harper:

:

Did you have a a number or did you just go?

Don Ross:

:

I'm not a really good planner, as you know, planning as far

Don Ross:

:

as that.

Glenn Harper:

:

What? Hey, cut that out of there.

Glenn Harper:

:

I can't have that in here.

Don Ross:

:

I so sometimes I have a little trouble with goals like not

Don Ross:

:

how many clients you want to get, but hitting certain

Don Ross:

:

numbers because certain how much I want to have under

Don Ross:

:

management. I mean, I don't want to criticize anybody that

Don Ross:

:

does, because then it's like, All right, if I don't get you

Don Ross:

:

as a client today, I'm going to miss my numbers.

Don Ross:

:

To me, that means I'm not focusing on you.

Don Ross:

:

I'm thinking in the back of my head a goal I got to hit.

Don Ross:

:

I mean, goals are important, but you're the only thing that

Don Ross:

:

matters right now, and I'm talking to you as a potential

Don Ross:

:

client. You know, I don't do that.

Glenn Harper:

:

Is it fair to say like the military basically gives you all

Glenn Harper:

:

the structure, all the fallback, all the the goals,

Glenn Harper:

:

everything has to happen a certain way there.

Glenn Harper:

:

And now when you go do your quote entrepreneurial journey,

Glenn Harper:

:

you're kind of just like, I just want to do what I want to

Glenn Harper:

:

do. I want to help people and the money will come.

Glenn Harper:

:

I think that's what you're basically trying to say.

Glenn Harper:

:

You never really set a goal that I want to make x per year

Glenn Harper:

:

or had this many clients.

Don Ross:

:

Yeah, I agree with that.

Glenn Harper:

:

One hundred percent, which is a very common theme with

Glenn Harper:

:

entrepreneurs. They do it because they love it, not because

Glenn Harper:

:

they want to make well, we're all over

Don Ross:

:

The place, you know, our minds.

Don Ross:

:

That's why we need someone to keep us like that and think

Don Ross:

:

like a journey. But that's why it's still to this day.

Don Ross:

:

Kind of funny to say, wait a minute, military.

Don Ross:

:

Entrepreneur. Yeah, it's it's kind of bizarre.

Don Ross:

:

I can't really explain it, I just I just do it, just do it.

Don Ross:

:

I don't know that someone wants to really take my blueprint

Don Ross:

:

and try to start a business off it.

Glenn Harper:

:

Believe it or not, I think most people do.

Julie Smith:

:

Speaking of blueprint, do you feel like as you've went

Julie Smith:

:

through this journey and I feel like you, you've just done

Julie Smith:

:

it and you've been very successful it just doing it.

Julie Smith:

:

But have you ever had to pivot or fall forward or is there

Julie Smith:

:

something you would maybe give the listeners that said,

Julie Smith:

:

Hey, I kind of went through this if I look back, I would

Julie Smith:

:

have maybe done this.

Don Ross:

:

Uh, as far as me, maybe, you know, a couple of times I sold

Don Ross:

:

my book and left the big firms, I always think back I

Don Ross:

:

started with a buddy who's one of the top in the country

Don Ross:

:

now with this big firm.

Don Ross:

:

I mean, he did a different route.

Don Ross:

:

He acquired other small businesses, but I don't think

Don Ross:

:

there's anything I would do differently.

Don Ross:

:

Other than maybe a little bit more focus, I think I that's

Don Ross:

:

a couple of times I sold my book.

Don Ross:

:

It was because I was attracted to do something else over

Don Ross:

:

here and that was when I sold my book meaning.

Don Ross:

:

I sold it to another adviser in the big firm because if I

Don Ross:

:

took those clients with me, it would hurt them financially.

Don Ross:

:

Based on the investments they were in and things like that.

Don Ross:

:

I think that's what you're asking, and that's the only

Don Ross:

:

thing I would have done differently.

Julie Smith:

:

Or is like you got into the entrepreneur and maybe you were

Julie Smith:

:

building your business.

Julie Smith:

:

Is there anything like I would have hired a team quicker or

Julie Smith:

:

I would have maybe put this process in place or I would

Julie Smith:

:

have maybe done this a little bit differently?

Don Ross:

:

Yeah, don't. Don't be afraid.

Don Ross:

:

I mean, if I'm giving direct advice, don't be afraid to

Don Ross:

:

hire really good people.

Don Ross:

:

Because they can take and run with some, some some of the

Don Ross:

:

minutia things while you're focusing on the big picture.

Don Ross:

:

And I'm assuming that's exactly how you guys do it.

Don Ross:

:

You've got to focus on the big picture.

Don Ross:

:

You're not necessarily doing the teeny little return

Don Ross:

:

things. I mean, I don't know exactly, but hire good people

Don Ross:

:

and it's an investment.

Don Ross:

:

You know, they they always say, take time to hire and fire

Don Ross:

:

fast.

Julie Smith:

:

And something you said that I think really rings true is

Julie Smith:

:

it's an investment.

Julie Smith:

:

It's not a cost.

Julie Smith:

:

You're not looking at your team as a cost.

Julie Smith:

:

You look at them as an investment.

Julie Smith:

:

And I think that's such a great mindset.

Don Ross:

:

You know, it's like when people talk about a renovating

Don Ross:

:

their kitchen, I'm like, That's an investment.

Don Ross:

:

Where do you spend all your time in the kitchen?

Don Ross:

:

Invest in a great kitchen.

Don Ross:

:

So, you know, depending on what kind of business anybody

Don Ross:

:

starting, bring on a great person and spend that money

Don Ross:

:

because it'll pay dividends.

Glenn Harper:

:

And we we see that entrepreneurs that start out, if they

Glenn Harper:

:

would just. And that's why we talk about the mentor and the

Glenn Harper:

:

team and surround yourself with good people because

Glenn Harper:

:

there's, you know, the key component of running a business

Glenn Harper:

:

as you need your, you know, we feel like you need a good

Glenn Harper:

:

CPA advisor.

Glenn Harper:

:

You need a good financial advisor, you need a good banker,

Glenn Harper:

:

you need a good attorney, you need these people because

Glenn Harper:

:

people think they cost too much.

Glenn Harper:

:

Not going to help you. But if you have those kind of team

Glenn Harper:

:

behind you right away, literally, that's the shortcut.

Glenn Harper:

:

Like, you don't have to go through five, seven, 10, 15

Glenn Harper:

:

years of absolute anarchy when all you had to do is invest

Glenn Harper:

:

a little bit up front and you'd have had paved the way to

Glenn Harper:

:

be certain success.

Glenn Harper:

:

I mean, you're not going to fail because of something

Glenn Harper:

:

stupid. You may suck at your, you know, whatever you do for

Glenn Harper:

:

a living, but you're not going to your business isn't going

Glenn Harper:

:

to suck when that's a big deal, right?

Julie Smith:

:

You use that f word. We don't use that on here.

Glenn Harper:

:

I use this fail.

Glenn Harper:

:

Oh yeah. Oh, sorry.

Don Ross:

:

Well, actually, I have colleagues that believe failure is

Don Ross:

:

the greatest.

Julie Smith:

:

Well, we call it pivoting or falling forward.

Don Ross:

:

Rather, pivoting was a COVID thing.

Julie Smith:

:

No, no, no, no, no.

Julie Smith:

:

We don't

Glenn Harper:

:

Do that. We don't talk there.

Don Ross:

:

The narrative?

Glenn Harper:

:

No, it's we call it the school of hard knocks because

Julie Smith:

:

We don't believe entrepreneurs really fail.

Julie Smith:

:

Never you. Everyone just kind of pivots or falls forward or

Julie Smith:

:

falls into something kind of different.

Julie Smith:

:

Oh, we get it. You only you only fail if you quit.

Julie Smith:

:

And I don't think any of us are quitting.

Don Ross:

:

No, I got, you know, did you ask a question in there?

Julie Smith:

:

Sorry, I caught him off guard.

Glenn Harper:

:

Sorry. No. It was just the the ability.

Glenn Harper:

:

Like, do you feel like when you first started, you had that

Glenn Harper:

:

you got that advice up front to do these things?

Glenn Harper:

:

Or do you kind of feel like you kind of watched the mentors

Glenn Harper:

:

do it a little bit and you kind of knew what you needed to

Glenn Harper:

:

do and and you were able to handle that, OK?

Don Ross:

:

Yeah, it's all about being around good people.

Don Ross:

:

That's why I say OJT on the job training now being that I'm

Don Ross:

:

part of an independent advisor network group around the

Don Ross:

:

country, I think the best I would say if you're starting in

Don Ross:

:

the, I don't know, the siding business, I would network

Don Ross:

:

with the siding guy four counties away or maybe two states

Don Ross:

:

away and share ideas on what's the latest and greatest

Don Ross:

:

thing on siding or shingles.

Don Ross:

:

Or maybe you're going to be in the paving business, or

Don Ross:

:

maybe you're going to start a, you know, I bought a home

Don Ross:

:

health care business many years ago.

Don Ross:

:

I bought a franchise.

Don Ross:

:

My dad ran it. What that means is you're getting expert

Don Ross:

:

advice from someone that's done it.

Don Ross:

:

So I think, you know, I'm sure you network with other CPAs.

Glenn Harper:

:

Not initially because, you know, a lot of business owners

Glenn Harper:

:

are scared traditionally to talk to their competitors.

Glenn Harper:

:

And that's not the case because you're you and you only do

Glenn Harper:

:

it your way. And that other person does it their way.

Glenn Harper:

:

They can't be you and you can't be them, right?

Don Ross:

:

Two of my best friends and you know, one of them fairly big

Don Ross:

:

car dealer here in town, a Ford guy and another friend of

Don Ross:

:

mine, the Chevy Guy, both behemoths and what they do, their

Don Ross:

:

best friends. They share ideas.

Don Ross:

:

They're not competitors.

Don Ross:

:

You'd think that, but they're really not.

Don Ross:

:

But the mindset of most people is, Oh yeah, we're

Don Ross:

:

competitors.

Glenn Harper:

:

Nope. Do you do a lot of a lot of social media stuff or you

Glenn Harper:

:

have an online presence at all?

Glenn Harper:

:

Or are you just more of a relationship guy and referral guy

Glenn Harper:

:

that way? Or do you put put your word out there all over

Glenn Harper:

:

the internet and everything?

Don Ross:

:

Joanie handles that Instagram, Facebook.

Don Ross:

:

We put out good content.

Don Ross:

:

You know, we have a weekly Friday video, which I think

Don Ross:

:

you're going to be on here pretty soon, by the way.

Don Ross:

:

Awesome. And so, yeah, we have a social footprint.

Don Ross:

:

So it works.

Don Ross:

:

That's how people find us.

Don Ross:

:

There's all these Google rating things, and we have people

Don Ross:

:

that say, You found you on the web.

Don Ross:

:

I'm like, OK, because we come, we're first below some of

Don Ross:

:

the ads, right?

Don Ross:

:

The ads that are on the, you know, the Meryl's, the Wells

Don Ross:

:

Fargo and all that.

Don Ross:

:

And that has to do with ratings.

Don Ross:

:

I don't know how that works, but

Glenn Harper:

:

Now that's way beyond our pay grade.

Glenn Harper:

:

Do you have any other advice that you would want to give an

Glenn Harper:

:

entrepreneur that just starting their journey, whether

Glenn Harper:

:

they're 14, 18, 20, 30, 50, maybe the dreaded 60?

Don Ross:

:

I don't know if his advice you can give an entrepreneur

Don Ross:

:

because if it's in your blood or your DNA, it's it's done.

Don Ross:

:

You're going to you're going to do it.

Don Ross:

:

But I would say stay focused and always do what's right for

Don Ross:

:

your client or whatever, whoever the end user of what your

Don Ross:

:

service or product is.

Don Ross:

:

And you'll never go wrong.

Glenn Harper:

:

Be true to that passion.

Glenn Harper:

:

Well, Don, appreciate you coming on today.

Glenn Harper:

:

It's always a pleasure sitting down and talking with you.

Glenn Harper:

:

Glen Harper signing off Julie.

Glenn Harper:

:

Julie Smith. All right.