Reinventing Succession: A New Playbook for Financial Advisor Practice Transitions

Marc Freedman [0:00] Ever since this deal has been done, I don't carry the burden of running all of these aspects of my office home with me every night. I worry about my clients because LPL worries about everything else.

Taryn Huget [0:18] Welcome to If You Could with Matt and Taryn. I'm Taryn Huget

Matt Enyedi [0:22]and I'm Matt Enyedi.

Taryn Huget [0:24] Hey Matt, that's a good word today.

Matt Enyedi [0:25] Oh, the good word is clear, it is simple, it is summer, and it is almost here, and I can't wait. Long days, warm sun, no school for the kiddos, and no work for the grown-ups.

Taryn Huget [0:35] No work. I'm intrigued. Tell me more

Matt Enyedi [0:37] Oh yeah, you didn't hear. With all of the AI transformation going on, all of the productivity we've gained.

Matt Enyedi [0:43] Adults now get summers off just like our kids.

Taryn Huget [0:46] Very curious, where are you getting this information?

Matt Enyedi [0:49] Oh, I'm using AI. I prompted Claude the other day, and this is the feedback it gave me, and AI is always right.

Taryn Huget [0:55] Yeah, you, my friend, have been misled, but let me tell you, summer is here. I mean, I got camp schedules and travel.

Taryn Huget [1:02] And soccer tournaments. And let me tell you, it is exciting, but it is exhausting.

Matt Enyedi [1:09] That's the spirit of summer, exciting and exhausting. And ours is kicking off the same way. We've got an epic graduation party for my daughter coming up with family and friends and neighbors all gathered to celebrate this fantastic rite of passage. But I gotta be honest with you, T, I'm kind of caught between a mix of immense pride and waves of grief.

Matt Enyedi [1:29] My little girl is leaving in the fall.

Taryn Huget [1:31] Oh, I'm sure that's bringing up some emotion.

Matt Enyedi [1:34] Yeah, it's, it's definitely some emotion. Um, I promise folks, no tears today, not on the pod, not while we're recording, just today. Maybe after, maybe after I might just go into a corner if you see me, um, just leave me be. I'll be fine. But hey, I'm actually getting through it because here's what I've learned is, yeah, chapters are gonna close.

Matt Enyedi [1:51] But the story doesn't end there, and we've got big change for sure, but on the other side of it, we've got a blank page and and we get to determine what we write next.

Taryn Huget [2:01] Yeah, you know what, I'm sure it's going to be hard, but here's what I do know. You raise Lila to go, and every story that you have shared with me, you can see the leader that she has become.

Taryn Huget [2:12] And I feel like I'm square in the middle of that with my own kids. I mean, I've one headed to kindergarten in a few years, and middle school is just around the corner for the other.

Taryn Huget [2:21] And I'm not sure that I'm ready for it, but let me tell you that transition is coming, whether or not I like it.

Matt Enyedi [2:27] Yeah, transitions, and I feel like that is a cornerstone of so many of the conversations we've had. Transitions that look like finales, but really, they're just a turn of the page. They're just the beginning of what's next, right?

Taryn Huget [2:41] But isn't it wild how closely raising our kids mirrors this business and the life of an entrepreneur.

Taryn Huget [2:49] I mean, you create something special, grow it, and eventually you have to let it go so it can become even more, right.

Matt Enyedi [2:57] But to be clear, folks, the big difference is while you can sell your business, you may not sell your children, even the bad ones.

Taryn Huget [3:04] Yeah, I think that's pretty well understood, Matt. And in the life of a parent that letting go means empty nest. In the life of an independent financial advisor, it means succession.

Taryn Huget [3:16] You know, and we've talked a lot about succession on this podcast, but today is a truly special treat because we've helped a lot of firms at LPL through transition into our liquidity and succession program. And today we are joined by the very first one to do it, Marc Freedman. And this trailblazer didn't just join the program, he truly helped design it.

Taryn Huget [3:41] And today he is 4 years post sale and nowhere near done. And in fact, in some ways, you could say he's just getting started.

Matt Enyedi [3:49] I feel like Marc is spending his whole life just getting started, and I've known him and I've partnered with him for all of my 23 years at LPL, and he is truly one of the best advisors and people you will ever have the chance to meet.

Matt Enyedi [4:01] I'm pumped to dive into his story today, from startup to full steam ahead to succession and the future of the business.

Taryn Huget [4:11] I'd say this is going to be a fun one firm's journey through succession and what comes next. Let's get into it.

Matt Enyedi [4:18] Ladies and gentlemen, if you could, starts now.

Matt Enyedi [4:22] Marc, welcome to the podcast. Hey Marc, thanks for having me. We are so excited to have you and so thrilled for the conversation. I thought I'd kick you off with the crucible moments in your life distilled down into six words and get your reaction. And those 6 words are Super Bowl Sunday.

Matt Enyedi [4:39] Karaoke Tuesdays and Chinese takeout. I think that was 7 words, but I was debating on that. Super Bowl. I'm counting as one word, so we're going to call it 6.5.

Marc Freedman [4:48] Are you allowed to say Super Bowl on the radio? I mean, is it supposed to be the big game? Hey, you know, I don't want to get you in trouble there, Matt.

Matt Enyedi [4:53] We're going to go Super Bowl. Just respond to the 6 words, for gosh sakes.

Marc Freedman [4:59] So, yeah, the way it all ties together is prior to getting into this business, I had a bit of a background in entertainment and singing, playing the piano, and I traveled in a music group called Up With People, uh, which has since kind of unwound, but it started in the 60s, it was around for a long time. And I had the opportunity of performing at the halftime show.

Marc Freedman [5:17] Of the Super Bowl when the Patriots played the Bears, Super Bowl 20 down in New Orleans. So that's where the whole Super Bowl halftime thing is. And in fact, if you want to go to YouTube and type in Super Bowl halftime XX, you will see, I'm the guy in the yellow sweatshirt playing the keyboards. And by the way, those keyboards were not plugged in. Anybody that believes a Super Bowl halftime show is live is being fooled. You only have 2.5 minutes.

Taryn Huget [5:40] I can't wait to google that.

Matt Enyedi [5:40] I'm googling it right after the show.

Marc Freedman [5:43] The video quality is, uh, not great, I promise you that. So, so I was doing that, um, I then graduated college, went to Babson College, and my first job out of school was selling Chinese food takeout containers for a living, working for my best friend's father's company, and I would go door to door to Chinese food restaurants and selling those pails, those Chinese food pails. And what I realized at 22, 23 years old was that I wasn't really meeting anybody. Not much of a social experiences going in and out of the back door of Chinese restaurants.

Marc Freedman [6:09] And so, karaoke was becoming very, very popular during that period of time in the late 80s, early 90s, and I had started doing it because of my travels with up with people in Japan. Um, and so I went to a karaoke bar one night, did a few songs, and the guy said, hey, how'd you like a job? And so I started doing karaoke shows in downtown Boston every Sunday night, every Tuesday night, and one Tuesday night, it's quiet, it's usually the businessman's crowd, about 5 people in the place, 2 women come walking in.

Marc Freedman [6:38] Just after work coming in for drinks and this woman comes over to me and she says, um, hey, can you do a duet with me?

Marc Freedman [6:44] Well, great, because karaoke, like I said, is in the infancy years, and so if no one is singing, I'm doing all the singing. Yeah. Yeah, so someone was willing to do summer nights with me and we, uh, bantered back and forth with the summer nights thing.

Marc Freedman [7:01] I took a little break, I'm hanging out, having a drink at the bar. The two women are there at the bar, and this woman that had sang a duet with me, she says to me, Hey, what's your last name?

Marc Freedman [7:09] I said, uh, it's Freedman. She says, oh my goodness, my last name is Weinstein. Wanna get married? That's where I met my wife because 4 months later we were engaged and 14 months later we were married. But the connection to this whole thing was as Laura and I were going through the engagement phase, she said, um, are you gonna be selling Chinese food takeout containers, um, as a career?

Marc Freedman [7:30] And I go, well, you know, maybe I'll own the company with my best friend cause his father's gonna retire at some point, and by the way, he still has yet to retire. And she says, why don't you see what your dad does for a living? Despite the fact that my father was one of the pioneers of the financial planning profession back in 1968.

Marc Freedman [7:46] I really didn't know much about what my dad did. I didn't know the difference between a CD and a CD, a certificate of deposit and a compact disc. I guess today's generation might not even know what a compact disc is, but that, that's here nor there. But I didn't know the difference between either. I went for lunch with my dad and he was all excited and he said, well, we gotta get your license first. Uh, don't quit your day job until you pass the licenses.

Marc Freedman [8:09] And I did that and the rest is really history and he was my mentor coming into the business.

Matt Enyedi [8:14] Did you fall in love with it immediately or how did that grow on you?

Marc Freedman [8:16] You know what, what happened was is that Dad had promised me, he says, look, I'm gonna tell you this, we work with a lot of different client relationships. Every single one of them is gonna be different. You're gonna go to work every day and the day is gonna be different.

Marc Freedman [8:29] Unlike me walking into a Chinese restaurant where every day I'm selling the same 3 ounce container, 6 ounce container, and maybe upselling them on printed placemats.

Matt Enyedi [8:38] That was really, that's the high margin stuff is the placemats for sure.

Marc Freedman [8:41] So, yeah, I mean, I didn't know much about the business. I spent my 1st 2 years in it, basically being a sponge.

Marc Freedman [8:49] I sat through every meeting with my father. I wrote the meeting notes. I then wrote the thank you note to the client. I did the paperwork, but I was never allowed to say a word for two years.

Matt Enyedi [9:01] Wow, that's basically like the antithesis of who you are as a human.

Marc Freedman [9:05] You better believe it. And so when Dad finally said to me, you know, we got these new people coming in.

Marc Freedman [9:09] They were coming from a seminar that we were at, and Dad just goes, um, why don't you take him? And I'm like, really? OK. So, we go into that office and, uh, I talked for 3 hours, I think. And I just told them everything I was wanting to tell somebody.

Matt Enyedi [9:23] You've been biting your tongue for 2 years.

Marc Freedman [9:25] The big joke is, is here we are 34 years later, because that's how long I've been in the business now. They are still clients, and they know that they were my first client. We joke about it, but we've come a long way.

Matt Enyedi [9:34] I think one of the things that stood out to me, Marc, over.

Matt Enyedi [9:36] These last many decades is, yeah, you stepped into your father's business, but you've always been a trailblazer. From advisory to planning to podcasts to seminars, you've always been willing to step out on the ledge and try something a little bit different to connect with people.

Marc Freedman [9:53] Yeah, you know, my father, I guess, was the starter of all of that. He was a pioneer first. He was one of these guys that was taking the risk to leave a company like American Express, which was IDS back then.

Marc Freedman [10:04] To join this tiny little broker dealer on Congress Street that was run by Todd Robinson called Linsco/Private Ledger at the time. Dad decided, you know, instead of being able to offer one family of funds, he was gonna venture out and maybe offer two or maybe 3. And he joined a couple of the fund companies that LPL had a, I think it was called Funds Plus at the time or a plus relationship with Colonial and Putnam and Alliance, and that's what he started selling and, but Dad was still always a financial planner at heart. But in 1992, This whole idea of advisory services appeared and LPL developed the Strategic Asset Management Program, which my father was hell bent against really getting involved in because he thought it was just another one of these fads. You know, Dad was doing financial planning, also selling A and B shares, annuities, insurance, all that kind of stuff, and I said, Dad, this might be an opportunity to really try to do something different and really build deeper relationships with our clients. So I'm proud to say that we had LPL's 4th SAM account.

Marc Freedman [11:01] It was 3WE 000004. That's amazing. And those clients are still here today.

Matt Enyedi [11:08] Your stories start with blazing trails and a longevity that kind of breaks the curve because the first prospect you ever met, still a client, first SAM account you ever opened, still with you too.

Taryn Huget [11:20] We have each spent a meaningful amount of time and have long tenures.

Taryn Huget [11:24] LPL, I mean, I'm coming on over 10 years. Matt, you are over 20 years and Marc over 30 years. And when I think about your journey in particular, I know Matt really touched on it. You've been a true trailblazer, a risk taker, and as you reflect on your time with the firm, what are some of the most significant changes that you've seen both within in LPL and just across the broader industry.

Marc Freedman [11:49] I've seen LPL grow from what Todd Robinson used to refer to as a chairman's roundtable where people actually sat at the round table to now a chairman's club or all these other club names that we've created where it's just massive. LPL has gone through its share of growing pains just like any other business has, but I think each time they've come out of it smarter.

Marc Freedman [12:08] More stable and with a deeper bench. And I've got to say from LPL's perspective, I think right now they've got the deepest bench I've ever seen in my 34 year history. I've welcomed the opportunity to be part of the journey, but I also give them credit for them allowing independent advisors to still continue to run the business the way they think they should run their business.

Matt Enyedi [12:26] Yeah, it's one of my favorite things about this place and the businesses you all run. A, they're very different, and B, you're all so willing to share your ideas and your stories and your learnings and your lessons with one another, all to help each other, but ultimately to help the people you serve.

Marc Freedman [12:42] It’s really remarkable. I, I find a lot of the firms that have come over, especially from the Wirehouse world, are blown away. Even people that work at LPL who came over from the Wirehouse world are really blown away with how open and expressive we are about sharing ideas. It's not a competitive environment amongst us. We want genuinely to help everybody else succeed.

Taryn Huget [13:03] It's fun to hear your story and I really think about the different ways that you've been reinventing yourself along the way. I mean, you've come a long way from Being a singer and performer, but I bet you still do that as a side hustle to obviously now into the wealth management space and your journey, I would say really stands out. I mean, after building your business over 30 years, something you truly created from the ground up, and you made that decision. I think it's been 4 years ago now, you made a significant change. You know, what was that moment that you started thinking, hey, you know, it might be time.

Taryn Huget [13:39] To do something different. What really triggered that shift for you?

Marc Freedman [13:43] Yeah, well, the time to be something different, to do something different, is something that happened probably around 2015. I had bought the firm from my father in 2007. Dad had retired. My business partner Marion, who had joined us in 2000, became a partner about the same time Dad transitioned out. You know, when that all happened, we had $100 million in assets under management when Dad retired in 2007.

Marc Freedman [14:06] And we had 5 employees and the years passed along. We get to now 2020, and we've been talking for the past 5 years thinking we need to do something different. Our business is growing. We now have $560 million in AUM, but remarkably still 5 employees. So we were running this business here with incredible efficiency, with incredible scale, with incredible care, but the burden was being placed on the two owners to have to do so much more than just manage the client relationships.

Marc Freedman [14:36] And so, we started getting solicited around 2020, around just before COVID or so, from a lot of different companies. Private equity companies, financial planning companies, wirehouses, all sorts of people that wanted to consider buying us. And we looked at these offers and we thought to ourselves, man, these are something that's very attractive, and I was in Ojai, California.

Marc Freedman [14:57] I think it was in 2021 where LPL had their summit meeting, and I was talking with a bunch of other advisors and I said, guys, are you getting these offers from other companies? And I couldn't wrap my head around some of the money that was being thrown around.

Marc Freedman [15:10] And so, I thought to myself, wait a second, we're getting all these offers, but I love my relationship with LPL. I love the fact that LPL has helped me grow my business, and I wanna continue to be a good corporate citizen. I wanna be an advocate for this firm, but how can I stay if I'm being offered all of these opportunities? And I wrote a letter to leadership at LPL and said, hey, this is what I'm facing. Can you help me solve this problem?

Marc Freedman [15:39] And sure enough, within 2 months, they said, don't accept any offers, let's talk about this. And Marc Cohen, who's your chief growth officer, was one of the great guides in facilitating this conversation. And when LPL came back and made an offer, it made us rethink everything.

Taryn Huget [15:54] Obviously, there were many offers on the table for you. What ultimately made you trust the path with LPL because obviously it was territory uncharted for us at the time.

Marc Freedman [16:03] It sure was. Well, we had to find 3 things that we had to accomplish in order to make this deal work. And as we looked through all of the different offers that we had, we nailed it down to 4.

Marc Freedman [16:16] And then we had to answer the question, what's in it for us as the owners? What's in it for our staff, and what's in it for our clients and in all cases there was something in it for the owner you're gonna walk away with a nice check there's no question about it.

Marc Freedman [16:32] But what's in it for the staff and what's in it for my clients is something that was a bit more challenging and the only entity that could offer a positive answer to all three of those questions was LPL. And furthermore, what made me even feel more confident is when other advisors have asked me about how this deal has worked. I said, I want you to look at all the other deals that are out there, and you're gonna see a lot of them, that a lot of them are gonna sound pretty lucrative.

Marc Freedman [16:58] For the number of years you've been running your business, and I was doing it for a long time, you've owned the risk. How would you like to walk into a deal where you have zero risk? A lot of these other deals that are out there require some form level of risk, whether it's equity in the company, having to hit certain targets, all sorts of things. LPL's deal was a no risk deal to us, and it made us feel great, our staff feel great, and our clients have never noticed a change in anything that's gone on.

Matt Enyedi [17:25] I love these 4 factors, these 4 variables that you lay out, because I do believe that is the challenge with private equity that I think we uniquely solve for, is we solve for the constituents that matter most because you are not just a pillar of your business, you're a pillar of your community, and you've always been a pillar for the people who you serve, both clients and employees, and you wanted to solve for all three.

Matt Enyedi [17:48] And you wanted to remove risk. And it's been so cool to think now we're more than 75 deals, we've got all kinds of new programs like partial uh liquidity solutions, full liquidity solutions, revenue buy down. Every time a client comes to us and says, I've got a slightly unique way that I need to solve for this challenge, can you help me?

Matt Enyedi [18:09] And now today, Jeremy Hawley and his team lead that group trying to find new ways to solve for our clients' needs. And it's so cool that we got to start with you, and it's been the springboard to so many things since then.

Marc Freedman [18:22] And what's remarkable to me is something that I never expected would happen. Like I told you, we had $560 million when we sold to LPL and here we are now 4 years later.

Marc Freedman [18:32] And I have 950 million in assets under management, and get this, I still have 5 employees. So, we had 5 employees with 100 million and 5 employees with 950 million, and the only way I can do that.

Marc Freedman [18:47] is because of the depth of LPL's offerings, the technology platform that I'm provided, now being owned by a larger company and being able to wear my hat comfortably that says, not my problem, and you being able to solve everything that goes on in the operations of an office with the exception of serving my client's needs. Even though there's only 5 people here in the office, I know that I have.

Marc Freedman [19:10] Hundreds if not thousands of people that have the ability to help us achieve success, and it's just a great partnership to have for us.

Taryn Huget [19:18] So you've talked about what your office looks like. I mean, there's still 5 of you, but I'm really curious, what does life look like for you now post sale? Like what is the day to day look like for Marc Freedman?

Marc Freedman [19:30] If you ask my wife, and in fact, Laura is.

Marc Freedman [19:32] Really the best spokesperson for seeing how I'm different, but go and ask my kids. In fact, just last night, everybody threw me a surprise 60th birthday party. But all of the kids made reference about how I am a happier, more laid back, more dedicated, better father, and more empathetic ever since this deal has been done. I don't carry the burden.

Marc Freedman [19:57] of running all of these aspects of my office home with me every night. I worry about my clients because LPL worries about everything else.

Matt Enyedi [20:08] You know, it's pretty cool, Marc, you laid out, you took care of yourself financially, you took care of your staff, you took care of your clients, you delevered risk, but I'd argue you took care of yourself emotionally too. Like you, you took a huge burden off of your shoulders and allowed yourself to be more fully yourself.

Marc Freedman [20:24] We just knew something had to happen, and we had to figure out a way how we perpetuate this business that my father started in 1968.

Marc Freedman [20:33] That I helped grow with him and then Marion and I helped grow beyond that. How do we perpetuate this? Because our clients need us more than ever and our commitment to the financial planning process has been the foundation of everything we've done since Dad started in '68. We've evolved it and LPL has given us the additional tools to help us scale and help us serve our clients even better.

Taryn Huget [20:55] How has it changed your relationship with your clients?

Marc Freedman [20:59] It, it's funny. My, my clients don't know anything that's different from before the sale to after the sale, but they will all say, you're willing to spend more time with us. And the way that I sit in the meetings, I'm far more relaxed. I'm not anxious about, oh my God, we got the next thing coming. Oh my God, I gotta get payroll through. Oh my God, um, so and so's gonna be late for this, or we've got to take care of that, or I don't worry about that stuff. When a client calls the office and they wanna talk with me.

Marc Freedman [21:25] I've got time for them, and it's really, really marketable. And on top of all of that, believe it or not, I work less hours than I've ever worked before.

Matt Enyedi [21:33] You know, Marc, one thing that really stood out for me is you get to live into that purpose that you show up for, for your clients. But I also know Because you're working less, it's allowed you to extend your purpose beyond your business, and I know that's so important for you as well.

Marc Freedman [21:48] The timing of the sale of our business became an opportunity for us to start something different. My wife Laura and I saw a need in the community. I'm Jewish.

Marc Freedman [21:56] And we found in our community that there's a lot of people that weren't feeling very welcome in their own temples, and you see the same thing in churches or whatever, you just feel like, oh, they don't, they're not Jewish enough or they're not Catholic enough, or you only go for Easter or Christmas, and so we're gonna look down upon you and look how they're dressed, and look what they eat, and look.

Marc Freedman [22:14] We said, what if we could create an environment where we could create a temple where people just felt welcome. It didn't matter who you voted for, what hat you wore, what holidays you celebrated, what food you ate, what you wore, when you came to temple, whatever, just feel welcome. We came up with this idea. We had our rabbi who was gonna be part of this and a few others, and we thought if we could do this with 40 families, wouldn't this be amazing?

Marc Freedman [22:38] And in the first year we had 100 families that joined us. Today we're at 153 families. Four years later, we're about to launch our 5th year. We're expanding our space. We're able to provide more than what we ever provided, and it's been just an incredibly fulfilling opportunity. Laura would argue that I spend more time worrying about the temple than I do about my own business because the business runs itself.

Taryn Huget [22:59] You know, a lot of our listeners and our clients, you know, they're likely on a similar path. They're considering a transition like this.

Taryn Huget [23:07] You know, based on your experience, what are some of the biggest learnings that you would share with them?

Marc Freedman [23:13] First thing is make sure it's the right time and make sure you're doing it for all the right reasons. I talked to a lot of advisors who look at the money aspect of this thing and they say, wow, this would be great. But like I said, you've got to look at it through the lens of what's in it for you, what's in it for your staff, and what's in it for your clients. Also, if you're a small business owner right now and you're running an independent shop.

Marc Freedman [23:33] Make sure that you understand your financials, because I find many advisors do not have a good handle on what the financials are of running their business. Look, many independent advisors run a lot of personal expenses like many independent shops do. They run a lot of personal expenses through their business. LPL is not gonna pay for those. They shouldn't.

Marc Freedman [23:54] But, you know, there is a benefit for having a small business, and you gotta really understand what's the true profitability of your business. And then the other thing that I would advise people to do is look at the book of business that you have. Take advantage of perhaps this partial book sale business that LPL offers up, because when you're gonna sell your business, you wanna be selling it at the highest.

Marc Freedman [24:16] Possible profit margin you have. And a lot of your smaller clients, especially if you have a lot of them, it can drag down your profitability.

Matt Enyedi [24:24] You know, it's cool, Marc, too, is that partial book has not only helped people maximize profitability, it's also unleashed growth because they're not being dragged down by that, that challenge part of the business as well.

Marc Freedman [24:33] Look, when my dad started the business, he would say, we'll just take mammals as clients. If you had $25 a month to spend or to save in a fundamatic, in a mutual fund, he'd take you on. So we ended up hiring a business coach back then and had decided that we needed to figure out how to create the profitability of our business and we had so much business that was on the books, that was taking up an enormous amount of our time and producing very little revenue to the office. And we had to try to figure out how to change that. And when we decided to fire about 150 clients.

Marc Freedman [25:04] And I had to bring that letter to the mailbox. We sat and worried, and I was amazed at how as advisors, we worry more about our clients than our clients worry about the day they're gonna get a letter from us saying, hey, you know what, you're no longer a good fit here at the office. You get them all the time from the bank, you get them from all these other organizations that they've moved on.

Marc Freedman [25:26] And the vast majority of them respect it, they appreciate your honesty, they don't want to be dragged along for no reason at all. They'd love it if you could refer them to somebody else who might serve them better, but sometimes you just have to be willing to bite the bullet and make some bold decisions.

Matt Enyedi [25:42] It's an amazing point, Marc, because I think so many folks, when they're thinking about succession, thinking about selling the business, they're kind of selling a tired, aging business. And I think what you're saying is, no, no, no, no, that's the wrong way to go about it. You want your business in optimal shape, you want it humming, you want it thriving, you want your client base to look right, you want your culture to be right, you want your expense base to be right, because then you maximize, yeah, the financial outcome, but the overall outcome for everyone who's served by it.

Marc Freedman [26:10] Yeah, we were Peak profitability when we sold the business, peak efficiency. We had our marketing, we had our communications, we had our value statement, who we were, the types of clients we served, our screening process for who we will accept as a client and who we don't want to have as a client. We were clear on everything and it was the optimal time to do this, and I would have never imagined this, but we're even more optimal 4 years from where we were because we were clear on what our purpose was and so now we're about to hire our 6th employee.

Marc Freedman [26:39] Finally. And I'm excited that my 6th employee is going to be my son, Corey. He is going to be joining the practice in September. I'm taking him to focus with me so he can be a guest there and get to meet everyone and be part of it. He's worked as an intern with us for a couple of years when he was in college, and my staff is so excited to bring him on board to work with our team and to evolve because he gets the philosophy, he gets the energy. And I had no idea how much he got it until last night at my birthday party.

Marc Freedman [27:08] He got up and spoke, and he talked about how much of an inspiration I was to him and how much he's learned and how much he's looking forward to perpetuating the philosophy and the approach that, frankly, my father started that I then transitioned and emerged, and how he's looking to help contribute to the office.

Marc Freedman [27:26] Starting from the absolute ground floor, you know,

Taryn Huget [27:29] you just hit your 4 year anniversary after the sale. You just turned 60, your son's joining the business. What's next for you? You know, what does that future look like for Marc?

Marc Freedman [27:39] 60 hit me hard. None of my other birthdays have ever been like that, but I began to realize that I'm no longer in a position where I have to build anything. I can help somebody else build something. I can mentor, I can guide, I can be the best I can be for my children, for my wife, for my family, for my friends, for my community, and so where I'm gonna be, I don't know, but I just know that I have that capacity now to just slow down a little bit, to enjoy the ride.

Marc Freedman [28:11] To be there and provide the wisdom that I've collected over the years and not just be the guy that says, well, I can handle all the nitty gritty stuff. I can be there to be that inspiration for others. All right,

Taryn Huget [28:22] Marc, we end every episode with an if you could question, and I would say if it was entirely up.

Taryn Huget [28:28] To you, you might never be done. You might never stop. You have sort of talked about how much legacy means to you and matters to you, obviously in, in the impact on your loved ones. So if you could go back on your career and be remembered for one thing, what would it be?

Marc Freedman [28:47] One of the things that has been a thread that has continued through my career.

Marc Freedman [28:51] Is this understanding that there are literally millions of people that fall into this mass affluent baby boomer category. The mass affluent baby boomer is who advisors, the vast majority of advisors in any industry serve, and I think sometimes they're being oversold and underserved.

Marc Freedman [29:11] And my commitment and passion is to make sure that they get to participate in the financial planning process and for us to train more advisors who are dedicated to delivering the financial planning process, the financial planning services that go so far beyond investments, building a long-term, forever relationship with them.

Matt Enyedi [29:31] Marc, if you were to walk away today, hit the beach, and never come back, your legacy would be one that wouldn't be forgotten anytime soon. But since I know that's not you.

Matt Enyedi [29:41] There is still a lot more to go. We are so thankful that you shared the time with us, so thankful that you partnered with us, and once again put on that pioneering hat and helped us come up with a set of solutions that solve for everyone, and do so in a way that continues to evolve as your needs evolve too, and, and I can't wait to see what's next, and I can't wait to spend some time with you and your son at Focus this summer.

Marc Freedman [30:04] He'll be there, he's so excited to come. He really is.

Taryn Huget [30:06] Thank you so much, Marc.

Marc Freedman [30:07] Thank you guys so much, I really appreciate it. Thank you.