The Bamboo Lab Podcast
"Ordinary people doing extraordinary things!"
The Bamboo Lab Podcast
Shannon Klug: Don't Just Leave Your Legacy—Live It!
What happens when what brought you success becomes the very thing holding you back? Shannon Klug, founder of BLUMARK Financial and 35-year veteran of the financial industry, reveals the counterintuitive secret to reaching your next level of achievement.
From his beginnings as a baseball-obsessed kid in blue-collar Detroit to building a thriving financial advisory firm serving clients across 46 states, Klug's journey reveals powerful lessons about discipline, adaptation, and intentional living. The conversation takes a surprisingly emotional turn when Shannon shares how his father's battle with cancer created an unexpected opportunity for connection they'd never had before. "I lost my father physically, but I gained my father emotionally," he reveals in one of the podcast's most poignant moments.
At the heart of this episode is a philosophy Klug developed over decades of success: "Do not spend your entire life hoping to leave a legacy, simply live one." This distinction between planning for future impact versus intentional daily living challenges listeners to reconsider how they approach both their careers and personal relationships.
Whether you're building a business, leading a team, or simply trying to live with greater purpose, Klug's insights about letting go of comfortable patterns, embracing new approaches, and being mindful of your impact on others provide a blueprint for meaningful growth. Listen now and discover why sometimes the path forward requires leaving behind what got you here.
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Hello and welcome to the Bamboo Lab Podcast with your host, peak Performance Coach, brian Bosley. Are you stuck on the hamster wheel of life, spinning and spinning but not really moving forward? Are you ready to jump off and soar? Are you finally ready to sculpt your life? If so, you've landed in the right place. This podcast is created and broadcast just for you, all of you strivers, thrivers and survivors out there. If you'd like to learn more about Brian and the Bamboo Lab, feel free to reach out to explore your true peak level at wwwbamboolab3.com.
Brian:Welcome everyone to the Bamboo Lab podcast. As always, I'm your host, brian Bosley. Thirty-one years ago I was in Troy, michigan, in an office for American Express Financial Advisors and I had zero management experience and the powers to be had asked me hey, can you start doing this thing called being a training manager? I'm like, yeah, sure. And there were some newer people coming in. There was one guy that came in that stood above everybody else and I was so proud to be able to be the person who kind of nudged him at the beginning stages of his career, at least as a financial advisor, and I brought him on the show. Today we have a gentleman who is, quite frankly, one of the most experienced professional men I've ever had the opportunity to work with, work alongside and call my friend Shannon Klug. Welcome to the Bamboo Lab Podcast, brother.
Shannon:Thanks, brian, so happy to be here.
Brian:We have a long history, man.
Shannon:We sure do.
Brian:Folks, we were just talking prior to the show about some experiences that we had back in those. Please share with the Bamboo Pack a little bit about yourself, where you're from, a little bit about your family and really who or what inspired you growing up to become the man you are today.
Shannon:Absolutely. Thanks for the question. So I grew up a blue-collar kid, right outside Detroit, michigan, so St Clair Shores is my hometown, like any small hometown, as you could imagine. Dad worked in the automobile industry and really from a young age understood what hard work really meant. Ultimately I would put him up there as one of my best mentors from a career perspective. And it wasn't like he said, go do this or go do that, you know, it was really just lead by example and um so um.
Shannon:I chased a baseball dream for a lot of my life. I played uh uh college ball and um, ultimately, when that ended, I had to figure out what I was going to do. Math always made sense to me and from that generation you know, wall Street was one of those movies everybody watched, everybody looked up to and I ultimately decided to be an accounting major of all things, fortunate enough to land a really good accounting job out of university. Land a really good accounting job out of university and ultimately, after about four or five years, made the leap into financial advising. So now I've been 35 years giving financial coaching, financial literacy, you know, however you want to look at it, but started out as a tax and accounting guy and ultimately was able to parlay that into, you know, being a financial advisor. So here I am, 35 years later.
Brian:It's hard to imagine yeah, I remember I forgot about your baseball background. I had forgotten all about you. You wanting to be a baseball hero, star.
Shannon:It was my only passion, I mean growing up. It's funny now I look back on things. Brian and I had this complex at one time in my life where baseball was the only thing I knew how to do, and it's because I had committed so much to it. I was fortunate enough to be recruited in high school to play for a private school. That led to the opportunity to go to the University of Kentucky to play baseball. And then you know there's a long story of what happened from there. But you know, early in my life that's all I wanted to do. I just wanted to, you know again, chase that baseball dream and maybe be in the show someday.
Brian:Who's your team right now? Are you a Tigers fan?
Shannon:It's hard not to be a Tigers fan right now.
Shannon:It really is. But you know, growing up in the 70s you know the big red machine from Cincinnati and obviously the Oakland A's always did battle and I would say to this day I still deep down inside those are two teams that really resonate with me. I would also say, with Cincinnati, my mom and her family are from eastern Kentucky and because they don't really have pro sports teams in that area, you know a lot of them. You know the Cincinnati Big Red Machine is who all my aunts and uncles followed and I would say I'm still a Reds fan.
Brian:Okay, so a Pete Rose fan.
Shannon:Oh, big Pete Rose fan, I mean, obviously as his life evolved. You know there was controversy and so forth, but I would say, if I modeled my game after anyone, it was Charlie Hustle. I mean. I was the guy practicing headfirst slides in my basement my mom still laughs about. I had rug burns on my inner arms from diving all the time. But yeah, he was my. If I had a baseball idol, Charlie Hustle would have been him.
Brian:I don't know. I don't know a lot about baseball history. I don't even watch a baseball idol. Charlie Hustle would have been him. I don't know. I don't know a lot about baseball history. I don't even watch a baseball game all year. But I follow the Tigers. Every couple of days I check their record, I see what they're playing and sometimes in the middle of the summer, like on a Saturday, if it's raining, wherever I'm at, I'll turn the game on and I'll just take a little nap, listen to it. It's so peaceful to listen to baseball when I'm trying to just rest, but I don't really watch games.
Shannon:Yeah, you know. For me what I miss about it, brian, is it's such a cerebral game and a lot of people don't realize that when they're watching it. But you know, no matter what happens, every pitch, every you know hit, there's an assignment that everybody on the field you know has to move towards, and not that other sports don't have that as well.
Brian:but I would say most people that deeply understand the game understand that it's extremely cerebral so the what you learned in baseball, that passion that you know practicing in the basement, how did that carry over to you, do you think, to your professional world? Because that's exactly who the guy I remember back in troy, michigan. I mean you weren't practicing sliders in the hallway, but you were definitely doing things that other people didn't want to do, didn't have the balls to do.
Shannon:Well, well, thank you. You know. To me, first of all, work ethic, I mean one of the things about athletes and sports you had to be there at a certain time for practice. You know a lot of times after practice then, especially the college level, you're hitting the weight room or, you know, sometimes it was watching film, you know, depending on what level you were at. But you know, the closest thing I can relate that to, I've never been in the military. It's probably the one thing in my life I didn't do that. I wish I would have.
Shannon:But that structure and that organization and that fed to who I was as a person meaning again, being an accountant by trade. I like order, I like discipline. So I think when I started, you know, my career, it was truly about, you know, um, having that structure and discipline and um, you know it. Just, it served me really well because from a very young age, you know, I, I, you know I don't want to say I outwork people because there's a lot of hard workers out there, but I think what some people complain about, hard work was just second nature to me because I had to do it on the ball field.
Brian:Yeah, I see that a lot with people who played sports in high school and then even more so in college. You just see that it's something that starts at a young age with us and it really never goes away. And I'm so glad my kids both of my biological children and actually my bonus sons all played sports in high school and two of them have played in college. Three of them actually out of the five, have played in college of sports. So I think it's one of the greatest things I've ever done is just play, stay, know, stay with sports, even though there are times I didn't even want to play anymore. I'm just tired.
Brian:You know, I had the passion for rugby that you had for baseball, but when I was done, I was done Like I never looked back, like I know I don't, you know I don't miss it, but I know that it gave me something that I would not have had had I not. You know, gone through those difficult times and travel and practice and sweating and hurt and cutting, bleeding and full of mud, and the camaraderie and the teamwork and the leadership you are taught. It's almost a, even if you're not paying attention, you learn teamwork, you learn leadership. It's like almost through osmosis, because every player on the team has to be a leader to some degree and you have to learn teamwork if you want to be an effective player. You know, unless you're maybe UFC, potentially not, or you know some of the individual sports.
Shannon:But I forget about that. Yeah, well, it's funny, I literally forgot about your rugby days, but I remember us sitting around talking about, talking about, you know, some of those details you just gave. But what's really interesting to hear you say, when I was done, I was done. And, um, it's funny, people that you know don't have that same opportunity. And I know I'm blessed to have played college ball. You know they want it to keep going because they never tasted it. They were never able to go do it. For myself, personally, I knew internally, probably I would say two years before I was done, I knew it was coming to an end Because that passion, that fire, it was just different and it was time to move on. So, very similar to yourself, when my door shut, I just you know, back to your original question to yourself. When, when my door shut, um, I just you know, back to your original question, I then found something else that I could pour that discipline and passion into which, you know, turned out to be my career yeah, just transfer it over.
Brian:It's the same mindset, it's the same discipline, it's the same work ethic it just transferred over. I remember I played three and a half years um, I think it was seven seasons. There were two seasons a year in rugby and my final season I graduated in December out of college and that fall I didn't play and I said I'm done. And I remember I think it was the five o'clock bell at the center of CMU's campus would go off and that would always be the time we would start practice. Or maybe I was always riding to practice, but that was a sign that OK, it's time for practice. And I remember, for like probably a month or two, I'd hear that bell go off and I'd go oh man, I kind of wish I was out there playing or practicing right now.
Brian:But it was very fleeting and it didn't really last long. It was like but I got 18 credit hours, I got to get out of here, I got to get a job, and then we met, and then we met, yeah, so Shannon growing up blue collar. So Shannon growing up blue-collar family. You know, like myself and I see that so many unsuccessful people that sometimes at small towns grow up, sometimes it's blue-collar families. Usually you have a good family structure, whether it's parents or grandparents. But growing up for you, who or what inspired you Other than baseball? Was there a person or a book you read or something you saw that kind of made that switch, kind of that? That, that that switch kind of turn over in you?
Shannon:Yeah Well, I'm going to answer that two ways, you know. Number one I put my brother at the top of the list and I'll explain that in a second. I watched him doing things that really raised the bar for me. And then in retrospect you know now, years later, I think about the influence that my mother and father both had, and at the time it was more one of those subliminal messages that now I understand it a lot better. But I had a immense pride inside, or, I'm sorry, I wanted to make them proud because of who they were and the sacrifices that they made. And you know, it's still to this day when I think about and again, you know parents do this for their children, but when you're younger you don't always understand. But you see the sacrifices, you know they're doing it for you. But at the same time now I really believe I did stuff because I wanted them to be proud of me.
Shannon:But if I come back to my brother, my brother is a I call him a serial entrepreneur. When he was 12 years old he had a paper route, but that wasn't good enough. Instead of delivering just in our neighborhood, he would literally go and negotiate with other kids in the neighborhood who had other streets and he would basically do their paper route and take a portion. It would kind of split the money. Well, in high school he struggled to go to school all the time because he got this money and entrepreneurial bug. So he had all these businesses going and ultimately was very successful at that.
Shannon:You know, let's say 15, 16, 17 years old and I was fairly lazy outside of baseball I was fairly lazy Like I liked to be on the couch and I liked to sleep in, but my brother was up early and worked all night long.
Shannon:And it was funny when I started in this business, brian, you know we we had leaders at that time that said, hey, you're going to work eight to eight and I remember thinking, oh, that's part-time compared to my brother, because he literally had multiple businesses where some of them, you know, he wouldn't start. He had an awards business, trophies and awards, and sometimes 11, 12, one o'clock at night he would start putting together the awards that he had to deliver two or three days down the road and there were many times he asked me to help him and that's how we actually had some camaraderie. So it was funny when we talk about work ethic and you know who impacted you. I mean, I watched this guy living it out and, man, I'm so blessed today because in my business he's actually my COO and CFO. So now what I used to watch we get to actually experience every single day of our lives, which is really really cool.
Brian:So a big shout out to your brother, sean right. Yes, sean cool. So a big shout out to your brother, sean right. Yes, sean, all right. So tell us a little bit about Blue Mark. So I was part of your journey back in the early days of you becoming an advisor at Ameriprise. Tell us about what you guys are doing at Blue Mark now, which you founded in what, 2011?
Shannon:Yep. So we launched our firm in 2011 and started with really three individuals myself, jill, who was Tulio at the time, which is now Syracuse, and a lifelong or two decade friend named Henry Guzzo. So there were three of us really with a dream of just being top notch advisors, and we've grown that business. Now, you know, we're in our 15th year. We float between 60 to 70 total employees. We have two very distinct businesses. So we have a full tax operation, so this year probably did a little bit over 3,000 tax returns, and that covers clients in 46 states.
Shannon:And the other side of the business, which is our core business, is comprehensive financial advice. So where we're a little bit unique is, of course, we have our CFPs and financial advisors on staff, but we partner them to give the client a different experience with a CPA or enrolled agent. So those two people work together, side by side, to help clients build their overall financial game plan and then, obviously, help them navigate the things that change. As you know, life throws them curveballs or gives them opportunities. So we started out with just three of us. 15 years we, you know, really have exploded the business and you know when we started everybody teases me because I said I will never have more than 25 employees, and here we now sit with, you know, 60 to 70, depending on seasonal tax staff.
Brian:That's incredible. I mean, I look back on the early days and you were one of those guys that I think we all could agree on that you were going to do something big. I mean, you definitely had that direction. You needed very little from me. You needed really from any of the people in leadership or management. It was just plug and play with you and here's what you do and you went and did it.
Brian:I remember one distinct day and I don't know if you remember that I tell this story quite a bit. It's such a good lesson on failure and you were in the front conference room at in the office. I remember exactly where you were. I think it was the very first one on the left when you walked in the down the hallway in Troy and I w it was a Friday, I think um, I could be wrong and I was walking down and you were getting up.
Brian:You were in there making cold calls by yourself to get your 12 appointments and you were getting up and putting a hash mark on the whiteboard and I kept. I came in finally like dude, what are you doing? And you said I know my stats. For every four no's I get a yes. So every time I get a no I put it up there and I celebrate it in my head because I know that that yes is coming. So when I'm on my first no, I think I got three more to go before I get the, before I get the S. When I'm on the third one, I'm pretty sure the next call or the fourth one, the next call is going to be a yes, and you kind of celebrated those little rejections, knowing that they were getting you closer to success. And I do you recall that at all?
Shannon:Well, I remember years ago I'd almost had to spend 10 years. You and I were maybe having breakfast together and you had brought that up and at that time and breakfast together, and you had brought that up and at that time, no, I hadn't thought about that in years. But I would tell you that that concept is probably still a part of my secret sauce. Today I don't use a whiteboard and I don't count no's, but my belief is and maybe it's the statistician in me being an accountant is that it truly is a numbers game. And then the more people you talk to, the more likelihood you know your success is going to increase. And one of the things that have really driven blue mark is our ability to acquire and retain customers. But I also would say I get a lot more no's throughout the course of the year, not because we're not doing something right, but because timing isn't right for the customer. You know, maybe they're working with a CPA that they're happy with, or you know maybe they're, you know, a do-it-yourselfer and they want to. You know kind of use the internet as their guide and that's fine.
Shannon:And then I'm always celebrating when you know you have a year. You know, kind of like we've had this year, where all of a sudden, you know nerves come in for various reasons and then your phone rings and that's that person that had told you no four times previously. So, no, I don't really count the no's now, but intuitively, um, I, I, I think you have to go through, you know, not failure, but you have to go through those times, um, in order to have those successes. So I don't remember, you know, doing it on a whiteboard, but I remember you bringing it up about 10 years ago and I would say I would say that's still a big part of how how I think you know inside.
Brian:Yeah, there's a. I think there's a much more uh macro learning. There's a much more uh macro learning there for a lot of people that we are. Every time we do something, especially something new, we are going to have those micro failures along the way. And every time you you fall, every time you fail at something or get a rejection, whatever it might be, it just it does mean you are closer to getting that yes, and you're closer to getting that victory, that and we just so.
Brian:I think we live in a world today where we expect things so quickly.
Brian:You know you get better internet because you want your computer to.
Brian:You know you want to be able to go from one tab to another microsecond faster than than the previous uh megabytes or gigabytes or whatever you get on your computer. We expect that where, in reality, the truth, success is not big aha moments, it's those dirt getting dirty every day, it's being consistent with what you do, it's being, it's the discipline and the and the willpower that it takes, and during that time, you are going to get bloodied, you are going to get muddy, you are going to get bruised, you're going to fall down, you're going to get scratched and scraped. And just realize every one of those scratches becomes a badge of honor because they get you one step closer to that yes that you want to get in life. So that was a big lesson in learning for me that you taught me and you don't even realize you taught me it and it's still something I use in my coaching practice with my clients and for myself as well. I'll have to give it a name the Kluge, something I'm going to give it a name.
Shannon:I've got to give you credit for that one man.
Brian:That's too funny. So can you talk to us right now and share with us? You've been doing a lot of great things obviously. Your business obviously is doing exceedingly well. You're a strong family man. You've got your wife, you've got three children. You're strong in your community. What do you think right now is a really good learning you've had that you'd like to share with us, that you think could be something that really kind of resonated with you over the last year or two?
Shannon:I'm learning it as I get up every day, but I would say my most recent one, which is massively impactful, is the ability to let go. I've literally been talking about this with our team is the thing that keeps you from moving to that next level or having that next success however you define it is letting go of what got you here. And the hardest part as human beings is we want to be successful, we want you know, we want accolades or we want people to notice what we've been doing, but the only way that you can go to that next level is it starts with letting go of what got you there. And my big challenge is I've kind of been the rainmaker in our firm and I'm the person that ultimately has a lot to do with the infrastructure of marketing for our business. And what I've been trying to do now is stop trying to acquire clients one at a time but start beginning to network to hopefully acquire clients at 200, 300, 400 a time Meaning it's what I do today in the relationships I build.
Shannon:That might lead to somebody wanting us to buy their practice five, seven, 10 years from now, or it might be somebody who is a solo practitioner right now that they're on that fast track and they're doing really, really well, but they don't even know what's coming ahead of them, because they're going to need help.
Shannon:I mean, the calendar is everybody's equalizer and to me, I want to be in a position, when they realize they need something bigger, that I would be the first phone call they make. I can't do that if I keep, you know, go back to the days in Troy, if I keep pounding the phones trying to acquire clients one at a time. I've always said, when it comes to transitioning a business not necessarily financial practice, but any business manufacturing practice if you spend your life doing it, when you realize it's time to transition on, you're not just going to sell it to the next person that walks through the door, on, you're not just going to sell it to the next person that walks through the door. You want to be able to transition those clients, those relationships, to somebody you have a relationship with. So my biggest learning by far in the last 12 months is if you want to take your game to the next level, it starts with you letting go of your past and moving on to something new.
Brian:I think Shumter called that creative destruction.
Shannon:Absolutely. I don't know that, but it's a great, great, great phrase for it, for sure.
Brian:There's a book out. I'm not a big hero-worshiping guy. I'm not one of those guys. In fact, other than my mother who's a hero of mine, most of my people I look up to are fictional characters in books, because at least I can paint them the way they truly I want them to be, not who they really are. But there is one guy named Marshall Goldsmith who I think is the goat of our industry. He's got, I think, four, three or four international bestselling books out. Thankfully he's coming on the podcast later in the summer here. But I've always looked up to him as a man of just incredible wisdom and wealth. And he wrote a book and I have it in my bookshelf right now.
Brian:It's called what Got you here, won't Get you there, and it's exactly what you just said. And it's amazing how difficult that is for me at times. Do you realize, shannon? Yesterday was the first time I've ever done a virtual coaching session. All my coaching sessions are done over the phone.
Brian:If I'm in the city of where they are located, I'll do a face-to-face with them, but I do everything over the phone, despite everybody saying, hey, we want to do Microsoft Teams or Zoom calls with you or even FaceTime, and I have refused. That until yesterday was the first time, and it was one of those things, like you said, I can't go where I want to take this thing this year, next year if I only do phone calls. And so I figured it out. I got my computer set up that I could actually do a virtual one hour coaching session with a client yesterday. So when you were saying that, I thought that's exactly what I had to do. I had to stop doing what got me to where I am, which is almost all coaching sessions over the phone, to migrating to virtual, you know, face-to-face, over the computer screen coaching sessions. So that's a tough one for me to do. I like to hold on to the things I've always done.
Shannon:Well, if I can share a brief story, probably one of my failures as a leader I had an executive assistant who was going to start a family and obviously has every right to do that, and I was excited for her and we celebrated. But she gave me a proposal of she wanted to work from home and kind of work part time. She was going to have somebody come in and watch the baby and I was so set against virtual work at the time that I said, yeah, that's just not going to work. I need you here in the office. What was great is my brother who worked with me said, hey, she's a talent, I'll take her, and I said that's fine. Lo and behold, this was before the pandemic. She ended up having a very high leadership position in our firm before ultimately transitioning on to, you know, in her career.
Shannon:But I almost cost Blue Mark this great talent because I was set in my ways and I needed her to be in the office. And what it really was is I didn't know how to do the virtual coaching it was. I had learned how to take notes on a yellow pad and not move to technology and unfortunately, you know this person, Blumark, would not have been who we are today if it wasn't for her influence. But my brother was smart enough to say hey, I'll take her virtually the secret to him. He was actually already living in Florida and the business was based in Michigan, so he was working remotely anyway. So he saw this opportunity when I was so closed-minded that not only did I lose a great executive assistant, but I would have cost the company somebody that went on to do great things in our organization.
Brian:See, it's hard to teach us old soldiers the new technologies, but I'm glad you got a board. Do you do a lot of work virtually through Teams or Zoom?
Shannon:Yeah, Again, when you service customers across the country, I mean it's pretty much you can't have them come into the office. So, yeah, it's almost 100% virtual at this point.
Brian:Well, I'm announcing to about half my client base this and next week that I'm willing to now do virtual calls, you know, so they can see my face. I kind of like the fact that I don't have to worry about putting a certain shirt on or what's in the background. And honestly, you know, I don't think I've talked to you as much in the last couple of years. The last three years, shannon, I traveled. I mean I had a house in Escanaba, michigan, for three years. I literally just moved out of it.
Brian:This past Saturday I was at my house in three years maybe I don't even know maybe twice a month on average I was there. I'd go a month or two and not even see the house, and so it really wasn't as conducive. But now that I'm settled and got the office here set up in the Wisconsin area, it's a lot easier for me to do it. I really liked it. I told my clients, I said, okay, we're doing this from now on because I really enjoyed it. I can see your face, you can see mine. There's less distraction.
Shannon:Yeah, I think for me, Brian and again, this is one of those warnings of letting go is I impact more lives and more households today than ever before because's, say, south in Toledo or north in the Upper Peninsula that also needed my guidance and help, that I literally couldn't help them because I was set in my ways of no, you've got to come into my office. So I applaud you for thinking you're going to go that route and I think you know the number of lives you'll impact will explode, you know, with that one small change.
Brian:Yeah, I appreciate that. Now that's. I love that piece of advice. So let go of the thing, let go of the ability to let go of what got you here. I mean that that resonated a lot. Um, I like this next question and so you answer it however you'd like. Um, it's a question that kind of digs into a little bit about you, who you are as a man. What do you think, shannon is one of the most difficult things you've ever gone through in your life, and then what did you do to overcome it?
Shannon:I probably have to go back to 2010. 2010 was a year I lost my father. My dad was a lifelong cardiac patient. He was in his mid forties and had open heart surgery. Actually, I was in college when that happened and we spent, you know, the next, let's say, two decades just knowing that you know he was going to leave us because of a cardiac incident. Ultimately, he was still working you know, working in a shop and you know slinging sheet metal, as we used to say and he started developing um a a sure soldier or sore shoulder and, um, long story short, uh, found out that he had a mass in his lung, um head lung cancer, and his fight against cancer was relatively short.
Shannon:But when he was battling cancer, I made it a point to go with him. He happened to have his cancer treatments on Tuesdays and I went and sat with him every single day. I did it for a couple reasons. Number one was I wanted to give my mom relief, you know, so that she could do some grocery shopping and what have you.
Shannon:But what was difficult, brian, is I never really had the relationship with my father. I wanted, as I explained earlier in one of your questions, you know he set a great example, great work ethic, he was a great teacher. But there was not a lot of feel good in my dad, you know, there was not a lot of fluff, and as a kid I needed, you know, really, what my mom gave me, which was I needed more physical touch, I needed more loving, I needed that hug and that just was not my father me a gift during this time where for nine months, as he went through chemo, him and I had to sit and stare at each other and we had to talk and as I sat there I knew I was losing my father because of doctor's appointments and stuff, that I would be there. But I really gained my father during one of the toughest times I ever had with him, because up until that time he just he would never open up. He didn't share a lot about his younger years with me, but what he did do during those nine months Brian is man you want to talk about. Talking about my mother, you know he, he talked about how special she was and the pedestal that he put her up on until this day is still a thing that I strive for to do for my own family, but he was never one to tell you about it. You know he just did it.
Shannon:So losing, you know, probably one of the most influential people in my life to the ugly C word was, you know, very difficult, very devastating.
Shannon:The ugly c word was, you know, very difficult, very devastating. And watching him, you know, go from this, you know blue collar guy that you know was always fairly physical, physically fit, I mean he also liked to eat too, but uh, you know, at the same time to watch cancer, you know, dwindle him, uh, was very, very tough. But the gift I received by him having to be hooked up to the IV and two men sitting there talking about life, so when you ask about the toughest thing was losing him and watching that happen. But the greatest gift I ever received was the fact that he couldn't ignore me because he was hooked to that IV and we had dialogue that I had not had and had really, in retrospect, really needed in my life up until that point. So you know you talk about turning a negative into a great positive. I would say that's probably one of the biggest things, you know, challenges, that I've ever faced.
Brian:Wow, you know, in 144 episodes of this show, that's one of the most profound Questions I've ever heard or answers I've ever heard to this question. I love the fact that you guys were it was. You know, necessity is the mother of invention and you guys were forced to sit there and, other than staring at each other, you had to communicate and converse. And for him to have, for you to have that opportunity, but also for him, you know, to be able to pass on, you know, his experience and just really sit there and talk about your mother. That I'm sure you knew he loved her deeply and obviously still does from above. But to hear it from your father, dude, that's goosebump material, man. God bless you, brother.
Shannon:Well, I appreciate it. And if I could add one thing on to that, I had a I'll call it a dark moment. It really wasn't that big of a deal, but again, as my dad was dealing with some of this cardiac stuff a few years earlier, um, I'll say five years earlier, um, he had a doctor's appointment and him and I were in a car together and I asked him how his doctor's appointment went and he said I'm fine. And I'm like I know you're fine with the doctor, say. And he snapped at me and he said I'm fine. And it was his way of saying hey, you're crossing a boundary here that I don't really want to go into. And him and I had this argument driving down 696, you know, in Detroit. And that moment, brian, I said to myself I can either spend the rest of my life challenging this man in an area where he doesn't want to be challenged, or I can meet him where he's at. And that day I decided to start creating experiences with my father, to put us together to do things that he would enjoy.
Shannon:My dad was a big race fan. He loved NASCAR. Anything to do with speed my dad loved. Well, I was fortunate enough I ended up during that five-year window. I took him to the Indianapolis 500. I took him to the Daytona 500. But again it's back to letting go. I had to decide that I was going to have a relationship with him on his terms instead of trying to do it my way. So just a little add on to your question Again great mentor, losing him was probably one of the biggest difficulties in my life, but I learned so much, you know, from those times with him as well.
Brian:And then obviously you've lost him physically, but those, those nine months together, I mean just it's hard to even probably put into a number or quantify the wisdom he shared with you. The life lesson you got from those nine months with him, I mean that you pass on to your children then down the road, down the road grandchildren, and I mean that's beautiful, brother and then now sharing it with us. And I think about that a lot when you were talking. We become so impatient with the people we are closest to and you know we tend to judge. My family is pretty good at this actually, and I say this a lot.
Brian:People tend to judge people because they don't act the way I would act or they don't act the way I want them to act. But everybody behaves in the interest they think is best for the situation they're in, whether they're talkative or not talkative, you know, whether they're seem cranky or happy all the time or whatever it is, you know, and everybody just has a different style of going through this journey of life and, like you said, when we can meet them where they want to be met and just go with them on that journey, there's a lot of beautiful things that come out of that. You know we're trying to. Otherwise we're trying to put a square peg in a round hole.
Shannon:And it's just frustrating for everybody. Oh, definitely, and I think as I'm aging you know not old but as I'm aging I'm realizing that the older you get, the less flexible you want to be and we start driving those fences or those walls in between the people that we love the most and care about the most. And I think the best relationships I have today are the ones that I share the most with openly. But that's a hard lesson to learn and a hard thing to overcome.
Brian:It is really. It's hard to do and I had a gentleman on Josh Pasheer a few weeks ago. He's got an organization called Uncaged Brotherhood, I believe, and they, his whole thing is getting men, you know and these are successful men that just to get them to share their authenticity and share their vulnerability. And one of the things I've learned you know me, shannon, back in the day, you know, we are, all of us were what we'd call hard asses. Whether we were naturally or not, we were kind of taught to be that way in the industry and I would not share a lot of things.
Brian:And now today I coach my clients, my leadership clients, my executives, and I coach them on the key to strong leadership is vulnerability. And I don't mean vulnerability coming in and crying over your cat dying. I mean vulnerability where you can be authentically yourself and you know you can, you could admit to mistakes, you can, you know, be happy with somebody else's victories, you can celebrate with other people, you can support them, you can challenge them. And just being authentically you and open. I think that's so powerful, especially when it comes to friends too, I mean.
Shannon:Yeah, and Brian, I don't know why, but I think that authenticity is something that it just always came natural to me and I'll give kudos to my mom, who, you know, I was a mama's boy growing up and, and you know she really made me comfortable in my own skin, um, but what you just said, I mean that's the biggest thing I'll take away from this you know this podcast which is that vulnerability, I really believe, is what holds some people back and it's not, you know, kind of like you said, it's.
Shannon:You know, sure, you could talk about, you know, losing an animal, I think was your example, but it's, hey, I'm really good at this, but I struggle at this and I need your help. Or being, you know telling people hey, you really make me proud when you do this. Or you know, hey, I've noticed the growth you know telling people, hey, you really make me proud when you do this. Or you know, hey, I've noticed the growth you know that you've made. I think that vulnerability is something that you know I just naturally did most of my life, um, but I think also, a lot of times, leaders don't really realize they're leaders, they're just themselves, um, but I appreciate you saying that and it's something that I'm definitely writing down from today. So thank you.
Brian:You're welcome, brother. What would you say right now, at this stage in your career, in your life, you would you consider to be a win or a victory for you? What's something that really gets you going?
Shannon:You know it's. Your questions are always thought-provoking, so I appreciate them. Um, you know, a win for me, um, brian, is you probably get from our conversations today. Like my entire life, I've always been a quote guy. Um I, everywhere around me, I have these quotes that either people have given me or examples they've seen me do in my life and on one of my social media pages this is my own quote.
Shannon:I created this because I was doing a lot of estate planning at the time and I was listening to families that were talking about leaving a legacy and the things that they wanted to do for their families when they were gone. And I put this quote on my social media page years ago and it's still there, which is do not spend your entire life hoping to leave a legacy, simply live one. And to me, what I watched was this vulnerability that you just brought up, where people struggled to tell their children, or to tell you know, brothers, sisters, siblings, whatever the case was, how they really felt. And I really think it's a tragedy when people can't overcome that to a point where all the good things are going to be said at their funeral about how they lived and what they did.
Shannon:So I kind of again at that time changed my mindset to you know, a win for me is can I get up every day and live my legacy, whatever that is, because I think it's different with everybody. You know, you and I don't talk every day, but I would say you're still as close of a friend as ever because of the impact that you had on my life 30 years ago. So when I got the invitation to this podcast number one, I'm excited just because we can spend some time together. But if in some way I can leave a little bit of my legacy here in whatever show this is for you, then that's a win for me. So you know again, I don't know if it completely answers your question, but that's what came to mind, you know, when you asked for what is it? What is a win in?
Brian:life what I got out of this. Don't just leave a legacy, live your legacy. That's kind of that is. And I wrote that down Cause whenever, like, I hear something profound like that from a guest on the show or a friend or you know, a client or anybody, instantly my mind goes to how can I incorporate that? Cause I it's so interesting with this, this, this show, shannon, and people have asked me what's the biggest surprise or benefit that you're getting from doing this show, and it is the learnings I get Probably every show. I get something that I go, oh my God, am I effing up on that one? I'm not doing that. This was definitely one of those things.
Brian:I wonder how well I'm living the legacy, you know, because obviously I've got grandchildren now, I've got my children, I've got my bonus children, you know, a total of three grandchildren and two more coming this year and I think about that a lot Like how will I be remembered? You know, what can I do to make sure? No, it's not, don't just remember me. I mean, live it now so they can look at me, look to me as that person of character and of value and of not importance importance to them anyway, where they can role model after me, you know, not when I'm gone, but when I'm here, and that's a that's a tough, that's a tough rock to carry, because it's a lot of expectations and a lot of you put a lot of weight on yourself when you do that, but I think it's a really positive weight, you know.
Shannon:Well, I appreciate that. I want to clarify, you know. You know one thing you said. I mean we all are living a legacy every day. I mean our legacy will be whatever it is, but is it intentional? I mean, do you get up every? Do you get up every day and say I need to call that old friend that I haven't talked to, or all that old friend that I haven't talked to? Or you know, for me sometimes it's slowing down. I'm so blessed to have my mom, who lives 10 doors down from me, and sometimes it's slowing down from just the day to day to walk down and take her for a walk or to just sit and listen to. You know what her day was all about. That's the intentionality. So that again, what she's going to celebrate is my son came down and spent 30 minutes with me. So we're all leaving a legacy every single day by the things we choose to do. But is it intentional and is it how you want to be remembered? I think to me that's the key.
Brian:So intentionality is very important. I agree with that. As you were talking, there's a note that somebody left me. Well, I can say who it was it was Jackie. I have this picture in front of my desk. It's one of those 3D cutouts of Great Lakes where it shows the depths of the lakes and everything. And I have a note she left me a couple of weeks ago. It says you inspire me, your passion for people does not go unnoticed. I love you.
Brian:And I think when I got that note one day she left for work and it was on the kitchen table or the dining or the in the kitchen when I went out to get a cup of coffee from my office here and it made me think really, that's, that's what people see in me, is my passion for people. And I think so often when you don't live your legacy intentionally, you don't really know what your, what impact you're leaving on people. And it was kind of I didn't think of it in this context at the time of living my legacy intentionally, but it made me realize if that's the vibe I'm giving off, why do I not know that? And that's the lack of intentionality in me living my legacy. I'm just living it without intentionality and with what you said today then, looking at this note now, I realize the legacy that I want to intentionally continue to live and live more and more and get better at it and have a bigger impact. So I appreciate you saying that. No, there's two great things I've got on this show podcast.
Shannon:Well, I'm glad I could leave this place a little better than I found it Right, you know. But you know I'll share with you something you just said and I'll encourage your listeners but encourage you and I as well. We grew up in a time that, especially if you're in a sales career, you were encouraged to send that personal note. You send that thank you card and I married into a family that they still carry on that tradition. The number of thank yous that they send out are so powerful and every time I get one from my nieces, my nephews, it truly impacts me deeply and I used to keep a file which I don't have any longer and there's reasons for it but of all the thank you notes that I had received from people in my life, and sometimes it was because I loaned them $25 when they really needed it. Sometimes it was because I spent time with them and that's what they really needed.
Shannon:But if I can encourage both of us, but also your listeners today, is think about the impact that that note that somebody gave you really has had on you. And I think sometimes we do that with things like Facebook, where we can talk about people openly, but man sitting down and writing that handwritten note, because it takes time, and time is that most valuable commodity that we all, you know, are struggling to find more of. So do it, don't, don't wait, you know. Write that note, let people know how you feel about them, because not only are you going to feel better, but it's going to change the trajectory of their day, you know for sure.
Brian:Right, it's 15 minutes out of our day, but it can make an impact for days for one person.
Shannon:Definitely.
Brian:You know, for Mother's Day this year and my mom's going to be the she'll be the first one to hear this podcast, because she always is I didn't send her a card this year and I certainly didn't.
Brian:I called her, obviously, I wrote her a letter and I sent it the day before Mother's Day, which was kind of stupid. But I wrote her a one page long letter on how I feel about her and I was so excited for her to get that letter, shannon, and like Monday, tuesday, wednesday, like Mom, did you get a letter? No, no, and it was a week and a half later that letter came and she called me and she was, or she texted me, and she was so happy with that letter, um, because I sat down and took the time to explain my feelings and how much I loved her and respected her and what she means to our family and to me and, um, you know my children and grandchildren and, uh, it was just it's again. It's one of the, like you said, that handwritten note or that handwritten letter has so much more impact than a text or an email or a Facebook, and those are nice too. Those are quantity, but the quality comes from sitting down and putting pen to paper.
Shannon:Absolutely. And again, I don't mean to pirate your or take over your podcast, but, mom, mom, since you're going to be the first one listening, I'm talking to your legacy right now. You have made a massive impact on this world because of that boy that sent you that handwritten note. You did a lot of things right because this guy has impacted my life tremendously. Thank you.
Brian:Thank you, brother.
Shannon:Son of a bitch, you got me crying on my own show brother, son of a bitch, you got me crying on my own show. It wouldn't be a kluge interview.
Brian:If one of us didn't cry. I can tell you that, oh, that means a lot to me and I know that's gonna mean a lot to my mom. Thank you, absolutely okay. I like this question. I've got a time machine in ena, wisconsin. I'm gonna drive over to your neck of the woods because I know you're not in florida. I'm not driving all the way to florida, but you're in michigan right now. We're going to jump in that time machine. We're going to go back to a time of your life. Shannon, you pick the time and date and the age you are. You're going to sit down and you're going to talk to yourself.
Shannon:You're going to give words of wisdom. People at my office, if they listen to this, are going to laugh because I tell them all the time. Um, so I'm going to go back to, uh, my high school baseball days and, um, I just made up in my head that as a freshman I should be playing varsity, and the reality that I learned over time is that I had a lot to learn, but in my own head I thought I knew everything at that time. But some of what I needed to learn were things like being in the gym like I had never lifted weights, and it's very difficult as a freshman to compete with people at a junior or senior level who had been working on their physical body for two or three years. So you know, I think for me it's the word patience, and you're where you're supposed to be right now, because sometimes being on the freshman team or the JV team gives you the reps that you need to perfect your craft.
Shannon:But again, as human beings, we always want to go to that next level, we always want to let go, as I talked about earlier, but sometimes you're exactly where you're supposed to be at that moment in your life and I think the hardest part Brian is understanding those two opposites is how and when do you let go to move on to that next level and when do you be patient and say no? This is where I'm supposed to be right now, working on the things I'm supposed to be working on, and I have always been striving for that next thing. And if I could go back and grab myself as a freshman in high school, maybe I would have made it to the major leagues or at least played minor league baseball, if I would have just been more patient and really perfected my craft by understanding that coaches had more wisdom than me and they had me in the right spot for my skill set and the things I needed to go develop.
Brian:So I think that patience word is a huge, huge one in my life well, you and I both struggle with that one, I think, as far as you know, we're always striving to get better at something or or take something to the next level. And I think you're a hundred percent, you're definitely a hundred percent right, it's practicing that patience. But then you know, you just keep doing that grind, grind, grind, work on the basics, the fundamentals. But then you, when that, when there is a crack in the door, you go through it. Then you go back to the basics of that level and you grind and you work on the basics and the fundamentals and then you wait for the next door to crack and then you go to that. And I think people just want to jump through all that fundamentals and and and basics and jump to the 14th level right away. And I, you know, I think a lot of it too is, you know, starting in the industry.
Brian:You and I started in when you're it was. You know you're you. You get a degree, you get certified, you pass all your licensing exams and then you come to your first for me it was my first professional job and they say here's a phone, a phone book and a script. Just start calling people. It's like wait a minute. That's not what I thought. I thought I was a financial professional. I thought you were just going to give me some clients with a bunch of money and I was going to work my magic. And nope, here's what you're going to do. You're going to set 12 appointments every week and that's what you're going to do. You're going to become a glorified phone solicitor for a while and I think that taught myself and you those fundamentals of the professional world. Anyway, you've got to go through the grind. You've got to do these basic things. I wasn't ready to talk to a client with a lot of money for the first six months, probably, of my career.
Shannon:Yeah, I think again.
Shannon:Yeah, I think again, brian, it's that patience of you know, sometimes that grind that people are asking you questions on the other end, that you have to go solidify in your own mind to become that expert and again you know, understanding you are where you're supposed to be at that moment is really important, because I've probably learned more from my clients than I have.
Shannon:I've got 36 letters behind my name in the industry, so I've read a lot of textbooks. But I think I've probably learned more because clients ask me this real-life question about hey, I have a special needs son and I don't really know how to make sure that I take care of him financially after I'm gone Not that that's not in a textbook, but when you have to come back to the customer and you have to answer that question with clarity. That's how you grow in any business and you know so. Sometimes you got to go through those steps, whether that's, you know, being a phone solicitor, as I think you called it, or you know again, eventually working your way up to do an advanced tax and estate plan.
Brian:And no matter where you are in your career, whatever advanced level, you are still an apprentice in some degree at that level and I think it's important to always kind of reinvent yourself, almost like you said earlier. But as we get 30-some years in the industry both of us this is my 29th year of coaching. You've been in the industry for 30-some years as a financial professional we are looked at as the masters who know a lot of things I and I that. For me, that can get to my head. I have to constantly push myself back down and say, okay, be an apprentice, assume that you don't know anything and do do the basics. I'm not going to phone solicit anymore. I'm not cold calling people, but even going back sometimes, shannon, I'll read original books, books like Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun, some of those original books that changed my life 30 years ago. I'll go back and reread those to remind myself that I have yet to master a lot very little, and I'm still an apprentice in so many things that I do in my career.
Brian:And I made 2025, I decided last year that this is the year I assume I don't know anything. I assume I'm starting my coaching practice all over again. So my mindset has been what would you do differently now, with 29 years of experience? What would you do differently, brian, if you didn't know anything but you had this experience and wisdom behind you? And one of those things happened to be virtual coaching. You know, trying to explain that, going onto YouTube a little more, um, reading a little bit more about books that I never would have read before, um, because I didn't like the author, necessarily. It's kind of doing things that I wish I would have done 29 years ago, and starting this and it's a. It's a really refreshing idea, it's a really refreshing feeling for me, anyway, to put myself in that apprentice role again, and I, it's, I love it, I love it.
Shannon:Um, but I think, the well I think, the more you learn, the more you become comfortable that you're never going to know it all and no matter how successful you become, the knowledge you retain is a thimble's worth of all the knowledge in the world. So you know, we, we might be great as advisors or podcasters, but I don't know anything about engineering. I can't build my own house. So, again, I think a lot of it's ego-driven, as you know, the more you can understand that you know your specialty. Knowledge sometimes is developed over 30, 40, 50 years and you still have to be an apprentice on, whether it's being a cook or whatever it may be. So, yeah, great lesson for all of us, whether it's being a cook or whatever it may be.
Brian:So um, yeah, great lesson for all of us. Is it okay if I share the story that we talked about um before the before we aired here um about the, the gentleman who got mad at us.
Shannon:Um, yeah, absolutely, um. I made you cry, so now you've got the upper hand so you get to do whatever you want.
Brian:It's your podcast, it's my damn show. So every folks. This was when shannon was in his first year as a financial advisor at american express financial, now ameriprise. Um, me, as a training manager, I was supposed to sit in a lot of my a lot of the advisors meetings and with their, with prospects right, and we had a rule that was it closed three times for the check. Was that what? It was sure you had to ask for that? Yeah, you had to ask for the closed three times for the check.
Intro:Was that what it was? Sure, I don't remember. You had to ask for that.
Brian:Yeah, you had to ask for the check three times. A client said I want to think about it. There was three. So we were with this husband and wife and Shannon, I could get some of the details wrong, but my memory, this is what I remember anyway, so correct me if I'm wrong there was a, a round table and you and I, this couple and you, were doing a great job with them and at the end, the wife. Really, it was clear they needed your help and the wife was like, yep, I want to do this. And in the process of this meeting, the husband left a couple of times and went to the bathroom. Anyway, after three times we were asking for the check, she was yes, he was still no, or I want to think about it, and she's like I want to do this, blah, blah, blah. So we ended up what we called closing for the check 12 times In a different way.
Brian:We practiced how we're going to overcome this objection and I believe the number was 12 times, to the point where, at the end, the guy got up. He didn't throw a chair, but he pushed chair toward us and they he stormed out. And I remember this, shannon, this part, I remember he went up when we to shake his hand and he kind of almost wanted to give me a hug, but he maybe it was and I didn't, but he smelled like alcohol and I think what he was doing was going to the bathroom, anyway, long and drinking, long story short, we closed this guy um hard and and it wasn't really our, it wasn't't really. You know, shannon's not that guy to close hard, I'm really not that guy to close hard. But we thought, well, the wife wants it, let's see if we can convince him. And anyway he called and put a complaint on me as the training manager. And the next day I got called into my boss's office and got read the riot act a little bit and I'm like, oh okay, yeah, you're probably right, you know. Then they, they end up calling the head, honcho, putting on speakerphone and told him the story. And, uh, when the head, the main boss, uh got done listening, he kind of talked to me for me and he goes, and this is not his direct quote, but he said something to the effect of brian, if you ever do that again, you're going to be promoted.
Brian:So it was one of those deals where we probably didn't do the right thing. But we were both. I mean, I was the same age as you. I wasn't very. I was. I don't think I'm much older than you. I'm 58. What are you, shannon? I'm 57.
Brian:Okay, so it was just these two young guys trying to get this lady the financial services she wanted. Her husband was kind of rejecting it and the husband was not happy. But I learned a very valuable lesson that day is you know, if you believe in what you're doing, you push. And if you, if somebody, if, if, if it's over, if you have to ask for something 12 times because you know what's in the best interest of that person and they, they want it. They just don't know how to say yes, don't give up. We just did it wrong. You and I were a couple of buffoons in there, you know, like two monkeys fighting over a football in there. But it was a, it was a fun time and I'll never forget that, that story of how he got upset and you were like dude, I don't know if we did that right. I'm like I don't know. We probably broke a record for asking for the check 12 times.
Shannon:Well, I know you had said it, you were my training manager. I was just doing what my manager told me to do Put the blame on me.
Shannon:I think, even as you tell that story to me, I'm very passionate about this industry and I've seen a lot of financial failure because of what you just described, where husbands and wives aren't on the same page because they don't talk about these things, and I don't know whether or not that was true in this case or not, but when you are getting the I'll call them buying signals from one half of your customer saying I need this, I want this, or we need this and we want this. You know, again to your point. Sometimes you got to push, but probably not as hard as we did that day.
Brian:Well, we pushed because we were inexperienced and didn't have a lot of talent in the industry yet. So all we could do is just blunt force trauma. You know, we had to do it in a very, very we could have been a little more suave. Probably 30 years later we're going to handle that situation much differently. But you live and learn. Absolutely All right, brother, what's next for you?
Shannon:I don't know. You bring me back on the podcast.
Brian:Yeah, I'd love to have you back on. There's 30 years of wisdom in that head. We've got to pull out.
Shannon:Yeah, it's a good question. So we're we're at, um, these crossroads. So you know, I have three wonderful children, um, you know, technically four because uh, my oldest just got married and, uh, really excited for them. They live in new york city and, uh, my, my new son-in-law is so talented, he's a trained opera singer and he's going to give it a go on New York City. And when I tell you, brian, you listen to him sing, man it just it makes the hair on your arms stand up. And I've been encouraging them because, if not now, when? And you know, I want to be his biggest, you know, cheerleader and proponent, because I think he has the talent.
Shannon:So, you know, my oldest two we'll call them are out of the house. My two youngest two just moved to Tampa, florida, and we're empty nesters for the first time. My wife and I are, you know, getting to know each other again. What I mean by that is we've got a very strong relationship. But you know, sometimes when you have people in the house, they act as a buffer and you don't have to always have the deep conversations, although we've always really done a good job with that.
Shannon:So, you know, we're trying to figure out what that next step is my two youngest just moved out in February. So you know we've been traveling a lot, almost to a fault. We were exhausted after the first part of the year some business, some fun, and then, obviously, you know, my oldest daughter just graduated with a degree in dance movement therapy, so we went out to New York City to celebrate with her. So I think it's one of these times, brian, where you know I'm going to invoke that patience word again. It's also new that I think we have to understand where we're supposed to be right now and just continue to work through it together. So you know where that leads, or what's next, I don't really know right now, but I'm trying to. You know, listen to my own words, which is I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be right now. Be in the moment, be patient, you know, enjoy this time uninterrupted with my beautiful wife and see where it goes.
Brian:I love it, brother. Give my best to Margaret too. Will you please tell her I said hello.
Shannon:I will.
Brian:Absolutely Okay. Final question Is there any question, shannon, that I did not ask, that you wish I would have, or is there any final message? You can leave with the bamboo pack members out there, or is there any?
Shannon:final message you can leave with the Bamboo Pack members out there, not a question. But you know I talked about being a quote guy. You know, brian, I said it a little bit, you know, when I thanked your mother. I have used you as an example throughout my career where people have said you know, hey, you're really successful in this area. You know what was your secret to success? And a lot of times I said, well, I'm a little bit of Brian Bosley on this and I'm a little bit of Fadi Barati on this and I'm a little bit of my brother Sean on this.
Shannon:And it's that summation of all these people that impact you, that make you who you are, of all these people that impact you, that make you who you are. And I attended a retirement party for a family friend many years ago and I was asked by his son to say a few words. Now, this is my mom and dad best friends. So they were around the household my entire life, around the household my entire life. And he wasn't a very outgoing man as far as his words, but I think he lived a Christian perspective every day of his life and set an example for me that I still carry on today. So at his retirement, I read this thing this was on the bulletin board of my high school in the locker room and some of your listeners may have heard this before and I may butcher it a little bit, but basically it says there's a wide-eyed little fellow who believes you are always right and his ears are always open and he's watching day and night For you're setting an example in everything you do for the little boy who's dreaming to grow up to be like you. And I put that on a plaque and I gave that to him as his retirement gift. And I had never said those words or anything close to that to this man my entire life. And it was funny. I had another commitment. So when I talked to his son I said, hey, I can talk, but I have to go first and then I've got to leave, unfortunately, and I didn't get to stay there. But what I heard was afterwards, like nobody wanted to speak after me and nobody. Nobody wanted, you know. And again, he had a great retirement party.
Shannon:But, brian, you were that type of person to me and you don't understand. You were trying to be a new leader and you were probably one year ahead of me, as we've described here, but the impact you had on me in the moment, because I didn't know what to do at that point in my career. I didn't know how to say things, I didn't know how to close 12 times, and maybe your view of me was very different, but you gave me a comfort to continue being who I wanted to be because you believed in me and I really think in life, if we can remember that quote and this was stapled to the bulletin board back when we had both the boards in my high school locker room, and that's how much of an impact it made on me when I was probably 14 years old, that I've used it throughout my life, because what I took away from it is every single day of our lives, somebody's watching, and most of the time we don't know that they're watching. Or, like me to you, the impact that you were having because they were watching is way greater than you give yourself credit for. See, the problem is is we don't get to measure that. That's measured by the people that are watching us, and when I gave my father's eulogy, I talked about you know my dad did all these great things for me, but the thing that I remember the most was my dad, on the weekends, had to go up to the place that he worked.
Shannon:He was in quality control at the time and he had to make sure that the plant was locked down, all the machinery was shut off. You know, basically just doing quality control, right. And he used to take me there on the weekends and it was my happiest time of the weekend because my dad took time to take me and he used to put me on the back of a high low and drive me around. A high low to me was like this crazy. I knew what a car was, I didn't know what a high low was. And then he used to have these vending machines that you would get coffee and hot chocolate out of and he would buy me a hot chocolate. And we did this every weekend for years and that is one of my most treasured moments.
Shannon:My dad probably thought I'm just going to check on the shop and I'm bringing my boys with me, but I was that wide eyed little fellow that was watching my dad going. Oh, this is where he works. Oh man, he must be important, because look at those 72 keys on his key ring. You know, it's all these things from the perspective of the observer, that really, really makes an impact. So, if I can leave I think you call them your pack with anything. It's like you know people are watching you every single day and you don't get to define exactly how they're going to take that away, but just make sure that you're trying to leave that legacy that I talked about earlier. And, brian, I want to thank you not only for inviting me on today, but for being one of those people that truly left a legacy at me way back 30 years ago. So thank you.
Brian:It was an honor, brother, I told you before we started. Today there's been three people from my American Express days that I had the privilege of at least being a part of their journey, and in the order of time I'm sorry of sequential order the first one was you were the first one. Then John Evangelista in Ann Arbor was number two, then Rob Mulcahy in Livonia, were three people that I had a chance to work with, that I had made a slight impact on their lives but always stayed in my heart and my head over the years. So thank you for being that man, absolutely. Thank you, brother. Can you stand for a few minutes after we shut off?
Shannon:Absolutely I'd love to.
Brian:Shannon man, I appreciate you. We have been friends for 30 years and we're going to have another 30 ahead of us, so thank you so much for coming on the show.
Shannon:You're welcome.
Brian:Everyone, please. This was a podcast episode that obviously had an impact on me emotionally and, I think, for a lot of you. There's so much wisdom that Shannon shared from his experiences in the life, financial industry, his life with his parents, and please listen to this one twice. I don't listen to my show very often. Very seldom do I actually listen to it because I already feel I listen to it when I but this is when I'm going to replay this weekend when I get time.
Brian:I'm going to ask you to do yourself and do your friends and family a favor. Share this with three people. Let them get the wisdom and experience that Shannon offered here today. And please, for my benefit, to help the algorithm, please hit that like button, rate and review us, and just know that I appreciate each and every one of you listeners. I'll talk to you all in one week. In the meantime, please get out there and strive to give and be your best, show love and respect to others and back at yourself, and please live with intention. I appreciate each and every single one of you. Bye-bye.
