The Grit and Grow Podcast
The Grit and Grow Podcast delivers in-depth, unfiltered interviews featuring emerging entrepreneurs and start-up founders. Join us as we dive into their vision for change, explore their sources of motivation, confront their fears and failures, and uncover the pivotal moments that propelled their ideas into reality.
The Grit and Grow Podcast
From Family Legacy to Advisory Firm Front-Runner: Todd Clark's Tale of Tenacity and Community Connection | Ep39 #gritandgrowpodcast
When Todd Clark sat across from us, the air buzzed with a blend of Arizona heat and entrepreneurial fervor; the founder of Ensign Partners had tales to tell that would ignite the fire in any aspiring business owner's heart. His family's legacy of business success and entrepreneurship was the spark that lit his path, and his journey – from the captivating financial workshop in college to the founding of his own advisory firm – is a narrative steeped in dedication and sheer grit. Our conversation delved into the tapestry of challenges and triumphs that mark the life of someone who doesn't just participate in the financial world but reshapes it to better serve the spirited business community.
The Ensign Partners approach, a seamless suite of advisory services, stands as a beacon for those navigating the complexities of legal, tax, and financial planning. Todd shared the insights gleaned from offering a one-stop-shop for entrepreneurs, emphasizing that a united team of experts doesn't just simplify procedures; it genuinely empowers clients to concentrate on their passions. We discussed the evolving needs of diverse business entities, from solo ventures to sprawling enterprises, and how personalization and high-touch service can profoundly impact their trajectories. The conversation also turned to the strategic partnership building and the foresight necessary in crafting an exit strategy – pearls of wisdom for any business owner charting a course toward scalability and independence.
Wrapping up with a heartwarming nod to the importance of community, Todd instilled a sense of camaraderie over competition. We talked about his upcoming podcast, "Nothing Personal, Just Business," which promises to shed light on the personal stories that often remain untold behind the business facades. Todd's commitment to creating abundance and aiding others resonates throughout our chat, a true embodiment of the spirit that sees connections and learning opportunities in every interaction. Don't miss out on the unique perspective and rich experiences Todd brings to the table, offering more than just financial advice – he's serving up life lessons that echo across boardrooms and personal spaces alike.
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Speaker 2:Hey everybody, welcome to the Grit and Grow show podcast, the show where we get to sit down with amazing entrepreneurs and hear the stories of their journey from nothing to something, their motivations, what inspires them and, ultimately, what led their pursuit to turn their ideas into reality.
Speaker 1:Today we're going to explore what it takes to start your own financial advisory firm, and to help us with this topic, we have an expert in the financial advisory field. Founder and managing partner of Ensign Partners, Todd Clark. Todd, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3:Welcome to the show, Todd. Thanks, you guys Really appreciate it. It's so awesome having you here.
Speaker 1:Thanks for joining us today. You bet Happy to be here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was going to say we had Todd in the studio not too long ago checking out the studio for a podcast that he's interested in doing. Absolutely and maybe we can talk about that a little bit later, but it's great to have you here actually on the Grit and Grow podcast.
Speaker 3:Thank you.
Speaker 1:Glad to be here, so tell us a little bit about your background. What got you into financial advisory and how did you get here?
Speaker 3:You know it's a great story. I grew up as a young kid loving business. My dad was a business guy, my grandfather on my mom's side was a business guy and I grew up around business and I loved business. Started a small business when I was young, cutting grass. My first capital investment was that of a riding lawnmower. I would in a third partner with my dad, a third partner with my brother, a third partner myself, and increase the number of lawns that we could do. Started a couple of small businesses in college and I was on my way actually to law school. I thought that's what I wanted to do.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 3:And I got invited to a money workshop when I was at college and I got invited by a good buddy of mine and I didn't show up.
Speaker 1:I said no, no, I didn't show up.
Speaker 3:And he called me afterwards and he said hey, why didn't you come? And I said I don't know, I got busy, I'm in college. He said you got to come and so I went to a money workshop and I learned about compound interest, I learned about the rule of 72. I learned about so many just simple topics around tax savings and retirement savings. And here I was about to graduate from college and I had no idea how money worked and I knew if I didn't know lots of other people didn't know, so my journey was off and running from that point.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 3:Just got into the financial field.
Speaker 1:Awesome, so are you. So we're in arizona. For everyone that's watching listening, we're in the phoenix arizona area. Uh, gilbert, arizona. Uh, todd, where are you from?
Speaker 3:yeah, so I grew up in the midwest when I was really young, born in nebraska, a couple of 10 years in st louis. I'm a diehard st louis cardinals fan awesome I love the running redbirds. I know it's tough but I grew up really my teenage years out in Connecticut and it was a wonderful place in the Northeast fast paced, lots going on and I really enjoyed my upbringing.
Speaker 1:Wow, lots of lots of different culture. Yep, I'm married to.
Speaker 3:California girl. I spent 15 years there and now. We've been in Arizona for almost a decade, so we love it here.
Speaker 2:This is home. What part of?
Speaker 3:California, San Diego.
Speaker 2:San.
Speaker 3:Diego area, nice Good stuff.
Speaker 1:So when did you discover that you had a passion for financial services?
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's great. So my story, as you will, is I went to that workshop in college and I went and approached the guy who gave the workshop afterwards and I said hey, I want to work in your field. I had no idea anything about money, but I said I want to work in your field and he said okay, kid, interview with this guy. And I interviewed with the guy and he said you're too young. And I looked at the guy and I had enough confidence to say to him well, if you give me a shot, I'll have your job within a year. Oh, wow.
Speaker 2:He didn't hire me. The guy said no.
Speaker 3:The guy said, no, I'm gonna hire you. But I found another guy with the same firm who said I'll give you a shot and I had a lot of success early. I was willing to do the work. I was going to college full time, working in an intern type role. I sat for my first license I was actually doing another internship and was studying at the same time went and took my first license and the rest was history. So really a great opportunity to great American story. Just wanted it and went after it and was able to have a lot of success early on and it's been a great career ever since.
Speaker 2:So what were a couple of moments that led you to want to start your own firm and not just work for another firm?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I think that entrepreneur spirit has always been a part of me. I love business, I love business ownership, and so when I was early on in the career, I worked for a firm. I had success. I moved to California, where my wife was from, and I wanted to have my own office. So I opened my own office. I had a lot of success there and I was able to, when we relocated to Arizona, then open up our current firm out here in Arizona about 10 years ago. So I've always had a piece of the action in some sort of ownership capacity.
Speaker 2:Are you here in Arizona to stay at this point? I am, yeah, I love it. I love the heat. I know you.
Speaker 3:I love the heat, I know you got to love the heat if you're going to be like Arizona.
Speaker 1:You really do.
Speaker 3:We love it out here. Yeah, we really do. That's great, thank you.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I mean just to kind of tag on to Brian's question in order to do this. I'm sure there's a lot of young people, even that might be listening or watching the show today that are interested in getting into financial services, maybe becoming a financial advisor. But taking it to that next level where you're now expanding on different product and you're offering you've got employees, you've got quite a presence right and so, to take it from okay, I think I want to become a financial advisor to.
Speaker 1:I think I want to become a financial advisor to. I think I want to own a financial advisory firm.
Speaker 2:that's a huge step. Yeah, and just to let our listeners know, it's much more than just a financial advisory firm.
Speaker 3:Correct.
Speaker 2:There's a wide range of services and benefits that your clients have when they come to you from taxes, from tax taxes to tax planning, financial advising, legal strategies, that kind of thing. So it's it's much it's grown into be much more than just financial advising.
Speaker 1:Yeah, in fact. So just to back up really quick, though, so for that that person, that young professional that might think that, okay, I think I want to pursue this career in financial advisory, financial services Yep, what's some advice that you would give someone, a young person, that's considering maybe transitioning from insurance into financial advisory?
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know it's. It's interesting, I would say. First of all, you've got to be willing to take a little risk right.
Speaker 3:You, just you so many young people today, they, they, they say they want it, but are they willing to go and do it right?
Speaker 3:And if you're willing to take a little bit of risk and I'd say, take calculated risk, don't just take undue risk and if you can find the right mentor to help you get started in this career it's not a job, it's a career but if you get yourself to a point where you say, hey, I feel like I can do this, then go for it. And I really believe in the American dream, I believe in business ownership, I believe there's lots and lots of opportunity if you'll just go seek it out. But you've got to be willing to put together a plan. You've got to have the right connections and relationships to help you get on your feet. And then you've got to go do the work to have the success. And we've been blessed. I've been blessed with great mentors along the way, great people who've helped shape me and who I am and helped open up doors to be able to give me the opportunity to go from the early years. We call that survive.
Speaker 2:That's right.
Speaker 3:To be able to really build something and thrive. And there's always a journey in business, but there's certainly a journey in the financial services realm or in the financial advisory realm, and you've got to make yourself unique and you've got to find a clientele that you're passionate about serving. And then, if you've got those, things dialed in, do it.
Speaker 1:It seems like you've found all of those things.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I've been blessed. I've really been blessed. I certainly understood, owning other businesses, how difficult it is to own a business, and so our firm now positions we work almost exclusively with business owners and we've built the additional types of lines of business that we do to help lighten the load or ease the burden of business owners.
Speaker 3:So most business owners get into a business by happenstance right, they're Joe the plumber working for Bill the plumber, and they end up opening up Joe's plumbing because they're tired of working for Bill. But they're really not a business owner, and so they end up owning a business and being the plumber and trying to manage the business.
Speaker 3:And it's a disaster and it really becomes. After a year they're exhausted, or two years and they just say I'm making the same or less money doing twice or three times the work I'm out. So our firm really has positioned itself to say we can lighten your load. You know, joe the plumber, we can help do the things the legal work, the tax work, the insurance work, the financial work to help lighten your load so you can go run a plumbing company and have the confidence to go hire other plumbers to really be in business, if you will. That's great, that's fun.
Speaker 1:That's cool. So, looking back, so you're on this side of the hill, so to speak. Right Depends on what hill's next, right? So, looking back, what's something?
Speaker 3:that you would have done differently. You know I've thought about that a lot and my road has been anything other than straight right. And so I started with a firm. I kind of maxed out at that firm. I went to another firm. That firm, actually, when the financial crash happened, went out of business. So I ended up associating with another firm where it was tough. So I think if you can find the right place where you can be long term is wonderful. But the advice I would always give is people matter more than company. It's really the people that you surround yourself with, and so you know that's great advice.
Speaker 3:If you can be with good people who have like values and you can get mentored by the right individuals. You can make it no matter what gets thrown in your way. You can make it no matter what gets thrown in your way Because I started in the business in 1998, right at the very end of 1998. 1999 was the best stock market year. 1998 and 1999 was the dot-com boom and I thought I was the greatest financial guy in the world. And then 2000 hit and Martha Stewart went to jail in 2001. And Ron went. I had three years, the worst three market years in a generation, but I had good people around me and so we were able to weather the storm. And you've got to have the grit right to grow, like the name of your podcast.
Speaker 1:You've got to be willing to get after it and get it done. Thanks for the plug, Tom. I love it. I appreciate that you got it. So when did you discover that there was a need for, like a one-stop solution where it all-encompassing? You know, like to start with one product and then now you're going to add a whole nother segment of business offering.
Speaker 3:I mean it's challenging, but when did you figure that out? Yeah, I always had envisioned, really over the last 20, 25 years, one day having a company that could support business owners. Being in California and I spent 15 years there the regulations are tough, Business is tough, and so I didn't feel like I could grow that there. But moving to Arizona about 10 years ago, I knew that's what we wanted to build. And so we went about making that happen a piece at a time and attracting the right individuals.
Speaker 1:But you already knew it, I knew it, you knew, this is what you wanted.
Speaker 3:I knew that I wanted to build something because, as an entrepreneur myself, I knew that there's so many of the back shop things that most entrepreneurs are really quite terrible at.
Speaker 3:Or they're doing late at night or on Saturday, on the weekends, when they should be spending that time with family yeah, they're managing the back shop of their business, or they're not at all, which maybe is worse right and they they're on a slow road or a quick road to go out of business, and so we we just do that heavy lifting for them and let them get back to being a business owner and growing their business. So because I've owned several businesses and I knew those challenges, I always wanted to provide a solution there. And that's what we've built at Ensign Partners.
Speaker 2:And I think that one of the One of the aspects of Ensign Partners that makes it so effective is that it's an integrated advisory approach. So I kind of liken it to. We have a son that's got special needs and we've been in and out of the hospital.
Speaker 3:We have all these different specialists Right.
Speaker 2:So we have a lung guy, we have a GI guy, we have a heart guy, we have all these different things. Thank goodness he's doing great today. Think of that in the same way that your whole approach to advising your clients is where, when you have a team of people and you have a tax expert and a legal expert and an accounting expert and you're not going to have that same back and forth and probably not the most effective outcome from a overall business planning strategy and not have to work 80 hours a week.
Speaker 3:You hit it right on the head. So without an integrated approach, right, the burden becomes that owner having to quarterback all of those things. Now let's be clear Most business owners, they don't have a tax background, they don't have a financial background. Maybe they do one of those Certainly don't have a legal background. Right, and insurance, nobody likes. Let's just be clear, right.
Speaker 2:So that's something you have to do. No, I love it, but most guys people just they think it's a necessary evil.
Speaker 3:I don't, but anyway. So what you find is that people have to quarterback all of that stuff themselves. I love to ask when's the last time your tax guy and your attorney had a conversation and the answer is never, because most people don't even have an attorney. Or your financial guy and your insurance guy when's the last time they communicated the answer is never.
Speaker 3:And so not only can they not give you good advice because they don't know your full situation, because they only go in their column or in their lane, but you've got to interpret one telling you one thing and the other giving you advice. That's completely contradictory, and so what happens is most people they get crippled and they don't do any of it, which is even worse in some ways. So there really is a need and a passion that we have to give integrated advice. One team, one plan, one bill that's what we like to say.
Speaker 1:One team, one plan, one bill. That's great. Yeah, Thank you. So how did you come up with the formula, though, for it?
Speaker 3:Oh, some days you got to be lucky, right.
Speaker 1:No, literally, it was just what needs yeah.
Speaker 3:Because in the past, as a financial planner, as a financial advisor previously, I had CPA relationships I would refer people to. I had attorney relationships I referred people to. I had banking relationships I referred people to. At this stage of my life, I like owning things, so I said I'll just own it all right, instead of referring it out because it's better to bring it in-house so we can have that experience for the client.
Speaker 3:But also you refer somebody to an attorney to do the estate planning. You hope it gets done, but if you don't have a financial vested interest in it most people don't even verify and you meet with your client a year later and you're like how's that estate plan? Oh, we never got around to doing it. Well, what happened if they got hit by a truck?
Speaker 2:you know, in the last six months or what have you?
Speaker 3:You're not sure it's done. We've had many clients come to us who were cleaning up messes because of things that happened in their life, because they didn't have an integrated plan. That we're having to, you know, rebuild or put the pieces back together for them that if they would have been a client with an integrated plan, never would have happened. Or if tragedy happened, or what have you, the pieces would have would have stayed at least on the on the chessboard instead of being all over the floor.
Speaker 1:So are you growing like crazy?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean, this seems like it would be in high demand.
Speaker 3:Yeah, there's a lot of power of attraction. There's no doubt about it. And I'll tell you the blessing is we really set out to do as much as we could be a referral only business right. We really are not looking to have thousands and thousands of clients because our scale is to be able to deliver to the end of the row. It gets watered down so we could package things and market it that way, but we're a high-touch shop so we're very selective on who we bring in. But when we bring them in, they're good for us, we're good for them and we go very deep in our relationship. And I think that's one of those uniquenesses that we love is we know the lives of our clients intimately and we're a big part of their life and they are a big part of ours. So there's a lot of demand. We're growing at the pace we want to.
Speaker 2:I'll just leave it at that, that's great, so talk about your ideal client, like the type of clients that you represent or advise.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's a great question. So we have three tiers of clients, if you will, and it's been an evolutionary process, as any business is so you have that real small business. Tier one, if you will, less than a million dollars in revenue. The solopreneur, right, the individual who's really out there giving it all they have. Do they really have a complicated business? Not, usually they don't have rent, or maybe they do, maybe they're an executive suite. You've got guys like that that you know. You know maybe they have an employee but they don't run much payroll. There's limits on how much they really need. We have kind of a package for them, a founders or a startup package, where we provide some basic services that just help them get out of their own way so they can start to grow. Tier two is really those businesses a million to five million where they got something going on right. Their lives are starting to get more complicated and they have more moving parts.
Speaker 3:And what we find is they have a whole new set of needs, that they're very ill-equipped and very unaware sometimes that they need to take care of them. What they do know is that they're busier thanequipped and very unaware sometimes that they need to take care of them. What they do know is that they're busier than they should be or want to be and they're looking for help. That's really our bread and butter. Those are the clients who we can add tremendous value to and we can help them take their business from a $2 million business to a $4 million business or a $4 million business to an $8 million business.
Speaker 3:The cherry on top for us and where we're really attracting a lot of our new clients, are even in that third space, if you will, of clients who you know they've grown to. Now they're five plus. They have a whole new set of needs and a whole new set of desires, and now we're working on, you know, mergers and acquisitions. They want to buy other businesses or they want to sell parts of their business, or they want to build a family legacy. And how do they build a limited family partnership?
Speaker 2:Or.
Speaker 3:I want to build an equity stock program for my employees and help them become owners in the company. So now there's all sorts of cool new things, new toys right, that we help them play with to be able to really have a great life. Because once their business is that big, they have enough people around them. If they're running a good business, they have good enough systems that it's really not about the owner anymore. The owner now can have choices on how they spend their time, and we want to help them spend their time giving back in the community, building legacy wealth, that sort of stuff.
Speaker 2:Have you reached that stage yet at Ensign.
Speaker 3:We're doing fine. Yeah, we're doing fine. We're right at that precipice of that leap. If you will, Are they dependent upon me? No, they prefer I'm not in the office. Let me be perfectly clear.
Speaker 1:So I have great people.
Speaker 3:I have great people who really run things for the most part without me. I'm the tornado that comes in and just make sure it's all getting done.
Speaker 2:So it's fine, I mean because it really is. It's as much and maybe more about having the right people, like finding and attracting the right people to build, as it is just trying to grow the numbers right.
Speaker 3:100%, yeah and I think, at the end of the day, success in business is all about systems. If you don't have great systems, you don't have a great business. I mean the business. You should run the systems, the systems run the business. And so business owners that have great systems, you know they're not dependent upon people. Somebody leaves, somebody goes out on, gets sick or moves out of state. You can replace them with another competent person that can plug right into a good system. So we're very systems focused. In terms of what we do, we're getting better every day. I'm not saying we're perfect, but that's something we work on. But that's something we teach with our clients as well. If they really want to grow a great business. It can't be all about them, and too many people are in business for the wrong reason, right, it's an ego stroke. Well, yeah, mr Business owner, it's not all about you, it's all about your people.
Speaker 3:It's about your systems If you want to grow a great business. So that's fun, that's great advice. Yeah, once in a while I can throw out a good nugget Remind my kids of that.
Speaker 1:Remind my kids of that, exactly, exactly. So back to advice. So if you could give some advice to somebody that was thinking about starting let's say they've already become a financial advisor and or insurance agent broker what advice would you give them to start their own advisory firm?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so, decide first of all, from the beginning what you want the end to look like. Why are you doing this? Are you doing it to sell it? Are you doing it because you've got a son or daughter you want to bring in the business with you? What is your motivation for growing a firm of your own? Because I think that really matters, because there's different things you can do. There's different ways you can set things up to drive reoccurring revenue or marketable assets instead of non-marketable assets. As it relates to what's your exit strategy, Every business owner should have an exit strategy. Every financial firm should have an exit strategy from the beginning, and then you go build it right. So do you need a business partner or not? Partnerships can be messy. Some people don't work well with others. Partnerships can be great. I have a partnership and I love I didn't start that way, but I've rewarded some of my best people to become partners in the firm. Much like a law firm, we really have a whole process of growing people into partnership.
Speaker 1:That's great.
Speaker 3:Because I'm an abundance guy, so I want people to thrive.
Speaker 1:I want people to not just survive. Oh, and you want to buy it. You want the feeling of ownership Like this is mine, this is part mine, yep, and there's a great pride of ownership that comes along with that.
Speaker 3:And you've got to develop in the financial field. You've got to have great relationships. So, to develop in the financial field, you've got to have great relationships. So are you going to be a wealth management guy, all right. Are you going to do it through direct stock portfolios and set up your own RIA, or are you going to use third party asset managers? There's no right or wrong, but you've got to have what is our business. But you've also got to say what are we going to do better than anybody else? Most people think, oh, I'm the best wealth manager in the world, or I'm the best wealth manager in the world, or I'm the best insurance guy in the world.
Speaker 2:No, you're not.
Speaker 3:Let's be clear there's smarter people down the street, across town, whatever, but you can be the best at something. You can be at something and, at the end of the day, I think the most important thing to be the best at is relationships. People don't buy your stocks, people don't buy your insurance. They buy you. And so if you have the confidence to be able to say I'm willing to go, take some risk, I want to go own it, build your plan, see the end from the beginning, get the right relationships so you have the products and services that you can market, but then go be the best relationship guy or gal that you can be and you'll never go broke.
Speaker 2:I love that, or you'll be able to always, always be able to connect people with with the right solutions.
Speaker 3:There's great solutions out there that they got to connect with you. The solutions are just the gravy that's such great advice, thank you well and speaking of people in relationships.
Speaker 2:I had a chance to explore your website and one of the areas that I found particularly interesting and awesome was the various events that you foster and put on for your clients, and you answered one of my questions. I was trying to figure out what is a founding member when I was looking at the different types of events that you do and talk to us about the importance of that of providing clients with additional education events, networking events, those type of things.
Speaker 3:You bet Again. I'm a big believer in community right, and so I love the community and where I live, I get involved in the community in our workplaces, a community with our clients. We want it to be about community, and so if you want shallow relationships, well then, just see people once a year at the office. You want deep relationships? Well then, just see people once a year at the office. You want deep relationships, have them in multiple times and do things outside of work as well, and people are busy. So we like to say we don't have events. We have exceptional experiences, and the reason why is we try to create events that they couldn't do on their own. So I'll give you an example. We did opening day at the Cubs minor league spring training or the major league, but the spring training.
Speaker 3:But we didn't just do opening day, we did a big tailgate and we flew in food from Chicago like true. Chicago does right, so the whole nine yards, and so clients came. They brought their kids. We had a fantastic tailgate right next to the door.
Speaker 1:Did you fly it in from Portillo's?
Speaker 2:No, no, no, no, no no.
Speaker 3:We flew in all the ingredients and then I cooked.
Speaker 2:All the way from Woodensfield Road.
Speaker 3:Yes, I grilled the dogs Very nice and you know, the buns, the celery salt, I mean it's something to do. A Chicago dog, it's an art, they're it's, it's an art. Those are my favorite. Yeah, they're the greatest, but that was an experience, so our clients loved that. It was unique, something different, and then of course, they enjoyed, you know, fun, a fun ball game.
Speaker 3:So we try to do things when we get clients together that are impactful and allow them to to have fun, whether there's a family event or a client event, or was that a client event?
Speaker 1:That was a Client event? That was a client event. Man, okay, that sounds really really cool.
Speaker 3:It was fantastic. That sounds amazing, you bet.
Speaker 1:That was great stuff, bringing people together. That's right.
Speaker 3:It's amazing We've got an event coming up this next month. I want to write that down, there you go.
Speaker 1:There, you go.
Speaker 3:We're doing an event at Chase Field the Diamondbacks next month, but we're doing a business builder at Guy Fieri's right across the street A nice lunch business builder talking about some business concepts and then enjoying a game together. So if you can give people value as well education and then have fun together, it's even better. So we'll have 50 business owners out together doing that, so it's a lot of fun Very cool.
Speaker 2:Have you ever had clients cross-pollinate at these events Like find new business opportunities?
Speaker 3:All the time. And that sense of community again is I have clients who are building houses for other clients. I have clients who utilize the services for other clients. I have clients who utilize the services for other clients. We have a referral network, if you will, and we love to connect. We tell our clients if there's something wrong, call us Now. We got a phone call a couple of years ago from a client that their roof got blown off by a little microburst. Hey, do you guys have a referral for roofing? You bet we do.
Speaker 2:We don't do roofs, but we're able to connect them. I for roofing, you bet we do.
Speaker 3:We don't do roofs, but we're able to connect them. I got a guy and they were so grateful like all right, well then they got to be a good guy because they're connected through you and they got taken care of so fantastic.
Speaker 1:Community matters. It does, it does. We have a lot of that going on here now, just this internal network of referring partners that it's just been an amazing thing to be a part of.
Speaker 3:A lot of momentum can come with that Amazing.
Speaker 1:Pretty neat. Yeah, amazing thing to be a part of A lot of momentum can come with that.
Speaker 3:It does, and a lot of good synergy. It does, it really does.
Speaker 1:Synergy that didn't exist before.
Speaker 3:Fantastic, that's great.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So, what's next for Ensign Partners and Todd Clark? That's a heck of a question.
Speaker 3:I love that. I know we're talking about a podcast, so we don't want to spoiler that. I'll give a shout out. We are going to launch a podcast. We were slated to launch about two months ago. We got real busy with tax season and decided to punt on it, but we are launching a podcast.
Speaker 2:I'm not going to give any more information about it because it might take away from your guy's show. No, it's okay.
Speaker 3:But I'm excited about that because it's an opportunity for us to connect with our clients and our clients who are connecting us with other clients, and just give people a chance to tell their story, which I think is fun.
Speaker 2:Okay, you probably just answered it, but do you have what the show is about? So can you tell us in like a sentence or two? Yeah, the name of the show is actually going to be.
Speaker 3:Nothing personal, just business. Awesome. But the flip on it is it's actually going to be about their personal lives, right? Instead of just business. So, we're going to talk about how business owners really built the empires that they built, so it'll be a lot of fun.
Speaker 2:So, speaking of that, we had a chance to meet your dad. Yes, we did, he seems like a great guy who raised a really awesome guy as well, raised a really awesome guy as well. What influence did he have on your upbringing and just in building the business that you are building?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I appreciate you asking. I'm blessed that I was given the opportunity to grow up in a wonderful home, parents who not only provided well, but they took the time to teach their children right. I think that's one of the hardest things today is people's lives are so busy or they just plug their kids into stuff instead of building family, true family. And I watched my dad really have a rags to riches story. He grew up, um, without money, um, he did it the old school way of hard work and determination and and he taught me great principles and I'll be able to use a little bit of a little bit of, uh, what he taught me with a little bit of luck and been able to had a lot of success on on my own. I'm grateful for my upbringing. I think it. I think it matters. At the same time, I think some people say, well, I didn't get brought up a certain way, so I'm not going to succeed and I just would throw that out right now and say it's just it's just garbage.
Speaker 3:You can be whatever you want to be. We live in the greatest country with the most opportunity, but you got to be willing to do the work, and I'm grateful for a father who taught me that taught me to work hard.
Speaker 1:So so what's next for Ensign? That's great, yes. What's next for?
Speaker 3:Ensign Sure. Thank you, thanks for that opportunity. So a couple of things. Yeah, we're, we're going to launch a podcast. That's going to be a whole lot of fun. I I also have a foundation called Ensign Partners Foundation, okay, and that we do a lot of work with Phoenix Children's Hospital.
Speaker 2:It's a lot of fun.
Speaker 3:We do a big auction every year and we've had a lot of success in being able to get people in the community to think more about community. That's important to me.
Speaker 2:I've said that a couple of times, I think but it is.
Speaker 3:But I also have gone through a health journey. The last year I've lost 70 pounds myself. I'm really committed right now and doing some things with education in the realm of health, and health and wealth kind of go together, if you will. One doesn't have to be. You know, I don't think I have one without the other in some ways, and so I don't know, there's always something my wife says you're going to start another business or you're going to yes, babe, I am.
Speaker 3:That's how I'm wired and I love it. I, I, uh, I'm a I'm an abundance guy and I want to be able to help bless the lives of other people. So I've been very, very blessed and I love blessing the lives of other people.
Speaker 2:So there's plenty to come.
Speaker 1:I love it. I love it.
Speaker 3:You'll have me back on for another business or another very soon.
Speaker 1:Yes, we will. It's all good Anytime. You'd be welcome anytime. Thank you, I appreciate it. Anything else that you want to share in this show?
Speaker 3:Well, I want to just thank you guys for the opportunity. I think you guys have been and really have a desire to be connectors and in business and in life. Associating with connectors is magic and it really is. And you were talking about how you've had some recent kind of little incubator interaction momentum. That's happened with other people and that's because of you, that's because of who you are. So I'd say, keep doing it, and I appreciate the opportunity to be on your show and to build a deeper relationship with you.
Speaker 3:And I've always said too many people try to make it up instead of asking people for the answers. Right, and you guys are sharing the opportunity for people to learn answers. It amazes me how many people will not ask successful people how they've been successful and learn from them. It's almost like they think I got to figure it out myself. No, how they've been successful and learn from them. It's almost like they think I got to figure it out myself. No, the best thing you can do is learn from the mistakes of others, learn from the successes of others. You got to chart your own path. You got to have your own journey, but go for it.
Speaker 1:And that's the premise of the show, really, absolutely, we want to hear the stories, we want to hear what it took you, what were some of the mistakes, what things would you do differently? Yeah, so yeah, we really appreciate you being on the show today.
Speaker 3:Pleasure is 100%, mine, absolutely. Let's do it again.
Speaker 2:I just want to add that that it is about connections, like when we conceive this show and when we have people like Todd on the show. It's it really is. It's about the connection, but it's from a service perspective. One of my favorite books is the go-giver love it and have you, uh, have you read that one?
Speaker 2:I have, oh, it's awesome and it's um it just it teaches that that the more you get outside yourself, the more you look for opportunities to help and serve others, whether that's a uh, you know, a service project or if it's, if it's helping people connect businesses together. Um, it's, it's an amazing feeling and and we, we and we get a lot of fulfillment out of that as well. So it really is about we love meeting the people that we get to meet on the show, but we find that the connections that we make we end up connecting them to other people and it's just this whole thing.
Speaker 1:It's like a community service is really what we're doing.
Speaker 3:I mean, one of the coolest parts is when you connect with others. You learn, they learn. But really everybody should lift. So many people are focused on who's my competition? I don't really have a big belief in competition. I think we are our own competition right. And if you just go build what you want to build your way and be the best at it. There's no such thing as competition. Certainly you got to pay attention in your space of who's doing what, but I say, connect with them and learn from them. Don't just try to.
Speaker 3:Don't feel like you have to step on somebody to step up, because I just don't think that's the case and I think our country needs more coming together instead of pulling apart. And certainly in the world of business, too many people have a myopic. You know I own this. No, you don't. Every good idea has been borrowed, or something from somebody else. Put them together in your own way and go grow a great business.
Speaker 2:So it's a lot of fun. Well, Todd, thank you so much again for being a great, awesome guest on our show. We really appreciated your time.
Speaker 3:Thanks for the opportunity guys. Thanks again, todd, you bet Take care the opportunity. Thanks again, todd, you bet take care good luck.
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