The Everyday Apostle - EP016 - Richard Sincore

Transcript

Journey From Wealth to Faith

Announcer 0:01

Welcome to the Everyday Apostle , where ordinary lives meet extraordinary faith . Join our host , Kendall Peterson , as we explore how everyday men and women bring the gospel to life wherever they live , work and play . Let's dive into it right now . Now .

Kendall Peterson 0:26

Hello and welcome to episode 16 of the Everyday Apostle podcast . I'm the host , Kendall Peterson . Once again , it is my pleasure and my joy to bring these stories of inspiration , of faith and how we're doing all of that in the day-to-day . I have a very , very special guest that I'm looking forward to introducing you to . But first I would like to give a shout out .

Kendall Peterson 0:51

Making this episode possible today is the generous support of Grant and Michael Miller and Miami's Community Newspapers , whose great studios were in for this episode and whose producers are here , and whose support has been instrumental in all 16 episodes plus that we have put together . They are a great source of local news , of relevant , unbiased community news . They provide a ton of great content in every medium , from pixels to paper , and they have handy newspapers at the community level , including my favorite , the Kendall Gazette . No relation , but thank you once again to Michael and Grant for your graciousness in hosting this podcast . Now let's dive into today's show . This podcast Now let's dive into today's show . Today I have the privilege of introducing a very special guest who I met through a men's retreat group here in Miami Richard Sincore . Welcome to the show .

Richard Sincore 1:52

Thank you very much , Kendall . I'm really excited to be here . I'm just so grateful that I can share some of my experiences with you .

Kendall Peterson 2:00

Thank you , it's wonderful to have you on , so let me read Richard's bio . So Richard is a seasoned investment professional with over two decades of experience navigating the complexities of the financial world . Richard has worn many hats throughout his career he's been a fund manager , institutional broker , a trader , financial advisor , and he's worked with both public and private markets . His expertise spans nearly every asset class , including alternative investments , derivatives , capital markets and commercial real estate . He has worked with investment banks , hedge funds , private equity funds , venture firms , family offices and major institutional investors , helping them all manage risk and build solid financial strategies . Today we're going to dive into his journey . We're going to dive into his faith and we're going to dive into his perspective on how financial stewardship can align with a life of purpose . I know you didn't think so , but it can . Richard , welcome to the show .

Richard Sincore 3:01

Thank you for that intro . That was fantastic . It's great to have you here , Richard . Appreciate it .

Kendall Peterson 3:07

So let's start with the softball question when did you grow up ?

Richard Sincore 3:10

I grew up here in South Florida . I had a really nice upbringing in , of course , warm Miami . I did a lot of fishing baseball you know , regular kid in South Florida . Just a great place to grow up .

Kendall Peterson 3:24

Nice . Do you have brothers and sisters ?

Richard Sincore 3:26

baseball . You know regular kid in South Florida . Just a great place to grow up , nice . Do you have brothers and sisters ? I do , I do . I have four brothers and sisters . They're all older than me . I'm the young one , I'm the baby , the family . So yeah , really close . You know , of course we're all getting older , but we stay in touch the best that we can .

Kendall Peterson 3:40

Good Are your siblings here in the Miami area as well .

Richard Sincore 3:45

Well , I have one older brother that's in the Miami area and the rest of them they're actually they're in Florida , but Northern Florida .

Kendall Peterson 3:48

Okay , do you get to see them very ?

Richard Sincore 3:50

often Not as often as I'd like , because you know I like to keep close to the family , but yeah , often enough . And we share holidays together , so that's real nice .

Kendall Peterson 4:00

So yeah , and how about your parents ?

Richard Sincore 4:03

my parents . They both passed on , but yeah , they're . My mother was a Cuban , my father Italian and yeah . So in that , that different mix , but yeah it was . You know I missed them , of course , but it was , they were great parents . Yeah , yeah they . They gave me a lot of guidance and direction and they gave me that spirit of guidance and direction and they gave me that spiritual foundation . Didn't continue it through , but that's later , probably part of the story that we would tell later .

Kendall Peterson 4:34

So if , if I kind of gleaned from what you just said so there was a certain level of spiritual foundation when you were growing up , yeah , absolutely .

Richard Sincore 4:43

You know we're a part of the Catholic faith . As far as you know , we went to church on Sunday , kind of like . I guess you call them , you know , was it seasonal or vacation Catholics , something to that effect . But we , I did my first communion , but after that point on , I was about 10 , 11 years old I pretty much fell off and kind of went my own direction , kind of Right , didn't stay plugged into the church .

Kendall Peterson 5:07

Okay , not an uncommon story .

Richard Sincore 5:08

Yeah , yeah .

Kendall Peterson 5:09

Fortunately recoverable right .

Richard Sincore 5:11

Yeah , in a big way Grand slam . So there you go .

Kendall Peterson 5:15

Yeah , so you went to school the whole time here in South Florida .

Richard Sincore 5:21

I did , I did . I went to public schools here and had a great education . Then I went away to University of Florida . So I'm Floridian , I'm a Gator . So those of you who don't like Gators , sorry , but you know , go Gators .

Kendall Peterson 5:35

Any , did you manage to go to church at all when you were in UF ?

Richard Sincore 5:39

I did not . You know , I didn't . I was really away from the spiritual life . I didn't have god at the center of my life in any way . Uh , unfortunately , I always felt like there was a god that was present and I had that . Of course , the the seed was planted by my parents but uh , no , I , I didn't do it . You know , regretfully to say , but yeah , just waiting to bloom later yeah , yeah , yeah , yeah absolutely .

Kendall Peterson 6:03

So I would imagine , just based on the bio , you studied some form of finance or accounting or something .

Richard Sincore 6:10

Yeah , finance undergrad . After that it did real well , went to the securities market , became a broker and performed really well . You know that was really what I made as my focus and my not really passion , but more of my idol was you know the wealth I can create and the power it created , and you know how I can control people .

Kendall Peterson 6:32

Yeah .

Richard Sincore 6:32

It's unfortunate , but that's kind of where I was at . That's a common God in the world , right yeah yeah , absolutely Any .

Kendall Peterson 6:40

did you feel any like pulls toward maybe something different or toward your faith at all ?

Richard Sincore 6:46

That's a great question , Kendall . Yeah , so I absolutely did . But what it was for me is I always felt like what I was doing was empty . I would get to the next milestone and I was doing really well , and it just didn't do it for me . So , you know , that was my idol . And then I had , of course , you know , external coping mechanisms that I used as well . So what really pulled me to the faith was , of course , a series of events that kind of lined up where it was just too big for me to control and handle Right .

Kendall Peterson 7:22

Are you comfortable talking about those events ?

Richard Sincore 7:25

Yeah , sure , absolutely .

Kendall Peterson 7:29

So what was going on ? That kind of shook you up .

Richard Sincore 7:32

Yeah , so I did about 18 years as institutional sales trader and covering institutions in a senior position and was well into seven figures and doing really well . But things changed abruptly all within one year . My parents , you know they passed and you know , uh , we had , um , we were acquired by our firm and I had to go ahead and move to another firm and unfortunately we had some big financial hits . And then we came to a point where , you know , after my parents and my career and and you know the funds that I accumulated over for many , many years my own took a major , major hit in the market . That pretty much sealed the deal , where I felt like I couldn't control it and you know , I wanted to go ahead and put something bigger and stronger at the center of my life .

Kendall Peterson 8:32

So let's talk about that a little bit emotionally . What did that feel like in that , in that time ? What were you , what were you wrestling with ?

Richard Sincore 8:40

00,00,00 . Man , you know , I felt like my whole world fell apart . I felt like the walking dead . I didn't have any reason to continue . I also learned I was engaged and you know , I was divorced and , yeah , I just felt like I was completely alone . Uh , my parents are gone . You know my purpose , which was money and all the control that goes along with it . I couldn't turn to that to cope . So what was going on was I just felt completely out of control . The anxiety was tremendous . Um , you know , I just felt completely lost in a dark place .

Kendall Peterson 9:16

What kind of things were you , uh were you relying on to try and manage that anxiety ? And that stress .

Richard Sincore 9:23

Um , yeah , I mean , you know um , women , um , and , and , unfortunately , and you know exploitation in that sense , uh , and you know exploitation in that sense . And alcohol , not really drugs , but it was mostly , you know alcohol , partying , doing things I shouldn't be doing .

Kendall Peterson 9:46

Typical masking trying to hide behind .

Richard Sincore 9:49

Total mask . I was hiding completely . Everything was fine , I had it under control , until it spiraled out of control where I just could not control it and I just it was bigger than me and I had to break down and um , and that's kind of what led me back to the faith . It was the the . The crazy thing is is that I was being pursued the whole time by my God , and he's closer than you know , than we think , all the time , and I kind of felt that though . Um , but I always tried to control it . I did it my way and you know , I failed miserably at it and , uh , it got to the point where I just said , listen , I don't want to do this anymore . I need to go ahead and give up and , um , you know , surrender and trust and have faith .

Kendall Peterson 10:28

Well , spoiler alert Richard , we all do the same thing and we all fail at it .

Richard Sincore 10:33

So that's why we're here , right ? Yeah , that's why we're here , absolutely .

Kendall Peterson 10:47

So it's interesting . You said that you felt I guess probably retrospectively you felt like God was in pursuit . What little tells do you have that .

Richard Sincore 10:51

That was oh wow , that's a great question as well . Oh wow , that's a great question as well . When I was in high school , even , there was a counselor who took a liking to me and really took me under his wing and guided me through the same retreat that we're involved in now and to the same parish . I didn't know that , so for me , he was pursuing me the whole time . There was someone else that I met , while my mother , unfortunately , was passing , who led me to the same exact location as that person , and I thought that was just amazing .

Richard Sincore 11:38

God was pursuing me the whole time and some of the decisions I made I knew they were the wrong decisions and I still made them because I wanted to control and it satisfied my needs temporarily , right , it was the coping mechanisms , although I knew they were wrong morally , yeah , and I still did them and they didn't turn out well , I could tell you so .

Richard Sincore 11:58

But anyway , it's clear . Looking back , I could see the actual path . It's just amazing how God was there the whole time , the whole time , and I just did not want to control it myself . And now , as soon as I actually , you know , kind of cross that line where I said okay , god , I'm going to give it to you , I'm going to , I'm going to give up all my anxiety , I'm going to give up all my worries , problems , troubles , to you and I'm going to trust and have faith . And then my anxiety subsided . No medication , um , my worries , my peace came back to me and pretty much was born again in a lot of ways , not only spiritually , but , you know , my physical health improved and then the fellowship that I have now and the life that I have now is just amazing , with Trader for

Finding Peace Through Faith

Richard Sincore 12:46

Anything .

Kendall Peterson 12:46

So take me back to that day , the day you made that decision , the day that you laid that out . What did that look like ?

Richard Sincore 12:54

Wow , the day that you laid that out . What did that look like ? Wow ? Uh , it was actually a phone call that I made because I broke down and I just I was praying in , you know , on my knees in my room . Uh , I didn't know what I was going to do . Um , I , I just didn't want to live anymore . It was that bad , um .

Richard Sincore 13:13

But then I made a phone call because I was given a phone number , a name , by a gentleman that was at the same facility where my mother was at in skilled nursing and his wife was there as well , and he handed me this name and phone number . He said give this person a call when the shit excuse my language hits the fan , because it will . It's not a matter of if it's when , because we're all going to get older , right , our bodies aren't going to hold up . We have loved ones that are going to pass . So at some point you're going to experience trials and tribulations . Give this person a call , blown away , you know , out of church . And then the rest is history . He plugged me in and you know it was a slow process . He plugged me in but little by little I kept with it and God , you know he was . I learned how to put God at the center of my life , and he guided me through the process .

Kendall Peterson 14:08

So let me see if I get that right . So your mother , failing hell , she's in a facility . Yeah , there's another guy there .

Richard Sincore 14:17

you're just kind of randomly talking to yeah , and I'm blowing them off because I don't want to go to church . I don't believe . You know . No Bible thumpers for me .

Kendall Peterson 14:28

So that's kind of that was my thought process , and he gave you a name and a number and said it's going to happen . It's going to happen oh yeah , so how long between that moment and when you actually found that card ?

Richard Sincore 14:38

Six months .

Kendall Peterson 14:39

Really .

Richard Sincore 14:40

Yes .

Kendall Peterson 14:40

You held on to it that long .

Richard Sincore 14:42

Yeah .

Kendall Peterson 14:43

And then you called I was feeling it though . Oh yeah .

Richard Sincore 14:50

I was feeling it because of the losses , the loved ones . You know they're tremendous . There's other things that happened in my life that I found out , that I didn't know , and you know , with the divorces and not having a family and so , but yeah , the losses were tremendous , they were mounting and I can control it and I didn't have the coping mechanisms anymore . I didn't have the career and you know , making the crazy money and traveling all over the world and all the anxiety I can create for myself . So I can go ahead and stress over it . Right , that would keep me busy . But , um , so I was . I was forced to face myself and and , uh , you know , look at myself and deal with myself .

Kendall Peterson 15:26

and it was , it was an ugly picture so you're on your knees , you pick up the phone and you dial this number of this guy . You have no idea who it is .

Richard Sincore 15:36

I have no idea who this person is , but this other person that I was speaking to in the nursing facility , he was there for his wife . I respected him tremendously . He was trying to do good for me . I didn't even go to his church but he told me another church to go to and the person I need to call to go there . And that person was the right person to call . And man , was he right ? It was powerful .

Kendall Peterson 16:03

Changed my life . What was that like ? What was that change ?

Richard Sincore 16:06

like . I mean the change was like it wasn't immediate , it was a seed that was planted . But the peace of the people that I met remember I was building a castle on sand and I built a really big castle . I got blown down easily when things hit the fan , but the peace I got from these gentlemen , these people that I met , along with the person I called who also did the same thing , he was able to help me rebuild the foundation to rebuild that castle once again . So what it was like was it was that sense of peace . Through them , they were the face of Christ for me .

Kendall Peterson 16:52

So , man , those moments , no matter how many times I hear it or how many variations of the story and you know , I experienced it myself Like it's unbelievable how he just shows up when we're ready and turns things around just emotionally . And there's just something that happens internally that you can't attribute to alcohol , drugs , women , cars , houses , anything else .

Richard Sincore 17:23

We try and I had all those and none of that filled it and they were all temporary . This was a permanent feeling of peace and I said I want what those guys have , I want what they have . And then , yeah , little by little , you know I wanted to be that , you know that face for others .

Kendall Peterson 17:44

Right . So then comes the fun part . You've got to rebuild your life now , right yeah ?

Richard Sincore 17:49

Yeah , yeah .

Kendall Peterson 17:49

So what was that like ? How , how do you go about that ? How did you go about that ? What tools did you use ? And how have you tried to not rebuild the same house on the same sand ?

Richard Sincore 18:01

That's a great question . Well , first , you have to really surrender and not try to control , and try to negotiate and deal with the center , the person that you have , the center of your life , which is , you know which , for me , is God . So , um and uh , create a , a real relationship with Christ on a daily basis and that meant , you know , scheduling time to create that relationship .

Transformation Through Faith and Purpose

Richard Sincore 18:30

Once that happened , before any of the other losses can actually , you know , be rebuilt I had to really understand , to let go , surrender , have faith and trust and really put God at the center of my life , my spiritual walk . And once I did that , things just started to click , meeting the right people , just , and you know the right books , the right therapy , and just became a new person . And there's a book you know that I read . I don't know if I could say yeah , yeah , it's by father Richard Rohr . It's called falling upward and the second half of life . And that's pretty much what happened to me . I had to get hit with a sledgehammer , unfortunately , but that's what it took for me . That's what it took for me in order to go ahead and really rebuild the right way and I'm a new man and a different person and so much better and so much wiser and really I love who I am now .

Kendall Peterson 19:32

Let's talk a little bit about that change , right ? Because we're I mean , we're close to the same age , so we live with the past versions of ourselves for quite a while , and I know for me that it wasn't an instantaneous change , Like suddenly I was a radically new person . I was just . I had a new feeling but , I had a lot of old habits .

Richard Sincore 19:57

Certainly no , that's a great point . Uh , once again , the seeds were planted . I saw the face of Christ and others and I saw their peace and I wanted that . You know , I wanted that , no matter what , my foundation needed to be solid enough so it can weather any storm , right ? So , um , in order to do that , um , you know it was straining , you know it's work , but it's work where you know you're doing this for the long run and it's not a temporary fix and it's work with peace and purpose . And , man , I was hooked and this is . I would never I mean 10 years ago , in a million years think that I would be in this position saying this . But , however , I really got to the point where I said listen , there's got to be a better way , otherwise I'm going to self-destruct in a bad way and then affect a lot of others too along the way .

Kendall Peterson 21:04

So you're a professional finance industry not exactly known for the kind of life that you're now trying to build right .

Richard Sincore 21:18

Yeah , well , yeah , it was all about numbers and performance and returns , and you know um , 100% , Um . There is another side , though , um , the side , and you mentioned the stewardship and helping others . Actually , you know , not only do well financially , um , but also you can . There's places and ways of using skill sets that you create in the financial industry that have purpose and there's impact investing , for example , you can , you know , um , invest in technology that's trying to improve or solve a societal ill or problem and uh , really , that's , you know that's been my focus , and , and the people that I meet on a daily basis when they see what I have , you know it's not perfect , it's always , it's still work on a daily basis , but , um , they , they want to do business with me and I certainly didn't do this for the business , but , and anything is possible's a it's a whole different feel . Completely , it's not toxic like it was before .

Kendall Peterson 22:23

so , um , you know it's , uh , it's , it's rooted in the foundation , is , is , is , it's light and beautiful so I heard um something a long time ago that kind of sticks with me continuously and that is if you were on trial for being a Christian , would there be enough evidence to convict you ? And quite honestly , there hasn't always been . I'd like to think there is for me . But what do you think the outside world sees in this new version of Richardson Corps , who's more at peace and trying to head in the right direction ? What do you think ? The outward version ? How does that look different to the world ?

Richard Sincore 23:13

On the surface they may be , say and act like they're shocked or even kind of turned off by it . But down deep , because they were me or if they're where I'm at now , then they wouldn't feel that way . Right . But if they were who I was before , they would know down deep , if they were true to themselves , that he's walking the right path and I want that . So it doesn matter . I don't mind being vulnerable with them because I know I'm doing my purpose and trying to . You know again , I don't know how much we can say here , but you know I like to be the face of Christ and you know , glorify God through improving and helping others . You know others solve whatever ailments or whatever it is they're dealing with in life and have that peace that I have .

Kendall Peterson 24:10

Right .

Richard Sincore 24:11

So , yeah , what does it look like ? Yeah , they're probably shocked and a little turned off . And I get guys hey , it's not like I'm thumping , but because of my example and the way I'm living my life , I see them with a different level of respect for me and treating me different and talking to me different and wanting to follow me , and that's powerful .

Kendall Peterson 24:33

Yeah , that's for sure . So what are some of the tools that you use to kind of maintain your trajectory on that walk and and what's your I don't know daily rituals ?

Richard Sincore 24:47

yeah , that's that's a great question . Yeah , I do morning devotion myself and I I live , I try to live in gratitude and be grateful , like , for example , this show and being able to go ahead and and really , um , you know , share this with everybody . Um , so that gratitude , every morning , as soon as I wake up , I do my morning devotions about for a half hour . That includes , actually , the Halo app I know one of your guests was , you know , one of the founders and it's fantastic , it's phenomenal .

Richard Sincore 25:16

I use it on a daily basis and then , of course , I read , I read scripture , I go to mass , you know , on Sundays , and then I participate in different ministries and and fellowships , and , like one , the retreat that we're talking about , that you and I we met at um . There's another one , so it's , it's a big part of my life , but I bring that into , you know , the , the , my , my work life as well , in the sense of you know the , the , my , my work life as well , and the sense of you know always smiling and trying to , to , to be that positive , peaceful person and have that attitude of gratitude , so that others can see that as well .

Kendall Peterson 25:55

That's awesome . Um any , any words of advice for maybe folks in the same business as you ? I mean , it doesn't really matter what industry they're in , we're all struggling in the same way , Sure 100% .

Richard Sincore 26:15

Yeah , if your focus is on the money and the returns , it's not going to be fulfilling . At some point you're going to get to where you're not going to want to do this anymore . My advice is to maybe utilize some of those funds or your skills to a ministry or helping others in the community and really giving back . That way it's going to feel great for you and it's going to help others and you'll be doing a great service to not only your fellow person and a neighbor , it's one of the commandments that we were left behind right , but for yourself , spiritual healing for yourself .

Richard Sincore 26:53

So finance industry can be very cutthroat and toxic , but again , it shouldn't be the focus and purpose , my advice , my thoughts of your life . It should be what helps you get to what you really where you want to be , and that's , of course , you know family , friends and you know the ministries and giving back . But in the end , you know , what do we really have ? In the end , it's really all about the love you've given others .

Kendall Peterson 27:22

Right , great advice , richard , and thank you for sharing that . Thank you for sharing your story . Oh , wow , this is fantastic .

Richard Sincore 27:29

Thank you , as I warned you we're at the end . Oh , okay , well , I had a great time , so thank you .

Kendall Peterson 27:37

Man , thank you for sharing that story . It's a common story , but thank you for sharing your personal details along the way . And what's amazing is you can go through those hardships , you can go through the challenges and you can go through those moments of isolation and desperation . And then you have this on the other end , which is great , and you and I both know the world's full of guys like us that have gone through it .

Kendall Peterson 28:03

And now we can band together and help each other , which is amazing . So , for those of you listening or watching , thank you once again for the prayers , thank you for the messages of inspiration and the encouragement to keep this going . It's not the easiest thing , on top of a job and a family and everything else , to to manage this going . It's not the easiest thing , on top of a job and a family and everything else , to manage a podcast . I am eternally grateful for Grant and Michael and our producer staff that we have here . That really take a heavy load for me . If you are inspired by Richard's story or any of the other stories we've had and you would like to sponsor this podcast , please feel free to reach out on everydayapostlecom and until then , I encourage you guys to stay true to your faith . Stay in prayer , pray for us for sure , and I will see you on the next episode . God bless , god bless .

Announcer 29:07

Thanks for tuning in to the Everyday Apostle . Don't forget to like and subscribe on YouTube , on your favorite podcast outlet , and at our website at everydayapostlecom . Until next time , stay blessed .