Lucas Gillis on Networking, Leadership, and Retirement Plan Blind Spots

Episode Description + Highlights
Northern Colorado business networking is about more than handing out business cards. In this episode of Connections That Matter, Andrew Johnson sits down with Lucas Gillis of SRP to talk about how genuine curiosity, leadership, and long-term relationship building open doors in business. Lucas also shares why retirement plans are often full of hidden blind spots and how business owners can avoid costly mistakes by getting the right guidance in place.

Episode Highlights
🔹 Lucas explains his niche as a retirement plan advisor who helps businesses design, administer, and improve employer-sponsored retirement plans.
🔹 He shares why many business owners do not realize there are compliance issues in their plans until those problems become expensive.
🔹 Andrew and Lucas discuss why being top of mind matters in long sales cycles.
🔹 Lucas breaks down how he networks without leading with a sales pitch.
🔹 They talk about the value of stepping into leadership roles within networking communities.
🔹 Lucas shares practical advice for people who feel awkward or inexperienced in networking settings.

Why You Should Listen
🔹 You will get practical networking advice that feels approachable and actionable.
🔹 You will hear how curiosity and generosity can make you more memorable in business circles.
🔹 You will learn why retirement plans can create major liability for business owners if ignored.
🔹 You will discover how leadership positions can accelerate trust and visibility in the community.
🔹 You will get insight into Northern Colorado networking groups, chambers, and young professional spaces.

Businesses “Lucas Gillis” Recommends
 🔹 FUEL – A welcoming young professionals networking community that helps people build confidence, connection, and community.
 🔹 Loveland Chamber of Commerce – A solid place to build relationships and plug into the local business ecosystem.
 🔹 Fort Collins Chamber of Commerce – Another strong networking avenue for connecting with local professionals and business leaders.
 🔹 NoCo Works Sector Partnerships – A useful way to connect with leaders and decision-makers in specific industries like construction, hospitality, nonprofit, and finance.

How to Contact Lucas Gillis
Business line: 970-225-2001
Cell: 970-818-1241
Email: lGillis@SRPretire.com

Timestamps
0:00 Why curiosity is such an effective networking tool.
0:16 Intro to Lucas Gillis from SRP.
0:51 What Lucas actually does in the retirement plan space.
2:11 Who Lucas needs to meet inside a company.
3:24 What the sales cycle looks like for retirement plan work.
4:37 Why being top of mind matters over time.
6:58 Lucas shares how his family business and SRP work together.
8:21 Favorite places to network in Northern Colorado.
11:46 How sector partnerships help people meet different kinds of decision-makers.
12:55 The value of taking leadership roles in networking spaces.
14:39 What Lucas sees in young professionals through FUEL.
16:59 Practical networking tips for people who do not feel like natural networkers.
18:59 How to connect with Lucas.
20:35 Andrew and Lucas talk about reputation as a connector.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Find someone else and just ask them what they do. People like to tell you about what they do. So use that as your entry point is be curious, ask questions.

SPEAKER_00 0:16

All right, everybody. Welcome to another episode of Connections That Matter. My name is Andrew Johnson. I love having conversations with Northern Colorado's best networkers. Today I have absolutely one of the best, Lucas Gillis from SRP on the show. Lucas, welcome. Thank you, Andrew. I really appreciate you having me here.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

I'm excited.

SPEAKER_00 0:35

Well, I see you everywhere. I see you the Lulvin Chamber, you're in charge of fuel, you're um the the Prince of Dusk chair over there. I see you uh networking in a lot of places. I feel like we share that title. Well, tell us if they don't, if somebody hasn't uh met you yet, tell us a little bit about what you do.

SPEAKER_01 0:52

Okay. Um yeah, I'm a I'm a financial advisor, but I am a specialist financial advisor. So I do not uh do personal wealth management. I exclusively work with businesses helping them implement, administer, and serve their retirement plans. So if it's retirement benefit for the employee offered from the company, I'm there on the side of the company to help support and serve their participants and employees and make sure that that retirement plan is buttoned up and running as it should. How fast do people get it? Uh if you tell them like do they just think you're a financial planner? I think that's probably the biggest challenge of my job is so many people. Oh, yeah, yeah, you do investments, and there's it's a whole different world in the retirement plan space that um investments are just a very minimal piece, one spoke of the wheel, we like to say, of uh such a broader set of services that we offer the company from fiduciary consulting and participant education and plan design and all these words that you know start going over people's heads very quickly. So I think in action, people understand what we're doing. Um and it, but it definitely is not a service that's as easy to explain as let me help you uh just earn a little bit more money on your personal investments. Sure.

SPEAKER_00 2:09

So how um who do you talk to? Is it head of HR, uh CEO, C-suite level people? Who are you trying to get introductions to?

SPEAKER_01 2:17

Yeah, you know, every company's a little different in terms of who's the decision maker. Um, you know, it just a very brief anecdotal story. Had a great conversation with HR for three months with a prospect. Thought I knew exactly what the plan wanted. Uh, got in the meeting with the owner, and about 10 minutes in, he's like, this is a waste of my time, and had to pivot. And I was very appreciative for being direct and honest because I never want to waste anybody's time. But what his needs were and what he thought the company needed out of the retirement plan was an entirely different conversation than what HR was. So we kind of like to say we have three different clients. We have the ownership or who is the primary driver of the company from the decision-making side. HR touches the plan every day. So they might not be a decision maker, but they feel the pain points when they pop up, and then the employees. And um, from the legal standpoint, every decision that we do and guide the company has to be in the best interest of those employees. So typically HR is kind of the best point of contact, but nothing ever really gets done until I can get in front of a CEO, CFO, whoever's that final decision maker at the company.

SPEAKER_00 3:24

So is it is a lot of high-stakes boardroom pitches there to win the account, new accounts?

SPEAKER_01 3:29

You know, I think I'm lucky that I'm in northern Colorado, yeah. Uh, where there's not as much of that. There's there's some companies out there where, you know, especially when you're getting into certain industries where there's 20 board members and it nothing happens quickly at all. And then there's others that, you know, have a very laid-back, relaxed culture. I'd never wear a suit going into the office, and I'm just kind of hanging out with the HR, having a conversation like we are here today, and that's how we're making the decision. So it's pretty fluid, but I I think I am lucky with being in northern Colorado that by far the vast majority of the time, it's a much more relaxed affair. So um, yeah, not as uh high high stakes as I think people would imagine. Not like in the movies, I guess. No, not so much.

SPEAKER_00 4:11

Well, how do you stay prepared though to win the club? Because it's it's not just a one conversation uh and they sign up, I'm sure, right? Like I I went to a networking event, my tenant called me, and they said my garage door is broken. I met a guy who had a garage door company. I was like, hey, I need you. But somebody who's like thinking about their 401k or the retirement plans, what does that sales cycle look like where maybe they'd even be open to having a conversation with you?

SPEAKER_01 4:38

Yeah, I appreciate the question. I I think primarily it's just being top of mind. Um sometimes that sales cycle can be years, honestly. Uh I think the primary way uh where we get brought in is we've done the work and um been top of mind, you know, engaged with the decision makers, done some homework there, invited them to some events, provided some sort of value, connected them with someone else, or um, you know, we like kind of doing more casual style cooking classes or uh just client appreciation events, and then we bring some prospects to that as well, just kind of help them get a feel for the work that we're doing with our current clients, and they can see that value there. But the retirement plan, if it's most people don't know it's even there. Um, so we don't really get brought in or people aren't reaching out until a problem arises. And then many times they don't even know that there's a problem there. So I can tell an anodotal story of a new client that we just had where they went to the vendor direct. They never had an advisor. They thought everything was buttoned up and running smooth with the plan. And we just got brought on board because they noticed there was one issue with contributions, and that's now spiraled into um what will be a probably about a two-month project to clean things up in terms of regulatory and compliance issues that they just weren't even aware. And those type of things, the longer they fester, the pricier they become. And the cost of what it would have engaged, or what the cost of what it would have been to engage with an advisor from the start for that company, um, they're they're probably gonna pay that um, you know, at least five, ten fold in missed uh contributions and fines to the Department of Labor to correct the issues that um were not caught because there was nobody there advocating on their behalf. Um it's not the vendor's job to find those problems or even advise uh on how to correct them because they're not liable for any of that. That all falls back to the owner or the um the board or the decision makers at the company. So that's kind of our role is to be those eyes and ears for them, advocate on their behalf, catch those before they're happen, or as quick as we can when they do happen, um, so that things don't snowball and become a problem where we do get the phone call down the road.

SPEAKER_00 6:58

Yeah. Sound sounds like you see the blind spots. Uh talk to me about your team. Uh from what I understand, it's a family business, but yeah, you know, how do you uh who does what or how do you guys handle it all?

SPEAKER_01 7:09

You know, uh it's uh I think we, meaning my father and I are a great team because we're very much the yin and the yang. He is uh much more uh the I'll just say there's a lot of vendors that reach out to me first before they go and they talk to Fran. He is the one that will, you know, crack the heads. I'm definitely the, like you said, I'm I'm much more in the networker, the face of the company, getting out there, engaging with the new clients and prospects. Um but when it comes down to servicing the client and the actual fiduciary consulting, it's really just a tag team affair from that standpoint. Um, but he started the company over 40 years ago. I've been with him for 10 plus now at this point. And we joined SRP, uh merged with them, um, brought our independent practice under their umbrella uh in February. So SRP has been fantastic. They have a very robust team. So all of our IT, compliance, back-end operations, um marketing that is all done through uh SRP, uh, which has about 38 offices nationwide and um just under a couple hundred employees now at this point. So uh that's we we are able to share that load when needed um across the organization.

SPEAKER_00 8:21

Let's talk about networking because I see you in a lot of different ecosystems. Where are some of your favorite places to network and which has led to some of the best results for you?

SPEAKER_01 8:30

I think for my standpoint, it's difficult because again, I need to be in front of those decision makers, and a lot of those decision makers for the larger organizations in northern Colorado aren't networking in the traditional avenues. Um and so it was a learning curve for me when I first started getting into this. And I've been kind of actively promoting and networking for maybe three plus years now, going on four. Um so it's been a challenge to find where are my best fits. And I think a lot of it comes down to what do I want out of that networking too? And so I don't have an expectation to ever win new business at networking. I'm more, again, I don't know where opportunities are, what businesses need help or potentially looking to implement a 401k plan. So I'm really more out networking to just be a resource. And I have causes and different organizations that I'm passionate about. And so I typically more lead with those. And I'm just trying to connect businesses and different um different leaders in the community with each other and just trying to be that resource. So then uh, you know, I build that trust and relationship. And if there ever is a plan with the 401k plan, hopefully the trust in the um uh the work that I've done, just being a generous giver of my time to uh the community, um, that will return itself. I'm confident that will return itself in in the form of referral. And it has in the past. So uh just I guess to answer your question specifically, I tell people, you know, I I send people your way all the time. I think uh your your networking groups, and especially if someone can't commit or doesn't have the the bandwidth to maybe do uh one of the local chapters. Uh the monthly events are fantastic and a great way to really catch a unique swath of um businesses in the state of Colorado that I don't think any other networking group is really providing. Um the chambers are obviously great, but I also do fuel, which is the young professional networking group. So I'm on the leadership team for that. I'm co-lead um this year. And uh that I'm really proud of of the group that we've grown that into because we do have a very wide group of young professionals that are early mid-career. Um, and that's been a wonderful safe space for people to kind of cut their teeth who aren't maybe comfortable walking into an established group like some of the chambers have, um, where it's a much larger pool of people and maybe some older demographics and more seasoned marketing or networking professionals that can be intimidating for people. So we have that space. Uh, and I think the last one I would give a shout out to is uh the sector partnerships. I think people overlook those a lot. Uh, but Northern Colorado, both uh the Loveland Chamber and the Fort Collins Chamber and an organization called NOCO Works have done a great job establishing some sector partnerships. So for construction, hospitality, nonprofit, financial sector partnership in my industry. And those are a way to connect and plug in with some of the leading um members of that community and uh the organizations that are kind of leading that charge to promote and advocate on behalf of those different sectors that touch uh or you know, that that that fit that that vein in in northern Colorado. And I think it can be a really good resource, whether you're looking to serve those or you're in that industry, um, you'll tap into a totally different market of people that don't go out and network in your traditional networking channels through those events, but it can be really valuable.

SPEAKER_00 12:04

Yeah, I think that's a good point because uh we had a previous guest. He talked about the people who are in the networking circuit. Like you see the same people in the same events and they've they follow each other around. But um, you know, a lot of the pain points I hear is how do I meet new people? How do I get in front of new people? I love that. That's right. I want to get back to fuel, but um before I do that, people who are networking, some of them go and they they just blend in, right? They're one of the crowd and they come and they uh but you've made a very conscious decision to step into leadership, like in Fuel where you're on the on the leadership team, or even at like desk chair, where I see you, I saw you are a speaking opportunity for one of the DC connects that you have. Um what advantages do you think that being a leader in a networking situation has given you rather than just attending event as a and as somebody who got a ticket?

SPEAKER_01 12:55

Uh you know, I think probably the most valuable standpoint is people then look to you as someone that they can go to as a resource, or uh um, you know, if they're looking for advice of how to improve their networking skills or to get plugged into the networking community, you've already established yourself as um uh a trusted resource in that regard. So I I love being able to fire off an email to connect two people, and I might never hear from them again, but I get a real genuine gratification from being able to say, I just met this person here at this event, was able to ask them what their needs are, what they're looking for. And I've done the work to build enough of a network of just individuals across northern Colorado that I'm usually pretty confident that I can connect them directly with the person. And if I can't, I probably know someone, usually you or someone else, that I can send them off to. And I know they're gonna be in good hands. And so I guess I would say generating that reputation, you know, when you're in the leadership role, it's much easier for people to look to you as I'm not here to sell, I'm just here to provide genuine advice, be a genuine resource. Um, I I never go into networking events to sell. I I honestly haven't sold my products in years uh or what my services are at a networking event. I just am there truly to be a connector um and a resource for people to use and tap into and building that trust in the community. And I think stepping into that leadership role has been a fast track to um positioning myself in that way in a genuine way, you know.

SPEAKER_00 14:39

Absolutely. Um so young professionals at Fuel. Do you see any trends the way that they're networking that might be different than maybe our parents' generation?

SPEAKER_01 14:48

Um that's a really good question. Uh I it is interesting because it's I would say there. I I honestly don't know if I would say that there is in terms of what I've noticed with almost any networking space is you can immediately pick out who's comfortable and who's not, who knows how to work a room, you know, who's who's willing to go walk up to a circle and break it up to uh start a conversation with a complete stranger they've never connected with. And I think that the benefit of fuel and where I would say is different is everybody, you know, 80% of that room is not comfortable with that, or they've never had this is their first networking experience. So it is a very green space. So I think that's where the leadership piece comes in is we need to be more proactive and finding creative ways to bring the group together and prompt them and guide them into some of the relationship building activities. And I think we've done a really good job where now there are people that have been coming for several years, and we are starting to see groups form and people take other new members under their wing. And we're also building a much very wide um group across many different industries and services. So we have everybody from service industry to the traditional powerhouses like real estate and you know the banks and the credit unions and financial advisors. Um, but we've got, you know, people at every stage of their career that just want to kind of tap into that sense of community. Uh, and I think that's probably the thing that I would say. If there's a difference in the generations, uh, I think a lot of the young professionals that are getting involved with fuel, it's it genuinely is more of a sense of connection and community that they're not finding in third spaces out there as much rather than um generating revenue or selling a product. It's just uh an eagerness to build a network uh and connect with some other young professionals that they can see themselves in, you know. And I think that's something that they've struggled with in other networking groups. So really proud uh at the growth that fuels experienced and excited to see where it goes in the community.

SPEAKER_00 16:59

Well, what tips would you give somebody who doesn't feel like a natural networker? They're maybe a little bit uncomfortable, but here they are. They're gonna show up in an event. What is some quick tips that that would make them more successful?

SPEAKER_01 17:11

Yeah, I think, you know, just anecdotally for myself, I struggled with talking a lot when I first got into networking. I I felt like I needed to tell everybody who I was rather than ask people who they are and what their needs are and what are their pain points or what are they trying to gain from being at this event. And I think if you go into a networking space, especially if you're someone who is is uh anxious or not comfortable in that space, if you go in with the intention of again, find the person who's speaking, find the person who put on the event, they're probably going to be someone who's really good at connecting you to other people. It's a great person to locate and tap into. Um or if you can't, you know, make that connection, if they're getting uh if they're in a conversation and you don't feel comfortable just powering in and introducing yourself, find someone else and just ask them what they do. People like to tell you about what they do. So use that as your entry point is be curious, ask questions, and tap into what the other people are there and what they're looking for, and then just kind of practice. It is absolutely a skill of listening, asking questions, asking the right questions, and then be that connector. You it probably would only take you three, four people meeting in the room where you can start to build a connection and make an introduction between those two people. And then now you're a resource, you're can you're a connector, you're someone that made an introduction on someone else's behalf. Uh, and that can help build your confidence in terms of um uh work in a room. You know, it's it's it's absolutely a skill. I was not good at it uh when I first got into this, and I still don't think I'm, you know, it comes naturally to me at all, but I am comfortable in it now.

SPEAKER_00 18:59

That's good. That's good. Well, uh, how can people get a hold of you? Maybe they're a young professional looking to engage in a community of other young professionals. Maybe they're looking at your 401k and you're like, your retirement plan and it's it's a mess, and they need to call you. What's the best way for someone to get a hold of you?

SPEAKER_01 19:16

Yeah, you know, um always happy to talk to someone about the retirement plan, but I'm always happy to talk about fuel too. So either way, uh my business line is 970-225-2001. Uh cell phones 970-818-1241. Feel free to text or call. Open on that regard, especially if you're talking about networking or fuel. I'm happy, I'm an open resource there. Um, but primarily the best way and where I will see the communication quickest is my email, which is just L Gillis, so L-G-I-L-L-I-S at srp retire.com. Um, but yeah, you shoot me an email there. Happy to get you connected with the rest of the fuel leadership team. Um, happy to help you get plugged in with any of the networking groups out there. Um, I think one thing that I take pride in is people have reached out to me asking, they know that I've kind of cut my teeth in the networking space for a little while now. Um, so even if it's not a group that I'm plugged in with, I have a pretty good idea of what the value is in that group, especially if you're trying to get in front of a certain market. Um, so I've helped a lot of people point them in the right direction of what groups they should tap into uh or people like yourself that they should reach out to to help kind of you know dip their toes in that water if they're looking to just get started.

SPEAKER_00 20:35

Right on, Lucas. Well, I will tell you one of my new favorite networking strategies is I'll walk up to somebody, do you know Lucas? And almost everybody says, Yeah, I know Lucas. And we start a great conversation about you and uh you know the open doors that that does. So you are quite the quite the connector in Northern Colorado.

SPEAKER_01 20:52

Well, thank you, sir. I appreciate that. You know, I could honestly say I'd I've pulled that same tactic with your name as well.

SPEAKER_00 20:57

So right on Lucas. Well, thanks so much for coming on, Connections That Matter, and uh we'll see you at a future Northern Colorado networking event. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 21:05

Thank you, Andrew.

SPEAKER_00 21:07

Hey all, thanks for watching. I love networking and building relationships with other Northern Colorado business leaders. So if you want to come meet some of these podcast guests, meet me, or meet some other amazing entrepreneurs in Northern Colorado, I would love to have you attend one of our next events. Uh go in the podcast description. There's a way so you can see our upcoming schedule. And maybe you could be a future podcast guest as well. Thanks.