We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Christa Szalach a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Christa thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

Success looks different to each person, and there is no “right or wrong” way to define success. That is one of the things I love about defining success. What I view success as, someone else may not. And vice versa.

To me, achieving success is done through hard work and persistence. Regardless of the industry, goal, or task at hand, if you can go to sleep every night, reflecting on the previous day, and say with confidence “I left everything on the field today and did my absolute best to control what I could control,” then you are on track for success. Even if the goals/visions identified are not achieved in the end, I think someone who puts 110% of their effort into something will be able to accept the results, even if they are disappointed in the outcome.

In my personal experience, when I have “failed” in my own terms, I more often than not am okay with the outcome, because there really was not more that I could have done. It is the times that I “failed” and could not genuinely say “I did all that I could have done” that still sit on my conscious.

To achieve success, someone has to be all-in. Whatever personal, financial, or professional goals they have…they have to be all-in on making it happen. Otherwise, they will almost always fall short of the goal, and as a result feel a lack of accomplishment.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My professional journey started with the belief that I would work in the sports industry and eventually become a lawyer. When I graduated from Purdue University, I took a position at Arizona State University working in the athletics department and pursuing my master’s degree in sports law and business. At this time, I thought the next logical step would be to apply to law school, and/or continue working in sports…except ideally making the leap from college to professional athletics.

But when it came to the reality of making that happen, something in me switched and I realized neither of those routes was what I truly wanted for myself! At the time, one of my best friends was recruiting for Northwestern Mutual, a Fortune 100 financial planning firm. After many conversations and a lack of clarity on what was next for me, she recruited me to be just that…a recruiter for financial advisors.

It was not long after seeing the work our financial advisors were doing that I realized the advisor role is where I belonged. After only five short months of recruiting, I decided to take the leap of faith and become one of the financial advisors I was recruiting. I started studying for the exams/licenses that I needed, and before I knew it, I had launched my own financial planning practice affiliated with Northwestern Mutual.

The years have flown by, and now I have grown to a point to where I created my own branding within the firm. My personal practice, Szalach Financial Planning, has rapidly spread helping clientele from Hawaii to New York and everywhere in between.

As the Founder and Owner of Szalach Financial Planning, my team strives to help clients feel like they have a secure financial plan that will allow them to retire by design (not default), spend today living and enjoy their hard-earned money, and mitigate any unforeseen risks that could derail their financial plan.

We do this by helping clients reduce, mitigate and eliminate the impact of taxes along the way…not only worrying about saving on taxation today, but also looking at what the long-term implications of taxes will be down the road. We have a couple unique strategies we use that the traditional investment-only firms are not touching.

One thing I am most proud of is the feedback we receive from clients about “dumbing it down” so the every-day person can understand financial planning. Money drives our world! However you choose to spend it is your prerogative, but money gives people options. And when people do not have a solid plan, with a full understanding of how the plan works together, it can feel scarry and isolating. My team takes great pride in clearly communicating the problems and solutions to clients. People are busy! I ensure the time we spend together is efficient, concise, and educational to ensure progress is being made.

Areas we specialize in:
-Retirement planning
-Investment strategies
-College planning
-Life insurance planning
-Income protection

The demographic and professions of our clientele varies, but below are a few of the groups we tend to do the most work with:
-Young families (early 30’s to 40’s, established financially, have a kid or two, own a home, etc.)
-Pre-retirees (we call them the retirement red-zone, only a few years left to make the most of their financial plan)
-Retirees (no longer have earned income, but need help strategizing around long-term financial security)
-Veterinarians (specifically small animal, and even more specifically small animal specialists. But DVMs as a whole).

A common misconception I would like to address – prior to meeting my team, I find that many of my clients thought “you have to be rich to be eligible to work with an advisor.” At your standard investment-only firms, that may be true as they have asset minimums you must reach before you get assigned an actual human you can speak with versus a 1-800 number and a 30-minute hold line to reach a call center representative. Just know, there are good and quality advisors out there that can help you! It does not have to cost an arm and a leg to do so either. And…it can be fun! I find I laugh quite often with my clients, and we truly build personal relationships/friendships along the way.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Referrals, referrals, referrals!

Anytime we have something important to us, we turn to the people we love and trust in our lives and ask for their input. I found my CPA through a referral. My doctor(s) through referrals. My dentist through a referral. Even my golf coach/league was through a referral.

When it comes to money, it is no different. People want to ensure the advisor helping them is competent, successful, and has a proven track record of success. To me, this is not crazy! It would be crazy if these things were not highly considered. Because of this, word of mouth has been the primary way my business has grown. Thanks to technology, I own a nation-wide practice and am able to help busy professionals during the breaks in their calendars that is convenient for them.

Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?

I am not a native to Scottsdale, Arizona. And while over 80% of my referrals and clients are not located within the state of Arizona, I made a conscious effort to expand my in-person relationships locally.

About 2 years ago, my team launched Women, Wine + Wealth events. We host them with the intention of gathering high performing, local women in business, for a networking event. What started as a 45-minute wine tasting, followed by 45-minutes of networking and wealth discussion, has recently turned to a 45-minutes golf lesson (with drinks of course!) followed by the 45-minutes of networking and wealth discussion.

When we first launched this event, we had no idea if people would attend, or even express interest. It is a big financial risk to host an event like this, as we don’t go small! We paid for a certified sommelier, the wine, and the venues (Wrigley Mansion was where a few of our events were hosted for anyone local reading this!).

And even though we have been hosting about 1 per quarter for the last 2 years, and now we have a bigger base of women who help us spread the word, we still take on financial risks in planning these events. There is always an uncertainty on if the ROI will be worth it.

But what I have learned in hosting events like this is that it is not all about ROI in the moment. Yes, the ROI matters. And yes, as a business owner I have to make smart financial decisions. But the branding and exposure my team has received through continuously showing up and hosting these events has been incredible! Even with people have never attended, or are not living in the state of Arizona, it has been a conversation starter…people are talking about what we are doing.

So, my summary to other small business owners reading this would be don’t quit on a good idea even with uncertainty. There are more ways to define success than just short-term ROI. Keep pushing the boundaries and keep thinking bigger!

Contact Info:

• Website: http://christaszalach.nm.com/
• Instagram: @Szalach_Financial
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChristaSzalach/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christaszalach/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql_eJBnIJ8U