We were lucky to catch up with Danny Michael recently and have shared our conversation below.

Danny, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry? Any stories or anecdotes that illustrate why this matters?

Unfortunately, the financial services profession has a sullied reputation from a lack of regulation and transparency. Historically, stockbrokers and insurance agents have sold a myriad of financial products to Americans looking for personal financial advice. The industry has been very sales-driven, with many brokers or advisors on 100% commission compensation schedules.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I grew up working in my parent’s small retail business while going to school. After graduating from Grossmont High School, I attended UC Riverside where I obtained a bachelor’s degree in business administration and shortly thereafter, began my career as a financial advisor. I was interested in learning how to make my money work for me and also help others do the same. I worked for a number of brokerage firms, private banks and smaller investment management firms throughout my career.

In the early part of 2017, I was at a significant crossroads in my life. I had relocated to Los Angeles for a job opportunity and wasn’t happy with where I was in my career. I felt unfulfilled and overworked. I started to ask myself some deeper questions about the direction my life was headed. And the one question that really changed my life was: Did I still want to be a financial advisor? Having worked for all these bigger financial institutions, I always felt something was missing. None of these firms ever provided clients with any deep exploration or planning around their core values and goals for life. Instead, we would ask them about their goals and they would provide surface-level answers. We would then begin making financial recommendations based on their answers.

As an example, a common answer to, “when would you like to retire?” was age 65. Why? Most people thought that’s when their Social Security benefits started. So I always felt like an order taker and felt that people weren’t being given enough guidance or structure during life’s major transitions. So why didn’t any of these financial institutions have some sort of structured framework to help with planning personal goals? In my opinion, the reason is that having discussions about people’s core values and lifestyle goals requires a level of conversational depth that can be very uncomfortable for both the advisor and the client. From the advisor’s perspective, this can present friction and increase the risk of losing a potential new client. For clients, the discussion is typically centered around family dynamics and their relationship with money. It can be intimidating to discuss these things with your financial advisor.

However, in helping families prepare for retirement, lifestyle planning is necessary because retirement provides you with an extremely valuable gift – your time. The best way to maximize this newfound asset is to spend it doing the things in life that bring you the most joy and fulfillment. Defining what this means to you is crucial since it directly impacts your spending, which subsequently reduces your financial resources. There was the answer to my question. I still had a passion for being a financial advisor, I just felt that the big banks and investment firms had it all wrong.

So in 2017, I launched Satori Wealth Management, Inc., with the primary intention of creating a structured process to not only help clients develop a plan for their finances but a plan for life. Most of our clients are within five years from retirement or already retired and need help with replacing their paychecks, reducing taxes, and ensuring their families and finances are protected from any unforeseen events.

However, what really sets us apart from most other fee-only financial planning firms is our life planning process we go through with our clients. I completed training through the Kinder Institute of Financial Life Planning and attained the Registered Life Planner® designation. We don’t make any type of financial recommendations for clients until we’ve had at least 3-4 meetings to create a blueprint for their most fulfilling life.

Your finances touch just about every aspect of your life. Your personal life and your financial life are not separate, they intertwine with each other. We focus on helping people effectively combine the two different elements to enable them to manage their finances in a manner that fully supports reaching their personal goals, as opposed to just focusing on the numbers.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When you become a business owner in any type of service industry, it’s typically because you were very successful at your profession and decided to start your own firm. And that’s when the tables turn and you realize that you don’t know anything about being a business owner!

A few areas where I struggled initially was trying to outsource all of my marketing efforts. This area of the business was challenging since I did not have a marketing background and in today’s age, you have to have a good understanding of technology if you get your clients through your website.

I spent thousands of dollars initially trying to outsource my marketing efforts only to be disappointed every time. I realized I wasn’t going to get the results I wanted without having a thorough understanding of my ideal client and how to reach them. Now I’m proud to say that I have a great marketing plan that targets my niche and they are able to find us rather easily with a simple Google search.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I finally decided to quit my last job and start my own business. It was a difficult time and I was in a difficult situation. It’s easy to let fear and doubt creep in your head in the beginning stages of owning a business. A lot of things can go wrong…but a lot of things can go right as well.

Grinding through the first year and reaching the point where you say to yourself, “Oh, I’m going to be okay now,” was one of the best feelings of my life. That’s when the true journey of personal and business growth really starts.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.satoriwealth.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/satori_wealth
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/satoriwealth
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/dannygmichael/
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/satoriwealth
• Yelp: www.yelp.com/biz/satori-wealth-management-los-angeles-5?osq=satori