We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Efrain Santiago. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Efrain below.

Efrain, appreciate you joining us today. Was there an experience or lesson you learned at a previous job that’s benefited your career afterwards?

Back in 2014 when I was in college, I took some time off for financial reasons and was working the graveyard shift doing security for a corporate building full time. After a while working, I got comfortable with my position and thought I didn’t need to go back to college because I was making a decent living. I quickly realized that there was no area for advancement, and I needed to go back to school and finish my degree. I went back to school in 2015 full time and worked overnight full time as well. I would do my homework during my free time at work and would even get in trouble with a particular manager that wouldn’t let me do my homework. November of 2016 my dad got into an accident where he could have lost his life. I was scheduled to work New Years Eve and requested off so I can spend it with my family especially after this incident. One manager approved it no problem, but the manager that had a problem with me doing my homework wouldn’t allow me to take off even after I explained why I wanted to take off. When the day came, I turned in my badge and said this is my last day. I decided that I was never going to let a job dictate when I was or wasn’t going to take time off. For the readers out there that are employees, remember that we’re all replaceable. Whether you go above and beyond for a company or just do what’s required for your job, the only people that won’t replace you are your loved ones so spend time to cherish them. For the readers that are entrepreneurs, take time off instead of days off. When building, we’re so focused on the goal we sometimes forget the people we love. Take small times out of your day to dedicate it to the people you love then get back to work. When we pass, we’re only left with the memories you’ve made so the question is: If you passed right now, are you able to say you lived your life to the fullest or were you too busy working to live?

Efrain, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a licensed financial strategist, but I wasn’t always in finance. I was a successful Manufacturing Engineer for over 6 years in the industry for top companies like Lockheed Martin and GE Aerospace. I used to create and document manufacturing processes for the modifications of planes, helicopters, and their components. It was really cool to be able to experience that, but after some time, I just lost my passion for it. It became a chore and obligation rather than excitement and eagerness. I started in the financial industry part time as a means of just doing something extra on my free time and making extra income. Once I started meeting with clients and seeing how much people need help with their finances, it became less about making extra income and more about providing value to others. In America, the education of finance is relatively nonexistent. We get more education on finding the area of shapes rather than how to budget, save, build credit, do taxes, grow money, etc. What my company, Global Financial Impact, does is provide basic education to families and individuals on what compound interest is, how money grows, and the different ways money is taxed. Then we see where our clients currently are, what kind of accounts they have set up, what debts they have, money coming in, goals and come up with a strategy to help meet their goals. We also help protect their legacy utilizing different life insurances, wills, and trusts. There’s a different type of fulfillment when you know you have protected a family’s future or help them to be able to get them to retirement when they don’t see it possible or help them manage their debt and budgets when they feel overwhelmed. Making the subject of finance less taboo and helping families believe that their dreams are attainable and could instead be their goals is the reason why I do what I do. Since I’ve started, I’ve been giving back to the community any way I can. I’ve spoken to the 8th grade class at P.S. 28 in NJ about the importance of finance, I’ve volunteered at Junior Achievement South Florida to teach to high school kids about finance and what to do once you hit 18, and I was invited to speak at the Real Life Real Estate podcast on Youtube to talk about life insurances, how to protect your family, estate planning, and real estate. My goal is to help over 1 million families to achieve financial independence. Our goal as a company is to help over 100 million families achieve financial independence.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

The biggest lesson I had to learn was how to go from an employee to an entrepreneur. We are indoctrinated from young to go to school and get good grades so we can go to college and get a good job. We have always been told what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. When it comes to being an entrepreneur, you no longer have someone telling you what, how, or when to do anything anymore. You need to learn how to be self-disciplined and motivated to drive yourself to excel because what you do will dictate how successful you are and in turn how much you make. I’ve always done side jobs with my dad growing up which built my work ethic. When I turned into an employee, I learned very early that it doesn’t matter how hard you work, the company is going to give you the same 3-5% raise every year whether you go above and beyond or not. Because of that, I started to prolong how long it took me to complete tasks being that I was a fast worker. Over the years, it formed into a habit. Unlearning that habit along with the mindset have been the biggest challenge of the journey. What has helped me overcome those challenges is taking time everyday for personal development. Personal development for me has been watching the School of Greatness podcast episodes on Youtube and watching Grant Cardone on Undercover Billionaire. Being able to hear what other successful people have done to be successful has been able to help me understand the qualities I need to have and who I need to become in order to be the successful entrepreneur I want to become. My former person was able to get me to become a successful employee but would never get me to become a successful entrepreneur. Because I was trying to become someone I’ve never been before, I had to study people that were already there to learn the habits and qualities I needed to have in order to achieve the same success.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

The biggest thing that helped build my reputation is having a genuine desire to do what’s best for my client. The reason it helped build my reputation is because I have gone above and beyond to learn everything I have to so I can give the best recommendations I could give. That could also be my biggest flaw because with all the information I have in my head, I can also give too much information and overwhelm the client, but I pride myself in breaking everything down as simply as possible so the client can make educated decisions. When my clients come out of a meeting with me, I want to make sure that they are educated, confident, and comfortable with the plan we set forth. A lot of people go into meetings looking to push products and get commissions. I go in to figure out if I can help, how I can help, and do everything I can to help my client reach their goals. Having a genuine desire to help others always pays more in the long run.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://efrain-santiago.mynewretirement.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/2colde/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61554950892024
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/efrain-santiago-gfi