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

Kyle, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

What do I think it takes to be successful? There’s plenty of cliches and overused tropes that I could put here that everyone has probably heard a million times from their favorite investor millionaire. Tropes like it takes Patience! It takes Hard Work! it takes you making Sacrifices! I mean, they aren’t wrong, but when I heard those same things, I could never help feeling like they were trying to glorify a mundane and agonizing existence in favor of materialistic belongings.

I mean, make no mistake, they aren’t wrong, and success more than likely is going to take implementing those same principles and understanding that the journey isn’t going to be easy, but seriously, in this day and age where most people are struggling to pay their rent, preaching a journey and path of pain isn’t going to necessarily inspire many people, especially when we all know that those same people are buying jets for tax write offs.

What does it take to be successful then? I’ve always looked at my dad for the answer to that question. I was a late, and the final addition to my family, so the age delta between my dad and I is stark. I’m 25, and he’s 74. Clearly, a large difference. Surely then Kyle, you’re going to tell us that your dad is retired and then preach about investing in some IRA. Fortunately not, my dad, even at his age is still operating, and hands on, running our family’s farm. It’s a craft he’s done for over 50 years, inheriting and taking over the operation from my grandparents, and naturally growing it over the course of his life. Farming is extremely unforgiving solely for a few factors: There’s the physical demands it brings, but worse, the profitability of it is left to un-controllables such as the weather, and of course the market.

Still, my dad is running tractors, leading his team, and putting in work day in and day out. How can he deal with that? I’ve seen the man incur losses that would drive most people into a depressive episode so bad that they’d quit, or just shut down all together. It’s the lynchpin he taught me through example that has lead to his success over the years, and what I challenge myself to embody every day: Perseverance.

Perseverance is what it takes. You’re going to lose. You’re going to lose a lot when you’re in pursuit of your dreams, your goals, whatever it is that defines success for yourself. What matters isn’t how you handle the good times, it’s not even what happens when you get knocked down. It’s about being able to persevere through the good and the bad, it’s about breathing when all is well, and being able to breathe when you completely and totally fail. Sometimes we glorify the struggle and getting knocked down, and say you just have to get back up, but if you can’t endure what happens after getting back up, you’re never going to get where you want to go. Persevere through it all, fail and fail and fail again, and push through it. Get knocked down, get up, and be ready to be knocked back down again.

Perseverance is the core of success, for without it, you’ll never reach it, but with it, even if it doesn’t happen as fast as you may want it to, you’ll eventually get there.

Kyle, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hey there, I’m Kyle McMillan. Like many people ( dare I say most of us. ) I never once got up one day and decided that the financial industry is where I wanted to end up.

I knew that working with people was what I wanted to do, and sales seemed like the most reasonable way to facilitate that in tandem with having my own dreams and goals. So, being a natural born gearhead, I ended up selling cars for a while. It was a stark, unforgiving, and amazing introduction to the world of sales, and I’m grateful for the experience that it gave me, but the culture behind it all wasn’t for me.

So why pursue a career in Life insurance, Retirement planning, and investing? I wanted to feel good about what I was doing. I enjoy knowing that no matter if someone decides to move forward with me or not, they leave at the bare minimum more educated than when they first met me.

I could go on about my firm and what makes it so great, but realistically, most of them are all the same. What’s different then, is myself, and how I go about helping people. Instead of a stuffy office, worrying about if you came dressed well enough for a meeting, and feeling like you’re out of your league, I meet people where they’re comfortable. Why force someone to be in an office they’d have to spend gas to get to, when we could just as well have a discussion over a taco?

I’m extremely proud of the work that I do, as I know that what I’m creating is something the overwhelming majority of people can’t create on their own: Total peace of mind. It’s cliche, I know, but that’s what I get to create for people. I take the ” what if’s” that keep them up at night and give them something they can rely on to answer those questions.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

For me personally, I’m a huge networking and Referral person.

It’s not un-common for many businesses, or professionals to take the course of going after businesses directly, and frankly, it’s just not for me.

I prefer networking, earning referrals and meeting people organically. When you’re out doing B2B you’re quite literally one of a million other people approaching a business or a person and asking for something another million have already asked for.

However: meeting someone organically turns you from being one of a million, to having the chance for a one in a million conversation.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think my nature, candidness, honesty, and overall demeanor have helped me create my reputation.

Being younger in this industry has it’s challenges. Most people expect your financial advisors or planners to constantly be in a suit, charge you for their time just to talk, are difficult to schedule with, etc.

My approach is just one that’s more comfortable. Want to talk over taco’s? Sure! Meet at your place for a Mimosa? Why not. Prefer to have your discussions in sweatpants and a hoodie? I’m happy you’re comfortable!

Additionally, instead of having that dime-a-dozen sales mentality of you need to buy XYZ because I say so, I work with my clients to create a solution that makes the most sense from them, walking WITH them to what the best choice or answer is instead of just giving them a generic answer that may or may not be the best option.