What Makes Todd Brand & Brand Asset Management Group a Best Place To Work: Nurturing Excellence

In this conversation, Matt Granados interviews Todd Brand, the owner of Brand Asset Management Group Inc., a wealth management firm. They discuss the importance of caring for employees and investing in their personal growth. Todd emphasizes the significance of love and how it impacts both the team and the clients. He believes that healthy people help people and that love is a powerful force in the workplace. Todd also talks about the role of faith in their business and how it influences their approach to serving clients. The conversation highlights the importance of bringing one's authentic self and belief system into the workplace. The conversation explores the importance of strong leadership and personal development in every role. It emphasizes the need to encourage individuals to do more and take ownership of their work. The discussion also touches on the challenges of growth and maintaining a tight-knit team. The importance of combining personal and professional goals is highlighted, along with the value of authenticity and truthfulness in the workplace. The company's commitment to giving back to the community and celebrating employee anniversaries is also discussed.

Keywords

employee care, personal growth, love, faith, wealth management, leadership, personal development, ownership, growth, team, personal goals, professional goals, authenticity, truthfulness, giving back, employee anniversaries

Takeaways

• Caring for employees and investing in their personal growth is crucial for success in any business.

• Love is a powerful force in the workplace and can have a transformative impact on both employees and clients.

• Bringing one's authentic self and belief system into the workplace can create a strong and positive culture.

• Faith can play a significant role in guiding business decisions and serving clients.

• Leaders should prioritize the well-being and personal development of their employees. Every role has the opportunity for strong leadership and personal development.

• Encouraging individuals to do more and take ownership leads to success.

• Maintaining a tight-knit team is a challenge as the company grows.

• Combining personal and professional goals is important for overall success.

• Authenticity and truthfulness are key in building a positive workplace culture.

• Giving back to the community and celebrating employee anniversaries fosters a sense of belonging and appreciation.

Sound Bites

• "Healthy people help people."

• "Love is a way to move an organization."

• "Leaders are afraid to bring their belief system, their value system, their faith into the workforce."

• "There's not a single place on our team that doesn't value strong leadership."

• "We encourage people who have a desire to do more with their life."

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
as possible.
So we are now live and ready to go.
I'm going to get my notes in a place thatI can see them easily.
Um, were you able to go this morning tothe Bible study or were you out already?
No, I had to, I had my first drive sincesurgery.

(00:21):
I had to meet a gentleman down here towork on the gas that supplies his cabin.
So I did that and.
Where's your cabin?
St.
Genevieve, Missouri, about an hour and 15minutes south of the house.
Is it hunting, fishing?

(00:41):
What is it?
uh fishing if there's a lake right thereum there are two lakes they're both about
100 acres um we're on one end of one ofthem
Cool.
All right.
Well, let me welcome everybody and we'llget into it.
So, all right, everybody.
Welcome to best people, best place.
My name is Matt Granados.

(01:02):
I am very excited to have a friend and amentor of mine, Todd brand, uh, on this
show.
Uh, and when it comes to the concept ofwhat we do with this podcast, uh, there's
few people that I think of more Todd than,than you and the way you take care of your
people and the way you care for yourpeople.
and how that's all part of the mission ofwhat you're doing.
So Todd, do me a favor, quickly introducewhat you guys do with your partnership and

(01:27):
at your company.
Okay, there are about 20 of us.
So whenever I talk about a team, it is ateam of 20.
We're in our 30, probably 32nd year ofbeing an independent firm.
Prior to that, we were the brokerage firmfor 20 years.
I was not here at that time.

(01:48):
I'm the second generation owner of thatbusiness and now have three other partners
of my own.
Six of us are advisors and we serveaffluent families, wealth management, kind
of top to bottom, and 28 states, Ibelieve, out of Missouri, but about half
the clientele-ish is not in Missouri.

(02:11):
The rest are spread around.
So that's our core business.
Awesome, now I was told because of thebusiness you're in, I get to read a little
disclaimer for you that says that BrandAsset Management Group Inc.
is a registered investment advisor withthe Securities and Exchange Commission and
is noticed file in various states.

(02:32):
All commentary is for information purposeonly and should in no way be construed or
interpreted as solicitation to sell oroffer or to sell advisory services to any
resident where it is not appropriatelyrequested, excluded.
or exempt from registration or whereotherwise legally permitted.
So Todd, I wanted to get that out of theway for you so people don't understand

(02:54):
exactly what you're doing.
And the reason why is because you guys areamazing at what you do business-wise.
I mean, you guys, you produce numbers thatpeople enjoy a lot, I'll say.
However, what I'm most impressed with ishow you care for your people.
So for those who are listening and thosewho listen on a regular basis, you
understand how this program works.
If this is your first time listening.

(03:14):
What we do is we survey the employees ofthe companies we bring on.
So Todd has no idea what the answers were.
And we're going to go through some ofthese answers.
And Todd, what I'd like to hear from youwhen we give these responses is kind of
why you as a team, especially in thefinancial industry, why are you investing
in your people in this way, right?
When you're in the, especially thefinancial industry, there's a clear number

(03:37):
that shows success for most people.
And I know for you, it's a wildlydifferent definition of success.
Before we get started on that, can youjust explain to me what's your definition
of success when it comes to running thecompany, dealing with your clients,
serving your clients?
How do you know that you're successful?

(03:58):
Uh, the pithy answer is, uh, if they are,um, so it, it's, uh, it's not a high
number of families, there's only maybe 300families around the country that make up a
whole business and everything we've triedto do for the last 50 years.
Um, so in, in terms of success, originallyI bought the company in 2004 and success

(04:22):
then was don't kill it.
Um,
make enough money to pay the note off, andthat would be success.
And my father and mother who started thecompany, for them success was, oh, we got
to eat and feed our children today.
Because at one time it was just a motherand a father, or a husband and a wife for

(04:43):
a long time, more than a decade.
So success now.
There is a moment in a lot of smallbusiness owners I know this.
There's a moment when you at least believethat you've crossed into critical mass,
where the work that was so in earnest tosurvive earlier in my career is more of an

(05:06):
earnestness to thrive.
That's something that we've gotten a lotof people aligned around and love it and
love each other and love who we serve.
Success changes a little bit in thatregard, but an easy definition
financially, I'm sure there are those thatmight listen to this.

(05:29):
One of the, I think one of the linchpinsof success is trying not to go backwards.
And I think we maybe had two years in the32 that I've been here that went backwards
and the other 30 went forward.
And it's amazing what success, it doesn'thave to be rapid.
you know, eye popping growth to achievethat.
It just has to be really consistent effortin one direction.

(05:52):
And year over year, over year, over year,it leads to business, business success.
So the team is the largest it's ever been.
The assets are the largest it's ever been.
The income is the largest it's ever been.
But that didn't happen.
We weren't.
we weren't flat on our back 20 minutes agoand then had a had a wild, you know,

(06:12):
wonderful experience.
It's just been a very, I don't know, Ihate the word, but grind it out, grind it
out consistently and success then falls, Ibelieve, off of consistency.
You know, you don't go through those.
episodes where you've got to, we've neverhad to lay people off because of a
downturn in the markets, which, you know,in a business like ours, it has a high

(06:35):
correlation to worldwide equity markets,just because we are paid based on a, you
know, percentage of assets undermanagement, and in most situations, not
all.
Yeah.
Um, what, one thing that's superinteresting.
you there.

(06:55):
Mm-hmm.
Yes, sir.
Sorry, I cut you off.
One thing that I found that was veryinteresting in going through these surveys
and as I'm looking at them now, is thefact that a lot of people when we ask
these questions, we ask it in three sets.
We ask, what does the company do for youto grow you as an employee?
What does the company do for you to growyou as an individual?
What does the company do to give back tothe community?

(07:16):
And what you guys do for the individualstrumps the volume of things people were
saying about what you do as an employee.
And one of the reasons why is I know youguys are very, you have a very good hiring
process.
You care a lot about who you bring in.
You're very protective about the culture.
One thing that somebody said was they callyou, they always, everyone writes BAMG.

(07:41):
That's no one talks to you about anythingelse besides your, your acronym of who you
are as a company, which is, I think it'sjust cool to see the connective culture
around everything you're doing.
They said that you guys have helped me tobecome a better employee by providing
access to training materials for thevarious platforms utilized by the firm,
all team training sessions, access toconferences and training sessions relevant

(08:03):
to roles, mentoring sessions with apartner of the firm and annual, annual
team building events outside of theoffice.
Every single answer had to do with how youguys care about them as people.
Another one here was investments in metraining.
professionally and personally, andintentional mentorship.

(08:26):
Even more, there's another one.
We use a specific training model or abusiness structure called EOS they talk
about.
We have learned that collectively work onlarger projects in our groups that benefit
the company as a whole and truly pour intothe individual.
These are financially sound individuals.
I'm asking them questions on what do youguys do to help them become better at

(08:47):
increasing.
their output for their clients.
And what they say is you pour into them aspeople.
Why do your people recognize and why dothey see so much attention to you pouring
into them as individuals?
A, I'd like to listen to you read thatagain.
That was fun.
Thank you for sharing that.

(09:07):
We got we got a lot that was the lowestcategory you guys had a volume wait till
we get to the next ones
Yeah, so we've maybe all heard the pithylittle analogy, hurting people hurt
people.
The flip side of that is equally true.
Healthy people help people.
And in the world I live in, when you servea basket of families, right, the breadth

(09:31):
of what they do, how did you become rich?
Well, the answers are,
someone died and I became rich.
I turned a penny into a nickel into a dimeinto a dollar into a bunch.
The ways in which they got there, I did iton the backs of my people, I did it with
my people.
My spouse was integral, I've had sevenspouses.

(09:52):
I mean there's a lot of different storiesthat feed into how did someone end up
being at Brand AMG but I'm going to sayour but I'm going to say mine.
for purposes of this conversation.
My worldview is that if your personallife, if you worked for me, Matt, and your
life was a wreck, you would have a verydifficult time being of massive benefit.

(10:16):
to another family because you would not betalking from experience.
You would not be talking from a place ofjoy.
You would be you would be wanting thethings you were coaching to be true of
your own family and they weren't.
And it's just almost impossible, I think,to fake.
I actually care about you.
I really want you to have a happy, healthyfamily.

(10:36):
Money is, as we all know, are probablyred.
70% of couples fight about money.
It's just the way the world works.
and intergenerational money does not tendto last.
The statistics are terrible for second andthird generation inheritors from being
able to maintain some level of affluence.

(10:57):
The reasons that those break down are, inmy world, there are two potential things
that cause that.
And a lot of this comes from research.
So if I sound smart, it's just because Iknow smart people who told me.
But communication within the family isbroken.
And I would argue on the side of counsel,counsel allows that to remain true.

(11:21):
And so if my worldview on family A, I'mmeeting with a brand new family to the
firm tomorrow morning, 10.30, my purposein that is first alignment of the spouses.
alignment of the spouses then with thechildren with the next generation because

(11:42):
the magnitude of the wealth issignificant.
It's actually, it'll be, it's a hugeaccount.
And so the magnitude and the breadth ofthis is such that if there is not healthy
relationship between the family, then whatgood, what good did we do?
We made some more money together.
Did that, did that help us?

(12:04):
Did that change anything?
And so if I'm gonna bring that counsel, Iwanna bring it from a place of, I know
this to be true, I've experienced this tobe true.
And so for those of us in our business, ifthere are 20 of us, I mean, I've had 18 of
the 20, at some point during the year havesome level of material client and face to

(12:25):
face.
I mean, there's a lot of interactionbetween our team.
It's not the advisors are over here, theydo all the talking, you're over here, you
do all the work.
We've really tried to institutionalizethat.
And unhealthy people really damage by thecounsel they can't deliver.
If they're really struggling at somethingat a personal level.

(12:47):
And so I know it was true for me.
So I'm not telling you that I helped myteam be healthy.
I'm telling you, I had to have that samehelp when I was a mess.
And it allowed me to be a bettercounselor.
So, but Todd, your product, from what Iwould say from the outside, and I know
this isn't true, but from what I would sayis you help people make more money.

(13:08):
So therefore, wouldn't you be spending allyour efforts and energy in training your
employees to be better asset managers?
And it sounds like from the answers yourteam has given, and based on what you just
said, you're pouring more into the personbecause you want to help your clients way
more than just...
make some extra dollars.
So is that right?

(13:29):
Is that?
that's, I get where you're going.
That point may be, that's very important,right?
We have to be excellent at our craft.
If we wanna do this for anybody of means,we can't deliver, we can't deliver counsel
that is average and expect to have aboveaverage anything.

(13:49):
But in the, don't hold this as gospel, butof the 20 people on our team,
I asked at a staff meeting right before mymost recent knee surgery, I asked at a
staff meeting, how many of you studiedfinance in college with an intention of
working in a wealth management shop?
And no more than four, maybe five, therewas 20 people I looked around, I was
making a point.

(14:11):
But only four or five of them ever knewthat they would end up doing the thing
that they're doing now and that many ofthem have been doing for two decades, you
know, or approaching it.
They didn't know that.
Well,
Because the genesis of finding people iswhat is the, you know, the evaluation is,
it's a little Venn diagram with, if youcan evaluate the character of a human

(14:33):
being, which is tough to do, and tough todo it reliably.
But if you can evaluate the character of ahuman being, and you can evaluate their
competency and what they're currentlydoing, and you can see their potential,
and you put those three things together,you got a great person, the craft can be
taught.
And in a weird way, I don't want...

(14:54):
organizationally, I don't want to bringpeople who have been trained by somebody
who doesn't operate from a position maybethat we think we come from.
Because then it is untrained, thenretrained, whereas someone with character,
competency and potential, if they'reexcellent at what they, you know, they got
great grades in school, they're excellentat whatever they're doing.
You know, one of them was a manager at atarget store, but outstanding manager at a

(15:17):
target store.
Great.
The craft isn't as actually onerous.
to understand and in a basket of years,not months, but not decades, the right
person can thrive in the space.
So there's an answer embedded in theresomewhere.
I don't remember.
you're, no, it's amazing.

(15:39):
And I think that connection of all threeis why you have such a strong team.
It's a small team, but it's a mighty team.
I mean, you guys do numbers that like,it's wild what you're able to do with your
small team.
And to sit there and think you have someex-target managers in there, moving the
needle.
Not everyone's coming out of Ivy leagueschools coming in to try to make all the

(15:59):
money in the world in the financialindustry.
And the way you all serve your people isunlike
anyone else in the industry.
Like it trickles down so, so well.
And I just think it's so cool that when Iasked, how did that, how do we grow you as
employees, they automatically because ofhow much you care about them as people had
to answer how you level them up andelevate them as people along with the

(16:24):
technical side of what needs to be done.
And again, the level of excellence youguys require and you guys offer to your
people is, is
comes very true to not only the resultsyou get, but also just the quality and
long-term clients that you have, andthat's what's so powerful.
So let's get out of the answers of how youtrain them as employees, because again,

(16:44):
your people have the skills, but these arewhere a lot of these just became so much
fun for me to hear, just because I knowyou and I know your heart.
Here's one that said, strong leaderswithin the firm provide a picture of how I
can slash should behave as a husband or afather.
Again.
Why are you teaching fatherhood in afinancial asset business, right?

(17:05):
This is why it's so cool what you guys do.
The culture supports the whole person,which I believe enhances my ability to be
a better citizen.
Todd once told me that if I was a horriblefather or husband, I'd be terrible at
work.
The inverse is very true.
Thus, our team cares more about thewholeness of a person rather than simply
their output at work.

(17:25):
That's an employee of yours sharing backyour philosophy.
almost better than you do.
Right?
I mean, that's the part that's sopowerful.
How do you get employees to get that?
I mean, basically, you just gave us thatexact answer, but your employee gave it to
us a week and a half ago when we asked fora survey.

(17:47):
Interesting.
So a, um, do you, I'm trying to, I don'twant to, I want to be authentic in that.
Think about my answer before I speak toit.
But, um, the, uh, the first thought, thefirst thought though, is your, is your
saying that so families, if families cometo brand AMG, never one time in the 30.

(18:11):
I started in 1990.
So a long time ago.
when I came to Randi and P I have neveronce heard a family ever say I really
genuinely would like to be loved by thepeople who are serving me.
I really that's what I crave.
I crave love.
They've never said it but I can say on theother hand and they have never resisted

(18:34):
it.
They have never resisted being loved notbecause they're not because they have
money that just that got them.
that got them into a relationship where wecan deliver a service that they can afford
and that want and can afford to pay for.
But the same, I believe the exact samething is true with teammates, no teammate
in the first interview has ever said, Iwanna go somewhere where I'm authentically

(18:57):
loved.
I just wanna, I have something to give.
I wanna be loved and treated accordingly.
And I, you know, and I'll deliver that toother people.
You put me in front of other people, I'lldo the same thing.
That conversation that I just had wasfake.
It never takes place.
And yet, how a business and how a teamgrows, love, watch a few Netflix shows and

(19:26):
look at the tension, look at the tensionin any business related Netflix show and
you're like, wow, they all hate eachother.
They're all grinding on each other, tryingto stir stuff.
Love is a really, I think there's a powerin love.
that is misunderstood or even completelyavoided in the workplace.
And so what I would say is, and I realizethere's got to be people listening to me

(19:47):
right now going, you're making that upguy.
I don't know who you are, but that can'tbe right.
But I don't believe that.
I believe that my actual first obligationto them is to love God first.
That's what our little mission is, is I amthird.
There's a God, there's other people, I'mthird.
And

(20:07):
So from my organizational standpoint, fromthe organizational standpoint, I would
just go, love should be a part of whatwe're doing.
And it's very easy when you have a lovingorganization, hate, envy, jealousy.
I mean, you can, you can spot it in 0.01seconds.
It doesn't have to be said.

(20:28):
You mean it bang, it's right there.
And I see it as the poison that I believeit is.
And I was a guy.
The Bible wrote, love covers a multitudeof sins, and I believe it.
And love is a way to move an organization,and those people, when they believe they
are loved, and I believe they know, Imean, I think they know I love them, and I

(20:50):
think they love me, and we've said as muchoftentimes.
But I think people who are loved and whoare healthy in their own life can deliver
something to another family that theynever asked for, but that they rarely get.
They're used to, you know.
on the tow truck and, or, you know, Idon't want to pick on, I had a great tow
truck driver today.

(21:10):
They're used to, you know, they're used toan experience where the airline goes, no,
you don't get to go where you're going andsorry, we can't, you know, or whatever, we
lost your bags and, and they're used to abad service experience in so many areas of
life.
And I think post COVID, it is dramaticallydifferent.

(21:30):
People, those companies are trying tosurvive.
They're like, what do we got to do to getfrom today to tomorrow?
and they lose the thing that was specialin the early part of their life, which
was, no, we had a passion and we had alove for people and we really wanna do it,
so.
No, it's funny.
I was just listening to something thatsaid the same thing about how just the
responsibility of quality of service hasgone away in a lot of things.

(21:54):
People aren't serving the way they shouldand therefore people are stopping
expecting good service.
So when you come in with love and leaningwith love, it trumps all of it.
And it just brings this asset, which comesinto place with this next thing that was
talked about, it says we are constantlyreminded of our purpose and not only
change...
trajectory of our clients' financiallives, but also impact their personal

(22:17):
lives, to love them as Christ loves hisbride.
Now, I bring that up because a lot of thecomments here pointed back to your faith.
And I think one of the most powerfulthings that you guys have is your faith,
right?
As a Christian, I know you're a Christian,and you and I have had many talks on this,
but individuals who bring their faith andare led by faith in the workforce is rare,

(22:38):
but I feel it shouldn't be.
And I'm not even saying just Christianity.
Whatever your faith is,
go for it.
I'm a Christ Christian, so I appreciateyours much, much more.
What is it like being in the financialworld and having not only you openly have
that as part of your core values?
I mean, it's very, you don't shy away fromit.
It's very clear where your beliefs are andwhere your team's beliefs are, and how you

(23:00):
had many people come through as well.
What have you seen happen when you bringChrist to be the center of your business?
So what a good question.
I can take you back when I arguedvehemently that faith should have no place
in our business.
I mean, I know that argument because Imade it in the early 1990s and was

(23:25):
vehemently opposed to what I'm telling younow.
I'm not opposed to.
So I do recognize, right, our team comesfrom a whole different place.
There's not a litmus test.
to get on the team.
They come from a lot of different placesand some respond very differently to the
fact that, you know, the ownership groupand particularly the senior guy in the

(23:47):
place, you know, has one.
This can be a sticky subject, Matt, inthat a lot of people will trade on that as
currency.
Oh, we're, you know, we love the Lord.
Like you read our website and it doesn'tsay...
You know, faith followers of Jesus Christcome talk to Brand AMG.

(24:08):
It doesn't say that we have as manyclients that probably aren't Christians we
do that are.
Um, but that doesn't mean that we lovedifferently.
We're not, we're not, we're not, you know,in fact, I would say, believe it or not.
We have a few, we're called to loveunlovable things, very unlovely things.
Things that are, can be a little harsh andwhatnot.

(24:31):
Um.
So, but at the level of brand AMG, iffaith is not dismissed, if it is not, you
can't have it here.
You can't talk about it here.
You know, I pray at every staff meeting.
Some people probably think, well, I wishthat idiot had quit praying at every staff
meeting.

(24:51):
And some people are probably thinking, I'mglad he prays at every staff meeting.
At least he's reminding me that it's notall about him and money or what, you know,
who knows.
But
Faith is retarded, retarded in that not,you know, the meaning of that word.
Faith is retarded in so many places andmore all the time that to a degree, I feel

(25:11):
like we've kind of been in to a degreestanding still for a long time.
And it looks more and more like a faith.
I don't want to say we're not a charity.
We're not a ministry, but yet we areright.
It is wealth management is a, you know,we're not selling widgets to people who
buy the widget for the lowest price and goaway and never talk to us again.

(25:32):
Uh, we're, we're actually trying to have atransformative impact on a family.
Uh, and so faith often finds itself in, oroften a family in a position of going
through something like, okay, this isbigger than us, this isn't a money.
Money isn't going to fix anything going onright now in our family.
It could be health, it could be marriage.
It could be estrangement.

(25:52):
It could be an addiction.
Love ain't gonna, you know, money ain'tgonna fix anything going on over here.
And more money is not going to do anythingto affect.
the joy that I have in my life.
Well, what can affect the joy I have in mylife?
You know what?
There's something bigger than you.
And so as an organization, we just wannaacknowledge to anybody, it's not about us.

(26:14):
And honestly, it's not about you.
It's a, if there's, yeah.
Go ahead.
I'd love for the listeners to recognizewith what you do, and I think it's so
important, is leaders are afraid to bringtheir belief system, their value system,
their faith into the workforce.
And nowhere is that said to be unallowed.

(26:36):
I think a lot of leaders think they can'tdo that.
Now, you might get pushback, but you canbring that in all day long.
And not only can you, I argue you should.
bring that in because that's who you are.
The authentic version of you should becoming in if you're leading people.
And I think what happens is, I love thefact, and again, I've worked with your
team.
I know your team's not all Christians.

(26:56):
And I know that there's no way at all thatyou guys discriminate based on belief.
That's not what we're saying here.
What we're saying here is, you have abelief structure that is so firm, that is
so pure, that he's first, others aresecond, and you're third.
that why wouldn't you want to bring abelief system like that into your company?
And there's a lot of people out there whojust are a little bit timid and honestly

(27:20):
lack the boldness needed to come out andjust say, Hey, here's who I am.
And here's what I believe.
And I would just encourage anyone who'slistening to this to see and hear what has
been built in this.
I call it this mighty little giant ofthese 20 people who just do amazing thing
for their clients, because the next onecomes in here where it says that we're
encouraged personally, personally todevelop

(27:41):
and lead outside of work.
And because of this and because of whatI've learned at Brand AMG, I get the
opportunity to co-lead our church'smissions team.
So because of what you're doing at work inthe financial world, which is normally the
grind world, you get there, you put tonsof hours in, you got to continuously make

(28:01):
more money, make more money.
This individual says because of whatthey've learned here, they're able to now
co-lead their missions team, the peoplewho go out and serve all over the world.
because of what they learned at work withyou.
When you hear that and you see thebyproduct of the way you've loved people
and the way you've poured into people,where do you see this going next in the
way your culture is growing and as youcontinue to grow your business?

(28:27):
Uh, where do I see it, Matt?
What I, um, Hey, that was really, that wasanother comment.
It was really fun to hear that.
Uh, I'm telling you what you already know,but there, you know, my, my worldview is
there's not a single place on our teamthat doesn't, that doesn't, um, value
strong leadership, every single role.

(28:47):
There's an opportunity to be a leader.
in the role that you're in.
And that translates to anything we do inlife.
And so just, I don't mean that we createleaders.
I think sometimes if I could give us alittle bit of credit, I would say we
encourage people who have a desire to domore with their life.
We encourage them, go ahead and do it.

(29:08):
We're not putting a lid on you and going,please don't be more excellent.
Please don't take ownership.
of that somebody else is going to do it.
I mean, if we were at 2000, when you ask,where are you going?
One of the, I don't know, fears, I don'tthink I'm scared about it, but it, I don't
have another bucket to put it in.
One of the questions I have longer termfor us is, it is 20 people.

(29:33):
And I know them in all by name, the otherpartners, we know like, we really are as
tight as, as tight as it sounds likeyou're talking about.
It's a
really, really tight group and I don'ttake it for granted.
And I don't see it in a lot of otherplaces.
I know that it is, I'm not Pollyannaishabout, I do recognize there's amazing
places.

(29:53):
I know a bunch of them, but I don't know amajority.
And my fear is what if we were, we grewfrom two to 20 in a long, in decades.
Well, that's nothing.
It's success to me, it's wild success, butit's not,
take over the nation success.

(30:13):
What if we continue to grow a pace, willwe be able to put that many people in that
many seats that understand love is anelement of service?
And I would just guess, what's the futurelook like?
It looks like harder.
And I've talked to the younger futureleaders on our team about, I think that at

(30:39):
this point, the 34 years I've had.
has been easier to lead like this, then itwill be for you in the future.
Cause the world's coming against it.
I mean, you know, you don't have to go anyfurther, hire a compliance audit, uh, or
an HR audit on your firm.
And somebody starts telling you, oh no,you can't, you know, you can't say that.

(30:59):
You can't say that.
Like, uh, that those, those you can't dothat.
are growing a lot faster than what you'redoing right now.
You should do that, you should do that.
Think about doing this.
There's not a big bus full of people herein that.
There's a big bus full of people here andyou can't do that.
Nope, that can't mix it.

(31:20):
Can't mean just do your job, keep itseparate.
And I knew when I felt like I had a job,which I did for a long time, I haven't had
34 great years.
The years that weren't great in the first10 were horrid.
And I didn't now, me now would have firedme then every single year of those 10.

(31:40):
No, no doubt about it.
I would not have hired my, a person likeme.
Well, um, the, the blessing, the blessingcomes from, there's an element of humility
in that.
And I, you know, I, I know those leadersare up to it and I told them what they, my
dad told me, my dad told me when he, whenI took over, you know, I've tried to give

(32:04):
you, or when I joined.
I'm going to give you everything I cangive you.
All the good, try to keep all the bad fromyou.
You know, I'll treat you like an employer,but like a father.
And if it's good and I know it, it's goingto go into your ears.
So be ready.
I'm going to do my best.
And I've felt that way about them.
Like, you know, treat you like sons anddaughters.
And if I know it and it'll help, man, getit out, get it in you.

(32:27):
Cause I think their world is actuallygoing to be tougher than the season that
I've had and I hate that, but I thinkit's, I think it's
possibly true.
And one thing, this is why I love doingthis, is you get to take advice from your
own people, likely advice you gave them,right?
So this person, when they're talking abouthow you pour into the people, it says,
brand AMG provides flexibility for workingparents, all team training sessions that

(32:51):
apply to personal lives as well asprofessional lives, resources and care
provided by the team during personal lifeevents, not just by the company, and
intentionally thinking about personalgoals during the merit review process.
So there's a whole bunch I want to unpackthere, right?
is when you guys bring in professionaldevelopment, and I know this because when

(33:11):
we came into your company, we had thisconversation, is there's the professional
development, but you always want to have apersonal development side as well.
You really care about what they do intheir personal lives.
And then when it comes to the resourcesand care that's provided by the team
during personal life events, is that stuffthat the company says?
It sounds like they say not just by thecompany.

(33:32):
And is that also stuff that just yourpeople, because they care about each
other, start
serving each other and helping each other.
What do you see when you hear that theteam helps during personal life events?
So I believe this and you can believe thisand maybe some people who watch this will
believe it, but I'll understand if theydon't.

(33:53):
I get credit for so much of that, that isnot me even facilitating or fostering or
encouraging it, it's me having a yes facewhen, if you hire the right people and
they ask, my friend Mike told me, I don'tknow, 20 years ago.

(34:14):
His objective was have a yes face.
And as much as within me, that the type ofperson that we're hiring will, when a
teammate or a client goes throughsomething, cancer, a divorce, a death,
when somebody's really going through thewringer, people who love you are gonna

(34:34):
treat you so differently than people whoget paid to serve you.
It's an entirely different thing.
And so they do that.
If I, if I'd never said a word about it,the input I had to that was hire the kind
of people that will do that.
Right.
Try to hire people who when you're down,like, you're not going to stay down.

(34:56):
Like, you know, you're not, you're notsurrounded by coworkers.
That's, that's, that's not, that's notthe, yeah.
And what's so cool about it is, again,this is why I love doing this.
I love hearing your response, becauseyou're sitting there going like, I got
nothing to do.
I said, yeah, we can focus.
But like, it's the fact that when you hirethe right people and you love on them the

(35:18):
way you're loving on them, they start tolove the people they serve.
Like that line that you said that, youknow, people who love you will treat you
differently than people who are being paidto serve you.
It's a...
big difference in that, both as a managerand you're talking about it kind of from
both folds, right?
Because you still pay your people, yournames on the check, your sign in the
checks.
And it's the concept of recognizing that,man, you had no intention of it being

(35:43):
someone's main focus when they would ask,what's the one thing this company does to
help you?
And that's their main focus, where it wasalmost, yeah, of course, retire people who
love people.
It's a byproduct of your good decisionsleads to the culture that you have.
So many people, I find all the clients,not all the clients, a lot of the clients
I work with, they try to create thisartificial culture by creating rules and

(36:04):
they block people into here's what we do,here's what we do.
Hey, when people are in a bad spot, we asa company, we come around them and we
serve them, that's forced love.
What you did was the opposite.
We're going to hire people and create aculture of love and the.
byproduct is going to be when someone's ina bad spot, we don't have to tell our
people.
They just do because that's who we are andthe authentic version of them comes out.

(36:30):
That's worth anyone listening to the wholeinterview if they just take that away.
That's a fantastic philosophy to live by.
But there's one more part of this commentand it says, and intentionally thinking
about personal goals during the meritreview process.
You know my philosophy.
You know I love this one, right?
Combining personal and professional goals.
That's all I do with every client we workwith.

(36:50):
But how do you guys do it when it comes toa merit review process?
Like I want people who are listening whoare going, wait, I'd love to be able to
encourage people personally, but I needthem to be producing professionally,
right?
How do you combine that in that meritreview process?
Wow.
So full disclosure, less and less I dothem.

(37:12):
So I don't, that's a great question forPhil and Tim who handled those for years.
I was part of every merit review andabsolutely love it.
It's twice a year, but we do, they'rerelated and it ties to the idea, you know,
Todd Brand, if you're doing a podcast withme right now, and then you and I go

(37:35):
hunting next week,
And then our spouses, we get together andwe go to a concert.
And then we're at church the next day.
If I look and sound any different in anyof those places, I'm not a happy person.
Like I should I should be the same personin every environment you find me.
So the personal and the professional.

(37:57):
Oh, you're a person.
You're a person delivering a professionalservice.
So they're let's.
Let's not confuse, let's not, let's don'tsay we have, I've got my home hat and my
church hat and my office hat and my parenthat and my spouse hat.
I don't believe that, you're you.
And so in the merit review process to tieto that good comment, in the merit review

(38:22):
process, there's probably an element of,there's probably another element related
to this, you know, and I said to one ofour team members recently, you know,
Do you see your future as brightly as Ido?
Because if I'm not, if I'm looking at youand I can speak experientially, because
I've been doing this for a long time, Ican tell you the things that limited me

(38:44):
from this business being three times whatit is today.
I can point a finger right at me and go,you know what, I did this, and this.
So if I see people on a trail like, wow,that's familiar to me because it was me.
in our merit review process, like if I cansee a future for you and it is wildly

(39:05):
bright and I know it is because I wouldn'thire you and I wouldn't keep you if you
didn't have it.
Like, I mean, that's the hardest part ofkeeping a great team together is when you
have someone and I think Phil in ouroffice first told me like no sevens on a
scale of one to 10.
Ah, there are sevens.
No, there's no sevens.
No sevens.
You're like all over it or you're all gonekind of a thing.

(39:27):
And so from a development standpoint.
Yes, to progress professionally, you'vegot to be better, not just at professional
stuff, because we're in a relationshipbusiness.
Like I said, I'm not selling widgets.
What we're really offering is a ton oftime in person generally for the rest of

(39:49):
your life.
I got a note back from a client from 1974yesterday.
I'll...
And I would go, that looks more like alove note than it looks like a
professional note.
It was just on, it was some really sweetstuff that another team member did.
And I'm like, that is just sweet.
Made me smile all day.
Um, we're in a relationship business.

(40:09):
Go ahead.
Go ahead, finish your thoughts.
So the thought was in the personal andprofessional, I know it's easy waters to
muddy, but I want them muddied.
I want them muddied.
I don't want them clarified andsegregated.
You're an awesome person.
And that is what ultimately I thinkpeople, when they find anybody in their

(40:32):
life that is delivering service to them,and they go, I like them.
I think it was a guy named Dennis told me,if people really like you, it's going to
work a lot better for you.
than if they just think you're really goodat your craft.
Like you need to be really good at yourcraft and an attractive relationship in
their life.
And so development of that relational sideis astronomically important.

(40:59):
It's not just professional, which is whatpeople think.
Oh, I got this, you know, I got my, thesethree letters, these three letters, these
three letters and this much experience.
Yeah, that's great.
You mean you and a million other peoplegot that.
So what else you got?
you got you.
And to allow people to permission to likeuncage that side of it, I think actually

(41:22):
helps build business.
I'm stealing that line that you just said.
I've taken a lot from you, but normallythey're on our meetings behind closed
doors that we aren't recording.
But this one I have to give you credit forbecause everyone's gonna hear it.
But you are a person providing aprofessional service.
If more companies understood that, theywould have better people providing better

(41:46):
professional services.
And that is such a, that's so true to whatit is.
And that's why people that are answeringthese questions, and again, we're,
We're not even gonna be able to getthrough all of these.
So I'm gonna give you these next ones alittle faster because there's a lot here.
But let's go into the way you guys pourinto the community.
Couple things that people said was thatyou guys allow each quarter employees to

(42:07):
present on a nonprofit they're passionateabout, and then you make a contribution to
the organization.
You volunteer as a team one day per year,and everyone gets a day of PTO when
they're off.
Annual service day, which is great.
These are all things that come back.
My question to you is,
when you have them come and share thecharity, how does that work?

(42:29):
Because your company's not working andmaking money.
So you actually take time away fromproduction to do this.
How does that make sense from someonewho's never, who thinks it's just go, go?
There's no time to do any of this goodstuff.
So in the, it's a fair question.
And I know there are a lot of goodcompanies doing a lot of good stuff.

(42:51):
More of the thought as you were askingthat question is, I almost don't wanna
talk, like, I'd like our good stuff to bejust like stuff we do together rather than
stuff we publish, if you will.
Just, I like, you know, we all knowcompanies that give so that they get their

(43:12):
name first.
The big banner has their name on it andthey could stand up and get waved at big
parties and stuff and I understand thatand it's cool and giving is, there's never
bad giving, it's just good.
But organizationally, it is, I wouldargue, it's more expensive, you know, 20
people, if you figure out our payroll andyou take 20 people, 20 human hours of

(43:38):
dedication on a quarterly basis, sometimesmonthly even.
for them to present on a charity thatthey're a part of and that matters to them
and why.
It is highly emotional typically.
It's always something good.
I've yet to ever have thought, well, Idon't wanna write that organizational
check.
It's just good and they're engaged andthere's no downside.

(44:01):
But the cost isn't actually writing thatcheck.
It's more expensive often taking 20 peopleoffline to hear that.
But to the idea of...
How do we help families give?
Do we tell them you should give?
Do we model it?

(44:23):
If Holly and I have a good marriage, it'sa lot easier to talk to a family who may
be struggling in their marriage.
If we're donative as an organization, it'sa lot easier to encourage people.
It's better to give than to receive.
It's not worse.
It's not equal.
It's better to give than to receive.
It means something.
And so for the team, usually the thing Iwould go, I think it probably pays more

(44:45):
than, than I maybe even give it creditfor.
Cause your whole team gets to hear oneperson share, this is all over my heart.
This is what I'm doing outside of work.
And we all get to take part in that.
Cause right, what happened?
Every time we give charitably, our bonuspool goes down by exactly the same dollar,

(45:07):
right?
I mean, they're all contributing.
they're all contributing towards what thatone person is doing.
And it's another way of going to, youknow, if I can go, it's not about, it's
not about you.
It's about God, others.
And then you is not about money.
Everybody thinks wealth management isabout money.
It is right.
There's an element of that.
But it is also teaching a team to teachclients, hold it, hold it more loosely,

(45:33):
hold a little more loosely than that.
Because Lord knows charity in America.
is the most embarrassingly low number on aper person basis, per organization basis,
I think that it's ever been.
It's just, my understanding is it, it'sjust, that's a lost art.

(45:55):
And again, and I think it goes to showthat every single person talked about that
in what they love about what you guys do.
And it's not even the giving the moneywasn't what was talked about.
It was the coming together as a team andtaking the time to hear what someone else
wants.
And I think that short mindedness andshort term thinking that individuals might

(46:15):
go, man, that is really expensive negatesthe ROI of what happens to the team.
when they come together and actuallyconnect as individuals, which is why I
think it's so it's not a surprise thatpops up.
But let's go through some of these otherfun ones.
There's still some more I want to get tobecause you deserve hearing some of these.
I know you don't.
This is so different than what you likenormally doing of hearing how good you

(46:37):
guys are.
And I know your team is.
But there's a couple things here.
It says in a world that produces virtualsignaling, rather than results, we aren't
afraid of the truth that ultimately leadsto better outcomes for clients and the
associates.
The culture supports this and drives itforward, right?
So you guys are unabashedly truthful inwhat's happening.

(46:58):
This one got me excited.
I love getting our annual anniversarycards.
An anniversary card?
Where, what is that?
That seems like an old historical way ofshowing love for each other.
So walk me through the anniversary cardsbecause it came up multiple times.
People really are appreciative of a card.

(47:21):
Walk me through that.
that's fascinating.
And hey, I'm glad.
And man, our human resources director doesa great job being sure that takes place
and her predecessors did the same.
That's been around for a while.
But let's just say you, Matt.
If you, Matt, particularly, you know, I goback to the old days when it was, you

(47:45):
know, maybe five people and me.
If you, if you Matt gave me 365 days andyou gave me your best, the value of that
is priceless.
I can, you know, I couldn't, I couldn'teven tell you how special it would be to

(48:05):
have you dedicate a year of your life tohelping me, you know, back when we were
smaller, particularly like accomplish themission of this firm.
And, um, so every year.
Each person has a, you know, a born onbrand date, if you will, where they've
been there.
And the, they're probably doing two thingsthere, but the average, I think, you know,

(48:31):
Gen Z or changes jobs every 18 months,it's the most devastating.
They're, they're devastating themselveswithout knowing it.
They're just killing themselves.
Thinking that there's, that there's somebenefit in that, but
That's an opinion.
But my opinion is, if I'm in my 34th year,and I can say with great authenticity,

(48:57):
best year ever, which is what I thoughtlast year until this year, and what I
thought the year before until that year.
And if I can see what someone canexperience 30 something years into
something and recognize how few peopleever get there, I really wanna celebrate
the years with them.
Really want them to know.
That was a, you had a good year.

(49:18):
And the reason I know you had a good yearis because you wouldn't be here if you
didn't.
I mean, there is a hard edge to all thisnice soft talk.
And that is, is excellence is, excellenceis on the docket.
Uh, you've got to be, you've got to be awell-balanced, high potential person, you

(49:38):
know, to be on this team.
And so a year is a massive gift.
So.
We celebrate it and it does make me crysometimes.
I'll read them.
Sometimes I get them last.
Usually I am, cause I get the littlebottom of the bottom right of the card.
And so it comes from my desk last and Ican't help it, but I read them and I read
what everybody else writes about,everybody else.

(49:59):
And it is, it is not, okay, great year.
Cool.
Way to make it a year.
It is invariably, you mean the world tome.
Love spending this year with you.
Something that is...
all of us, right?
I mean, I think my old pastor used to say,you want to know if someone needs
encouragement if they're breathing.

(50:21):
That's how you know.
And I think it's just a really good, it'sreally good for a team to stop for a
minute and think, no, I just, I took, howmany years we got?
80?
I just spent one of them with you, 40hours a week.
Like that means something.
And so we've forever, we've celebratedthat.

(50:42):
so, so I'm going to summarize it.
What they told me, what you said.
So basically it's an anniversary cardthat's signed by everyone in the company
every single year born on a say born up.
What was the, the words you use for yourbirthday, the brand birthday?
Oh, I love it.
Yeah, that's, but again, it, it encouragesit.

(51:02):
Now to wrap this up, I'm going to read onecomment that I saved to the end, right?
And you're going to love this one becauseit's not all about you, right?
So you're going to really like this one.
It says, our HR director, Kelly Means, andI've gotten to work with Kelly, right?
So I get this 100%, is quite remarkable.
I think everyone here feels that sheadvocates for employees, cares about us
personally and professionally, and seeksto continue to make this great place to

(51:26):
work.
Our VP, Phil Daniels, is seeking to investmore time in the next generation as she
prepares for retirement.
He's spending a lot of time educating,listening, building up, mentoring.
Tim Eagert is so good at empowering others
new opportunities for growth anddevelopment.
He's also very approachable.
Ryan Green is consistent and reliable.

(51:48):
He's also incredibly approachable with anytype of technical questions that you may
have and is very down to earth.
Sarah Smith has the most underappreciated,we do appreciate her job as a chief
compliance officer.
If it weren't for her, our IT wouldn'tfunction.
We would be out of line of regulations andour current

(52:10):
and could fall victim to differentsecurity threats.
She's likely the protector and gatekeeperof the firm.
Todd is an extraordinary visionary, andhis faith in the Lord is what keeps our
business centered to our highest calling,which is loving each other and loving our
clients.
He's pioneered cultivating this cultureand activity, ensuring it continues.

(52:30):
While our leadership is not perfect, whichthey'd say so themselves, they're pretty
darn good.
And the reason I share that with you isbecause that's how your people respond
when it's an anonymous survey.
And that question was, did you leaveanything out?

(52:51):
And that's how they answered thatquestion.
So Todd, it's amazing what you've built.
Um, and again, anyone who's looking to getahold of you, Todd, how do they find out
how to get to brand AMG or get ahold ofyou or contact you?
If it's a business leader, I know you havea heart.
for pouring into people.
How can they contact you to figure out howyou've built this culture, this philosophy

(53:13):
built around your faith, or if they wannacome to you for your services, how do they
contact you?
Easiest way, hey, thanks for reading thatlast part.
Easiest way, brandamg.com and under, youknow, who we are, the team, the email for
each of us is right there, tbrand atbrandamg.com.

(53:36):
Just as easy as any other way or obviouslyLinkedIn.
Pretty easy to find there as well.
But I do, I appreciate you saying thatbecause one of my, you know, one of the
things I...
If I have a sidebar passion related tobrand, but not brand, I'll talk to anybody
about whatever business they have, youknow, you and yours.

(53:57):
I'll talk to anybody about business, justbelieving, you know, there's, you never
come out of that, not, not being a littlesharper, uh, learning how somebody else's
skin and a cat.
So love to talk to you.
I appreciate your time coming out rightafter surgery.
You made it through the whole interviewwithout having to take a break.
So kudos to you on that and everyone willtalk to you on the next episode.

(54:21):
Best people, best place.
Have a good one.
Thank you, Matt.