EP.18 - Leading with Purpose: Steven Castino on Growth, Culture, and Community - Dynamic Business Leaders Podcast

Episode Transcript
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Roy Richardson (00:00):
Hello, I'm Roy Richardson, and this is the
Dynamic Business Leaders Podcast.
Welcome to this edition of theDynamic Business Leaders Podcast
.
I'm your host, roy Richardson,together with my co-host, sean
Murphy.
The Dynamic Business LeadersPodcast is sponsored by Aurora
Infotech, a cybersecurity firmthat serves the information
security needs of small andmedium-sized businesses.

(00:21):
Today, our guest is someone whohas built a career at the
intersection of strategic growth, community leadership and
professional service innovation.
He's a sought-after advisor, aformer collegiate athlete and a
civic leader who has chairedorganizations like ACG Global
and Florida Citrus Sports.
As Chief Growth Officer atRemen, he is helping shape the

(00:42):
future of professional servicesthrough mergers, acquisitions
and brand strategy, all whilestaying deeply connected to his
community.
Please join us in welcomingSteve Castino.
Steve, welcome, it's great tohave you with us and we're
looking forward to sharing yourjourney with our audience.

Steven Castino (00:59):
Well, thanks, roy, excited to be here today,
and just thanks to you and Seanfor asking me to be a part of it
.

Awesome.
Well, folks and listeners, intoday's episode we're going to
explore Steve's journey fromfinance to executive leadership,
his community impact, lessonslearned and his vision for
future.
Let's start by getting to knowyou a little better, roy.
I have no idea how happy I amto have this guy on the podcast
with us.

Sean Murphy (01:20):
I have no idea how happy I am to have this guy on
the podcast with us.
You could tell from the momentI met Steve that he was going
places.
He was sharp as nails, allabout the business, and he's
just.
We've known each other foraround 20.
So when we were looking forfolks to be a part of our
podcast, he's at the top of thelist.
So, Steve, from my heart man,I'm glad you took the moment to

(01:41):
come and join us.

And let's share with the world your story, and
especially here in Florida.
What an intro that is fellas.
I'm touched.
I'm just honored that you askedme to be on it.
We'll see.
I told Roy.
I hope a couple people, maybeone or two people, will listen.
I don't know how interesting mystory is but we're going to
have some fun.
I appreciate it very much.
Best intro I've ever had.
I promise you that.

There's have some fun and I appreciate it very
much.
And what best intro I've everhad.
I promise you that there's alot more people.

That's going to hear the story and it's going to
appreciate it because, again,you, you have an incredible
story, sean.
On that note, why don't youtake us beyond the boardroom and
kick us off?

Well, listen, let's kick off this with something
light.
What one thing most peopledon't know about you.

That I'm a Minnesotan.
I think most people think I'm aFloridian.
Yeah, I'm a Minnesotan.
I grew up in Minnesota.
My whole life Came down toCollins College on a baseball
scholarship back in 1998.
So a long time ago Met my wife,who, sean you know well, you
all met through church, firstPresbyterian over there many
years ago.
And if you know anything about aFlorida girls, you're not going

(02:45):
to get them to move toMinnesota.
So I always joke around and Isay Brooke said she'd marry me,
but she said I'm not moving toMinnesota.
So she didn't really say thatbut I think she probably would
have.
But I think I'm considered aFloridian these days but I grew
up my whole life through highschool in Minnesota and had a
great experience up there Stilla sports fan, but I've turned
into a Floridian for sure.

Well, I know I'm going to correct you on
something, because I knowBrooke's a native and I married
a native as well and I've beenin Florida a lot longer than you
and the fact that you said youthink you're a native.
I know you haven't brought thatup to Brooke because she would
smack you on the back of yourneck.
That is true, Because Dana doesnot.
I've been there since I was 14,and she's like you are not a

(03:27):
native, so don't say it.

They take pride in that.
True Floridians take pride inthat.

I'm here from Minnesota.
We know that race to state andfor what the state was going to
offer.
And you picked up golf in amajor way.
I know that you have thisyearning for the state, but you
competed in the Florida StateGolf Association golf
tournaments.
What were your favorite coursesor most memorable round that

(03:53):
you've had?

Oh boy, I just played at some of those amateur
events and it was really fun.
A lot of those courses werereally fun.
There's a course called CoralCreek down outside Boca Grande.
That's one of my favorites.
It's hard to beat Calusa Pinesdown in Naples.
There's a course called CoralCreek down outside Boca Grande.
That's one of my favorites.
It's hard to beat Calusa Pinesdown in Naples.
That's just an awesome coursedown there.
Those are probably my twofavorite Florida courses.
Seminola course down in PalmBeach is awesome.

I was about to ask you.
I'm named two on the West Coastwhich, so you brought up
Seminola.
I was going to ask you if youhad anything on that.

I don't think you can beat those three courses
.
Those are three phenomenalcourses in the state.
And you know, home course herein Winter Park is getting redone
by Fazio right now, and so I'ma homer that way, so I love that
course.
It'll reopen in January ormaybe December but we're really
excited about that.
But it's been fun ever sinceafter college.
No more baseball and golf wasjust great for me and I and golf

(04:44):
was just great for me and I wasfortunate to to, you know, to
meet some friends throughout thegame of golf as well.

Any memorable moments rounds you know you've
had.

I've had a few.
Yeah, I've gotten greatmemories.
Honestly, it was awesome, butit's probably the more memorable
rounds for me are probably whoI'm playing with the buddies,
the new people you meet, therelationships you meet.
I just feel like golf.
You can know how they treat thestaff, the kind of etiquette
they have out there, you knowhow they react after a bad shot.
You know all those types ofthings that you just need to
know more about people and justathletics in general.

(05:19):
I'm a huge sports guy.
I love sport, I appreciatesports, but I will remember,
like you know, people say enjoythis basketball game, enjoy this
baseball game, enjoy thisfootball game, because you're
not going to be able to playforever.
And you think about it whenyou're doing it and you're like,
ah, this, this person my dadprobably mainly doesn't know
what he's talking about.
I'm going to play this gameforever and you know he was
right, as he usually was in life.

(05:41):
So, yeah, and I are still fansof sports, for sure, but that's
kind of all I can do as an oldbody nowadays.
So been fun is that?

is that a rollins number seven on the back?

uh, yeah, my dad and I actually both played
there, and so we we share that,which is really legacy yeah,
it's fun, so we both playedthere very cool yeah, you
something there just now aboutold bodies.

You know the opportunity last year through
partners with Threat Locker here, and last year they're a major
sponsor here of the OrlandoMagic and so they had this camp
where you go in the afternoonand get on the floor, and they
had some NBA coaches from theMagic.
Actually, you know we played apickup game.
Oh wow, yeah, I used to be avery game.

(06:24):
Oh wow, yeah, I used to be avery good basketball player man.
And you know, look at the floorand you're like I can do this
and you start realizing, youknow, the age is catching up and
it's a lot different.
So I hear you Years ago Iwouldn't have believed it.

It goes fast, Roy.
I'm 46 today.
But joke, I was like I have todo a specific workout now, so I
don't hurt myself, you know?
I mean, it's all about myworkout.
I don't know if you can call itthat.

It's more about stretching.
Yeah, you're young, 46 though,man.
I thought I was thinking morelike 40.

Okay, yeah, I keep inching up to closer and
closer to 50 somehow.

Right, right, but listen, it's not that bad
once you went there.

It's better than the alternative right.

It most certainly is man.
But listen, now that we've donethese just a little bit of a
warm-up, let's go in and getinto your professional journey,
which, again, I could be a partof early on in your career.
And, like I said, I'm notsurprised where you're at the
chief growth officer of afantastic firm.
That, over the last 27 years,from finance to leading growth
at Raymond, what was the turningpoint that led you into the

(07:27):
executive leadership world thatyou're in?

Well, it's interesting.
I'll go through this journey asI can, but it's a fairly
interesting story, at least inmy world.
Out of Rollins, I was aneconomics major and then I for a
year in finance and then wentback, got my MBA in finance and
was a financial analyst for acouple of years for a local
company here in Orlando andaround that time I was getting

(07:49):
married and I was introduced toa gentleman named Terry Weiler
who was the founder of Vestaland Weiler.
It was a small CPA firm thathad been around in Orlando for
years and he said hey, we'relooking for someone with a
financial background to reallygrow this firm.
He said we're really good atthe work, but we need someone to
get out there and grow this.
Terry and Tim and they werecurrent partners at the time

(08:12):
really connected and had somesuccess early on and we got firm
together, which was a lot offun.
Terry ended up retiring and webought him out January 1st 2009.
This kind of firm and continuedto grow it and a lot of fun
with that.
November 1st 2022, we merged.
A couple of my partners hadretired prior to that, but we
ended up merging with Raymond.

(08:34):
I thought it was the rightthing to do in merging was our
clients continued to get biggerand bigger.
They continued to need moreservices.
They were getting morecomplicated, they needed
international, they needed stateand local, they needed R&D
credit studies, they needed allthese things, and we were having
to outsource some of that workand I thought that the best
thing to do, the best thing forour clients and the best thing

(08:56):
for our staff, was to merge witha larger firm.
So I ran a process and metRaymond and realized it was the
best firm for us and I've beenreally proud to be part of
Raymond for almost three yearsnow.
We had, I think, at the time, 58employees came over.
Two years afterwards, I think56 of those 58 were still there,

(09:17):
which is just a real tribute toRaymond and our team, and you
know the client it's.
It's been a good marriage, sean.
I don't know if I fullyanswered your question, though,
because you asked what, where,where my role has has gone when
we merged, I was not sure whatthat mean for me, but our CEO at
time was in the process ofactually she she wasn't even a

(09:40):
CEO at the time she was in theprocess of creating an executive
team and she asked me, you know, if I'd be part of that or
whether I'd like to, you know,do something that seemed
intriguing to me.
So now I'm part of theexecutive leadership team at
Raymond, which there's five ofus on that team, and it's just
been.
It's been great.
I oversee growth firm, bothorganic and inorganic growth.

Wow, that's an amazing.
There you have now, withRaymond you're overseeing over a
thousand in Florida, Michigan,Ohio very, very strong
reputation.
What really separates your firmfrom other professional service
firms?

I think if you ask a hundred people in this
world what separates them fromother professional service firms
, I think people you're probablygoing to get similar answers.
People are going to say, well,our culture is better, Our
people are better.
I don't think that firms havebetter cultures or better people
.
I think it's different, right.
I think that our culture isperfect for what we're doing and

(10:43):
who we're serving.
I was running a process ofmeeting different firms.
Every firm that came in therewas about seven firms that came
in Everyone said we have thebest culture.
Well, how can every single firmhave the best culture?
Again, it's just differentcultures.
So I would tell you, we putpeople first.
That is our mission.
We put people first.
There's no question about it.
And at the end of the day, wedo what's right for people and

(11:08):
that means our clients, thatmeans our staff and again, I
think a great example of that is, you know, two years after the
merger, or 56 of the 58 peoplewere still here in Orlando
anyway, and our retention rateis charged.
I think it's, you know, it'sprofession.
So we've got a good culture.
People really enjoy workinghere.
We're not perfect, Real honest,we're not perfect.
We need to get better in manyareas, but we've got a great
culture.

And that's important.
The fact that you only lost twopeople and you were able to
retain basically your entireteam is a testament of itself,
of the culture, which is very,very important and,
unfortunately, most people, Iwould say, sometimes overlook or
that, I would say, is widelythrown about.
You have the receipts, as theysay nowadays.

(11:49):
What you've built.
There is a success formula, sokudos to you on that.
Let's talk a little bit aboutyour growth plan.
You know going forward.
You know with emerging AI andthe tech industry, and of
reshaping.
You know with everything outthere.
What's your growth plan?
Where do you see you guys?

(12:09):
What would be your biggestchallenge moving forward?

Yeah, so first off about just kind of
geographic growth plan.
Like I said, I'm in charge ofgrowth, both organic and
inorganic.
Geographically, we want tocontinue to grow in the Midwest
and the Southeast.
We believe from a culturalpoint, we fit in that's kind of
fit in really well in thoseareas and from a growth
perspective where we see thecountry continuing to grow and,

(12:34):
most importantly, where peopleare continuing to live and move
into those areas.
The Midwest and the Southeastis where we fit in.
For today anyway, when you bringin how we're going to grow,
we're trying to become moreefficient.
One of the things we're tryingto get better at right now as a
firm is leverage.
We feel like you don't want apartner plugging in tax return,

(12:56):
you want a partner reviewingyour tax return, right?
That's just an extreme exampleof what we're trying to do is
leverage work down to theappropriate level.
It'll help with costs for theclients, it helps with growth,
it helps with profitability, ithelps with recruiting, because
if you have the younger staffwork themselves, they're going
to move up the rankings faster.
So those are a couple of thingsthat we're focused on right now

(13:19):
.

Nice.

I have no doubt that you're going to continue to
grow.
I was different, everybody's AIand stuff like that, but talk

(13:45):
about the emerging trends thatyou see.
That's going to reshape thefuture of the industry.

We play in the professional service world.
We've got a full-service CPAfirm.
We've got a full-service wealthmanagement arm.
We've got a full-servicetechnology arm it's a managed
service provider and then we'vegot a full-service investigative
arm.
So those are our four businessunits.
I will tell you what iscompletely reshaping our
industry today.

(14:12):
Those industries today isprivate equity.
Private equity has come in andthey are investing in the
professional service worldaccounting firm, specific MSPs,
wealth management arms, rias,and so that has.
There was a stat that I readand I want to say 20 of the top
40 firms or maybe it's 20 of thetop 50 firms are private equity

(14:34):
owned today in this world.
But that only started Sean andRoy, probably four years ago.
So it has happened really,really fast and it has not
slowed down ever since Now.
Obviously it will have to slowdown at some point.
I think my opinion is it's greatfor the industry.
It is not Raymond's plan.
Actually, we just came from aboard meeting last week.

(14:56):
We want to continue to grow theway we're growing.
We want to grow organically andinorganically, but with
like-minded people, with peoplethat want to grow, the people
that want to help be in chargeof our own destinies.
I think private equity is goodfor the industry and the reason
being is making all of us better.
They're continuing to spendmore money on technology.

(15:17):
They're continuing to findefficiencies, a faster way to do
a tax return.
Ai is a huge player in this,whether it be audit or tax, the
whole world is being turnedupside down on that AI, I mean.
Here's an example X amount ofyears back we had an intern from
UCF or Florida or Florida State, and they were doing data entry

(15:38):
for the tax return.
They'd put the pay ones in andall this.
Well, now you can scan thatdocument and it goes right into
the right box it's supposed tobe at, so it's.
It is already now.
It's expensive.
We're spending a lot of moneyon this software, but it's
already showing that it's.
It's saving time.
You know, whether you do auditor a tax return or whatever it

(15:59):
might be, you're doing some kindof Monte Carlo projection for
the management arm.
It's amazing what it has done,and just my call it 20 years in
the space it really has.
I think the next five years isjust going to be even more of a
change, because of equity,because of technology, because
of AI, which again I see changeand opportunity.
I don't see it as a threat atall.

So a couple of things, steve.
Private equity are they goingGrant Thornton level, deloitte
levels, or are they stayingdownstream, gobbling up like a
Carl Riggs and firms like that?

So they have not invested in a big four firm yet
.
So not the big four yet.
But everything behind that, yes, Everything.

Really.

Yeah.
So again of the 20 of the top50 firms in the country have
taken private equity.
So in our top 100, it's firms,it's $3 million firms.
It runs and I get it.
So what private equity is isthe industry has a lot of money
over the X amount of years.
Well, with a tougher economy,it's tough to deploy that

(17:02):
capital.
But what they see in the CPAworld is they see recurring
revenue.
Right, right, that's right.
Bad economy.
Companies need their auditedfinancial statements.
Good economy or bad economy,you need your tax return filed.
So they see that and they see alot of inefficiencies in our
industry.
We need to get better, we needto get more efficient and

(17:23):
they're seeing again AI rightnow, let's say it, you know,
make up a 300 man hours to dothat audit.
Well, they think five yearsit's going to be 50 man hours to
do that same audit.
So because of technology and,you know, staffing's it's
difficult to find people.
But you know, I was graduatingfrom school.
Now I think an accountingdegree is a great place to be.

(17:45):
It's just a great foundation tohave.

Right, right.
So I'm sure you're gettingthose calls from those private
equity firms pretending thatthey're calling you about ACG.

So it's so funny , sean, as you know, like when I
started out, you know, in myrole many years ago I'm trying
to remember I was 2006.
I think I started at Vestal andWeiler I would start, you know
private equity really knew whatprivate equity was.
You know it wasn't, we would doeverything, or I would do
everything I can to get in frontof these folks.
And because, again, they'rebuying and selling companies,

(18:11):
well, they're going to needaudited and taxed for their
portfolio companies.
Well, now you're right, becauseof that, it has changed.
And then they actually arecalling on us, which is really
nice, and you know we, theyactually are calling on us,
which is really nice, and we'veestablished some good
relationships.
But private equity is not ourfuture anytime soon or at all.
Honestly, we really like whatwe're doing.
We think we can get better whatthey're doing.

(18:32):
They're investing in technology, they're investing in their
people, they're investing inefficiencies, and we feel like
we can do all those same thingswithout private equity.

Right, well, I'm sure that you know the landscape
, you know how to business.
I was surprised when I ran intomanaging partner for Carl Riggs
and she was like oh yeah we, wewere private.

Wow, okay, very cool, four years in the industry
.

Right, right, right .
Well, let's go beyond theboardroom and the executive
suite and let's let's talk abouthow your leadership extends in
in in the community.
You know whether the FloridaSports Foundation, not the
Florida Sports Foundation.
That's where.
That's what I was on the boardof when you and I went to the
governor's baseball event overin St Pete.

I got a picture.
I saw a picture of that.
By the way, Who'd you meetthere?

Bill Murray remember.

That's right, bill.

Murray.
He grew up with my family so hewent to Nutrier High School up
in Chicago.
Yeah, I think he hated my AuntKathy for a little while and he
knew my dad through somebaseball.
So he was just.
I'd never forget he was.
He saw my name tag and he wasso kind and I mean he is genuine
in person as he is on TV.
So, anyway, that was ahighlight for me, sean, that was

(19:41):
all because of you, so that was.
That was a highlight for me,sean.

That was all because of you, so that was
awesome, wasn't it?
That was really cool.
Did you get any pictures fromthat?

I don't think I ever did.
That's a good question.
I don't know.
I'm not sure I ever did.
You know that trip was for you.

Wow, you were a lot more important than me.
That was for all of the workthat you had done at ACG, right?
Well, again we killed it at ACGand I'm like, man, how do I?
You know, I get governor'soffice and I'm like, well,
steve's a big baseball guy, letme, let me invite him and, sure
enough, and then you get to meet, you know, bill Murray and man,
that brings back some greatmemories.
But let's talk about you know,again, your chairmanship at the,
the Florida Citrus Sports,which I'm a big fan of.
Obviously, acg Global, again, Ithought that I'd be on that

(20:21):
board and have you on it.
Couldn it couldn't have beenwhen I saw that announcement,
heard that announcement, like Isaid, that was like a birthday
gift to see you on that and thento know that you were going to
that you ran Orlando.
You know what drives yourpassion for both civic and and I
was talking to Roy earlier yousat on the board with my wife at
the church the HR boards.

(20:42):
Clearly you're giving back, notjust on the business side, but
you're giving back on the civicside.
What drives that passion forboth civic and professional
leadership like that, steve?

Well, it's nice of you to ask, Sean.
I mean, it's people, honestly,that set the path and you know
Roy and I were talking.
Wait, wait wait, I'm not thatold man.
Well, I mean but you were thefounder of ACG in Orlando and
you know no-transcript Greatorganization.

(21:31):
At one point they really put ona bowl game or a couple of bowl
games in Orlando at the CitrusBowl, but they have just evolved
.
Last year they had over amillion people come into that,
into that 20 eventsve.
Hogan, who's our ceo, has justdone an amazing job and they're
and now they're doing a dollarrenovation of the stadium and

(21:52):
the area around it.
That from tdt dollars and it'sjust.
It's just a staple for orlando,a staple for community, for our
community, and it just makes usbetter and better.
So that's been really fun.
Acg kind of a similar thing.
It's really focused again M&Ascene globally and probably
every private equity group inthe country, I think, is

(22:15):
involved at least or a member.
There's over 15,000 members andhonestly, for me to be the
chair of that board, of theglobal board, I was just really
fortunate.
I would call it right place,right time.
I was very, very fortunate andhad a ton of fun, met a bunch of
great people.
It's both those organizations ahuge place in my heart, for
sure.
And again, you meet people.

(22:35):
I got more than I gave.
I tried to give everything Ihave, but you just learn so much
and meet such wonderful peoplein this world.

So last thing I want to ask him just the
piggyback off it.
I have an idea of how itinfluenced, but tell me, how did
those roles help you at Raymond?
Like it's helped you, becauseclearly you're in a C-suite of a
fast-growing accountingnational accounting firm and
those roles are not small roles.

(23:04):
You just drove up 15,000members and I'll talk about
inner growth, where there's whatyou know a couple of 5,000
people hanging out and you'vebeen a leader of that.
So, and these are high intellectindividuals that anyway, talk
about that for us.

Well, again, I would tell you I'm fortunate to
be in those, have been in thoseroles.
I would say, how does it helpme at Raymond?
One is are just the connectionsand networking.
For sure, some of the peoplethat I've met, I've been so
fortunate my role at Raymond Ido a lot of public speaking, as
you can imagine, so those roleswere great.
Just in preparation, right, youput yourself in different
experiences where you'respeaking next to, you know, the

(23:40):
coaches or the presidents ofthese schools, in front of
hundreds of people, speaking infront of over 4,000 people at
ACG.
Right, your nerves get going andbringing it back to, like my
sports days.
It's like getting ready to playa game and it's just fun, right
, it's, it's, it's, it's an itit, those juices flowing a
little bit again, like you'regetting ready to bat or you're,
you know, taking a free,whatever it might be.

(24:01):
And so I just think you know Iwould.
I think it's good to putyourself in uncomfortable
situations and to see whatyou're made out of and just
continue to get better andbetter and just to challenge
yourself.
It's, you know, life would beboring if it was easy, but it's
a challenge and you need to workhard and get the most out of
our abilities.
It's kind of what I, what I tryto, what I try to preach and

(24:22):
what I try to follow myself.
But again, there's a lot ofareas I need to get better at
too.

Amazing that you know, with everything going on,
that you you find the passionand I would say the love to to
give back to communities, and soone of the things that I also
wanted to touch on real quickhere, going back to that, is
that you're also a board memberof the Dr Phillips Charities,
which really supports minorityempowerment.

(24:49):
Can you share a story, aninitiative that's especially
meaningful to you with thatorganization?

Well, I'm glad you asked that.
It's an organization that Ihave a huge heart for and Ken
Robinson.
Similar to Steve Hogan, we'vegot an amazing leader in Ken
Robinson who's been there formany years, and you've got some
amazing leaders behind him aswell.
The Dr Phillips story isamazing.
We don't have time to sharethat, but it's just amazing what
he did and what the family did.
They've enabled us as afoundation Dr Phillips Charities

(25:21):
to deploy somewhere between $12and $13 million per year into
the Central Florida communitiesDr Phillips' name.
All over town I saw something Ithink it was yesterday.
They opened a nursing schoolfor UCF.
Dr Phillips was a big donor of,obviously, the Performing Arts
Center.
I mean the Performing ArtsCenter is an amazing facility

(25:44):
for the size city that Orlandois.
We are so fortunate to havethat.
That wouldn't have happened hadit not been for Dr Phillips
Charities.
You see the Dr Phillips nameall over town in art education.
We just have a passion fordifferent things and it's really
cool.
It's not just donations that wemake.
There are micro grants that wemake, different organizations,

(26:05):
different nonprofits, and thatone, honestly, is a blessing to
be a part of, because when youget to pick and choose where
those dollars are going everyyear, we as a board take very,
very seriously and you just wantto support really good people.
Lyft Orlando, if either of youare familiar with Lift.
Orlando Dr Phillips Charity hasbeen a huge, a huge supporter of

(26:28):
that Tom Sinema was really that.
Harold Mills was involved withsome just great people and you
know.
So it's been.
Anyway, it's been a space to bea part of Dr Phillips.
I look forward to continuingthat.
That's been a lot of fun.

Well, that's awesome and you know, thank you,
thank you for all you're doingthere.
I mean going and traveling toother cities, seeing the
state-of-the-art performancearts have downtown here.
But not only that, but you knowthe Dr Phillips name and it's,
with so many different thingsaround here, truly blessed, but
even more so blessed that peopleare involved with that and

(27:01):
staring at it in the rightdirection.

So thank you, sir, thank you, we're trying,
we're trying, it's been a lot offun.
Like I said, it's got greatleaders.
That's why all thoseorganizations, you'll see one
theme great leaders.
I always be involved and teamup with great leaders.
It makes the board, as you bothknow, it makes your board a lot
easier.

That's right.
Well, perfect, segue herebecause I want to shift gear.

Sean.
Let's talk about some of thechallenges Steve has faced and
the lessons he's learned.
So take it away.
Yeah, no, I, when I saw thisquestion I chuckled because you
know I spent eight years atDeloitte and my role working
directly with them seniorpartners and so I understand not
intimately, but I saw a lot ofthe challenge.
So, steve, you mentioned, youknow, issues with partners is a
challenge, a challenging momentfor you.

(27:51):
So what helped you push throughthose times?

I think at any professional service firm there
are challenges at times, whetheryou're with a firm of three
partners or 3000 partners.
Right, you've got a lot ofpeople that are really smart, a
lot of type A people that wantit their way, and there's not
always a right or wrong answerin many of these situations.

(28:14):
You asked you know one of thebiggest challenges in my career?
No question, I mean, we'remaking decisions now as an
executive leadership team.
At Raymond, for example, 1,100employees.
Every decision that we make,someone's going to be unhappy.
There's just, it's inevitableSomeone's going to be unhappy
Again, whether it's threepartners or 3,000 part.

(28:37):
You can't keep everyone happy.
So there have been times where,man, it's just you put up your
hands, whether it was 10 yearsago or 20 years ago or today.
Man, this is a grind.
Should I keep doing it?
And I come back to life's noteasy.
There's no job out there thatyou're going to put your feet up
and kick back and just collecta paycheck.

(28:59):
I don't believe that.
If you want to continue to getbetter and continue to excel at
whatever it might be, life'sfull of challenges.
In my mind, my parents didn'traise me to be a quitter, right?
Like I said earlier, I want toget the most out of my God-given
ability, and sometimes thatmeans you've got to roll up your
sleeves, you've got to do whatyou think is best for the firm

(29:20):
and best for the people and atthe end of the day you got to
say hey, I know so and sodoesn't agree with me, but I'm
doing the best I possibly can.
At 46 years old, I'm a littlebetter.
Hopefully I'm a little better atthat today, I think your skin
gets a little bit thicker, butit's, you know.
I mean, you don't?
It's not fun to disagree withpeople, right?
It's not fun to not make peoplehappy.

(29:41):
But in leadership positions andthe CEO is wonderful at this
she keeps saying Steve, we'releaders, we make decisions on
what's right for the firm andthat's what we do, and you can't
look back after that.

All right, nice.
So I want to touch on two booksthat you've read here, and one
of them being CrucialConversations, that really
touches on the topic ofpsychological safety.
Of course, there's Never EatAlone, which really, you know,
touches the concept of givingand leading through
relationships.
You know what's one lesson fromthose books that you apply

(30:18):
regularly?

So Crucial Conversations, I mean.
What I would take out of thatis, if there's something looming
in your mind, kick the can downthe road, that one, that that
that sticks out, and and on,never eat alone completely

(30:46):
different book, obviously.
Someone gave this book when Iwas younger and it was basically
like look, everybody throughoutthe day needs to eat.
You either sit at your desk andeat alone or you could, you
know, break bread with somebodyand try to do your best to learn
something from that person,connect with that person,

(31:09):
whether it be business relatedor not, that person might be
struggling with.
Maybe you can be a sounding tothat person, or or, on the
business front, you know, listen, learn.
They can educate you on a topicthat you're not familiar with
you.
But really what you're doing isyou're developing a relationship
, and, and that on a topic thatyou're not familiar with.
But really what you're doing isyou're developing a
relationship, and that's so muchof what life's all about is

(31:31):
giving back, trying to be a goodfriend, whether it's a husband
or a friend, and you know we're,like I said earlier, life's
difficult.
We all have our challenges andwe all need a friend every once
in a while.
That's true.

So great advice there, I mean, and great
reflection, I should say.
You know, in today's day andage, I think, where everybody's
so caught up in their what doyou say?
Their small little digitalworld, nobody tends to reach out
anymore and look to, as yousaid, break bread and get to
know someone else and build arelationship, and sometimes it's

(32:05):
that small relationship, thatmeaningless relationship that
you establish that pays hugedividends down the road.
But you know, and I think andyou know, one of the things
today as well are expecting moreinstant relationships.
Take time.
It's trust, it's, you know, youplant the seed that has to grow

(32:26):
.

Well said, Roy.
With my kids right, I have asophomore, two daughters.
Those are some of the valuesthat we try to preach.
Sometimes it's just experience.
You know, we can say whateverwe want, but they need to learn
on their own, and that was wellsaid by you.

Well, you know, I often tell my kids and others
there's no.
You know, here's the perfectmanual to parenting.
Speaking about the youngergeneration and kids, et cetera,
what advice would you give tocollege students or young
professionals entering thebusiness world today?

Well, that's a great question.
And, again, my kids aren't faroff from that age.
What I would tell them, andwhat I tell my kids, is find
something in life you'repassionate in.
We spend so much time all threeof us and everyone else you
spend so much time at your job.
I am so fortunate where I enjoymy job right, I enjoy what I do

(33:27):
.
Are there days that I don'thave fun Absolutely, but I
really do enjoy it.
And do I enjoy the debits andcredits of accounting?
No, that's not it, it's thepeople.
I enjoy the people.
So I tell my kids that I wouldtell anyone graduating from
college right now try to findsomething you're passionate
about.
Don't worry so much about themoney.
You can make money in so manydifferent industries.

(33:50):
I remember one of our clientsstarted as a garbage man and
built this company, this billiondollar company.
He's still, to this day, one ofthe most humble people in the
world, people in the world, andhe would tell you he's.
He's a garbage man.
That's what he does, and andit's just.
But he had a passion for thetrash trash industry.
You can find passions in so manydifferent things.

(34:11):
I think it's just.
I think it's so exciting.
I would love to start all over.
I'd love I'm so fortunate forwhere I am but, like you know,
starting all over.
We're so blessed with this life, man, because life is too short
.
So enjoy what you do.
I don't care if it's if youenjoy, or maybe you want to be
some kind of an attorney numbers, you know finance, accounting,

(34:34):
whatever it might be, but justyou know, find something that
you find, a class that you enjoy.
Do some read that class way.
What if I and you know youcould probably type it in the
chat GBT, if I enjoy what aregood, you know professions, or
what are some professions that I?
You know that I could probablyfind some professions that you
never even heard of before.

That's right, that's right.

Yeah, and.

I good, good point there and I would say that
you know we we tend to stick atwhat I call surface knowledge.
We'll get the first, the firstlayer, and that's what that's
where we go.
My advice that I often givepeople, and especially kids
nowadays as well and greatadvice, by the way, steve is,
you know, be passionate aboutwhat you do and create your

(35:09):
opportunities, wait foropportunities to come to you,
create your opportunities outthere and kick doors open, and,
sean, I know you're a bigproponent of that.

Listen.
These last few minutes is whatthis podcast to me is all about.
I have been saying that for 20something years about enjoying
where which Wayne startedcollecting trash in Minnesota
not Minnesota, but Michigan, youknow, 40 years ago.
And built a billion dollarbusiness.
You know, 20 something yearsago, before I was able to buy.
You know the Dolphin andeverything else.

(35:59):
Blockbuster and AutoNation,because he enjoyed, kind of like
, what your client, he enjoyedwhat he did.
And so, man, I love the idea ofmore and more people just
enjoying what they, what God hasgiven to them or whatever they
believe has given to them, theirassignment in life.
And I post that a lot.
I I'm, I'm so grateful for myassignment, and it ain't easy,

(36:23):
like you say.
It ain't easy, bro, not at all.
But look, you've said some ofthese things multiple times on
the cast that we've had so far.
But I want to touch on it againand just make sure that we have
wealth of knowledge.
Man, and I, just you knowyou've cultivated this
reputation of growth right.
You've built things.

(36:44):
I'd be ACG if it wasn't for you, and I tell everybody that, and
so the organization is stillthe same.
It was 20 years ago, we blewthat thing up and you were at
the top of that sphere.
Does it mean to you, and how doyou instill it across your
teams, about cultivating aspirit of growth culturally?

So, yeah, we've got it's a great question.
So we've got 1100 employees, alot, of, a lot of, if you look
at our industries that we're inmore introverted than
extroverted.
Okay, so you talk about growthand when you're speaking to
people about growth and indifferent ways, there it's hard.
Everyone is comfortable pickingup the phone and saying hey,

(37:28):
sean, would you go to lunch withme today?
Hey, roy, would you, would yougo have a beer?
Would you go have breakfast?
You know that talked aboutbusiness.
So what I tell people first ofall, one way to grow a firm.
There's not one way to grow apractice.
Many people are very successfulin many different ways.
How I have had success in thepast is through relationships.
It's through people like you,sean, it's.

(37:49):
It's it is developingrelationships and putting them
for the right reasons.
Not doing meeting peoplebecause you want to.
You're asking them for business.
You're you're developingrelationships because you truly
care about that person, youabsolutely want to learn that
person's doing and you meet withpeople that you care about and
that you want to help and itjust naturally happens.

(38:12):
I believe the best way todevelop relationships is what I
say the rifle versus the shotgunapproach.
Both approaches are important.
Don't get me wrong.
You need the branding out there.
You need people to know whoRaymond is.
That's really important.
But what people are going toquote unquote buy from are the
individuals and therelationships and the people

(38:32):
that they trust.
You don't have to be this slicksalesperson to develop business
.
Honestly, I would rather buyfrom that person that is more
introverted and is more you know, just someone that you can
truly, truly trust and you knowthat they're going to do a good
job and I feel like that's whatwe, that's what we talk about,

(38:52):
that's what we preach.
There's no question in theservice world there are some
people that rainmaking orbringing in clients it comes
more naturally to than others,and that's okay.
We all have our strengths andweaknesses, but we can all get
better in different areas.
By the way, I will tell youanother book that I love
Strengths Finder.
I'm going to another book thatI love strengths finder.

(39:13):
I'm a huge believer in playingto your strengths.
If you play to your strengthsand you enjoy what you do,
you're going to do such a betterjob at it.
There's only so you knowthere's you don't want.
I always say, I always jokearound.
You don't want me doing yourtax return.
That would not be my highestand best time, but there are
certain people that are reallyreally good at that.
You know, my gifts or myabilities are different.

(39:36):
And there's again there's notbetter or worse, it's just
different.

I think great point and great advice on the
books.
There's a set.
You know, the most successfulbusiness leaders out there, most
successful people in general,surround themselves by people
who are smarter than they are.

I know that one Steve was working with.
He was working with me and I'mlike I was, I was the leader and
I'm like hey to the to thebaseball game.

Yeah, you think about that.
You are our presidents over theyears.
You think about CEOs over theyears.
The CEOs, the presidents thoseare the ones that get all the
credit, but the ones that arereally good, they surround
themselves with the cabinet.
That is really really a greatfoundation.
So, Roy, that's very wellspoken.
I agree completely with that.

And speaking of cabinets, you've kind of led me
here into my next question verynicely, and the question is you
know if you could create a dreamboard of it from any era, right
, you know who would be on itand what would you hope to learn
from them?

That's a tough one.
I'd have so many questionsabout that.
What industry?
And all that?
But a couple are Ronald Reagan.
I just think he was a greatleader.
Right, I'm not going to thinkof the industry that worked here
, but Ronald Reagan was no doubtan amazing leader.
I think that he had the peopleskills.
Books I've read about him werejust spectacular.

(41:01):
Bonhoeffer if you haven't heardof Dietrich Bonhoeffer, his
story is unbelievable.
He was a pastor during WorldWar II.
The things that he went throughand the bravery that he had
just unbelievable.
Maybe my favorite book of alltime.
Many times I remind myself whenI have a hard day, when I'm

(41:24):
tired or whatever it might be.
Think of Dietrich Bonhoefferand all that he went through and
ultimately had to give his lifeor his life was taken.
You know powerful he's standingup against Hitler.

He was Okay, got it .
Yeah, yeah, that goes into that.

And I really.

You know, I'll give you the book if you want.
I'm happy to.
Just Eric Matexis.
He's a great writer.
Phenomenal story.
I read Eric's book on.

Wilberforce abolishing slavery in England.
That's a great book that hewrote.

Yeah for sure, I mean.
And then a couple.
Steve Jobs is just an idea guy,Obviously, Warren Buffett has
been just amazingly successful.
I think I've read every WarrenBuffett book, you know, and what
an investor he is and still is,which is just unbelievable.
I think I've read every WarrenBuffett book, you know, and what
an investor he is and it stillis, which is just unbelievable.
I pride myself on being an ideaguy, a visionary, but obviously

(42:20):
I don't hold a candle to SteveJobs, but I love, you know, just
, the passion and the ideas, the, uh, the creativity that
someone like he had is justunbelievable.
And still, after gone, see whatApple has done.
And he truly set a company upbigger than him.
Right, he laid the foundationand we always say that we don't

(42:41):
want, we want to create aninstitution.
Right, We'll do 250 million inrevenue this year.
We're trying to be bigger thanany one of us.
We are trying to create aninstitution and grow the right
way.
We want to grow up with goodclients.
We want to grow with goodpeople and you know, those are a
few of the people that I wouldlove to, would have loved and

(43:02):
learn from, and boy, what adirectors that would be.
Huh.

I was about to say you'd certainly be the envy,
with Warren, buff, buffett andand steve jobs on their end of
themselves.
I would say that, uh, you,you'd probably be to triple that
250 million.

Uh, figure there yeah, that'd be pretty cool and
then I I'd love them andthey're sports guys, so then
they're.
Then then there's I to me thatwould love for jack nicholas,
huge fan of his.
Michael jordan huge fan, youknow, like certain people like
that when I watch them compete,there was just nothing like that
.
And boy, I have a lot ofrespect for those people.

Yeah, no, no, well said, great board.
Well rounded off.
With Jack and Nicholas andMichael Sean, I think we'll be
pressed hard to find a board tocompete against, somebody else
will do it.
Right.
So, Steve, I got to ask youhere.
We're nearing the top here, butyou know, if you go back in
life and change one thing, whatwould it be and why it's a?

question.
I don't think I would changeanything and this is why, boy,
there were some challenges I'vehad throughout life.
Right, everyone has challenges.
I've been very fortunate andhad a very fortunate life, but
you know, there are certain daysyou're just like man I'm
frustrated.
Whatever it might be, whether itbe personally or professionally
, I do believe, and I think backto some of my earlier years in

(44:20):
my career and some of thosechallenges, that they made me
stronger and they made me who Iam today.
So I wouldn't change anything,even though I've had tons of
failures and I've made tons ofmistakes.
I don't think I've changed anyof them, because that's who,
what made me of who I am today.
And, honestly, I love tellingthose mistakes and those
failures that I had to my kidsand to show that you don't have

(44:43):
to be perfect in this life, Ialways say there's a couple
rules that we have in our first,you got to treat everyone with
respect, have fun and do yourbest.
Life's not that hard if you dothose things.
And and I don't think you cando those things fully If, uh, if
I didn't have some of thosefailures and if I didn't have
some of those things that I Ireally struggled with.

Well, you know, there's two the saying that
adversity builds character,right.

Yes, sir.

So well said there, Steve.
You know this has been great.
Before we start going down therounding off path here, I'm sure
our listeners out there wouldlove to connect with you, more
about you and learn more aboutRaymond.
How best would they go aboutthat?

Well, I'd love to hear from anybody.
Linkedin is probably the best.
I need to be better on LinkedIn, but LinkedIn and, you know,
just social media in general isthe future.
But, yeah, definitely LinkedIn.
Love to connect with anybodyand help.
I'd love to love to talk tothem in any way.
And again, because of peoplelike Sean.
You know we love giving backright, you love helping people.
I was at a quick party lastnight for my neighbor and he had

(45:52):
his kids there and some otherfriends had their kids there and
they're now graduating fromcollege and they're looking for
their job.
It's a hard job market rightnow.
So the networking and just thefriendships that were happening
from there hey, here's my number.
Give me a call.
I'd love to help, whether wehave a job for them or maybe
someone I know has a job for methose types of things.

(46:12):
That's what life's all about.
Right, it is, we're here tomake this world a better place,
and I think it's Ralph WaldoEmerson right To leave this
world a little better than wegot here.
Again, I'm not saying I'msuccessful in doing that, but
that's my goal every day.

Awesome, awesome .
Well, thank you for thisamazing time, absolutely, and
sharing your amazing story andfor being who you are and all
that you do.
You know I've heard a lot aboutyou from Sean and when we were
putting together our list of whowe'd love to have on the
podcast, you know Sean was upthere with your flag, you know,

(46:47):
big and proud, and he explainedto me why I'm honored today to
say that I've had theopportunity to spend time with
you and that I got to meet youthrough Sean and learn more
about you.
So thank you.

Well, thank you both.
I appreciate it very much,loved the time that we spent
together.
You're doing a great job, andwhat a time it was for me.

I enjoyed the hour was for me, I was for the hour.
Well, steve, um, it's beenphenomenal.
I thought it was gonna.
I knew it was gonna be.
I ain't no thinking about it.
I knew it was gonna bephenomenal.
You have an incredible story,an incredible human being.
Please pass on my hellos tobrooke and the kids, especially
the baby girl who I I like Isaid there was about four years

(47:28):
where she was in my class, danand i's class, and, um, please
pass along a hello to yourin-laws.
His father-in-law is a LambdaChi from Florida State as well.

We won't hold the Florida State against him as
Miami guys, but we'll welcomehim as a Lambda Chi.

You know, Sean, it's interesting you say that
you reminded me that you andDana taught our now-older-old
Right.
As you imagine, we have gooddays and we have bad days with
our 18-year-olds I think I don'tknow 18-year-old girls.
They kind of know everything,right, you just ask them and
they know everything.
So I might have to reintroduceyou here one of these days and
ask you to take her to lunch forme, and you know anyway.

(48:05):
No, I'm just joking, but she's a.
I'm fortunate with great kids.
Love them to death.
Yeah, I mean, you know, raisingkids is different today than I
think it was when, when, whenour parents raised us.
Um question about it.

Very good, Well, well, it was a phenomenal time,
Steve.
Again, man, we appreciate it.
We will have you back in thefuture and keep doing the
phenomenal work you're doing and, uh, see you on the, you know,
sometime soon.

Thank you, thank you both Really appreciate it.

Thank you and to our audience, thank you for
tuning into this edition of thedynamic business leaders podcast
.
If you enjoyed today's episode,be sure to subscribe, leave a
review and share it with someonewho would benefit from.
Steve story and Sean.

I'll leave until next time.
Yeah, and until next time.
Stay curious, stay driven andkeep leading with purpose man.
That purpose thing for me Ilove.
I've been purpose driven for along time and Steve, you
remember we did churchwide life.

Absolutely.

Phenomenal study.
We did so anyway.
With that, we'll sign off here.

Appreciate you all.
Hi, I'm Roy Richardson, host ofthe Dynamic Business Leaders
podcast.
Are you a business owner or aleader of a successful business?
If yes, we'd love to have youas a guest on our program.
Our goal is simple we provide aplatform for leaders to share
their experiences to benefitothers.
We want to hear your story howyou got started, the challenges

(49:28):
you faced along the way and yourpassion today.
If this sounds like you or youknow someone who fits these
criteria, then be sure to get intouch with us by visiting our
website, linked in the episodedescription below.
Also, don't forget to subscribeto our YouTube channel and
click the notification bell tobe notified when our next
episode goes live.
Or, if you'd rather listen tous during your car rides, you

(49:50):
can also follow us on yourfavorite audio channel using
your podcatcher.
Thanks again, and remember keepcrushing it.
Thank you.

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}EP.18 - Leading with Purpose: Steven Castino on Growth, Culture, and Community