February 26, 2025 • 31 mins
Financial expert and a thrill seeker at heart, Uziel Gomez is paving the way for first-generation wealth builders through the firm he founded, Primeros Financial.
Born and raised in the San Fernando Valley, Uziel was inspired at a young age to learn how to take control of finances. With a little risk and a leap of faith, he launched Primeros Financial, providing real financial planning for first-generation wealth builders. He emphasizes not only the importance of creating generational wealth, but also passing along generational knowledge about financial literacy. When he’s not helping others plan for their future, he loves seeking out new adventures, traveling, painting, and finding new restaurants.
How did he know he was destined to take on a career in finances? What inspired him to take that leap of faith and launch his own business? He’s been cliff jumping, what’s next on his bucket list?
CLICK HERE for more information about Uziel Gomez.
CLICK HERE for more information about Primeros Financial.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Uziel Gomez (00:01):
From Los Angeles.
This is the Echelon RadioNetwork.
Brian Hemsworth (00:12):
Hey and welcome everybody back to another
edition of the Echelon RadioPodcast. I'm Brian Hemsworth.
I've not been doing podcasts fora little bit. Jerri has been
filling in for me, but I'm back,and we have as our guest today,
Uziel Gomez, how'd I do on that?
Okay?
Uziel Gomez (00:31):
That was really good.
Brian Hemsworth (00:32):
Pretty close, pretty close? Thanks for coming
in, I appreciate you coming in.
And we want to talk a little bitabout what you're up to, what
you do, and we will talk alittle of business, but I want
to jump into some of the funstuff. So, we do a little bit of
stalking of our guests, websitesand background, and you've got
some pretty cool stuff, so Iwant to jump right in. Tell us
(00:54):
where you were born, where yougrew up, and where are you now?
Uziel Gomez (01:01):
So, I'm born and raised out of Canoga Park.
Brian Hemsworth (01:06):
Mmhm, close to us.
Uziel Gomez (01:07):
Yeah, yeah, not too far, it was a 10 minute drive,
born and raised in Canoga Park.
I've actually lived on the sameblock my entire life.
Brian Hemsworth (01:15):
Wow.
Uziel Gomez (01:15):
So, yeah, you know Valley kid to the to the heart
for sure.
Brian Hemsworth (01:18):
Wow. What high school?
Uziel Gomez (01:20):
Canoga Park.
Brian Hemsworth (01:21):
Okay, that doesn't get much more Valley
than that.
Uziel Gomez (01:23):
Exactly.
Brian Hemsworth (01:24):
I think Van Nuys might be a parallel to
that, but, and then so I alsosaw from your bio on your
website, CSUN.
Uziel Gomez (01:34):
Yeah.
Brian Hemsworth (01:34):
Right. So you're, you've stayed in the
valley even even through thattime. What was CSUN like for
you?
Uziel Gomez (01:39):
Oh, it was amazing.
I mean, it was definitelyentering a whole nother world,
just because, you know, I am thefirst in my family to attend
college. So navigating thatwhole world was, like, very
interesting. At first, I didfeel like an outcast, like I
feel like I didn't really,really belong. But then I found
my tribe. You know, there'sother people like me there too.
So it was phenomenal. Like theyhave a great business program
(02:01):
there. So my experience wasFinancial planning.
Brian Hemsworth (02:05):
So, and I want to let you know you have every
really good.
Ah, you did?
Uziel Gomez (02:07):
Yeah, yeah.
Brian Hemsworth (02:07):
So that was really, how'd you, know, like,
right to feel that way. I'm akid that came from a family
where my mother and father andat their age, not as many women
when, when you first went, didyou just, you, like, kind of
were going to college, but bothmy mother and father went to
college, and I still felt likethe outcast. So I totally do get
that, you know, we have thatfeeling. What'd you study there?
have a feel for what you wantedto do, or?
Uziel Gomez (02:34):
You know what, like, I've always known I wanted
to do something within business.
So I think I went in, like, as abusiness administration or
business marketing, I can'tremember exactly, but it was
within the business department.
And I've always had an interestfor finance, without really
knowing that I had thatinterest, just because my
parents have always shown me howto be frugal, they taught us
(02:58):
like, you know, because of ourupbringing and our circumstance,
we had to be very frugal. So Iwas always aware of our
circumstance and always aware oflike, the different strategies
that my mom used so that wecould stay afloat and survive
the difficult moments. So I, youknow, during during college, I
(03:18):
was an undergrad, within myfirst two years, I kind of felt
lost, like I didn't really,really know exactly what I
wanted to do. And at that time,I was working as a bank teller
in Van Nuys, and it was a veryunique location, because you
had, we were very close toSherman Oaks, and we were in Van
Nuys, so we had a lot of like,upper middle class folks coming
(03:40):
in, and a lot of, like, lowerincome folks as well. And there
was a really gap betweenfinancial literacy and within
you.
Brian Hemsworth (03:47):
Oh yeah , I bet.
Yeah.
Uziel Gomez (03:48):
Yeah, yeah, but at least the people that were
middle class had, like, moreresources. And, you know, you
could, you could tell they had,like, a savings amount for
So then I cameacross this article that said
(04:10):
emergencies. And the lowerincome folks, like, they were
just, you know, living paycheckto paycheck. So I thought, like,
Okay, how could I bring thisback into my community? Like,
(04:35):
learn the ropes, learn whatfinance is really about, and,
that there was an 18 year oldkid that had a perfect 800 score
you know, bring it back to mycommunity. So at that time, I
at the age of 18, and yeah, thereason why was because the
parents added him as anauthorized user to one of their
had just turned 18, 19, Ibelieve, and my friend had
credit cards. So you know thathistory went on to that, to the
(04:57):
to the son's, credit history aswell. And, you know, I asked
taught me about like credit, theimportance of credit, but like
myself, how can, who can do thisfor me? Who can do this for me
in my immediate circle? Andthere was like, really, no one
his information was verylimited. So I researched how to
that was able to do that for me,because no one really, was, had
a good credit score. No one wasreally, they were afraid to get
improve my credit score becauseI wanted to buy a car, and I
credit cards or any form ofcredit as well. And the very few
(05:20):
that like,
Brian Hemsworth (05:20):
Yeah.
Uziel Gomez (05:21):
Had good credit scores they kind of looked at me
like, what are you talkingabout? I'm not gonna add to you
knew essentially like that waslike, one of the foundational
as an authorized user. Which wasokay, but that really, that
really started my journey and mypassion for it, like, I just got
pillars to start, like, yourfinancial journey, if you will.
obsessed with the credit system,and, you know, learned how to
get a good score to eventuallyget my car.
Brian Hemsworth (05:40):
Awesome. So, so tell me when. So you spent some
time working at the bank, and Isaw that you had worked in a
couple different areas thatlooked like maybe during school
and right out of school. Whatwas the time where you where the
light bulb went on that saidfinancial planning?
Uziel Gomez (05:57):
Well, it's, it's very funny, because the light
bulb went on during my timethere at the bank, and I really
re-evaluated things, because Iduring that year, I felt very
lost, like I just kind of wantedto give up in school. Because,
you know, you get the sense ofdirection from your family, like
they kept telling me, you needto go to school, you need to
(06:17):
pursue higher education so youcould be successful. But once
you get to school, they don'ttell you like you're just lost
like. They don't tell you like,these are the different careers.
This is what you should bedoing. You should be getting an
internship at this point in yourlife. You should be
participating in clubs or extracurricular events in school. So
I felt very lost, and I justre-evaluated what I wanted to
(06:41):
do, and at that time was whenthat passion for finance really
grew with the whole credit scorething. And what I ended up
doing, I went to go and Iresearched more about finance,
and there were three options inCSUN, financial analysis,
financial planning andinsurance. And you know, to be
(07:01):
quite honest, I just saidfinancial planning sounds
soothing without really knowingwhat it was, and without knowing
that that's exactly what Iwanted to do, pursue finance.
Brian Hemsworth (07:11):
Interesting, yeah. So you really, in a lot of
ways, sought this out. You someof it by necessity, and also
some of it by you caught aninterest in it and then pursued
it. That's, I think that's avery cool way of doing it. I
think there's an awful lot ofpeople that don't have that
epiphany while in college. Theygo through college having no
(07:31):
idea what they're going to do,and then also spend a lot of
time trying to figure it outafterwards. I think you were
that was a stroke of goodfortune for you to sort of go
that way. So let's fast forward.
You've launched your own firm onthis. Tell me about what that
was like for you, and what thatjourney was like, and how you
(07:52):
sort of came about doing that.
Uziel Gomez (07:56):
Yeah.
Brian Hemsworth (07:56):
That's a big, bold step.
Uziel Gomez (07:57):
It's the scariest thing I've ever done, and I
don't question it whether it wasthe right decision now. Now I do
see, like it was the best thingI've ever done, but like, early
on you do, kind of question, didI do the right thing? Because,
you know, coming out of college,I'm the first one in my family
to earn the amount of money thatI earned, you know, starting out
(08:18):
in my career. So stepping awayfrom that and asking myself,
like, am I doing right by myfamily? Am I doing right for
myself? It was kind of scaryright, because I was earning a
reasonable amount, that is kindof hard to walk away from.
Brian Hemsworth (08:32):
Yeah.
Uziel Gomez (08:33):
But I knew eventually I wasn't really
passionate so much about what Iwas doing, and that eventually I
had to launch my own firm, andI'm my dad's retirement plan,
Brian. So my dad is 61 he has,at best, like maybe three or
four years left in him. He'sworked since the age of 12.
Right now, he's in construction.
Has worked hard labor jobs hisentire life. And I see his, you
(08:56):
know, his body, you know, takinga big toll on him. So I know
eventually, you know, he has tostop working so on my dad's
retirement plan. So for me, Ireally thought about like, if
it's five years from now, Iwon't be able to launch because
that's when I eventually willhave to help out my parents.
Brian Hemsworth (09:15):
Yeah.
Uziel Gomez (09:16):
Very much more than what I am doing now. So I
thought about like, okay, if Idon't do this now, I won't be
able to do it in 5 to 10 years.
And you know, it's gonna take memaybe 10 years or 15 years to be
able to do this later on. So ifI'm gonna fail, I'd rather fail
now than ask myself down theline, you know, what would have
(09:38):
what? What if?
Brian Hemsworth (09:40):
Yeah.
Uziel Gomez (09:41):
What if I would have done it? So honestly, I
left my job on a whim. I didn'treally know what I had lined up.
I didn't, I knew that I wasgoing to launch, I didn't know
how exactly, and I went to a toa conference that that same
weekend that I had, you know,left my previous job, and I
spoke to a good friend of mine,Katrina Soelter, who's also was
(10:05):
a member of Echelon as well, Ibelieve, andLeighann Miko, who
was also a member of Echelon.
And I told them, you know, mysituation. I told him that I
really wanted to launch my ownthing, but I couldn't, one, you
know, go without income, like,go years without income, and
then two make that initialinvestment up front. So the way
I'm building now Primeros isunderneath their practice
(10:26):
Equalis Financial so they'reproviding everything for me, and
you know, we're just doing likea revenue share. So I honestly,
even after that conversation, Istill didn't know if I was if
this was the right move for me,and I'm very high faith based.
So, you know, I prayed a lot. Iprayed a lot, and then within
like, two, three days of thatconference, I get an email from
(10:48):
the financial Financial AdvisorMagazine asking that the that
they wanted to interview me forfor an article of the 10 Young
Advisors to Watch. And I reallythought, like, wow, this is
God's, you know, way of showingme that.Like, this is how you're
going to make the announcement.
Like, this is, this is really,you know, you have to launch.
(11:10):
You have to do this. This isreally meant for you.
Brian Hemsworth (11:12):
So, so there was really a lot of alignment of
stars happening at that time,because I saw that on your
website, which is veryimpressive. But also, as a
former journalist, I think I sawit through their eyes, because
when I look at your website andthe area that you focus on, it
(11:33):
makes sense that you're somebodyto watch. Can you tell our
listeners a little bit aboutyour the focus of your practice,
because I find it to be veryunique and very admirable.
Uziel Gomez (11:44):
Yeah. Thank you.
Yeah, I focus on firstgeneration wealth builders. So
it's typically people that arefirst in your family to go to
college, like myself, first tobuild wealth, first, really, of
anything, right? Like, I say,like, first to travel the world,
first, you know, first to opendoors for their family. So
that's really where my focus ison. A lot of people think that I
(12:05):
only work with people of coloror minorities. I work with
everyone, as long as you know,like you're the first in your
family to build wealth, or evensecond generation as well. You
know, I'm happy to help out. Andthe reason why I did that is
because, you know, like Imentioned, I'm a first myself
too. So I really believe that,you know, you're meant to help
out the person that you oncewere, or the person that you
(12:28):
are.
Brian Hemsworth (12:29):
Man. That, to me, is so impressive. I think
finding clients like that andtruly being able to help them,
because, let's face it, somebodywalks in and they've got a
million dollars in the bank, wecan point them in a lot of
directions, and they're going todo just fine, right? But working
(12:50):
with people that it's the firsttime in their life where maybe
they have a little bit left overof the paycheck and they want to
do things, just like you, theywant to get that credit, get
that car, maybe they're gettingmarried and they they want to do
their best to save up for thatfirst house and and and then
start a family. There's an awfullot of things that go into that.
(13:11):
So I'm guessing that you have alot of counseling and a lot of
teaching that you're doing inthis process. Do I have that
right?
Uziel Gomez (13:20):
Yeah. I mean, a lot of the meetings that I, I mean,
I just had a meeting yesterdayabout investments, and like, 90%
of the meeting was just meeducating the client on like,
Hey, this is how investmentswork. This is exactly why we're
setting up your accounts the waywe are. Because I want my
clients to walk away knowingexactly why I'm recommending
(13:41):
something to them and knowexactly how it works. And of
course, some clients want moreinformation. Others want just a
high level overview. But, youknow, I set up my services and
my entire onboarding process tobe able to teach them, like,
exactly what we're doing, sothat they could bring it on into
(14:01):
their family, like,
Brian Hemsworth (14:02):
Yeah.
Uziel Gomez (14:02):
There's a generational wealth, but there's
also the generational knowledgethat also has to be passed down,
that I've learned, becausethere's no point in building
generational wealth if the nextgeneration is not going to know
or have the knowledge to be ableto continue building that wealth
for the future generations.
Brian Hemsworth (14:19):
Well, and it sounds to me, I'm going to be
corny here for a second, butyou're, you're helping share the
wealth, but the wealth ofknowledge.
Right, that'sreally an important thing. I
Uziel Gomez (14:26):
Yeah.
want to ask, and I don't wantto, you know, cross any levels
of fiduciality that you have foryour clients. But can you share
with us, maybe two or three ofthe the things that you find
you're speaking about to yourclientele most of the time is it
(14:48):
things like credit and firsthome ownership? Are those some
of the things that come uprepeatedly?
Yeah, a lot of myclients are, you know, coming
into the door without creditcards or any any form of credit.
Um, they are pursuing, like homeownership, and we do have like
that conversation. I implement alot of autonomy in as one of my
(15:09):
values in my practice, because Ilike to dig deep into a goal or
something that my client wantsto pursue, because a lot of
people want to pursue goals thathave been influenced by external
factors. So when a client comesto me and they say, like, hey, I
want to, you know, I want to buya home, and that's really big,
like, owning a tangible propertyis really big in minority in
(15:32):
minority communities. So Ialways ask and and dig deeper
into like, where did this goalcome from, and how does it align
with the lifestyle that you wantto pursue, really, and we know
was it really influenced bysomeone else? So I really dig
deeper into some of the goalsthat they want to pursue. But to
answer your question, Brian,like, there's so many different
(15:52):
topics, like, you know, take me,for instance, and I share this
with my clients, it took methree, two to three years to
start contributing to aretirement plan because I didn't
want to lock my money intosomething that I I felt like I
didn't have any access to incase of an emergency. So, you
know, one of the topics that wealso address is the scarcity
mentality, right? Like gettingout of that mentality of
(16:15):
thinking like, what if thishappens? What if that happens?
And hoarding money and cash thatyou may not need.
Brian Hemsworth (16:20):
Yeah, yeah. And I think that's, you know, that's
something that doesn't go awayfor a long time.
Uziel Gomez (16:25):
Yeah.
Brian Hemsworth (16:26):
You know, I went through that exact same
thing. I was like, I know, I gota plan for tomorrow, but I got a
plan for this afternoon, youknow, as well. And that can
sometimes be scary. So youmentioned talking and digging
deep with your clients aboutgoals. What about you? You've
got this business that you'vestarted. You're doing really
(16:46):
well with it. You've got peoplethat are liking you, referring
you, and I know you said youhave goals of being able to help
your family. What other goals doyou have? Have you set some for
yourself to say, like, in 10years, 20 years, this is where
I'd like to be?
Uziel Gomez (17:01):
Yeah, that's very interesting. I feel like I don't
really think about myself toomuch. It's usually like, how I'm
gonna impact my my community andhelp my family. But I think when
it's all said and done, I doreally love to travel. I love to
explore the world. You know, onething that I've also thought
about like, you know, once I getmy family in a place where,
(17:23):
like, they're comfortable, andI'm able to help my dad retire,
I do want to maybe, like, traveland live in a different state or
even a different country fromtime to time. I mean, I work
virtually, so I hope that's ableto happen. But you know, just
like living life besides, likegoals for my family is like
enjoying what, enjoying thejourney more than anything.
(17:46):
Because, you know, this pastyear, I just been working
extremely hard, and, you know, Iforget to take a step back and
enjoy the journey as well.
Brian Hemsworth (17:55):
So, so, so let's, let's take a little turn
on this, right? I think we'velearned a fair amount about your
business, and I really like theway that you're handling this. I
think you got a very level head.
Now, that's something that I'vealways looked for in, you know,
the very first financial plannerthat I spoke to and and
(18:16):
honestly, I didn't get that soto me, matching up with somebody
whose values are similar to minewas something that I found
important. I'm sure that's veryimportant in your community and
with your clients, but let's,let's venture a little bit away.
So I know you say you like totravel, and you had a couple
more interesting things on yourwebsite that I that I really
(18:37):
liked seeing. So you've done alittle bit of what I might call
adventure travel, right? And alittle bit of thrill seeking.
Uziel Gomez (18:47):
Oh, yeah.
Brian Hemsworth (18:48):
So, launching a business is thrill seeking. But
you also like that when youtravel, what are, what are maybe
some of the things either thatyou've done or that you want to
do in the travel with the thrillseeking?
Uziel Gomez (18:59):
Yeah, so I'm one of those kids adults. I guess I'm
an adult now, right? That Ihadn't, I didn't have a
passport, 'til like the age ofwhat was it, like two, three
years ago? So at the age of 24,25, so last year or two years
ago, I would say I went andvisited my parents' hometown for
(19:21):
the first time. So I had gone asa kid, but that doesn't really
count. So that was really thefirst time I went out of the
country as an adult, and it wasjust a phenomenal experience,
like I learned more about myparents' culture, learned more
about like, their upbringing,and just appreciated more of
like, the sacrifices thatthey've made for for me and my
(19:43):
siblings. But besides that,later that year, I also went to
Playa del Carmen, and I went toone of the Xcaret parks called
XPlor, where there's a lot ofzip lining going on ATVs. And
it's just like, so muchadrenaline going on. And
honestly, like, I really, reallylike that. I just really like to
(20:06):
feel the thrill of like, Hey,I'm going above my comfort
level, and let me see how thisturns out.
Brian Hemsworth (20:14):
Oh that's awesome.
Uziel Gomez (20:14):
Yeah.
Brian Hemsworth (20:15):
I love that.
Uziel Gomez (20:16):
Yeah. So we have another, another trip planned
for in May, going back to theXcaret parks, and we're staying
at one of the hotels. So throughthat, you get access to all of
the parks. Yeah, and, you know,they have a cenote, which, I
don't know how to explain it,but it's like a body of water
within, kind of like a cave.
Brian Hemsworth (20:36):
I've seen videos of that.
Well you know,I I'm born and raised in LA and
Uziel Gomez (20:38):
Yeah, it's amazing.
I jumped off of one, I think itwas, like, about 40 feet high. I
want to say more or less. Iand I will say that when I was a
kid, anything north of Santawould never do that again. I did
not land correctly. But it was,you know, it was, it was really
interesting. It's interesting todo. Aside from that, I think
right now I've just been toofocused on my business. So I am
exploring other ways to travel.
Barbara was like, Canada to me,anything east of Riverside was
(20:59):
But part of you know, the workthat I do, I am blessed to be
able to go to conferences thatexposed me to, like, different
back East. Like, I assume that'swhere my cousins lived who were
states. I was in Denver earlierthis year as well. And I think a
part of it, Brian is that, likegrowing up, I would never get
out of, like, the proximity of,like, Canoga Park, Reseda, I
remember, like going to Van Nuysfelt like, you know, three hour
(21:20):
drive going to, you know,Universal Studios for like, a
four or five hour drive as well.
So it's just going out andexploring the country,
especially exploring like LatinAmerica to, like, better
understand my roots and betterunderstand my culture.
(21:49):
in Connecticut. Like, isn't thatjust after Riverside? Because it
felt like, back then, we didn'teven have freeways some of the
time. We would take the 60Highway, it's now the 60
freeway, it would take us threehours to get to Riverside.
Wow.
Brian Hemsworth (22:01):
You know, my dad took my brother and I out to
the races one time out there,and it just felt like so far
away that I realized I reallydid sort of grow up in a cocoon
of LA. I want to, I want to giveyou one little one that I think
you might want to put on yourbucket list. So I had never done
a zip line, and I've only reallydone it once, but we had, we
(22:24):
have a thing in our family wherewe've with older parents, both
Uziel Gomez (22:28):
It's amazing.
my my wife and I, we were theyoungest in our families, and so
as our parents were aging andeventually passed on, we were
the one, even though we were theyoungest, we were the ones that
were doing most of thecaregiving in the family, and
then sort of dealing with thepassing and cleaning up the
estate. Fortunately, our both ofour parents had estate plans
Brian Hemsworth (22:48):
And if you ever want to go to go to Costa Rica,
that we were able to implementso that we didn't have to deal
with probate, but we sort of gotto the end of that, and then
would say, you know, we need alittle bit of chill time, so we
try to figure out what we wantedto do. And at the time, the
first time we did this, I'mgoing to say it was maybe 20,
(23:11):
2015 or so, and my daughter wasabout 15. That's how I remember
the age is, because it's closeto the year. And so we were
looking it was after my motherhad passed away, and I said to
my daughter, "you know, if we'retaking a vacation in a few
months when school's out, wherewhat would you like to do?" I
didn't say, where do you want togo, but "what would you like to
(23:35):
do?" And she said, I wantadventure, like I want to go do
crazy stuff. And then I said toJerri, you know, what would you
like to do? Just chill. I don'twant to do anything. And I was
like, Oh, great. I made themistake of asking instead of
just doing something. We went toCosta Rica, and I had a friend
tell me before, and I just kindof wanted to go there. I wasn't
(23:59):
even quite sure why. I justwanted to go, and I'm so glad I
did. I really loved it down. Ican see why a whole bunch of
American expats, you know, moveddown there now. But we went to
the area called Arenal, which isa volcano, and we went on about
a 24/25 line zip line, and youdrive very high up into the rain
(24:20):
forest. And the very first zipline is only about 50 feet, and
it's in the trees, so you don'tfeel like you're up really but
you're still really nervous. Andthen they start getting longer
and longer. And the very finalline is, I think, a mile. And
you go basically from the top ofthe mountain to the bottom on on
(24:40):
24 lines. And it's zip lines allthe way, and I would go back in
a heartbeat. That's how much Iliked it. I was so afraid, but
like you say, it was achallenge, right? And I stepped
out of the comfort zone, and Iwas actually really proud that
my wife and daughter stepped outof their comfort zones, and they
(25:00):
did it as well. So it wasreally, I have I had a little
cheap GoPro, and they had mountson the helmet, so I actually
mounted it on my helmet. And soI've got video of it and and I
would say that I actually wantto find out where you go,
because that sounds like a placeI might like to go.
(25:22):
let me know, because it reallywas, like it was a as thrill
seeking as it was, there was atremendous amount of relaxation
that came out of it, becauseafterwards, it lets you chill.
Uziel Gomez (25:36):
Yeah.
Brian Hemsworth (25:36):
You can't chill while you're driving up and
you're all harnessed in andeverything. And like, I was
scared to death, but afterwardsit was, you know, it was
fantastic. So I think when Ihear that in you it kind of
rekindles my interest in doingthat. I want to really just sort
of ask, you know, one or twomore things along the way, what
(25:58):
are, what are some of the thingsthat you do locally that aren't
work, that isn't travel andvacation. What are some of the
other things that you like doinghere? Born and raised here? So
you've got to know, like placesto go, things to do what, what
do you do when you've got alittle spare time?
Uziel Gomez (26:17):
That's been that's been little hard lately, but
lately, my girlfriend and I havetaken an interest in painting,
like, the sip and paint. Sothere's a place called Paint
Painting with a Twist inChatsworth. So we go there,
like, about once or twice amonth. That's really good, it's
a good way to, like, relax and,like, get your mind off of
(26:38):
things. I'm not as creative, sodon't, ask, don't ask me to show
you my paintings. But that'susually what we do the painting
classes. We love to go out toeat and try new restaurants and,
you know, growing up, one of thefew things that our parents were
able to like, you know, take usto is places like Universal
(27:00):
Studios. So we would get, like,the annual pass.
Brian Hemsworth (27:02):
Oh, nice.
Uziel Gomez (27:02):
Yeah, yeah. I remember when it was like $50 or
$60 back in the day for like thewhole year. So that's what we
usually do. Like we would get,like the the annual pass, like,
jump in the car, like on aFriday evening when they close,
like at 10, be there from likesix to close. So just going out
finding new things, like findingnew, new little hobbies. So
(27:25):
just, you know, I would say themajor, the biggest part is like
dining out, you know, going outwith family and friends.
Brian Hemsworth (27:32):
What's your favorite food?
Uziel Gomez (27:34):
Right now? We really like Thai food. But, I
mean, of course I can, I canoverlook the Mexican food. Like,
that's definitely what we love.
Brian Hemsworth (27:41):
Awesome. I'm gonna, I'm just gonna call you
out on one little thing, anddon't be afraid of this.
Uziel Gomez (27:45):
Yeah.
Brian Hemsworth (27:46):
It's the one thing I'm gonna disagree with
you on, and that is, you saidyou're not creative. I'm gonna
say that's BS, you're very, verycreative. And I teach creativity
in some of my classes, and Iteach creative thinking to a lot
of business people, and so I'llmeet up with accountants and
actuaries, and they'll say,we're not creative at all. And
I'll say, That's BS, you are.
But here's the way that I'll sayit, and this is where I think
(28:09):
it'll, you'll, you'll like itwhen I say this.There's really a
difference between, between ourartistic abilities and our
creative thinking. Anybody canbe creative, and I've learned
that I'm creative, but I'm notso artistic, right? I can't
write my name in a way thatpeople can read it. That's how
so I certainly can't paint, andI and I, I wish I could, and one
(28:32):
of the things that helps me withthat is creativity is something
that you that you have in yourmind, right, that you do
creative thinking, and you'vebeen very creative in the way
you even just led your life andstarting this business and
stepping out from things thatweren't really in your comfort
zone. And that's a very creativeway of doing it. But from
(28:54):
creativity can come artistry. Sowhen we hold ourselves up, and
especially in a place like LA,you know, and we think of art,
and we've got these places likeGetty Center, and we've got, you
know, classic works of art andmasterpieces there. And, you
know, the mountain is reallyhigh for that. And we think
about music, and, well, like,you know, there's Taylor Swift,
(29:14):
and there's these people thatare making billions of dollars,
and I, I can barely pluck aguitar, you know, so we have
this lofty level, but you don'thave to achieve that to feel
that creativity along the way.
And I think doing things, wesometimes even do it here at
Newman Grace, where we just doart. We haven't done it for a
(29:34):
little while, probably evensince COVID, because we haven't
had as many people around. Butwe used to do, and I we actually
have some of it in the halls.
And we would just, you know, goup to Michael's and buy some
blank paper, or sometimes evenjust canvas and some paints. And
then we do these funny gameswhere we would start painting,
and then 15 minutes later, youpass it on to somebody else, and
(29:54):
then you start painting theirs.
And then you have this sharedexperience. And it ends up being
really fun, I would say to you,do more of it.
Uziel Gomez (30:04):
Yeah.
Brian Hemsworth (30:04):
And don't even worry what it looks like. Throw
it out if you want to. The actof doing it is where the
creativity comes out. So it'sthe only thing that I'm
disagreeing with is I want youto think that you really are
creative, because I think youreally are.
Uziel Gomez (30:16):
I appreciate that.
And maybe I should rephrasethat. I'm not creative through
the art, but I feel like I amcreative through financial
planning, like putting thepieces together, and like,
Brian Hemsworth (30:24):
Absolutely.
Uziel Gomez (30:25):
I do see that as a form of creativity.
Brian Hemsworth (30:26):
Absolutely.
Uziel Gomez (30:27):
Yeah.
Brian Hemsworth (30:27):
Well, listen, this has been a great time. I
hope it hasn't been too painful.
I tell people,
Uziel Gomez (30:31):
This was amazing.
Brian Hemsworth (30:32):
It should be less painful than going to the
dentist. That's how I look atit. So I hope that's been good.
Thanks so much for coming in.
Really appreciate it.
Uziel Gomez (30:39):
Thanks for having me.
Announcer (30:52):
Presented by Echelon Business Development, more than
just networking, way more.
From Los Angeles.
This is the Echelon RadioNetwork.
Brian Hemsworth (00:12):
Hey and welcome everybody back to another
edition of the Echelon RadioPodcast. I'm Brian Hemsworth.
I've not been doing podcasts fora little bit. Jerri has been
filling in for me, but I'm back,and we have as our guest today,
Uziel Gomez, how'd I do on that?
Okay?
Uziel Gomez (00:31):
That was really good.
Brian Hemsworth (00:32):
Pretty close, pretty close? Thanks for coming
in, I appreciate you coming in.
And we want to talk a little bitabout what you're up to, what
you do, and we will talk alittle of business, but I want
to jump into some of the funstuff. So, we do a little bit of
stalking of our guests, websitesand background, and you've got
some pretty cool stuff, so Iwant to jump right in. Tell us
(00:54):
where you were born, where yougrew up, and where are you now?
Uziel Gomez (01:01):
So, I'm born and raised out of Canoga Park.
Brian Hemsworth (01:06):
Mmhm, close to us.
Uziel Gomez (01:07):
Yeah, yeah, not too far, it was a 10 minute drive,
born and raised in Canoga Park.
I've actually lived on the sameblock my entire life.
Brian Hemsworth (01:15):
Wow.
Uziel Gomez (01:15):
So, yeah, you know Valley kid to the to the heart
for sure.
Brian Hemsworth (01:18):
Wow. What high school?
Uziel Gomez (01:20):
Canoga Park.
Brian Hemsworth (01:21):
Okay, that doesn't get much more Valley
than that.
Uziel Gomez (01:23):
Exactly.
Brian Hemsworth (01:24):
I think Van Nuys might be a parallel to
that, but, and then so I alsosaw from your bio on your
website, CSUN.
Uziel Gomez (01:34):
Yeah.
Brian Hemsworth (01:34):
Right. So you're, you've stayed in the
valley even even through thattime. What was CSUN like for
you?
Uziel Gomez (01:39):
Oh, it was amazing.
I mean, it was definitelyentering a whole nother world,
just because, you know, I am thefirst in my family to attend
college. So navigating thatwhole world was, like, very
interesting. At first, I didfeel like an outcast, like I
feel like I didn't really,really belong. But then I found
my tribe. You know, there'sother people like me there too.
So it was phenomenal. Like theyhave a great business program
(02:01):
there. So my experience wasFinancial planning.
Brian Hemsworth (02:05):
So, and I want to let you know you have every
really good.
Ah, you did?
Uziel Gomez (02:07):
Yeah, yeah.
Brian Hemsworth (02:07):
So that was really, how'd you, know, like,
right to feel that way. I'm akid that came from a family
where my mother and father andat their age, not as many women
when, when you first went, didyou just, you, like, kind of
were going to college, but bothmy mother and father went to
college, and I still felt likethe outcast. So I totally do get
that, you know, we have thatfeeling. What'd you study there?
have a feel for what you wantedto do, or?
Uziel Gomez (02:34):
You know what, like, I've always known I wanted
to do something within business.
So I think I went in, like, as abusiness administration or
business marketing, I can'tremember exactly, but it was
within the business department.
And I've always had an interestfor finance, without really
knowing that I had thatinterest, just because my
parents have always shown me howto be frugal, they taught us
(02:58):
like, you know, because of ourupbringing and our circumstance,
we had to be very frugal. So Iwas always aware of our
circumstance and always aware oflike, the different strategies
that my mom used so that wecould stay afloat and survive
the difficult moments. So I, youknow, during during college, I
(03:18):
was an undergrad, within myfirst two years, I kind of felt
lost, like I didn't really,really know exactly what I
wanted to do. And at that time,I was working as a bank teller
in Van Nuys, and it was a veryunique location, because you
had, we were very close toSherman Oaks, and we were in Van
Nuys, so we had a lot of like,upper middle class folks coming
(03:40):
in, and a lot of, like, lowerincome folks as well. And there
was a really gap betweenfinancial literacy and within
you.
Brian Hemsworth (03:47):
Oh yeah , I bet.
Yeah.
Uziel Gomez (03:48):
Yeah, yeah, but at least the people that were
middle class had, like, moreresources. And, you know, you
could, you could tell they had,like, a savings amount for
So then I cameacross this article that said
(04:10):
emergencies. And the lowerincome folks, like, they were
just, you know, living paycheckto paycheck. So I thought, like,
Okay, how could I bring thisback into my community? Like,
(04:35):
learn the ropes, learn whatfinance is really about, and,
that there was an 18 year oldkid that had a perfect 800 score
you know, bring it back to mycommunity. So at that time, I
at the age of 18, and yeah, thereason why was because the
parents added him as anauthorized user to one of their
had just turned 18, 19, Ibelieve, and my friend had
credit cards. So you know thathistory went on to that, to the
(04:57):
to the son's, credit history aswell. And, you know, I asked
taught me about like credit, theimportance of credit, but like
myself, how can, who can do thisfor me? Who can do this for me
in my immediate circle? Andthere was like, really, no one
his information was verylimited. So I researched how to
that was able to do that for me,because no one really, was, had
a good credit score. No one wasreally, they were afraid to get
improve my credit score becauseI wanted to buy a car, and I
credit cards or any form ofcredit as well. And the very few
(05:20):
that like,
Brian Hemsworth (05:20):
Yeah.
Uziel Gomez (05:21):
Had good credit scores they kind of looked at me
like, what are you talkingabout? I'm not gonna add to you
knew essentially like that waslike, one of the foundational
as an authorized user. Which wasokay, but that really, that
really started my journey and mypassion for it, like, I just got
pillars to start, like, yourfinancial journey, if you will.
obsessed with the credit system,and, you know, learned how to
get a good score to eventuallyget my car.
Brian Hemsworth (05:40):
Awesome. So, so tell me when. So you spent some
time working at the bank, and Isaw that you had worked in a
couple different areas thatlooked like maybe during school
and right out of school. Whatwas the time where you where the
light bulb went on that saidfinancial planning?
Uziel Gomez (05:57):
Well, it's, it's very funny, because the light
bulb went on during my timethere at the bank, and I really
re-evaluated things, because Iduring that year, I felt very
lost, like I just kind of wantedto give up in school. Because,
you know, you get the sense ofdirection from your family, like
they kept telling me, you needto go to school, you need to
(06:17):
pursue higher education so youcould be successful. But once
you get to school, they don'ttell you like you're just lost
like. They don't tell you like,these are the different careers.
This is what you should bedoing. You should be getting an
internship at this point in yourlife. You should be
participating in clubs or extracurricular events in school. So
I felt very lost, and I justre-evaluated what I wanted to
(06:41):
do, and at that time was whenthat passion for finance really
grew with the whole credit scorething. And what I ended up
doing, I went to go and Iresearched more about finance,
and there were three options inCSUN, financial analysis,
financial planning andinsurance. And you know, to be
(07:01):
quite honest, I just saidfinancial planning sounds
soothing without really knowingwhat it was, and without knowing
that that's exactly what Iwanted to do, pursue finance.
Brian Hemsworth (07:11):
Interesting, yeah. So you really, in a lot of
ways, sought this out. You someof it by necessity, and also
some of it by you caught aninterest in it and then pursued
it. That's, I think that's avery cool way of doing it. I
think there's an awful lot ofpeople that don't have that
epiphany while in college. Theygo through college having no
(07:31):
idea what they're going to do,and then also spend a lot of
time trying to figure it outafterwards. I think you were
that was a stroke of goodfortune for you to sort of go
that way. So let's fast forward.
You've launched your own firm onthis. Tell me about what that
was like for you, and what thatjourney was like, and how you
(07:52):
sort of came about doing that.
Uziel Gomez (07:56):
Yeah.
Brian Hemsworth (07:56):
That's a big, bold step.
Uziel Gomez (07:57):
It's the scariest thing I've ever done, and I
don't question it whether it wasthe right decision now. Now I do
see, like it was the best thingI've ever done, but like, early
on you do, kind of question, didI do the right thing? Because,
you know, coming out of college,I'm the first one in my family
to earn the amount of money thatI earned, you know, starting out
(08:18):
in my career. So stepping awayfrom that and asking myself,
like, am I doing right by myfamily? Am I doing right for
myself? It was kind of scaryright, because I was earning a
reasonable amount, that is kindof hard to walk away from.
Brian Hemsworth (08:32):
Yeah.
Uziel Gomez (08:33):
But I knew eventually I wasn't really
passionate so much about what Iwas doing, and that eventually I
had to launch my own firm, andI'm my dad's retirement plan,
Brian. So my dad is 61 he has,at best, like maybe three or
four years left in him. He'sworked since the age of 12.
Right now, he's in construction.
Has worked hard labor jobs hisentire life. And I see his, you
(08:56):
know, his body, you know, takinga big toll on him. So I know
eventually, you know, he has tostop working so on my dad's
retirement plan. So for me, Ireally thought about like, if
it's five years from now, Iwon't be able to launch because
that's when I eventually willhave to help out my parents.
Brian Hemsworth (09:15):
Yeah.
Uziel Gomez (09:16):
Very much more than what I am doing now. So I
thought about like, okay, if Idon't do this now, I won't be
able to do it in 5 to 10 years.
And you know, it's gonna take memaybe 10 years or 15 years to be
able to do this later on. So ifI'm gonna fail, I'd rather fail
now than ask myself down theline, you know, what would have
(09:38):
what? What if?
Brian Hemsworth (09:40):
Yeah.
Uziel Gomez (09:41):
What if I would have done it? So honestly, I
left my job on a whim. I didn'treally know what I had lined up.
I didn't, I knew that I wasgoing to launch, I didn't know
how exactly, and I went to a toa conference that that same
weekend that I had, you know,left my previous job, and I
spoke to a good friend of mine,Katrina Soelter, who's also was
(10:05):
a member of Echelon as well, Ibelieve, andLeighann Miko, who
was also a member of Echelon.
And I told them, you know, mysituation. I told him that I
really wanted to launch my ownthing, but I couldn't, one, you
know, go without income, like,go years without income, and
then two make that initialinvestment up front. So the way
I'm building now Primeros isunderneath their practice
(10:26):
Equalis Financial so they'reproviding everything for me, and
you know, we're just doing likea revenue share. So I honestly,
even after that conversation, Istill didn't know if I was if
this was the right move for me,and I'm very high faith based.
So, you know, I prayed a lot. Iprayed a lot, and then within
like, two, three days of thatconference, I get an email from
(10:48):
the financial Financial AdvisorMagazine asking that the that
they wanted to interview me forfor an article of the 10 Young
Advisors to Watch. And I reallythought, like, wow, this is
God's, you know, way of showingme that.Like, this is how you're
going to make the announcement.
Like, this is, this is really,you know, you have to launch.
(11:10):
You have to do this. This isreally meant for you.
Brian Hemsworth (11:12):
So, so there was really a lot of alignment of
stars happening at that time,because I saw that on your
website, which is veryimpressive. But also, as a
former journalist, I think I sawit through their eyes, because
when I look at your website andthe area that you focus on, it
(11:33):
makes sense that you're somebodyto watch. Can you tell our
listeners a little bit aboutyour the focus of your practice,
because I find it to be veryunique and very admirable.
Uziel Gomez (11:44):
Yeah. Thank you.
Yeah, I focus on firstgeneration wealth builders. So
it's typically people that arefirst in your family to go to
college, like myself, first tobuild wealth, first, really, of
anything, right? Like, I say,like, first to travel the world,
first, you know, first to opendoors for their family. So
that's really where my focus ison. A lot of people think that I
(12:05):
only work with people of coloror minorities. I work with
everyone, as long as you know,like you're the first in your
family to build wealth, or evensecond generation as well. You
know, I'm happy to help out. Andthe reason why I did that is
because, you know, like Imentioned, I'm a first myself
too. So I really believe that,you know, you're meant to help
out the person that you oncewere, or the person that you
(12:28):
are.
Brian Hemsworth (12:29):
Man. That, to me, is so impressive. I think
finding clients like that andtruly being able to help them,
because, let's face it, somebodywalks in and they've got a
million dollars in the bank, wecan point them in a lot of
directions, and they're going todo just fine, right? But working
(12:50):
with people that it's the firsttime in their life where maybe
they have a little bit left overof the paycheck and they want to
do things, just like you, theywant to get that credit, get
that car, maybe they're gettingmarried and they they want to do
their best to save up for thatfirst house and and and then
start a family. There's an awfullot of things that go into that.
(13:11):
So I'm guessing that you have alot of counseling and a lot of
teaching that you're doing inthis process. Do I have that
right?
Uziel Gomez (13:20):
Yeah. I mean, a lot of the meetings that I, I mean,
I just had a meeting yesterdayabout investments, and like, 90%
of the meeting was just meeducating the client on like,
Hey, this is how investmentswork. This is exactly why we're
setting up your accounts the waywe are. Because I want my
clients to walk away knowingexactly why I'm recommending
(13:41):
something to them and knowexactly how it works. And of
course, some clients want moreinformation. Others want just a
high level overview. But, youknow, I set up my services and
my entire onboarding process tobe able to teach them, like,
exactly what we're doing, sothat they could bring it on into
(14:01):
their family, like,
Brian Hemsworth (14:02):
Yeah.
Uziel Gomez (14:02):
There's a generational wealth, but there's
also the generational knowledgethat also has to be passed down,
that I've learned, becausethere's no point in building
generational wealth if the nextgeneration is not going to know
or have the knowledge to be ableto continue building that wealth
for the future generations.
Brian Hemsworth (14:19):
Well, and it sounds to me, I'm going to be
corny here for a second, butyou're, you're helping share the
wealth, but the wealth ofknowledge.
Right, that'sreally an important thing. I
Uziel Gomez (14:26):
Yeah.
want to ask, and I don't wantto, you know, cross any levels
of fiduciality that you have foryour clients. But can you share
with us, maybe two or three ofthe the things that you find
you're speaking about to yourclientele most of the time is it
(14:48):
things like credit and firsthome ownership? Are those some
of the things that come uprepeatedly?
Yeah, a lot of myclients are, you know, coming
into the door without creditcards or any any form of credit.
Um, they are pursuing, like homeownership, and we do have like
that conversation. I implement alot of autonomy in as one of my
(15:09):
values in my practice, because Ilike to dig deep into a goal or
something that my client wantsto pursue, because a lot of
people want to pursue goals thathave been influenced by external
factors. So when a client comesto me and they say, like, hey, I
want to, you know, I want to buya home, and that's really big,
like, owning a tangible propertyis really big in minority in
(15:32):
minority communities. So Ialways ask and and dig deeper
into like, where did this goalcome from, and how does it align
with the lifestyle that you wantto pursue, really, and we know
was it really influenced bysomeone else? So I really dig
deeper into some of the goalsthat they want to pursue. But to
answer your question, Brian,like, there's so many different
(15:52):
topics, like, you know, take me,for instance, and I share this
with my clients, it took methree, two to three years to
start contributing to aretirement plan because I didn't
want to lock my money intosomething that I I felt like I
didn't have any access to incase of an emergency. So, you
know, one of the topics that wealso address is the scarcity
mentality, right? Like gettingout of that mentality of
(16:15):
thinking like, what if thishappens? What if that happens?
And hoarding money and cash thatyou may not need.
Brian Hemsworth (16:20):
Yeah, yeah. And I think that's, you know, that's
something that doesn't go awayfor a long time.
Uziel Gomez (16:25):
Yeah.
Brian Hemsworth (16:26):
You know, I went through that exact same
thing. I was like, I know, I gota plan for tomorrow, but I got a
plan for this afternoon, youknow, as well. And that can
sometimes be scary. So youmentioned talking and digging
deep with your clients aboutgoals. What about you? You've
got this business that you'vestarted. You're doing really
(16:46):
well with it. You've got peoplethat are liking you, referring
you, and I know you said youhave goals of being able to help
your family. What other goals doyou have? Have you set some for
yourself to say, like, in 10years, 20 years, this is where
I'd like to be?
Uziel Gomez (17:01):
Yeah, that's very interesting. I feel like I don't
really think about myself toomuch. It's usually like, how I'm
gonna impact my my community andhelp my family. But I think when
it's all said and done, I doreally love to travel. I love to
explore the world. You know, onething that I've also thought
about like, you know, once I getmy family in a place where,
(17:23):
like, they're comfortable, andI'm able to help my dad retire,
I do want to maybe, like, traveland live in a different state or
even a different country fromtime to time. I mean, I work
virtually, so I hope that's ableto happen. But you know, just
like living life besides, likegoals for my family is like
enjoying what, enjoying thejourney more than anything.
(17:46):
Because, you know, this pastyear, I just been working
extremely hard, and, you know, Iforget to take a step back and
enjoy the journey as well.
Brian Hemsworth (17:55):
So, so, so let's, let's take a little turn
on this, right? I think we'velearned a fair amount about your
business, and I really like theway that you're handling this. I
think you got a very level head.
Now, that's something that I'vealways looked for in, you know,
the very first financial plannerthat I spoke to and and
(18:16):
honestly, I didn't get that soto me, matching up with somebody
whose values are similar to minewas something that I found
important. I'm sure that's veryimportant in your community and
with your clients, but let's,let's venture a little bit away.
So I know you say you like totravel, and you had a couple
more interesting things on yourwebsite that I that I really
(18:37):
liked seeing. So you've done alittle bit of what I might call
adventure travel, right? And alittle bit of thrill seeking.
Uziel Gomez (18:47):
Oh, yeah.
Brian Hemsworth (18:48):
So, launching a business is thrill seeking. But
you also like that when youtravel, what are, what are maybe
some of the things either thatyou've done or that you want to
do in the travel with the thrillseeking?
Uziel Gomez (18:59):
Yeah, so I'm one of those kids adults. I guess I'm
an adult now, right? That Ihadn't, I didn't have a
passport, 'til like the age ofwhat was it, like two, three
years ago? So at the age of 24,25, so last year or two years
ago, I would say I went andvisited my parents' hometown for
(19:21):
the first time. So I had gone asa kid, but that doesn't really
count. So that was really thefirst time I went out of the
country as an adult, and it wasjust a phenomenal experience,
like I learned more about myparents' culture, learned more
about like, their upbringing,and just appreciated more of
like, the sacrifices thatthey've made for for me and my
(19:43):
siblings. But besides that,later that year, I also went to
Playa del Carmen, and I went toone of the Xcaret parks called
XPlor, where there's a lot ofzip lining going on ATVs. And
it's just like, so muchadrenaline going on. And
honestly, like, I really, reallylike that. I just really like to
(20:06):
feel the thrill of like, Hey,I'm going above my comfort
level, and let me see how thisturns out.
Brian Hemsworth (20:14):
Oh that's awesome.
Uziel Gomez (20:14):
Yeah.
Brian Hemsworth (20:15):
I love that.
Uziel Gomez (20:16):
Yeah. So we have another, another trip planned
for in May, going back to theXcaret parks, and we're staying
at one of the hotels. So throughthat, you get access to all of
the parks. Yeah, and, you know,they have a cenote, which, I
don't know how to explain it,but it's like a body of water
within, kind of like a cave.
Brian Hemsworth (20:36):
I've seen videos of that.
Well you know,I I'm born and raised in LA and
Uziel Gomez (20:38):
Yeah, it's amazing.
I jumped off of one, I think itwas, like, about 40 feet high. I
want to say more or less. Iand I will say that when I was a
kid, anything north of Santawould never do that again. I did
not land correctly. But it was,you know, it was, it was really
interesting. It's interesting todo. Aside from that, I think
right now I've just been toofocused on my business. So I am
exploring other ways to travel.
Barbara was like, Canada to me,anything east of Riverside was
(20:59):
But part of you know, the workthat I do, I am blessed to be
able to go to conferences thatexposed me to, like, different
back East. Like, I assume that'swhere my cousins lived who were
states. I was in Denver earlierthis year as well. And I think a
part of it, Brian is that, likegrowing up, I would never get
out of, like, the proximity of,like, Canoga Park, Reseda, I
remember, like going to Van Nuysfelt like, you know, three hour
(21:20):
drive going to, you know,Universal Studios for like, a
four or five hour drive as well.
So it's just going out andexploring the country,
especially exploring like LatinAmerica to, like, better
understand my roots and betterunderstand my culture.
(21:49):
in Connecticut. Like, isn't thatjust after Riverside? Because it
felt like, back then, we didn'teven have freeways some of the
time. We would take the 60Highway, it's now the 60
freeway, it would take us threehours to get to Riverside.
Wow.
Brian Hemsworth (22:01):
You know, my dad took my brother and I out to
the races one time out there,and it just felt like so far
away that I realized I reallydid sort of grow up in a cocoon
of LA. I want to, I want to giveyou one little one that I think
you might want to put on yourbucket list. So I had never done
a zip line, and I've only reallydone it once, but we had, we
(22:24):
have a thing in our family wherewe've with older parents, both
Uziel Gomez (22:28):
It's amazing.
my my wife and I, we were theyoungest in our families, and so
as our parents were aging andeventually passed on, we were
the one, even though we were theyoungest, we were the ones that
were doing most of thecaregiving in the family, and
then sort of dealing with thepassing and cleaning up the
estate. Fortunately, our both ofour parents had estate plans
Brian Hemsworth (22:48):
And if you ever want to go to go to Costa Rica,
that we were able to implementso that we didn't have to deal
with probate, but we sort of gotto the end of that, and then
would say, you know, we need alittle bit of chill time, so we
try to figure out what we wantedto do. And at the time, the
first time we did this, I'mgoing to say it was maybe 20,
(23:11):
2015 or so, and my daughter wasabout 15. That's how I remember
the age is, because it's closeto the year. And so we were
looking it was after my motherhad passed away, and I said to
my daughter, "you know, if we'retaking a vacation in a few
months when school's out, wherewhat would you like to do?" I
didn't say, where do you want togo, but "what would you like to
(23:35):
do?" And she said, I wantadventure, like I want to go do
crazy stuff. And then I said toJerri, you know, what would you
like to do? Just chill. I don'twant to do anything. And I was
like, Oh, great. I made themistake of asking instead of
just doing something. We went toCosta Rica, and I had a friend
tell me before, and I just kindof wanted to go there. I wasn't
(23:59):
even quite sure why. I justwanted to go, and I'm so glad I
did. I really loved it down. Ican see why a whole bunch of
American expats, you know, moveddown there now. But we went to
the area called Arenal, which isa volcano, and we went on about
a 24/25 line zip line, and youdrive very high up into the rain
(24:20):
forest. And the very first zipline is only about 50 feet, and
it's in the trees, so you don'tfeel like you're up really but
you're still really nervous. Andthen they start getting longer
and longer. And the very finalline is, I think, a mile. And
you go basically from the top ofthe mountain to the bottom on on
(24:40):
24 lines. And it's zip lines allthe way, and I would go back in
a heartbeat. That's how much Iliked it. I was so afraid, but
like you say, it was achallenge, right? And I stepped
out of the comfort zone, and Iwas actually really proud that
my wife and daughter stepped outof their comfort zones, and they
(25:00):
did it as well. So it wasreally, I have I had a little
cheap GoPro, and they had mountson the helmet, so I actually
mounted it on my helmet. And soI've got video of it and and I
would say that I actually wantto find out where you go,
because that sounds like a placeI might like to go.
(25:22):
let me know, because it reallywas, like it was a as thrill
seeking as it was, there was atremendous amount of relaxation
that came out of it, becauseafterwards, it lets you chill.
Uziel Gomez (25:36):
Yeah.
Brian Hemsworth (25:36):
You can't chill while you're driving up and
you're all harnessed in andeverything. And like, I was
scared to death, but afterwardsit was, you know, it was
fantastic. So I think when Ihear that in you it kind of
rekindles my interest in doingthat. I want to really just sort
of ask, you know, one or twomore things along the way, what
(25:58):
are, what are some of the thingsthat you do locally that aren't
work, that isn't travel andvacation. What are some of the
other things that you like doinghere? Born and raised here? So
you've got to know, like placesto go, things to do what, what
do you do when you've got alittle spare time?
Uziel Gomez (26:17):
That's been that's been little hard lately, but
lately, my girlfriend and I havetaken an interest in painting,
like, the sip and paint. Sothere's a place called Paint
Painting with a Twist inChatsworth. So we go there,
like, about once or twice amonth. That's really good, it's
a good way to, like, relax and,like, get your mind off of
(26:38):
things. I'm not as creative, sodon't, ask, don't ask me to show
you my paintings. But that'susually what we do the painting
classes. We love to go out toeat and try new restaurants and,
you know, growing up, one of thefew things that our parents were
able to like, you know, take usto is places like Universal
(27:00):
Studios. So we would get, like,the annual pass.
Brian Hemsworth (27:02):
Oh, nice.
Uziel Gomez (27:02):
Yeah, yeah. I remember when it was like $50 or
$60 back in the day for like thewhole year. So that's what we
usually do. Like we would get,like the the annual pass, like,
jump in the car, like on aFriday evening when they close,
like at 10, be there from likesix to close. So just going out
finding new things, like findingnew, new little hobbies. So
(27:25):
just, you know, I would say themajor, the biggest part is like
dining out, you know, going outwith family and friends.
Brian Hemsworth (27:32):
What's your favorite food?
Uziel Gomez (27:34):
Right now? We really like Thai food. But, I
mean, of course I can, I canoverlook the Mexican food. Like,
that's definitely what we love.
Brian Hemsworth (27:41):
Awesome. I'm gonna, I'm just gonna call you
out on one little thing, anddon't be afraid of this.
Uziel Gomez (27:45):
Yeah.
Brian Hemsworth (27:46):
It's the one thing I'm gonna disagree with
you on, and that is, you saidyou're not creative. I'm gonna
say that's BS, you're very, verycreative. And I teach creativity
in some of my classes, and Iteach creative thinking to a lot
of business people, and so I'llmeet up with accountants and
actuaries, and they'll say,we're not creative at all. And
I'll say, That's BS, you are.
But here's the way that I'll sayit, and this is where I think
(28:09):
it'll, you'll, you'll like itwhen I say this.There's really a
difference between, between ourartistic abilities and our
creative thinking. Anybody canbe creative, and I've learned
that I'm creative, but I'm notso artistic, right? I can't
write my name in a way thatpeople can read it. That's how
so I certainly can't paint, andI and I, I wish I could, and one
(28:32):
of the things that helps me withthat is creativity is something
that you that you have in yourmind, right, that you do
creative thinking, and you'vebeen very creative in the way
you even just led your life andstarting this business and
stepping out from things thatweren't really in your comfort
zone. And that's a very creativeway of doing it. But from
(28:54):
creativity can come artistry. Sowhen we hold ourselves up, and
especially in a place like LA,you know, and we think of art,
and we've got these places likeGetty Center, and we've got, you
know, classic works of art andmasterpieces there. And, you
know, the mountain is reallyhigh for that. And we think
about music, and, well, like,you know, there's Taylor Swift,
(29:14):
and there's these people thatare making billions of dollars,
and I, I can barely pluck aguitar, you know, so we have
this lofty level, but you don'thave to achieve that to feel
that creativity along the way.
And I think doing things, wesometimes even do it here at
Newman Grace, where we just doart. We haven't done it for a
(29:34):
little while, probably evensince COVID, because we haven't
had as many people around. Butwe used to do, and I we actually
have some of it in the halls.
And we would just, you know, goup to Michael's and buy some
blank paper, or sometimes evenjust canvas and some paints. And
then we do these funny gameswhere we would start painting,
and then 15 minutes later, youpass it on to somebody else, and
(29:54):
then you start painting theirs.
And then you have this sharedexperience. And it ends up being
really fun, I would say to you,do more of it.
Uziel Gomez (30:04):
Yeah.
Brian Hemsworth (30:04):
And don't even worry what it looks like. Throw
it out if you want to. The actof doing it is where the
creativity comes out. So it'sthe only thing that I'm
disagreeing with is I want youto think that you really are
creative, because I think youreally are.
Uziel Gomez (30:16):
I appreciate that.
And maybe I should rephrasethat. I'm not creative through
the art, but I feel like I amcreative through financial
planning, like putting thepieces together, and like,
Brian Hemsworth (30:24):
Absolutely.
Uziel Gomez (30:25):
I do see that as a form of creativity.
Brian Hemsworth (30:26):
Absolutely.
Uziel Gomez (30:27):
Yeah.
Brian Hemsworth (30:27):
Well, listen, this has been a great time. I
hope it hasn't been too painful.
I tell people,
Uziel Gomez (30:31):
This was amazing.
Brian Hemsworth (30:32):
It should be less painful than going to the
dentist. That's how I look atit. So I hope that's been good.
Thanks so much for coming in.
Really appreciate it.
Uziel Gomez (30:39):
Thanks for having me.
Announcer (30:52):
Presented by Echelon Business Development, more than
just networking, way more.
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