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August 25, 2025 64 mins

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What if everything you thought you knew about financial planning was based on an outdated model? Mike Clark, a financial professional who cringes at being called a "financial planner," is revolutionizing how we think about building wealth through collaboration, technology, and education.

The traditional approach to finance has been siloed and often mysterious to clients. Financial advisors, CPAs, and attorneys rarely coordinate effectively, leaving clients confused and frustrated. Mike's revolutionary approach builds "digital family offices" where professionals work together seamlessly, creating clarity and optimizing outcomes. This coordinated team approach eliminates the all-too-common scenario where clients are bounced between professionals who each claim "that's not my department."

Mike's journey is fascinating – from a kinesiology undergrad to raising millions for ventures involving China, he's accumulated diverse experiences that shape his holistic approach. When his first grandchild was born, something "snapped" in his brain, driving him to create generational wealth that goes beyond mere dollars. He redefines wealth to include the education and skill sets that enable better financial decision-making, illustrated beautifully through teaching his seven-year-old granddaughter to use AI tools like MidJourney.

For listeners feeling uncertain about their financial future, Mike offers reassurance: "Most individuals are in a far better position than they think they are." His approach starts with comprehensive cashflow analysis before any product recommendations – the opposite of typical advisors who lead with products. He also shares insights on democratized investment opportunities through crowdfunding real estate platforms, self-directed IRAs, and using debt strategically.

Ready to transform your financial mindset? Connect with Mike on LinkedIn, where he's built a substantial educational library through 119 podcast interviews with various financial experts. His commitment to making financial knowledge accessible and actionable might just change how you think about money forever.

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tonya J. Long (00:00):
Hello everyone and welcome to RESET with Tonya
here on a beautiful day, butfrom San Jose today instead of
Los Gatos.
I am so excited to be here withyou as we welcome my good
friend, Mike Clark.
Mike lives out of state and Ifinally got Mike to be on the
show, so we're doing this remoteedition today to pull Mike into

(00:23):
our conversation here at RESETwith Tonya.
Mike is not your typical techguy.
I have a lot of tech people onthis show.
Mike's a finance guy.
So Mike is the people that Ineed and if you're on that
journey, you need becausesomebody's got to know how to
work the numbers.
And Mike doesn't just worknumbers, Mike works people and
groups.
I think the reason Mike and Iconnect so closely is because

(00:46):
we're connectors and the wayMike runs his finance business
is that he doesn't knoweverything.
He doesn't want to, but hewants to have all the people at
his fingertips who he can bringto bear when he's helping his
clients.
So I think that makes Mikereally special because he's not
just a spreadsheet jockey.
He's actually a massivecollaborator and coordinator of

(01:08):
assets, resources and people.
So, Mike, you are my people andI'm so happy that you're here
joining us today, welcome.
Welcome to RESET.

Mike Clark (01:17):
I love it.
Thank you so much.
We talked about this.

Tonya J. Long (01:20):
I was like, yes you did, you were immediate, it
was great, yes.

Mike Clark (01:24):
Yes, what do you want to talk about?
I don't care.
Yes, let's do it, so we'll seewhere this goes.

Tonya J. Long (01:28):
And I've got so many stories I want to talk
about that have nothing to dowith your profession.
The show right Like the owlstory.

Mike Clark (01:34):
Let's do it.

Tonya J. Long (01:45):
You remember that owl story, a financial planner
I saw you cringe, with nodisrespect to anyone in that
industry.
You are so much more, and sodive into that.
What's bringing you joy thesedays?
What are you working on that'sbringing you joy?

Mike Clark (01:53):
So this is the tech side of things.
One of the things that I'mreally excited about is a lot of
the education that we'recreating.
We've been creating, but we'reexpanding that because of
technologies.
So we've done a lot of theeducation that we're creating.
We've been creating, but we'reexpanding that because of
technologies.
So we've done a lot ofinterviews with professionals
Excellent.
Now we're using AI to takethose transcripts and actually

(02:14):
write eBooks.
We're putting together actualcourses that are really designed
for the business owner and highnet worth individuals to get
clarity versus just hearing thenoise on social media.
So really excited about some ofthe technologies that are
coming out that I can utilize tohelp deliver higher value
faster.

Tonya J. Long (02:35):
Okay, I love it.

Mike Clark (02:36):
It's fun to think about.

Tonya J. Long (02:37):
Our connection, the reason all of our calls go
double the amount of time weallocate is because we always
wind up talking about what'shappening, and that's usually
with some kind of technology,some kind of gadget, some new
application we found.
I work a lot in the funding andinvestment management side
these days and I'm looking outat the future with AI and I'm

(03:00):
like how are VCs going todifferentiate themselves as
companies get smaller?
And, frankly, there's just alot less need for people's
capital in the way we're goingto structure and I hear you
already forecasting that.
Right, why would people pay youwhen they can more easily and
readily find things online?
But you're building that valueset of tools in for your clients

(03:24):
by giving them content, dataand information to help them
manage their trajectory, and youget to have fun projects.

Mike Clark (03:33):
They're extremely fun, but this is well to your
point, tanya.
This is why we go sideways onconversations.
On every conversation and I loveit On every side Because the
technologies now right.
If you look at the traditionalway coming from that world in my
past life Series 7,broker-dealer, all that stuff

(03:54):
Coming from that world and theold school way of shaking hands
and going to networking eventsand traveling all over the world
to raise money Now businessowners with Reg CF and Reg A and
I know this isn't that kind ofcall and I can't talk about it
because my licenses-.

Tonya J. Long (04:10):
People need to be exposed to these opportunities.

Mike Clark (04:12):
Right, but with Reg CF and Reg A, business owners
don't necessarily need to go tothose angel investors or VCs or
private equity, depending onwhere they are.
If they know the tools thatthey can use on the marketing
side and they have a database offollowers and buyers already,

(04:36):
they can just go.
Everybody has their tribe nowand they can literally go to
their tribe and ask them takethis journey with me, yep, and
let's see what we can do withthis.
You already know, like andtrust me.
You buy my products, you engagewith my social content, invest
in me, and now you alignsomebody's values with the

(04:58):
opportunity, and this issomething that not a lot of
people are doing.
I love it.
And this is something that nota lot of people are doing.
I love it.
Guys at the top, the VCs, thebroker-dealers, are all
kiboshing it because it's reallymessing up their game.

Tonya J. Long (05:12):
Their algorithm of the last 20 years.
Their algorithm Right.

Mike Clark (05:15):
Right, like they're the big gorilla in the room and
all of a sudden, like thislittle baby, monkey is coming up
and it's coming up fast.

Tonya J. Long (05:22):
I've got that visual.
You're the baby monkey.
I love it.

Mike Clark (05:24):
I'm the baby monkey.
I'm going to come at you like aspider monkey.
I love it.

Tonya J. Long (05:30):
Because the thing is the millennial generation
younger, they are very focusedon mission and values I think
more so than our generation andto be able to make that seamless
, to look out across how theyinteract in the digital
environments that they're in andbe able to return to them

(05:50):
seamlessly, a profile of theseare things that, by how you
engage in the world, these arethings that are for you, these
are things that you know you'reinterested in and that you want
to make a difference in withyour investment.

Mike Clark (06:04):
These are things that you're interested in and
that you want to make adifference in with your
investment, and I think that isremarkable that you can now
receive process and have thecapacity to do something with,
and you choose that journeyversus having and I don't mean
to pick on financial planners,but I will.
There's this very, very old wayof doing business and they

(06:26):
haven't adapted either.
And a lot of professionals inthe financial industries haven't
adapted.
And it's right here Like it'shappening and they're not paying
attention to it or they're justreluctant to engage in the
process.
But the younger generation, toyour point, tanya, like we know
the data, I mean, what is it?

(06:46):
80% of them engage in theirmobile versus a computer.
They do everything on theirmobile, which means they can
invest heavily right.
And they are.
And the big banks are seeingthat that money shift from the
traditional stock markets tothese individual platforms.
Some bad, some good, but theopportunity is there that a lot

(07:07):
of people still haven't pluggedinto.

Tonya J. Long (07:10):
And this would be a deep rat hole we will not go
into.
But I think that thepersonalization of what you can
do with them the millennialsaren't buying homes is a very
simple thing to say.
They're not investing inproperty and they're not getting
married and having kids as ageneral rule, and that frees up
capital for them to invest.

(07:32):
I think, maybe stronger, moreearly than my generation, my
generation you got married at22,.
You had a kid at 25, 26, andthen you were just spending all
your money on diapers and thenbaseball cleats.
That's it.
And these younger people, theyhave more and, especially
depending on the verticalsthey've worked in, they have
more than they know how tohandle.

(07:53):
And so, working with resourcesand advisors who see them, who
see who they are, that don'tjust talk about oh, this has a
22% return, but people who talkabout what the impact is and how
it fits their values is.
I think it's the way we willmove forward, so I love it.

Mike Clark (08:14):
And we are.
I mean, just take it as anexample the real estate industry
.
Yeah, for the longest of timesI mean going back forever real
estate was the way to buildwealth and it is transitioning
now.
But there is a whole segment ofthe financial services industry
that you can put in $1,000,$2,000, $3,000 into an

(08:39):
investment vehicle that investsinto large multifamily units.
You can do a Google search oncrowdfunding real estate and
dozens of platforms come up.
So, instead of waiting to spend$20,000 to create a real estate
portfolio, one house at a timeyou can put in $1,000, $2,000,
$3,000 and build a real estateportfolio through special

(09:01):
purpose vehicles, which is adifferent conversation.
But there are.
There is an abundance ofopportunities at our fingertips
now where before there never was.
Yeah, yeah.

Tonya J. Long (09:13):
Yeah.

Mike Clark (09:14):
Oh, we could say here and information.

Tonya J. Long (09:16):
Yes, and I think these folks want to be involved.
I'm still the generation wherepeople would pat me on the head
and say do what I say, not whatI do.
These younger generations, theyare materially involved in the
choices because they're morepersonal for them.
And so, yeah, I thinkremarkable times are ahead,

(09:37):
Switching gears a little bit.
I talked about and still in thesame realm.
But I really want to talk aboutyou being a collaborator and
someone who workscross-functionally, how it's not
just you and your limitationsof what you know because of your
network.
You've done a little bit ofeverything.
You've raised capital Right,you talked about your special

(10:00):
series whatnot?
Fund broker.
You've done all that and nowyou manage high wealth clients,
high net worth clients, butyou've done the investment
banking piece that I'm nowlearning more about.
All very interesting, and nowyou're back to the individual,
out of kind of the corporatelevel financial industry and

(10:20):
back to helping individuals.
How did those earlierexperiences?
Because you used to travel toChina a lot, you've got some
amazing basketball NBAbasketball game stories.
You did a big show that had toshape how you work with people
today.
Tell me about it.

Mike Clark (10:36):
It shaped everything , tanya.
I mean I'll take it a step back.
My undergrad's in kinesiology.

Tonya J. Long (10:42):
Talk about that.
Yes, tell people whatkinesiology is just in case
anybody's.

Mike Clark (10:47):
So if you don't, it's a study of movement, like
how your body moves, how thetendons are attached.
So basically, I was a physicaltherapist, for sports teams is
what I was, and I didn't comefrom money, I didn't understand
money, and a friend of mineintroduced me to a high level
financial education that reallybroke things down on how the
wealthy manage their money, andso from that I got into raising

(11:10):
capital for a real estatecompany here in Utah, which is
what drove me to China, and I'dnever, ever expected to go to
China for anything, let alonebusiness, and specifically it
was an immigration programcalled EB-5.
And going through that processI really learned how business

(11:34):
worked right, how money flowthrough investments into
operations, into differentbusinesses and then, within
operations, all the verticals,and I was like this is mind
boggling.
And what happened was I startedto see numbers on a big board
and I would just ask simplequestions like how are you going
to service that debt?
I don't get that, and it was abasic question that a lot of
people got mad at me for asking.
But as I progressed, I startedraising money for other

(11:55):
companies and I started to seethe gaps that the security
exchange attorney would say, oh,that's not my job, that's the
business attorney.
The business attorney would saylook, I don't get involved
until that's done, and then Iwould go to that professional.
I don't do that and I'm likeare you kidding me?
You guys, how do we functionand move this company forward if

(12:17):
we're not getting the claritythat we need from the advisors?
It was always finger pointingand then the worst part was hey,
they don't know what they'retalking about.
You need to structure it thisway.
Okay, now we're just.
There's infighting.
This is not how this thingoperates.
And so I had investors back outpolitics aside had them back

(12:40):
out because of Russia-Trumpcollusion they were from Russia.
Back out because ofRussia-Trump collusion they were
from Russia.
And what I did, tanya is I wentback and like how do I
structure this?

Tonya J. Long (12:53):
the way I learned , how a team is built for the
high net worth individuals, andhow do I recreate that?

Mike Clark (12:55):
And then that's it.
And just somebody with a need,somebody with a skill, marry
those two and step out of theway and let things happen, okay.
And so I started to build that,and that's when I was
introduced to protection pointadvisors who had which I think
you'll appreciate this thesystems and processes in place
that all I needed to do was plugin and connect the two, and

(13:19):
that's what I've been doing forthe last five years, you did
more than connect you started,you built onto it.
Thank you, I did.
I did Because there's a lot ofthings that I didn't know, and
so I sat back one day and I'mlike if I don't know this stuff,
then most of the clients don'tknow it, right?
So then how do I how do I likereally and I always use the term

(13:43):
exploit how do I exploit ourpartners pull the information
out of their head so I can learn, and then the byproduct is that
everybody else can learn.
So that's when I started thiswhole interview process and just
interviewed these professionalsevery week on simple things
like what should you be askingyour CPA?
What should you be asking yourestate planning attorney?

(14:06):
What does that mean?
don't like stop talking in legaljargon yes tell me what that
means, right, and then from thatnow is exploding into the whole
educational platform that we'rebuilding and it is so important
.

Tonya J. Long (14:19):
People that you would work with are generally
educated, resourceful,sophisticated people, but we
also have ego and we don't wantto raise our hand and say what
does that mean?
But what we know about thefinancial world and how things
work is remarkably low.
So we're putting ourselves atrisk when we don't know and our

(14:42):
entire I can't even sayretirement anymore because it's
not for retirement, but ourfuture.
We're making decisions aboutour future without having any
idea how it works and when we goto our professionals who help
us and they go check with him,ask her do this.
It's almost akin to like whenyou have a chronic disease and
you're trying to get treated oreven diagnosed in the medical

(15:04):
system and you have to see somany people and people just give
up.
And I think on the finance sidewe just give up because we
don't like being dumb and wedon't like being given the
runaround.
But this silo problem thatexists where go check with the
CPA, ask the attorney.
What do you think helped youpull all those people together?

(15:27):
Because those peoplehistorically haven't really
partnered and you've helped themto partner.

Mike Clark (15:34):
Right, and so it started when I was in my
undergrad.
I mean, honestly, I had a trackathlete.
The coach was this a long timeago, right, I was working with
the track team and the coach wasthis world renowned Olympian
coach and his thing was I do notwant trainers on the track.
They cause injuries.

(15:56):
Like he just thought thatpeople a hamstring.
He was on the four by 100 relay,packed 12 or at the time it was
packed in, championships werecoming and I had to go tell the
coach that his finishing leg wasout and I just, this is who I

(16:17):
am, this is the athlete, this iswhat I'm doing, this is the
timeline.
And he looked at me, great, andhe closed the door in my face
and I was like, oh so I survived.
And then when I got into the ORworking for Johnson Johnson
selling medical device is, Iwasn't a doctor, but if I told

(16:41):
them to stop, the whole roomstopped.
So it started to build theconfidence in that if I could
tell a doctor with no medicaldegree to stop and he listens to
me then I can tell a CPA comeon.
Is that really the answer?
Like, stop, because thepsychology behind it, tanya, is
that we were raised to share,but we were raised not to cheat,

(17:04):
not to work off Johnny's paper.
Don't talk to strangers, don'tdo all of these things to
collaborate, because it wasagainst the rules.
Talk to a stranger, collaborateand try to build trust in a

(17:32):
short time frame when we'venever really psychologically
learned how to do that.
And what I do is one teachprofessionals how to make an
introduction of themselves, whoare you and the value you create
.
And the second thing is learnto edify the people that you're
introducing clients, to have aconversation with the
professional that you want tointroduce a client to before you

(17:55):
introduce a client.
Here's what happens.
You and I are working togetherand you call me and say Mike,
I've got a guy that needs X, yand Z, call him.
So then what do I do?
And this happens to everybodywatching the show, doesn't
matter what industry you're in.
I call John.

(18:17):
Hey, john, this is Mike.
Tonya told me to call you.
Give me a call.
Hey, john, Mike, you know, thisis Mike.
Again, tanya told me to callyou.
And then what happens is is thelaw of diminishing intent.
Intent, john has a family, johnhas kids, john has work.
And next thing, you know Mike,who's Mike and why is he calling
me, and then it never goesanywhere he's not my priority

(18:41):
he's not my priority.
And then then eventually you runinto John hey, by the way, did
you talk to Mike?
Who's Mike?
Now you're upset because theperception is, I didn't call
John and I called him 16 times,right?
So we have this perception loop, and so what I do is I
eliminate that loop.

(19:01):
I talk to a client and in thatmeeting I schedule time with the
professional that I need totalk to.
So that way it's on thecalendar, on their calendar, on
the client's calendar.
Then I call that professionaland say Tonya, you and I are
going to meet with John andSally.
This is what they want, this istheir desire, this is their
goals.
Perfect.

(19:21):
I jump on the call.
John and Sally, this is Tonya.
This is what I told Tonya thatyou're looking for.
Is that correct, yes or no?
Perfect, I will let you guys doyour thing.

Tonya J. Long (19:31):
If you need me call me.

Mike Clark (19:32):
Click.
It's 60 seconds, and if we cando that as professionals, then
we have better conversations,and if we have better
conversations, we have betteroutcomes.
It's not hard, it's just wehave to get out of our own way.

Tonya J. Long (19:50):
That's it.
I love it Because, as I hearyou talking about that and I
have experienced that with you Ithink it's not just what you do
, it's not just in the finance,cpa, attorney kind of realm.
I think more and more of us arerequired to network to be
successful.
We're looking for unicorns thiscoming year, billion-dollar

(20:12):
valuations with one person inthe company.
But rest assured, they did notdo all the work.
They partnered like crazy tocollaborate to build a
million-dollar company.
And I think we all shouldlisten to what you just said,
because it may be obvious to usthat it's not an industry
practice, but it should be everyindustry's practice.

(20:34):
It's just, it's good.

Mike Clark (20:36):
Every industry.

Tonya J. Long (20:38):
The people that I put my name behind, helping
them get to somebody, want thatto mean something.
I want that to work out.
I can invest that extra 60seconds to get on the call to
make that handoff and everybodywins.
All three parties win by thatextra piece of care that I
absolutely had time to to totake care of.

(20:59):
I just I'm grateful that's yourmodel and that you can share it
so cleanly.
Well, I appreciate that, as weall have.

Mike Clark (21:08):
And that's the thing , though.
You do a great job inarticulating what you want, and
a lot of professionals don't,and that's where it starts Like
what is my unique valueproposition?
How do I fit into the marketand then clearly articulate that
to somebody, and not in asalesy way, but it's, this is

(21:30):
who I am, this is like what I'mlooking for, and I would love to
collaborate if that's possible.
But so many professionals comeinto the collaboration hat in
hand.
Right, it is.
And a great example I don't donetworking events anymore
because when somebody asks me so, Mike, what do you do?
Great, I build digital familyoffices to help businesses gain

(21:54):
clarity and optimize theirbusiness.
What does that mean?
Well, I help them from anythingfrom raising capital to exit
planning, and the first thingout of their mouth is typically
I'm looking to raise capital.
But you really didn't hear whatI just said.

Tonya J. Long (22:10):
Yeah, no not at all, not at all.
They heard capital and it boom.
Yeah, I know, that's it, I doknow, right, yeah.

Mike Clark (22:16):
And I'm like, okay, good talk.

Tonya J. Long (22:19):
Yeah, yeah, I get it, but it's intentionality and
it's having some I don't knowpride is not the right word.
It's having some pride infinishing what you started so
that all three parties can win.

Mike Clark (22:32):
Right.

Tonya J. Long (22:32):
Yeah.

Mike Clark (22:36):
So pivoting again.

Tonya J. Long (22:37):
Yes, let's go personal just a little bit.

Mike Clark (22:39):
Yeah, yeah.

Tonya J. Long (22:41):
I think you're fascinating because you're a
granddad which to me, what dothey call?

Mike Clark (22:46):
you Five times, Five times over.
What do they call you Grandpa,Actually?
No, no, no.
They can't pronounce the G, soit's usually cramp grandpa.
Grandpa With a K.

Tonya J. Long (22:56):
How old's the oldest?

Mike Clark (22:58):
Seven, seven now, wow.

Tonya J. Long (23:00):
So I think it's fascinating because, number one,
you just don't appear to beready to have grandchildren.
It's a statement and you skipthe kid part.
I did so.
You married into a relationshipthat then produced
grandchildren.
So for you to have grandkidsand I've met a couple of them
online I remember that day, mycousin, we talked way too long

(23:22):
and they were done waiting atthe door, so that was fun.
But that part of your life, Ithink, is unique and I wonder if
that has shaped how you seeclients now, because prior to
that you didn't have kids at all, and I'm sure that a lot of
your clients are coming into theage where they're planning for

(23:42):
college tuitions, they're tryingto make everything work, and
when you have children it puts awhole new dimension into what
you have to consider.
So how has being grandpa did Isay it right Grandpa?

Mike Clark (23:56):
How has being?
Grandpa changed how you look atservicing people and grandpa
changed how you look atservicing people, so tanya that
they say, and I say they right.

Tonya J. Long (24:10):
They say when you have kids, things change yeah,
right, because you do love,obviously you do, oh my gosh.

Mike Clark (24:13):
And so when piper, the first one, was born, I told
my wife that something snappedin my brain and it was for me.
Now I've got to create thislegacy for her and all of the
ones that follow.
And so how do I do that in away that serves everyone?

(24:37):
Right, because I can't go intoit just.
I need to create legacy for mygrandkids.
Right, because I have theskills and the knowledge to do
that.

Tonya J. Long (24:45):
And you're talking generational wealth,
kind of legacy.

Mike Clark (24:47):
Generational wealth.

Tonya J. Long (24:48):
Yeah.

Mike Clark (24:49):
Right, how do I set them up?
Because and on a side noteeverybody talks about
generational wealth in terms ofa dollar amount.
I consider it not just dollaramount but the education and the
skills set for them to makebetter decisions with money
Right, which is a different partof this conversation.
But what it really did for mein working with clients is that

(25:13):
now I've got these little guysand gals floating around the
house, how do I protect them andhow do I learn as much as
possible to do that, which isthe other part of those
interviews that I did and thenthe natural byproduct of that is
how do I share that informationfor others to protect their

(25:35):
legacy, whatever that may be?
But it's understanding theirjourney, which is different from
everybody, and I think that'sone of the failing parts of the
financial services industry isthey put too many people in
these little boxes that theydon't understand and, at the end
of the day, your journey isdifferent than my journey, and
even my wife sitting across thehouse, her journey is different

(25:57):
than my journey.
There is an intersect with ourjourneys, yeah, but even married
, living in the same house withthe same grandkids, every
journey is different, and beingable to identify that.
That was the one thing thatsnapped in my head when Piper
was born is how do I create morevalue?
And that's where it started.
Started and just falling inlove with the process of really

(26:24):
without being saying like acliche or whatever learning as
much as possible on every level.
I wish I could plug in like theMatrix.

Tonya J. Long (26:35):
And soon, soon, but we're not going to go there.
This is not that show, Right?
But what I heard you say, whatI read into what you said, it
was no longer just about thedollars.
It's not about saving up enoughto pay for each child's college

(26:56):
education.
It wasn't transactional at allBecause I very much heard you
talk about I'll use the wordplatform but you creating a
platform where you can feed offto them how they can learn and
make wise choices and haveagency for themselves.
And you need to build that sothat you can be a steward of how

(27:21):
their lives go, evenfinancially but that and tanya
that's, and I appreciate thatbecause that's how wealth is
made like.

Mike Clark (27:33):
there's a principle that I follow that it's exchange
creates wealth and at firstglance, when you read that,
everybody tends to go to thedollar.
But the other day Piper and Iwere here, Christy my wife went
off and did something and I wentdownstairs and I said, Piper, I
want to do a little experimentwith you.
Come on, let's go upstairs.

Tonya J. Long (27:51):
You would be such a front-run dad.

Mike Clark (27:54):
And so, listen, I said, piper, I'm going to blow
your mind.
And we sat here at this deskand I opened up chat with the
mid-journey GPT.
And I opened up mid-journey andI was like Piper, I'm going to
take, and I put my hands on herhead.
I said I'm going to pull animage out of your head and I'm
going to throw it onto thecomputer screen.
And she's like what?
And I said so, tell me what youwant to create.

(28:16):
And she goes I want to create aleopard with a baby leopard in
a forest, with a deer behind it.
And Tonya, she looked at thescreen.
She's like what.
She was blown away.
I love it and like, tell meanother one, I want a princess
and a tout right.
So we went down this process ofcreating things like from her

(28:48):
mind right.
And that, tanya, is theexchange creates the wealth
because if I can startimplanting in her asking
different questions, then itsets her up to ask better
questions of her cps, of herattorney, of her boss, and so
better questions equal betterresults.
That's it and that is where theexchange comes in.
I don't care if I leave them amillion, although I will, or

(29:10):
more.
I want them to ask questionsand not be afraid of asking
questions.

Tonya J. Long (29:18):
You're training them on curiosity questions.
You're training them oncuriosity To be curious people
and to seek what they need andengage others in it, which is
all about who you are.

Mike Clark (29:31):
I love it.
I love it and it's the process.
I love the process, I love it.

Tonya J. Long (29:35):
Good, I'm going to do a quick station ID here at
the bottom of the hour so youare listening to.
Are you ready?
Kpcr LP 92.9 FM in Los Gatos.
Kmrt LP 101.9 FM out of SantaCruz Lovely day to catch some
waves.
And our new little itty bittybaby, we have a new radio
station just in the last monthKVBELP 91.1 FM in Portland

(30:01):
portland, yeah, that, portland.
Oh, congratulations how aboutthat isn't that cool that is
about people growing and doingnew things.
We have a station out of I thinkit's on the western side of
portland yeah, very excited.
So back to this fivegrandchildren piper's the oldest
, what we teach them.
That's one of the things thatmakes you unique, because you

(30:23):
now get to have that perspectiveof seeing a different lens in
life by wanting to create legacy.
Another lens that I think youhave is you lived in the Bay
Area for a bit.
I did, and you understand me.
You get me and you understandme.
You get me here in the Bay Area, all this innovation around us

(30:43):
and all this hyper busyness thatwe have, but you live in Utah,
which is, I feel, like a verymore family centered environment
.
So what has living betweenthose two and, I think, probably
be remarkably differentcommunities in terms of behavior
and prioritization?

Mike Clark (31:04):
What has that?
They couldn't have been farther.
I mean so.
First I grew up in Modesto andthen lived out in the Bay Area
when I worked for JohnsonJohnson.
My wife and I could not be moreopposite.
It's.
I watched everything as a kid.
She didn't watch anything withan R in it.
Right, I listened to NWA.

(31:25):
She didn't know what NWA was.
So it couldn't be farther fromthe truth.
And, to be honest with you,tanya, when I first moved here,
the plan wasn't to stay.

Tonya J. Long (31:35):
And so you've been there 10 years, haven't you
?

Mike Clark (31:38):
It says 2007, almost 20.
Oh my goodness, okay, yeah, putthings in front of me my wife
that I could not ignore.
Yeah, and it was an interestingprocess that at the time the

(32:07):
ego kind of got in the way and Itried to deny it, but that's
why that's how I stayed here.
But ultimately you're right,there is a stark difference
between California as a whole,but specifically Northern
California and Utah.
It's definitely slower.
It's picking up because moreCalifornia is moving here, but

(32:30):
there is a huge difference ineverything about Utah compared
to California.

Tonya J. Long (32:35):
Yeah, I love it.
I love it.
So what do you have to spendthe most time working, actively
working on, when you have toshift gears and work with a high
profile, maniacal, fast pacedinnovator who thinks everything
should be snap, compared to thelife you're in, where the girls

(32:58):
come sit on your knee whileyou're finishing your call with
me, it only happened once and wehad tested the boundaries of
their patience levels.
So what do you have to exercisewhen you come up against
someone who is very immediate,because finances are a long game

(33:18):
?
Play Right, right.

Mike Clark (33:20):
Really, because finances are a long game play
Right, right, right, really.
So this is going to sound alittle off track.

Tonya J. Long (33:27):
It'll be fun.

Mike Clark (33:28):
But I so with kinesiology, obviously I have a
skill set for working out and soI to your point, tanya I train
with speed.
So everything is timed at thegym.
There is no walking around,there's very little talking.
I mean, my wife teased mebecause I chew gum, because it

(33:51):
keeps me on tempo and pace.
So that's the first thing.
So I train with intention tokeep the speed up.
The other thing that I dothroughout the day is I listen
to music, but I don't listen tomusic with words.
I listen to electric music likehouse music that has a tick,
tick, tick, tick, like themetronome.

(34:14):
So, without just having it tick,tick, tick and be annoying, the
music itself is tick, tick,tick tick.
Boots and pants, and boots, andpants, and boots and pants, and
it keeps me mentally on thatpace and so can I slow it down.
It takes me a little bit aftereverything's said and done to
slow it down, but that's how Imaintain that California pace in

(34:36):
the mountain lifestyle of Utah.

Tonya J. Long (34:40):
Okay, I love it.
I love that you live in Utahand you're introducing your
granddaughters to mid-journey.
They think it's magic.
They don't understand it'smid-journey yet, they just think
it's magic.
Oh my God, granddad pulled itout of my brain.

Mike Clark (34:57):
That's it.
That's it, just plugged it in.

Tonya J. Long (34:59):
But what about your background in technology?
And I don't know that you'veever held a pure technology role
, but you are.
You would be a fantasticproduct leader because you are
always ideating how to makethings better.
That's just how you're wired.

Mike Clark (35:14):
Yeah.

Tonya J. Long (35:15):
And you have a real knack for technology.
So so I'll just say that yourbackground in technology, or
your capabilities there are,have helped you build a better
practice as you've moved from amore corporate level of
financing to the individuallevel where.
I think, frankly, the verticalwas just so ripe for innovation.

Mike Clark (35:39):
Yeah, yeah.

Tonya J. Long (35:39):
Right.
So how did technology like?
Because I think it also feedsyou.
It doesn't just do good workfor your clients, you really
enjoy it.
You enjoy the tick, tick ticktick, tick build.

Mike Clark (35:53):
I love it.
I love it quickly, and so thathappened.
I didn't know anybody when Imoved to utah really okay there,
for a woman had created right,yeah, yeah, right.
But when I first moved here,the guys that I moved here by
buddies, they all moved away,and so I'm here.
I didn't know anybody, and Ibought a package from Mike

(36:13):
Dillard, an internet marketer,how to build a WordPress
document, and this was in 2009.
Yeah, Right, and it was thewhole backend funnel email
system and I bought it for like150 bucks and it was off of some
like midnight infomercial andfor the next three months.
I would call GoDaddy and Iwould ask them what's an SQL

(36:34):
database?
How do I connect that?

Tonya J. Long (36:36):
GoDaddy would answer those questions back then
.

Mike Clark (36:39):
GoDaddy, oh, yeah, yeah, wow, they would Matter of
fact, I called so many times onenight.
Hey, Mike, what question do youhave?
And so from there, I built sevendifferent WordPress documents,
repeating like I just reverseengineered it okay and so from
there it was how, like if thisis possible, like what else is

(37:02):
possible, and then it's justbeen keeping up on different
systems and processes that I canutilize and exploit, if you.
And then understanding thatthings are constantly going to
change, and then justunderstanding that we live in a
world of absolute abundance.
And where can I go in that poolof abundance and find what I

(37:26):
need?
Now my problem is I go downrabbit holes and I find so many
tools that I can't use them all,all bright, shiny objects Me
too.
All of them bright, shinyobjects.
And then I've got to go back toone thing that you know, going
through Anthony Robbins a long,long time ago, was that find two
or three guys or gals and stickto what they do.
And so I've got to remindmyself that you know what are

(37:49):
like what's Gary Vee doing interms of social media?
What's Harmozy doing in termsof building funnels?
And so I just stick to two orthree guys that are doing using
technology to the best of theirabilities.
And how do I reverse engineerit for me?

Tonya J. Long (38:07):
Can we talk about abundance?

Mike Clark (38:10):
I'd love to.

Tonya J. Long (38:13):
I think you have to see a lot of fear in your
role in working with clients.
The future is.
There's a lot of uncertaintyand I think the future, if the
future is a being, we'll just gothere.
If the future is a being thebeing is asking us to have some
faith in what's going to come,but there's so much uncertainty.

(38:35):
The future is just expecting usto know things will work out
and I think you've got to have alot of faith for the abundance
mindset to be authentic.
And a lot of people are scaredbecause they don't.
They can't really clearly seethe horizon with all that's
happening with AI, with theirgeopolitical stuff.
There's half a dozen reasonsthat the future is not as clear

(38:58):
as it was 15 years ago.
How do you help clients findabundance?
Because I think most people saythey want to engage that way
with the world, but then they'reworried about their husband
losing his job, they're worriedabout whether or not the stock
market's going to fall.
They're worried about anynumber of things.

(39:19):
How do you be that for otherpeople, to show them to have
faith?

Mike Clark (39:30):
So the interesting thing, tanya, that you said that
there is a lot of uncertaintytoday, but there is a lot of
uncertainty in 2020.
There is a lot of uncertaintyin 2016.
There is a lot of uncertaintyin 2012.
There's always a lot ofuncertainty Always, and so most

(39:52):
individuals that I work with arein a far better position than
they think they are, and so oneof the things that we focus on
as a firm is the financial plan,and I'll pick on the financial
services industry again.

(40:13):
Most financial professionalsfocus on product first, then the
plan right, and there's reasonsfor that.
We'll go into that, because itpicks on them too much, but
they're product-based, they'retransactional-based.
Where one of the reasons why Icringe when you said financial
planner is I never wanted to bea financial planner.

Tonya J. Long (40:34):
I know You're not that.

Mike Clark (40:35):
I think it's a horrible term, but one of the
reasons why I picked the firmthat I picked and I was two
weeks away from letting mylicenses expire.
That's how I did not want to bea financial advisor or a
planner, but one of the thingsthat we do as a firm is we put
together a cashflow statement.

Tonya J. Long (40:54):
A what statement?
Say it again.

Mike Clark (40:57):
A cashflow statement .
Thank you, right.
So, coming from business and myMBA and all these things, I was
like, oh well, that's awesome.
So let's build a financial plan, a cashflow statement inflows,
outflows, expenses, all of thesethings and then from that plan,
let's identify where you're at.

(41:17):
If you did nothing else, howlong would your money last?
Let's have a baseline and thenin that baseline, where are the
gaps?
Long-term care, life insurance,all of the tools, right, and,
by the way, most financialadvisors cannot talk about all
of the tools because of a littlething called selling away.

(41:40):
You guys can look it up, googleit selling away.
It's a bad thing.
I'm in a position that I cantalk about everything because of
the way our firm is set up.
So we build a financial planfirst and then fill the gaps
later.
So long-winded answer to yourquestion.

(42:00):
We build certainty, tanya, byfirst letting people know that
most oftentimes they're in a farbetter position than they think
they are.
But they've never seen thenumbers and most financial plans
are done in a far betterposition than they think they
are.
But they've never seen thenumbers and most financial plans
are done in a vacuum, while theadvisor is speaking down their
nose to them Like just give memore money over time at an

(42:22):
average rate of return and don'tworry about it.
And then they leave and they'relike I don't even know what
that plan says, whereas we layit all out and we don't charge
for it, I remember.
So it's literally justinformation.
And then from that information,now you, the client, have a

(42:43):
choice.
Do I execute on the data that Ihave or do I not?
And that's your choice.
But at least now you have theinformation to make an educated
decision.
And with that, that's how wecreate that certainty in a very
uncertain time.
That's how we create thatroadmap and so far the data is

(43:07):
pretty good.

Tonya J. Long (43:10):
There's some integrity in that.

Mike Clark (43:13):
I think so.

Tonya J. Long (43:14):
In my process with you a few years ago, I
learned a lot about.
I thought I knew a lot about myfinances Of course we all do
and then when you go through anevaluation, like building out
that plan takes, it's aninvestment of time, it's a
commitment of mindset, and allthat is just to make sure the
relationship is right.

(43:35):
It's to get me on track, butit's also an opportunity for you
, as somebody I partner with, tomake sure that there's the
right communication style for usto work well together.

Mike Clark (43:47):
And resources come to bear and all those things
Right.
And there are times, tanya,that I've gone off the rails in
our conversations and got offall kinds of jargon and this is
the thing that I love about ourconversations and the clients
that I work with is okay, Ididn't need all that 't, I

(44:10):
didn't need the weeds.
Just tell me what's going on,right.
And there's a lot of times thatuncertainty comes from.
I don't want to be anauthoritative individual, but I
want to control all theconversations.
I understand there's noise andthere's everything in the market
and I certainly am not aneconomist.
I don't know everything, butthe idea is to be that source,

(44:36):
that conduit to people that knowthat information.
And if you have the trust, justto ask the question.
And, as they say, there's nodumb question, just ask the
question, then I will find theanswer.
And, going back to selling away,there's a lot of people that

(44:57):
can't answer those questions,and so this is where the
importance of like, even as abusiness owner, tanya, I've
talked to business owners, likeI've worked in my CPA for 20
years.
Why I don't know, okay, well,what are they doing for?
Why I don't know, okay, well,what are they doing for you?
I don't know.
Well, what's your advisor donefor you?
I don't know, like, why are wenot challenging these

(45:19):
professionals that we're workingwith, not to just challenge
them to?
You know, to be butt heads oranything.
But I learned from ourco-founders my job doesn't start
until the client signs theagreement and then, from that
point forward, my job is to keepmy job, and every day.

(45:40):
How do I create value?
How do I answer questions?

Tonya J. Long (45:42):
How can I be there in every capacity of the
way, and that is the team behindme that allows me to do that I
think you probably landed onsomething remarkable for your
industry that you get to do,because you and I have
personally talked through somany different scenarios and
you're my business partner.
You're not just the guy wholooks at my budgets and tells me

(46:05):
where my performance is on mystocks, you're the one saying
you know that thing, you coulddo this thing to make that thing
happen.
And you're my business partnerand it's it that has to be fun
for you, because you're not justrelegated to the transactional
stocks have been down and we'removing things into bonds and we

(46:26):
don't we, you and I don't evenhave the conversations.

Mike Clark (46:29):
No, no, no, Our conversations like and this and
to your point, yes, tanya, itvery much is better.
Like I had a client the otherday you and I spoke a little bit
about that before the show wasasking about what I do in terms
of my accounts and how I tradeoptions and things like that.
But they're like, okay, well,you know, how do we kind of meet
in the middle and and nextthing, you know, I'm running

(46:49):
through 13 positions ondividends that pay monthly and
I'm like now we're gettingsomewhere.
Like I don't.
I do care about the portfoliosand the models and the
traditional stuff, but I havethe ability, which you and I've
talked about, to talk aboutself-directed and how to utilize
self-directed.
Big fan of self-directed.

Tonya J. Long (47:10):
Huge Look it up, call me.
I'll tell you all about it.

Mike Clark (47:14):
One of the most underutilized financial tools in
our wheelhouse and no advisorvery few of them talk about it
because they can't.
Yeah, and so that's.
I mean the portfolios, that'sgreat.
I mean the portfolios, that'sgreat.
But when you call me and say,hey, what is about this
transaction, or can I do privateequity?

(47:35):
Yes, and, matter of fact, thecall I have today after this,
tanya, a client has a businessrelationship in Australia and he
calls me and goes I'm going toclose my 401k or my IRA and I
want to put that money into that.
I'm okay with penalties andtaxation.
And my email was that, hey,let's discuss how the business

(47:59):
is structured and, if your nameis on the business, to avoid
self-dealing because we might beable to move that money into
the business without payingpenalties and paying taxes.
And he's like no way, all kindsof exclamation marks, let's
schedule time.
That is the funds.
That part I love.
Like, let's do some technicalanalysis.

(48:21):
If you have an equity position.
Hey, I heard this on the news.
Great, let's put it on YahooFinance.
Let's draw some lines and let'ssee if it's legit.
Let's put it on Yahoo Finance,let's draw some lines and let's
see if it's legit.
That is where the fun's at.
I love it.

Tonya J. Long (48:36):
Now we're getting all excited.
We could do a whole show onopening up people to thinking
about different ways to treattheir money.
It bothers me that I know how Ican use self-directed IRAs and
other people will say to me oh,I don't have money to
participate in that, I don'thave money liquid.
And I'm like what do you mean?
I don't have money liquid.

(48:56):
You're 45 years old and you'vebeen in corporate America the
whole time, so of course you'vehad a 401k, so of course you've
got money sitting there and youhave money that's liquid.
I think people sometimes arejust too passive, For whatever
reason.
It's like this conversationwe've been having here.
People don't ask the questionsthey should.

(49:17):
They think they're locked inand they don't want to ask.
And I don't understand.

Mike Clark (49:21):
There are billions of dollars every year that are
left in previous employers' 401kaccounts I mean one.
It's a disservice for humanresources to even allow that to
happen.
Billions of dollars in 401kplan money that the employees no
longer work for the companies.

(49:42):
That's just absurd.
It's ridiculous.

Tonya J. Long (49:44):
Yeah, so I think if I want people to take
anything away from ourconversation, it's that they are
a lot more empowered than theyprobably realize and they need
to be having conversations withthe people who shepherd them in
this part of the journey, to askthe questions, so that those
shepherds have an opportunity toprovide some of that wisdom

(50:08):
about the options that you have.
It's not just a passive thing.
It's not just to throw it allin a 401k-based IRA and let it
sit for 30 years.
That's just no fun and it's adisservice to what your
potential is.

Mike Clark (50:23):
It's a huge disservice and that is the old
way of thinking, and we're justin a new era yeah.
And way more tools, way moreinformation that you can make
better decisions.

Tonya J. Long (50:34):
Perfect.
I want to move to the lightninground Because, instead of going
deep and I didn't ask you aboutcrypto I wanted to ask you
about crypto Because I'm notinvested in any crypto, just as
a statement.
I think it's a reallyinteresting discussion.
You're either all in on crypto.
Here I'm discussing it.
You're either all in or you'reterrified of it.

(50:54):
There's no in between.

Mike Clark (50:57):
I'm in between.

Tonya J. Long (50:58):
Yeah.

Mike Clark (50:58):
I am all in on the blockchain.

Tonya J. Long (51:00):
That's different.
I am not in on the currency.

Mike Clark (51:04):
A lot of people don't understand that.

Tonya J. Long (51:06):
They just haven't studied enough yet to see that.
But oh yeah, we don't have achoice but to be all in on
blockchain.

Mike Clark (51:12):
Right and I think it needs to be implemented.

Tonya J. Long (51:14):
Like yesterday, I'm like stopping my mouth
because I'm about to go.
We have no choice.
Instead, let's do the lightninground.
What's the best.
Lightning round Fast responses.
Maybe they weren't more, butwhat's the best piece of
financial advice you've everreceived?

Mike Clark (51:35):
the best piece of financial advice you've ever
received.
Ever received um who have I?

Tonya J. Long (51:37):
ever build teams would probably be the the
biggest financial advice.
How interesting because I builtis build a team that's not the
answer I expected, because I wasin the old paradigm and the new
paradigm is build teams.
What's your favorite techgadget or app right now?

Mike Clark (51:54):
Right now.
Right now, n8n, the agentic AI.
What did you say N8N?

Tonya J. Long (52:05):
So, nancy, the number eight, nancy, All right,
you just one-upped me because Ihaven't played with that at all.

Mike Clark (52:18):
Okay, I just opened an account.
I bought this crazy online 3000workflow agents.

Tonya J. Long (52:20):
I'm going to reverse engineer the crap out of
it in a few weeks.
Okay, awesome, yeah, okay, yeah, yeah, I literally just did
that yesterday okay yeah,because you and I are always
playing with something and thensharing it, so I love it.
It N-8N.
If I think of it, I'll put thatin the show notes.
If you could master one newskill instantly you didn't have
to like work at it, you couldjust master that skill what

(52:42):
would you do?

Mike Clark (52:45):
The skill that I'm learning, that I would like to
learn faster, is educational,instructional design, the
psychology behind structuringeducation content.

Tonya J. Long (52:56):
Yeah, because that's where you're moving
yourself into, I think, is ashepherd of many.
Right, you have a limitednumber I was about to call you
like a therapist, but there issome of that too but you have a
limited number of clients thatyou probably shouldn't
reasonably maintain.
But with education you can takewhat you learn with that finite

(53:20):
set and cast it out much wider,and I think that's very
exciting for you.

Mike Clark (53:25):
And most individuals .
I was on a CE course for CPAs.
Today, what I'm learning goingthrough my process is most
individuals don't understandinstructional design.

Tonya J. Long (53:36):
Oh yeah, Because it's a skill.

Mike Clark (53:39):
It is a skill, yeah, yeah, and it's for me, coming
from the medical industry andthe black and white of finance.
It is a skill that it's achallenge for me to learn, but
it's something that I need.
That's what I.
If I could plug into the matrixand download that, that's what
I would download, okay.

Tonya J. Long (54:00):
Okay, then I'll let Neo know what's like the
most common financial mistakethat you see people making.

Mike Clark (54:10):
Not understanding the cost of debt, the cost of
interest, the biggest thing.

Tonya J. Long (54:17):
Yeah, okay, next.

Mike Clark (54:22):
Yeah, yeah, and honestly, that's in the younger
generations.
Matter of fact, I just saw iton the news the other day that
like 80 or no 40 percent of kidsin their 20s feel that their
friends with money influencetheir spending habits, but they
just don't understand howdetrimental that cost of
interest is.

Tonya J. Long (54:43):
I understand what you're saying, but I also, just
as a side note to that, one ofthe most important things that
that I've learned in my timewith you and I got connected
through an organization thatwe're both in, and in that
organization we learn a lotabout spending other people's
money to make money, and so forme, not all debt is bad, because

(55:04):
if I get incurred debt at fouror 5% because I can turn around
and use my money for differentkinds of investments that are
pulling 12 or 14, then that'sgood debt for me to incur.

Mike Clark (55:17):
Perfect, okay, real quick.
So this is the Dave Ramseything.

Tonya J. Long (55:22):
Dave Ramsey's from Tennessee.
Right, right, right, so thereason why Dave Ramsey teaches
yeah, go ahead.

Mike Clark (55:29):
He teaches that because the masses don't
understand that principle, andso the reason that I gave that
answer understanding the cost ofdebt is that if somebody
understood how to manage theirrelationship with money, then
they can learn how to utilizedebt in a proper way.

(55:55):
But that's why Dave Ramseyteaches what he teaches, because
most people vast majority don'teven understand the concept of
the cost of interest.
So what Dave Ramsey says isjust eliminate it.
Well, that's not true, you needto understand the cost.

Tonya J. Long (56:12):
And the easiest example for me to give to hit
this audience broadly is I usedto buy a car and buy it outright
.
Every time I've been veryfortunate financially.
And I used to buy a car just tobuy the car, because I didn't
want a car payment.
There was something like wrongabout a car payment.
But when you can get your carloan at 1.9%, why would I spend

(56:34):
my money?
If my car loan is 1.9%, I'drather have a car loan and then
use that set of monies to dosomething that has a 5x
advantage Right With that samemoney.
So I don't mind carrying a carloan anymore because I know that
my money is being spent doingmore important work.

Mike Clark (56:57):
Yeah, how do you, how do you utilize the same
dollar twice?

Tonya J. Long (57:01):
Yeah, absolutely Cool.
So I almost always ask peoplewhat is a piece of advice that
you would give a younger MikeClark?

Mike Clark (57:14):
I just talked about this the other day, do you?

Tonya J. Long (57:16):
What did you say?

Mike Clark (57:17):
With my college buddy is the one advice that I
would give my younger self is tobe more intentional with your
time.
As a younger me, if I wouldhave the discipline that I have
now.
Back then dang, I mean I wonawards, I did some great things

(57:40):
back in the day, but, holy cow,I could have done so much more
if I would have had the samediscipline and the willingness
to learn as I do now.

Tonya J. Long (57:50):
Yeah, being intentional Changes everything I
do now.
Yeah, being intentional.

Mike Clark (57:53):
Changes everything.
I love it.

Tonya J. Long (57:54):
Yeah, I love it.
Last question on the lightninground what gives you hope about
the future of finance andfamilies, given where you are?

Mike Clark (58:08):
The family itself.
Tonya, like the grandkids, thegrandkids really did shift
everything for me and there's somuch opportunity for me now and
giving them the learning it forme, but then learning it for,

(58:29):
to teach them right, cause somany many parents and I don't
mean to pick on parents, becauseeverything's- got.

Tonya J. Long (58:33):
They've got so many things going on.

Mike Clark (58:38):
But that show are you smarter than a fifth grader?
I want to be that.
I want to be that resource forthem that they come to me like.
I want to do a science fairproject.
I want to be on the scienceteam.
I want, like great you, whatWe'll learn it.
Let's go and have that.
That's what gives me hope isgiving them the power to do

(59:01):
whatever they truly do, whateverthey want to do.

Tonya J. Long (59:05):
I love it.
So if people listen today andthere was something that struck
them and they want to follow you, they want to, they want to in
some way understand more fromyou.
Where do you direct people whowant to learn more about your
work?

Mike Clark (59:22):
I'm on one platform, or one platform only, that's
linkedin.

Tonya J. Long (59:26):
I'm sorry, I'm not going to start.

Mike Clark (59:28):
Yes, of course we are, but I don't I don't, I
don't do, I don't do snappy chat, I don't do ticky talk Um the
articles, the interviews I amvery intentional with.

Tonya J. Long (59:40):
LinkedIn, and we didn't really I mean the first,
the first 35 million I raisedwas from LinkedIn alone.
See, I give LinkedIn a hardtime because it keeps messing
with the algorithm, but it stillis has been a remarkable tool
for building networks andbuilding business transaction
value, and it's, and it still is.

(01:00:03):
They mess with the algorithm,but I think there's still a
tremendous amount that we do onLinkedIn and people who are
interested in you.
You have you've done.
How many podcasts have you done?

Mike Clark (01:00:14):
A hundred and nine.
A hundred a hundred andnineteen.

Tonya J. Long (01:00:17):
So anybody just like wanting to be better at
understanding how their financeswork.
There's a hundred and nineteennuggets of value out there with
Mike's name on it.
That's free right.
That's a hundred percent thatthat you can go and learn and be
interested, and we all havedrive time and other times that
we can optimize that time.

(01:00:38):
I tick, tock, tock, tock, tock.

Mike Clark (01:00:39):
The metronome Get the metronome out Right.

Tonya J. Long (01:00:41):
We can all optimize that time.
So you have done a tremendousservice.
You've been on this journey awhile.
This educate more people.
It's starting to.
With the current technologyopportunities that we're having,
I think it's easier for you totake command of building
something much bigger from aneducational standpoint.
But you've been on this pathfor a long time.

(01:01:02):
With that podcast, yeah.

Mike Clark (01:01:05):
Right, and that's, and, tonya, that's the thing
with the technology is that youknow you talked about, you know
fear and everybody.
Ai is going to take jobs.
Well, you know what?
The car took away horse andbuggy jobs.
Everything takes away jobs,everything since we had industry
right.
But what I embrace, and what alot of people should embrace, is

(01:01:28):
that, for me, I'm not acreative.
I've never been a creative andI watched a masterclass on this
and what struck me was AI willgive the creatives more power,
but it'll give those that arenot creative creativity yeah, we
never had access to yeah.
Right, and so for me I can putin the intellectual properties

(01:01:52):
of it into AI and tell it togive.
Don't be intellectual, Put itin this, this and this tone, and
it spits out the intellectualside into something that's
actually palatable for anybodyelse.
And that's what I embrace andwhat I love about moving forward
and anybody can do it.
That's the beauty of it.
Beautifully said.
I love it.
I'll about moving forward andanybody can do it.
That's the beauty of it.
Beautifully said.

Tonya J. Long (01:02:14):
I'll put your connection points in the show
notes, so that people can seewhat you do, can learn from what
you do and can engage with youif they'd like.

Mike Clark (01:02:24):
So yeah, and this is the thing.
Tonya is that if anybodyconnects with me on LinkedIn and
there is a person or place thatthey need an introduction to,
then please just ask for it.
Don't sit around waiting forsomebody to do something for you
.
As they say, you are thecaptain of your ship.

(01:02:45):
If you need an introduction,reach out and ask.
I will make the introduction.

Tonya J. Long (01:02:50):
Thank you.
I might queue up three or fourmyself for you to make, so good
Love it Excellent, let's do it.
So, everyone, this has beenanother wonderful day and an
amazing conversation on RESETwith Tonya, with Mike Clark,
protection Point Advisors andjust the best bridge builder I
know, because you're buildingbridges between technology,

(01:03:14):
between finance which is anintensely personal conversation
and between the trajectory thathumans have into living, into
their ambitions for the future,whatever that looks like.
So it's been wonderful to talkwith you everyone.
So you are listening to KPCR LP92.9 FM in Los Gatos, kmrt LP

(01:03:36):
101.9 FM out of Santa Cruz andour new little itty bitty baby,
kvbelp 91.1 FM in Portland.
Thank you, have a wonderful day.
Oh, and Mike we do this.
We do this hard thing again.
So do the hard thing.
Thank you, you were so much fun.
Thank you everyone.
This has been RESET with TonyaMike Clark.

(01:03:57):
Have an awesome day.
Bye.
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Host

Tonya J. Long

Tonya J. Long

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