I have to be honest.

When I made the choice to become a client of Trinity Wealth Advisors, it wasn’t because that had been the plan all along.

But as we all eventually learn, the plans we make as human beings aren’t always the plan.

My plans changed in 2000 when my family experienced the tragic loss of our son.

After our son’s passing, I began to lose a bit of the grip I had on things in my life that I previously thought of as secure. This included being our family’s personal financial advisor, and Trinity Wealth Advisor’s Chief Everything Officer.

Because of this, a major transition took place.

That transition was about letting go. 

I had to begin to give up control, and as a lifelong entrepreneur, that’s never easy. Additionally, I love being a financial advisor, and in general I am a born planner—making it difficult to give up the control (I thought) I had.

Luckily I had a team that I believed in, and that believed in me. I was also fortunate to have a wife and partner that I could lean on—even as she was dealing with her own grief and loss.

In many ways our son’s death forced my wife and I to sit down together, as a team, and chart where we wanted to go next.

We talked about the purpose we wanted for our family, for our company, and for the spiritual community we belonged to. We talked about what we wanted to do to create a legacy of purpose that honored our son’s memory.

Together we realized that I couldn’t be there in the way my family needed while serving as our firm’s Chief Everything Officer.

As a result, I became a client of Trinity Wealth Advisors, the firm that I and a few other truly special people founded. I literally walked through the door after that decision as a client, rather than as a founder and CEO.

It was like being the chef who walks into his restaurant as a customer for the first time, and as a result, is able to see what he was doing right—and what he could do better.

And although this transition wasn’t easy, years later I am able to look back and recognize the blessings that came from it.

In the long run, this trial strengthened my faith. It showed me that even in those moments of doubt—even when you have to do something that is completely out of your comfort zone, like (in my case), giving up control—there is a greater plan.

But I learned much more than that.

I experienced the freedom that comes from loosening my grip. Every successful businessperson I know attributes some part of their success to the experts they’ve added to their team. I preach the same thing to my clients frequently – as they outsource the stewardship and growth of their wealth to our team of experts.

It’s a freedom I’d never quite felt, and a freedom I now guard with gratitude.

From a business perspective, another blessing was the unique opportunity to view Trinity through the eyes of our clients. I was able to better understand how our clients come to us during their own times of transition, as different questions about wealth emerge, their priorities shift, and they’re learning how to convert the success they’ve achieved into something significant for their family and the causes they care about.

And the chance to be served by the people I usually worked alongside of is something I don’t think I ever would have experienced otherwise.

It was an honor to work with the professionals at our firm as a client, rather than as a colleague. It was an opportunity to find out what we did right—and improve on what we could do better.

Getting to view Trinity from our clients’ perspective was a gift, and I believe it’s an experience that would benefit a CEO or senior leader at any company.

Every time a client walks through our doors for the first time, I remember the day I did the same thing. I remember the day I sat down in my own restaurant (metaphorically speaking), and ate my own cooking for the first time.

At Trinity, we strive to not only give you the best financial advice, but also to walk alongside you and meet you where you are.