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Okay, we're definitely pleased to be joined today by Liz Wahl, who is a teammate of ours here at Ascendant Financial and someone that we're just super proud of and really honored to have on our show. And she's one of those rare Uh, advisors, I think, who, who just really, truly leads with heart. That's one of the best ways that I can describe her. We, we just love having her on our team and not just because she brings relentless integrity and, and dedication and, and insight, but because, she brings some of that unmistakable East Coast magic, you know, the, the kind of person who could, calm down a room full of rowdy Newfoundlanders and explain a policy loan without, without breaking to sweat. And so, Liz, let's dive right in. I think everybody's in for a real treat. And one of the first questions that came up, just given some of the things that you mentioned before we hit the record button was, let's just start from the very beginning. How did you first discover the infinite banking concept and what was your initial reaction?

Awesome. Well, thank you for the really kind introduction, Jason. I appreciate it.

I tried to get some humor in there. Yeah, we do it.

Yeah. you did a good job. You did a good job. So I guess the first time I was introduced to the infin banking concept would have been back in 2013 when I had the pleasure of being called for a one day temp job through a temp agency that I was working for at the time to cover a receptionist role. And I stayed at that job for about six years, and that is where I met Jason and I met Richard. good fortune of meeting these fellas and then of course, Sarblo. And I also had the wonderful pleasure of meeting Nelson during my time there. And that is when I was first introduced to the concept. Of course, in the beginning, it was just something the clients at the firm I was working at were doing. I knew nothing else about it. And that occasionally or over time that changed. And of course, Here I am now coaching people on the process.

And doing exceptional at it, by the way.

Thank you.

It's so interesting kind of taking a stroll down memory lane a little bit, Liz, and it's such a joy to kind of hear your perspective of that. It's funny, I knew that and I'd forgotten that, you know, it's a one-day temp job that turned into essentially a over a decade path of now helping and assisting people do this thing that you weren't sure what it was, but you've embraced it so fully. I think that's really, really incredible. And what a testament to not only the fact that you showed up in that first day to do the one day job, and they said, we need to keep you around. And that's still the case today. In fact, we want to keep you around as long as possible. So really, really amazing. And just the fact that you had the pleasure to get to meet Nelson and have a chance to see him. I know having him out at some of the events we did in Edmonton, I'd like to just jump onto that for a second. What were some of the things that you can recall from the time that you got to see Nelson in person? You probably had a chance to meet Mary as well. What are some things that come up for you when you think about those memories?

Yeah, so when I first met Nelson and Mary, as you said, we had them out for an event and I actually had the pleasure of sitting next to them at the dinner we had after the event. And we had really good conversations. nothing of really importance, not even necessarily about process. I remember talking about the forestry industry a lot because the province I live in has a big forestry industry. And that conversation and those conversations I had during the time I met him was the turning point for me that made me say, maybe I need to actually pick up this book and read it. I heard you guys talk about it. I seen these clients coming in. I had been to the boot camp, but I never actually read the book until I met Nelson. And the way he spoke and the way he always answered a question with a question to really get you to. To think about your thinking. I think that was the kind of turning point, I guess you could say, that led me to say, I need to read this book and find out what it's all about. Wow.

Yeah, that's so good. Nelson just had that effect on people. He was really able to meet people where they were at and to start from there. And he just had that charisma and that charm that people just have told us repeatedly over the years, you know, that they love so much about them. And so when you think now, you know, Liz, through your journey in guiding people to implement the infinite banking concept, what's your favorite part of walking someone through their first year in the process, for example?

I always love, of course, the initial education stage when I'm meeting with clients and getting to see that light bulb moment for them, whatever it is. For me, I know one of the light bulb moments was like opportunity lost. I came from a family that didn't talk about money unless we, they were fighting about it. I went out into the real world with no financial knowledge or skills. and made all the stupid mistakes that many people do. And to rectify that, my solution was, I'm not in debt anymore. Now I'm just going to pay cash for everything. And when I read Nelson's book, I had this moment where I visualized all of the dollars that had just flowed through my hands into somebody else's pocket.

Yeah.

And that was a really big aha moment for me. And I love seeing that aha moment for my clients, whatever that might be, because every person has a different thing that they really resonate with about the process. So that would be one of my most favorite things. But I also love coming back a year later and talking about the progress they made in relation to what their goals were when we first started talking. That's my real favorite part.

I think that's incredible. And of course, you know, there's the progress that you get to see happen with other individuals, and then there's the progress that you experience for yourself. And, you know, a lot of times we have people, Liz, they think maybe it's through a piece of content that they saw, or they learned about this from a friend or a neighbor, and they hear about people doing these really extravagant, large, getting started type policies or putting in, you know, oodles of money right away, et cetera. And, and yeah, there are people that do that, but there's a lot of people who start very, very small or they begin wherever they're able to begin. I know for myself, my very first policy was 4219 a year. I didn't have any of that money. I wasn't, but I wasn't going to go and teach people how to go do this if I didn't have some skin in the game first. So not recommended. Wouldn't suggest anyone do this, of course, but in my experience, I just needed to get started. And so I actually used, I used someone else's bank to get that thing going. And that was TD Bank line of credit. Now, never recommend that. So for anyone listening in, that's not the path that you want to go down. But, you know, I needed to really commit so that I could get started in this process and being able to teach people what to do. I couldn't do that without having my hands on the tool and being able to engage with it first and being that kind of first person in the hole, as it were. So I'd love to get your thoughts on that, Liz, because I know you've gone through your own personal experience. using this at various stages of your life. You know, the stages change, you know, got kids, you've been, you know, I met you in Alberta, you've moved back out, back home out east. So there's a whole number of, you know, dynamics there in your own life. And I'm curious how you relate some of that personal experience to the conversations you have with your clients.

One of the things that I always say to people is it's better to get started where you can than not at all. and I say this a lot because for myself, although I picked up the book and read it around 2014 or 15, I never implemented the process right away. And do you think that I don't wake up every single day thinking, man, if I only did that when I first read that book, instead of waiting the time that I did, and I didn't get started right away because I felt like I wasn't ready. I didn't have the money. I couldn't afford it. I needed to do this first. I needed to do that first. And while I did make some changes during that time that really helped me to be able to get started, I still only got started with a really small amount myself, much smaller than your policy. In fact, my first policy's annual premium was $1,722. And it was a policy I purchased on my daughter. who was just an infant at the time. And I, over the years, of course, have progressed in how I utilize the policy, how I flow my money to the policy. And today I'm putting in a lot more premium than that per year. In fact, I was just sharing this story with Jason and Richard at our coaching session that we had last week in Calgary. When I met Jason and Richard, I had just come from another job where I was making $14 an hour. I couldn't imagine putting the amounts of capital that I was, I am today into the policy back then. But today, I'm happy to say that I am currently funding my banking system to the tune of the annual income I was making when I left that job just before we met. So it's really, really changed my life completely in so many different ways. Obviously, it completely changed my career, but it absolutely changed the way I handle my money, the way I use my money, the way I view my money. And I'm a little bit wealthier for it.

That's amazing. And so in, in your, you know, Journey as, as an advisor, if, if you reflect on all the experience that you've been accumulating up to this point, so what, what do you wish? what do you wish that other advisors would really, truly understand around connecting with clients, like really connecting with clients?

I guess I would say it really is about relationship building with your clients, getting to know your clients. And, you know, a lot of financial advisors will want to know, what are your financial objectives? Sure. Yeah, I want to know that too, but I really want to know what matters to them, what drives them, what fuels them in life, because that's going to really help me dial in for them what's most important and how we can create a solution that's going to help them.

Very well said and remarkably accurate.

Well, you know, meeting Nelson and being prompted to read the book and now shooting forward many years later, you've gone through the book a number of times. I'm sure it's made a few trips for you. One thing I love, of course, is anytime we have a gathering or even you attended the annual Think Tank conference here, when Liz has to travel, it's always an interesting, she has some of the best travel stories because she's often held up in airports for extended periods of time and whether a plane is snowed in or snowed out or what have you. So you really are a trooper when it comes to making the effort, the extra putting in the extra 10% to make sure you show up when called. And I really appreciate that about you. So given that you have maybe a little bit more time in airports or on planes than some of the average people we know, other than Jason, who's got more frequent flyer miles than probably, you know, President Trump does, you've had a chance to go through that book and a number of other great books around the subject. What have you found now from that initial you know, review of Nelson's book after meeting Nelson and sitting with him for dinner to now, as you progress and you're, and you're continuing to learn about the concept, what are some of the things that are presently, like, pulling you and connecting with you more as you go through Nelson's work?

Yeah.

I mean, for me, one of the things that really resonated in the beginning and I think still continues to really resonate with me because it's something I have to bring up with clients often is this is really something where you have to have the honest introspection into what you're doing in your life with your money. That really resonated with me early on because, you know, at this stage of my life, I didn't have kids. I was enjoying life. I wasn't being serious about finances. and I was being frivolous with how I was spending my money. And, you know, the whole idea of really sitting down and saying, well, you can't do these things because you're choosing to do something else. And confronting myself with that is something I grappled with a lot in the beginning, and I think I still sometimes grapple with, and I see my clients. struggle with it often, you know, having a feeling or a thought around not being able to do this because of whatever their excuse is. But in all actuality, it's just a matter of sitting down and saying, well, what is going to be important to you? And if this is important to you and you do see the value and the change it's going to make for your family, then it's time to take an honest look at what you're doing and what you might need to change to make that process work for you. So I'd say that's probably the one that stuck with me the whole way through.

That's one that's important to shine a bright light on. I appreciate that reflection because we, so any of our teammates, right, who come on the show, we're asking these questions to really develop that understanding of what really resonates. Nelson, as the three of us know, I mean, he described it best. This all begins with desire and then taking a very close look as you expressed, taking a very close look because you're already prioritizing where every dollar that flows through your hands goes. Every dollar. And so this requires the understanding that there has to be some change and change for the better. And so if you were to now think about that through the lens of other advisors, so if you were training the next wave of advisors on the Ascendant team, what would be one lesson that you think they must learn from day one?

Everything you teach your clients should come from that book, Rob Nelson's book. It's something that when in the beginning when I was on my own. I was unleashed to be able to meet with clients on my own. I forgot about that for a little while. I forgot to always go back to the book to reference the book. And it showed in the type of clients I was attracting. You know, it really made me see that we don't have to stray from that. Everything you need to know is right here in this book. I think that's probably what I would say the most. Have you read the book frequently and have your clients read the book frequently? Because if we can always remind ourselves all the things that resonated with us in the beginning, the reasons that got us excited about why we did this to begin with, and keep those at our forefront, then it's going to be easy to make those decisions that to, and what we need to do to make sure we have a functional banking system. Well, I love that. And, and reading the book, of course.

So, you know, again, we often sound like a bit of a broken record here as we say that, but one thing I would add to what you said, Liz, is it's one thing to read the book, which if you tell anyone to read a book, they're like, oh, cool. How am I going to find time to do that? Some people love reading. They're all over reading. They're like Jason's library in the background there where they've got They've got a personal library and they're pulling them off the shelf and going through them like every page is dog eared and what have you. Or there's individuals like me who they would rather walk and listen or be on a treadmill or something and they want to engage both the physical element as well as their brain. One thing I really encourage people to do is just to read from the book. So rather than reading the book as in reading it cover to cover, while that is great and advantageous and certainly encouraged, just the fact that you're reading from the book is advantageous. And so like as an example on page three and four of the book, it's kind of an introduction section. Just reading those two pages, which will take you all of less than 10 minutes, like probably eight minutes to complete. If you did that, just did that once a month or once every two months, you're going to have an awful lot of consideration and thinking that's going to take just place, you know, from that one area. Nelson, of course, has the grocery store example in the book. He's teaching people how to build and grow a business. He's teaching people what are all the elements of capitalization that a typical business has to go through that similarly the tool of whole life insurance has to go through, but without any of the hassles of a typical business structure. So that those two pages right there alone, there's so much that could be gleaned from them again in 10 to 15 minutes. you can have total insights about your financial life, whether you're doing the process of becoming your own bank or not in your life, that you're going to get value out of that. So even if you're just reading one or two pages a day, you know, you can kind of like, it's like even you get jerky. Sometimes you get that really chewy jerky where you can chew on it for a long time. Well, that's kind of what you get here. You know, it's, it's, it's nutritious, it's protein, but it's protein for your brain, and you just keep on chewing it as you're reading through and thinking about what, what comes up there. So I think I can take credit for the first time we've ever associated infinite banking and I think so. Work with jerky.

Absolutely. Leave it to Richard.

So Liz, I am, you know, I'm always curious and of course we've had the, this conversation on a number of occasions and, but this, so this question I have for you is two parts. So the, the first part is so what, what compelled you to, to join the Ascendant team? And I guess what's it really like being a part of this team? Like, feel free to spill some secrets, you know?

Yeah, absolutely. What compelled me to join the team? So, as I mentioned, I'd been helping another, some, another advisor with his clients. He was teaching people about this process. And when you started Ascendant Financial, one thing that was very different between what he was doing and what you envisioned doing was how, what happens after the policies are in place. Now what? Because that was something that I was seeing with the clients was, they were feeling that after a year or two that that now what was coming up and they were not motivated and engaged to continue doing what they started in the first place. And the big disconnect was that there was no servicing of the client. The client was kind of led through what this process was and then they were left out on their own by this other person. This is where I needed to see what you had envisioned, where we were there to help the clients not only set this up, but also to implement it and continue it on and teach it to their family members and to the next generation. Because ultimately, that's what Nelson envisioned. and that's what of course you envisioned for your clients. And I knew that, you know, there was no question in my mind that's the side of the fence I wanted to be on.

That's amazing. And what's it really like being on the team?

It's great being on the team. I mean, you and I, we've been working together for many, many years and I've received so much valuable information and mentorship and guidance. and that is echoed through the whole team. It's not just the people like yourself and Richard and Sarblo and all the people that you see on our YouTube channel that are there providing guidance. It's everybody on the team just has a really good growth mindset where we all want to see each other succeed and we all want to do what we can to help better each other and lift each other up. assistant: and it's a really encouraging environment. I definitely would not be an advisor today if it wasn't for Jason, Richard, Sarblo, and the rest of the team, because I don't think I would have had the confidence to do it. You guys gave me that confidence and the knowledge and, and all of the other fun stuff that went along with it.

I love that. And credit to all of our, support team mates as well. They They just, they're unsung heroes. They don't want any of the spotlight. They don't get any of the commission. They don't, you know, request any rounds of applause, but they get up and make all this success look ridiculously easy. And they shield us from all the things that we shouldn't be doing as advisors. And so we, We can extend that credit to them too. And thank you for that, Liz. And you can attest, like we didn't talk about any of this before the show.

Not at all.

Really appreciate you being open and sharing that.

Yeah, absolutely.

You know, Liz, you talked a lot about the importance of seeing that connection point made from the servicing standpoint, the making sure that people understand on an ongoing basis. how they can put this to work in their lives. What are some of the things that you find are providing, or do you think from your perspective provide the best resources or advantages for the general public, the consumer who's coming in, they're getting started, they want to embrace this concept, they're working with a coach on our team, yourself, or someone else on the team. And walk us through like maybe that ongoing service minded aspect of how are we actually helping people and what do you see as some of the key advantages that they're able to participate and take advantage of once they kind of get glued into the ecosystem.

Yeah, absolutely. Of course, we have our client portal, which is a gold mine of information for the clients. We record all of our client coaching sessions. Another thing, we meet with our clients on a quarterly basis in a webinar style where people are invited to turn their cameras on, to hop in in the chat box to ask questions and engage with each other. We do breakout rooms where our clients get to chat with each other one on one about what they're doing with their system, how it's made an impact for them and their family. And I think that those connections are the community we've built are the is one of the biggest Benefits of working with somebody on our team. We have a really great client based community and a really great great advisor community where we collectively are in this together, you know, as a more novice advisor, I rely on the support of my teammates who have been doing this for a lot longer than me for things that maybe I haven't encountered yet.

And.

Because I always have them in my corner, the clients that we're working with have the benefit of having the knowledge of not just me, but every other advisor on this team as well. And the stories of all of the other clients that we service here as well. Those things, I think, make a really big impact for our clients. And of course, anytime we're able to get our clients together, whether it be for our, you know, weekly webinars or our in-person big live events that we do. That's always what I hear over and over from clients is that's one of the favorite things that we put on for them is being able to connect them personally with other people.

I love that. And if you were, because we're always describing the advantage of always be building a future that's bigger than your past. and credit to Dan Sullivan. So my question would be, so if you were to envision for a moment all of the families, the people that you've served, and it was 20 years from now, how do you want to be remembered?

That's a good question. Hopefully I would be remembered as somebody who cared about them and was there to guide them in different way of thinking that is going to impact their family for generations to come.

I love that. And you're not going anywhere. I'm not saying anything. I'm not putting a time frame on that. It's long enough of a time frame because Nelson said it would take most people to fully control the banking function in their lives as it relates to their needs. a 20-year time frame to achieve that. And gosh, he's, 'cause we're, Rich and I are approaching, so Rich should be approaching his 16th year, mine 17th year. And Nelson was absolutely right.

The impact of helping people over a long time frame is, I mean, it's very powerful, but it's also liberating and it's, it's joyful. There's so many kind of great descriptors that go along with seeing and you get to know people's families and watching their children grow and go through different stages of life. What's curious, you know, when you got started, Liz, of course, you got started, you know, servicing people from a different vantage point before moving into an advisory role. And, you know, I was really curious, you know, what would you say is like the what was the really key element for you that made you realize you wanted to make that switch? You wanted to go from helping people at this level to trying to go into more of a layer of, Hey, I really want to get the training. I want to actually be able to do this one-on-one with clients. What was the pivot point for you?

For me, I think, so little backstory, I always wanted to be a teacher. I actually went to university and started down that path. And every education course I took and every seminar I took in university that talked about becoming a teacher was held by a burnt out teacher who warned everybody how awful teaching is and how hard it is on you and don't do it unless you're really gonna love it. And it kind of scared me out of looking down that path further. I thought about all of the years I was going to have to continue going to school, the money I was going to have to spend, and I kind of pivoted away from that. And I ended up going and becoming an early childhood educator. So still the same path, a teaching path, but there's not a lot of money to be made in that industry. And, you know, a girl's got to feed her family. And I, of course, just kind of started looking at a different path. And that's how I ended up at the temp agency. which led me to Nelson in this book that completely changed my life. But for me, the admin side of things was a means to an end, whereas the coaching side is kind of a passion. I always wanted to coach and teach people, and I couldn't imagine being immersed in this so deeply and not following that path because that's. I'm a natural teacher, I think.

And so when you think of coaching, so how in your role now as an authorized infinite banking practitioner, an advisor, a guide to clients, so what role has the coaching and mentorship that you receive here at Ascendant played in your growth as an advisor and a leader?

Oh, it's been immeasurable. I would have fell flat on my face out of this industry had I not had it. I would not have survived the first six months, I don't think. You know, it's not an easy industry to work in and the coaching and guidance that I've received has allowed me to serve people that I probably would not have been able to serve in 10 years of doing this on my own as an independent advisor.

Yeah, it's always, it's always so great to hear that it's because a lot, an immeasurable degree of emphasis is placed on coaching and mentoring. And I know for myself and, and Richard, I think that I can express somewhat on his behalf just to share how fulfilling that is because we, in the beginning of our journey, We had to travel extensively to go directly to people who had already been practicing this process for many years. And if you would have said to Richard and I then, Hey, let me take you to 2025 and Ascendant is operating in the United States and Canada, and we're busier than we've ever been. I wouldn't have seen it back then, and I don't think Richard would have seen it either. But what we were super ambitious and perseverant to do was to learn and to learn and immediately identify the best people that we could find and say, we're coachable. Like we just, we really want to absorb this and learn this. And we carried that into our ascendant team so that we could transfer that and really compress the window of time there was at our elite advisor network that we launched officially on the 9th. When we were there in session that.

Day.

There was stories that were coming up and one of them was from an advisor who we know and she had been communicating, I've got a team of six people, but I feel like you know, I've sort of hit this ceiling of complexity and it's more, I find now the days to be more energy draining than, than fulfilling. And, but by the end of that first coaching day, she was a completely different person in, in her thinking. And she was, she was re-energized and, and very excited to explore building a future that's bigger than her past. And so I'm, I'm very, I'm always excited to hear what teammates have to say about what role that coaching and mentoring has played. And for most, the answer is obvious. It's like, well, anybody would say, hey, it's had a, it's had an impact, but the way that it impacts you might be different than the way that it impacts another teammate. And one of the things that really stood out for me is when you said, I'm able to work with clients in cases where I may simply have not had that degree of knowledge or confidence or courage capability of the four C's, you know, Dan Sullivan's four C's. And it's just so great to see how, how far you've progressed and knowing that there's still so much runway. Now, I'll, I'll say this sort of in the reverse. So if you were, again, 20 years down the road and you looked back on all the lives that, that you've that you've impacted. What are you most proud of?

I would say probably my own growth and path. I mean, it sounds a little bit selfish. Of course, I'm proud of all of the impact I've made on my clients' lives and their families' lives. That's a given. But my own growth in this process, in coaching people on this process, and coaching and mentoring other people one day, hopefully, on the advisor side of things. Right. I think that that's what I really could see. You know, this has just completely changed the trajectory of my life. And for in a really positive way, I have grown so much and I know that the growth is just going to continue because you can't not grow on a team like this.

100% here. Okay, so finish this sentence for me. The one thing that I want people to take away from this episode is.

Go read Nelson's book.

I knew it.

I knew that's what you were gonna say.

Go read Nelson's book. That book has changed my life. It's changed everything I I thought I knew about money and I can share as well. It's also made a massive impact on the lives of my family members. Two of my family members were for Ascended Financial and, you know, that is a testament to the team and a testament to the belief in this process that we have.

Love it.

Rich. Amazing. Liz, so much fun. So great to give you a chance to share your journey, your story a little bit with everybody. and anybody who gets a chance to watch, of course, will instantly think you're amazing because they have no choice in the matter. It's just the way that it is. Question I have for you, of course, is, you know, who is it that you feel that you'd most want to be a hero to?

My daughter, Shay. I have one daughter. She's almost six years old, and she's my everything. She's why I do everything I do in life. And this process and what I'm learning and coaching people on, I'm so excited to coach her on it more in depth one day. And I am pumped that I, the future that I can see for her. And it's all made possible because of Nelson.

Absolutely love that, Liz. It's been just a real pleasure. And we look forward to having you back. You know, we've mentioned to all of our teammates that, you know, we can't wait to have you back and talk about, you know, the progress that you've helped your clients make that you've made personally, professionally, and to keep our listeners up to speed on, on both sides of the border, how, how you're doing. And, you know, one thing I will say, and it's, and it's so true, is that we do need more women in this industry. And that is just, that's just a fact. And we, so to see how far you've come and, and where you're going to go just makes us so proud. And so thanks for being with us and For everybody watching on the YouTubes, you just saw another video pop up. That is our way of encouraging you to continue your journey of learning as we always end with. There's no such thing as having arrived in knowledge. Credit to the late R. Nelson Nash for that statement, which is so true. So continue your journey of learning. And this was amazing. I love being your teammate and really proud of you.