In this excerpt from the Growth Ready Podcast (Episode 289), Mike Milligan discusses what it means to be "growth ready" and shares the personal philosophies that guide his life and business. He defines growth readiness as simply living—continuously seeking the next idea, relationship, or purpose—even when life feels like treading water. Milligan outlines two core principles: (1) being "one of a kind," which means recognizing and embracing each person’s unique purpose, and (2) "never miss a moment," staying fully present to control what you can. He recounts his upbringing in a small North Carolina town with poor public schools and extreme poverty, highlighting how early family experiences shaped his outlook. The pivotal moment came in 2021 when his brother died in a car accident; the tragedy forced Milligan to confront the urgency of living authentically. This realization informs his financial advisory firm, One Oak Financial, which positions itself as a "one‑of‑a‑kind" alternative to the industry’s one‑size‑fits‑all approach. The firm creates customized financial plans that align with a client’s unique life vision, a concept Milligan also details in his book. The segment concludes with a call‑to‑action (text "IDEAS" to 600‑700 or call a listed number) and a compliance disclaimer outlining his affiliation with Advisory Alpha LLC and the limits of the advice provided.
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Welcome back to the One of a Kind Financial Show Daily with your host, Mike Milligan. Today's Thursday, October 23rd, and I have a special treat for you today. What does it mean to be ready to pursue growth? Well, on the Growth Ready Podcast with my friend Steve, we recently answered that question from my point of view on episode 289, Be One of a Kind: Redefining Success in Time with Mike Milligan. Steve asked me several questions, and each episode explores pivotal moments that define true growth and the work that went into getting ready for it. So enjoy a snippet from that podcast. And if you want to hear the whole episode, go wherever you listen to podcasts and search Growth Ready Episode 289.
Let's get to the interview. Hello there, and welcome back into the most recent installment of the Growth Ready Podcast. I am delighted to be welcoming in Mike Milligan today, and he's joining us from Norfolk, Virginia. I was looking forward to maybe getting a bit of a Puerto Rico backdrop because I know you've got places there too, Mike. But hey, listen, I'll settle for simply just having you on the show. That's more than good enough for me. But listen, Mike, before we go any further, as I do with all of my guests, I want to ask you as we get started, what does it mean to you to be growth ready?
It means that I'm living. To be honest with you, I found your— I find your question to be very fascinating. But like, to me, living is growth. If you are not— there's points in times where we all kind of, you know, just life throws things at us and we're just kind of treading water. But in really tough times, treading water is still growth. But to me, just living, just always looking for the next idea or the next great relationship. relationship or deepening relationships I already have. It is that, that to me is what, uh, being growth ready is, is it's just, it's the next breath. It's finding, it's finding purpose in everything we're doing every day.
I mean, even going as granular as the next breath, I really appreciate you getting that specific with us and the insight around treading water. I think We're going to certainly touch on that. Probably what I'm most drawn to about your response is the acknowledgement of when we talk about life in general, we really do start to acknowledge just how little is in our control. There are things we can gain control of, but in that response there, I'm just curious, Mike, like when you reference life in general, how much of that are you putting down to the notion of the controllables versus maybe the— The things not so much in our control?
Well, it comes down to like, I have really 2 basic philosophies of life and of business, to be perfectly honest, Steve, is one is I think that you have to be one of a kind. And the other is that you never miss a moment. See, I think many of us, you know, this is, um, I'm 48 years old. I turned 49 in just a few days. I think a lot of us just let life pass us by because we're not, we're not in the moment. We're not paying attention. We are— we don't— we're there to— we're not there to really listen to the people we're here with. And I want to be present where I am and realize that when I'm not present, I can't control the other stuff. And so this whole idea of being one of a kind is one that I've learned over my life is We are unique. Every single person has a unique quality about who they are. If you don't realize that, if you don't embrace that, and you try to be somebody else, well, then you're robbing the earth of what you were meant to be here to do. And I mean, we're all different. Some of us are meant to be CEOs. Some of us are meant to be You know, um, you know, work, work in government. Some of us are meant to, you know, be moms or be dads only, right? Some of us are meant to be pro athletes, right? But like, if you don't do what you're meant to do and embrace your uniqueness, then the world is missing out on who you are.
For when you look at your life as a whole now, at this juncture, when did you get to that point where you're able to say, okay, There was this crystallizing, or maybe there was just this period of time where you were able to simply acknowledge and see that everything that you just alluded to there is the case, that we are unique and that we do need to look at ourselves in many ways as one of a kind.
Well, I can, I mean, I could point, I should not be where I am today. I mean, just if you really dive back and look at like my background, I was born and raised in a small town in North Carolina. When I was coming through the education system in North Carolina, the public school system in the town I was in was the 100th ranked school system in the state. There's only 100 school systems in the state. In the nation, the United States, our state was the 50th ranked state in education. There's only 50 states. So literally, I got the worst education that, you know, by any metrics that were being published at the time. And I also grew up in what— I didn't know this at the time, but now I know it. I grew up in extreme poverty. And yet I, through just noticing what was around me, right? I mean, I have vivid memories of being with my grandmother and my grandfather and my mom and different situations and interacting with adults early on and things that are just like, when you really deeply think about them, you're like, holy cow, right? That was really cool to be 7 years old and opening a Miller High Life for my— My uncle, right? Or, but like when you realize that and then you just go through life and you start, and you start embracing the unique moments that happen. And then where it really crystallized was in 2021. It comes, it comes for some people in tragedy. It comes through others in celebration or being acknowledged. For me, it came through tragedy because Yeah. I had a brother who, he and I used to talk about being unique. I mean, like he and I were We're close, but he was genuinely unique. But he passed away. He got into a car accident. And it's one of those things that through the tragedy, I realized that if I don't fully embrace my uniqueness, who I am, and if I don't do that in business and in relationships with my family and with friends, then I'm wasting my life because his life was cut short at the age of 41. Now, he lived a full life. You know, from birth to 41, he— the dude lived a life, right? Uh, and, you know, uh, he, he lived more of a life in 41 years than most people who live to 100 ever live. But, but, but, but I, I've embraced that. I embrace it in the company that I run. I embrace it in my, you know, in my life. My wife and I now— you, you mentioned Puerto Rico earlier.
Yeah.
You mentioned, uh, you were hoping to see some sights in Puerto Rico. We live in Puerto Rico. We literally have moved there and spend most of our time there. I just come back to the corporate headquarters from time to time. You just happened to get me on the coast in Virginia today.
Yeah. And again, it's always hard to hear that these life lessons come through tragedy. And it's a big part of the mission behind the show, quite honestly, Mike, is for us to hear a story like yours, to acknowledge just the The difficulty and the tragedy of you having to go through something like that to have this awareness now. But at the same time, we hope that through these conversations that we can inspire and motivate people to not wait for the tragedy, to simply understand that everything that you're speaking to shouldn't necessarily be dependent on having to have these tragedies happen to us first in order to get the lesson. And something that I would love to just better understand now is the growth of the business and the growth of yourself, maybe even through the business too. Not only are you true to this notion of one of a kind, you have a business named after it. It's all about being one of a kind. And so, you live the life, you work the life of what it means to be one of a kind. And I'm glad to have now gotten a little bit more understanding of maybe some of the origin around this name. But talk to us a little bit about what this business is that you run today, but at the same time, really the unique components of it because here we are speaking on this notion of unique ability. And I think it's a great topic for us to address in this discussion. So talk to us a little bit about the business. Talk to us a little bit about the unique qualities around it too.
Well, we've taken something that people need, financial advice, and our financial services business is called One Oak Financial. One Oak, a lot of people, times they hear oak, they think about a tree. Or they even picture an acorn growing into the tree that then can withstand 100, 150 years. Our One Oak stands for one of a kind. So One of a Kind Financial. My wife, who is absolutely hilarious, she's just the best comic yet to be discovered in the world, said that you should have named the company OK Financial, just OK. Right? And I was like, why? She goes, because the O and the A in of a kind are redundant. And I said, babe, could you imagine if somebody was a client of Okay Financial? I'm just okay. And she goes, no, you're right. And she goes, one of a kind is much better because unfortunately, like in the financial system, one size fits all is what most big companies want to profit off of. We want to literally find the unique people who don't fit the mold of traditional financial advice, who want to live something that's more unique and custom for you, and then build the custom one-of-a-kind financial plan for them. I wrote the book about that. It's been released on Amazon and it's in bookstores all around. But the One-of-a-Kind Financial Plan is about you, your uniqueness, and that your financial plan should embrace the life you want to live, not the life that the advisors or Wall Street or Main Street want you to live.
Thanks again for spending a little time with us this morning and listening to that segment of the Growth Ready Podcast. If you want to find out more information about One Oak Financial or speak with me about what it means for you to experience growth, I invite you to text IDEAS to 600-700. That's the word IDEAS, I-D-E-A-S, to 600-700, or call directly into the office at 757- 909-715-1000, and Lorraine will get you rerouted to me. Be one of a kind and never miss a moment. We'll see you soon.
One last message from our compliance team. As a reminder, Mike Milligan, Certified Financial Planner, is an investment advisor representative of Advisory Alpha LLC, an SEC-registered investment advisor. All opinions expressed by me, Mike, or any podcast guests are solely our opinions. And do not reflect the opinions of Advisory Alpha. This recording is for informational purposes only, should not be relied on solely for investment, tax, or legal decisions, and it's in no way intended to communicate or guarantee specific performance or suitability of any security instrument or product as we may have discussed. Investment advisory and financial planning services offered through Advisory Alpha LLC, a registered investment advisor. Insurance products are provided by Ideas by Mike, a licensed agency located In Norfolk, Virginia, and licensed to do business in all 50 states. While tax and legal issues may be discussed in the general course of financial and investment planning, Advisory Alpha does not provide tax or legal services. Please consult with your tax or legal professional prior to making decisions related to these issues. If you want us— an appointment with Ideas by Mike or One Oak Financial, please reach out via our website. This podcast is produced in conjunction with Mike Milligan, LLC.
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