The Impact We Make In Our Communities (Ep.20)

Welcome to Ideas by Mike, the podcast with Mike Milligan, where you will find one-of-a-kind financial planning advice for your one-of-a-kind life. With over 22 years of experience as a Certified Financial Planner, Mike shares experiences and advice on crafting simple, easy-to-understand financial plans based on your values and priorities. He believes that taking a personalized approach is the best way to prepare for the future and give meaning to your finances. So, follow along as Mike, and from time to time, his guests, explore different strategies and tools that could help you secure your financial future in retirement. Now, onto the show.

Hello, and welcome to the Ideas by Mike podcast with your host, Mike Milligan. I'm Wendy McConnell. Hey, Mike, how are you?

I am doing great. It's— we're already in 2025. We're jamming along, and, you know, we're here to finish like our series on impact, like what our company does from an impact standpoint. So, Wendy, I'm so excited today to have Marcus and Kelsey from our team on the podcast, and we're gonna, we're gonna talk about like the impact that our employees make on not only our clients, but our communities and what they're personally and what makes them one of a kind also. So, I'm pretty excited today, Wendy.

All right. So, we have some guests, right? So, you want to introduce them for us?

I will, right? Kelsey has been with me the second longest in our business, right? Kelsey lives in Smithfield, Virginia, known as the ham or bacon capital of the world, I think, or something like that. Ironically, it's also where my wife is from. So it's a very special place that I get to visit and where she lives. Kelsey is a senior relationship manager with us. She has held many titles at Ideas by Mike, including director of first impressions. She's the one person really in our company who could snap her fingers and get me to do something, right? She holds that kind of power over me. So, So Kelsey is awesome, and we'll talk about what makes her one of a kind in a second. Marcus is actually out in Midland, Texas, as part of our company too. He's a senior retirement income specialist for us. Marcus has— is unique. He's really one of a kind, right? He and Vanessa and their kids live out there. He's really big into sports. We'll talk about that a little bit, I'm sure, today. But I'm excited to share more of our team. with our listeners who are our clients and our prospects and those who are exploring ideas by Mike. And I just want people to get to know us a little bit more by getting to know more about who our people are. So, you know, today we're gonna, you know, with Kelsey and Marcus here today, we're gonna really dive into who they are as people, but also, right, what it's like to be able to make an impact in the work that they do. And so I'm excited about this today. And so, Kelsey, since you're the more senior person on this call today at Ideas by Mike, you don't get called that often, right? Can you, can you just share with everybody what makes you one of a kind?

I have a— I've thought about this for a— I thought this was a really hard question. I had a few answers, but I think my favorite one is that What makes me most one of a kind is like I have a really big circle, um, when it comes to like friend, uh, friends and family. So I have a lot of people who are like in my corner to support me and me to support them. I think that's kind of a really big trait that I like to, like to focus on just because I feel like a lot of people my age start to lose people and I feel like I've just started to gain more and more.

And I can echo that for you, Kelsey, because when Kelsey started working with me in 2021, it seemed like every weekend Kelsey was going to a bachelorette party or a wedding. Right.

And it continues on.

And it continues on.

Right.

It's just like the more your circle picks up, the more of these events that come on. And that's just like the, the area of, the area of life you're in right now. Right. Is it's the social relates around You know, being with your friends at those key important, key important moments, right?

Mm-hmm.

It is awesome.

I honestly thought that that part of my life would be, you know, slowing down by now, but it's going to be going, going strong until at least 2027. So.

Hey, hey, Kelsey, just so people really get to know you a little bit and what makes you one of a kind, because I know more about you than they do, uh, tell us about your 3 babies.

My three babies—they're not here right now. I had to send them away so they wouldn't disturb this whole ordeal. But I have three dogs that I call them the variety pack. They're—they're like a big, middle, and a little. It's Boone, Norma, and Duke—in that order from oldest to youngest. One of them's eight; he's a pit bull. One is seven, and she is. A French Bulldog. She's my, she's my favorite. Don't tell the others.

But we won't.

And then there's Duke. He's 4. He was our spur-of-the-moment puppy that we got from a friend who had a litter. So, and he's a Redbone Coonhound. So he's huge. Absolutely giant.

Oh, wow. Yeah. And then the last thing that makes you one of a kind, Kelsey, is you and Sean, your husband.

Yes.

Have a desire to visit national parks in the United States, and not just one of them, all of them, right?

Yes, it's on our list. Um, we started out on our, on our honeymoon, actually. This is our, um, like the week right after we got married, we went to Yellowstone and Grand Teton. Um, we stayed in Jackson Hole. We did probably within 3 days, we did like 30, 40 miles of hiking. So it was Honestly, so much fun. It was— I just want to go back. I want to do more. I want to go more places. We're in the process of planning our next one, hopefully in November sometime. So we'll see.

Where are you heading? Which one is it?

Um, well, we wanted to do Utah, but in November, Utah is gonna be super snowy. And I don't think we're gonna be able to check off as many parks as we want to because Utah has like 5. So if I'm going out there, I'm going to as many as I can. But if they're all super snowy, I would rather do that in a warmer month. So I think we're going to go to Texas. Maybe I'm leaving it up to Sean because it'll be over his birthday weekend. So I love that.

I absolutely love that. Marcus, like I mentioned, Marcus is in Midland, Texas. He's married to a very strong woman, Vanessa. It's probably an understatement, right, Marcus? Vanessa, forgive me for saying that if you're listening to this. But Marcus, if I asked Vanessa what made you one of a kind, what would she say?

I think her would— she would just talk about like my upbringing and where we've come. Just because like the environment I grew up in, like I just seen it as normal life. But from the outside looking in, she was like, you know, that's not normal, right? And she said, you wasn't supposed to come out of the circumstances that you were in. Just a little, just a little backstory. My dad's never been in my life consistently. Like, I know my dad, I love my dad, I have nothing, no hard feelings towards him. And my mom was a drug addict. So I'll— my mom got taken to prison when I was 16 years old. I came home to a dark house and No electricity after basketball practice, not knowing what was going to happen, but just through God, just continued to push me forward, take one step after another. And today I'm here. But I think that's what makes me unique, is just me having a perspective of God just continuing to be a light in our life and just continuing to Bless us beyond our wildest dreams.

Wow, that's amazing. That's amazing that Vanessa would say that. I mean, it just shows the connection you guys have. Marcus, you also are a father of 3, but you're also a former athlete too, right? So talk about like your athletic pursuits, right? Because you mentioned you came home from basketball practice and it was just normal, right? But Vanessa's like, that's not real normal. But then that— you didn't stop playing basketball at 18. 16. Tell us what happened athletically first.

So, I mean, growing up, like, um, we had a lot of freedom. Like, we could do whatever we want. I mean, there was nobody that was going to tell us that we couldn't do something. But just me just seeing, like, the family situation, just knowing what that was taking us to— like, that wasn't, that wasn't prosperous for us. That wasn't helping us get get ahead. And like, I had to make myself just continue to play basketball. But I did have a wonderful coach who came down this past month that I got to see. His wife has fell ill, but he was one of the people who really helped me continue my pursuit in basketball because he asked me one thing. He was like, if you stay, Marcus, he's like, I'll retire after you leave. But if you leave, I'm retiring now. And when he made that promise to me, I figured, okay, let me figure out a way to stay here. So my older brother asked a foster family that he was staying with if they would take me in just for the rest of high school. And so they brought me into their home, and they were very gracious to let me, let me live with them for the, for the 2 years I needed to, to finish high school. So I'm very grateful for them. If If they ever need anything, I'm here to help them with anything that they need. And they're still a big part of our lives, and we have fun with them every time we get to go see them. And then just continued on. After I graduated high school, I've been on my own ever since. It was just like— and I met Vanessa in college, and it's just been us just building our lives. So that's how basketball took me to where it needed to take me, took me through college. Uh, getting my degree and, and just continuing on to build my family. So it's been great for me.

If I'm not mistaken, your little basketball career also involved a national championship, is that right?

Yes, it did.

Yeah, yeah. So just— it— you, you just didn't play basketball, you excelled at basketball as part of a team that led to you guys cutting the nets down in the national championship game, right?

It did.

You didn't lose your last game that season like everybody else does.

Not that season. Not that season. That season there, that was one— that was a one-of-a-kind season right there. And it was a lot of ups and downs, but like the team that we had, like there was no dynamic like the, the players that we had, the dynamic that you've seen of that team, like up and down the roster, we were super talented. Um, any given night somebody could go off. I was a freshman coming in, um, and one of our sophomore Forwards got in foul trouble and I had to step up that game to help us excel past that team. And it's just like every single night there was somebody different pushing us ahead to win that national championship. And it was just, it was a fun year, even to the point we probably could have lost. We won on a tip dunk in the semifinals. With the clock striking zero, it probably could have almost been that that point didn't count and we didn't win that national championship. But it was just a magical season.

How close, how close. What's it like, uh, what's it like being a father to teenagers in this, in this world we live in now?

It's fun, um, because I mean, they're so advanced, um, they're smart, um, they're brilliant kids. And I have to take a step back and be like, hey, they have a mind of their own. Like, we don't have to— we don't have to parent them hard because they are great kids to their core. And so it's easy to parent them. Not that it's easy to parent, but it's easy to parent them because they do listen and they want something that they want to pursue. Like, whether it's basketball, track, baseball, whatever it may be for them, they have something that they want. And then it just, it just makes us, makes it easier for us as parents that we have kids like that. So we're blessed. We're really blessed.

I love that. I mean, so like the one-of-a-kind life, right, that we always talk about for our clients, our, the people that work with us at Ideas by Mike are living it, right? Kelsey's one of a kind, right? She's, she's, you know, she is out in Smithfield, Virginia, living with her 3 babies and her husband and growing this big circle. Marcus is in Midland, Texas, you know, being a father, living this one-of-a-kind life, as his wife would say, that he shouldn't be living. But he, he's blessed, right, because of his faith and, you know, his background to be able to do this. But here— but we all got connected really in this whole idea of financial planning, right, to be the most dynamic financial planning firm in the country that helps those who don't fit the traditional mold of financial advisors so we can make an impact. Kelsey, when you grew up and you were a little girl, did you, did you dream of working in a financial planning company?

Mike, no, never. You didn't? You didn't want to do that? Mike, I hate numbers. This was my least expected route for me.

So when you When you got out of college, you graduated Old Dominion University. When you got out of college, your first job was working with senior citizens, correct?

Yes, I was an activities director at a nursing home.

Right, and that was also during COVID It started out not in COVID.

I started out 2018, um, the fall of 2018, until you hired me in 2021.

What was it, what was it like working with seniors during COVID in a senior community?

It was very discouraging. It was obstacle after obstacle after obstacle, and it just felt like there was no end in sight, honestly.

All right. Yeah. And Marcus, during that same period of time, right, you got into the insurance business actually before we got connected, right? You were working on the property and casualty side, right, in a, in a large property and casualty outfit where you were the main man, right?

Yes, sir.

In that standpoint. So, let's fast forward to like what it's like, because we don't all come to a physical office together, right? Our office is a virtual setting. What is it like working in a virtual setting post-COVID for you guys? What does it feel like to you?

I think it's refreshing. I think it's a step in the right direction because so much these days is like, On virtual, like even virtual doctor's appointments. It's like there's so many options for virtual that I think it gives us the freedom to one, work with people everywhere, but like also the freedom to like work within the confines of what makes us comfortable, like our homes. And people can not have to like feel like they got to take off work to meet somebody at an office. They can just take the call with an agent, one of you guys, from the safety of their home. I mean, the world's crazy these days, so honestly, I think it's just refreshing that we're stepping into that type of, um, that type of space for everybody.

I couldn't agree with you more, right? I find it like in the meeting spaces that we're in with people, we can meet them in their home, in the comfort, in their office, and this travel component is taken out. So it allows people to really focus on the meeting time that we actually have with them versus focusing on something that is not important, like traffic, or if there's a snow delay or anything like that. And it allows us to work all around the country, right? And so there's, there's the other part of our impact statement that we like to do is not only do we want to be virtually the number one financial planning firm that is dynamic in the country, It's also about how we can, how we can create a personal impact as employees for the greater good of our community. Marcus, what's been kind of the most meaningful impact that you've been able to do outside of work, right, for your community or out in Midland?

Like we've been talking about, basketball has been huge for me. So I volunteer my time to coach my son's team. And I think that'll probably be something that'll continue because like the high school that my son plays for, there's a huge gap in fundamentals when it comes from the younger players getting up to the high school level. And I think just bridging that gap, we can see some better basketball come through if we can get these kids younger to start playing basketball when they love it and learning how to play basketball. So in the community, I just love helping the kids get better at basketball. And I think that'll be something that I'll continue to do because I get fulfilled from it to see these kids get better and, and have a nice career. So.

Mark, Marcus, you do a lot of work with federal employees around the country, right, on the day-to-day work with us. Do you see any correlation between like helping kids by coaching them in basketball and then helping federal employees understand their benefits? Like in your work, do you see any like correlation there? And like, what is that correlation?

The fundamentals. There's a fundamental that you need, fundamentals that you need to retire. There's fundamentals that you need to play basketball. And some people don't have those fundamentals and they're learning them at 60 and 70 years old. And then now they're trying to play catch up. And I, and I don't ever try to discourage them because we may not hit the goal that you were after when you were 30 years old, but we can, but we can mold something while you're 70, for when you're 75, that you can enjoy. So it's just a matter of that timeline that they give us to help them put them fundamentals in place for them to have a healthy retirement.

And so like those fundamentals that we talk about is putting like people in a good tax position, making sure the retirement income's done, their investments are allocated correctly, long-term care and their legacy plans done.

Yes.

Which is in essence the same things like dribbling, passing, shooting, playing defense.

Yes, sir. Right. In basketball.

Exactly. That's the beautiful thing about like most of the impact that our employees do, like Marcus in coaching, Kelsey makes some impact, like, in her fitness journey and then in her social circles, which ironically is the same thing she does for our prospects. Because what her job is for us is to be that relationship person for our prospects to introduce them to us for the first time. And so, like, the impact she's doing, like, in her circles outside is, like, the natural progression of what she's doing in the office too. Wouldn't you agree with that, Kelsey?

I—

yeah, if you're good at it, stick to it, right?

That's exactly right. So it's not a job, right? It's a passion.

So it comes easy.

Yeah. And so, like, when we look ahead to— right, so when we look ahead to our impact, we have a long time to continue to impact, relatively long time, because our company's working on its 5th year. I've been 25 years in the business. Our team is relatively young. Marcus is young, Kelsey's young, Katie. Kelsey, our Katie, Caitlin, Liz, the whole team, right? We're young in this element of helping people, not necessarily in experience, but in our impact, right? But looking at the long-term impact we could make, right? Whether it's on animal shelters or whether it's on coaching basketball, whether it's like preserving our national parks, whether it's, you know, helping the next generation see their value. Right. What is the impact that— Kelsey, I'll start with you. What's the impact that you think you can make by your continued efforts at Ideas by Mike?

I think honestly, in my previous job, it was— it was— I kind of felt like— I hate to say this, but it kind of felt like everything I did was volunteer work, even though I was getting paid next to nothing for it. It felt like volunteer work. So I never really got to do volunteer work like I wanted to do. Like spread it out amongst different things within the community. So I think having the opportunity to give back in something that's not what we're working on is a great opportunity for us to grow, one, as an individual, but also as like a team, because Mike lets us pick the organizations that we give to every month and every quarter and all year. He lets us pick. And it's all stuff that like everybody on our team's— it's like important to them. So it makes it that much more important to help and participate when Mike gives us the opportunity to.

Yeah. And Mark, it's the same thing. Like, what do you see like our long-term impact that we can continue to perform for clients and prospects that you talk to?

Is educating them because I mean, Not that they're like a lack of knowledge out there, but just giving them the information that they need to make decisions on what's going to be best for their life. And I think that's going to start with the younger generation. Generation— what Joseph is doing is talking about this retirement planning early, talking about tax-free retirement, stuff like that. So if they get that stuff early, by the time they get to their 60s and their 70s, like You've already bridged that gap. They already know what they know, what they're looking for. They already know in the future what the long-term effects of them taking just a sliver of their money and setting aside and investing, what it can do for the long term. So I think we can bridge, kind of bridge that gap with the education that you're doing, Mike, that Kelsey's getting them to us, and just the impact that we're all making down the line.

Yeah, and that impact, we call that the one-of-a-kind financial plan. I mean, like, just what Marcus said and Kelsey said there is like, it's so true, right? Our impact that we can make in the community and we can diversify our impact, right? It doesn't have to be just focusing on one thing. We could focus on many things and we could join the efforts of others to make an impact in our community and then on our clients and our prospects.

Right.

Man, breaking through the noise. of what others are saying is from their company line, breaking through that noise of a company line to really helping people understand they're one of a kind and they deserve a one-of-a-kind plan is really where we are. And what makes Ideas by Mike special is the people. It's, it's the— not even the ones that are not on the podcast today, but like Marcus and Kelsey is what makes us unique. Right, because nobody else has them. That is our superpower. The superpower is the uniqueness found on our team. And that's, that's, uh, so Wendy, like, you know, I'm glad people got to hear like what our impact is from Kelsey and Marcus, because that is what makes our firm one of a kind. When our desire to create one of a kind financial plans for people's one of a kind life, they need to understand our team is one of a kind. And we're here to listen, educate, and ultimately implement that one-of-a-kind financial plan.

Now, all your people are one of a kind, and all of them together makes a one-of-a-kind business and firm, correct?

Right. That's exactly right. All right. Well, we are excited for people to get in contact with us. They can do that by going to our website at ideasbymike.com or following us on YouTube @ideasbymike or even going to Instagram or Facebook @ideasbymike. One of the more interesting parts about if you were to connect with us through any of those outlets, one of the first people you're going to interact with on our team is Kelsey, and you're not even going to know it. She is, she is the silent communicator on all of our social media, but she's also in that social interaction that you said, that she said makes her one of a kind earlier. She's one of the best in the business. at getting you connected to people like Marcus, who's going to do that first call with you and to help get that one-of-a-kind plan started with you. So I'm glad today that we got to introduce a little more about Kelsey and Marcus and what makes them one of a kind. And I think when you meet with them, you meet with our team, you're going to realize that they are genuine in their pursuit of your one-of-a-kind life. And that's why we're excited that Ideas by Mike to be the dynamic financial planning firm that we are so we can help people that don't fit that traditional mold.

Absolutely. Well, thank you, Mike. Thank you, Marcus. Thank you, Kelsey. And thank you for listening today. Please like, follow, and share this podcast with your friends. Until next time, I'm Wendy McConnell.

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Ideas by Mike is an LLC headquartered in Virginia with offices in 42 cities. The company owns an insurance agency registered in all states directly or through affiliate companies. Mike is an investment advisor representative with JB Wealth Advisors. Any financial planning information shared on the show should not be construed as financial advice for you personally. For your one-page financial plan, please reach out to Ideas by Mike through the website. The information covered and posted represents the views and opinions of the guest and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Ideas by Mike. The content has been made available for informational and educational purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional investment advice. Any financial planning information shared on the show should not be construed as financial advice for you personally. For your one-page financial plan, please reach out to Ideas by Mike through the website.