The Mission Behind Ideas by Mike™ (Ep. 17)

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. Well, hey there, Mike. How you doing?

I'm great, Wendy. How are you doing?

I'm good. I'm good. Um, we are today going to be talking about impact, how we are breaking the mold of traditional financial planning by creating meaningful change in our community across the nation, even globally. And we have 2 members of the team, the impact team. We have Caitlin, who oversees the impact division, and Katie, the go-to For all things outreach and implementation. And of course, Mike, you are our visionary leader. So let's go, let's do it.

Well, thanks, Wendy. Uh, yeah, I am excited to have Caitlin and Katie here. Um, when I started Ideas by Mike, uh, or at least had the idea of starting Ideas by Mike 5 years ago, I knew I, I just didn't want to run another financial planning firm. I wanted to challenge the status quo and even break the mold of what the insurance, investment, and financial planning industry new to be, new to have an impact. So financial planning shouldn't just be about numbers and investments. It should be about helping people live their one-of-a-kind life. That's where the impact department within Ideas by Mike comes in. We're just not helping clients with their financial goals. We're actually helping them live the best life they can. And we as a company are actively investing in our community. We're fostering change and inspiring our team to live with purpose.

Well, Caitlin, Katie, thank you for joining us. We are so happy to have you here. And why don't you each share a little bit about yourselves and your role in the impact department?

Thank you, Wendy. Hello, I am Caitlin Costner. I am the Chief Operating Officer here at Ideas by Mike. But as it relates to the impact that we have, uh, here at Ideas by Mike, I am in charge of assisting Katie, uh, who's really, uh, hands-on and, uh, just making sure that all of our efforts combined, um, they work, uh, on developing long-term strategies for how we can increase our impact year over year. Uh, yeah, it's something that, uh, Mike has always been really passionate about, impact. And, uh, when we brought Katie on, I think he really stepped it up. He always talked about, I really want to do this, and I really want to do this. And now we actually are doing it. It's wonderful.

All right, Katie.

Yeah, thanks, Caitlin, for the quick intro. I'm Katie Owen. I'm the impact coordinator here at Ideas by Mike. I would say that I am the boots on the ground for everyone. So I do local initiatives. I partner with community organizations, find ways for not only our local team to get involved here in Hampton Roads, but also we've got team members that are virtual. So it's important to figure out how we can get boots on the ground in their areas and bring it all together so we have one, you know, larger impact from the whole team. So I'm the boots on the ground girl.

All right, that sounds great. So Mike, can you talk about the mission, the vision, and the values of Ideas by Mike and how the impact department fits into that?

Yeah, so, Our goal here is to execute one-of-a-kind financial plans for your one-of-a-kind life. I really believe that everybody is one of a kind. And I've said that on every episode of the podcast we've had, Wendy, and it's something that a lot of people are really starting to catch the vision of themselves.

Yeah.

And so, our team that consists of quite a few people are starting to realize how they can impact our clients. But really, the impact that we have out into the community starts with helping our clients see how they can make an impact. I talk to our clients about something called retirement chi. That is, if they don't have something in retirement that they're looking forward to, they're just going to sit in their recliners, every day is going to be a Saturday, and it's not going to be that exciting of an actual time for them. They're just going to be checking off this bucket list of, excursions to do, almost like you're on a cruise ship, just going on excursions. Well, Qi is how you create a community, how you focus on your health, but really about how you have an impact. So our vision was always bigger than just traditional financial planning. So the impact department lets us act on that vision, connecting with our community, supporting causes our team and clients care about, and redefining what it means to be a financial planning firm.

Mike, to piggyback off of our Ideas by Mike mission statement, we have also come up with an Ideas by Mike impact mission statement. So I am going to do a little bit of reading so I can tell you guys exactly what we stand for, what our mission is as far as impact, and what we're looking to do. Okay, so I do— excuse me— at Ideas by Mike, we are committed to making an impact within all of the communities we serve. We do this by making monthly charitable donations and providing hands-on volunteer efforts to nonprofit organizations that we believe in. We listen to our employees, family, friends, communities, and clients to make an impact. Ideas by Mike is a driven and committed company working to expand our reach and impact with our partnerships, resources, and like-minded individuals. Together, we're making a difference. It's just really important to us. That's what drives everything that we're doing here. So it's nice to bring back the gap and fill the whole loop so we can really just be reminded, um, ourselves and our team what we're doing here.

So, and Katie, that makes a huge impact. I mean, and when we started, or when I founded Ideas by Mike, it was really, uh, creating that mission and having somebody like you to be able to drive that for us. Um, but most entrepreneurs, you know, want to do so many things, right? I, I like— I want to Yes, I want to plan people's retirement. I want to help them have that retirement chi. I want them to have the one-of-a-kind financial plan. But I also want to be able to invest in a group of employees who can help me do the same thing. But it doesn't make any sense to do all that if we can't impact something. And so, like, you have so eloquently just talked about what, like, the impact of our company is. Uh, Kaitlin, do you wanna talk about like what our community involvement and partnerships look like?

I would love to. Um, we here at Ideas by Mike are deeply rooted in our community. We partner with local nonprofits and serve a wide range of people from families in need to seniors looking for support. Some of our local efforts include volunteering, uh, with the Samaritan House. Camp Hope, Hope for Life Rescue, Buffalo Friends and Family, and participating in events like the annual Polar Plunge and the Angel Run to support Kennedy's Angels. It's not just about writing a check. You know, we can do that anytime we want and say, oh, that's great. You know, we were able to contribute. It is really about rolling up your sleeves and getting involved and showing up and putting in that extra effort to You know, let everyone know that we really do care about our local community.

Wendy, I don't know if you heard that or not, but she said it's about rolling up your sleeves and actually getting involved. So imagine this, February, right? Middle of the winter. And, uh, and there's a beautiful blue ocean out there, and Caitlin and Kelsey on our team just run and dive into the ocean.

Not me.

In the middle of it. No, I'm sorry. Katie.

Katie.

Katie and Kelsey dove right into the ocean in the middle of February, right? That's what being boots on the ground and impact means. Would you do that, Wendy?

No.

Yeah, I didn't think so. I know you don't.

I mean, I can roll up my sleeves. I can do a lot, but jumping into the ocean in February is probably not one of the things.

Yeah.

And that's one of the things we're most proud of is that the team, all of us are willing to get our hands dirty. when it comes to impact. Um, and all of the names that Caitlin mentioned that we have, um, that we've supported— one of the biggest things that I'll never forget is, um, last year at Christmas, uh, a big radio station in our area, um, and this big radio disc jockey named Shaggy does this thing called Stuff the Bus. And it's about going to buy toys, and they— and then they put them on local school buses. And the whole idea is to fill that bus up so kids could have Something on Christmas morning. And, uh, and, and, and the hands on the feet thing, right, is we could have easily just written a check. But I remember, I think it was a Thursday night, and, um, Caitlin and Katie and Katie's kids and I went over to a Walmart. And, um, I've never seen so many toys in carts before that we were able to just— I mean, literally, we stuffed cart after cart after cart of toys.

Wow.

And then we walk those things out to the bus. And to see Katie's 2 kids and just to see them knowing that those toys were not for them, but they were actually making an impact. I mean, that's what the goal here is, right? Is to make an impact on our employees and their families, right? And looking at Katie's kids that day was validation for it all. But then to make an impact on our community, knowing that those toys that we would never benefit from, right? are now being played with on— in homes all across Hampton Roads.

I remember Callie, Katie's daughter, timidly being like, Mom, is it okay? Is it okay?

Yeah.

You know, all these toys, you know, she wasn't paying for it. Mom wasn't paying for it. And by the end of the night, Callie's throwing toys in the car left and right.

Like, yeah, we're—

it was really nice.

Once Mike said go ahead, that was all she wrote. She had no problem filling That cart. Thanks, Mike.

That's right. And so, uh, but since— so we, you know, we do these things like on the local level, whether it's jumping in the ocean in the middle of February or filling carts up, or, you know, Katie and Christina from our team going to, uh, um, a, a, you know, a nonprofit that helps women in struggle and them like getting a home ready for them to do that. Or Katie just a couple weeks ago going to, uh, To what's in essence is a family doing a food bank and then passing food out and seeing a need and then just going to take care of it real fast and come back. Like, that ability for us to silently kind of be part of this community and helping others do the work. So like, we're not doing the impact work as much. I mean, Katie's hands-on for our company. We're not doing all of the day-to-day impact all these nonprofits are.

Right.

But to be able to support those who make an impact is one of the things that's very critical for us. And so, that's on the local level, but we also do it on the national level and the global level. Katie, do you want to talk about what we do on the national level?

Yeah, so it's a big deal to go national as well. Like I said, we don't have all local employees, so it really is important. And Kaitlyn will chime into the global part with some more information. But as far as nationally, we actually had some employees do nominations, which I also am going to have Kaitlyn talk about. Here in a few minutes, but we've supported ASPCA Operation Helene, which was not—you know—we come up with a plan for the entire year of where we want allocations to go and also hands-on work to go. And so there's extra in there for things that come up throughout the year, and Operation Helene was one of them. An employee—I'm going to get teary-eyed talking about—an employee actually nominated on one of our random meetings, internal meetings that we had, and it spoke volume to us. So Caitlin and I sat down and figured out how can we. Be of best assistance. And so Operation Helene was a big one for us. And then also the National Park Foundation was also a nomination by an employee, and we ended up doing a donation and then also getting employee annual passes for all of our employees to go and visit and, you know, maybe get some more hands-on work throughout their local national parks. So we are doing everything we can to try to bring it all together. Not just— it's easy to go outside the front door and go do something locally and talk about it. It's different to try to incorporate on a much bigger scale. And bigger scale leads me into globally, Caitlin, if you want to touch on that.

Sure. Yeah. Globally, we have supported causes like Water— excuse me, WaterAid, which is located within 27 countries. And I believe the main purpose of that is to build plumbing systems for countries who do not have clean running water. Uh, we've done A Heart for Paws, which is an animal charity, and the House of Hope Foundation for kids with cancer. Uh, both are loc— both of the last 2 are located in the Philippines. Uh, 2 of our, uh, employees here at Ideas by Mike do live in the Philippines. So it was really amazing to see how much, uh, that we can, uh, accomplish when we all come together, uh, globally across the world.

And that's the point of living before our clients. We're not coming to talk about this impact to brag. We're coming to inspire. That's the most important thing that we can do is so many of our clients are blessed with resources that they've saved over their life. And then they get to the point in their retirement where giving to charity has become ingrained in them, but there's also a— You know, there's a tax benefit to it that is, um, that, that can really help, whether that's taking qualified charitable distributions as part of your RMDs or just giving to your local church or charity. We— our clients are doing the same thing we're doing. And, um, that's how we really break the mold, is, uh, most financial companies, uh, will advertise, right, or try to make an impact to, to elevate their name. We're doing it to inspire more than anything else. And so, that inspiration that we're challenging our clients to give and to make that impact is part of what that retirement chi is. That's being involved in a community, making sure your health is taken care of, but give that impact. So, one of the biggest things that we do is give. Now, we've heard great stories from our clients about what they do. You know, we've heard about a client who is so into looking in the past and bringing history, historical records up by searching in Massachusetts and New York about the origin of people. We've heard about our clients who are, you know, have traveled the country and enjoyed the national parks in an RV. Matter of fact, one of our clients in— In New York. In that route of going to all the national parks had a transmission go out on their car. And we had done the financial planning necessary to be able for them just to get a new truck, right? But they were making an impact by going to the national parks and participating in those. But we have some really cool things that we have also done. One of the things that we recently did was Senior Fest over at Old Dominion University that was sponsored by the Sheriff of Norfolk. Katie, I think that was one of the most impactful initiatives we did this year. Do you want to talk about it a little bit?

It definitely was one of the— number one, most of our— this is the biggest event where we had the most employees hands-on. So that was the first impact. Mike, I want to go backwards just for a second. When you were talking about the clients and all the different things that they were doing, I couldn't help but think about a couple clients that are actually starting foundations in their kids' names to leave not only that legacy but an impact. So I wanted to squeeze that in really quick. I thought it was super important and inspiring to us to hear what they're doing. But yes, back to Senior Fest. We actually were a silver sponsor, and the Senior Fest is actually located in Norfolk, Virginia, and the Sheriff Joe Barron Foundation puts on this event. I believe we had over— I think it was almost 800 seniors that attended, and it's a resource. It's a place that they can come and get free resources and tools I think they even had free flu shots on site. Gosh, there was a couple other things that they could do. I think there was a medical part also where they could just get their, their regular vitals checked just to keep it, you know, keep up to date and see what's going on with them for tracking. Financial parts, there was, you know, hope houses and foundations that were there if they need any additional assistance with living and food, anything like that. But our part was to provide knowledge in the financial industry at that point in their lives. So at that point, we're talking about maybe they already are retired, or maybe they need— they still need retirement information, or if they have retired, you know, have they talked about what it looks like after retirement, and has someone looked at their finances since then? So we do provide meetings with Mike for free meetings with Mike, so they can ask questions and just gain some more knowledge as they continue through that journey. So we have a couple of things set up to maybe speak to some of these groups so that we can continue on that. that journey and that path of providing knowledge and resources.

So, yeah, we have the ability to impact our community, right? But one of the things that really inspires me is we have a monthly impact meeting within our team where we get together for 30 minutes. And this past— we actually had this just recently. And around the Thanksgiving holiday, we were asking, what are you thankful for? I will tell you, Wendy, I, I was sitting there just listening to our team bond over things that were both exhilarating and heartbreaking at the same time. Because, uh, we— because we are just people living life, uh, and we're all living a one-of-a-kind life. And some of us have this one-of-a-kind life that is just, you know, um, at a high. Others are living it with, uh, with just— with just the The struggle that comes with everyday life. But one of the things that I see is I see an employee— like, we try to inspire our employees to make a difference by taking like an— so each year we ask our team to nominate nonprofits they're passionate about. Caitlin, do you want to kind of talk about some of those things that our employees have nominated and what they've done?

Yes, I'd love to. I think it's amazing. So we, yeah, we do have Obviously we spend time every year determining where we'd like to make an impact.

Yeah. But we also push that onto our employees. We do an employee-driven approach on that. And a part of that is really Katie reaching out to everyone saying, you know, in the event we were to donate or put hands or boots on the ground or hands-on efforts, who would, who would you like to Who would you like for us to reach out to? And, um, the responses are really wonderful. Some of them are so heartfelt that it, it's uncomfortable to share for some. Uh, others are, for example, Kelsey. She loves to go hiking. She loves to go, she's really into fitness. Her and her husband spend a lot of time traveling and visiting national parks. So that was her nomination. And Mike was lucky enough, Katie strategized about this and we made a donation, but we also, um, purchased for everyone on the team that wanted one, an annual pass to every single national park in the country. So that's really awesome. You know, if I go somewhere and, you know, perhaps there's a national park next door, it might be something on vacation I can get to do and I'll get to do it for free. And Joseph Nihar Keem. He is the employee who mentioned Operation Helene. When that happened, it was just devastating. I know that Nicole's family also supported Asheville in those efforts with Helene and how devastating it was for those people. So, you know, adopted a dog years ago and we were able to the next year donate to. We actually went on the, uh, the, the rescue's, uh, Amazon page and we purchased every single item on their Amazon wishlist. We actually did that for 2 local rescues. So, you know, it's not just, you know, picking up, picking out the big heavy hitters, you know, American Red Cross. Yeah. Breast cancer awareness. We know that those are obviously huge, huge, huge staples in the nonprofit community, but it really is the small, close to home. Where does it touch your— where does it touch close to home? And our employees, when we have this monthly meeting, it's everybody's favorite meeting. One, because we don't really talk much about work. Except Katie's side of it, but it's just really like heartfelt and uplifting. And, um, it really, you know, as an employee of Ideas by Mike, I think everyone can agree with me when I say that it, it's nice to work for somebody who cares and who actually like wants to hear what you care about and then they make it a point to care about it. So it's just really nice to, uh, be a part of a team who is looking to make an impact on the community, whether it's local or on a national level.

So let's talk a little bit about what's coming up in 2025. Mike, what is next for Ideas by Mike and the Impact Department?

So we're going to— we're aiming to be B Corp certified next year, which is a huge step for us. That's about formalizing our commitment to people, the planet, And for profit. It's like, if nobody knows what— if you don't know what B Corp certified companies are, they're ones that aim to benefit the greater good. And it is our goal to be one of the only financial planning companies in the country that's actually B Corp certified. We're also going to expand our employee engagement program. We're going to offer more volunteer opportunities. We're going to increase our community partnerships. It's going to be an exciting year. The other thing that is going to be really critical for us going forward through impact is to, again, drive how important from a missional standpoint that is for not only the company, but our employees and ultimately our clients, because it is set right there in our mission statement. The mission of Ideas by Mike is to impact, at the end it says, to impact our employees, our community, in our clients. And most people see the first part, right, where we want to break the mold of traditional financial planning firms so that, uh, so that we can help those who don't fit that mold. That's what people see in our companies because they come to us for financial planning. Impact, though, is where we see our future as a comp— as a country— as a, as a company. You know, I wish we were a country. But we are a company, right? And so, that's where we see our big vision going.

Yeah, I'm very excited. So, I do all things impact. I live, breathe, eat it. Not only do I do this as a job, but it is in my heart and soul. I can't express that enough. Getting my kids involved and Mike having this position even available for me so that my kids can get involved, they're learning so much. I'm really, really excited for 2025. I don't even think we have enough time to talk about all the things I'm excited for. Yes, employee engagement, upping volunteer hours so that they can get out and do things and not feel like they have to be stuck at the computer, which they are not. But I think just expressing that more and talking about it. My biggest goal is to make sure that we have more opportunities. You know, it's really easy to get on a call and say, oh, I did this, I did this, but that's just not enough for me. And I think us as a team, it's When we have these meetings and people are crying by the end of it, you know, everybody has such a big heart. We've got to expand that reach. They want to, and I just need to make sure I tap into the right things to get us there. Super excited. I just sent out our nomination list for 2025, so I'm excited to get some feedback on that. Once I have that, we'll present it to the big guns at the company and plan for 2025 and just see see what more of an impact we can do on a bigger scale here. So I'm excited.

Well, this has been great. I mean, just so inspiring, and it sounds like you're really making a lot of impact. So thank you to Mike, Caitlin, Katie for sharing how Ideas by Mike is making a difference, uh, the financial planning firm that's going beyond the numbers to create real lasting impact. So if you're interested in learning more or getting involved, visit The website for resources and updates. Until next time, thanks for tuning in. We'll see you again.

Thanks.

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