Root Financial's Backstory: How and Why the Company Was Founded
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If you told me seven years ago that we would be working with a few hundred clients across the country, there would have thirty different team members help en to support those clients, that we would have about a billion dollars in assets that clients had interested to us top the manage. I would have said beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are out of your mind that is not going to happen. Very happy at my old firm.

I are starting route. Never saw myself going anywhere yet. Here we are, and so are you. What we're going to do today is we're going to the back story of bottle route came in to existence.

You and I met how we've grown, what we ve grown and what that ultimately means for the team here, for clients that we serve and apply for the industry at large. This is another episode of ready for retirement, and your host, James can all, and i'm here to teach you to get the most of life with your money. Now on to the episode.

It's going to be a special episode, and this was prompted by your guys comments. So yes, we look at those and we appreciate them. We have a really special announcement and that we have a name for the show officially.

I'm going to tell you, you guys all in one second, but I have to shut out some awesome names that came through that we heavily considered. We saw someone say you should just call IT retirement made easier discussion about dollars, carbo volatility, a referenced carbon enthusiasm, the J A show, twin mines. Lots of awesome comments.

So thank you guys for leaving those. We are going to call this root talks. And IT would not be right to start root talks without the story behind how root got found IT.

So that comment was left, left by Allan Young, one, five, nine, who says you guys should do a video on how you guys met, how root came about the chAllenges of building up the business. I'd find that interesting. I think you will own yeah well.

you find an interesting we're happy to tell that. I will say one more thing that we are not going to host this channel of this video on a route specific youtube page. So are you and I both have our individual youtube pages where people follow us on.

One of the reasons we started doing this podcast with so many people said, why are you and James work together? I had no idea. I followed you both independently.

Are really cool to see that you're both at root. And so this is going to be on the root youtube channel. So make sure wherever you're listening to go, subscribed to the root youtube channel, the root financial youtube channel. Um I saw the back story. I'm trying to figure out we're trying to figure how do we do this in fifteen to twenty minutes because the the story is long and it's got this crazy plot twist and twist and turns that we're going to keep her love and share how this came to be because um IT has been quite the adventure and some cool things that we get to do. But seven plus years ago, I was not at root, you were not at root.

Root was not to think I was working as a funny ta bias for another company and great company learned a lot um enjoy the work I got to do and didn't ever see myself doing anything other than continuing to be a funny reviser at that company so thought honestly IT where to say is a twenty eight year old at the time I D not ever see myself working anywhere other than that I saw myself I just wants to be a great funny to adviser for my clients and probably spending the rest my career there then one day and this is a long story that some point of people, so what to tell, but it's it's a fun, wild story. But one day was as to resign out of seemingly nowhere IT was as to resign in which meant that my dream of working here forever, uh, was of just a dream actually gonna happen. And in retrospect, CT one of the greatest things that ever happened because, as painfull, that was what that prompted me to do.

What IT forced me to do was say, why am I actually doing this? You know, why am I actually in this industry? I've been doing this my whole life post college.

I felt like I was pretty good at IT. And so I did start to think about, there is A A lot of introspection, love time to think of. You might actually doing this because is what I love most and what I want to spend the rest of my working life doing.

Or I do because, you know, it's easy to be good at something and you get in a right. And I just seem scary to ever doing anything other than that. So I was why I doing this, and I remember, uh, I just spent the whole day I live in a city called cardiff, california, cardiff by the sea, north county in the ago area.

There's this awesome campground near us called sallie o campground. And members taking a day in this journey, journey about everything. Do I want to do this for the rest of my life? If so, what do we want that to look like? If so, how could we make root very different than what traditional financial services have looked like?

What are the types of people that I would want to do this with? Do I want to do this with other people? Or do I just want to do this by myself and serve a handful of clients and keep things really lean and efficient so I can live a great life with my family? Like, so there is just a lot of introspection, a lot of reflection, and that ultimately is what gave birth to route three months after being ater resign from my previous company.

He said this beyond a shadow of doubt, is not just what I want to spend the rest my career doing, but is the best career, maybe the entire to the world in terms of how I don't see fun IT is in terms of the impact you get to have, the transformation that you get to be part of when you're working clients or long period time, the mix between the critical thinking skills and the application of that to real real life, uh, scenarios. And so walked away from nothing. Yes, I hope to do this forever and beyond that.

I don't wanted to do this by myself forever, but I want to form myself with a great group of people that are highly ambitious, that do have the same values, that do have the same desires, both for themselves and for the impact that they want to see with their clients. And root started three months later. Here we are, seven years later, from the start of root. And right about that time, right about the time the route starting our that's wear our pets first crossed yeah.

a lot of people go, well, I did some research and IT looks like all a year from malibu, california and James went to peer dine and I didn't see either of you guys. And that though we want a one show, so maybe your pads crossed after that and I said, you're right, neither of us were in that little children's TV show, but that's actually not how our pads crossed.

And when I was at a starbucks in sa Monica, I was reaching for a charging little station, and some guy helped me out, and we had a little conversation and we had IT was very loose, but I taught him in finance, didn't know exactly what I wanted to do. I was in college and he said there was this really impressive guy. I wasn't that close with them, but lots of people talked about him like, sure, there's like a lots of impressive people out there.

And he's like, not really like you might be worth reaching out. So I knew nothing about James other than them. This guy, randomly.

Ly, I just met in a starbucks and sand Monica says, you're impressive. So I send him an email saying, look, I really don't know anything about you. You, you look like you're smart. Y, you ve got this certification at a Young age, so is IT worth the conversation. And at that point, I knew nothing about what I wanted to do, and it's still the best email i've ever sent because it's LED me to where I am right now.

What I want to dive into a more detail, James, is how many people say i'm going to start something that's different and they say that and then IT becomes just another financial company where it's just, yes, we're going to talk investing but no purpose and no actual like, okay, what else i'm gone to think about when IT comes to retirement planning? So right now, we have ahead of people in culture here at root, not everyone would think a financial company would have someone like that. So want to to go deeper, certainly into the OK.

What was the vision? You're at the campground and you thought, yeah, I want to do this on a bigger scale than just me. How did you think I was gonna different?

What was your plan there? So part of IT is you don't know the future and place, live and do, but is always important to stay. What are we going? What are we working towards in some of the actually decisions and details along the way will become clear as you start moving towards that.

But I think that whenever you start anything, this isn't just true for rude. This is true and general. So wait, easier to start something that's been done before because there's a playbook.

Okay, can just look at what those people did and just copy that. Or I can see what this consultant says to do and copy that. And you can do that.

But then he is gna become like every other company, like every other firm. I didn't want to do that because this the industry, I just told you, I think that this the impact you can have in this industry is so incredible. When you see real lives transformed and railways there is, it's incredible to see that.

But this industry isn't necessarily known for being super cut in aged in terms of the way he does things. That a lot of this industry is still just people selling stuff. A lot of ancients al vices know I might call myself a fancier cal advance m doing to selling you a product and just selling you a mutual finished sell in your life.

And transact met. That's not what we wanted to do. You know, that's not transformative. That's just transactional. And so what I came down to his remember thinking that and and this evening goes back beyond starting route to my early experiences with money and what my parents taught me in things that I saw is money has the power to change everything about your family for good, or about depending on how it's used.

And so mony is one of those things that I think often times we think of, well, here's my life over here. And then kind of the money is the things I do on the site. But I truly is fully integrated, fully holistic.

When you talk about overall wellness, you know, people, you talk about physical witness, you talk about mental well ness, spirit, onus, whatever IT is. And you can think it's like money is something different, like it's in it's a box to the side and the money cannot be separated from anything in our life, not because our portfolio in our savings account needs to be no priorities. The same extent that our physical health or mental health, anything that has that is what enables us to pursue everything else.

And that's not just what enables us to pursue everything else is so if we don't have IT or we make that poorly, it's donor impossible to focus on everything else. So one of those things that you know like like air, you know you don't know how much you appreciate IT until you don't have IT well finances, you don't know how much IT matters until it's managed incorrectly, until you make a major mistake, until something happens. And that's also all you can think about.

So it's IT was a sense of how do we use money as a tool to help people live more purposeful, meaningful lives? How do we use money as a tool to help people get the most out of life? So doesn't matter to us how big our portfolio grows, how much money we save in taxes, how many cool state plane video, if we never actually translate that til, my life was now Better because of these decisions that I made.

Who cares at the other day? So how do we connect the two of starting with purpose, of starting with what is an idea of life look like? And then let's be the best possible financial advisers, tactically speaking, to design the portfolios and tax strategies.

Everything else goes along with that, but only in service to or in support of what actually matters. And so that became the north star, like I said. And as we have ve grown this, that's change in terms of how do we pursue that. But that's what we're always pursuing.

So that first conversation, you touch on a few things. One of selling products, which is really what I was doing and when when I first failed you, James, you pray remember but you are actually giving me guidance on hey ah that company seems like it's a good company. I don't know if that's exactly what you want to do the rest life, but you know it's a job and it's going to pay you something.

And at that point, I graduate school going, look, I want to have my own financial independence. And you didn't say he was horrible orn. I was looking up to even at that point, from someone who recently left a job going, okay, well, he's got more experience.

I'm going to listen to this guy. And so here I am, working a job. I didn't love IT. And I would email you every three months, maybe every four months going.

He dreamed any update like, can you hire me ah? Do you need any help? What's the latest? And you'd be like, man, like, I don't know.

I'm still trying to grow this thing and i'm thinking about, I want to do that, right? So I want do IT too quick. And the last thing I want is to hire you and then have to fire you a month later. And i'm like, i'm even cool that. No, I didn't say that, but I was like, like, I really want to be a part of this.

I just get a feeling and you are really nice because of who you are, but you never really questioned like they are you like, why do you want to join this so badly? And the truth is, here I am working at a company that I thought was OK. But I thought, hey, i'm talking to advisers all day, every day about mutual funds, about etf, about image investment products in all these.

Advisers are asking me when I was at my role, gona, hey, how much is this gonna pay me? I said, I understand the question. They say, yeah, well, I have to offer this potential product to my client.

What's the commission and this I go he don't you want to know like how well we've done or anything like that? I didn't feel a trust feeling with these advisors, and I thought of my parents and maybe they're an adviser and maybe they're doing this and like, hey, what's ethical? What's not? And I got just a feeling of complete integrity beyond competence from you and went, look, this is a guy that maybe I could be wrong, but I think this guy is a good dude who knows what he's talking about.

And i'm gonna take a fire. And at that point, you event, what was that? Three years later, someone like that, you said, hey, I think i'm ready to hire you. I don't know one hundred percent, but I think i'm ready.

And I drove down for a year from mala boot, a Sandy ago, and I love doing IT I your podcast in the car on the way to sitting next to you every day for a year. And I was just epic just here. But IT wasn't what we have today.

So maybe you would be cool to tell people little bit about like he did you just start and was that the youtube channel in the podcast? You know how do we even grow the question here from Allen? What are the chAllenges of building up the business? Any thoughts there?

Yeah, a few thoughts aren't. I don't think you intended this way. I be almost four years, like forced my hand a little bit.

I was the first two years, three years just trying to build something. I want to say, okay, I gotta profitable. I gotta something that can support me and my eventual family um and I remember you impressed me a lot from day one.

I almost didn't respond your email because you will tell me I know a few weeks in the starting root when I had no money to bring on a team member, I wasn't playing to start root. So I wasn't like, awesome position, tons of cash to help bring whatever I did respond. And we had a conversation.

And as IT, okay, this is someone that you going back to my experiences journey, notice that this is a type of person that fits what I would be looking for, someone that that wants to build something, someone that in this for you're not just the paycheck because you going to make a lot of money where you are, you were doing really well. You add a path to do really well there. You just your heart wasn't and you didn't love you, you didn't think goes the right thing so much so that U I K i'll come.

You are taking to pay to come in work and have no idea if this thing was going to to work or not. But what I do remember is, yeah you you would check in with me every few months. You would drive down just to shadow me all day and say, hey, where is he like to work? Can I take you to lunch? And just like when I say drive down, I don't mean drive down fifteen minutes.

I mean drive two and half hours, super early the morning, just to sit in a chair behind me, kind of seeing what does that look like to a day in life, take me to lunch, continue doing that after that, and tried back another two and hf hours, probably more in traffic. So like, this guy is committed. I remember one day you finally like, look, i'm going to make a change.

I've talked to some mother firms. There are a great know they that I have offer. So I have like there's an intent they will bring me on, but I want to talk to you for a change because if we can make something work, like this is where I want to be and I remember thing and okay, like I can be done like I cannot let this opportunity past.

I still felt like, you know, any time you hire your first team members to a little scary because it's like, what if this does not work financially because of the relationship whatever is we said, okay, let's make IT work and obviously was just awesome um but those early days I was I I think the podcast had started. So root, the first podcast I started was with another adviser. From the standpoint we have that just start something.

How do we reach a lot of people? How do we do something that as a lot of value? And I started another podcast back in twenty thousand with another adviser just talking about common questions we get from clients.

And then we just go back and for like you and I do here of perspective, where do we see I I where do what do we see differently? And we just we would release that and then that kind of involved in the ready referred tired podcast, which evolved the youtube channel, which evolved into you do in the podcast you doing in youtube channel. But those early days, I wasn't Sandy ago.

You were up. We had a coworking space that we got and we were working there. I don't even know how big the room was, maybe one hundred and twenty square fee, maybe, maybe less.

I have no idea. And I would just say, come down and a let's figure this thing out. Let's start to build a system in the structure that can grow with us as we continue to grow the team and now others.

Four years later, as of this recording, thirty team members, there's hundreds of clients all over the country. There's A A lot of us has interested to us by these clients who are who are attracted to that mission of not just building my portfolio ever, but how do I get the most out of life with my money. And it's a ton of fun doing IT and lots of really call things to come for those .

of you listening right now who are like, hey, I want to know like what's the latest with root and how are you guys actually like implementing this? Because this is more of the story as to how root has become root. We did a master plan where we just put out exactly like here's how many people are reaching out and here's like p nl.

And like us going into detail as to like why we have low overhead and how that actually impacts U. S. clients. But a lot of you listening right now want to work at root, and we've seen your names come through from applications.

Others, if you are going when I want to work, either in some capacity with you, but we don't really know how. But IT just feels like you guys are different. This is something that I feel really is the difference, which is we like doing IT. If we were building this because I was our job, I think we still grow. I think we would still work.

But IT wouldn't be the same to the point where when people reach out part of the process here, and i'm one of the people that takes the first call, it's hey, what is the plan in terms like what do you want to do in retirement and some people, like I don't understand the question. My god, what are you going to do in senior wife and thirty years you want to read date her and they're like, oh, I think I want to tell me if I should like buy apple or microsoft. It's like way deeper than that. So when you were thinking about root in the vision and purpose and how this what was the number one like, oh, this one i'm going to do so doesn't become like a traditional financial company.

Well, I think that there is several things. And trying to even think like what was the most impact for even going back to that time? I just went to the chem grant journalist, like I just finished reading a book called living forward, which when someone recommends what's the best book for finding ancient plane to read, I recommend that book.

IT has nothing to do with funny, for planning, and has everything to do with how do you envision your future. And I mean, literally, as I imagine at your funeral. People that are meaningful to you there is, is like, your wife's there, your kids are there, god's there, coworkers are there, neighbors like, what are people saying about you in the way you live your life? And then back into OK, what can I read the book? I will try to size whole thing, care.

But I think that that that's always been a personal thing to me, is like trying to live life by design, try to live life purposely. I'm not perfect by any means, but how do, how can I be really intentional about the things that i'm doing? So they are lying with the outcome that i'm looking for, and not outcome from her like a money, are the probability success outcome.

But like to have the relationship with my wife that I want to have, to have a relationship with my kids and friends and community, like all these things. And OK, what how can we take that to clients as well? Now obviously, like there's a debt to that, that is very individual and is very much a personal thing.

But how can we be guides to help clients organizer thinking? I think about the right things. You know, every single adviser or route is incredible.

And what they do is just world class when IT comes there. Ability to do the financial things, right? That's not why people should come to rule. People should come to rut when they want someone to help them priorities and focus on the things that can be quantified on a baLance sheet, in a portfolio, in an asked allocation.

So we can say, how can we become the the how can we transform the financial success that you've had in turn that into life success, turn that end of the future that you want to live, and not just the future starting years now, but the future starting today. How can we start doing that so that you can focus on of the things that you wanna do? Go back to, we said earlier, using money as a tool as opposed to the money being the thing that we're all about that that justifies our existence is, no, no, money is not the thing.

Money is a tool. Money is the thing that supports the thing, which is the the way that we want to live our lives. So I think that was always embedded in the fabric of the way that we work because it's been a big part of who I am. I think it's a big part of how a lot of people here are Operate and that this is becoming more and more, I guess, systematizing structured as we grow to say, how can we continue taking that to as many people as possible.

And why I joined, I was like, look, there's a feeling. I can exactly quantify this feeling. But growing up with me, I grow in malabo o so a lot of people will think, oh, you can have an easy and money.

Everyone had money. I go, there was money around me. I wanted a job so badly out of college because I wanted financial independence, because IT felt like money, only LED to stress in my household.

I felt there is on, there is never enough. My parents made great money. They make movies, their artists. There was absolutely no structure around money. And so this concept that there be a financial plan, I and I will admit this, and I do constantly in my videos, i'll say, look, I didn't have a rough ira working at a financial company because I felt like if I asked that question, IT was like, oh, how could you not know this already?

So I wanted to go, okay, where can I work? Where I can really make a difference and make people not feel the way I felt growing up. And I know you have a similar store, different, but you have a story where you were sharing, hey, there wasn't financial literacy and all the son there was and you became an adviser. But it's like you woke up or came out of the room going i'm going to a business owner and manage, you know, thirty people I love.

And I think this there's a lot ways we could, of course, and this but when you when people think about you right now, they think James, founder of route pride in ten thousand imes a day, managing thirty people, what do you tell people when they're like, hey, how do you manage everything going on in the growth? And you guys are a billion dollars in this. Like how do you do this as a business owner?

I, I when I started root, IT was very clearly me. I didn't want to manage people in the traditional sense, managing implied the sense of, I called him people here. How many clients do you talk to today? Did you hit your targets? Do this to, I want to, people that we're self starters, people that had the same desire in person for these people that were incredible what they did.

So yes, the team there needs to be this revision in this guidance, what we're pursuing. But we have a team of start starters who are incredibly good. What they do in the system is what essentially, I guess, man, is all of us in terms of like directing where energy should go, how we should be working, what we should be do.

And so there there's all kinds of things that we ve done at route to do that. But no, I think that is I don't feel like I manage anybody. I feel like I get to work with thirty of the most billion people I know all uniquely qualified in very different ways to say, oh, we can take all these talent and skill sets in, harness them to creates, and then it's a really special we talk about us a lot of masterplan.

E, the goal, he is not just to say we want to to grow a big farm in in, sell one day so we can retire and play golf. That sounds that sounds really boring to me like I know that what sounds fun and exciting is building something that create uh, impact and a big part that is yes, impact for clients. But IT starts with impact for the team.

And how do we how do we create the the best thing that we can ultimately do for our clients, both current clients. Ines is built the best possible place for the smart st, most caring, most compassionate people in the world to come and said, this is what I want to spend my career because I can be developed. I'm going be taking care.

I'm gonna be um given a place where my skill set and drive can be encouraged and supported and I want to stay there for the restaurant life like that's the best thing we can do. Our clients is have a place to attracts the best people and and is a place for the best people can call home for the rest of their lives. And so that's a big part of my focus now, is how do we create that environment that brings in the best people, which then allows us to deliver the best possible advice for everyone.

I know we could do four more hours and we will work into four more, and we're not. But we want to make sure whoever is this thing right now, this is something I did not have to join. I chose to, and I was the best decision I ve made.

I imagine you've told yourself, hey, i'm so glad I started root and we had no idea would become what it's become. And we say that because it's true. It's like, hey, we are just getting started in our goals to help as many people as possible, whether you're working with root, whether your in our academies, whether you are just read the newsletter, wherever you are in your stage of life. But anything else deems you, anna, share with everyone about how you founded root chAllenges? Anything else?

No, I mean, I will told me my personal so later, like my parents are the hardest working people. Like, no, like they and like did everything right when I came to effort in the love, in the support they put into raising a family and trying to take care of things and finances. But like, unless you have that structure, unless you have that sense of how do we direct what we're doing, there is not going to be that sense of functional al piece.

You not can be able to use your financial is means to support what matters most to you. And so um you know going back to years, try maybe will tell more of the personal story a later time but is like that's why we exist to help really great people who want to do great things, who love their families, who love their communities, who love the world around them and just want to be able to experience IT and and support IT. How can we help with that? And you know I don't know when people want me listen this service, this will be released at the end of twenty, twenty four people might be listening right when he gets released.

They might listen months from now, years from now. But one of things you and I just met recently to talk about how can we expand upon what we're doing going forward. We have the individual youtube channels are now gonna doing the service.

They root uh focus youtube channels. We have uh the the goals that bring on other team members that people see what's a like at root. Um but we also have a personal social media pages that you've been to doing a good job of being active on.

I been on instagram six plus years and um you know we talked about, hey, that's get active there I get identity, how to use I feel so H I know that all trying to get back on this like I don't even know what to post and thinking more but are right working people find you. I think that's a big part. What you want to do is, is get connected. More people in more places.

Yeah, early retirement ori. So early retirement ori, that's where you can find me on instagram. And you can also just search my name on Linda.

My name is always to bleed, and I ve gotten telethon to bully rough childhood or get no. So it's T A U B L E B. And that's just to follow personal things.

And i'll share everything from the soccer that I do. I own a semi professional soccer team. Should I do that? Absolutely not.

But I don't want to wait and purchase that one. I'm forty and I could have more time with my brother and good luck quantifying that on a sprats sheet. I know, James, you have your instagram where you will be posting lots of different cool things, family work, such a. Is that just James canal? I believe.

Yeah, looking right, James can also James C O N O L E on instagram following there, uh, linked in. James can all follow our company page too. So if your instagram is root financial partners as the company page, the right, I say that because we're gonna doing a lot more on that.

We really prioritize a lot on youtube, in podcasting and how can we do more and more different places to stay connected. so. Follow us.

Um thank you for supporting them. I know there's a lot of just it's it's fun to see comments. It's fun to see people that start a comment in years ago.

They're still tuning in the channel and and listening. And so thank you. All of you are anything else on your end that's IT.

We'll see all on my space now just can see guys next time.

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