S1 E20- Knowing Your (Hiring) Strengths and Weaknesses with Jordan Christa

In this episode of Women Behind the Millions, host Jessica Weaver interviews Jordan Christa, an entrepreneur and recruitment expert in the wealth management industry. Jordan shares her insights on making intentional hires, the challenges of leadership, and the importance of understanding a firm's identity and goals. She emphasizes the need for operational skills and a love for building and managing in potential hires, and discusses the value of diversity and creating a women's wealth division within a firm. Additionally, Jordan touches on her own experiences as a working parent and offers advice on maintaining a firm's identity while adapting to growth and change.

Highlights:

• There is a definite need for finding someone who embodies operational skills and a love for building, inspiring, and managing.

• Jordan highlights the importance of understanding immediate needs and ensuring regular meetings with managers to meet KPIs.

• She recommends that solo practitioners looking to grow should consider hiring an operations manager as their first hire.

Contact Our Guest:

Company Website: https://riseuprecruiting.com

Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/recruiting-industry-specific-experts-llc/

Guest's Email: jordan.christa@riseuprecruiting.com

Transcript:

Jessica Weaver 0:01

Hello money queens, I am your host, Jessica Weaver of women behind the millions and today another juicy topic all about women leaders, women building out teams hiring, firing. Yes, the good, the bad, the ugly. Today we have with us, Jordan Christa, she began recruiting solely within the wealth management industry in 2017. Working closely with founders managing principals and partners of RIA's across the nation, she quickly recognized the lack of bandwidth her clients have to dedicate recruiting, interviewing, hiring, the entire process. Following her passion to impact the lives of others, Jordan founded recruiting industry specific experts or rise with a vision to become much more than simply a staffing resource. And just a few short years Jordan is incredibly grateful to have worked with over 100 firms nationwide, this is amazing to see, and is committed to giving back to the industry that's given her so much as a partner of multiple FPA chapters and universities across the nation. So thank you so much, Jordan, for being on our show today, I cannot wait to dive into our topic.

Jordan Christa 1:17

Thank you for having me. I appreciate it. I'm so excited. Obviously, women in wealth management is a huge passion of mine. So anywhere that I can help and kind of talk about certain things. You know, because what I do I see I see things every day that I'm like, oh, man, how can I get the word out to do it right? Or to do it better, to be more intentional. So I'm excited to have the opportunity to specifically talk about what we're going to dive deep into as well.

Jessica Weaver 1:42

Oh, when you meet with a new firm, can you immediately see the gaps that they have? Or maybe it's just how the that principle or leading advisor, partner, they're talking about their issues? And you're like, oh, this key person or shuffling the responsibilities around could change everything?

Jordan Christa 2:02

Yeah, so it's pretty quick to tell. So we do a lot of vetting. So I should kind of first mention, we have a core value. Our personal core values, one of the the fundamental pillar of our core values is that we don't work with any clients, so firms that we wouldn't personally work for. And we don't work with any candidates that we wouldn't personally want to work with. So we do a very thorough vetting not only on the candidate side, but the client side. Yes, your point, I think what's interesting is after you talk to so many firms that are having similar issues, you can pick up and kind of pinpoint on where the actual gap or sometimes it's an overlap, where they don't have structure in place. And so too many there's too many cooks in the kitchen, even with a boutique firm, if you will. So there's not specific processes in place. So there's kind of just people stepping on toes. And unfortunately, you know, things can be missed that way, because you're still on somebody else's doing them. So, yes, you're to your point, I can tell pretty quickly because some of the primary key issues that firms have, especially when they're in growth mode, which are 100% of the firm's we work with, you know, it's like, okay, we can kind of pinpoint to what that is, and ask the right questions to understand better, but there's definitely repetition and issues that we see.

Jessica Weaver 3:14

Oh, repetition and issues, I'm sure. So a lot of inefficiencies which, and we're in the business. I'm a financial advisor, wealth advisor, we're in the business to get rid of the inefficiencies like make our clients' money extremely efficient, and maximizing every opportunity out there. Yet, when it comes to our own practice, there's a lot of lags.

Jordan Christa 3:35

Yep. What you just said is, is so often what I find with a spent because we work with boutique firms too. So it's so interesting, because I always say business owners and entrepreneurs, we like to be in the business. We don't like to work on the business. Working on the business doesn't fulfill us. It doesn't create relationships, it doesn't make us money, it doesn't grow. Well, that's our prerogative, right. Whether that's true or not. There's a little bit I think, yes and no, just depending on what you have in place, but because of that, yeah, a lot of issues are they happen internally. And it's not because we don't care, but it's because we're too busy caring about our clients instead of our internal team and our internal growth and what that looks like.

Jessica Weaver 4:17

Yes, I often see financial advisors own financial houses are a mess. It's like we're too busy taking care of everybody else's. Exactly. And things. So it's more an anvisor wearing the advisory hat versus the CEO- Let's run our business. And I'll admit to it when you're in growth mode, and we've definitely been in growth mode at the woman's wealth boutique. It's also hard to carve out that strategic time, planning time, out it's almost like you're you're in growth mode, but it feels very similar to survival mode. We just keep going and get by and get buying it by day by day. So do you help advisors then step back out of the day to day kind of that to do list?

Jordan Christa 4:58

Yeah, so actually the first hire that I recommend is an operations hire, because what I found is to your point, we tend to let the other things go because we're so busy. And it's even more true with women. Women naturally are multitaskers. We wear a lot of hats. We pride ourselves, wear the badge of honor that we do it so well. So what happens when we're firm owners is we're constantly in the business, we're doing so many things. And it's at the end of the day, if we have to do something that is going to really fulfill us and has to do with clients or something that's going to get out of the business, we're always gonna gravitate to the first versus the latter. And so that's what we do. Yes. So we actually have a couple of different divisions. So we are traditionally an executive search firm. The reason I say executive search, even though we do have a contingency based arm is because the way we identify candidates is more of a headhunting approach. So we don't do active search boards, we're not looking for people that are actively looking, not unemployed. So all of the individuals that we work with are gainfully employed, but they're having something happen internally, whether it's leadership or changes, or especially right now, with there's a lot there's always a lot of transitions happening I think within wealth management, but what we're seeing a lot more acquisitions right now. And so there's been a lot of, especially with the Schwab and TD Ameritrade. And so there's been a lot of movement. So we move individuals who are looking for their forever career home, because of a specific situation going on internally. So we have a retained division as well. That actually is brand new this year, we just started doing retained search. Yeah, because the sense of urgency and the capacity that we had. And then we do a whole other division, which is what I run independently, because I have a team on the executive search side. And then when you when you look at our practice management side, that's 100% me, so I go out I meet with firms, I spend, you know, anywhere up to a week in different locations across the nation, getting to understand the firm, their their issues, and really helping them, you know, identify the gaps, identify the overlap, identify if there's a culture issue, what their core values are. So I walked into the process of what I call firm discovery. So and we're going to talk a lot in this podcast specifically about job discovery. But firm discovery is is really kind of the first step in it to really identifying who you are, what is your brand? And what is your identity of a for as a firm. And again, as women, we're so busy sometimes, and we get thrown into things. So either step away from that, or we're not intentional when we first start out, or as things change, we don't change our identity as a firm, and that from the very top it trickles all the way down to everybody that you hire and all of the core values of your employees and what their thoughts are about the identity of the firm.

Jessica Weaver 7:51

Yes, I'm sure there's an identity crisis. Women, we're always changing and evolving, too. So it makes sense to do that at a regular pace, as your business is growing, evolving. You're growing and evolving as well. Well, Jordan, let's let's go back in time, what brought you into this space? Did you always work as a recruiter? Or, you know, staffing, companies, firms? Where did you start your career?

Jordan Christa 8:18

Yeah, so my backgrounds actually it's kind of funny because I say I don't know that I actually found the industry, the industry found me. So I actually if you rewind, I was actually in retail growing up, I worked in retail sales. So in high school, I started off and kind of grew into college, I always I was an assistant manager of I don't know if anybody remembers Delia's. Okay, there was a catalog for a long time then they put a store in, so kind of grew with that company for quite a bit, had my first child and took a step back and was looking for something to do full time where I could be hands on with him, but also have a career. I'm very career oriented. I've always been that way. So I actually was sales director with Mary Kay for quite some time. So that's something that's not anywhere just because I feel like it's it's very relevant to my story, because I think it's what really helps me understand business and kind of grow that way because I was on the leadership side of the business. But I also always had, I needed more. I'm always that person that's like, but this is so great. And I love it so much, but I need more, give me more. And so I was actually out and about and ran into an agent, a producing agent with State Farm. Okay. He was looking to build his team. He's like, Hey, I know that you're not looking. But if you want to just, you know, come on board. I'm looking for a licensed PNC and life and health producer and I was like, well I don't I don't have those licenses. And he said it's super easy. You can you'll you'll get trained. I'll pay for all the education. So that's what I did alongside of Mary Kay and I hated it. I hated it so much, so hats off to anybody who is doing insurance. It is not it was just obviously PNC is very different as well. So it was very difficult. I was calling people when they were eating at their homes at dinner. This is before cell phones became primary calling days. Exactly. And so I actually reached out to a friend of mine that I had gone to school and college with high school and college, and she was looking for an HR specialist. And I thought, well, I'm the life and health guru of the office that sounds great. So I went in to meet with her for an HR position. And she told me, Jordan, you would hate me if I put you in HR. It's so procedures, regulations, not people driven enough for you. And I said, Well, what should I, well in your professional opinion, as a recruiter what should I do? And she was like, you should become a recruiter. And I said, Well, are you hiring? And she goes, Well, I don't know. And I said, Well, then I should work with you. And that's how I got in the industry.

Jessica Weaver 10:52

You made your own job, that shows how good she is ladies.

Jordan Christa 10:57

Like, I think that this is where I should be. And so I was thrown into accounting and finance recruiting at the beginning, I had no idea that firms like this even existed, it was kind of mind blowing. And then I quickly understood why. And because of all the time it takes to find the right person. So I worked with a firm here in Houston, that was boutique, we only worked with small privately held firms in Houston. But we did specialize in an industry, it was all kinds of, you know, from commercial real estate, oil and gas, to you know, it was just everything right? So we had CPAs. So we work to fill any type of CPA accounting finance role, and then I did some HR and administrative staffing as well. But it was all with boutique firms. And I think that that's actually why I fell in love with wealth management, because it's relationship driven, not transactionally driven. So being based in Houston, and only working with firms in Houston, I saw a couple of downturns with oil and gas. And at that time, I was the assistant corporate manager with the firm that I'd started with and grown into that position. And it was kind of pushing to Hey, like, Let's go nationwide, let's do something different. We're in the middle of a downturn, we need we need to pivot. And so that was my my issue, I was having a really big problem and struggling with having a voice with leadership. And so I was recruited out to an executive search firm, and they they needed someone to build out a wealth management division. And I said, I don't know anything about wealth management, except for the fact that fidelity wastes a lot of paper. That's the only thing I knew, and I had a 401k. So I decided that it was a perfect time for me, it was a it was a risk, though, because I was a succession plan for the firm I was with. And so I said, I'm more than happy to do this, I'm really excited about it. I've done my research, I think I can do this. I said but not signing anything because at the end of the day, if it doesn't work out, we're gonna shake hands, I'm gonna do my own thing and I'm going to take all of my clients with me. And he was like, oh, that's never happened. Everybody loves it here at it, it's great. It's just a very, again, kind of when you read my bio, what I really found and I still find very fulfilling for me, is to get to know firms from the inside to really genuinely understand how you tick, because if I don't understand that, I'm not going to be able to help you grow from the talent that I'm identifying, because I don't truly understand. And that's just not the mindset that that firm has. And so like, they're not open to doing things in that deep, that level, like I'd rather have five firms that I work with that I just have amazing relationships with, because I love to work with them than 105. And so that's when I was there for a year. And I also opened a commercial banking division, and it was doing very well it's more transactional. And I was kind of given the opportunity and he said, Okay, well, I think we're going to hire somebody else for wealth management, your your talents are so well suited for commercial banking. And that's when I shook hands and said, Thank you, but no, thanks. I love what I do. And I'm not giving away my clients. They're my friends at this point. Like I'm not not doing it. Yes, family like I cared so much about and I care so much about the success and growth of my firm. So at that point is when I shook hands and amicably took a step back and walked away. And that was October, almost five years ago, and started my own firm. So that brings me to today.

Jessica Weaver 14:16

I always love hearing how everybody, all the different experiences from the different companies, even roles just brought you to exactly where you are. It always comes like full alignment. It's just we don't know where we're going. Hopping all over the place. That's amazing. One of our advisors was a Mary Kay salesperson and that that introduction into the sales world for women. I think it really shows right away whether this is I love sales, I love building those relationships or this is not me. Get thrown into that and you can see very quickly which role you want to be in. And especially for you when you take so much time to build out those relationships. It doesn't I'm sure it doesn't feel like Sales.

Jordan Christa 15:00

No, no, not at all. One of the things that it taught me and you'll have to ask the advisor that you just mentioned, but one of the biggest takeaways I've had from Mary Kay and I think and I still to this day, and even preparing for this podcast, I wrote it on there, I wrote it in my notes is one of Mary Kay Ashes' primary things that she always said is that, you know, because women are emotional, let's just throw it out there. We hate it. But it's true. We have our reasons, and it is what it is. But it's it's reality, it's fact. So it's understanding how to control that EQ, you know, as you go through certain trials and tribulations, because when your EQ goes up, your IQ goes down. And I remember that one of the biggest things that was my takeaway is she always said, whenever you're working your business, work it with the heart of a woman, but the mind of a man. And I love that so much, because sometimes I have to take a step back and say, Is this a decision that I'm making based out of my emotions or based out of logic? Is this the logical solution or an emotional solution?

Jessica Weaver 16:02

Yes, that's true. The emotion is getting the best of me. And we see that all the time when it comes to our money. And we're so many we just like, lead with our hearts in so many different ways. And I think it's also tricky figuring out the emotions versus intuition, and leading with your heart as well. And understanding I, I've done a lot, not a lot, but I've done a good amount in human design. Have you done Human Design Jordan?

Jordan Christa 16:29

I have not no.

Jessica Weaver 16:30

Oh, okay. So I learned that I am an emotional wave. So I go up, and I come down, and my energy is a pulse. So it explains why there are times when I'm like, I'm all in, I will work nonstop. I have all this energy. I'm excited. I'm ambitious. And then it's almost like this hangover. When my emotions are low, and my energetic pulse is off, I'm like, Oh, my gosh, I'm exhausted. I feel fully drained. There's like emotionally drained, nothing left. So knowing that I know when I should make decisions, and when I should hold off on making the decision. And I feel like that's what you're talking about, too, is like, Am I making this impulsive emotional decision? Or did I actually sit with this? It feels right in my, in my gut, it feels right. It's a logical next step. It's mentally, I'm there and that, for me, that was a huge change in how I operate. And even how I paced myself.

Jordan Christa 17:31

Well, I feel like you just described me to the tee.

Jessica Weaver 17:34

Now you understand.

Jordan Christa 17:35

Very similar to that I always just I call it the worker, the work burnout. So I'm either like, I'm all or nothing, I feel like I'm like, Go Go, go, go go. Or I'm like, I'm gonna need a minute. I'm literally not moving from this couch. I just need to, like, have a moment to charge to recharge. So I feel like you're

Jessica Weaver 17:54

I'm curious Jordan, because your children are older than mine. Because I feel like when I'm at that point, and sometimes I even tried to go in like the living room. I'm just lying on the couch. And they're like, Mommy play with me. I have a three year old and I'm like, and then the mom guilt comes in. How have you been able to deal with that?

Jordan Christa 18:14

Yeah. So it's really been fun to see, no it has, it's been fun to see. So my son actually works for me. So, yeah, so my oldest I should, I should say he's, he's 17. So I think that's a big point for everybody who's listening and thinking, Oh, wow, old. So he's 17. He doesn't work for me full time. It's kind of more of a part time when he can. He plays tennis, he's on varsity tennis in high school. He's very busy, but but he does. And I think it's just been really cool to when they get to a certain point, to really have them help you. And then it gives them a place to play that is also allowing you to be in work mode. And then when you have a moment, or you need a moment by saying you know what, I need that but can you do, can you help me with that? You were such a great helper that one time, can you help me again, while I do this, or I have just a moment to myself, but they are older and my youngest is 13. And that was really crucial to me when I was in Mary Kay and in sales and even in recruiting because I always did. I didn't stop Mary Kay until I started my own business. It was like six months after I started my own business that I was like, I can't do this because I was holding training meetings four days, five days a week. And so I was extremely career driven. I've always been extremely career driven and it's been really fun to see now that my kids are older how they understand and they have an appreciation for business owners and they have an appreciation for hard work. And I think that when you are looking at children as young as yours, it can be difficult you know and my my I'm engaged and my soon to be stepdaughter is three and yeah, and my fiance is an entrepreneur too and so it's it's definitely I see it firsthand too with him with dad guilt, right? It's kind of the same thing. And, you know, I think that the biggest thing is to, I think it's hard at the time, but it's so crucial now that my kids are older to see that teaching them that you do have to, you know, work hard for the things that you have, they just appreciate it a lot more. And even though it's hard in the moment, they'll forget. And the things that they're going to remember is seeing how hard you work to get to where you are. And it's going to really help them understand when they get their first job, how to work hard. And we and that's one of the biggest things we see right now. Right? It's kind of like, we'll just call it the wave of hires that are happening or the wave of graduates that are happening. It's we're in a weird time in terms of entitlement or hardworking and, you know, how do you differentiate somebody who is is just like, hey, I graduated, I'm trying to find the most money or somebody who's a hard worker. And so all of those things are so important, I think, to entrepreneurs that have young children and as they grow.

Jessica Weaver 20:58

Yes, thats the pep talk that I guess I needed Jordan, you right, is your daughter getting more interested and intrigued by what you do? Does she have questions and things?

Jordan Christa 21:09

So my son has a funny way of doing it, because he works for me. But he's like, I'm like, so one day, like, you know, obviously, I want you to be the succession plan. He's like, why would I recruit advisors when I can become one? Like, so that's his mentality. So that's interesting. I mean, but that's the personality he has. He's like, You want me to do this? I'm going to do this. Yeah. And my daughter, actually, she, she wants nothing to do with it. And not that she doesn't appreciate it. She's just like, Yeah, that's cool. I want to be a veterinarian, you know, so it's kind of very different hat. Yes. Different. She is very hard working. And so it's, it's still a lot with her just because she sees me working late nights. And that's the biggest thing is so when she has homework, she's like, Well, I gotta get it done. She plays tennis and basketball, too. So it's she's very busy as well. And it's never been an excuse for like, oh, I had a basketball game. I'll do my homework later. It's been like, Well, I gotta get it done. Because she sees me 11 o'clock. 12 o'clock? I mean, you know how it is, especially as like you're saying it's hard to differentiate like am I thriving or am I surviving? Like, where am I at in my business. And I think when you have when you are in the midst of birthing a baby business, it's kind of like birthing an infant where you're up all night, and you don't get a lot of sleep, and you're functioning off of caffeine. And so she's seen me, both my kids have seen me, put in that work. And so it really has trickled into their academia and their their personalities.

That's amazing to see. My daughter asked me the other day, she goes, Mommy, if I make my bed and clean my room every day will you give me $5 a day or a week? And I'm like, Well, that's really what you're supposed to do. So how about this? If you don't do that, I take five dollars from you.

No, I think that's great.

Jessica Weaver 22:51

She's like- Oh, you're you're okay. It's just interesting. You know how their mind works. And you're right, yeah, the money driven versus the ambition and knowing the fruits of your labor eventually are going to pay off.

Jordan Christa 23:06

They do, they do and what's so funny is I remember when my son was probably my daughter's age. And he was kind of saying the same thing. Like, he wanted to start getting an allowance to be able to do things and go to the mall and hang out with friends. Because you know, he was in Junior High going into high school. And I was like, No, you're not getting money for chores like, that's not not how we do things. That's just like, that's the expectation. So I actually went through a summer where he would read books, and I'd make him do reports and for every report he did, I'd give him 10 dollars.

Jessica Weaver 23:33

There you go, doing chores are a part of the household, everybody has a part to play.

Jordan Christa 23:37

I had him read things like Eat That Frog. So he was reading like, you know, professional development books by John Maxwell. And yeah, and so it's been it's been fun to kind of see that part of it. But definitely, as moms that are, that's the biggest difference too is a lot of women, I think shy away from even being business owners or advisors because they don't feel that they will be given the opportunity to have a work life balance, to have their career and have their children. And I think that that's an aspect that it's always my goal to share when I do like a lot of these career days at colleges across the nation is you can have the best of both worlds, you can. It's just understanding the different positions within wealth management that you can have and what that looks like in the right firm for you. Because I think that that's one of the biggest reasons that women shy away from the industry too is in their mind advisors are you know, they're going door to door and you know, they're they're doing it old school and they don't want to do that and they don't want to work all hours kind of like tax season, you know, so there's, that's the mentality I'm trying to have shifts with

Jessica Weaver 24:40

It needs to shift. You're right you can really as an advisor, build whatever kind of practice you want it to be. It can be small, it can be medium, huge. It can change too, right? It can be small while your kids are young and you want to be able to be there every night at home. And then when they're older and more independent, you can shift gears and go into hustle mode, again. But I love that there's no right or wrong shape or size of an advisory firm, it's really coming down to where your priorities are whether you want to leave them. And you're right, we need to get that message out to more women. So we know why you got into recruiting your backstory. What Jordan, do you think are some of the errors people make, firms make, advisors make, when they are hiring, and building out their teams?

Jordan Christa 25:32

Yeah. So I think it goes back to kind of what you and I talked a little bit about about firm discovery. So when it comes to team building and management, it starts before a hire is even made, it starts with when you identify that you need help. It starts with job discovery, firm discovery / job discovery. So I there's a couple of key things that I'm going to touch on. And I actually have a couple of areas on my website that walk you through this. And so I thought it was really cool. But so I think that the first thing is that women, traditionally women, I mean, all firm owners do this. So it's not just us as women, but women I had seen are worse at it at putting off hiring because we're too busy attached to that. And we're just we're too busy. And then also it's like we know what goes into it. And so it's not only a logical decision, but it is an emotional decision. And

Jessica Weaver 26:29

It's a fear based decision too, what if I hire wrong? What if it's going to take more time to get them going? And I hear a lot the financial side of it, too. Now there's a real commitment.

Jordan Christa 26:41

Oh, yeah, absolutely. So there's a lot of reasons why we put it off. And I think the other one is that we just tend to do it ourselves. Right? So and that's also a reason that we don't necessarily make the best managers. But we'll go we'll go into that in a minute. So when it comes to team building, I always say you know, you have to be very intentional. But start with your firm discovery. What are your core values? You know, what? What's your specialty? What's your niche? What's your clientele? What's your mission? What's your vision? What are your goals? And so to really and I know that sounds a little bit like man, that's, that's, that's over here. And we're talking about hiring. But if you don't know what those are, you're not going to know the actual candidate and tangible or tangibles you're looking for, because you really have to look at it as an overview. So what I found is the worst hires that are made are made out of desperation. And they're made quickly and not every quick hire is the wrong one. But if it's not an intentional hire, then even if it's great for the first two or three years as your company grows, but that person has a different growth trajectory in mind is not going to align. So the bottom of Yeah, so team building starts with firm discovery, and then moves into job discovery. So once you know, you know who you are as a firm where you want to go, what your growth looks like? Then you can understand well, what do I want this person to play? How do I want them to play long term, short term short term where they're at where they're coming at. And then okay, well, if that's the case, what requirements am I asking of them? What designations do I want them to have? What experience, what tenure? What background? And so in order to really understand the need that you're looking to hire, you have to understand your firm and where you're going. Obviously, things change. But it's better to be more intentional about your hiring, never hire out of desperation.

Jessica Weaver 28:26

So that's short term focus versus the long term focus and backing into it makes sense. So you have a building out a plan first. And understanding yeah, cuz I see also a lot, did I hire the wrong person? Or did I set that person up kind of for failure? Because we didn't have do the back work? Have the right welcome, the right training, the right setup, communication, and things like that? Okay. All

Jordan Christa 28:55

right, all these things take us out of our business. So we don't we're we're like, we put it off, we put it off when we put it off. So then we just hire somebody because they were referred to us. And they came from this person. So like, they've got to be great, but and they they may be a superstar so that's the other thing is that not all superstars are great for your organization, they can become cancerous depending on their background, and like why they were a superstar with this firm or you know, so there's not I always say there's, there's a specific firm, there's specific role for everybody. You know, it doesn't make them a bad hire. If they're not the one for you. It just means that they weren't, they're not the right hire long term for your growth. So before you even think about putting together a job description, think about putting together your firm description, and really having a firm identity be the fundamental part of your your strategic growth path of creating the job description, then creating candidate and tangibles. So we call that firm discovery and then on the the website, it's under our, our expertise. It's our proven process and I Um, it says right there's the first thing is job discovery. And so it walks you through the steps of doing that. But then once you have that you can identify your need, you can identify your need, define the role, responsibilities, you can figure out, you know what you're looking for intangibles and tangibles. And I will say, especially firms that are growing in their small intangibles are more important than tangibles 99% of the time. So it's so crucial, yeah, to, to not only understand what that looks like, but then we do recommend, and this is something we do for our retained clients and for the clients that we work with, with business management as we create interview questionnaires that are customized for every role, but its custom to what you're looking for out of that candidate. So when we think about hiring, I think that's the other thing is, who is an advisor who owns a firm, who also is just an excellent interviewer, because of all the interviews that they've done. So what do you do you just Google, you know, interview questions, print. And now you're asking things that are, you know, where do you see yourself in five years? And tell me a little bit about your experience instead of questions that are like, you know, what do you think is your strength? Why did you choose the industry? Why are you passionate about it? What is your strength? What what in your background gave you that? Do you have extracurricular activities that you did that really gave you that leadership that we're looking for that? So it's really asking the right questions that are catered to not only the job and the experience and the person, but the intangibles that you're looking for, as well. And there are specific questions that can pull that out.

Jessica Weaver 31:40

Wow, you, right, it's not always the best person on paper, or interviews the best. The local police department, they say, they're not looking for the person who scores the best and answers the interview questions meticulously, they want the person that's going to vibe with them the best, that they can hang out with that they know, similar values, morals, that they're not gonna try to arrest that person's mom. It's somebody that they can get, they can really get along with. And especially as you're building out your team, that culture, that energy, you don't want somebody that's going to walk in the room and this all the air sucked out of the room. Right?

Jordan Christa 32:19

Right. And we see that happen a lot too, with producing advisors. So if a firm brings on another producing advisor, because they're bringing portable, Aum, yes, what happens is you really have to be so, so careful about the core values of that person. Because a lot of times people will do it again, out of desperation, well, I just need my overhead so high, and this is really going to help and well, now you have somebody who doesn't believe in any accountability that you believe in, that doesn't want to work, the way that all the other advisors that you're looking to hire do, doesn't like to be managed. And so it's really that you've got to really make sure that it's a ying and yang, and not just the best thing for financials, or the best thing on paper.

Jessica Weaver 33:02

Yes. Oh, that I could just feel the energy of the conflicts happening already. or So what about, do you do a lot of work with matching up advisors for succession planning, or buying out their books as well?

Jordan Christa 33:20

Yes. I do actually have two positions that I'm working on right now. And they're specifically for female advisors. So it's, it's difficult. And the reason for that is that the advisor that they are taking over their their practice, and their book is their females, and that the majority of the clients that they work with are women and divorce divorcees, and, and so I say that because it's every time I get on a call with a firm that's looking for a female advisor, it's like, Hey, I don't know if I'm allowed to say this. I'm not sure. And I'm like, Well, it's a different type of when you, when you look at all the rules that are out there, it's, you're not asking for somebody because of you're not profiling, you're asking, because of the diversity, you're asking because you need somebody that doesn't look like the rest of your team, or that is going to run the women's wealth division. And you can't, you can't really have a man run a women's wealth division, because women aren't going to be as comfortable talking to men as they would be to women, because we like the people we like. And we like to feel not judged and to be able to say, hey, when my husband passed away, I had no I didn't even put gas in my car. You know, there's there are those stories that I hear so often. And so I know I don't know where we pay what or what we pay for anything. And so a lot of times women are so embarrassed to talk to men about that. That's what I find on my end of it. And so, we do a lot with succession planning and the number one top two things we find is that number one is when when firms start looking for succession plans, it's usually too late. Yeah, usually too late because it's, we're putting it off, and we're putting it off. And then the other thing we find is that when firms say that they're looking for a succession plan, and they say it's going to be three to five years, that really means it's seven to 10. And, and even then that advisor may not ever actually retire, I think, as business owners

Jessica Weaver 35:29

They never retire, they don't

Jordan Christa 35:31

They don't ever retire. And so I think that's something just to put out there. And so just, I remember when I first started in this industry, I was so naive to that, and I was like, Oh, this is gonna be great. And we're gonna have a succession plan, and you're gonna be an equity owner, and you're gonna have this and the opportunity to, you know, be the sole advisor with the firm. And I remember I used the team I worked with, I worked alongside of an EVP of financial services, and they all they did was producing advisors. And so I remember I'd come with them to this, I have a salaried position, that's going to be great. And they would laugh like me, like, that's so funny. And I'd be like, What do you mean, that's what they said, you know, so I was so naive to it. But now that I've seen it happen, it's almost like okay, so then my first question to the firm, that is the owner looking for the succession plan is, what is your plan? How often do you plan on staying after you are quote, unquote, retired? Because you're never going to actually ever retire? And they're like, yes, no, I will. No, you're not. So let's just talk about that. And if you do, let's just talk about the worst, on the other end case scenario, so that we can get ahead of it. But we, do we get those a lot.

Jessica Weaver 36:37

I remember, one of my advisor, friends, she took over her father's book, and she was leaving a salary position. Really good job. And she was actually going to be taking less money. And in the contract she put you need to retire in one year. She's like, and it needed to be immediate. Yeah. And she goes, that's the only way I was gonna do it. Because she knows, right, they you can work and work and work and work. I know, advisors who are in their 80s. I know an advisor that retired at 86, right? Easily. Oh, that's interesting.

Jordan Christa 37:09

It's almost our identity, our career becomes our identity. When you love what you do, it really becomes who you are. And it becomes very difficult to actually ever walk away from that. Because outside of that, what are we? Who are we? And so a lot of people have had trouble with that.

Jessica Weaver 37:25

That'd be my dad. Yep, I can see him in his 70's, working away. And by then your clients they're family, you talk with them all the time, you're used to it, Yes. Now we spoke a little bit before we got on to the podcast, the difference between women and men hiring and running their firms. I would love to hear this because I've seen I mean, majority was 18% of advisors are women. Majority are men. I'm sure there's polar opposites on how we manage, operate, hire. Can we go into that?

Jordan Christa 38:02

I would love to, I would I would love to. So um, yes. So the very first thing I always say is when a woman is ready to hire, the first hire needs to be an operations manager. And that person will do all of the rest of the hiring, because

Jessica Weaver 38:19

Oh, amazing.

Jordan Christa 38:21

Yes. And the reason I say that is a few things that we've touched on, right, like women are very, we're gonna put it off, we're gonna put it off, we're not going to be as intentional because we're putting it off. We're too busy. And the reality is, so I don't know if you're familiar with EOS? Are you familiar with that? Okay, so basically, the whole concept is that for small businesses to grow, it's like the, it's like the Bernhart are scaling up for small businesses, right. So in order for firms to grow, the visionary, which is traditionally the owner in this case, needs to have somebody that is actually executing and implementing operations. And part of that is because of to go from hiring into accountability and management. So I'm gonna say something, and a lot of people aren't gonna love it, but it is just it is just what I have found to be true. But traditional entrepreneurs are not good managers. They're not.

Jessica Weaver 39:14

That makes sense. I mean, we're very creative, right? We're on that, more like we see a problem and solve it, but then executing the business model behind it.

Jordan Christa 39:24

Right and hear me out. We make amazing mentors. We love mentoring people, because we're so passionate about what we do. We want other people to be passionate and to do the things that we do. So we make great mentors. And we train on really amazing things. But we are not good managers. And we're

Jessica Weaver 39:44

That actually makes me feel better about myself. It's not just me.

Jordan Christa 39:48

It's not just you, but what I find so commonly the difference between men and women is that men in this industry that are entrepreneurs and visionaries and don't have their operations person in place. They don't make good managers, because their expectations are high, and they don't have the time or energy or emotions to deal with it. So they're like you're not producing you're not, you're not. These are the set expectations that you had. You're not up to par goodbye. So there's more turnover. It's more in I'm very, like, careful with the words, but it can be more of a toxic environment, if they

Jessica Weaver 40:25

I was going to say seems more aggressive, hostile aggressive. Pressure.

Jordan Christa 40:29

It's exactly it's exactly why is because men are very, they're very career oriented, right, naturally performance driven, performance driven, sports mentality. A lot of them have that growing up, like yes, word coach mentality. So. So the men typically kind of embrace that type of management style. And so if they don't have an operations person to say, hey, go back to your office, and you do you do you and you get back to work in the business, let me take care of the management and KPIs and holding somebody accountable, then it creates more of that toxic work environment that can become obviously a big culture issue. On the other side with women, because we're too emotional, we're overly emotional. We tend to hold on to bad hires because we feel bad. So we forgive the KPIs that are being missed. Because we understand they're busy like we they had, you know, Johnny was out sick for a week. And so she's still playing catch up. And so we have this, that heart that we that we lead with, and in management, it can get the best of us. So it's really finding somebody who embodies the operational and the love for building, the love for inspiring, the love for managing. So really having those set KPIs one of the things that I love so much about us, a lot of the firms that I work with run on it. But what I love so much about it is it takes you through pretty much every key area that I've touched on is firm identity, start off with and then talks a lot about immediate needs. And it really helps understand it helps for owners, when they're looking at hiring, they're looking at management, who is that person reporting to, what KPIs are set? And at the end of the day, how often are they meeting with that manager to make sure that their KPIs are being met? Right. And so it's kind of that, that that, again, that ying to your Yang, if you don't, if you're ready to grow, and you're ready to hire, and you're a solo practitioner, the very first hire you need to make is an operations manager

Jessica Weaver 42:27

Takes a lot off of your plate a lot, so much. It's funny, we're talking about this, because last night, our director, our creative director, Ilissa and I were going back and forth on the same thing, we're like, we know you have shit going on at home, but you also need to perform at work and balancing, you know, being too aggressive and on it and giving them some space to be able to get through a family emergency or issue. While also making sure that they're getting their job done and hitting those performance indicators. And so

Jordan Christa 42:59

Right. Yeah, because we, we tend to get busy too. So we're like, we have the empathy, and then we're busy on top of it, and they're not doing their jobs. Now we're doing it for them. So now you're creating a culture of individuals who don't have to perform, who don't have to hit their KPIs. And then you're so frustrated, and you're so burnt out, because you're like, why, like, what am I doing? Like, do I even want to do this anymore? This is exhausting. I'm just gonna close my practice and go work for somebody else and not have to deal with any of the operations. I think we've all kind of hit that right, regardless of what the industry is, but specifically as female entrepreneurs we do, we let our emotions get the best of us on the other end of things. And that's why I always say when you're like you were kind of just describing that way of feeling like when you know when to make decisions when not to make decisions. So that's what I always say, sit with it for sit with it for a minute. Because when I talk to female entrepreneurs, and firm owners, when we talk about I can identify, I can literally when they say well, what are the top three areas that you know, that you can identify as, like I shouldn't have made that should have made that hire shouldn't have made that merge, should have hired that shouldn't have onboard that whatever it is, and I can go through and say what was happening in your life at this point? What was happening in your life at this point. And so we tend to try to bandaid things instead of actually getting down to the problem because we put things off, we do things ourselves, and then we make decisions out of desperation.

Jessica Weaver 44:27

It sounds like a healthy exercise to do. Yeah, it is yeah, you can tell when something I can tell with, even with clients when something must be happening at home because they're acting differently. Their energy's different. Their whole personality almost shifts. Like there's got to be some sort of drama, and then it comes out maybe the next meeting or the next few weeks. But it happens with us too. Awesome, Jordan. So as we're wrapping up, I spent a lot of time with you. I feel like I could talk with you forever about these things, as we're in it here at the Women's Wealth Boutique, what's one thing, whether you're a female advisor or just a business owner, that you can do to kind of get that next growth phase going, whether it's a hire or investing into your team, this might be too big of a question for you. But what's a good step forward for women business owners, women advisors?

Jordan Christa 45:25

Yeah, I think the the best thing to do is take a step back that as much as we hate to do it, you have to dedicate at least one day, minimally one day a month, one day a month. Yes, ladies. And if you're like, I can't dedicate it, I'm so busy. It's as much as it is, unfortunately, make it a Saturday, make it, make it a weekend, make it something sometime that you don't have to take yourself out of the business. So you won't feel guilty about that. And something for your kids, you don't feel guilty about that. And just take a day, I think it's really crucial to take five to eight hours a month, just on strategic planning to like, if you don't have another team member at this point, an Operations Manager, check in with yourself, what were my goals? Where am I going, because the only way you can grow is by being intentional, and really understanding that. So I think the number one step that anybody, owners that need to take to in order to grow is to be, to do the backend to do the to do the work we don't like to do to roll up our sleeves and put on our operations hat, which we all love to do so much. But that's really what you have to do is to define, to know to get to where you want to go, you have to define what that is, and the key steps to get there.

Jessica Weaver 46:37

I love that, schedule it. will have the best in session to schedule in your calendars right now, ladies, one day a month. And let's be honest, anything can wait one day. Exactly. Anything that you think you have to do that day, it can wait one day, that's an epiphany that hit me last year when we're so busy, we're in survival mode. And you try to figure out how you're gonna get all the things on the To Do lists done and all the emails, calls and stuff like it can wait 24 hours, It can, take a take a deep breath, it will be there tomorrow, right? Take those times because then it will give you more time back. Right? It's gonna give you more time and energy back.

Jordan Christa 47:14

The 80/20 rule the 8020 rule right so taking that 20% of time to be strategic is gonna pay itself back tenfold fourfold

Jessica Weaver 47:22

I love that.

Jordan Christa 47:26

Save you a lot of heartache for hiring the wrong person or managing incorrectly or not holding people accountable.

Jessica Weaver 47:32

Yes. You definitely know what you're doing Jordan. You brought so much to our show women behind the millions because that's how we get to the billion we need a team we need and we need to hire intentionally, strategically, the right people, to have the right culture, the right energy in the room. So where can our viewers and listeners find you?

Jordan Christa 47:51

Yeah, absolutely. So I'm on LinkedIn, Jordan Christa, and then also on our website, so it's www dot Rise up recruiting.com

Jessica Weaver 48:02

Rise up recruiting I love that name, rise up recruiting. Everything is leveled up here. So thank you so much, Jordan, for being on here. Thank you to all of our listeners, viewers, our supporters, our Money Queens. We'll see you on our next episode of women behind the millions.

Jordan Christa 48:18

Thank you