“Financial Fitness” with Ashlea (Kleitsch) Jones – “Can you believe football is almost here again?!”

While football season is easy to love, it is also the most challenging part of our year as a family. We go from an empty schedule of careless fun in the sun to bedtimes, schedules, routines, school, practices, and all the emotions that come with the changes. Cody coaches our beloved Warriors – practice is 5 days a week & watching film is never done. Calvin & Carver play in their own flag football leagues on separate teams. Carissa is yet to decide if she wants to get in the action – but will have a busy fall along my side chasing everyone around regardless. As we do every year, we will survive it by embracing the chaos! So much of what we learn in sports and in coaching translates to what I do as an advisor every day so I look forward to the adversity to happen and the lessons to learn.

“You think you know the game—until you see it through the eyes of a coach. As a player, you focus on your assignment, your performance, your moment. But coaches? They’re watching everything. Planning. Teaching. Showing up—always—so we can succeed. Their dedication goes far beyond game day. It’s film sessions, early mornings, hard truths, and belief when we don’t believe in ourselves.” – former NFL Linebacker, current Offensive Asst. Coach, Ryan Shazier

In my 3.5 years as an advisor, I have always said this is way more of a COACHING job than it is a career in financial literacy. A coach has to get to know his players. Understand how they learn. Find a way to connect. Be able to see their potential and find a way to draw that out of them… sometimes on a short time schedule of only a few months. My prospects and clients have goals that are just like this. They may never experience playing in a Superbowl in the literal form, but their Superbowl might be retiring early. Or gifting to charity. Or helping their children buy their first home.

Everyone has ambitions and optimistic hopes for the future – but not everyone knows the best playbook to get there. Getting to know a prospect and deciding whether or not to take them on as a client is just as important to me as a coach recruiting their starting QB. Onboarding someone for the wrong reasons results in frustrations for both sides.

Honesty is the best policy for all parties. Some just “show up at practice & do the bare minimum”. Investors like this are hard to help. You have to care more about your future than your advisor does. Some have been lifting and practicing and doing reps on their own all off-season without being told. No matter who they play or what the score is, they’ll stay optimistic and rise to the occasion and leave every ounce of effort on the field.

Obviously, an investor like this is much easier to serve – they know exactly what they want and they are willing to do what it takes to get there. Some are even “do-ityourselfers” and do an amazing, efficient job being self-taught. Then there is a middle ground where people want good things for themselves and their communities, and they’re willing to do the work to get there… they just don’t know exactly how to put their visions into play. People like this need and appreciate a coach for their guidance and mentorship along the way. This is the common prospect type that comes across my desk. They’re great people that have worked hard for what they have. They genuinely want to have a partner that helps them achieve their potential and avoid mistakes. They want the truth… not fluff.

They want to be told if they’re on track or need to make adjustments. They want a partner to navigate their investments at the best interest of their goals so they can give their full focus to their own families, goals, and passions. Good Financial Advisors get the pleasure of wearing a coaching hat, a teammate hat, AND a cheerleading hat when we see the goals of our partnerships come to fruition. We might take some hits, we might lose some yards, but as long as we keep showing up together at the whistle, we will keep persisting down the field no matter what stands in our way!

Let us “try‐out” for a part in your roster!

Financial Advisor
Prime Capital Financial
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
primefinancialcedarrapids.com
(319) 269-7143