Finding Freedom at Excell 2022

?? As I share this with you, I am on my way home, flying 35,000 feet above the Grand Canyon. The landscape is perfect—every stone, pebble, and particle is arranged artfully. It is a surreal canvas.

The sun paints a brilliant terra cotta hue on the mountains, revealing fiery orange and rich brown shades. I sit in seat 14F on an Airbus A321neo aircraft, mesmerized by the view from above, reflecting on the privilege it is to be alive, to see this with my own eyes, and capture its magic on my iPhone 12 Pro Max.

What brings me to this part of the world is the 37th Excell Conference in Las Vegas, which took place September 13 – 15. The conference is produced by Carson Group, led by CEO and Founder Ron Carson, which serves financial advisors and investors through its businesses, including Carson Wealth, Carson Coaching, and Carson Partners.

Excell is more than just an annual conference of financial advisors and their teams, coming to discover today's best practices and growth drivers to take their businesses to the next level.

Nope. It's way cooler than that. The true definition of Excell is community.?

It's a collective consciousness of advisors and Fiserv leaders, bold enough and brave enough to break their paradigms and challenge their beliefs to reach their greatest potential.

It's a community where people are encouraged, empowered, and enlightened to be their true authentic selves—openly discussing issues like mental health, drug addiction, and alcoholism–affecting us, our families, and our clients.

Excell is an industry conference with old-school, humble beginnings which started nearly four decades ago in a basement with 50 advisors and sheets of paper. No cell phones, spreadsheets, selfies, or social media. Today, that number is north of 1,100+ advisors who make the pilgrimage to Excell.

And Carson Group, as a firm, is valued at over 1 billion dollars.

Let that sink in for just a moment.

You don't get to realize your 37th Excell in Las Vegas by playing it safe. You get there by taking chances, taking risks, and facing fear head-on.

Taking a seat at the winner's table, Carson Group's leadership team – Omani Carson (he/him) , Jamie Hopkins Esq., LLM, CFP?, ChFC?, CLU?, RICP? , Teri Shepherd , Aaron Schaben , and the entire Carson organization (too many to list) – prepared to place big bets on the future of the industry with keynotes, speakers, and sessions in a well-choreographed agenda designed to make us "feel uncomfortable" and equally as vulnerable…all to make a point.

Was it effective? You bet.?

While I could not attend every session, 18 people made up a dream team of influencers and content creators, backed by the superpowers of C-Suite Social Media 's Kytana Hanks and myself, who banded together to form a micro-community of content creators, podcasters, and social media superstars.

From Team Carson Group, we were thrilled to have Mary Kate Gulick , Samantha Allen , and Brodrick Lothringer, MBA co-champion our efforts to make this Excell Influencer Program an ultimate experience of technology empowerment, surprise & delight, and Wow moments. These three leaders embody our philosophy of showing people you care and treating others how you would like to be treated.?

The 37th Excell was full of magic, and we were there to capture it.?

I want to recognize these individuals for the generous gifts of their time, energy, and ideas, their creativity and passion, and their dedication to the greater good of the financial advisory profession. We couldn't have done it without them.

Anthony M. Stich – CRO at Entrustody Courtney McQuade – Social Media at CityWire Jacqueline “JaQ” Alexander (Campbell) – President and CEO, Senior Wealth Advisor at Alexander Legacy Private Wealth Management. Podcast Host: Legacy Lessons with JaQ Lawrence Sprung, CFP? - Founder and Wealth Advisor at Mitlin Financial. Podcast Host: Mitlin Money Mindset Liv Gagnon – Co-Founder at Choir Matt Halloran – Partner and Chief Relationship Officer at ProudMouth. Podcast Host: Top Advisor Marketing Podcast Matthew Wolniewicz, AIFA – President of Income America Shana Sissel, CAIA – Founder, President & CEO of Banrion Capital. Podcast Host: The Black Swans Sheryl Hickerson – CEO of Females and Finance. Podcast Host: Hall of Femme Sonya B. Dreizler – Co-Founder at Choir Stephanie F. – Start Up Finserv Executive Torie H. – Head of Partnerships at Holistiplan Toussaint Bailey – Founder and CEO at Uplifting Capital Suzanne Lundeen Abrams, CLTC – President at Lundeen Abrams Advisors. Podcast Host: The Black Swans Vanessa N. Martinez – CEO and Founder at Em-Powered Network

Here are some of the best quotes I pulled from the event that will help inspire you, even if you couldn't be there:

1. Leave it better than you found it – Aaron Schaben
2. Make failure your fuel - Abby Wambach
3. Your podcast should have a mission statement. Who is for, what Is my point, and why should I exist? - Ana Maria Trujillo Limón?
4. Being consistent wins over tech - Brodrick Lothringer, MBA
5. What technology is doing is changing how we work and what it's like to be human - Burt White
6. The greatest talent we have is to encourage people to be their most authentic selves and to be brave – Dana Wilson
7. When people tell you what they regret the most, they are really telling you what they value the most - Daniel Pink
8. Do you really have a culture where people talk about their struggles? - Dr. Julie Ragatz
9. Have genuine authenticity and be organic with your conversations to connect - Dr. Preston Cherry
10. If you're going to connect with people, you're going to have to do more than four factors: age, gender, income, and education - David Melhorn
11. Change is consistent, and it will be disruptive - Jamie Hopkins
12. The three-legged stool of today is financial, physical, and mental health. Start having conversations around those three legs - Larry Sprung
13. When you're not realizing your self-worth, you will take anything - Lauren Simmons
14. Are we being courageous enough to let ourselves and our colleagues be their full selves and elevate their full human potential? - Lazetta Rainey Braxton
15. Value time as currency - Paul West
16. Plan for the fact that things don't always go as planned - Ryan Shanks
17. If you don't believe in yourself, how can you expect others to do so? – Sarah M. Cain
18. Breaking the mindset of others is vital to growing your firm – Teri Shepherd
19. What are the poems that you're avoiding, and whom among the crowd will be the first to share?" - Tucker Bryant
20. Surround yourself with the best people and get out of their way. Your quality of life will soar - Ron Carson

?? The captain just made an announcement. We're 125 miles outside Philadelphia, so time to close the laptop but before I do, let me leave you with this…

If there's one takeaway from Excell, it's this.

A revolving question at Carson is, "What does finding your freedom look like to you?" For me, freedom is the ability to create, unconstrained and unapologetically. Whether that be in the form of a brainstorm or even a bobblehead. Freedom also means given the palette of possibility at 35,000 feet or whatever altitude I find myself. ?? Thank you Ron Carson.

What does it mean for you?

I hope you'll consider it and join us?for Excell 2023 in Nashville ?from September 12 – 14, 2023. I believe that answering it will help us make intelligent decisions that keep us on track and aligned with our higher purpose.

In The Suite podcast ?????shares amazing stories of women in business in the financial services and wealth management industry. The podcast features interviews with inspiring, top women leaders in business and some of the biggest names in the wealth management industry. In The Suite is where you’ll discover their best secrets and top strategies to grow a great business, build a strong brand, and lead teams in the 21st century. In The Suite podcast is hosted by?Tina Powell, ?CEO of?C-Suite Social Media, ?a high-growth marketing agency for the wealth management and financial services industry.

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