Moving to St. Louis

The changing of the calendar is a great time to reflect on the past year.? Today’s letter comes from my personal reflection on my life and business in 2023.

Personal:

My wife Dawn and I have decided to pull up our Texas roots and become Midwesterners this spring as we move full-time to St. Louis, MO.? I have called DFW my home for 21 years and am excited about a new experience.??

You (as most people) may ask, “Why St. Louis?”? Without filibustering, I will give a few quick reasons:

1.?????? Walkable neighborhood – Our home is on The Hill, a traditionally Italian neighborhood and we can go 3-4 days at a time without getting in our car, which is a huge departure from the suburbs of DFW.

2.?????? Winters.? Now this one seems a bit odd, but Dawn and I both love cold weather and look forward to four seasons.

3.?????? Mom & Pop businesses.? For one reason or other, the City of St. Louis, has kept the large, national chains out. This has led to a proliferation of individually owned restaurants, breweries and stores that add to a unique culture.

4.?????? Architecture.? We love the red brick all throughout the city and see St. Louis as the western-most, eastern city…if that makes sense.

Our daughter will graduate from Purdue in the spring of 2024 and we look forward to seeing what develops in her life from there.? She is set to take both the MCAT and GMAT this spring and those results will lead her to her next adventure.? It’s funny to see how people handle change - the first thing she did upon returning home for Christmas break was go to her hairdresser and cut her hair into bangs!?

She, like us, was ready for a change.

Pamela DuBois our Head of Research, welcomed her first grandbaby, a girl, in 2023.? Pam's constantly saying, “I’m in love”, and is enjoying this new adventure.? Pam has also started branching out from her usual candidate research responsibilities to land two new clients! Both were RIAs based in St. Louis and both had support role needs…think Branch Office Administrator, FA Support, Client Services and Admin, to name a few.? Pam was so successful at it, she is already receiving referrals, the lifeblood of our business.

Our Chief Talent Officer, Tamra Siebenthall has exciting news! Her daughter has been accepted into The University of Oklahoma College of Nursing and is already excelling at the top of her class; She’s already made plans to continue her education to become a Nurse Practitioner. Tamra is proud of her daughter’s dedication and commitment to advancing in the field of healthcare. Here’s to the next chapter in her remarkable journey!?

Tamra also made a career leap in 2023 and was honored to work on several C-level positions for her hiring managers this past year, saying “it’s been down right fun and exciting contributing to their strategic success and growth”. Tamra looks forward to continued success in 2024, her 10th year in recruiting.

Business:

Speaking of change…our recruiting business, Global Recruiters of Mid-Cities (GRN) looked quite a bit different in our 10th year than it did at the beginning.? In 2016, we made a conscious decision to build a recruiting practice for RIAs.? It took several years, but you can see the results:

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2014: ???

• 100% of revenue came from the Asset Management space (mutual funds, SMAs; etc.)

2023:? ?

• 78% of our revenue from Wealth Management (RIA or Hybrid RIAs)
• 22% Asset Management

We have developed a team that has individual contributors specializing in:?

1.?????? Sales & Marketing,

2.?????? Operations, Compliance & Finance, and

3.?????? Support roles within firm ($75K+)

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To date, we have:

• Successfully placed candidates in 32 of the 50 states.?
• 97% of our clients have used our services more than once, and
• In 2023, 39% of our clients were by referral.

We are blessed to have loyal clients who share their experiences with their friends and colleagues at other firms!

I wish you great success in 2024 and hope that we can work together to add someone fantastic to your company and take you to new heights in the years ahead.