FIVE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
INSIGHTS for INVESTORS - The WHY Behind Our New Space
The “Foundation” of Our New Space
We are so excited to share our new space with you all in this week’s video and have so enjoyed those of you who have already made it down to the office whether for a meeting, to hang out after work or even do a workout in the gym! (yes, quite a few people already are)
The response to the office has been universally and overwhelmingly positive, which has meant so much to us as it represents the culmination of a lot of time and thought over the last few years dreaming up what we thought would be an ideal space to share with our clients and community.
A few people, have kindly inquired/commented on the fact that the space obviously reflects a lot of effort and time on our part both to date as well as moving forward – which is absolutely true.
Why go to such effort and expense, especially now?
We believe it’s critically important to put real time, money and effort into not just talking about our values but both tangibly and symbolically living them in very real ways to show that unlike much of our industry it’s not just talk, it’s in our DNA.
As many of you know TEN’s name is based on my grandfather Joe Custer’s HS football jersey number as a way to honor him the year after he passed away. Many of the values that our firm was built upon and stand as key tenets of who we are come from the lessons he made a point to engrain in me.
Pop, as I called him, would phone me virtually every day to ask how things were going, what I was up to and he would always close by also making a point to ask if I was taking the time to have a little fun too. Truth be told, I wasn’t very good about that last part when I was younger. It was all school, sports and/or work – and my natural introverted-ness didn’t help.
As I’ve looked back and thought of those calls it’s clear he didn’t want me to waste my time or talent, and to that end most definitely valued accomplishment. However, not to the point that he wanted me to do so at the expense of taking time or those around you for granted. A truth perhaps easy to accept on its face, but a balance that can escape any of us without proper intention.
What are some of those values and beliefs?
I. COMMUNITY & RELATIONSHIP – It isn’t always convenient, but it is CRITICAL
Community, especially a thriving one, can require one to take risks, give one’s time and resources, as well as one to be a bit vulnerable. And yet the rewards are immense, from helping one find purpose, creating wonderful relationships and memories to simply having a good time.
As we interact with our community so many good things happen.
As it relates to our community at large, those interactions help us better understand the needs of our community and tremendous people serving those needs and how we can support them. We also get to know the professionals in our community much more closely which results in tangible ways that we can collectively better serve our clients.
With regards to our client community, we have found that getting to interact with clients outside of just normal meetings motivates and inspires our team in a very profound way – and not just with any one client but overall. It’s so important to get to know, and have regular reminders of, the people and stories behind the plans and portfolios. We never want to lose sight of the hard work and dreams those portfolios represent for all of our clients.
Of course, relationships matter, but it’s so easy to get busy and begin to take them for granted. And while, all of us would say/hope we don’t think it would happen to us, we at TEN wanted to make a point to embed into everything we do processes that would ensure we don’t from how we onboard clients, our unique planning process to how we interact with them moving forward.
On this note, I am always reminded of the scene in Jerry Maguire with he and Rod Tidwell embracing each other outside of the locker room after Tidwell’s big game and breakthrough. Seeing the sincerity of the moment and relationship they have; the quarterback turns to “industry standard” Bob Sugar to ask, “how come we don’t have a relationship like that?” Bob tries to hug him, only to be rebuffed due to his obvious insincerity. Those moments take walking through the fires of life together, genuine relationship and respect and time.
The industry is slowly catching on and more and more ads/value props are finally talking relationship, but it all feels a little like Bob Sugar’s hug.
For years, let alone how we hope to use this new space, we have made a point as a team to put in the time to earn the amazing relationships we are blessed to have with those we serve.
We’ve all come to know the importance of community and relationship on a deeper level over the last year. And as things got difficult last year, rather than shrink from the challenge we doubled down our efforts to have something special ready when we were all able to be together again.
Our team was hoping, and is now so appreciating the space’s ability to inspire/facilitate things like:
II. SERVICE - The Role of Proximity to Purpose
The office is simply a physical manifestation of our mindset to constantly be thinking about how to better serve clients and our belief that it begins with getting to know them.
And whether it’s our planning process that begins right up front by helping clients define the key purposes they want to guide their financial lives, to laughs around the table during one of our cooking class/private dinners, we make a point to engage in many different ways to better understand those we serve.
As you’ll see in the video above, there are amazing spaces now to hold those dinners within our own walls, places to share time after work and play a little shuffleboard, client rooms designed to maximize both comfort and the time spent working on your plan, comfortable sitting to bring a laptop or book down and just hang out and a gym to challenge each other and ourselves to find better versions of both.
We’ve so enjoyed all the different events and interactions with you all over the years and are so excited to finally begin to “paint” all new types of activities on this incredible canvas we get to call home.
III. CARPE DIEM - The Importance of Some Having Some Fun and Making Some Memories
Life is short … this is a lesson that so many of us learned again last year, including Rachel and myself with the loss of our baby girl Ellie.
The truth is far too many of the phone calls I had with my grandfather ended with me having nothing fun to share with him as I fixated on “tomorrow.” There is little more in this world I regret more than not listening to him earlier and even more that he cannot be here today to see what we’ve built.
And so, while Pop would be proud to walk into the new space and know all that it would stand for in terms of accomplishment, and would take great pleasure in seeing people hard at work in a meeting room that clearly have solid relationships or us hosting a charity event in the space, I have no doubt what would bring him the most joy is to see my colleagues’ little ones running around the space on a Saturday morning, the team laughing over one of our in-office shuffleboard tournaments or a member of TEN laughing or crying with a friend, client or colleague in the big booth over a glass of wine sharing life’s precious moments.
The plan to bring this all to life has been in the works for some time, arguably long before even I realized it, and so perhaps next time you are sharing a drink in the space you’ll remember a little toast for my Pop – he’d love that.
Importance to Those Not in Spokane
To all of our clients that don’t live in Spokane I can understand if this all feels to some degree like a present you don’t get to unwrap. Perhaps to a degree that is true, but my hope is the real gift is getting to work with my amazing teammates, all of whom have a heart to serve you to their fullest.
That said, we would love to have you make a trip to visit us any time, whether for one of our big events or simply to hang out for a bit as you are passing through.
We hope you make a point to come to one, but in any case, believe it is so important that you know how much the team that serves you hold the values above dear to them as they seek to help you and your family live your best life possible.
If you are still reading this thank you for sticking with this Jerry Maguire-esque “manifesto”, but I thought it important to know the true story, mission and values that literally led to this new place, and to tell you once again how grateful we are for you.
Have a wonderful weekend and come see us SOON!
Tim and the team at TEN