In the early days, Matt Rowley was doing whatever it took to keep his firm alive — running 60+ seminars a year, making 13-hour road trips, and pushing forward with a business model that was unsustainable. Everything shifted when he made the scary decision to hire his first full-time employee, Daveda Phillips, who took a leap of faith and accepted the position for only $25K a year. She didn’t say yes because of the paycheck, she said yes because she believed in Matt’s vision. That same vision is what kept the team committed, even when challenges (like misalignment or running lean) could have torn things apart. In today’s episode, we unpack how Matt and his team broke through the roadblocks that hold so many advisors back. Their model was broken, and fixing it took tough conversations and a new structure. But it was their culture — where trust was sacred, loyalty ran deep, and leadership meant serving the team first — that made real change possible and turned a fragile startup into a business of significance. 3 of the biggest insights from Matt & Daveda… #1.) The $25K Leap That Changed Everything Matt was barely making ends meet when he hired Daveda as his first full-time employee for $25,000 a year with no benefits. It was terrifying, but that leap of faith became the turning point. Without it, the firm never would have scaled past the founder grind. #2.) Why Lean and Mean Doesn’t Scale In the early years, Matt ran 60+ seminars a year and even opened a second office six hours away to keep the pipeline full. It worked — but it nearly broke him and his team. The hard truth: running lean will only take you so far. To build a sustainable business, you have to invest in people and infrastructure. #3.) Breaking Through Partnership Misalignment One of the hardest moments in the journey was realizing Matt’s original partner didn’t share his vision for growth. Ending that partnership — and aligning fully with a team that believed in the bigger mission — was painful but absolutely necessary. For advisors, this is a reminder that the wrong partner will hold you back no matter how good the numbers look. Bonus: Loyalty and Ownership Are the Real Growth Multipliers What kept the firm alive through tough times wasn’t marketing or seminars — it was a team that showed up with ride-or-die loyalty. Daveda and others took ownership, not just jobs, and Matt led by putting his employees before clients. That servant-leadership approach — where the team eats first, trust is sacred, and loyalty is valued above all — became the foundation for everything that followed. 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