Ep89 Transcript: Interview with Kathleen Adams

Andrea Vahl: How do you find your next best thing? That was the question Kathleen Adams had on her mind when she created her Second 50 Financial, and it was an inspirational message from her dad that helped inspire her to go on to really address issues around getting people more vitality, helping people with their finances, and we will dive into all of that in today’s interview.

Hello Dreamers. Welcome to the Late Starters Club, giving you the inspiration mindset and tools you need to start something midlife and beyond. Remember, it’s never too late to follow your dreams.

Andrea Vahl: Hey, late starters, it’s your host, Andrea Vahl, and I am here with Kathleen Adams of Second 50 Financial. And we were just talking about how we’ve got a really aligned mission in a lot of ways is just helping people realize that you can do things in your forties, fifties, beyond and life is full of possibilities.

So I’m excited to welcome you here, Kathleen.

Kathleen Adams: Thank you. And I really believe Andrea, we are aligned. We were meant to meet. Yes. Just looking at the things that you’re doing really excite me. It’s great.

Andrea Vahl: Yeah. So that’s awesome. So tell me a little bit more about your business. You started new, you’ve got a few things going on.

We’ll dive into all those, but tell me a little bit about how the Second 50 Financial business came along and what was the catalyst for getting that started and your mission with that piece?

Kathleen Adams: Sure. I would say it always started with my dad because he was somebody who, oh my gosh, he was very vivacious and he always believed in what’s the next best thing.

He really inspired me as he got older and a lot of things happened and health happened, but he never, never stopped. And after he passed, I realized that he had infected me with that. So I loved it. So I’ve always been of the belief that people as they get older have a lot more potential and opportunity than they think is possible.

Financial planning for me was always about what we call lifestyle preservation. And it was not just get out and have to pay the bills, but what can you do to really preserve the lifestyle you want? And that’s how I got focused on setting up something like Second 50 Financial LLC. But then I started seeing people in the office over and over again and my friends and even some family members who, I don’t know, something was missing.

They weren’t just loving life the way you would think they would be, especially when they had wealth and success. So then I started realizing perhaps they needed to explore, some new things and had stopped doing that. And we call that opportunity expansion. And then in order to do that, you need to feel great.

So I dove into something called Vitality enhancement. And so Second 50 Financial LLC has also spun off to offer a Second 50 Movement.

Andrea Vahl: Wow. Wow. That’s awesome. That is awesome. So you were you were, we talked a little bit about this before we started the show, but you were with a company and a partnership for a long time and then, decided to start this new venture.

What kind of was the movement for that?

Kathleen Adams: So I did have a great partnership with a great firm. I learned a lot from them. But when you’re in my profession, which is wealth management and financial planning and you belong to a group, you are subject to the group think and the group mandates even if you’re a partner in the firm.

So I wanted to focus very heavily on the needs and the mindsets of people in their second 50 years. And it requires, it really does require a different thinking and investing and planning. And it was too narrow of a scope for a firm to really, I don’t know, condone or believe in or allow me to do all the things I needed to do.

So I had to leave. And and that, that spurred that on. And we also recognized people in their second 50. They need really to focus on wealth preservation, income and then growth. And so we need to be able to use things, providing all the things they needed to set up a lifetime income stream. And that, that’s really what motivated us to get out on our own.

Andrea Vahl: Yeah. Yeah. That must have been a challenge to make that decision. And, there are some, obviously there’s some risks with being on your own, but also lots of benefits, lots of upside too, I think. So talk a little bit about some of the obstacles that you came up against, when you had been making this new change in your business.

Kathleen Adams: Funny you should mention the risks involved because, when we started our search to get out and figure out how we were going to set up. We hired somebody to help us and we did a lot of due diligence and we had a whole list of the exact things that we wanted and how we wanted it to look.

And so we ended up choosing to go with a platform that was already set up, even though we were going to be independent, we wouldn’t have to find all the resources ourselves for technology entering into agreements with Schwab and all the things that you need to do. So there are some firms out there that set that up and say, if you’re going to be out on your own, you can use our platform. And we did that and went through all the things that we had to do and spent a lot of money, got our office, got our employees, got our brand going. Oh my gosh, in about eight months in, we realized we shouldn’t have, we shouldn’t have gone that route and we shouldn’t have chosen that platform.

Even though it was easier, it was an easier way to go. And then it was a very difficult decision to once again decide we’re going to have to move because you have to talk to all of your clients and you have to read paper and you have to do things that are very heavy. But we did it. So about a year in, we made the decision and talked to all of our clients again, and it really, absolutely, 100% was the right thing to do.

My gosh. You just have to learn from failure, that’s what you have to do.

Andrea Vahl: Yeah. Yeah. How did you get through some of that? Was it just a matter of planning everything out, or was it was there some, probably a lot of heartache with that too, or just frustration or things like that.

Just how do you, how do you find the best way to get through those obstacles?

Kathleen Adams: Yeah, so for me it was about the communities I belong to. I was involved with some fantastic professional communities and I was free to talk to other professionals about the things that went wrong and ask some of them, how did you do what you do?

What did you like? What don’t you like? Really, that benefited me so much because I was getting a better picture of what I was trying to set up by talking to the people that were actually doing it and using it versus talking to a firm that you might hire to do it for you. Who tells you everything you want to hear.

Yeah, so we did it and it really was a lot to do with those communities and being extremely careful and talking to my team every single step of the way. We looked at the pros and cons of everything we were doing this time.

Andrea Vahl: Yeah. Yeah, definitely. It’s hard when you realize you’ve made an expensive mistake.

Yes, it’s definitely a bummer.

Kathleen Adams: But then you have to think, what do you do? Do you stay inside that mistake because you don’t want to spend more money, or it’s too risky to get out and try something again? Or do you, do you keep on going for what you really want?

Andrea Vahl: Yeah. Yeah, that’s definitely a better metaphor, a good metaphor for a lot of things, right?

The right inertia of, of staying in something that’s not right can feel easier at the moment, but, in the long run, better to, like you said, better to go for what you want. For sure.

So you had talked about a little bit about you had some great mentors and teachers and influencers along the way.

Share a little bit about who those were for you and what you learned from them.

Kathleen Adams: Sure. And as I said, it really started with my dad because he just never ceased to amaze me. On the day that he passed away. I was driving him to the airport and he was talking about how he, he was a dentist, he was going to set up a consulting firm in Palm Springs for people who needed dentures because young dentists didn’t know how to make them anymore. And how he wanted to meet somebody and start a new life. And he got on the plane ride back to Illinois. I’m in California, and he passed away on the plane.

Yeah, it was really amazing. But the flight attendant on the plane came to his service and told us that he was absolutely having a ball and she could tell he was flirting with her on the plane and just having such a great time.

Oh my gosh. That was so inspiring. And he was in his eighties. When he was planning this.

Andrea Vahl: And was he ill at all or was it very sudden? Was it…?

Kathleen Adams: He had, had some complications of diabetes. But he was trying to take really good care of himself. So Yeah. It was pretty sudden. It was not something that we thought could happen like that.

Yeah.

Andrea Vahl: I love that he was planning his future at that point. I, that is awesome.

Kathleen Adams: I know he wanted to partner with me because I had been doing pretty well with my business and he said we could do this together which probably would’ve worked, but I would say the other one with mentors and community was definitely professional group that I’m in called Strategic Coach.

And I know there’s a lot of great groups out there. I just found that this turned my life around changed my mindset and it’s been pretty spectacular for me.

Andrea Vahl: Yeah. Do you have any advice for people finding a good group like this? How did you find this group?

Kathleen Adams: It was an investigation, so there were a couple professionals who were more successful than me and they were smart and willing to talk to me.

I love building relationships with other people. That’s how I built my business. But I asked them. And I got different comments from people. But there was one person who I really respected who insisted that I look at Strategic Coach. He didn’t, he just wouldn’t, was relentless.

And that’s why I ended up checking them out and going in. So I think it’s really good to get recommendations from people that have had great results. From working with groups.

Andrea Vahl: Yeah. Do you have any what you. What kinds of things have they helped you do in terms of, is it like how have they impacted your business specifically?

Are they like a group coaching or is it more of a leader, leader coaching, or how has that been helpful to you?

Kathleen Adams: So it’s both because both are equally beneficial. So there is a leader, his name is Dan Sullivan. Who by the way, do you know who he is?

Yes. Yes, of course. Yes.

And you know that he’s already in his late seventies. 78 going on 79. Killing it. So he leads the group and he taught us to think about our thinking. I know it sounds bizarre. But business people get so caught up in the things that we have to look at, marketing and numbers and hiring. But he makes you go back and think about your thinking, and he gives us, tremendously helpful tools to use.

And asks us questions. So we’re doing that. And then he puts us in private groups. So we’re in a group with two, three people. And we talk about the thinking we just did. And a lot of times it’s brainstorming, sometimes it’s solving a problem, sometimes it’s a future vision thing.

But being in those little groups with people was extremely helpful. You get great feedback. I will say also because of the way Strategic Coach is set up, you’re definitely in a group where you can count on having people that are more successful, smarter. Doing better and you want to be there.

You don’t want to just be where you’re at, you want to be around those big thinkers. So it was a combination of Dan and then it was the community that you’re with.

Andrea Vahl: Yeah. That’s awesome. That’s awesome. I love that being around big thinkers, beacuse that is definitely a huge thing. Cause you you can get into these little blinders about this is the only way we can do it.

And sometimes big thinkers are thinking, No, it’s 10x things or …

Kathleen Adams: Exactly, exactly. Andrea. And I think as you get into your second 50 years, especially, my group boomers and all the people in my age group, our sphere gets small. And a lot of people tend to think alike.

You’re gravitating towards people thinking just like you. And you lose novelty, you know, new ideas.

Andrea Vahl: Yeah. Yeah. So let’s talk about the, you were talking a little bit about this other piece that you want to do with the second 50 platform that you are creating and talk a little bit about your vision for that.

Connecting these people who are together in their second half of life and creating a group for them.

Kathleen Adams: I’d love to thank you Andrea. So Second 50 Financial, the business that I’m in with the wealth management, is all about obviously financial planning and creating income and wealth management for people who are leaving their jobs or they just want to know work is optional.

We knew that was really important. And I call that financial confidence. That’s what we always hope that people end up with as a result of working with us, is feeling really confident and happy that they can preserve their lifestyle. However, after working with so many of these people and after also living with my dad and being around my strategic coach community, I realized something was missing because I didn’t think that people were really loving life anymore in the way that I thought they would beacuse they are successful.

A lot of them have wealth, but their wisdom and their wealth wasn’t working for them in the same way anymore, and a lot of their daily routines had, just gone to habits and travel in golf and playing with grandkids, all of which I love. But it wasn’t the same. So I decided perhaps they needed something else to think about.

What would excite them to get up every day? What would make the day a little bit more novel? What would make you feel like, “Oh, this is scaring me a little bit. This is going to be fun today.” So opportunity expansion was needed. That’s my thought as I was listening and being with these people.

And then if we got into an opportunity expansion mode and we could actually find something new to explore or learn, perhaps even. Earn money again, create some revenue we’re going to need to have the energy to show up and do it and enjoy it. So the other thing I recognized is that a lot of people in my age group are starting to get some chronic conditions that are holding them back, whether it’s mobility or it’s heart, or various illnesses these age related inevitable things that are supposed to happen to us. And because I have heavily invested in a group called Lifetime Extender, and in a group led by Peter Diamandas, we are looking at longevity and regenerative medicine in a really, really explicit and expansive way. I can see that the majority of the population, but especially those in their second 50, they don’t know what exists right now to help you feel so much better.

And so that’s why I started believing that perhaps along with financial confidence, we needed to set up resources, tools, people, communities for opportunity expansion and vitality enhancement. And then people could have a really amazing second 50 years. So that is what, that’s what’s going on, and that’s what it’s for.

Andrea Vahl: Yeah. That’s, that’s exciting. I really haven’t explored much myself around regenerative medicine, so that sounds amazing. Is that just now we can live to 150 or 200, or what’s the….?

Kathleen Adams: You know, there are many who see that we can, I’m really stunned at what’s out there, and I’ve been in the groups for about two years now.

I’m going to an amazing conference in a couple weeks called A360, Abundance 360, and they’re going to have people from all around the world looking at what’s newest in the regenerative medicine and longevity space. People you probably know, like Dr. Sinclair, he wrote the Lifespan book, but yes, so what they have found is we have this amazing ability now to diagnose early. To find things we could never find before through biomarkers and expanded blood tests and full body scans. So if you are just sitting using traditional medicine, you’re not going to have access to this because it doesn’t participate for a variety of reasons. Medical doctors cannot do it and use it.

And the second thing is, so you’re not going to get really exposed through your traditional medical doctors. You’re also not going to see it in the media or on commercials, beacuse those are pretty much all pharmaceutical. The other thing is that you would have to write a check for many of the things that are out there right now, a lot of people are very capable of writing a check.

They just don’t know what’s there. And I’ll give you one example. My husband and I just did an expanded blood test called Inside Tracker. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it. So that’s one of the things my community’s all been doing, and it goes way beyond your traditional blood test, checking all areas for illness and hormones and everything else.

But on top of that, it gives you your inner age. So you have your chronological age. Then you have an inner age, and then it also gives you precise nutritional feedback. So it can tell you, a lot of people can eat mashed potatoes, but they shouldn’t eat french fries. And you should hear, you normally hear you should never have either one.

But they, they refine what’s really worst for you and what might be best for you, what supplements could help you with what was found in your blood tests. It’s all looked at by a panel of doctors, and then you can press a button and send that entire report to your own physician. So he can take a look at it for you as well.

So you write a check for it, but it’s not an astronomical cost. Why wouldn’t we do it?

Andrea Vahl: Yeah. Yeah, that sounds interesting for sure. To have something super tailored to you. And I know there are so many people who struggle with all different kinds of things, with gut health and, all kinds of things that come up that are they’ve just had to learn by trial and error along the way.

And so to have something that would be, a little bit quicker information sounds like a really great idea.

Kathleen Adams: I think the focus is also to get to the root cause of what the heck is going on because the majority of the time we go in and we treat symptoms for something that’s already there.

And without ever getting to figure out what caused this, what is causing this, you can make your stomach feel better or your joints feel better, but is there more that you could do to start eliminating the root cause? That’s the direction it’s going now.

Andrea Vahl: Yeah. Yeah. No, I like that.

And they tell you your inner age, right? But they don’t have a test for you, like mental age, right?

Kathleen Adams: No, but no. They have these wonderful brain scans though, where they can affect your brainwaves and they’re not they’re not invasive. These are seriously for, your mental health, your mental condition.

It’s pretty remarkable. Now, when I go to this Abundance 360, they’re going to actually have what they call the technology lounge. And you can go in and there’s biotechnology in there as well, and you can go in and participate in some of the things that are available right now.

Andrea Vahl: Yeah. Yeah. It’s so interesting cause I think we just don’t know about what’s available, what’s out there, like you said, we’re used to going to the doctor and the doctors aren’t giving us that kind of information just because, for a variety of reasons, obviously.

Kathleen Adams: No. And a lot of it, honestly they can’t, they’re under certain mandates, under their profession, and I have full respect for them, I come from a family of dentists. So I have full respect for all that they do. But yeah, we know there’s more, so why not have the extra?

Andrea Vahl: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So how obviously we’ve gotten this a little bit from the interview, but how do you think your views of aging have changed over the years?

I’m, definitely, I think one thing that people on my podcast have a whole different viewpoint of aging at this point, so how have yours changed?

Kathleen Adams: Hugely. To be honest, because of what happened with my dad, I think I’ve always not disregarded aging. I just try to say to people, yes, we’re getting older.

We really don’t have to get old. And now that I’m in this age group and working with people in this age group, I’m more excited than ever because we couldn’t be alive at a better time. We have so much access to, oh, technology and biotechnology information solutions. We’re globally connected.

The global connection that we have now. Really be blowing people away, how easy it is to talk to people around the world. And artificial intelligence is going to be changing our lives continually. We don’t have to be afraid, we can start to understand it a little, but, we don’t have to dive in and do everything, but understand the benefits it might have for our life that’s going to change your mind about aging too.

And I think those things alone have really made me feel, not indestructible, but I just don’t feel bad to be the age that I am. And the other fun thing, Andrea, is that how I feel about aging now too, the new things they’re getting in the regenerative medicine space, we’re literally going to be able to look younger.

So they’re growing hair back for men. They’re having stem cell facials and things where you don’t have to do invasive surgeries. So that’s really fun, especially for boomers who want to continue looking good.

Andrea Vahl: Yeah, it’s nice to, I know sometimes I feel like my outside doesn’t match my inside. I’m like, what?

What is, what is happening here?

Kathleen Adams: You stop by and glance in the mirror it’s like “What!?!?”

Andrea Vahl: Yeah. Yeah. That’s great. That is awesome. That is awesome. As you know I like to, I love rounding out our time and hearing about a quote or inspirational saying that inspires you. I’d love to hear, I’d love to hear one of your favorite quotes, and I know you have a lot, we were talking about that before as well. I do too that’s why I like to get more from others.

Kathleen Adams: I think right now it’s from a book that I read by Alex Cohen, and I just loved this statement that he said in there. He said, beware of what you see as fact and what you throw out the door as fantasy, because the two are often reversed.

And I think that people should start thinking about that in today’s world. Just be very careful because things are changing rapidly and it’s not all scary. A lot of it’s for the better.

Andrea Vahl: Yeah. That’s awesome. I love that. I love that. Yep. We just always have to have that discerning eye around what, what kind of information we’re, we’re believing and I think taking into ourselves as beliefs.

Yeah. That’s great. That is great. Kathleen, thank you so much for your time here with us and we’ll have links to… oh yeah, tell us where we can find more about you, but we’ll also have these links in the show notes.

Kathleen Adams: Okay. The easiest is just my website or LinkedIn. We’re setting up some more social media for the second 50 movement, which will be out eventually.

Andrea Vahl: Okay, awesome. Yeah, so Second50Financial.com and then we’ll have any other links and your LinkedIn, people can connect with you there. See your favorite places to be and awesome.

Thank you Kathleen, and it’s been a pleasure having you here.

And I will just live together to be 150 or so. That’ll be awesome. That’s good. And good luck and best wishes to all of your new endeavors and things like that. So I think it’s an important movement and important word and information to get out there in that world, in the world here.

Kathleen Adams: Thank you so much, Andrea.

I appreciate the ability to get the word out a little bit with you. Yeah.

Andrea Vahl: Awesome. All right, thanks everyone. Bye bye.

Hope that was helpful and make sure you grab the free guide Top Tools for Late Starters on the website at latestartersclub.com and let’s turn dreaming into doing.