Built to last: Mariner at 20

In this special episode, host Whitney Reagan interviews Marty Bicknell, founder, CEO and president of Mariner, to celebrate the firm’s 20-year anniversary and reflect on the firm’s evolution and future. 

They unpack Mariner’s origin story, from Marty’s early career shift from pre-law and his five years at a traditional firm, to the pivotal moment in 2006 when he took the leap to build a client-first company focused on positively impacting the lives of many.

Transcript

Whitney: Today’s episode is very special because it marks a significant milestone for Mariner. It’s our 20-year anniversary of the founding of Mariner, and I have the opportunity to interview Marty Bicknell, founder, CEO and president of Mariner. And the conversation is fantastic.

It’s about the origin story. It’s about taking risk, about keeping promises and the future of wealth management. You’ll want to stay tuned to hear the rest.

Whitney: Welcome, welcome. Thanks for joining us for another episode of Your Life Simplified. I am very excited about today’s episode. If you guys have spent any time at Mariner or around Mariner, you’ve probably heard the phrase, “positively impacting the lives of many.” Or maybe you’ve read it a time or two, but that’s a lot of talk about our purpose and why Mariner exists and what we kind of live for.

This episode is a little different for me because I get to interview Marty Bicknell, the founder, president and CEO of Mariner. But it’s different for me because he’s also family. I’ve seen Marty and known Marty for all of my 40 years of life, and that is two decades longer than Mariner has existed. So, I’ve seen him in many different capacities, but now I’ve seen him lead fiercely the firm that so many of us call home.

I want this episode to really be about the origin of Mariner, the backstory, the purpose and also kind of forward looking because Marty, in my opinion, is a visionary, and I just want to hear more about where his head was at and what was the space he was in when the founding of Mariner happened, which was back in 2006.

And another reason this episode is so important is because this month marks the 20-year anniversary of Mariner being in existence, which is wild. I think that it’s very exciting and I want to reflect on—I want to celebrate the growth and the milestone, but I also want to reflect on what’s evolved over these past 20 years.

So, I guess without further ado, I will introduce Marty. How are you today, Marty?

Marty Bicknell: I’m doing great, Whitney. Thanks for having me. I’m looking forward to it.

Whitney: I’m so pumped about this. I am—well, I guess I was going to say between you and me, but between you and me and the audience, Marty actually calls me the question master, and that’s not like in an endearing way. So he is—when I told him that I was so excited about this, and I actually get to ask him as many questions as I want, and I get to direct and lead the conversation, I think it probably scared the you know what out of him, but I think it’s also funny because you are a man of very few intentional words. So like the difference in our personalities is pretty fast. And now that the audience knows what we’re all about, are you excited about this or are you nervous?

Marty: I’m very excited. As you know, I do a lot of these. And I’ve never done one, had a family member interview me. So that alone is, you know, I don’t get very many firsts in life. I’ve lived too long. This is a first.

Whitney: And this family member, who is the question master, that’s even more powerful.

Marty: I’ll be fine.

Whitney: I know you will. So, I like to usually start out with something soft, like a softball question or something light. Do you have any jokes you want to tell us?

Marty: So, I’m probably not going to tell a joke because I’m very bad at them. But as you’ve seen me lead this firm, I’m a firm believer in keeping things light, and never taking yourself or the situation too seriously. And, you know, those thoughts and opinions and beliefs have come from people like Lincoln, Seneca, Epictetus.

I mean, believe it or not, those guys brought laughter into whatever they did.

Whitney: And it like, emphasizes that you’re having fun while doing what you love and working, if you can call it work. So, I also like to ask. Well, I usually like to ask what you’re reading or if you’re reading anything noteworthy or if you’re watching anything lately that you want to tell the audience about. But I know for a fact you’re reading something because you’re always reading.

It actually, just it totally impresses me how many books you read, and I honestly don’t know how you find the time to do it. So maybe that’s the first question is how do you read so much and what’s like the latest noteworthy read?

Marty: You and I are in different parts of our life. My kids are all grown and out of the house, so there’s no running, no more running to baseball practice, basketball practice. It’s amazing how much time raising kids takes and all the places you get pulled. So, I’ve just decided to reinvest my time in utilizing it for getting better, I think.

So, in 2025, I read 28 books.

Whitney: Wow!

Marty: So far this year I’m at ten, so I am going to beat that.

Whitney: Way ahead of schedule.

Marty: But I think the book I’m reading right this minute is What to Make of a Life by Jim Collins. And if you think about Jim Collins’s books, they’ve all been business books. And not that this is not, but he’s taking a different approach to the success of all the people we know about, but not talking about their business success, talking about what it meant to them personally.

And it wasn’t about business. Business was just their means.

Whitney: So like, better—I think I actually looked at a summary on this book. Is it also about like a more fulfilling life or how to have more of a fulfilling life?

Marty: Yes.

Whitney: Yes.

Marty: Yeah. We will all at some point find our own personal flywheel. And like you said earlier, that that makes things not feel like work. You have a passion for it. And you just, you know, chase that flywheel. Keep it spinning.

And I think the other thing that he talks a lot about is that there’s no person that hasn’t had a valley. And understanding what your personal valley was or is and you know, maintaining just a positive attitude to get through that valley.

Whitney: Meaning—like a valley meaning like a hardship or a bump in the road or something. Something that you feel is negative.

Marty: Yes. Like, if I had to pick one right now, Whitney, it would be Diney. You know, losing my sister when she wasn’t ready. That was a really difficult time for all of us.

Whitney: Mhm. That’s a great example. Well and it’s, so going back to like how you find the time and how you’ve kind of shifted your days from when you had little kids. I feel like my husband’s going to be out of town this weekend and I’m going to be single parent to three kids, and I’m trying to like, figure out the logistics of being in three places at once.

So, I can definitely relate to the little kid chaos right now and trying to find the time to read books or listen to books. It’s just it’s fun.

So, I think one thing I did want to touch on, as you were talking about the books that you read, I have I thought about this later as I was trying to prepare for this episode. You amaze me in how—in your ability to compartmentalize. Every time I feel like I see you, whether it’s in a work meeting, a Zoom or a family event.

You seem so present and so in the moment and not distracted by anything else. And I don’t know, I don’t know how you do it. And I’m just like, I wish that I could get there. Do you have any advice?

Marty: So, I will do my best throughout this interview to not Brian Johnson, everyone to death.

Whitney: Maybe you need to say—we need to tell the audience who Brian Johnson is first.

Marty: Brian Johnson is the founder of Heroic. And it is easily the best self-improvement app and program that I’ve ever seen. And one of his philosophies is the past is the past that doesn’t exist anymore. The future is not here yet. So, the only time you have is this moment. So, think about this moment and be your best self.

Whitney: That’s incredible. I just strive for that. So that’s definitely an inspirational quality that you have I think. So, let’s get into the fun stuff. The origin of Mariner. Actually, before I go there, can I ask you what did you want to be when you grew up? Was what you’re doing now even aligned?

Marty: So, for some reason, in going to college, I decided I wanted to be a pre-law major, ultimately go to law school and become a lawyer.

Whitney: I don’t think I knew that.

Marty: One of the most lucky things of my life was meeting a single practitioner Edward E. Jones, advisor in Pittsburg, Kansas. His name is John Eisen. John Eisen told me to get a haircut, put on a tie, and I’ll see you Monday morning. And so I got an internship my freshman year in college, and I immediately fell in love with the business, and knew that’s what I wanted to do.

Whitney: So, he said, cut your hair. Was this because your hair was long and you had a mullet?

Marty: Uh huh.

Whitney: That’s the fun parts of me being family. I got to see you through all your fun phases.

I didn’t know that you were pre-law. That’s funny, because I actually took the LSAT and thought that I was going to go to law school and then got some advice against it, and here I am. So, I think that that was like a path that I’m glad that I took that path.

Marty: Me too.

Whitney: Yay! Back in 2006, I want to—I truly love origin stories because I think, I mean that’s why I think I love documentaries. I think it gives such good context of like what a person or firm, like what was gone through and like all of the, the valleys and, and you know, like the successes, but also a lot of the struggles that had to be overcome to get here. So back in 2006, what made you take the leap and also what was going on in the industry and at the time to really like make that decision for you?

Marty: Yeah, I think I’ll try not to make this too long, but some of these, there’s some important components. So, I mean, I spent the first 16 years of my career at A.G. Edwards. A.G. Edwards was a family-run business for 115 years of its existence. Ben Edwards ran it the last 45 years, because, publicly traded company, because, you know, he’s approaching 70.

Apparently, the rules all—whatever, right? He had to step down. The board chose their first non-Edwards CEO.

Changed the company overnight like that. Typical Wall Street type firm where the products you offer are more important in the service you give. And I struggled in that environment for five years. Because in 2001 is when he stepped down. And I mean, it was, to say it was five years of misery, I mean, I can’t exaggerate that because it was miserable.

I didn’t know what an RIA was. True story. I had no idea. And, I mean, you’re too young to remember this, but back in the day, we actually read magazines, like real magazines. And I was reading one on the industry, and there was literally a tear-out card with Fidelity’s logo on it said, get the white paper on becoming an RIA.

And so I filled it out and sent it in.

Whitney: You did?

 Marty: Yeah.

Whitney: That’s awesome. What was A.G. Edwards then? Was it considered a wirehouse or like a—

Marty: Yeah.

Whitney: Broker-dealer?

Marty: Yeah, it’s a broker-dealer or was a broker-dealer, but it was, I mean, sometimes people called them super regionals. But there were 7,000 advisors and 700 locations. So, I mean, it was a real relatively decent-sized firm.

Whitney: But so, I mean, five years sounds like a long time to just kind of just try and get through it. And then this magazine was almost like a, that was an inflection point.

Marty: Right? I’ll tell you how miserable those five years were. My golf game was the best it’s ever been because I did not want to be in the office.

Whitney: That’s a really good judge right there. Knowing your golf game is better because you’re never in the office. So then what happened with filling out the form?

Marty: So, you know this because you work in Mariner, but Kevin Corbett and Brian O’Reagan, who are on our corporate development team, they were both at Fidelity, and they just started the process of educating me on what this was. And I mean, now they both work here. So, I mean, there’s a friendship that we all developed very early. And they believed in the vision.

Whitney: And so that’s when you decided to start the firm? Learning what an RIA was. And you said, I want to start an RIA. Is there—were there anything like industry, well, I guess maybe what I’m getting at is— you did something so unique, I feel like at the time. And that was separating business development from advice.

What—And I think it’s genius, but I’m also an advisor, and I love not having to go and drum up business. So at the time, 20 years ago, how did you think to do that?

Marty: So, it was something that I started at A.G. Edwards. And so my branch manager, I said, I want to form a team, I’ll sell. His name was Scott. Scott will take care of the clients, and he told me no. I went to my regional manager, told me no, I went to the CEO of the company, and he said, okay, you can do it, but you’re going to fail.

Whitney: Oh. Wow.

Marty: Yep.

Whitney: That’s a motivational boss.

Marty: Fifteen—18 months to two years later, they’re flying me all over to their locations, teaching their highest producers how to build a team.

Whitney: Really?

Marty: Yeah. Just because my numbers skyrocketed. Because I didn’t have to do everything. I got to focus on the one thing that I feel like I’m good at.

Whitney: Which is?

Marty: I think I’m really good at taking something that somebody might think is complex and making it simple. And I also think, and I’m going to ask you a question. I also think that my biggest strengths are inspiring and influencing. Do you know the difference between inspiring and influencing?

Whitney: No, I think I’d have to think about it too long and we don’t have the time for that. So just tell me.

Marty: Influencing is I convince you to do something right now. Inspiring is I don’t have to convince you to do anything. You’re just inspired to go do it.

Marty: And I do both, I mean, on a daily basis. I hope the influencing leads to ultimate inspiration. But if it doesn’t, I’ll influence the way.

Whitney: Okay, So this was 2006. You started the firm in, with seven other people.

Marty: Seven other people.

Whitney: That’s correct?

Marty: Yep.

Whitney: And were there times when you just thought, I don’t know if this is going to survive or was there like a tipping point where you just thought or a point in time where you’re like, this might not last?

Marty: So just backing up to starting it, I mean, believe it or not, I was scared. I was petrified. You know, I was scared for my family. I was scared for the people I influenced to follow me. And you know, what that might mean for their families.

I knew we were ready when the simple philosophy of building a company that you can be proud of, that puts clients first and associates second, had been taken away from me, and I wanted to go rebuild it.

Whitney: Now that you were authentic and vulnerable enough to say that you were scared, was there like, what was the biggest risk you felt like for you personally as you took the leap?

Marty: Well, I mean, I think the first thing was, what if my clients don’t follow? You know, and completely starting over. I mean, never sounds good.

So I was worried about that. And you know Whitney—you know, I’ve always been an entrepreneur. Even at A.G. Edwards, I had other businesses. And at the same time, I didn’t operate any of those businesses. And, you know, being at A.G. Edwards and being an advisor is not operating a business. And so, you know, I was nervous on whether or not I had what it took to found a company and manage that company.

Whitney: I think I’ve heard you say this a lot is like, surround yourself with smart people. I mean, was that kind of a part of the philosophy? Like, I need to surround myself with the right people.

Marty: Yeah. So the one thing about your question, you said, you know, when did you think it you might not make it in and then when was the aha that we were going to. And it’s the same answer. It’s 2008, 2009 financial collapse. You know, stock markets getting killed. Banks are not lending money. I mean headline every day.

Whitney: This was just, I mean—sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you, but like, this is two years in and—

Marty: 2009, yes.

Whitney: Two years in to, like, starting Mariner and—what did you have in assets under management at that point? Probably 500 million? Something like that?

Marty: Yeah, probably a little bit more. We hadn’t broke a billion yet. We were getting close.

Whitney: Okay, okay. Just setting the stage.

Marty: We’re getting close. You know, I think the reason I give both of those is because, you know, the impact—I mean, obviously we’re a fee-based business model. And if the equity markets are going down, so are our fees. And in just knowing how much infrastructure I had built and just, you know, can we survive it? But at the same time, in ’08 and ’09, I decided to take a step back and say to myself, this has to be the opportunity of your lifetime. You’re attracting talent to an organization that wouldn’t choose a firm your age and size under normal circumstances. And so you think like, people like Gary Henson, Chris Long, Scott Moore, I mean, that list—I’m going to stop naming names because I’m going to make somebody mad that I left them out.

But there are, you know, hundreds if not thousands of people that contribute every day to our success. And they don’t waver.

Whitney: So when you got, when you made it through 2008, 2009, which probably I can’t even imagine how hard that felt, because you have this sense of responsibility to not only people, but clients and the firm and associates. Like how—coming out of that, did you change any of your, like, leadership style or, you know, like how did you evolve from there going forward?

Marty: So I think the number one rule of leadership is lead yourself first. So, you know, you can’t just tell people what to do. You, I mean, you have to live what you believe. And then I think the next thing is, leaders can no longer be the best at a function

They have to lead. They have to rise above doing it day to day, doing it themselves. I mean, it’s in creating an army underneath you that is now doing it, right? So the size that we are today, I mean, one person can’t do what all 800 and some of our advisors can do. Right? And so, you know, leadership team, all of those things, it was just, I just decided that I needed to stop doing and start leading.

Whitney: That’s a really good point on like not doing the day-to-day. Is it hard for you to take a step back and not like get into the details, or, I mean, I think I feel like you’re more strategic and forward-looking and more of a visionary. But I also want to hear from you. Like, how do you feel like, what’s your personality type?

Do you feel like you love the strategic part, or do you like the tactical and getting down in the weeds?

Marty: Well, definitely strategic. I’m not a tactical person. I think, you know, the—just the overall kind of thought of, you know, our front stage/backstage mentality, right, where performance is on the front stage, those are client-facing things. Backstage, you know, keeps the show alive. I can easily compartmentalize the backstage, and luckily, we have a great team for that.

But I still battle relatively frequently, oh, I’ll just go to that meeting. Don’t worry about it. And instead of letting the people that I’ve, you know, we’ve hired, and I’m entrusting to do it, to go figure it out.

Whitney: I struggle in a similar vein. I struggle with saying no to things, as you probably know about me, and it’s been hard to figure out. Okay, where’s my highest and best use? And so, I’m kind of a work in progress there, so I can relate. But yeah, not going to every meeting is definitely on my action item.

Marty: That’s funny.

Whitney: Yeah. So, okay, let’s kind of, as we like, work through, we’ve gone through 2008, 2009. You—Marty—you’ve been like, you thought that might be a time when we won’t survive. But then. Now you also know that we can survive. What is—I think with growth, there comes a lot of opportunity. You actually say that a lot. And I think also with growth, there’s a lot of pressure that comes with the growth. Is there a point where you feel like growth maybe compromised culture or compromised, just like what we’ve worked so hard for?

Marty: Our very, very first acquisition we did in 2011, from a financial perspective, it was a really good acquisition for us. But from a cultural perspective, it was a terrible, terrible mismatch. We decided to let the three largest revenue-generating advisors go and gave them their book of business.

So, you know, I bought their book and then gave their book to them because they were going to be that much of a cancer to our culture.

Whitney: And then we focused more on wealth management, which is our bread and butter.

Marty: Yes. Yeah. So that was you know, I still do presentations and talks today, and it’s only it’s been less than ten years, and nobody remembers Montage.

Whitney: Nobody. I was even I was in sales for Montage, on the distribution team, as you know, and we were trying so hard to get people to know the name of it and nobody, it never took.

Marty: Yeah. And so if you, you know, 2008 we just decided that the wealth management model is a better model. We had grown it from basically zero to over $50 billion, so we sold it and reallocated all of that capital into the wealth company.

Whitney: Which I am sure so many associates that call this place home now are very grateful for that decision.  So what did you learn? I mean, I’ve asked you kind of leadership style. Do you actually—do you have like a hero or someone you look up to that kind of inspires your leadership style?

Marty: The first person I would put on my hero list is Napoleon Hill. Napoleon Hill wrote a book called Think and Grow Rich. It would be my number one recommendation to anybody. And now for anybody that’s listening or watching this, if you’ve not read it, read it.

Whitney: On the list.

Marty: It’s an old—it was written a long time ago, but you know, it’s one of those I reread and, you know, the concepts really never get old.

Whitney: Do you read, like, do you like to read the actual books, or do you like to listen?

Marty: I do both. You know, in a perfect world, sitting down at night reading a book and winding down is great.

Whitney: Yes. I love that feeling.

Marty: But if I’m going to be in an airplane for two hours or, you know, in the car for a long period of time, I always have an Audible on. Always.

Whitney: Mhm. Yeah. I like listening too. I like listening because I can do it while I’m doing other things.

Marty: Yeah.

Whitney: Is there—so kind of on the topic of leadership, is there a lesson that you think that maybe you learned it the hard way through some of the things that we talked about, that you think that is a lesson that every leader should know?

Marty: I think there’s a lot of people that we all run across that the strategy part of the model takes forever. And for me, it’s action. And you know, once you get—I mean, just ask myself a simple question. Is this that 70 or 80% baked? Is this a decision that’s a permanent decision or one I can change? And if we’re at 80% and I can change the decision? Let’s go. We don’t need to find out any more information.

Whitney: Mhm. So those are like the two first questions you ask yourself.

Marty: Yes.

Whitney: That’s so impressive. I mean, I am such an over-analyzer.

Marty: Well. You also know who sits around my enterprise leadership team table, and you know that happens a lot, too.

Whitney: Yes. So it’s good that we all have different strengths, and we lean into those, and we can complement each other.

So, I wanted to ask you, like, there’s been so much growth, and I don’t know, this firm is—I think is so special, but I’m also kind of biased. What do you think makes Mariner so special?

Marty: So I think Mariner—I mean, it’s culture, which everyone says it.

Whitney: Yeah, womp womp. No, I’m just kidding.

Marty: But the whole, like, you just watch around our organization, and people drop everything to support another associate, and there’s nothing in it for them. And I think, I mean, I really do think that’s one of the key reasons that we are special, is because we want to take care of each other.

And, you know, I think of it from this perspective—overachievers get satisfaction by accomplishing difficult tasks with people who care. And if you like, think around my leadership table, think about another part of the organization. There’s no me, me, me’s. It’s what can we do for this team?

Whitney: Mhm. I mean, that’s so true. And I’ve been in a lot of different roles at Mariner, and even just when I first became an advisor, I had someone in Boston offer to just invite me into a client meeting on a Zoom and just kind of let me learn from them. And it was almost—I felt so, I mean, that was so meaningful for me because I didn’t, I don’t know why I didn’t think that that would be a normal thing, but they were just like, oh yeah, come on in, come on in. You can ask questions. Feel free. It was really cool.

Marty: Yeah. That’s awesome. I mean, it makes me proud of the company.

Whitney: Yes. Well, as we grow, for you, what’s a non-negotiable?

Marty: I think my number one non-negotiable for myself, but also that I hold in others, is DWYSYWD.

Whitney: What?

Marty: Do What You Say You Will Do. Do what you say you’re going to do, right? Keep your promises. You know, how many times do you hear me say keep promises? Like, to me, I mean, everything else just works out when you know, you put the client first, and you do what you say you’re going to do.

Whitney: Yes. Do you—what do you think, like, I feel like positively impacting the lives of many is really our purpose. And it’s ingrained in Mariner. But what does it mean to you personally, and where did it come from?

Marty: So, what it means to me personally is again, looking around this organization and seeing people prosper, getting, you know, new challenges and overcoming them. Learning something new. You know, at the same time, their impact on their families, and the people around them is, I mean, it’s the snowball effect for me, Whitney. It’s like when—names to not be mentioned—but one of our close friends, you know, stands up and donates $20,000 out of her own pocket to support something, like I mean, I didn’t influence her to do that. Maybe I inspired her, but I didn’t influence her to do that.

 So I just think the creating opportunity for personal, professional growth and then, you know, having an impact in the communities that we serve.

Whitney: Yeah. Let’s talk about that. And actually, a side note, another caring moment. I did the Dancing with the Kansas City Stars for the nonprofit Cristo Rey Kansas City. And I had so many random just like $20 here, $20 there of associates across the country, not even just in Kansas City. And that was like such a powerful and meaningful and inspiring moment for me, just knowing that everybody cares so much.

Marty: Yeah, absolutely. And just when you—like even the Mariner Foundation, you know, at 21,000-2,200 associates, we have 75% of the organization that donates their own money to our foundation. I mean, to me, that’s our culture. That’s who we are.

Whitney: Yes, yes. And the foundation and giving back and philanthropy. I’ve heard you say many times because I feel like it’s almost like a family mission statement, to whom much is given, much is expected. Just tell me about—I want to kind of unpack that. What does that mean to you? Why is it so important to you?

Marty: Earlier in this, you used the word responsibility. And so, you know, I’ll try not to go this deep into this, but my biological mother was 16 years old. And the fact that, you know, I’m alive, she chose life, and then I get adopted into the family that I did get adopted to. I mean, I feel a personal responsibility because I’ve been given so much to do everything I can to pay it back.

Whitney: And I think that inspires other people. I think going back to your inspire and influence. I think that really inspires people because it comes from you personally and your personal experience. And I think when—inside of Mariner, when you can like you can have that personal connection, but also the professional connection.

I don’t know who said it. I had a guest on here, but it was like you feel so deeply close to your coworkers on a personal level and a professional level. It almost feels like we’re all just in this as a family.

Marty: Yeah, I totally I agree with that.

Whitney: That’s an inspiration.

Marty: Yes. Whether it’s the foundation or just people going out of the way in their communities to, you know, to do something for an individual or just community in general. I mean, those things are exactly what I mean by to whom much is given, much is expected.

Whitney: And so 20 years—we’re at our 20-year anniversary, and the company has grown significantly. But all that growth has created so much opportunity and impact on people, families, clients, communities. What is something that if you go back to 2006 and somebody said, okay, here, you can see into the future of what Mariner is going to be. And here’s what it looks like in 2026. What would your reaction be?

Marty: Shock and awe. I’m just telling you, like I had no clue. I mean, nobody did. You know, in 2025, we brought in $15 billion of new clients’ assets to our organization. In 2006, building a $15 billion firm was not on my radar, so the fact that we did it in one year, I mean that—no, I wouldn’t have looked forward to seeing any of this. Not a chance.

Whitney: What’s one word that you would use to describe Mariner in 2006?

Marty: In 2006? One word?

Whitney: Yes. And then in 2026. So, I’ll give you a little sneak preview to that next question.

Marty: Yeah. I think the one word. I mean, we were focused.

Whitney: You guys were focused on—I mean, to me, just hearing the story, it feels like you were focused on changing the industry. To make it, like, truly client first and making sure that you stuck, you know, like you stuck to your guns on that.

Marty: Yes. Yes.

Whitney: What about the vision? Didn’t change. Is it just that client-first mentality? Or was there anything?

Marty: Yeah.

Whitney: I’m in awe.

Marty: The client-first mentality and improving lives. You know, the client-first mentality can be, and often is, delivered at a $500 million firm. A billion-dollar firm. I mean, those firms are taking great care of their clients.  But the part that I mean, was missing for me is if I can look around and see seven people that I’ve done that to, why can’t that be 7,000?

Whitney: I’m going to tie this into like impacting the lives of many. There was the Bicknell Finance Certificate that was announced at the University of Kansas. And I think that that, well, I have this passion for like financial literacy at younger and younger ages and, you know, helping kids and just younger individuals better understand what financial acumen is.

And so, I think that certificate was a really great step and a huge step in the right direction to really help people learn financial education at younger ages. What would your advice be for the next generation of advisors?

Marty: I think number one is to recognize this is a noble profession. I think other business models than in fiduciary RIA, you know, throughout the years, as you know, put the salesperson tag on this entire industry. And I mean, from an RIA perspective, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Which also leads to the why I think the separation of business development for advice works so well. But I think that the advisor of the future, I mean, it’s going to be here while I’m still here. It’s definitely going to be here while you’re still here. And that advisor of the future is very literate and literal, literate, sorry, in technology. They know how to apply the tools that are being provided for them. And then second, I think they’re going to have to think about themselves as a life coach first and all the different things that that means. You know, supporting a new house, supporting kids through college, support all these things that, you know, people need.

I feel like we’re no longer going to be leading with investment products or even financial planning. It’s going to go way beyond that, in my opinion.

Whitney: Well, that makes me so happy because I consider myself a life coach, and the emotional intelligence is so important. What do you think—so I know that you are a big, you’re very passionate about technology and innovation. We even now have a chief innovation officer. And I feel like you—I feel like Mariner is at the forefront of having technology and using it in the right way.

But what makes you so—what do you think AI is going to do to the wealth industry? What do you think AI is going to do to Mariner? Is that a loaded question? Sorry.

Marty: No. So I think that it’s going to make us bigger and better. And, you know, the—as an advisor, you know how much time it takes to do your job. And the actual component of your job is less than 50% of the hours in a day for the average advisor across all models—trust company, banks, wirehouses, independents and most RIAs.

And, you know, we have figured out a way to get that to 70 or 75, and I want it to be 90 to 95. And the things that we’ve done to do that today, I mean, an advisor that has to fill his own funnel of prospects? That’s extremely time-consuming. Right?  We’ve removed that from their day. The processing of client information. You know, there’s tools already that speed all of that up.

And I don’t think, I mean, you look at who’s holding the money today. They still want people. Right?

Whitney: Yeah.

Marty: I mean, people build relationships. People build businesses, people build communities. AI is not taking any of that away.

Whitney: I can’t remember what I had the other day. I think it was Chick-fil-A, and they were trying to give me like an automated person to take my order, and I was so pissed. I was like, I still want a human to take my order.

And I agree with you on our jobs as wealth advisors. For several years, it felt like it’s just innately inefficient. And that drives me—I just I love efficiency—so that just drives me nuts when I can’t be very efficient. And we have such finite time. So, I think if technology and AI can save us time and let us have more quality conversations and crucial conversations with our clients, that’s just win, win, win.

Marty: I totally agree with you. Yeah.

Whitney: Before we do jump into lightning round, is there anything that you wanted to touch on that we didn’t get to?

Marty: Tagging along, that last conversation about AI and the future responsibility of a wealth advisor, I think it’s knowing and understanding that AI is not going to replace our jobs. It’s going to enhance our jobs. And you just think about, you know, online brokerage firms were supposed to take us all out of the business, you know, 20 years ago.

Whitney: Oh, yes. The robo advisor?

Marty: Robo advisors. Yes. Well, even before that, there was Fidelity.com and E*TRADE.

Whitney: Oh, yeah.

Marty: And then the robo advisor. And it’s a utilization tool that in order for an advisor to succeed, they have to apply it.

Whitney: To succeed as we go forward. What do you think the next 20 years of Mariner is going to look like?

Marty: I mean, it’s going to be exciting. I can’t wait for, you know, some of the things that we’re working on today that are still in the black box, so to speak, that will elevate, you know, how our advisors do what they do, in a way that not only condenses the time to do it, but enhances the what they’re doing.

Whitney: Mhm. Something that like even before, like ChatGPT and AI the conversation. I feel like you have always impressed me when I saw because you have been so adaptable and, like, adopted new technology. Like you were doing the voice to text or whatever for like way before I think I even knew how to do it. What drives that?

Is it because you want efficiency or you just like the next best thing, the next new model? Because, you know, I mean, I don’t think it has to do with age either, because I know a lot of young people that are like, set in their ways and they don’t want to just adapt to something new.

Marty: Yeah. So, I mean, it’s all about continuous learning. I mean.

Whitney: You’re a self-improvement junkie.

Marty: I am, and I always have been like.

Whitney: Yeah.

Marty: Back in the day, cassette tapes all over the by floorboard. Yeah, it was crazy.

Whitney: Cassette tapes. Okay. Are you ready for lightning round?

Marty: Ready.

Whitney: Okay. We can make this honest, authentic, real answers. I’m going to just—I didn’t ask this earlier, but what do you do for fun outside of work?

Marty: I mean, I’m a golfaholic. I love to golf. You know, love hiking and all that stuff, and love spending time with my grandbabies.

Whitney: Mhm. What is one thing that always makes you laugh?

Marty: Blondie.

Whitney: We talked about Blondie before we started recording. Blondie, the puppet? Or Blondie, your actual dog?

Marty: My actual dog.

Whitney: I love it. Okay. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Marty: This one’s going to shock you but cottage cheese.

Whitney: Blech. I try to be a non-judgmental space on here, so I will—I’ll try and refrain from doing that. That is so interesting. Cottage cheese for the rest of your life.

Marty: It’s full of protein. It’s got probiotics and all the stuff. Yes. I eat it every day of my life.

Whitney: Oh, my gosh. It feels like you’re eating air to me. I mean, when I eat it.

Marty: I’ll turn you on to a good brand.

Whitney: So, what is your superpower?

Marty: I think we touched on this in the beginning. I mean, I really do think it’s influencing and inspiring.

Whitney: I think so too. I hadn’t thought about it until you had said that earlier, but I think you’re spot on. What’s something that would surprise people about you, or something that not everybody knows about you?

Marty: I mean, for people paying attention to this that have met me, everybody knows I’m five foot seven. And so those who haven’t, I’m five foot seven. I signed a letter of intent to play college football.

Whitney: At Pitt State?

Marty: No, at a junior college. Independence Junior College, but as—at five seven. I weighed 130 pounds.

Whitney: Oh my gosh.

Marty: I did not make it past the first day of training camp. I’m like, coach, I’m in the wrong spot.

Whitney: Probably the best decision. What’s the best piece of advice that you’ve ever received?

Marty: It’s got to be Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.

Whitney: What’s the worst piece of advice?

Marty: Get into the software business.

Whitney: Someone told you that?

Marty: Are you too young to remember Excelagent?

Whitney: Yes. Or I just have a terrible memory, and I don’t know what it is.

Marty: Yeah, it’s a business. We started that I was way over my skis and understanding what it took to build and run a software business.

Whitney: Dang. I didn’t even know that. I’m getting so many good tidbits today. Okay. What’s one habit you swear by?

Marty: One habit I swear by? I would call it my AM protocol. And that’s basically gratitude journaling, meditation and a workout.

Whitney: And what’s your workout of choice?

Marty: I like to lift.

Whitney: Okay. What is—I like this question. What’s something about yourself you have to actively keep in check?

Marty: It would definitely be a fire, ready, aim instead of ready, aim, fire, of getting things figured out, I just—I like to just go and figure it out while I’m doing it.

Whitney: I can definitely attest to that from being at the firm for so long.

Marty: Yep.

Whitney: I think I know that about you.

Marty: We’ll figure it out.

Whitney: Yeah. That’s the Marty, the famous Marty line.

Marty: Yep.

Whitney: What motivates you more? Fear of failure or drive to win?

Marty: Without question, the drive to win. Failure is not an option.

Whitney: Ooh. I like that. Failure is not an option. That’s probably why Mariner has lasted 20 years and keeps going.

And, okay, this is a fun one. And I have to admit, I did ask our EmpowerHer group, which is our business resource group—women empowerment group. I asked them if there were any questions that they wanted me to ask Marty, and I got to pick one. So, this is one of them. It is: if there was going to be a movie about your life, who would you want to play Marty?

Marty: A younger version of Bruce Willis. And I only say younger because he’s got dementia right now. I don’t want that.

Whitney: Okay. What? Why Bruce Willis, what’s like your favorite? Are you, like, a big Die Hard fan?

Marty: I mean, all of them. I’ve seen all of them.

Whitney: Yes, yeah.

Marty: I see all of them. I don’t know. I just like that actor.

Whitney: Bruce Willis. Oh, my gosh, that totally threw me. I don’t know what I thought you were going to say, but that was really, really good.

Okay, so at this stage in life, what actually matters the most to you? Like outside of, you know, if you’re not working at Mariner anymore, you’ve stepped away, what are you doing with your time?

Marty: I think what matters the most to me is, I mean, it’s impacting, right? And I get more enjoyment out of seeing others succeed and accomplish things than I do about myself. And I would spend my time doing whatever I can do to support people doing that.

Whitney: That’s awesome. I think that we covered a lot of ground today, Marty, and I’m so grateful for you to take the time to talk with us today, not only about the origin story, but just about the path and the evolution and the growth and the opportunity and caring and all of the things that matter the most to you. And I love that you say keeping promises because I think that’s really inspirational. Going back to what you think is a superpower of yours. So, I’m just very grateful for your time. And I’m so glad that everybody got to hear from you. It was very fun for me.

Marty: Thank you. Whitney, I appreciate it. I appreciate being invited.

Whitney: Well, it only took us, like a year to get it, you know, scheduled. But it was perfect timing because it’s the 20th year anniversary, and now everybody gets to hear from you.

Marty: You were too busy dancing.

Whitney: Yeah. Okay. You can blame it on me. That’s fine.

Well, thank you to the audience for listening to us. And if you do like what you heard, please like, subscribe or follow wherever you listen to your podcasts. And we hope you have a great rest of your week, and happy anniversary, Mariner.

Mariner is the marketing name for the financial services businesses of Mariner Wealth Advisors, LLC and its subsidiaries. Investment advisory services are provided through the brands Mariner Wealth, Mariner Independent, Mariner Institutional, Mariner Ultra, and Mariner Workplace, each of which is a business name of the registered investment advisory entities of Mariner. For additional information about each of the registered investment advisory entities of Mariner, including fees and services, please contact Mariner or refer to each entity’s Form ADV Part 2A, which is available on the Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website. Registration of an investment adviser does not imply a certain level of skill or training.