And I thought it was only women who felt boxed in. Today I visited with a Male Financial Advisor, after reading his brochure I still had no idea who he was.  His message was so generic he was almost invisible and then I learned that was his intention.

During my conversation with this young man I could see he was doing some good things but definitely not getting the results he needed for his business.  After further probing I learned so much more, he is an avid sports enthusiasts, running, biking, rowing, hiking, when he talked about this his whole being lit up, he showed me pictures, books it was obvious this was something he was truly passionate about.

I asked him why he wasn’t sharing this in his marketing and brochure?  And then I learned something new.  He told me that because he wasn’t the mainstream guy who liked to golf and smoke cigars he felt almost embarrassed about his life and passions. I don’t know how this came about but as a woman I totally understand.  I told him that hiding this part of him was making him invisible when in fact it was this part of him that truly made him different and different in a powerful way.

We started to talk further about his sports and passions and then we started talking about the process and discipline he incorporates to succeed in sports, we then transferred those same concepts to his business and he immediately got the connection.  It was a transformational 30 minutes.  All this time he was hiding the exact thing that would allow him to succeed.  I told him what he experienced was no different than what women experienced in this industry.

It’s time for women and the non-mainstream men to come out of hiding. Advisors are constantly looking for ways to differentiate themselves from the competition, odds are you don’t have to look far, just look within.