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If You Build It, They Will Come: James Spinelli on Launching His RIA & Coaching Little League
26 Plays2 months ago
Managing major transitions in life takes careful planning, strong leadership, and a good group of teammates. On today’s podcast, James Spinelli, CEO and Co-Founder of Great Valley Advisor Group, shares his overlapping experiences of starting an RIA while growing his family—and the ambition it took to balance it all. To keep from being overwhelmed, James relied on lessons learned from years of playing baseball, teeing up his career for a grand slam of success.
Today, James wears many uniforms. Whether he’s coaching his players or the next generation of financial advisors, he discussed some of the keys to his success:
- Keep Family in Focus in the First Inning of your Business: James remembers balancing family priorities with his initial push to go independent. He says defining long-term success, and sharing his outlook with his spouse, was an essential part of launching his business.
- The “Jack-of-All-Trades” Mentality is a Recipe for Burnout: For advisors, time is too valuable to allow everyone to play every position. Relying on the specialities of your teammates is key to sustainable business expansion.
- From the Baseball Diamond to the Office: James brings a mentor’s mindset everywhere he goes, encouraging the personal and professional growth of his team.
Copyright 2026. TradePMR, Inc. For a transcript of this episode with sources, visit synergizepodcast.com. Great Valley Advisor Group and TradePMR are unaffiliated companies. If you want to join the conversation or connect with us, please visit us at synergizepodcast.com. This content is provided for general information purposes only.The views expressed by non-affiliated guest speakers are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of TradePMR Inc. or its affiliates. TradePMR Inc. and its affiliates do not endorse any guest speakers or their companies and therefore give no assurances as to the quality of their products and services. This channel is not monitored by TradePMR Inc. TradePMR Inc. does not provide investment advice, tax advice or legal advice. TradePMR Inc. is a member of FINRA and SIPC. TradePMR, Inc.,is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission {SEC) and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB). TradePMR provides brokerage and account services to registered investment advisors. Custodial services provided by First Clearing. Clearing is a trade name used by Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC, Member SIPC, a registered broker dealer and non-bank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company.
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Transcript
Introduction to Synergize and Hosts
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to Synergize, unscripted conversations where we explore the evolving role of the financial advisor in an emerging AI driven world. Join us as we bring together thought leaders across a range of disciplines and industry experts, sharing insights designed to help RIAs thrive in the industry of tomorrow.
00:00:27
Speaker
Welcome back to Synergize. I'm Bill Capelle, Director of Client Growth at Trade PMR Robinhood Company. And I'm Ryan Neal, Editorial Manager at Trade PMR Robinhood. And Bill, we're talking about something that we've talked a little about before, but in our mission to help advisors grow their business, grow their practice, you know, there's practice management strategies that are great, there's technology that's great, there's investment
Emotional and Personal Challenges in Business
00:00:51
Speaker
products out there. But something that I feel like that's not talked about enough is sort of the emotional side of the equation, the the stuff in life that we have to deal with, because life doesn't go on pause just because you're founding and growing a business, right? In the past, we've talked to an advisor who was getting his REA going when he lost his father, who was also involved in the business and kind of dealing with that emotional struggle as well as becoming ah a leader and and and serving folks. and Today, I want to talk about kind of a different tack, family.
00:01:21
Speaker
you know Starting a business while also starting a family and and being present for your for your children and your spouse and and growing personally as well as growing your business. It's it's something I can relate to. I've got ah a one-year-old at home while I'm still trying to grow my career. and and You've seen the the other side of the equation. You have four kids yourself all, I think, grown now, and and and so you've done this as well. so It's something I'm excited to talk about today.
00:01:45
Speaker
I agree, Ryan. You know, that's one thing we don't spend a lot of time talking about in our business. And the reality of it is raising a family, raising children is a full time commitment. It's rewarding.
00:01:57
Speaker
It's challenging. And it's quite demanding. And in some cases, it's a 24-7
James Spinelli's Journey to Independence
00:02:02
Speaker
job. And while you're building your own business, you're also trying to make all of that work work.
00:02:07
Speaker
at home. When I was an advisor, I kind of reflected on this because I was going through that as an advisor, building my business, building out my practice. And I realized that I was kind of the mirror image in a lot of cases of the clients I served.
00:02:22
Speaker
And it made me really reshape my focus, not so much on the traditional things like portfolio management and planning, but I also began to act as a guide. as they went along their own life journey.
00:02:34
Speaker
So I'm excited to talk to our guest today to get his insight as to what he's learned as he's gone out and actually created his own business. Yeah, it's why we do the work we do, whether you're an advisor or or any other career that you work in.
00:02:47
Speaker
we We work so that we can spend our time with the ones we love and do the things that we love with them. So I'm really excited to introduce our guest today. His name is James Spinelli. He is the founder and CEO of Great Valley Advisor Group. They're an RIA in the Pennsylvania area, i believe just outside of Philadelphia. And I believe he also launched a firm while while starting his family. we're going to talk about these issues today. James, welcome to the show.
00:03:12
Speaker
Glad to be here. appreciate the opportunity to be on the show with yourself and Bill. I look forward to the conversation that we're about to have. I think maybe to get it started, we turned it over to James just to introduce himself a little more to our audience. And what can you tell us about your career and, as we mentioned, how you started building your RAA firm at the same time as you were you were building your new family? Absolutely.
00:03:35
Speaker
um great It's a great question, right? So we're going to rewind back to 2014. was... i was freshly engaged, uh, to my now wife, uh, Devin. And at the time I was working in Philadelphia, I was a downtown, I was living in Philadelphia. i was working for a great company down there. I was part of a great group and decided that, Hey, my, my time had come. I had been you know always thinking in the back of my mind that I was going to do something on my own. I was going to start something. I didn't know it was going to be an RIA. We can kind of get to that later on in the the conversation here, but, um,
00:04:09
Speaker
I'd always wanted to build an infrastructure and and my background is a little different. I am more heavy on kind of technology. I've always focused on operational efficiencies and and that's what I've studied throughout, throughout college. And, and so in 2014, I had about a year until marriage and we had also Kieran, who was our son at the time. And so we were a growing family and balancing that first couple of years with the organization, as well as the priorities at home.
00:04:38
Speaker
That can be a lot. can be a lot for for a new entrepreneur out there in space. Yeah, that is not a simple challenge, you know, going from a
Balancing Career and Family Life
00:04:46
Speaker
a good job to deciding that you're going to venture off on your own.
00:04:50
Speaker
Talk to us a little bit about, James, sort of your background, the motivation. I understand, and ah like our audience understand, you know, you're a college athlete. You played baseball at Penn State for three years and until you had an unfortunate injury.
00:05:06
Speaker
That took a lot of effort. That took a lot of determination and self-discipline. Talk to us a little bit about how those skills really shaped you and helped you transition, not only to start a family, but to leave a good job and venture off on your own.
00:05:24
Speaker
Yeah, I think. You know, i have a lot of conversations with advisors who are looking to go independent and and making the decision of what you, what you really want to be handling at the time of independence. Like how many of those activities do you want to be doing? How many do you not? And and it's really a balancing act, right? And it comes down to overall time management and structure. And when you have, you know, a family behind you and you're looking to make this decision into going independent,
00:05:52
Speaker
a lot's going through your head at the time. You know, you're you're trying to balance what's happening on the home front. You're also trying to balance what you need to do in order to establish that successful business.
00:06:04
Speaker
And with that being said, you know, I look back at at making the decision and and thinking to myself, was it the right decision? Was it the right time?
00:06:15
Speaker
And a lot of that is is is where You as an as a person, as you look to you know take that next step or that leap of faith and and it ties back to the time management piece, you just want to make sure you really you have your ducks in a row. Right. And that you have the right partnerships and you have the right conversations and you and and and ultimately you have the right structure at home for taking that leap of faith. So you have the confidence in that next direction.
00:06:40
Speaker
Well, what kind advice can you give out there? And also, even for me, right? You know, I've only had one girl. She's my first. And I already find it um exhausting as an understatement to, you know, do work every day that I pick her up from daycare and and dinner and bath time and get her to bed. And then I'm like, oh, I've got you know two hours left in my night to do to do something. So how do you balance all these things, your your career, your passion for baseball and and the work you do with as a coach with your family life and and you know personal health and all the other things that we have to do to be a functioning adult in 2026? How do you do it? How do you do that and avoid the burnout?
00:07:23
Speaker
Yeah, so well, you know, since we're we get the baseball mindset here, I always think about the concept of you can't play every position, right? So when I was when I was playing at Penn State, as you know, Bill had mentioned here earlier, i was a catcher, right? So, you know, that was that was my role. I was always behind the plate on throughout the week. I would be showing up the bullpens. I mean, you're just that's all you do day in and day out. Any practice I do is specific to that position.
00:07:47
Speaker
And so I think it translates really well into the advisory space because A lot of the times when you want to start your own business and and forget about building an RA or forget about building an advisory practice, let's, you know, any business in general, right? And and Bill and I were talking about earlier, and you mentioned that 80% of the economy today is, you know, entrepreneurs and small businesses and medium-sized businesses.
00:08:08
Speaker
Those individuals have a lot on their plate, right? And so that time management piece and not playing every position is huge. And firms like a GBA or other RAs can be really beneficial to plug into. And so you have to clearly, clearly, clearly identify that because what will happen, and you had just mentioned it, Ryan, is you're just going to get burnt out.
00:08:28
Speaker
but you're You're going to be doing so many different things as a new entrepreneur, as an advisor, trying to work with your clients, trying to build a business and and the overall structure that that leads to eventual burnout. so Clearly defining your priorities is is is extremely important.
Planning and Community Support for Advisors
00:08:47
Speaker
And one of the things that I do today, and and we had talked about earlier, is I like to volunteer my time to the local little league.
00:08:54
Speaker
I've always coached baseball. I've always coached youth sports. I think that it's a great way to change my mindset. And there's various advisors within our network who do a ton of different things. A lot of them like to run, right? A lot of them like to work out. there's There's different areas to do that, but you have to find something else to occupy your time.
00:09:13
Speaker
to really get you a clear, clean mindset when you come in that next day. This business in general, or any business that you're starting from scratch or deciding to take that leap of faith is going to give you the highest of highs when things are going your way.
00:09:31
Speaker
There's no doubt about it, right? and and But it also will it will also present you with the lowest of lows, right? And it's a balancing act. And and you wanna make sure as you make those decisions, You have the right people to talk to during that. And you have other areas that or other opportunities to really vent and you know clear your mind.
00:09:52
Speaker
And for love of the game, right? Clear the mechanism, I think, was Billy Chappell's. And James, you know you're talking about balance, right? and And when you think about your role as an advisor or any of us in this business today, we're a mirror image, as I mentioned earlier, of the people we serve.
00:10:09
Speaker
So one of the things I think about, and interested to get your point of view on this, is as you're counseling advisors in your firm, as you're talking to advisors interested in perhaps joining your firm or exploring the opportunities of RIA and what it means to run your own business, do you think about this, the the work that you're doing with them is very similar to the work we do for the clients we serve and helping them achieve what matters most and certainly balance, lowering their stress, lowering their anxiousness about the uncertainties that we face every day is a big part.
00:10:49
Speaker
How do you counsel advisors that may be joining your firm or are calling you to get some guidance on, you know, what they may do next?
00:11:02
Speaker
Yeah, so it's, The network that we've built, we have over 190 advisors now within GVA. And so we've had to have, I've had a lot of conversations with advisors who are obviously part of the organization or who have gone different directions through those conversations piece. And I always make that mention upfront of saying the best thing that you can do in order to figure out if this is the best, um, move for you, right? If, if this is the best move to, to really uproot what you've done and go independent,
00:11:34
Speaker
is to have conversations with those who have done it before. Right. And not only my, not only myself, right, but others in the industry. and And that is what the beauty of a community like a GBA is, is great for advisors. Right. And it's, and it's great for advisors looking to join an RA. Like we know we're not the best fit for every single advisor out there. And it's important to have those conversations. And sometimes it's not that easy for those looking to make that, to make that transition. And so,
00:12:02
Speaker
my My number one thing would prioritize communication and then prioritize also, you know, on the home front, right? We're talking about the family aspect here, making sure that, you know, if you have a significant other in the relationship, if you've got a family there, if you have priorities coming up, timing around it, and then just saying, look over these next six, nine months, a year, as um as I'm building this initial, you know, business, I, it's going to be disruptive to, to what we're normally doing, but here's the long-term success of where I see this going. So if you can look at things from, you know sprints into a longer kind of marathon, they're saying, Hey, these short sprints are going to be a little bit difficult on the home front.
00:12:44
Speaker
I'm just going to warn you, it might be a little bit longer on hours. You know, I might need to the kids to bed. you know, I might not be home for dinner a couple of these nights or however it's working in today's world with just kind of the hustle and bustle and phones and everything else.
00:12:57
Speaker
But I do feel confident that in a year or two or three or four, that this is why I'm doing it. And it's really important that you are having those conversations because it will you'll be reiterating what you truly believe.
00:13:11
Speaker
But you'll also reiterating that to other the people who are most important to you as well. And and I think that's a really important piece of this. So having a plan, right? And I think that's what Bill is saying, almost ah mirroring the work that advisors do with their clients who are also a lot of times business owners and have their own families and and having that plan in place that we're getting to the goals. We're reaching an area where we can have everything we want. I'm curious. Yeah. with all the work you do with advisors, do you see any common pitfalls? Do you see any ah areas where advisors have trouble making that balance? and And on that, any advice that you could give to advisors out there for how to to navigate this through their own lives and careers?
00:13:56
Speaker
Oh, that's a great question right there. So yeah, I mean, there's, we see a ton of different ways that like an advisor transitioning independence, you know, might not have properly communicated this. and And some of those pitfalls include, you know, not clearly defining an overall plan or an overall structure or thinking, you know, the grass is always greener on the other side.
00:14:20
Speaker
It's the unfortunate thing about starting your own business or being an entrepreneur or going out on your own is, just doesn't work sometimes, right? I mean, some people, and I'm not trying to sound negative here, but ultimately, if you are not putting a strong plan in place, if you don't have set goals that you're trying to achieve, if you're just saying, I'm going to move over here because the economics are better and it's a better infrastructure and and and um it's going to work, it it may work in the short term, but that long-term planning that I had mentioned earlier becomes a lot more difficult because then you start getting into the realm of,
00:14:57
Speaker
you know You're a business owner now, so you have to there's accounting functions that have to take place. There's hiring, there's HR, there's personnel, right? If you wanna grow, a lot of that is going to show itself.
00:15:12
Speaker
And if you're not well positioned to do that, it it can be a little bit of a struggle. It can be a downfall. um So I would just reiterate back on the
Parallels Between Coaching and Advising
00:15:20
Speaker
long-term component of it is is you have to have a strong plan in place.
00:15:24
Speaker
It also goes back to something you mentioned earlier, which is, um and I'm sure you've experienced this, there are basically, generally speaking, to two people, two types of people looking at this question, right?
00:15:37
Speaker
Those running from something and those clearly exploring a place to go or a mission to be on. And my experience has been, and I wanted to get your point of view on this and what your experience has been is that too often we confuse them.
00:15:57
Speaker
Because you're not happy where you are, you think you're goingnna be happier over here. And I'll tell you what, that is probably the single worst reason to make a move. And you said it earlier, it's all about priorities. You know, in the conversations you're having, do you run across that reality? Absolutely.
00:16:13
Speaker
And, you know, early on and and when you're starting a business, you're you're trying to just generate as revenue from any source possible, right? You're you're like, all right, we're going to build this as fast as we can because we got to get revenue in the door when you're starting from scratch. Like, you know, and and that,
00:16:30
Speaker
you you find over time, you you become a little bit more selective as you continue to grow if you're heading in the right direction, right? You're asking different questions. your You're looking at possible new clients or individuals to join your firm and and thinking to yourself, are they the right fit from a culture standpoint?
00:16:50
Speaker
do they really do Do you really believe that they're going to be able to grow? And so early on, i mean, that That's something that you're just going you're going to do. you're You're going to unfortunately bring in those folks that um maybe aren't best suited for your firm, but at the time you're're you're needing to to grow and you're needing to generate revenue. But as you get going a little bit and and Bill, to your point, you want to make sure you're aligned and that is extremely important.
00:17:21
Speaker
And that's a lot of what the conversations that you should be having with not only your clients, um but even you know the future personnel that you bring into your firm to to help you grow, for sure.
00:17:35
Speaker
Well, love to bring it back. Again, we talked about your your experience ah as ah as a former baseball player and now a youth coach, and I should also give a shout-out to the Nittany Lions. my My wife is a proud Penn State grad. I'm a California guy, so no relation, but if she hears this and doesn't hear me give her a shout-out, she'll get mad at me.
00:17:55
Speaker
But how has your coaching experience played into your career? And how has that helped you in in you working with advisors and and and the way you do business? How have you been able to to bring all those things in? Because I think what I find is Yes, it's a balancing act and yes, it's a challenge to to balance career and family and and hobbies and health and everything else. But when you do find that balance, it's so rewarding because you can bring it all together, right? All the different aspects of your life can inform everything else that you do. So I'd love to hear your perspective on how your work in baseball, is something you clearly love and are passionate about, has helped inform the work you do with advisors.
00:18:37
Speaker
Absolutely. So... like I mentioned earlier, but I truly enjoy all aspects of youth sports. So my son, who was seven at the time, he's now 19. He's a freshman at Clemson. So unfortunately he did not choose the Nittany Lions. He decided to go with the Tigers, but he wanted the warmer weather down South, although they've been getting snow. So I don't know how that decision is going for him.
00:18:58
Speaker
Right. Yeah. But, um, and then after, after our, our, our son, we have, I have three daughters. So nine, seven and three, right. So we've got a pretty big gap there. And I coach Kieran, um,
00:19:10
Speaker
youth basketball, his baseball teams. I now, my daughter, who's nine, actually plays baseball in the little league here, which I am the local president. So it's, you know, volunteering time. And then my seven-year-old is into gymnastics. And so it's, you know, when you're coaching a team or you're you're coaching that next generation, I find it personally, and this might not be the same for everybody else, but I find it to be the most rewarding and best ways that you can give back to not only your kids, I think your kids seeing you on the field with them and and coaching them at at those ages and be able to look back at something my father did that I'm really proud of. And, you know, we were joking about it earlier, Bill, but like once I got to a certain age, you know, he unfortunately had to move him from that into the stands. And that's a whole different ballgame when you're watching it as a fan. But it translates really well because there's leadership components of it. There's development components of it, right? I mean, your goal as a coach is you're always going to have
00:20:10
Speaker
a couple of those kids who are your your star athletes on that team right so when you have a you know a baseball team you got a couple kids you can really hit the ball and a couple kids who can really throw the ball hard i always find that your goal should be to develop those that are are not in that arena right they've that that really want that love the game they're out there because they love the game they want to be on the team with the kid who can do that and I think that translates the same way into our space, because when you have the advisors who are coming independent or or when I'm working with them and they want to join a firm like GDA, they want to learn from, from the best advisors we have within our network. How did they grow like that? How are they able to build their business? And we have like touch bases with those advisors who are more than happy to, because they've become successful over the years and they want to pass that back on. And it's the same concept. It's like such a weird parallel between
00:21:00
Speaker
the two, the two areas that that I find to be really, really important. and And it overall helps with growth. And if that keeps that kid engaged for another year of playing youth sports, that's your goal as a coach, right? You you want to make sure that you're you're doing it away. And it's the same thing with the, you know, you're going to have conversations with the advisor who makes a transition says, I just don't, I just don't know if I can continue to do this. This is, ah this is a lot. Like I didn't realize there's a lot going on. And it's the, you're, you're kind of like a not developing them, but you're you're helping coach them to say, look, you got this.
00:21:34
Speaker
we We have plenty of advisors who have been through this before. You should have conversations with them. And that is extremely important. it's and It's extremely important if you want to be an entrepreneur in
Overcoming Obstacles and Future Aspirations
00:21:42
Speaker
general. But in our space, that that's what we've found to be very, very beneficial. And I find that to be very similar.
00:21:48
Speaker
Yeah, it' you're you're you're so right. I couldn't agree with you more, James. It's all about what's possible, right? You know, as you're coaching young young athletes, it is, you know, helping them develop that that inner compass that drives them forward, which is the same we you would use with an advisor. You've mentioned it before. I think it's worth repeating.
00:22:13
Speaker
Having those priorities, having a clear plan, and not allowing obstacles to slow you down, but rather use them as learning experiences, learning opportunities, and explore what's possible.
00:22:25
Speaker
Not what I can't do, but I can do. absolutely Well, James, I got a curveball for you here, or perhaps a ah ah Zach Wheeler ah sweeper. and i had to get that name in there because as a Giants fan, I'll forever be bitter that we gave up Zach Wheeler to the Phillies many years ago.
00:22:44
Speaker
But I'm curious, if you didn't go into your career in financial services and eventually with your current firm working with RAAs, did you ever consider a career in sports broadcasting? Because you've got a a baseball announcer's voice. Has anybody told you that? aye i have i have not. i've been told I have been told that I have a good radio voice. Usually turn the video off, right, more on on the radio front there. But i and I enjoy it. I have season tickets to the Phillies.
00:23:21
Speaker
I go down with my my daughter all the time. We love the Philadelphia Phillies. We love Wheeler, obviously. um But I appreciate the feedback. Yeah, I'll make sure I let my wife know that. I'll say, hey, you know, I'm always flexing the golden pipes.
00:23:34
Speaker
Well, Bill, ah do you have any more questions for our guests or should I move to our wrap-up? I have lots of more questions for James, but I think it's time for us to move the wrap up. Well, sounds good. Well, James, thanks again for being on the Synergize podcast. You know, something we like to do to sort of close out the episode is this this podcast is all about actionable advice, right? Helping advisors grow their business. So in light of the conversation we've had, what what's one big takeaway that you'd like our our listeners to hear that they could bring back to work with them and and help grow their business and and help maybe achieve this work-life balance, not to be cliche, but achieve that balance we've been talking about?
00:24:11
Speaker
It's what I always say to advisors. if If you're having a conversation with me or someone within the space and you're thinking about it, just do it. You know, obviously put a good plan in place. The biggest regret is not moving forward when you feel confident that you should. And so a lot of what we talked today about was having ah a strong plan in place and a structure. So once your mind is is made up and you want to be a business owner, the next best step is to really lay it out and and think to yourself,
00:24:43
Speaker
How do i best go about doing this? Is this really for me? And let me talk to those folks in the space that that can really help me have me move the needle forward. That's great. Well, James, thank you so much for joining the podcast. And thank you to everyone listening. Wherever you're getting this podcast, you Spotify, Apple, YouTube, on our website, wherever it may be, if you could take a moment to hit the like, hit subscribe, share with your ah your colleagues, your your clients, your friends.
00:25:10
Speaker
We appreciate that. And we'll catch you on the next episode. and make sure to catch that next episode where we'll bring you even more insights and actionable ideas to help you grow your business. And remember, the challenge is yours to capitalize on what the future holds.
00:25:31
Speaker
If you want to join the conversation or connect with us, please visit us at synergizepodcast.com. This content is provided for general information purposes only. The views expressed by non-affiliated guest speakers are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Trade PMR or its affiliates.
00:25:49
Speaker
Trade PMR and its affiliates do not endorse any guest speakers or their companies and therefore give no assurances as to the quality of their products and services. This channel is not monitored by Trade PMR.
00:26:00
Speaker
Trade PMR does not provide investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice. Trade PMR is a member of FINRA and SIPC. Trade PMR Inc. is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, MSRB,
00:26:16
Speaker
Trade PMR provides brokerage and account services to registered investment advisors. Custodial services provided by First Clearing. First Clearing is a trade name used by Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC. Member SIPC, a registered broker dealer and non-bank affiliate of Wells Fargo and Company.
00:26:34
Speaker
Copyright 2026, Trade PMR Inc. For a transcript of this episode with sources, visit synergizedpodcast.com.
00:26:46
Speaker
you