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Fairways, Roughs, and the Advisor’s Grind
29 Plays4 months ago
Golf is the sport fueled by the pursuit of perfection. Whether it’s a hole-in-one, an impressive drive, or a perfectly read green, everyone is chasing their best. For pro players like Greg Wells, golf becomes more than just a game — it’s an entire livelihood.
After competing on PGA Tour Canada, he says navigating the fairways and roughs perfectly prepared him for the world of financial advice.
On this episode of the Synergize podcast, Greg Wells, Partner and Regional Director at EP Wealth Advisors, shares his early experiences striving toward the PGA and why consistency, planning, and follow-through are cornerstones in both golf and the advisor’s journey.
Copyright 2025. TradePMR, Inc. For a transcript of this episode with sources, visit synergizepodcast.com. EP Wealth Advisors 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
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.
00:00:24
Speaker
Welcome back to Synergize. I'm Bill Cappell, Director of Client Growth at Trade PMR, a Robinhood company. And I'm Ryan Neal, editorial manager at Trade PMR Robinhood. And you're listening to the Synergize podcast. And Bill, back with another episode. And I'm just going to get the elephant in the room out of the way right at the top.
Meet Greg Wells
00:00:43
Speaker
I'm not a golf guy. I grew up around golf. My dad actually worked for John Deere selling a ah golf course ah equipment to the Lake Tahoe area. I did lessons everything, but I just wasn't very good. And I and i don't play today. And I know It shocks many of my Florida coworkers who are the intersection of Florida and financial advice.
00:01:04
Speaker
There's also a whole bunch of golf, but I'm just not on board. But how about you? Do do you play? Yeah, i love playing golf. i I played a lot when I was younger, um you know, after college for a couple of years, and then kids came along and that golf went right out the window. But as it turns out, my my oldest son is a superintendent, was at a couple of different clubs. He's now back in North Carolina, which is one of the great, great locations here on the East Coast for for golf.
00:01:35
Speaker
What's interesting about our guest today, Ryan, as I think about this, is that not only is it challenging to go to a top school from an academic standpoint, but then to pick up a D1 sport, um that's pretty, pretty impressive. And you know both take tremendous amount of of work and effort. And our guest today, Greg Wells, is yeah really a special person.
00:01:58
Speaker
um you know And he spent three years as a professional golfer here and throughout North America. before he he kind of transitioned and and became an advisor with EP Wealth. Now instead of navigating greens and fairways, he's partner he's a partner and a regional director for a company that's really aimed at helping clients achieve what matters most to them in life and has really taken ah tremendous step forward by applying a lot of what he learned in the golf world, which is what we want to explore today.
00:02:34
Speaker
I love that line, by the way, that was that was some good writing and it wasn't me. i know Greg, he did. ah He did one of our early articles for RA Reflections called In Pursuit of the Perfect Round. you You can check it out on our on our website today. It's a really good story. It was a big hit for us.
Greg's Journey: Golf to Finance
00:02:50
Speaker
But now we're excited to kind of get into the nuts and bolts of his life as an advisor. So, Greg, welcome to the podcast. Thank you guys. Happy to be here. Appreciate your time. Well, we can also ask him a little bit about golf. Okay.
00:03:01
Speaker
I mean I don't get the chance. I don't get a chance often to talk to a professional golfer. So I'm going to slip a couple of those in, right? Absolutely. Yeah. I'm into it. And you know, it's just a, throwing it out there. Cause ah I, you know, uh, Love having you here and love your story. Even though i'm not a golf guy, I thought ah the whole thing is fascinating to me. For anyone that didn't read the story, Greg, do you want to maybe just start off telling a little bit about yourself and and your journey from, ah as Bill said, it from the from the greens to the boardroom, I guess?
00:03:30
Speaker
Sure, sure. So, I mean, I grew up and golf was my whole life, right? My dad was club champion, you know, took me to the course every day. um you know, junior golf, high school golf, eventually got a college golf scholarship and played UC Santa Barbara and then played for a few years after school. So i I kind of lived and died golf. I thought that's what I wanted to do with my life. And I i gave it 110 percent. And Around 25, 26 years old, just wasn't good enough at that point to make a living on it and actually saw quite a few people that that didn't have a great time making a living off of it yeah through that journey. So you know transitioned in the financial world. I've been at EP now for 16
00:04:13
Speaker
Been a really fun journey, kind of learning the business, gathering clients, still have quite a niche with PGA Tour players and Champions Tour players as clients as well. And like you said, learned a lot along the way about ah failing on the golf course, but but learning throughout that journey. And that's definitely you know carried over into the financial world and I think led to some of the success I've had as well.
00:04:37
Speaker
Go Gauchos, by the way. that's that's That's where you and I have a connection is we're UC Santa Barbara grads. There you go. that's right You know, I wanted to jump in here, Greg, because you said something it kind kind of goes back to that comment around when you made that transition. What I thought was fascinating, I learned this when I read the article, which is why I encourage all of our listeners to read this article. It's it's it's really interesting. And when you started to talk about golf as a career,
00:05:07
Speaker
You said something ah to this effect, which it wasn't about whether it was possible, it was probable.
Mindset in Sports and Finance
00:05:14
Speaker
And that really, I thought, was extremely interesting from a mindset standpoint. How did that recognition of not just being possible, but being likely, probable, this is what I'm going to do.
00:05:28
Speaker
When did that hit you when it came to being a financial advisor?
00:05:33
Speaker
So, I mean, when you're growing up golfing, you you have to believe like, I'm going to make the high school team. I'm going to make the putt. I'm going win the tournament. I'm going to make you know a college team. I'm going to get a scholarship. I'm going to be the captain of the team.
00:05:48
Speaker
And then when you decide i'm I'm going to go pro, like I'm good enough to play on the PGA Tour and make a living. And even if you just have to tell yourself, you know, fake it till you make it, that's what we as golfers do, right? i don't have it today, but I'm going to make it. I'm going to pull it off. And I i think you you kind of have that same mindset as a financial advisor, right? I i have zero in assets and i I need more. And this person I meet, I'm going to convince them to work with me and tell their friends about me and introduce me and continue to grow.
00:06:19
Speaker
So, I mean... Whether you're lying to yourself or you're just trying to be a positive glass half full person, i think that's kind of the mindset I've always had. Bill is, you know, we look at things that way. um so I don't know if that's answering your question or kind of the road you were you were referring to, but that that's kind of what comes to mind.
00:06:37
Speaker
I think you absolutely answered the question. you know If you go into a match, my guess, not not being a professional athlete, but if you I've been in enough competitive situations as an athlete. that If you go in assuming you're not going to win, um you're not going win. There's just no question about it. And that's what I took away from that.
00:06:59
Speaker
One thing that I really liked about your story was talking about, and I didn't know this at all about the sport and how it works, but early in your career, finding the sponsors at your local club and getting people to sponsor your career and how that kind of gave you early...
00:07:17
Speaker
early insight into how the world of investing worked. They were investing in you. And even i think he made a joke about writing off their losses and and learning a bit about that, like lost harvesting. Can you talk about that and and that sort of that early exposure and and how it kind of gave you that that second lane to to turn to when when the golf career was winding down?
00:07:36
Speaker
Yeah. So, I mean, like I said, you you know you want to play golf. And as you get started, you realize it's it's expensive. i need flights. I need hotels. I need lessons. I need equipment. And, you know, we just didn't have the means for me to do all that on my own. So you you kind of start at the club and you tell the story. You know, I'm going to go professional. I'm going to go to Q School and and try to get my tour card. If I don't make it, I'm going to play mini tours and and travel around the country and Mexico and Canada and try to make money.
00:08:05
Speaker
And, you know, here's my business plan. I think I'm going to play 20 events and I need X amount of dollars to pull that off. And, you know, I'd love to have you be a part of it. And you're also sharing with people along the way, hey, I played great here, but I struggled there. And they're kind of coming on the journey with you. And Then, like I said, some of the people that helped me were in the financial world. So one of my sponsors was an accountant and he said, hey, if we if we create this corporation, if investors you know lose money with you, then they can get a tax deduction. And obviously i I didn't have to worry about taxes because I wasn't making any money, but I knew tax deductions were good. And you know it's something as I tried to convince people to invest in me, you know here's the silver lining if it doesn't work out that you can also get benefits from.
Financial Lessons from Golf
00:08:52
Speaker
um And so one, I gathered a large amount of money at the time for me and I had to to understand what to do with it and how to track expenses and then how to work with accountants on how we kind of, you know, kept track of everything and tally it up at the end. So that was my kind of first foray into the world of of finance and investing. And then it's it's not a whole lot different than what we do now. you know Here's my story on how I invest money and and can help you save on taxes and different things as an investment advisor. And you know come with me and be part of this journey at EP Wealth. So it's it's funny how much correlation there is.
00:09:26
Speaker
One of the things you mentioned in the article was the similarities between you know your golf journey and your journey to become an advisor. And you you you phrased it this way, both deal with the pursuit of perfection without achieving it.
00:09:43
Speaker
Share with us that parallel in terms of what it meant for you in golf and what it means as an advisor helping people you know invest their money to help them achieve what's what's important in life.
00:09:56
Speaker
Sure. So, I mean, you're always chasing the the perfect round. You know, I've had a few great rounds in my life where even then you you're not quite perfect. you know, I could have made that putt. I could have hit that one shot better, even though i I shot the course record or I shot my career best. There's always it could have been a little better. And I got to get back and practice and work on that next thing. um I think it's also how you're dealing with when it's not perfect, because most of the time it's not. you know Most of the time you're you're not playing well or you're not at your best, but you still need to make a check. You still need to make the cut.
00:10:32
Speaker
And so you're you're learning how to deal with things when they're not ideal. right it's It's windy, it's rainy, you're tired, you don't like the course, whatever it is. and Investing is kind of the same way, you know, um hey, we're a little worried about inflation. We're worried about interest rates. We're worried about the unemployment number. But we we have to kind of keep going forward to to get that rate of return. We need to make your plan work.
00:10:55
Speaker
And so you're kind of trying to always do the best with what you have that day or what you have at that time. And it's it's never perfect. And i think when things seem perfect as an investment advisor now, that's when you kind of get a little worried, right? you know The market's too high, the water's too calm. Now we're a little scared. So it's also about just kind of enjoying that journey and making the right decisions at tough times, I think is what it all comes down to, both in golf and investing.
00:11:24
Speaker
Well, can you tell us a little bit about the work you're doing now? What what what what do you think sort of ah sets you apart besides obviously your your your sort of unique background career?
EP Wealth and Integrated Strategies
00:11:33
Speaker
The work you're doing with your clients today, what what sets you apart and and how you serve them?
00:11:39
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, again, without getting too into the weeds of ah VP Wealth and what we do, you know, we're we're a very heavy tax planning focused firm and and also me as an individual.
00:11:51
Speaker
And when I say tax planning, you know, investments are just so often tied to taxes. You know, I'm worried about the market, but I don't want to pay capital gains. I need money, but I want to take it out tax efficiently. I want to leave money behind to my family or my friends, but I i want them to pay as little tax as possible.
00:12:09
Speaker
Right. So it's important to pick a good stock. You know, should we pick Apple or Google or Pepsi or Coke? That's part of it. But how you you deal with the tax side of it, I think, is is really important. I think it's something that that very few advisors feel super comfortable talking about. And I think that's that's kind of what makes us unique here at EP Wealth.
00:12:31
Speaker
So it's it's planning first, it's it's tax first, and the investments are important. But I think those are the big things that that people really gravitate to that most advisors don't talk in depth about.
00:12:42
Speaker
And, you know, following along that, Greg, You know, golf is the kind of sport that takes a lot of dedication, a lot of practice, a lot of discipline.
00:12:53
Speaker
You know better than than most, obviously. You played competitively in college, in high school, college, since you were a young young boy. um and and And I'm sure that like many professional golfers, you were on that driving range every day, hitting shot after shot after shot with a really disciplined approach and grinding it out. And I think that's language you have used in the article about this notion of grinding it out every day.
00:13:23
Speaker
We made this transition from golf. I think your first quote non-golf career was started at a company called Paychex, if I'm not mistaken. And you were selling.
00:13:36
Speaker
talk Talk to our listeners about this parallel between that discipline and that grinding it out and how you've applied that to achieve the success you've achieved, not only at Paychex, but now as a senior advisor, as a partner, as a regional director within EP Wealth.
00:13:55
Speaker
you Have you still got that edge? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I'll maybe start it with kind of a a golf story first. You know, one of the last sponsors I had the last year I was trying was, was a friend of Tiger Woods. Like he's, he's played with them, he's practiced with them. And, you know, I needed another a couple thousand dollars to sign up for Q School, kind of my last go around. And he said, I'm going to give you this money, but I think you should know what Tiger's doing. And I think if you expect to do this, you should be doing at least as much as the best player in the world is doing if you're trying to make up ground on these people. Right. So he went through with me. This is what he does in the morning. And this is what he does after breakfast and lunch and night and gym and everything.
00:14:39
Speaker
And, you know, for the last year, I just went at it so hard and did basically the exact same thing to where I was completely maxed out. I couldn't have worked any harder than I was working at that point in time. And I think I got about as good as I could get.
00:14:55
Speaker
And now as I look back, you know, 15, 20 years later, I don't have any regrets. It's like that was as hard as I could try and I didn't make it, you know, and I didn't have the stuff and I'm okay with that.
00:15:05
Speaker
And as I got into the business world, you know, starting at Paychex, they would say, hey, 50 cold calls a day, 100 dials. It's like, all right, well, I'm going to do double that. And if I do double that, I'm probably going to get better results, right, of everybody else. And i I passed my quotas and I got my bonuses and all those things. And to me, it was refreshing because at golf, I would lose when I was working twice as hard as other people. But in business, I started to see results really fast. You know, if you make $10 and I make $20, I'm going to do better. If you need to do, you know, one hour of education and I do five, I'm going to do better.
00:15:39
Speaker
And so I saw like a direct correlation between those things, which which felt rewarding right away. And obviously it's not happening immediately, but you just start to see that over the longer term. um And then the last thing was, you know, one of my mentors, Brian Parker, who kind of got me into the business and who I still work with, said clients can see it. You know, the market might be going down. You might be struggling with this, that or the other. You know, you might not know the answer. And you just say, hey, I don't know, but I'm going to go find out.
00:16:07
Speaker
Clients can see that you're trying as hard as you can. And I think they respect it and they understand it. And it it comes through in meetings and referrals and all those things. So I think all that I learned in golf was you know just that work ethic and the ability to fail and try harder. it really, really helps in the business world, too.
00:16:26
Speaker
That's great. Well, so Greg, one thing we like to do here on the show to to wrap things up is we're we're all about helping advisors grow their business. So we like to give our listeners some imparting knowledge on on what they can do to go out and and and grow. What's some advice you'd give
Advice for Financial Advisors
00:16:42
Speaker
them? what What can they learn from your story that they can take to their firm and and help grow?
00:16:48
Speaker
Yeah, let's see. From from my story, i mean, i think the the work ethic is one thing. I think we hear it all the time. You got to work hard. You got you got to try hard. But it it really it really is kind of that simple. And I tell people that when they start here is like,
00:17:04
Speaker
you just got to do more than the other person. You got to, you got to go the extra mile, right? When you say you're going to do something, follow through and make sure it gets done. You know, show up, like be at the office every day call the clients back. You know, these things all just sound so basic, but again, that's what you learn as an athlete is just like, I've got to be at the gym. I've got to be at the workouts. I got to be at the course in the tournament and I think the job is the same thing and I think we all want to think we have something really special about our product or our offering but at the end of the day it's just a client service business and the better you can service those clients you know the further you'll go great well I got it one last quick question for for both of you guys actually is it true that that the the golf game is is where like the deals get done do I need to ah do I need to learn how to play and get back into it so that I can be a part of the business world
00:17:58
Speaker
I'll take a stab at that
Golf and Business Relationships
00:17:59
Speaker
one. It's a good place to go if you want to lose money. Okay. right I do well enough at that on my own. You know, I think you raise an interesting point and then i I want to hear from Greg, but you know, certainly there is a, um there's a competitive camaraderie is the way I would put it on a golf course often. You know, when you're there with people that enjoy playing, that want to be out, enjoy each other's company,
00:18:26
Speaker
It's a great environment. It also is, you know, you just kind of swing from one mindset, which is, oh, I'm having a great time to, oh, now I got to hit a shot. and And that can, you know, kind of throw you off your game. But a lot of relationships, I would say, are are built and cemented. Greg, you know, obviously you mentioned Tiger, you know, a friend of Tiger Woods and and Mr. Parker.
00:18:50
Speaker
Talk about your experience in building relationships on a golf course. Yeah, i mean, where else do you go spend four or five hours with somebody, right, Ryan? Like, you're just, you're sitting in a cart, you know, six inches apart and You're spending the entire day together sometimes. And it's you learn a lot about these people, you know, their family, their job, their goal, their careers. You know, you just get to know these people where where else do you ever spend time with someone like that? And then obviously there's there's good things that happen and you watch how people react. And then there's bad things that happen and you watch how people react. with this yeah
00:19:28
Speaker
especially in in tournaments. you know we For those of us that still take it pretty seriously, the tournaments are high pressure and high stress. And there's there's very few times in life, I think, where people get under that amount of stress than like a club championship coming in the last hole. There's four of us that can win. and you you see how people react to that and and how they react when they fail or they succeed. And you just you just really get to know these people in those spaces. So to me, it's an it's an amazing place to to meet people, to make friends, to do business, all those things. So I'd recommend it, although it it does drive up your blood pressure, that that's for sure.
00:20:03
Speaker
Right on. Well, I'm more of a bowling kind of guy. and Monday night, i got we got to log off because Monday night is my bowling ah bowling league night. But Greg, this was an awesome conversation. Thank you so much for joining us on the podcast. We really appreciate having you.
00:20:18
Speaker
Thank you, guys. I've enjoyed it. Appreciate your time. That was it fun, Greg. Thank you for taking the time to have this conversation. And thank you to everyone who's listening. Wherever you get this podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Apple, if you can like and subscribe and and share with your networks, all that good stuff, we really appreciate
Closing Remarks and Thanks
00:20:37
Speaker
it. And we'll ah catch you on the next episode.
00:20:39
Speaker
Yeah, and make sure you tune into that next episode and 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 offers.
00:20:59
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. 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.
00:21:29
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.
00:21:44
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.
00:22:02
Speaker
Copyright 2025, Trade PMR Inc. For a transcript of this episode with sources, visit synergizedpodcast.com.