In this business\u2014the retirement plan business, the ERISA world\u2014you don\u2019t build anything alone. You might draft the documents, run the meetings, fix the failures, and chase the clients, but if you\u2019re lucky, a few people walk the road with you. Some give you a push when you\u2019re stuck. Others hand you a brick when you\u2019re building. And some? Well, some just stand by the side and watch. Or worse\u2014they pretend they\u2019re helping while quietly betting against you. You don\u2019t forget any of them.<\/p>\n
When I think back to the early days of my ERISA practice, it\u2019s not just a blur of plan restatements and prototype documents. It\u2019s people. People who returned my calls when no one else would. People who referred business to me not because they had to, but because they believed I knew what I was doing\u2014or at least, would figure it out. Some of them are still in my life. A few aren\u2019t. But I remember all of them.<\/p>\n
There was a TPA who took a chance on me before I had a name. Before the blog, before the speaking gigs, before the law firm had any traction. They gave me a referral when I was still moonlighting and hustling, working nights and weekends to get my solo practice off the ground. I didn\u2019t ask them to take a risk. They just did. That kind of loyalty stays with you.<\/p>\n
Then there were the plan sponsors\u2014small business owners mostly\u2014who didn\u2019t care that I wasn\u2019t at a big law firm anymore. They wanted someone who would return their calls, who actually understood how 401(k) plans worked in practice, not just on paper. I built my firm on clients like that. People who didn\u2019t need a slick PowerPoint, just honest advice and someone who wouldn\u2019t disappear after the retainer check cleared.<\/p>\n
Of course, not everyone was supportive. Some smiled to my face while warning others not to work with me. There were advisors I\u2019d worked alongside for years who suddenly couldn\u2019t find the time to grab coffee. Industry colleagues who vanished the moment I wasn\u2019t \u201cuseful\u201d to them anymore. They\u2019re the same ones who later reached out when I had a following and a platform. The thing is, you can always tell who\u2019s there for the work and who\u2019s there for the spotlight.<\/p>\n
You learn, fast, who\u2019s on your side. Not when things are easy, but when the client is angry, the plan is broken, and the DOL is breathing down your neck. Those are the moments that separate the real partners from the fair-weather ones. I\u2019ve had people step up for me in those moments. I\u2019ve also had people disappear. You don\u2019t chase the ones who leave. You just remember.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve never needed a large crowd\u2014just a loyal few. The ones who showed up when it wasn\u2019t convenient. The ones who didn\u2019t need to be asked twice. The ones who believed in me when all I had was a laptop, a home office, and a belief that doing the right thing still mattered in this industry.<\/p>\n
You never forget who was there. And you especially never forget who wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
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