Journal of Financial Planning: April 2025
Deshawn Peterson, CFP®
Director, Advisor Relations, PPB Capital Partners
Mike Zarrelli, CFP®, EA
Financial Adviser, FSA Wealth Partners, 2025 FPA NexGen Public Relations Coordinator
Blake Pinyan, CFP®, EA
Senior Financial Planner and Tax Manager, Anchor Bay Capital 2025 FPA NexGen Past Chair
Editor’s note: This transcript has been edited for length and clarity. Subscribe to The Blueprint: An FPA NexGen® Podcast to listen to the episode and hear from other NexGen planners.
Deshawn Peterson: We all have a relationship because we’re all in FPA. We’re all on the same committee. But one thing I think we’ve never actually spoken to you about, Blake, is your journey to becoming 2024 president of the NexGen National Committee. Could you walk us through that story of how you got involved and how you ascended to this leadership role?
Blake Pinyan: I’ve always had a passion to get involved in leadership and serve on various volunteer committees. As it relates to NexGen, I got involved with my local chapter in Orange County a couple of years after I graduated and started off as a local leader, assisting some of the other committee members with organizing events and planning socials and education events for our NexGen community members.
I felt like I was doing a great job there, but I really had an inkling to make an impact on a larger scale. I had some ideas on things that I felt the community needed. I reached out to [NexGen past president Amie Agamata] knowing that she was part of the National NexGen team, and asked her for some more information.
It was definitely a stretch to go from a local NexGen FPA leader to try to put myself in a president-elect seat, but I went for it. I took a lot of time in the application process and tried to come well-prepared for the interview. It goes back to making an impact on a larger scale. I have such an affinity for the NexGen members; I’m in that age range and I’ve got a feel for what these types of people are experiencing as far as struggles, opportunities, and threats within their career.
Mike Zarrelli: You took the “go big or go home” approach to joining NexGen. Can you tell us about some of the wins and then maybe some of the hurdles you’ve had to go through as the president?
Pinyan: Starting off with the wins, it’s very reassuring to see progress within the targets that you set for those you are leading. For example, we came into the year having a LinkedIn page with just under 1,000 followers, and now we’re over 1,600. Measurable little wins are amazing to see.
And some of the goals that I’ve had for my executive team, such as the mentorship program and the development path: Last year, we formed an outline for what we thought this development path was going to look like, and now it’s on the website and we’re putting resources in the hands of our NexGen¹ members to guide them on the next steps of their career.
With the mentorship program, we’ve made a lot of great progress trying to pair our NexGen members with seasoned mentors to help get them to that next step in their career.
As for some of the challenges, things may not move as fast as I want them to move. I’m kind of a go, go, go person, so sometimes I’m impatient in how fast I want things to get done. But I tell myself, “There are a lot of other people, and we need to make sure we’re looking at every angle and getting perspective from everyone involved in this decision.” Appreciating that things do take time and that’s OK, that’s something that I’ve learned throughout my leadership journey.
Peterson: You said one of the initiatives that is being executed this year is the career paths. One of the objectives we’re trying to capture with the podcast is shedding light on up-and-coming financial services professionals and career changers alike. Could you explain a little bit what the career path is and why you think it is so important to make it an initiative?
Pinyan: When we were surveying our NexGen members in 2023, a recurring theme was the lack of knowledge as far as career paths available within the financial services space. It’s super wide in terms of what type of company you can work for, and the similarities and differences between, say, a RIA, a wirehouse, and a large custodian. We felt like we needed to put in some work to help educate and guide our members on what different career paths are available within the financial services industry so that these individuals can pursue the path that best resonates with them. We’ve been working with some organizations like the CFP Board and some industry professionals and academics to come up with a guide that better speaks to all the career paths available, and how could it look in terms of progression in a career path.
Depending on which college you go to, you will have different companies recruiting, so it’s important to get an understanding and perspective from other employers in the industry, not just those that show up at your college career fair.
Zarrelli: What has helped you climb those rungs? How have you progressed in your career?
Pinyan: Repetition, to me, is a big thing. I’m really fortunate I was able to sit a lot in a lot of client meetings early on. I was able to evolve by sitting in as many client meetings as possible, and taking risks and putting myself out there to speak in meetings and then start leading meetings on my own. It started off where I would essentially be the note taker and just listen, and then capture all the notes after the meeting and maybe put in the information in the planning software.
From there, I leveled up to actually presenting certain parts of the meeting. I built more trust with my supervisor [and] I eventually started to be able to lead my own meetings. I tried to do that as early as I could and throw myself out there and make mistakes and fail while trying to lead my client meetings on my own terms, because I knew I was always going to get better.
That’s the magic formula, trying to lead as many meetings as you can knowing that they’re not going to go well in the beginning. But the more reps you get, the better you’re going to prepare yourself to be a great adviser, and then you’ll start to learn things like how to actively listen to the client and how to judge body language, and knowing when to let them do the talking.
Having experience with meetings has been super important for me as far as building up my confidence to actually serve as a lead adviser. In addition to that, finding opportunities to add value to the organization that I’m a part of. I took on a role as the technology guru, adding different technologies to help streamline our operations within our firm. I also took on [some of the] marketing efforts for our firm: added a newsletter and some other things where we could provide some additional touch points for our clients. Being at a small firm, you definitely have to wear a lot of hats, so I was happy to say yes to all the opportunities presented to me, but also bring some new ideas to the table.
Zarrelli: There are always some hurdles or obstacles to get through, so can you talk through some adversity that you’ve had during your journey?
Pinyan: Yeah, definitely. There were a lot of failures along the way. The first one I’d cite is failing the CFP® exam. The first time I took it, I mistakenly tried to study for the CFP® exam at the same time I was taking my finals for college. I put too much on my plate, and I ended up not dedicating enough attention to that monster of an exam.
That was really uncomfortable and difficult to work through, knowing that I spent three months studying for an exam and I failed, and I’m going to have to spend another three to four months studying for it again. Luckily, I was able to commit myself and changed some of my habits and study techniques, actually incorporated some more balance and took some time to exercise and take a break because I was working full time while I was studying for the CFP® exam.
Some other [challenges] relate to client circumstances where sometimes you feel like you are doing a good job, but you get pushback from clients and maybe you could have handled something a little bit differently. I’ve definitely felt in my career that maybe a meeting could have gone a little bit better, or the client was a little upset or I didn’t meet the expectations that they had coming in.
That weighs on me, especially if it’s a mistake that I know that I’ve done. I think that’s what defines a person: It’s not about the mistake that they make, but it’s how they recover from the mistake. Even though it’s very difficult during that time, when you do make that critical mistake, it’s important to tell yourself, hey, you’re going to get through this.
Peterson: What I would like to ask you is how long is your term as president and what does life after PPA NexGen leadership look like for you?
Pinyan: My term lasts through 2025. I was fortunate enough to serve as the chair [in 2024] and then I will be essentially staying on to oversee and contribute as much as I can. My fiancé always jokes that I spend more time on NexGen than I do with her after hours, so she definitely wants me to take a break from the volunteer work. I might take a break after my involvement in FPA NexGen leadership and focus more on trying to put myself in a position to be a premier, lead adviser and bring in business, and continuing to educate myself and make sure I’m sharp from that standpoint. But I’m not closing the door from volunteer work altogether.
Peterson: One question we like to ask is what is one superpower that you bring to work?
Pinyan: I feel like I have a lot of energy and charisma in the way that I present myself with clients and just showing up to my job in general. I love what I do, and I feel like I’m in a perfect position for where I wanted to be down the road.
I get a lot of drive and energy from client interactions and, honestly, presenting strategies and coming up with ideas to help improve their lives. I really love what I do, and I can never see myself not wanting to serve clients in some capacity, because that really helps me find a balance between some of the office work and the people interaction. A big priority for me is to always have those client conversations.
Endnote
1. Visit https://www.financialplanningassociation.org/networking/fpa-nexgen/pathway to learn more.