Meet Geoffrey Nail

Today we’d like to introduce you to Geoffrey Nail.

Geoffrey, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I am originally from Michigan and spent ten years employed with a national retail bank where I learned indirectly business savvy, hierarchal communication, and how to treat people. In the combination of leaving my comfort zone in Michigan and all that I knew professionally as my first adult job, I went into business for myself being that I felt I never had time, based on my mindset, working what I thought to be a lot of hours. In my ‘newly found’ time back in 2015 building my financial practice and learning through drinking from the metaphorical fire hose, I began to volunteer often beginning with Big Brothers Big Sisters as a ‘Big’ exclusively mentoring a now 13-year-old. That partnership has splintered into being respectively a part of their ‘Speakers Bureau’ and ‘Young Professionals Council’.

Secondarily, I joined and was voted to be a part of the Board of Directors with Safe Kids of Maricopa County, helping to prevent unintentional childhood injuries and fatalities. And Lastly, I sit as the Vice-President of Beat Street AZ using the elements of Hip-Hop to show children career and life skills. With all of this volunteer work, many questions when I have the time to work to which I reply I am always working. Additionally, I recently graduated from the American Express / ASU Lodestar Nonprofit Leadership Certificate program [Class 11]. Outside, but yet still including my nonprofit endeavors, I spend my days helping people navigate their finances from an offensive standpoint [saving, investing and strategy] as well as the defensive side [Risk Management and Debt repayment].

While I don’t have a crystal ball to know the future, I know I am doing things that will put more people in a better position in the future within all of my endeavors. I feel connection and networking has to be repackaged to work with new technology as we put the cart before the horse with social media/apps before we looked at how communication needed and still needs to adapt, I look to be ‘the people connector’ and truly cultivate relationships by ‘putting the social back into social media’ which has come to be my catchphrase.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Being in business for yourself is one of the greatest developmental processes to be a part of whether you are successful, or you fail. It teaches you how to navigate relationships in life both personal and professional. It brings to light so many interpersonal and life skills being that you are taught through the ebbs and flows of the journey experiencing disappointment, rejection, and failure. Aside from the hard work and consistent behavior, I would not be in the position I am without a great support system in friends and family. There were many times, I was looking for the emergency exit, but I have kept a blind faith in my talents even when it felt like things were crashing down around me in the not so distant past.

There were times where I struggled to keep bills paid, but still got dressed and went to work and/or volunteer endeavors. Keeping myself busy helped but also remaining locked into the mission/vision along with meeting fantastic people along the way and also going back to basics reading and becoming a student of life replacing Netflix, Hulu, and etc. for audiobooks, podcasts, and the occasional documentary. I feel as if we are taught to keep our circles small which is partly true, but I strongly believe you must keep an open mind towards expansion within reason.

Some of the philosophies, books, and ideas I have adapted and learned have come directly and indirectly from ‘strangers’ I have met. The business mindset forced me out of the comfort zone to really go out of my way to really get to know people which has created all kinds of opportunity, but it has been a long/slow road. I don’t know if it is possible or even advantageous to skip the process. My journey has indirectly lead me to veganism as of 2 years ago becoming healthy mind, body, and soul as I feel like you cannot be healthy in only one area or a couple of areas. Your health spirals into so many directions and some experiences are key contributors to our health or lack thereof.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
My first and underlying mission is to help people navigate and maximize their finances shedding light to dark areas exposing sometimes nonefficient habits that derail future goals. I take time in getting to know people on a level that some of their closest friends do not. From there, my personality and innate mindset goes to work in helping to reach those future goals whether through my career and/or my network. My most proud accomplishment is knowing that I am doing good work within the community through all my endeavors. I take pride in having a mission that is helping move the world forward. By helping other people, I continue to reinvent myself in an effort to become the best version of myself. My first thought at each perceived step is how I am able to scale my mission/vision through continued progression.

Specifically, from a work perspective, I understand I can do more working in a team environment and have recently begun working exclusively with a few highly intelligent individuals to maximize my impact/skillset and best help my clients. Typically, I am starting the process with budget analysis and from there the conversation can tailspin to retirement/family planning, debt repayment plans, and/or risk management planning. I am typically meeting in one on one settings and can also be found conducting seminars to educate and encourage one on one meetings subsequently. My desire and passion to build relationships set me apart as I have truly benefited from networking/knowing others and I want to be that same gift in my own right creating deep relationships and creating true value.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My favorite childhood memory is difficult to conclude, but one that directly and indirectly helped mold my personality was my passion for sports cards and memorabilia with the help of my parents. Through the family taking a true passion in my passion and it becoming OUR passion, I believe I learned to value items investing in glossy paper and plastic toys. It became a family tradition during our travels and holiday gift giving opening packages of sports cards and spending hours in sports memorabilia stores with them and spending hours in lines to get autographs, pictures, and conversation. The thought of being so excited about opening a pack of sports cards that probably cost $3-$5 with the excitement of getting a ‘rookie card’ or an ‘insert’ and then taking care of those as a young kid when most are trying to destroy things at that age. It created a sense of minimalism and built a bond with my parents in not being able to lose those memories as it is something we can always remember fondly.

Contact Info:

• Address: 11001 North Black Canyon Hwy Ste 190, Phoenix, AZ 85029
• Website: https://www.heritagewealth.pro/
• Phone: 623.850.4532
• Email: gnail@financialguide.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geolian/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/geolian
• Twitter: @GeoffreyNailMM
• Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffreynail

Image Credit:
https://www.facebook.com/beyondillustration/
https://www.facebook.com/rebirthgraphicdesigns
https://www.facebook.com/Hassan-Kareem-Brotha-Love-Productions-489235194898024/

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