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Spotlight: The entrepreneur and the restaurateur: The 2020 challenge featuring David Steele

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Hi, this is Deborah. It's another swell spotlight. It is an interesting time to talk about entrepreneurship. Money restaurants during Covet, we have seen a huge shift in people's ability to have confidence in how they see the future because their present feels so wobbly and unstable. We've invited David Steele to come speak with us about, of course, his amazing life as an entrepreneur, as a restauranteur, as an activist in San Francisco and also in New York City

Let’s talk about life in 2020 with David Steele - and see what’s possible tomorrow. https://bit.ly/300wyQe https://onewealth.net/team/david-steele/

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@safeds1
David Steele
@safeds1 · 1:56
And I'm very excited about the future energized by the present, because it gives me a sense of purpose in the different teams that I'm a part of that I've been a part of helping build and in turbulent, difficult times. I don't know certain people, I guess get energy from those times and those challenges. And I guess I'm one of those people
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Choices every day #hope #connection

And that's the balance we're all looking for. I was just having a conversation with somebody about what's most missing in David times is the serendipity of connecting and meeting people. Sort of that rush you have when you walk into a room, you're not sure what's going to happen. And what does happen usually is this exchange that you could never have anticipated, and you feed off of that
@safeds1
David Steele
@safeds1 · 2:46
And I guess I have 30 years as a business person to fall back on every time I make an instinctive decision. But in addition to that, I am very disciplined, and I try to have my teams be very disciplined to articulate well defined goals. And this is whether being as an entrepreneur in creating a business and operating a business or as a financial planner, helping clients achieve their goals. Articulating those goals
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Risk management

So when you have a plan that's based on trusting your instincts, how do you navigate the risk involved in all of this? I know the phrase is risk management. Can you talk a little bit about risk management when it comes to how how you articulate your plan to your clients
@safeds1
David Steele
@safeds1 · 2:50
But the truth of the matter is I've heard that the average billionaire has had two bankruptcies in his or her life, which implies that in order to become a billionaire, I think you have to be willing to take a lot more risk than I'm willing to take. This becomes very psychoanalytically rich territory and really speaks to I think the type of person you are, people, you are organization, you are. There are probably lots of flavors and colors to this
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Nurtured and Peaceful

I think that one wealth advisor feels like a really different organization because your language is different. And as someone who has done copywriting and has done websites like for financial firms, I'm really struck by your core value, specifically, the last two, which is nurtured and peaceful. And I think these are differentiators for you. And I'd love for you to speak about the process of not just choosing these core values, but looking at the words nurtured and peaceful
@safeds1
David Steele
@safeds1 · 3:04
And for us, money has the potential to be an incredible tool to support peace and happiness. And one of the ways I think we get peace and happiness is to love and be loved, to nurture and to be nurtured. And we lead with a conviction that we will love and nurture our clients as much or more than anybody else out there. We don't leave with a conviction that we will beat other people with our technical proficiency
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Climate change and wealth management

This leads me to sort of something that's more personal to you, which is the way you spend your time with community organizations. And I wanted to ask you about the Zero Food Print, the organization that works with restaurants to help fight climate change. Given where we're at right now, I've been talking specifically to some wineries in the Bay Area. There's a real crisis going on in the restaurant and food industry and in the wine industry. First and foremost, things are closing down
@safeds1
David Steele
@safeds1 · 3:34
Anybody who asked me, which was a few, that's what I advised them. That's certainly what we did in our restaurant company, and I think we're going to be in pretty good shape coming out of Covet. And yes, we are absolutely going to be looking to be one of those next generation entrepreneurs who are in the hospitality business who hopefully is able to take advantage of what I think are imminent, all but guaranteed opportunities that are very exciting to think about. Yeah
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Timing .. for wealth management

One of the more beautiful things about hearing your voice, as opposed to learning about you through LinkedIn or through even your website, is that I feel your enthusiasm. I feel your command of your subject and your buoyancy during a time when most of us need buoyancy. The question I have for you now is after some of the trauma that some people might be experiencing, or maybe it's a psychological trauma where they don't know where their next big win is going to be
@safeds1
David Steele
@safeds1 · 3:47
You know, you can imagine that when I start talking about some of these concepts and ways of looking at the world and our business that are a little bit more humanistic and feeling based, they don't roll their eyes because it feels good to them. It feels right to them and anybody we're interviewing to join the team. You can imagine that that type of language is ever present in the interview process
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The pie chart of giving ...

David, I have one last question before we wrap up. And it has to do with, like, this imaginary pie chart. And I'm really interested in personally what you think about this for your yourself and for your clients and maybe generically for the world. I don't know. But here's the question. I guess I can start with the story many years ago, I was 20 years old
@safeds1
David Steele
@safeds1 · 4:09
I'm very critical of a lot of the language and tone of conversations I hear in the San Francisco Bay Area, especially in the venture capital community and the startup culture that is pervasive there. It sickens me. It literally sickens me when I hear any peers I have or friends I have or frankly, clients or anybody talk about creating a company for the purpose of selling the company. And unfortunately, that's what I hear now more often than anything else, it's created to swell
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Thank you!

David, it's been great to speak with you and in the nature of Swell, I just want people to feel welcome to share this and listen to it. And I really appreciate your vision and grateful that you're in the business you're in because we need more people like you in this business. And we hope that we see you more on this. Well, community and it's just been really a pleasure. Thank you. Bye
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