About This Episode
Next Mile Episode 129: The Real Alpha Inside Modern Advisory Work with Mitch Hamer. A conversation about wealth management, fintech, and the future of financial advisory firms.
with Mitch Hamer · January 27, 2026
Next Mile Episode 129: The Real Alpha Inside Modern Advisory Work with Mitch Hamer. A conversation about wealth management, fintech, and the future of financial advisory firms.
this journey, especially for people that might have ideas and visions of going off onto their own or being a little bit more entrepreneurial, like there's only your path. >> Yeah. >> And what worked for somebody else is not going to work for you. You can definitely pick and choose, right?
But you have to stay true to yourself in the business that you want to build. [music] Hey everybody, welcome back to Next Mile. I'm your host Kyle Vampelt, co-founder at Milearker. And today I am joined by Mitch Hamer.
Mitch is the founder and lead advisor of Intersecting Wealth. And by his own admission, he is a mediocre country club athlete. What that might mean, you're asking, is mediocre golfer, mediocre tennis player, mediocre paddle player, but he also does play the piano, and he's the father of two awesome kids. And he's joined us today to drop a bunch of knowledge and wisdom.
Mitch, thanks for joining the show. >> Great to be here, Kyle. >> Yeah, absolutely. I'm going to have to assume that if you're a mediocre country club athlete, that's because you're an incredible adviser.
>> I think so. I'm not out there on the range as much as I should be, but we're early going building a business. So, >> yeah, >> I love it. All right.
Well, you talked about early and building the business, but I know you've listened to the show a little bit. I ask everybody the same first question. And so, I've got to ask you, you know, I've had a bunch of conversations like this and I've found everybody has their own unique path to this industry. Some people followed family footsteps.
Some people didn't even know this was an industry and they come in through the side door after a first career. But whether they have a traditional or untraditional path, I found everybody has what we call a money moment. That's a moment in your life where the light bulb clicks on and you decide this is it. This is what I want to do.
This is how I want to serve people with my time. So Mitch, for you, what was that money moment that led you to having this conversation today? >> So this is kind of interesting. You hear a lot of stories about people that are delivered just a stack of Warren Buffett letters and they're like, "Read these and find out if you want to be an investor or in the investment financial services industry.
" My dad was a floor trader at the Chicago Board Options Exchange. I was a management consultant in like 2010, 2011 after graduating from college and I loved the work I was doing, but I knew it wasn't long-term for me. And I was starting to think like, man, it would be fun to work with my dad. Like, nobody from my family is in in his business yet.
So, he gave me a stack of options, like derivatives, research papers by a guy named John Marshall at Goldman Sachs >> and who's like the guru of options research, income generating strategies, that sort of thing. So, I'm 23, 24 years old, taking flights wherever the consulting projects are taking me, and I have my stack of options research papers, and I'm reading through these, and I'm like, I'm going to be the next great investment manager. So, I I plowed through them, had some ideas, made my dad a presentation, and basically begged him for an unpaid internship. So, from reading those papers, that was my first taste of risk management, investing, all that.
And I asked my dad for a job point blank and he gave it he gave it to me. Oh, >> I love it. Well, and then you know in the intro we didn't say that you were with Goldman Sachs. We got Intersecting Wealth, which I think you do with your dad.
Is that right? >> That's correct. >> Yeah. So, how'd you guys go from the floor at Goldman and research papers and trading and everything like that to founding a wealth advisory firm?
>> Yeah. So, my dad was on the trading floor and then did a stint into the Morgan Stanley, Dean Witter, Meil Lynch, a bunch of those names. Some of them aren't names that we know in today's world. >> And then he decided to leave there and start a hedge fund.
So I believe Goldman was his executing options broker for the strategy that he was running. And he did that for a few years and 2008 was really his first year running that strategy. So it was a good year to be hedged and his clients kind of appreciated that. But the recovery and then just the next bull market kind of made his hedging strategy a little bit out of favor.
So he pivoted into more traditional registered investment advisory. So that's when I kind of joined him. So I had one stint working for him from 2012 2013 to 2019. And then I worked at a pretty large boutique RA in Chicago for a few years.
Really respectable firm. learned a ton and then I decided that entrepreneurship was the game that I wanted to play despite having a 5-month-old daughter and a three-year-old son. So, [laughter] I can relate cuz when I got into the co-founding side of this thing, my kids were also very little. I do believe though in a lot of the conversations I've had, people either do it when the kids are really little or they do it when the kids are grown.
I think if you try and start it where when they're like right in the midst of all of that craziness, all the activities going from here to there, I don't hear too many people saying, "I was starting a business from the parking lot of the soccer field, you know, or something like that. " Uh, >> right. I hear you. >> It definitely builds character, doesn't it?
>> It does, man. It does. There's no doubt. But it also gives you a different type of drive, too, I think, and wanting to be successful for them and gives you a different type of fire.
Okay. So, I'm curious. You read all of these papers on options and options research. You go, you do this internship on the floor.
Your dad runs a hedge fund. Now you have a wealth advisory side. I'm morbidly curious to know how much of what you do for clients today involves options or a lot of what you learned in, you know, both your and your dad's previous life. Did you guys abandon that completely and you run sort of hey we're running beta tracking index ETF like let's go do that and whatever or did you bring a lot of what you learned and you're applying that to everything you're doing at intersecting well >> when I started with him we were trying to figure out a way to implement it at scale to a lot of the clients and by it I mean sort of an options enhanced traditional blended portfolio of sorts depending on client goals needs needs and whatever.
And what we found back then with the clients that we served is we didn't rely on technology enough. So we spent more time putting the strategy on paper and into the accounts than we were trying to figure out a way to scale it. So we never were in like a hyperrowth mode. We had a few clients that we served and we loved to do it for them and they appreciated it.
And a lot of it's managing risk around concentrated stock. And with my dad's experience, he was able to overlay some other interesting options like now you see them in buffered notes and that sort of thing. But we have the technical expertise to run those and even save clients some money that we don't need to put in those those extra structured notes or ETFs or funds inside of the portfolios. But it's really really really hard to do at scale.
So, I kind of realized after a few years in that it just wasn't for me. Like, I had thought I was going to be the next great investment manager in in the derivative space, but it just didn't I had too many stressful nights, you know, and not sleeping. And I realized that the value ad was sort of the conversations away from investments. And that ended up becoming a reason why I ended up leaving my dad and went to work for this big firm that had really established themselves as a group doing really deep advanced planning across the financial planning spectrum.
And I found in my time there that those were the conversations that I loved having. Okay, we got to double click on this. I'm going to nerd out for a second. I've been in this industry for a long time, mostly on the technology side, completely on the technology side.
And I've had conversations with all kinds of adviserss and I have heard many of them say over the last 10 years we need to change the emphasis from returns on a portfolio etc you know to the planning aspect to the advisory aspect right we need to and and by the way I kind of got my training at risky you know and so the big thing at risk was like hey we need to try and get the conversation away from returns like you just need whatever return makes sense for your plan and for your portfolio right why take more risk than you need to all all of this type of stuff. I've heard lots of people say that yet I also feel that the conversation has continued to center around returns for the clients in a lot of ways. I'll still hear people say, "Well, maybe I'd change advisors if they could get me a higher return or something like that or whatever. " But I think you just were able to articulate in a bit of a way, hey, I I was so focused on hedging concentrated stock positions, creating income all around the portfolio, a lot of complicated work, not just setting it and forgetting it or trying to be a stock picker, things like that.
And you still came to the conclusion that the alpha is in deep planning. Unpack that for me a little bit. Where's the disconnect? like why are all of the adviserss saying hey all of the alpha is in the deep planning and the work that we do there and everything but then the clients are still so focused on what does that number next to the percentage say and I wanted to go up and to the right for sure so looking backward which is all we can do for compliance reasons and otherwise the market has generated a return over inflation however many years you want to go back and so to spend a lot of time on either trying to beat a safe number just I I didn't find it to be productive.
But where I did find the conversations to be productive and I'll back up and let you know that I was a psychology major. So I didn't come in with an accounting or financial background. >> Okay. >> So you've got psychology, you've got options research, and you've got planning.
I mean, this is like if they could make an adviser out of a lab, this is what they've done. >> Jack of all trades, master of none. >> Sorry, keep going. >> So, when you're sitting across from a family and you're starting to unpack like what it is that they're trying to accomplish or what makes them nervous, a lot of times it's verbalized as I'm uncomfortable with risk.
I'm uncomfortable with my return. and I'm uncomfortable with my investments, but I'm seeing something entirely different. I'm seeing them verbalize. >> I don't really know what my plan is or I don't know how to spend this money.
I don't know how my kids are going to inherit it. I don't know if I should spend more than I am or spend less than I am. I don't have any context. I don't know what my neighbors are doing.
I don't know what my friends are doing. And it's such a behavioral and psychological thing. And so part of me wishes instead of reading John Marshall in 2012, I read Nick Murray because I feel like I'm more aligned with being a behavioral investment counselor than being a stock picker, specialist, fund picker, you name it. And so like we could go really off topic here and and go into really specific like insurance planning or estate planning, but really the beauty in all that is how it is like brought together and crystallizes in a completely tailored and specific way to a client's family.
And there's no scalable way of doing that other than a lot of conversations, a lot of hard conversations. I'm talking a lot here, but it's my chance to ask a question and then shut up for a while, you know, and let them talk. And then I can I can take inventory and notes on like, okay, >> let's put these listening ears to work here and try to figure out, you know, what is going to make a successful engagement and how is this client going to achieve their goals? >> I love that.
And you already hit on the next thing I was going to ask, which is, okay, that sounds great. You're personalizing it. You're doing that, but how does that scale? And you said it doesn't really scale.
So now I've got to ask you as an entrepreneur, right? Are you looking at this and saying, okay, there's an inherent ceiling to this business or do you have to get really, really good at training other people how to do all of this personalized stuff because you scale through other people being able to do it or, you know, whatever? cuz I'm sure you didn't start this thing and go, "All right, I know exactly what the ceiling is because of the amount of like personalization I'm willing to put into all of these plans. " So, walk me through how you're thinking about that a little bit.
>> Yeah. So, we're fortunate right now that we have a really good group of core clients that we've served for decades. At least my dad kind of kicked that off and now we're working on transitioning planning to the next generation and looping in two three generations and the fourth generation in some cases are you know toddlers. It's what I'm spending the most time on right now like thinking about this beside like inside of the business besides you know client related items and I really have to think to myself what is the best way to take sort of this blank canvas and these great client relationships and I do believe growth is a necessity and there's a lot of people out there that are saying like you're either going to grow or you're going to get gobbled up and [clears throat] sometimes I agree with that sometimes I don't.
I think it depends on the client base. I think it depends on the entrepreneur. And there is a ceiling. I could not take on three more of my most complex clients right now without hiring somebody extremely seasoned to do that.
So, what my dad and I are spending a lot of time on are like, what is it going to look like to bring in other groups or what makes us unique? What makes us special? And why would someone want to join us versus take a check from one of these private equitybacked companies that are writing really handsome checks right now? So, it's not I'm giving myself some grace just having young kids and clients that I really care a lot about and we're going to meticulously plan our next steps.
But in the meantime, like I want to know what it feels like to evaluate tech vendors, to send wires and do a lot of the client service associate work, to put together our systems and try to figure out how all the systems talk to each other. And it may not be the most productive time in terms of scaling now, but in the future, it's going to pay dividends when I start interviewing folks. And I've worn that hat before. I know what it takes.
Man, that that was a really wellthoughtout and thoughtful answer. I appreciate it. I think it was really self-aware. That's more what I was looking for.
>> I try to bring honesty to the mix. You know that I don't think there's ever a perfect this journey, especially for people that might have ideas and visions of going off onto their own or being a little bit more entrepreneurial. Like there's only your path. >> Yeah.
>> And what worked for somebody else is not going to work for you. You can definitely pick and choose, right? But you have to stay true to yourself in the business that you want to build. >> Yeah, I got to ask you that too because I I feel like the common thread of this is is entrepreneurship and the journey of that as it ties back to this and I know you guys were really fortunate that you had book a business that you could launch with.
I'm always curious if there's a person who's maybe been working as a servicing adviser or something like that and they really want to go independent but they don't have much of a book to speak of, you know, or whatever. like how possible, how hard, I don't know. You can answer this how you want, but like what does it look like today if you just want to hard launch an RAA and you're not taking an established book with you to go get clients to build assets to do all of that? It's really hard and it's possible and you sort of have to take it one day at a time, but I do a lot of networking with similar-minded adviserss in this industry and you know there are people that are exploring different business models, planning only, one-time plans, project based.
There's so many different ways to skin the cat and just getting reps is helpful to be honest. It's like I don't know how I would do it if I were just to >> be plopped in some city and start over. Like I think I'd be >> out there and said I've got psychology. I've got options.
I've got planning. Like I objectively know I am a great adviser like and I will be a great adviser for you but you're starting from zero. I mean that's just got to be incredibly incredibly tough. >> Yeah.
And but to be fair I don't think there's anything wrong with starting as a W2 as an associate planner. you know, get on the CFP path and take what you can from like a really strong team. I mean, those firms that have in their mind solved for scale, like they have the ability to pay you a decent wage and to go out and learn. That's the best thing.
There's some guys in their mid20s and that are doing this and they're building in public and I'm just amazed that they've been able to put together, you know, half a million dollars plus in in recurring revenue just at that early of an age. But they're true to their path and I think that's the most important thing. I couldn't have done it. I wanted to be somebody that I wasn't back then.
I wanted to pick all the successful qualities of all these different mentors and people that I'd followed and observed and it just wasn't right for me at that time. >> Man, uh this is not where I was planning on going, but that last sentence I think is so powerful for whether you're starting I I know my question was around, hey, if you're if you are a mid20s or something and you want to go do this, but maybe you're somebody who has a firm, the picking the qualities of people you admire and trying to like become that person. I've been reading a lot about the importance of trying to take those but then as you say make it your own path right don't do everything so dogmatically that it's like if you don't do it exactly how that person or that mentor did it that you fail because maybe your situation is different and it's okay if you are Buffettesque or you're whoever the person is that that you really admire that you can take certain aspects of that and apply them to how you're going to do it and I think there's like maybe a weird phrase of like and it's almost egotistical but how Do you become that person that somebody else is going to look and be like, "Oh, I want to do it the way Mitch Hamer did it. " Right?
Because you have to almost create your own path that somebody can can look at years later and go, "That that's a really cool way of doing it. " >> That's such a good way of putting it. We'll have another chat in a few years or so to find out who Mitch Hamer became. But yeah, that's the goal is to just keep improving.
And it definitely doesn't happen in real time. Like I look back on certain relationships that we've been able to cultivate and develop and the only thing that was consistent was >> working hard, being transparent, being personable, being likable, and following through on what you say you're going to do and then surround yourself with really talented people that can kind of do the technical. I thought I was going to be a technician. And I remember [clears throat] at the last firm that I joined, I I did a financial planning quiz that they give to all the the new hires and I got an eight out of 20 on it.
>> And the guy that brought me into the firm had to vouch for me and say like, "Hey, this is somebody that we want to join our business and sort of be a messenger for us. " And the technical people inside of the firm are like, "Somebody throwing darts could have done better. [laughter] We run a business fixing engines and cars and and you want me to bring in somebody who doesn't even know cars have engines. Right.
>> Right. Exactly. >> This podcast is brought to you by Turncast. We make gamechanging content for fintech and financial services companies.
Learn more at turncast. com. >> Hey Next Mile listeners. Jessica here from Milemarker.
You know we talk a lot about reaching that next mile in your business journey, but let's be for real for just a sec. If you're an adviser, how much time are you spending wrestling with data instead of actually advising your clients? I've worked firsthand with tons of adviserss over the years, helping them achieve real success and breakthrough growth. But I keep seeing the same roadblock everywhere.
Brilliant advisers stuck spending hours pulling reports from their different systems, trying to create meaningful client presentations, and struggling to get a clear picture of their firm's growth. Does this sound familiar? Here's what I've [music] learned. The advisers who are scaling and growing aren't necessarily smarter.
They've just figured out how to get control over their data. That's exactly why I joined Milearker because they've built a solution that changes everything for how you manage and grow your [music] firm. At Milemarker, we specialize in three game-changing areas for firms like yours. streamlining your data management so all your systems talk to each other.
Automating those repetitive reporting tasks that eat up your valuable time and creating seamless advisor and client experiences that actually help you grow your firm. The difference is night and day. Instead of spending your evenings pulling together client reports, imagine having that data automatically organized and presented exactly how you need it. Instead of guessing about your firm's performance, imagine having real-time insights that help you make strategic decisions.
If you are ready to stop being held back by your data and start using it to fuel your growth, I'd love to have a conversation with you. We're offering Next Mile listeners a complimentary consultation to explore exactly how we can help you transform [music] your advisory practice. Don't let outdated processes keep you from reaching that next mile in your firm's growth. Visit milemarker.
co and mention the next mile podcast and I'll personally make sure to get the insights you need to take control of your data and scale your practice. [music] because your time should be spent building your business, not buried in spreadsheets. >> That's actually a great segue because what where I want to get to is I know we've been talking a lot about entrepreneurship, but also a common theme in this conversation has been multigeneration. You have multigenerational clients, but then you are also building a multigenerational firm and I want to talk a little bit about that.
But as a segue to that, and this kind of ties back to what I was asking you about before on with the depersonalization and everything, but the mix of the roles of sort of technician and then strategist, I guess, would be the other one or something along those lines. But hey, this person is going to sit with the clients. They're the ones who's really going to listen. They're going to understand.
They're going to know what the moods are. But then you've got to you've got to deliver that down into the people who are getting the 20 out of 20s on those those tests who are really they're the whizzes in e- money or they're you know incredible in some of these other things to then give back to the strategist and go from there. How do you get that right and how do you identify which one you are? Are you a technician or are you a strategist?
Everybody's got to have a little bit of both, right? because I don't think anybody wants to sit across from the table and you're like, "Yeah, I have no idea how they're going to put together this insurance case for you, but I know that you need it, right? " You got to be able to kind of work a little bit, I'm sure, but curious to hear your thoughts on the dichotomy there. >> Yeah, I think it I think it comes down to how risk averse somebody is.
is like I think if somebody really wants to own their business and that doesn't have to mean like have ownership in the firm but like really take ownership of client relationships and things like they can sort of choose how technical they want to get and some people just have an aptitude for it and the most successful adviser I know from both like technician side of the world and number of relationships and size and complexity of relationships really just had a deep deep deep deep technical expertise and throughout the beginnings of their life knew that they just wanted to be in front of corporate executives. And so they're kind of like the unicorn. Like there's only so many people that have raised a billion dollars on their own just from being in front of the right people and being the smartest person in the room usually. But then there's the people that are like, I like my salary.
I really like this one aspect whether it's estate planning or tax review prep. Some of these built out firms really you can kind of choose your own adventure especially if you're a high performer and you're doing really good work and helping support adviserss or the investment team or whatever you're going to end up doing. So there is that path but I think it comes down to like your career risk tolerance but there is no perfect answer but great question. >> Yeah I love that.
I think that makes a ton of sense. Okay, so all of that segus into intersecting wealth. There's a a goal of being a multigenerational firm. I think that makes a ton of sense.
You've already talked about how you're serving multigeneration of clients. I want to ask about that a little bit, but let's start with how you're building a multi-generational staff that is serving these people. And I think some of this ties back to what you said before of, hey, there is nothing wrong with coming into a firm like Intersecting Wealth, letting Mitches on how to do this, like cutting your teeth, growing your career, and launching here, and then you get to choose your own adventure. So, is that how you're thinking about it?
I mean, you know, talk to me a little bit about how you're building a multigenerational firm because I I actually over all of the conversations I've had have come to believe that this is perhaps the biggest thing going on in our industry is like how do you get new talent in and how do you make them successful and how do you train them because the demographics are off the charts for clients that need advice. Like I don't think there will be any shortage of people that will be signing up to work with financial adviserss in some capacity, right? no matter what the model looks like. I think the challenge is are we going to have enough people to serve the demand and we've got to figure out how to train them and and get them into the right place and and do all of that.
So, how are you guys solving that? >> So, right now we're a twoman shop, believe it or not. >> Okay. >> It's my dad and I and he relates to G1 and I relate to G2 and 3 and we do our best to cross over.
It's not that cut and dry, but we definitely have great great relationships. I think it's more about looking at the client and like what they want to achieve and like what's important to them and how their fi family dynamics are. And it could take a lot of meetings to get to that point. But it's the way that we have it set up right now is Bob has this deep Bob's my dad.
Bob has this deep expertise in portfolio construction, options trading, managing concentrated positions, putting together portfolios. He's also like just one of the most genuine people ever put on this earth. and [clears throat] the people that are with him absolutely love him and he's such a great guy to talk to and such a role model for me and my brothers and that comes through in meetings and it's actually a lot of fun to see because sometimes we just completely disagree on everything and I want the balance sheet and the tax returns and the goals to govern everything and sometimes a client just wants to talk about a butterfly spread in SP PY that he put on 6 years ago that [laughter] happened to be the perfect spread early on. I I was like this is that's not the way like that's not how we're going to grow.
But those conversations are so impactful and the clients just love it and I I don't foresee that taking we had a lot of history with a lot of those clients where that was taking place. But we sort of have to to ham and egg it and bring it really personal and our clients are like our family in some cases and then sometimes we have to zoom out. And what I would say to people that join us in the future is we're going to align ourselves with your success and we have sort of equity in our business to sweat equity to give out. And I think that's going to be what really moves the needle for our next hire and someone that I get to oversee and then work alongside as soon as they get up to speed.
But you talk about an interesting dynamic in our industry. There are so many talented people that are so overworked. I couldn't do what we could do for 125, 150 clients and also like go to my daughter's ballet and you know my son's piano, you know, stuff like that. Like I can't justify that.
And you have people that are overworked that don't have as much equity alignment as they think they have. And at a certain point, like I don't think it's a flex to say like, "Hey, I cover, you know, $2 million. " And like if if your comp is 400 or 500 grand on a $2 million revenue book, like you're working too hard. And most people would love to make that kind of money, right?
But at the expense of what? And so when I see a sole practitioner that has, you know, 400 grand of revenue and 80,000 expenses, I'm like, that person figured out the game. That's our big push is alignment of of incentives. >> I love that.
I think that's a different story than what's out there in a lot of ways. And it's interesting to hear you say that. So I've got to ask you then as you look at the future when you guys started this I mean is the plan to roll up other firms underneath intersecting or is the plan to try and just recruit and grow via servicing advisor like when you look at the future of your business from where you're sitting now and I know you've been at firms that absolutely have executed some of these game plans before you've kind of seen the good bad the ugly. You've watched that movie before.
Now you're sitting in the director's chair trying to choose, you know, what type of firm do you want to become and how do you want to do it? What is the plan for what you're going to do? Are you going to try to acquire firms? Are you going to grow slowly or lay that out for us?
>> Yeah, we're going to work with Jeff and a lot of the the talented folks at at Stratos Wealth Adviserss, which is our parent company. We're representatives of them, and we're going to talk about a growth plan in the Chicago area. And that may be an organic growth. It's all about who we choose to partner with that we care.
Like it's people that we want to see in the office with us. We think we can offer them an interesting story for their clients and there's actually a lot of father-son duos that we know in the area that we would love to join us and help them tell their story in the same way that we're telling our story. That's going to be it. And if we don't grow like we want to grow, like we're going to have a nice lifestyle practice, we'll call it.
And I don't I think there's a stigma with lifestyle practice sometimes like you haven't quite made it. Like we're super proud of the work that we do. So it's almost like uh we don't know where life is going to take us, but we know that we're going to choose our clients first before any plans for significant growth or investment in our business. And some people might completely disagree with that, but we we know our clients aren't going to disagree with that approach.
>> That's awesome, man. I love that. I love that. Okay, [clears throat] I want to now zoom out even more and ask you about the future of the industry as a whole.
So, I'm going to ask you to get out your crystal ball. That's the segment we're going to do here. And I'm going to ask you about what do you see happening in the next 3 to 5 years, whether it is technology based, whether it is industry based or whatever. Just kind of give us some of your takes on where the industry is going.
I think there's too much technology and I think the kits map has to shrink and I don't know if it's going to shrink by acquisition or integration or if there's firms out there that are going to help firms, you know, put together the perfect tech stack that's tailored to them. But I think firms are spending way too much resources on technology. And I've I've been given the feedback like, "Hey, we're here because of you. " like you can't dangle a new client portal or a new resource in front of us.
Like you can't overlay tech on trust and that line kind of stuck with me. So there's a ton of extremely talented nextgen advisors. Like I said, I network with them. They're doing awesome.
They're getting the word out there that there's a lot of not to say comprehensive planning, but there's an offering for people that have not yet been the recipients of this offering in historical Wall Street. And I think that message is going to be delivered to them. And my hot take is that it's not going to be a tech platform that moves them over. It's going to be a service model that wins them.
>> I like that. Yeah. For the record, the kit's map has gone from 385 companies to 561 in the past three years and you know is is easily on pace to surpass 600. Ask me how I know that.
is because at mile marker every single day it's like people are trying to figure out how to consolidate the data from their tech and and figure out how to make the tech they currently have more usable and more adopted because like you're saying the story of it's just another tool or you know this thing is going to be better than whatever the tool you have is now or whatever. I feel like I say the phrase the grass is green where you water it like a hundred times a day right now because there's warts to any piece of technology that you're going to use. There is no perfect solution and a lot of it is how do you adopt it? How do you figure out how to adopt it so that it fits the service model that you're talking about?
There's such an opportunity for you to tap into that next generation of adviserss that may not be a warehouse adviser or a W2 at you know a PE backed firm and they want to set up their own shop and you know maybe some of them want to come together and build their own firms and kind of create like a incubator for other young nextgen adviserss and don't get me wrong you do need that tech solution you just you can't be spending all your time on it so there's definitely a lot of opportunity in that So, I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you as somebody who just went out and started this and again, somebody who's seen the movie, all of that type of stuff. We can turn this into a shout out section or whatever. What did you decide to go with for your tech stack? What is the backbone of how you guys are building intersecting wealth?
>> So, our tech stack is going to look like a lot of other firms. Luckily, we have the scale of Stratos to keep the cost down a little bit. But right now, we're playing around and exploring e-oney, right Capital, Income Lab, Wealthbox, Zachs. Like, we have all the basic categories covered.
And so, the big push for 2026 is going to be how do we integrate these and put them together and let them speak to each other. And so a lot of what we do is still really customized, but I think sort of a a digital vault that encapsulates the best data from all these different sources is going to be something that I would love to put together at some point in time. >> That's helpful for the advisers on our side and helpful for other professionals that are servicing the clients alongside us. and then a deliverable for the clients that sort of know that this is the contingency plan if something happens to Mitch and Bob.
>> I love it, man. Okay, Mitch, we are gonna move into the final segment of the show, which is called the Milemarker Minute. I know you're familiar with it. Are you ready to attack the lightning round at the end of this show?
>> Let's do it. >> All right. If you could travel anywhere in the world you've never traveled to before, where would you go? >> Australia.
>> I love it. That's a great one. What is the best road trip you've ever been on? my freshman year going out to Penn State.
Happy Valley. I I haven't done a lot of road tripping, but just leaving the driveway and heading to Penn State for my freshman year was just surreal driving into campus. >> Yeah, that's Well, so sorry, I'm going to cut my lightning round for a second. You're Northwestern grad, right?
>> So, started at Penn State, finished undergrad at Illinois, master's degree at Northwestern. >> Okay. Okay. So, Penn State, Fighting Ali, Northwestern.
I got you. So, did you go to games at Happy Valley? You had to have, right? >> I did.
I did. >> Is it as as great as everybody says it is? >> It's better. >> I love it.
I love it. Well, then I got to ask you this cuz as of this, it hasn't been announced yet. Who is Penn State's next football coach going to be? >> Well, they just hired the guy from BYU.
>> Oh, is it official? Okay. >> Yeah, I think so. >> I didn't see that.
All right. Well, there you go. You have the inside scoop. I love it.
[laughter] >> I don't know. Maybe it's not. But I saw a lot of chatter in the group chats last night. >> Okay, I love it.
All right, what's the best flavor of ice cream? >> Cookie dough. >> What is the best book you've read or listened to in the past 12 months? >> Money together by uh Douglas and Heather Bonapart.
It's making its rounds right now. >> Yeah, shout out Doug and Heather. That's awesome. All right.
Are you a White Socks or a Cubs guy? >> Not really a baseball guy, but my son loves the Cubs. So, >> okay. So, Cubs fly the dub.
All right. If you could give up one of the four major professional sports teams in Chicago, which one are you giving up first? >> Man, I'm sorry to do this to the Blackhawks cuz it's the best culture, but got to get got to get rid of the Blackhawks. >> Bye-bye Blackhawks.
He's keeping the Bears, the Bulls, and the Cubs. I love it. >> I love it. Okay.
All right. Next question for you. Finish this sentence. And this is for Mitch personally.
Not for business, not for intersecting wealth, but progress is blank. >> Hard work. I like that. All right.
Now, final question. There's an alternate universe, and in this alternate universe, your career has nothing to do with financial services whatsoever. What is Mitch Hamer doing in that alternate universe for work? >> Traveling bartender at high-end parties.
>> I feel like you have really thought that one out before. You came prepared with that one. >> I We hosted Thanksgiving and I was the bartender and I thought I told my wife that night. I was like, I would love to actually be a bartender at parties like this.
>> It's amazing, man. Well, Mitch, you made it through the Momworker Minute. I love this conversation. I think you are incredibly self-aware.
I love the thoughtfulness you're putting into how you're building this. I think it's super cool that you're building a firm with your dad and that you've come full circle from starting with him, kind of taking a little bit of a hiatus, coming back together, and now putting together a really unique service model. So, thank you so much for joining the show and for dropping all of your insights. >> It was awesome to be with you, Kyle.
Yeah, likewise, man. All right, everybody. That's been another episode of Next Mile. Please make sure you click follow or subscribe wherever you're paying attention to this.
And if you'd be kind enough to leave us a fivestar review so other people can find the show who've never found it before, that would be really nice of you. But until the next episode, enjoy every mile.
See the platform that powers the conversations on Next Mile.