The "Why" Behind What We Do | Zach Miller, Sam Acho, Jeff Locke, Riccardo Stewart | NFL Players’ Podcast #19
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In this episode, the AWM Football team, Sam Acho, Zach Miller, Jeff Locke, and Riccardo Stewart share their journeys into becoming Wealth Advisors to NFL Athletes.
Listen to hear how their diverse backgrounds and upbringings come together in their pursuit to help NFL players create and sustain healthy, flourishing families.
For questions, you can reach out to Riccardo Stewart at +1 (602) 989-5022.
+ Read the Transcript
Riccardo Stewart (00:11): Hey, I wanna welcome you guys back to another episode of the AWM NFL podcast. My name is Riccardo Stewart and I'm your host. And as usual, I'm joined with my friends and coworkers. We got Jeff Locke, Sam Acho and Zach Miller. Today, we're actually gonna talk about, really about us and about how is it that we got into and do what we do now in this stage of life. And so we're gonna just, I'm gonna just spitfire.
I'm gonna ask you guys questions. But before we jump in and just talk about our whys, I just wanna start back and just go like growing up, right? This is like the kid moment. Growing up, if you had one job or profession that you wanted to be, what did you think it was gonna be? And don't give me your 16 year old self view. I'm talking nine, 10, 11. I don't wanna grow up. I'm a Toys R Us kids. That's the answer I want. Jeff, what about you?
Jeff Locke (01:05): So my dad was a legitimate fighter pilot in the Air Force. So I'd see my dad come home in his like fighter pilot outfit with his hat. And he'd show me like the bruises on his arms from pulling so many G's in the fighter pilot, I mean in the plane that day. And I thought that was the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life. So like for years I wanted to just be like my dad growing up.
Riccardo Stewart (01:31): That's good. Sam, go ahead.
Jeff Locke (01:41): I never did not. I mean, football and soccer took over my life and it just became sports, sports, sports and like all that kind of stuff went by the wayside. But I still live vicariously through him for all that kind of stuff. Yeah.
Riccardo Stewart (01:51): That's awesome.
Sam Acho (01:52): I love it. I love it. For me, it was firefighter. I don't know why I wanted to be a firefighter. I didn't know any... The only job in my mind that I knew was, oh, a firefighter. And so, no, I don't like heat. I don't like fires. I also don't really love saving people. There's a story there for a different time. But I just wanted to be a firefighter. And I probably went until I was probably like 13 or 14. I realized that...
(02:10): Oh, there's more things to do in the world than just be a firefighter. I just I don't know. Maybe I like to trust. I don't know what it was, but I wanted to be a firefighter. And no, I am not fighting any fires currently.
Riccardo Stewart (02:27): There we go. Hey, not any literal fires, but I mean, you're fighting fires. Okay, Zach Miller. What does 11 year old Zach wanna do?
Zach Miller (02:37): Well, mine's - mine's pretty spot on because I have a my mom actually brought out this paper I made when I was in like third or fourth grade and it has like, hey, I want to play in the NFL and I want to make a lot of money. So I, I was pretty zeroed in on playing in the NFL. Luckily, I was blessed with the body type I have. And so even my teachers would say like, hey, what's your backup plan? I'm like, oh, that, you know, burn the boats. There is no backup plan. It's NFL. And if, and if it doesn't work out, we'll figure it out then.
Sam Acho (03:07): 11 year old Zach burning the votes.
Riccardo Stewart (03:09): Hey, you know what's funny about that is like Zach, like honestly, a lot of guys, I mean, like, let's just be honest. Some of us who we, you know, when you're 27, you're 28 and you've already reached all your goals, it's like, dad, I come up with some new goals. Like Zach hit all of these and it's like, what's next? You know? So for me, it's crazy. You're, you share your story about your mom. You almost got to ask your parents what you wanted to do. My mom was telling a story. We were all together this last weekend and how she was telling my sons, like when I was their age and younger - how I would say I wanted to be like Jesus.
I was a church kid. So I was like, I wanna be like Jesus. And I was like nine, 10. And then I got punched in the face by this kid at church. And I came home and I was like, I wanna be like the karate kid. And so that, you think about it. But I mean, like, here's the deal. We've talked about this on the podcast. We talked about, there is a reality that when it comes to your wealth that...
Riccardo Stewart (04:07): You're done making money as a football player, as an NFL player, and you transition to something else. And all of us have done it. Like my career was over when I was done playing football. We'll talk about college football. We can talk more about that later. I feel like if Sam's going to give cliffhangers on how he doesn't like to say people, I'll give a cliffhanger. You guys were done when you're in NFL and you moved on to different things. And today we're talking about not just how hard it was, but like, hey, why are we all financial advisors?
And why did we do, why do we do what we do for our clients? And so, and you can tell some stories, you can shed light on it. And I'm gonna start first with you, Zach. Played in the NFL, eight year career. Why, I mean, honestly, you know, you have done it well. Like you don't have to have a job working for AWM, but you choose to. Like why?
Zach Miller (04:59): I mean, literally it's because of bad advisors. And you can say they're mediocre or whatever you want, but they're not good. So in my case, like bad advice costs a lot of NFL guys money. And that's either, you know, tax savings I should have had or growth of my money that should have invested better. Like that's literally the reason I'm an advisor is because I see how many just mediocre subpar salesman type advisors are out there.
And I really learned that through just going back, getting my finance degree, having a CFP as a professor, then really seeing like what, what really good financial advice does for families, for people. Um, and at such an early stage of life, like I wanted to bring that to the guys I was in the locker room with as a player. I saw like what advice guys were getting. I thought I was getting good advice being with one of those big wall street firms until I learned like.
What real comprehensive financial planning is that includes everything. Eventually what a family office is. All those things really shaped me into like, hey, how can NFL guys actually get what they deserve when they have the complexity, they have the ability to earn millions and millions of dollars on the money they earn while they're playing for not just their generation, but the next generation. It's pretty powerful stuff that I just wish that I would have had as a player. It's why I became an advisor and why I actually want to go help as many of these guys that are making this money now, now and into the future.
Riccardo Stewart (06:33): Yeah, if I could just like just add a little bit on a couple of things. One, it seems like when I hear you talk and I've heard you share this story is going like, it's like when I grew up, like I just couldn't tell the difference between things. I should have, but I couldn't. Meaning like we would have sunny delight and I'd be like, hey, let me have some more orange juice. And I got into college and was like, you know, that ain't orange juice. Look on the side, it just says orange drink. Like it looks like it, but it ain't it. And I feel like that's what you talk about advice when that's why you won't say mediocre.
It's either you're good or you're bad. It's orange juice or it's something like it. Right. And the other thing I would say is if you could just kind of shed some light on it. When you said you got bad advice, I just said on the onset, like, hey, you're doing really well right now financially. So some people hear bad advice and they hear their advisor rob them and so forth. When you say bad advice, if you could say it, you know, in short and sweet, like, what do you mean by that? Because you're doing well.
Zach Miller (07:26): So one of the biggest issues in investments is like just your cookie cutter or this advice advice applies to everyone. NFL in particular, you're so young and making such a large amount of money that if you make them, if you screw it up or you don't do it optimally, you essentially run out of money when you're done playing. It's why the statistics are the way they are is that you have to have someone that actually understands how short careers are, how the money changes once you're done playing.
Zach Miller (07:56): And then all the pitfalls that come along with being a player to actually be able to maximize it while you're in it, which is very hard to do. Cause like me, I was 21, got a million dollar signing bonus. I didn't know anything about money. I was coming from a $800 scholarship check. How are you supposed to know any of those things when you don't grow up coming from money? And then all these people around you that all say they're, I'm an FA, I'm an FA, I'm a financial advisor. When half these guys are insurance salesmen. So to know the difference is almost impossible for a young man that's getting drafted.
Riccardo Stewart (08:25): That's good. That's good. I appreciate you sharing that. Jeff, why? Like you were going to go fly jets, but then you became a punter. You played in the NFL. You made good money. Why put the hours and the care and the concern and the education that you do into this profession now?
Jeff Locke (08:45): Yeah, I didn't think I was going to go down this path to be really honest. I thought going to going into UCLA, I thought I was going to become an engineer when I was done going to build cool things. But when I was in college, my first really my first ever internship was with the National College Players Association, one of the first players association for college athletes. And through that, I kind of learned all the things college athletes don't get that probably should. This is years before the current NIL era where guys can actually get what they deserve.
And one of the first things I did was teach all of my teammates how their scholarship checks actually worked and when they would get what amount of money. And like I had so many teammates come to me and thank me and say like, dude, you just saved my budget. You just saved me so much money by knowing when the cashflow is coming in. And at that moment, I was like absolutely hooked on doing this for a living. And what I really love is helping my peers and people like me, football players, NFL families be able to understand finance in simplified terms that really means something to them because we see it all the time and we can't stand it. It's people talking over people's heads, trying to just sound smart, right? To make the sale. I can't stand that. So I do what I do because I want to simplify. I want to educate and I want to truly help people like me and my family, like Zach's family.
Riccardo Stewart (10:18): That's good, man. That's good. The engineered part does not surprise me at all either because you do use that in this profession because you're able to build things and put things together very, very, very efficiently. Sam.
Jeff Locke (10:30): Yeah, that quickly changed. That quickly changed when I got to UCLA and we had practice in the middle of the afternoon and I couldn't make the engineering labs. But you know, economics was a good second choice.
Riccardo Stewart (10:35): Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I, um, college football will make you change a lot of decisions you have off the field. So Sam, I mean, you, you're, you have the gift and some might say the curse, but I would just say you have, you have an opportunity to make something a blessing or a burden. And that is you have a lot of gifts and you have a lot of talents. And so when you get done playing, there's all these things you could do and you do like you are working at ESPN, you are author. Obviously you are, you are - husband, your father, but in terms of other vocations, like you decided to step into this space and particularly from the financial advising world, why?
Sam Acho (11:21): To be totally honest, it was one of my best friends who had met, not just financial advisor, it wasn't that, it was AWM specifically. One of my best friends, his name is Lucas, he's kind of helped advise me in life for the past decade, still a great friend to this day. And three or so years ago, he called me and he said, hey Sam, I think you need to meet some people who see the world in the same way that you do.
I had no idea what field he was talking about, what industry, anything, but he said, these guys who I met, they view the world differently and they view it the same way you do. You should have a conversation. And Lucas being the friend that he was and still is, I said, yes. And that was my first conversation with Eric Averill, one of the partners at AWM who started to share with me the dream and the vision of the why for AWM, athlete wealth management being a human centered approach to helping athletes build multi-generational wealthy.
And for me, the key word was and still is flourishing and also a keyword families. I'm anyone who knows me knows that I care a ton about family. I care a ton about flourishing. And so when, when I got a chance to sit with Eric and then meet Brandon, another one of the partners, and then find out that Zach was a part of the team, Zach Miller, a guy who I played with played against for the first three or so years of my career when he was in maybe the first four years of my career, he was in Seattle, I was in Arizona. I realized that, oh, wow, I don't even necessarily care that much about the industry specifically, but these people are trying to change it and trying to fix it. Let me latch on to these people. And then I found out, Ricardo, you were going to be part of the team. And then, Jeff, you joined on soon thereafter. So for me, the reason why is more so about seeing a group of people that are actually trying to be an agent of change for a big problem that I've lived through and that I've experienced when it comes to athletes flourishing and thriving and finding success both inside and outside the NFL.
Riccardo Stewart (13:29): Very good. Well, I got to share. I got to share mine, Sam. That's really good. And it's here and all you guys. It's amazing, right? Because we're tethered for a reason. And we are a team for a reason. And we're put together as a team because we just kind of fit. My mind goes back, actually, several years. So when Eric and Brandon are the partners of this firm, when they started it, it was primarily baseball. And Eric and I knew each other. And we're actually part of a group of guys that would get together every Wednesday to talk about, Sam, the way in which we view the world and the different like vocations different guys were in. At the time I was leading a church, I was a pastor since then, gosh, I still believe in God, but man, my language has gotten a lot worse. But as we started talking about different things, and at the time we were thinking about equality and justice, that was the conversation.
And I remember challenging Eric of going, your clients primarily in the baseball side, if you just look at statistically of baseball, it comes from, you know, middle-class majority white families, which is nothing wrong with that. And I'm like, what about if you...went into a profession or an industry like football, which is actually not necessarily that demographic. And then we begin to hear stories of not so much about people losing their money, but actually, you know, growing their money and their wealth and truly making an impact that they want to see not beyond just getting their mama a house, but like legitimately changing communities and so forth. And his response was like, that's perfect. You should come be a part of it. And I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. Finance is not my world.
Fast forward, I got into coaching college football and after coaching college football, it was clear to me and the reason why I stepped away was I didn't like being away from my own family and there's a lot of hours that go into coaching. Well, the things I loved the most was affecting change and being alongside people and being around sports, particularly football. Well, this particular industry and job were able to put all of those things together. And the one thing I'll tell you as our audience is - one of my pet peeves, not that you care or you've asked, is that when people get into working with athletes as fanboys, I'm sorry, it's just the way it is, it's that they can get in from different professions, whatever it may be, and they just love being around the athlete. And working with guys who have played professionally, who've coached professionally, who have been around and played the game and understand the game, the actual stardom of the athlete is not something that takes us off guard. It's looking at them and...
Riccardo Stewart (15:52): Like being able to see hopefully into the future of what could be and what would be if things are taken care of. And therefore we're not taking the selfies with our clients and posting them on Instagram, you know what I mean? We would like to be behind the scenes and be able to help them. And that's ultimately the four of our whys. And so the people who you see on here, we make up the NFL team with an AWM and we are a part of a bigger group that serves professional golfers, MLB baseball players, NFL football players, ultimately to help them align their wealth with their goals and priorities. Sam says it best, money becomes this magnifying glass of who you are as a person. And if you get a lot of money and you're a great human being and that gets magnified and you have the money and the skill and the discipline and the knowledge, man, that's a lot of impact for this world.
And so, we appreciate you guys taking this time to listen to our why. This isn't going to change because it's knitted into the fabric of who we are as human beings and who we are as a company. And so any questions that you guys have, you want to hear more of our stories. You want to hear more about what we think about investing, what we think about the public market, the private market, any questions you have, please shoot us a text. The number 602-989-5022. Again, that's 602-989-5022.