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Hi, everyone.

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Welcome to the next episode of

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the Bay Street Capital Holdings

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podcast titled, How'd You Do It

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& Why Should I Care? This

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series ends to highlight women

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doing amazing work in various

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industries. So today, we are so

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lucky to be joined by Stephani

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Lucas, who's founder and CEO of

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the Annuity Consultants. Hi,

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Stephani, lovely to have you on

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the show.

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Hi, thanks for

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having me. I'm super excited to

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be here.

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So I guess we can first start off with a quick introduction as to who you are,

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and an answer to the main

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podcast question, which is, how

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do you do it? And why should I

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care? Yeah, absolutely.

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So um, a little

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bit of background, or are we

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going to do my story first?

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Yeah, let's do a bit of background about you. Let's go.

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Okay, great,

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great. Um, so I founded the

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annuity consultants about 11

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years ago, after many years of

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being in the industry. And I

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grew kind of frustrated with the

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way things are done. And so I

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wanted to do things differently.

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And so I guess why I'm here and

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why you should care is the fact

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that I am bringing more love,

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compassion and kindness to the

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insurance and financial space

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through our heart centered

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planning series.

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That's so lovely.

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And I guess my next question to

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you is, this is such an

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interesting idea that you came

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up with what inspired you to

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join this industry?

1:16

Wow. Well, to be

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really honest, I actually was

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trying to pay for college. And

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I'm one of 10 kids. And so it

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wasn't really in the plan for my

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parents to be paying for school.

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And I was, the second should

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have been the sixth to graduate

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from high school, and the first

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to go to college. And so this

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really got me into the industry.

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And then I found that I was

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really good at it. And I had

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passion for it. So I 21 years

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later, I'm here and now taken on

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an even bigger role, and really

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looking to change it from the inside out.

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That's really awesome. So you seem like quite a trailblazer. a go getter, if I

1:55

can call you that. But you seem

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like you kind of went out there.

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And you had an idea. I'm just

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curious, what were the best

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resources that helped you along

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in your journey?

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Really having

2:06

the ability to ask for help. And

2:11

knowing that eventually things

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would evolve? And we would not

2:16

be in this like, current

2:16

paradigm? I guess. So. So the

2:22

resources that I really utilized

2:22

was knowledge from other people

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that are experts in the

2:29

industry, and being able to

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access like different

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technologies, which our industry

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is pretty far behind in that. So

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bringing technology into our

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process.

2:47

Very, very

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important. Yeah. Awesome,

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awesome. And it seems like, you

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know, you had a lot of

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experience before you entered

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the industry, and you spoke to a

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lot of people. I'm curious

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whether any lessons that you

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wish you would have known before joining your industry.

3:00

Yeah, I wish

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that I had known that I didn't

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need to compete with the men

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that, you know, I didn't have to

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be one of the guys. And I ended

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up really suppressing my

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feminine energy, and utilizing

3:16

my masculine a lot. And it did

3:21

not do me any favors. And it

3:21

really it actually kind of led

3:26

to burnout. And it was it was

3:26

not cool. So I wish that was

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something that I knew that, you

3:32

know, just because it's a male

3:35

dominated industry doesn't mean

3:35

that I have to be like a man. So

3:40

yeah, that was probably a great learning opportunity for you. And sort of

3:42

on the note of learning

3:46

opportunities, what would you

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say was your biggest failure?

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And what did you learn from it?

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I know, it's a tough question.

3:51

Yeah, yeah,

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geez, um, you know, there are a

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lot of failures as an

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entrepreneur. I think my biggest

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was at the beginning, I was

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making so much more money than I

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had ever made before. And I

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wasn't necessarily in service of

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the people that I was working

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with, or that were my customers.

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I felt like, at one point, I

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definitely was in this like,

4:17

greedy kind of mode, you know,

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and it was all about me. And it

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wasn't about being in service

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and giving back. And, and it

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took me a while to realize that

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after losing some, like key

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clients that it was, I should

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have been investing back in

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them. And I should have been

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doing more for them not

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expecting them to do more for

4:37

me. Yeah,

4:40

no, definitely. No,

4:40

yeah. Again, I'm glad you took

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it as a learning opportunity and

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landed quite early on in your

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career so that you can really

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develop and following on from

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that you've been dropping like

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little gems of advice here and

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there throughout this call. I'm

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curious though, what would be

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one piece of advice you would

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give somebody who is wanting to

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pursue a career similar to you

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yours. Yeah,

5:01

patients. So

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this industry can be incredibly

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rewarding, not only in being

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lucrative as far as making a

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good living, but also being able

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to help people and being able to

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be a part of some of the most

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important decisions people make

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in their lifetime. And so my

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advice to anybody wanting to get

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into this industry would be

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really to have patience, to be

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committed to hard work, and

5:28

really planting the seeds.

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Because it takes time people

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that get into this industry,

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you're not just automatically,

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you know, trusted, because

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you're, you're doing this job,

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right, it takes time to build a

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good reputation, and for people

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to want to do business with you.

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So patience is key. Yeah,

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definitely. And I

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would agree, the reputation is

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also everything as well. So

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important. Yep. And following on

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from now, what would be one

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common myth about your industry

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that you would like to debunk

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right here right now?

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Um, you know,

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there's this like, used car

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salesman like slimy, you know,

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that people in this industry are

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in it for themselves? And that,

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you know, it's not about their

6:16

customers, it's about making the

6:16

money. And I don't agree with

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that, you know, there are people

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like that, for sure. And I feel

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like they are the ones that are

6:23

highlighted that, you know, a

6:27

lot of times people are focused

6:27

on the negative, just like how

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news is put out there. Right.

6:30

It's like, the negative stories

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always catch. And so I think the

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majority of the people in this

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industry really, truly are in it

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to help the people. And I just

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want people to know that there

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are a lot of people in this

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industry that can be trusted,

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that are in it to be in service,

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and that really do care about

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the end, you know, client.

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Yeah, definitely, man, thank you for debunking that. Um, obviously, as a

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founder and CEO, I'm sure you're

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super, super busy. But what have

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you read or listened to

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recently? That's really inspired you?

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Yeah, so I have

7:05

a few, um, anything dropped Dr.

7:09

Joe Dispenza. I love but I

7:09

recently read, you are the

7:13

placebo. And that really has

7:13

taught me a lot more about how

7:19

much power we have as humans to

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heal our own bodies, and not

7:23

have to rely on you know,

7:23

medications and different things

7:27

like that, that in America, it's

7:27

so easy for us to just go and

7:31

get a prescription. And not that

7:31

I'm saying that medication is

7:34

not useful, because some people

7:34

need it for certain things,

7:37

right? What it's easier to go

7:37

and get like that band aid

7:41

versus going inward, and like

7:41

doing the inner work to deal

7:44

with things, even like physical

7:44

ailments can be healed by you

7:49

being positive and doing the

7:49

right things for your body. So,

7:53

Dr. Joe Dispenza. And then I

7:53

also recently that one I read,

7:57

and it's a long read, but

7:57

totally worth it. Um, and then I

8:01

like audibles. Because you know,

8:01

I can listen to them while I'm

8:05

doing other things. Russell

8:05

Brand's revelation, listen to

8:10

that, and very, very much

8:10

connected to a lot of what he's

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talking about in there. And then

8:14

breath by James Nolan, I think

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it is, I might be wrong on the

8:20

author. But, um, again, going

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back to breathing is such an

8:25

important thing. And if you're

8:30

not aware of it, like so often,

8:30

you can find yourself holding

8:33

your breath and your body needs

8:33

the air, right, we need to live.

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And so many people hold their

8:39

breath and don't even recognize

8:44

it. So it's important for our

8:44

health. It's important for just

8:48

being grounded and yeah, so

8:48

those are, yeah, recent. So

8:53

thank you

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for those

8:53

recommendations. And following

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on from that, obviously, being

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an entrepreneur, you need to

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sort of rely on a network and

8:58

get to know people I'm just

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interested in who are three

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people in your life who have

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been the most influential to you.

9:05

Oh, wow. So my

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sister, first and foremost, I

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mean, she's like, the kindest,

9:09

most loyal understanding like

9:15

amazing human. She is. I mean,

9:15

she can do anything. And if she

9:20

puts her mind to it, like she's

9:20

incredible, and she's sort of

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she was like my mom and my best

9:24

friend all wrapped up into like

9:29

one person being one of 10 kids

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like, she was the oldest and she

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kind of took care of us and she

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is somebody who has like such a

9:39

different take on life than me

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her path has been significantly

9:42

different. But her perspective

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is always so welcomed and like I

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learned stuff from her all the

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time. So she's been a great,

9:52

great like, strength in my life.

9:52

And then my really good friend

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Amy McElwain, she is an

9:57

incredible human, just, she's an

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entrepreneur, she is ambitious,

10:03

she's smart, she's kind, she

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really taught me how to go out

10:09

and explore the world. Like, I,

10:15

I didn't talk about this, but I

10:15

got sober eight years ago. And

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when I got sober, it was like, I

10:19

had to learn how to relive. And

10:24

I had never had traveled outside

10:24

the world, like outside the

10:27

country before, due to the fact

10:27

that I grew up in the household

10:31

that I did, we didn't have money

10:31

to do that. And so I was very

10:34

limited in my perspective. And

10:34

so she really encouraged me to

10:39

do that. And when I started

10:39

traveling, I just got to immerse

10:43

myself in so many different

10:43

cultures and, like, expand my

10:47

knowledge of so many things. And

10:47

another thing that she really

10:52

taught me was the acceptance of

10:52

all people. Right. And, and not

10:57

only accepting all people, but

10:57

accepting myself. And, and

11:02

obviously, that's like the

11:02

foundation of accepting others

11:05

is, you know, loving and

11:05

accepting yourself. And, and so

11:10

yeah, she's been a real

11:10

inspiration to me. And then the

11:14

third person would be, he's, I

11:14

consider him a mentor, as well.

11:20

He's a client. And he was

11:20

actually my first client, and

11:23

I've worked with him. His name's

11:23

Neil McAuliffe. I've worked with

11:26

him probably about 1314 years,

11:26

because I've worked with him at

11:30

the company I was with before I

11:30

started my company. And he has

11:36

showed me like, what a father

11:36

and a husband could be, like,

11:43

such a good, good man, and so

11:43

kind, loving, and gentle and

11:49

just compassionate. And like,

11:49

all the things, right. And, um,

11:54

I remember one year, I was

11:54

having a tough time after I got

11:58

sober with my family, and he

11:58

actually invited me to his

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family's home to spend Christmas

12:03

with them. You know, yeah. And,

12:09

and I'm friends with his

12:09

daughter, who, she's, she works

12:13

for him. And she has for like,

12:13

14 years. And she's in success,

12:18

like in line to succeed and take

12:18

over his business when he

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retires. And so like, um, you

12:21

know, his wife and his other

12:24

kids, everybody I'm close to,

12:24

and it's just, like being

12:29

embraced like that, and taken

12:29

in, you know, I was like, sort

12:34

of orphan but not really, you

12:34

know, and just to have somebody

12:38

to know, like that they care

12:38

about you that much that they

12:40

would, you know, ask you to be a

12:40

part of that. So,

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those are my people. That's awesome. And I'm so glad that you're surrounded

12:46

by such a supportive

12:48

group of people.

12:48

Yeah, thank you.

12:50

And then finally, to round off our conversation, what is one piece of advice that

12:52

you wish you gave yourself at

12:55

any point in your life?

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Oh, geez. Um, I

12:57

guess, like, you know, just be

13:05

kind and generous to everybody,

13:05

and really be in service of

13:10

others. Just, you know, I think

13:10

that we are here for a reason.

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And a big part of that is to

13:17

give to others, and not to take.

13:22

And so I think just being better

13:22

about that, like, at a younger

13:27

age, and just being more

13:27

committed to being better

13:34

behind. Yeah, to be

13:34

a good person at the end of the

13:37

day. Totally. Well, yeah. Well,

13:37

that rounds up our

13:40

conversations. Definitely. Well,

13:40

thank you so much for taking the

13:42

time to speak with me today. It

13:42

was truly wonderful to hear your

13:45

story and to engage in a great

13:45

conversation.

13:47

Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

13:49

Thank you. Bye bye.