Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Meehan.
Hi Matthew, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My family is everything to me. They are the reason I wake up every single morning and strive to do better each and every day. Like most families, we are far from perfect. But I would never trade them for the world! I was raised in Staten Island, New York, by my Grandparents. We lived in a 3-bedroom apartment with 6 or 7 other family members depending on which day of the week it was. Most nights I either slept on the couch or the floor. They didn’t have much but what they did have always went to help out their family.
Today, I live in Orlando, Florida with my beautiful Wife Krissy and my two awesome Daughter’s Ella & Ashley. I swear these two little girls are some of the best salespeople I have ever met in my life.
I was never a good student, I barely graduated from High School. I never really liked going to school because I was bullied when I was younger and Academics was never regarded as a priority.
However, as far back as I can remember I was always hustling doing something to make money. Whether it was bagging groceries in the local supermarket, collecting cans to recycle, shoveling snow, or selling Blow pops and candy in Junior High School, if there was a dollar to make I wanted in!
After being told that I would not be graduating on time, I went to work as a waiter in a local Diner. While most of my friends were going off to college, I was working the overnight shift taking orders and being degraded by drunk customers. I told myself it would only be for a little while and I would eventually go to college. Well, I never went to college and that little while turned into 1 year.
The last weekend before they were set to go back to college they came by the diner and as they were leaving one of my friends said “Hey Matty, will you be here when we come home for winter break?’ and another person who I wasn’t friends with said “Of Course, he will…Where is he Going!” and it PISSED ME OFF!
Once I got off my shift at 6 am, I bought a newspaper and went home put on my suit (that was meant from my H.S. Graduation) borrowed my grandfather’s dress shirt & tie, and took public transportation to Manhattan.
Once I stepped off the Staten Island Ferry, I bought a roll of quarters and started calling which seemed like every job listing. I obviously didn’t think this through because everyone was asking me to send them a resume and I didn’t have one.
One of my last calls was to a small stock brokerage firm. They put we on hold for what seemed like forever. Finally, the receptionist came back to the phone and wanted to schedule an interview for the following week and reminded me to bring my resume. I said that sounds great but I happen to be in the area right now is there any way we can do it today? She said, “as a matter of fact I just had a cancellation, can you be here in 20 mins?” I said sure!
Once I saw the energy and the money being spoken about on the trading floor, I wanted in! And well I walked into the interview with no resume and out of the interview being told to come back tomorrow at 7:30 am.
So, at 19 years old, I started my career on Wall Street as a Stockbroker Trainee and I didn’t even know what a stock was!
Once got my foot in the door I was determined, I showed up the next day at 7:30 am. I was handed a script and a stack of leads and told to get on the phone. I officially started my career as a Stockbroker Trainee.
I worked the next couple months earning less than $300 per week making 600-700 cold calls per day. In December of 2000, the firm gave me 4 weeks to pass my Series 7 Exam. (The Series 7 exam is an exam you must pass in order to trade Stocks and Bonds, its equivalent to the Bar Exam for an Attorney.) Everyone I knew told me there was no way I was going to pass, especially in 4 weeks. Well Fuck them, I studied my ass off and passed the Exam, and still to this day it is one of the proudest accomplishments of my life!
Since I had no family connections and wasn’t a trust fund baby, the only other option I had was to cold call. I spent the next two years basically working for free because once you become licensed as Series 7 Representative you only got paid on commission. I spent 12-14 hours per day cold calling the top CEOs, Attorneys, Doctors, and Business Executives in the Country trying to convince them to give me a shot, and 9 times out of 10 they hung up on me. Most of my friends and family thought I was absolutely crazy about working long hours, not getting paid, and dealing with constant rejection.
The thing is… I had no other options. I was not going back to the Diner. So, I became relentless, I became obsessed, and used everyone’s negativity to fuel my urge to succeed. I smiled and dialed day in and day out and studied all I could about the financial markets and sales. I started to develop my own sales scripts and investment ideas. I went all in! And it paid off…
Within a few short years, I went from not knowing what a stock was to becoming a Million Dollar Producer, managing money for some of the top 1% income earners in the country, and training 100’s of Stockbrokers Trainees. At times I was making more money in a single day than my grandfather made in one year.
Then just like the rest of the world in 2008, I was punched in the face. The financial markets were getting destroyed and people were losing everything, their jobs… their homes! I was not immune to this either, my assets were depreciating rapidly. Moreover, my income was tied to people investing with me and we were losing Millions. I was scared shit. To make matters worse the firm I was working at the time was capitalized and forced to close down. Needless to say, my mindset was not the best.
With my bank accounts drained and my firm shut down I was forced to leave my clients behind and go start over at another firm.
Yet again with no other option, I put my head down and started pounding the phone 6 to 7 days per week putting in place the skills I honed when I was just starting out. And in 6 months I was the Top Producing Broker at my new firm. It was during this time that I found a passion for helping new and emerging companies raise capital to grow and scale.
By the end of 2011, I and few other colleagues set out to open our own Broker-Dealer. We grew the firm from the 5 of us to over 80 Registered Representatives. In 2015 I left New York City and Wall Street behind to move to Orlando Florida.
But truth be told our family life was deteriorating. It got to a point where the only quality time we spent together was going on vacation and our marriage was suffering. Shortly after my daughter Ella was born, we found out my Wife’s Mothers cancer had come back. My Mother-in-Law was a fighter. She fought cancer 3x and was in remission for over 10 years. This time it was different and we all knew.
In 2014 she passed away. At her funeral, we were told that My Mother was diagnosed with cancer. We were totally devastated. 2014 was one of the hardest years of my life. I was working 12-14 hours per day building a Brokerage Firm, bringing my mother back and forth to chemotherapy and my Wife was pregnant with my second daughter Ashley. I was completely miserable and started to question everything in my life.
It was an awful time, But I am extremely grateful for it today. It gave me a new perspective on what I wanted out of life.
After having a conversation with my wife, we both came to the realization that Success means different things to different people and even though we were achieving success in our careers, we were not achieving success in our lives. We realized that spending time with our two little girls is the most important thing in the world to us. So that night we came up with a plan!
One year later, we left NYC and moved to the “Happiest Place on earth!”
Today, I am living my DREAM and working on the next chapter of my story.
I currently own and operate several companies, but spend the majority of my time running Shield Advisory Group, an Advisory Firm I Founded with my partner Luigi, to help a select group of Entrepreneurs, Business Owners, and Public Companies access capital and scale. I am also the Creator of the Entrepreneur Project, Host of The Liquid Lunch Project Podcast, and a contributor to Forbes.
I don’t have all the answers but what I do know I am willing to share. Feel free to reach out to me and I will do all in my power to help!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Shield Advisory Group?
Our Mission at Shield Advisory Group is to give Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs the same access to tools and resources that larger companies have.
Many small business owners started their companies to pursue their passions: designing jewelry, helping care for people, opening a restaurant, even starting an online store or manufacturing company. Then they start wearing all the hats: CEO, marketing, product development, supply chain, and sales. Who has time for all this? Our Advisors take a personalized approach to helping small business owners like you solve the unique problems that hinder your growth.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Fortitude
Perseverance
Humility
Contact Info:
- Email: matt@shieldadvisorygroup.com
- Website: www.shieldadvisorygroup.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shieldadvisorygroup/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matthew.meehan.12
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmmFGF-_UUS-zZIwitXaqEw
- Other: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesfinancecouncil/people/matthewmeehan
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