Toastmasters Speech #1: An Independent, Entrepreneurial Family Man

Hi. My name is Adam Feik, and I am an independent, entrepreneurial, family man. Allow me to introduce the story of how I came to be who I am today.

First, the story of becoming independent. I enjoyed a wonderful youth & childhood, and felt very prepared to go out on my own after high school. After my freshman year of college, I served a full-time mission for my church for 2 years, then returned home for 6 months to work and earn money to go back & finish school. I worked nearly full-time throughout the remainder of my college career, and I must say this experience of supporting myself probably gave me more applicable knowledge and wisdom than the college courses themselves. In college, I also became an avid reader of The Wall Street Journal, which has developed into a passion for lifelong learning.

After college, I married and we moved to Boise where I took a full-time, entry-level job to start my career. Within a year, I had upgraded to a job with another company, who encouraged me to take advantage of their tuition reimbursement program to pursue an MBA at Boise State. I thought I was done with school, but I realized this was an opportunity I should definitely take! So, back to school I went, this time with 3 years’ real-world experience under my belt, working more than full-time, and with a wife and baby boy at home. I was seemingly gone all day and all night, and when I was home, I was studying. By the time I finished the MBA program 2 years later, we had 2 sons… I always tell friends we’re not sure how that happened! But I was an even more dedicated student this time around due to having a little more maturity, and my whole education was a great experience. I came out of it prepared for a great career in the financial advice business, and ready to find my own success. And that’s my story of independence.

Now, about being entrepreneurial. This happened only about 10 months ago, when after 7 years working at investment brokerage firms (2 of them), I “saw the light” and “went independent.” Being an independent has been a natural fit for me and my clients, as you might imagine. I love having open architecture, access to everything, and the ability to be completely objective in my investment advice to clients. It’s also been fun to brand my own business and promote it, and has been very gratifying to attract new clients who are comfortable enough to trust me with their life savings, and sometimes even introduce me to their own friends and colleagues so I can work with them. I named my company Beacon Rock after a place in the Columbia River Gorge near where I grew up. Beacon Rock & my business are part of who I am, and I’m sure I will be in business for myself until I retire.

Finally, my family. My mom & dad have been & continue to be a huge positive influence in my life. I love them, and my 2 younger brothers & 2 younger sisters, and my wife & kids. We have 4 sons, ages 11, 9, 7, and 3, and I could have spent the whole 4-6 minutes talking just about them! They are so awesome, and they are what life is all about for me. My sons are really, really, REALLY into sports, big time. They never think about anything except basketball during basketball season, football during football season, or baseball during baseball season. Except my 3 year-old may not realize the football season just ended. Last night, he was sleeping next to me and I heard him say in his sleep, “Cardinals beat the Bengals. Are you kidding me?” When he woke up, I asked him if he dreamed about football. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he said, “Yeah. And basketball and baseball.” They are pretty funny. They play sports, too, and that has become one of our family’s favorite pastimes.

So there you have me, Adam Feik, in a nutshell – an independent, owner of Beacon Rock Investment Consulting, and a son, brother, husband, and father of 4 great boys.