teamwork makes the dream work

The Organizing Question: Mark’s Role, New Clients, and More 
By Mark Leibman, President

What a journey thus far!

I started at the kitchen table. Bought the office building at 228 Main when I could neither afford it nor afford to pass it up. Struggled and juggled for years. Fit a snowbird lifestyle into the middle of it. Survived personal tragedy, a cruel disease that slowly took the life of my high school sweetheart.

And through it all, we grew. More and more people entrusted more and more wealth to our care. More and more teammates helped me hold up my end of the deal.

They say it is not the strongest or the smartest who survive and thrive, but those who adapt and adjust to change.

But then there are the things that are not changing.

I recently heard second-hand the misperception that “Mark Leibman is not taking new clients.” But from a business sense, Mark Leibman became Leibman Financial Services, Inc. (LFS), a long time ago. And LFS is definitely working with anyone who contacts us with an interest in what we’re doing in here. Everyone gets access to the same set of services. One story, one philosophy, one book of business.

And still, anyone with an internet connection can know what I, Mark, am thinking. Every client gets the impact of my ongoing obsession with the markets. And they get a lot more brainpower working for them than I personally possess.

I have always asked myself, and you, and my teammates, and our mentors this question: “What could we be doing differently or better?” The underlying object has always been to try to grow the buckets—and help people connect their money to their lives. Some of you tell us we have done it differently and better.

In an industry seemingly focused on getting new clients and finding new money, we aim all of our intentional efforts entirely at you, our clients. Don’t have time to chase “new money.” Not me, not my teammates.

Eliminating sales activity enables us to put investment research, portfolio management, and communicating with you at the center of our work. Many other investment advisors outsource all of that into model portfolios managed by others and buy canned communications, all so that they can go look for new customers.

Paradoxically (or not), when we stopped pursuing prospects, we began attracting more clients. People tend to like it a lot when their buckets grow.

These distinctions empowered our evolution into a different and better organization. We have many teammates, and ownership and management is now a four-person collaboration. But we still have one story, one philosophy, and one book of business. Many “financial advisor” shops, however, are like a collection of sole proprietors, each on the prowl for new business all the time.

We believe we are organized differently—and better.

At the beginning, Colonel Sanders cooked all the chicken. At the beginning, I did everything, too. The business has grown into something that no single person could operate on their own—not me, not Sanders, not any one of my three partners. It takes all of us.

All three of my partners have the credentials and experience to consult with clients, to take the lead when they are the best fit. Each of us brings the same philosophy, the same investment offerings based on the same research, to every client. Any client can call any one of us. I am still here to talk—and so are my partners.

And the whole enterprise rests on the same values and principles, the same herbs and spices that we started with.

Wondering what any of this means for you? Call me, or any one of them, any time.

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The Organizing Principle – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

This text is available at https://www.228Main.com/.

Welcome, Brenda! The Dream Works with Teamwork 
by Caitie Leibman, Director of Communications

Clients, you may have already spotted the new face or heard the new voice around the office. Let us take a moment to get everyone up to speed on some exciting developments.

You may remember that our dear friend Larry Wiederspan “retired” a couple years ago, but it didn’t stick. Then, the time came for certain: his last day in our employment came and went in April. While we miss seeing Larry so regularly, his retirement brought us a new opportunity. (Life’s all about beginnings and endings, isn’t it?)

With Larry’s departure, we were ready for some help on the Client Services team. Our Client Services Coordinator Whitney Engle has been with us full-time for more than a year now, and she’s been on top of everything we’ve been able to throw to her—and then some! She’s so proactive. And Client Services Associate Patsy Havenridge has been holding down the front office with grace and good humor since 2018. Where does the time go?

And now, joining as our newest Client Services Associate, we’re pleased to introduce Brenda Smith!

Brenda brings years of experience in financial services and administrative support, and we were so pleased to discover that her skills were a match for our needs. Her warm personality and easy-going spirit were evident from our first encounters.

Brenda is a Louisville native, and her son Isaac is a third-generation LHS student. When she’s not in the office at 228 Main, she enjoys traveling, reading, cooking, and spending time with friends and family. “I have a group of lifelong friends who still refer to ourselves as ‘the Louisville Girls,’ and we try to get together at least once a month to catch up,” Brenda says. “I’m a history nerd and can be found watching historical documentaries and historical shows and movies when I’m at home.”

Brenda may be the latest addition to the 228 Main team, but she is already caught up on the “history” of our work here. The mission is the same for the whole team: we strive to grow your buckets. And that project takes all of us, from research and trading to paperwork and communications—it happens when all of us are ready to be of service to each other.

Come in and say hello whenever you have a chance. Welcome, Brenda!

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Welcome, Brenda! – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

This text is available at https://www.228Main.com/.

The Ship of Theseus

In this video, Mark’s thinking about how things change—and how they stay the same—as they grow. It’s a business question, a philosophical question, and just kind of fun to think about! Join us on a little trip to the Greek Isles as we try to make sense of things.

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Are We on the Ship of Theseus? 

The legend goes like this: after the Greek hero Theseus slayed the minotaur and saved a bunch of people, he escaped on a ship. Later, to honor him, the people of Athens would take the ship out each year and sail it on a pilgrimage. 

As time passed, the people had to replace an odd plank here and there. The boards of the ship would decay or break, as boards do. It’s basic maintenance. 

But a question emerged. After generations, the ship reached a point where none of its pieces were “original,” so to speak. So… was it still the same ship? 

This is mostly a philosophical question, but it offers an interesting puzzle about the nature of things in our everyday lives. This enterprise comes to mind. When I, Mark, started Leibman Financial Services at my kitchen table in 1996, there was no telling that the business would become what it is today. 

And yet, we haven’t changed anything fundamental about what we’re doing here. I set out to build something that would let me try to help people grow their buckets. I operated with the understanding that when others are better off, I probably will be too. 

Those things still stand, today. The ship is still a ship. 

But my life looks radically different from when I first set foot on this ship. Two of my co-owners were still children at home with me. (And we wouldn’t even meet our other co-owner for another decade and a half!) 

In what ways do things change—and how do they stay the same—as they grow? The ship remains, but it is not the same. 

This type of conversation might sound familiar. We’ve enjoyed talking about similar ideas before, like how things have the potential to become greater than the sum of their parts, how “teamwork makes the dream work,” and how we never step in the same river twice. 

No matter how you think about it, it can be amazing, this whole “life” thing. It’s a privilege to be here, building something with you. 

Come by to chat about this or anything else, any time. 

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Are We on the Ship of Theseus? – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

This text is available at https://www.228main.com/.

Whitney, for the Win!

You know her name from emails; maybe you’ve even had the pleasure of speaking with her on the phone. You may remember us announcing her arrival on the team just over one year ago, when she was lending us her talents part-time via LPL Financial’s Administrative Solutions program.

Today, we’re proud to announce that Whitney Engle of Floris, Iowa, is joining our team full-time! We are employing her directly as she continues to work remotely.

Whitney will serve as our new Client Services Coordinator, continuing to work closely with Larry and Patsy on the service team and also supporting the management team of Mark, Greg, Billy, and Caitie with their various duties in research, portfolio management, and communications.

We have staffed up from time to time in recent years to continue taking care of the business. This latest expansion will have a few important benefits: now that we are an SEC-facing organization, it’s more important than ever that we stay efficient in our processes and systems.

Having another team member onboard full-time also means one more friendly face is at the ready, getting you what you need, when you need it.

“I can’t wait to spend more time getting to know clients,” Whitney said. “They are the reason we’re here.”

As we’ve gotten to know her across these months, we’ve felt so fortunate. Whitney’s skills will continue to grow in her new role of course, but she has already shown many of those qualities that are tough to teach: enthusiasm, curiosity, tenacity.

Not only does she take pride in her work, Whitney is someone who clearly cares so deeply about her family—and the menagerie of animals they keep at home! Her proactive approach to things will no doubt continue to improve the experience for all of us and for all of you.

For the months and years ahead, we know that people are key to helping us help you. So, we hope you’ll help us offer a(nother) hearty welcome to Whitney! Thanks for being with us.

Above: Whitney (left) and Caitie (right) meet up in the office in Louisville.

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Whitney, for the Win! – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

This text is available at https://www.228Main.com/.

It’s All Beginnings, Endings, and Transitions

In Roman mythology, the god Janus had one face looking forward and another looking back. It’s natural in this season to look back, take stock of where we’ve been, and think about the best way forward. That’s what we’re doing at 228 Main.

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Collaboration: It’s a Team Effort!
black and white photo shows six hands bumping fists in a circle

Clients, looking back over these decades together, the word “collaboration” is what comes to mind for me. I have worked with some of your households for years, and I am most proud of what you and we have created together. Successful investing requires effective attitudes and intentional actions with money. You, the best clients in the world, have been stellar partners in this regard. It has truly been a team effort.

But I’m realizing that “collaboration” will have even more meaning for our work in the years and decades ahead. The success we’ve enjoyed together has resulted in an enterprise that is now beyond my ability to run by myself (and not that I would want to—to my estimation, the gang and I seem to be having a pretty good time together!).

Greg Leibman became an integral part of the effort a long time ago; Caitie Leibman and Billy Garver bring us perspectives and skills we formerly lacked and now rely on.

Two of our core activities are investment research and portfolio management. With the increasing wealth you’ve brought to us, these activities are more important than ever. Our capacity to do them depends on the team we’ve assembled. It’s a collaboration that’s become vital to our daily work.

Even as we conduct our work as a team, however, I remain the regulatory head: as an Investment Advisor Representative of LPL Financial, I am the business structure. The others, on paper, are technically assistants working under my direction.

This regulatory structure is a vestige of the days when this was a one-person operation, and it no longer aligns with what we’re trying to do here. So, for the rest of the year, we plan to work toward restructuring our firm as a Registered Investment Advisor: this arrangement should more clearly reflect how we can best serve you in the years and decades ahead.

Friends, you know about my intention to work to age 92, and that is still the case. But I also believe that part of my responsibility to you is to help shape an enterprise that can outlast me. The mortality rate remains 100%, so sustainability is the watchword here.

A team format—four officers, working collaboratively—gives this entity some of the durability it deserves. Fortunately, LPL Financial has developed plans and processes for this exact scenario, which is not unique to us. I’ve not lost my sense of gratitude for what LPL Financial has meant to my family and me; your funds will continue to be custodied with them. Account numbers and history and online access and statements and all that will remain essentially unchanged.

There will be just a bit of paperwork to transition each account. Details will follow as we learn more.

It will take the balance of this year for us to continue this work and implement the new structure. Clients, we will be in touch with more detail about this journey as it unfolds—and we are excited to get things more aligned with the big picture.

Please email us or call with questions or comments. Thank you all again, for everything.

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Collaboration: It's a Team Effort! – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

This text is available at https://www.228Main.com/.

Three Cheers for Larry!

Coincidence, good timing, good fortune… Whatever you call it, something wonderful happened to bring Larry Wiederspan into my life and later into our shop. Clients, three cheers for Larry as he closes a chapter working here at 228 Main.

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Serendipity, or, the Mark and Larry Story
graphic shows a framed collage of headshots of each of the six members of the office staff (Patsy, Larry, Mark, Caitie, Greg, and Billy)

It’s the way events might occur by chance, to our happiness or benefit. 

It’s coincidence. 

It’s good luck. 

And maybe sometimes it’s providence. All of these could define the word “serendipity.” And all describe my long association with Larry Wiederspan. 

I met Larry in one of my earliest incarnations in business, as a life insurance agent working with country banks and bankers. The owners of a small chain of banks asked me to go out west to see one of their branch office managers at a location 200 miles away, in the middle of Nebraska, to implement a benefit plan. 

We hit it off. I ended up making return trips to work with Larry and even his wife Marilyn on their own plans and planning. As my skills and services evolved, they came along with me. 

Over the years, some of Larry’s strengths came to the surface: integrity, diligence, good faith, attention to detail, and friendliness. Then serendipity struck about ten years ago, when I learned that they were thinking about a move to my neighborhood after Marilyn’s retirement. His characteristics and traits were something that our shop needed, and he was about to join the neighborhood. 

At the time, increasing regulatory requirements meant that files needed updating and business processes became more cumbersome—precisely when family health issues took me out of the shop for weeks at a time. I could easily have been that person who had a great business until… illness befell the family. 

Larry retired from his banking career, a higher-stress and longer-hours endeavor than the more relaxed pace of the position we created for him at 228 Main. Larry and Marilyn moved closer to their grandchildren. It was a big win for everyone. 

Clients, you and we obtained the benefits of knowing and working with Larry. We’ve enjoyed Larry’s association for longer than we expected we’d get, as he enjoyed his work too. 

But he tells us the time has come for more retirement-type activities and less work. We’ll soon be short the regular company of this conscientious and pleasant fellow who means so much to us. We are still here in part because he was here for us. 

My gratitude will never repay the debt I owe Larry.

There is some chance a special project or circumstance may bring him back for a spell, but at this time it would be appropriate for you to join me in thanking Larry for his many years of service here, if you are so moved. 

In the meantime, clients, we’ll still be taking care of business—and we’re learning how to do that without Larry’s help. Call or email us about anything you might need. 

Cheers, Larry! 

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Serendipity, or, the Mark and Larry Story – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

This text is available at https://www.228Main.com/.

The Best Way to Be Two-Faced

In Roman mythology, Janus was the deity of beginnings, endings, and transitions. He was all about passageways and traveling. I’m thinking about him as I reflect on where 228 Main has been—and where it’s headed.

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