Many of our employees deserve recognition for their hard work, dedication, ability to problem solve and help us reach our goals, but two of them have something unique in common that we have seen translate to their work time and time again. Santiago Munoz and Andrew Henn both came to Cabana as Division I athletes, and Honor Roll and Dean’s List students majoring in Finance at the University of Arkansas. This made us think. What is it about these two that makes them so dedicated and so surprisingly insightful at such a young age in this industry? Well, we asked them. What did we find out? Being an athlete might have a lot more to do with investing than we thought. Check out what they have to say about it!
“I can’t remember a time before tennis in my life. I loved it, even when I disliked it the most, including bad losses, excruciating workouts, and injuries. Was it worth it? Every single second…”
-Santiago Munoz-
“Athletics have been a big part of my life. I can promise you, I, and every other person, does not win at every little thing they do. But that’s the joy in it; it keeps you hungry to go out and do your best, day in and day out”.
-Andrew Henn-
Being a Division I athlete is certainly something we are proud of, and we like to think we didn’t get there by chance. At a young age we picked our sport and we found someone with the tools to guide us, teach us, and put us on a path toward our goals: a coach (several for that matter). We practiced hours and hours, and then we showed up to our first competitions, and a lot of times it didn’t go so well. At first, as a kid it’s hard to see the big picture. You are left wondering how you put all that time and effort into practice to get such a terrible result – and that can become frustrating. We would also get good results sometimes, and the cycle kept repeating itself year after year with both good and terrible experiences. By the time we were teenagers, we learned that there is always something to take away from a defeat, and the path starts to become more clear. With time and experience, better results came our way, and the payoff for our hard work became more tangible. We started to realize why it was worth all the pain and frustration. We set goals and we came to find out how good it felt to reach them. But there were also more powerful influences making us question why we did this. Why were we giving up parties, and friends, and relationships, and all sorts of things kids our age were enjoying? It was nearly impossible without our coaches, friends and family that pushed us to just trust the process. A few years later, a lot of missed parties, early mornings and late nights, we became Razorbacks, competing at the highest level of college athletics. In a sense, we “made it.”
So why are we telling you all of this? Because believe it or not, there is a direct correlation between our journeys as athletes and our journeys as investors. Let me explain: to start, as an investor you should surround yourself with people that dedicate their lives to teach and guide you through the process, people that are professionals on the subject: your financial advisors. Second, it is easy to be skeptical at first and let any hiccup in the market discourage you and make you wonder if it’s worth continuing to invest. But investors – do not let that break you; you cannot quit. Under the right strategy, and with the right people guiding you, you could achieve what millions of people cannot: provide for your loved ones and reach retirement the way you want to! But just like running track or playing tennis, you have to trust the process. You have to have the discipline to push through when things are not going the way you want them to. Stay invested and stick with it!
Need a coach? Or just someone to talk to about investing? Give us a call.
Santiago Munoz and Andrew Henn
