Simon Reilly's Bio

Simon

To introduce myself and to best describe what I do, I would like to share the following Personal Bio and Defining Moment in my life.

Defining Moment

Note to the reader:

The following Defining Moment is written from the limited perspective and perception that I had at the time.

My work is dedicated to my mother Irene Reilly and to the memory of my father John Reilly. Irene and John immigrated to Canada in 1957 to provide me with a better life.

My parents gave me the gifts of commitment, dedication and a strong work ethic.

Simon

To best describe what I do, let me offer a story that was defining moment in my life.

When I was eight years old, my mother came to me to tell that she was afraid that there wasn't enough money for groceries and for Christmas. That my father had gone and done it again.

My father was an entrepreneur, and from time to time he sometimes was better at buying things to sell, versus selling the things that he had bought.

My father was well liked by people and I suppose that this was because he did a lot of favors for little or no return. My mother didn’t drive and I can remember the many times when we were waiting and waiting for my father to pick us up from church or cub scouts while my father was out doing favors. He didn’t qualify the people that he was trying to do business with and he was trying to sell too many products. At the same time, he used to try to everything himself. I can remember my mother’s words that “my father would finally get around to telling his staff what to do at 5 o’clock when it was time for them to go home”. The result of which was a lot of inconsistency and heartbreak because my father worked very hard and often felt used by all of the clients that he was trying to serve for little or no money.

As a result, I lived in constant fear.

In hind site, I should have hired my mother a financial advisor on the spot.

So in my mind, I became the bread winner for the family; three paper routes, mowing countless lawns, and shoveling snow every winter.

In the process I gave up, my childhood, friendships, education and having fun.

Driven by the same fear and continuing to believe there was no money, I carried this belief into my adult working life, becoming what I call today an obsessive super sales person at everything I touched. Give me a sales record and I could break it.

In the process I gave up my first marriage, my friendships, my family, and I became financially and emotionally bankrupt.

In 1994 I lost a business and this came as a major surprise to my clients, my team, my friends and my family. Why was it a surprise? It was because "Simon Reilly" had always been viewed as a "super-salesperson". Give him a sales record and he could break it.

As the owner of a highly regarded and successful personal and professional development company, I was a popular and regular speaker in personal and professional development circles. I had attended just about every personal and professional development course known to man. Myself and many others thought I knew all about time, finance, sales, marketing, leadership and personal development.

But I lost the business.

Why?

Looking back - it was simply because I didn't pay attention to the detail and although I was always well prepared for the day ahead, I wasn't well prepared for the year ahead.

What did I learn?

That the most important business activity I could engage in wasn't the mastery I had achieved in marketing and sales (even I couldn't sell my way out) - it was the planning and preparation that went into the organizational structure and systems on which my business operated.

As a result of those experiences, I decided to dedicate the rest of my professional life to helping others avoid the same mistakes. I became a business coach and have since developed a single-handed practice with goals for 2007 that include;

Generating revenues in the high 6 figures
12 weeks vacation
Three-day weekends in the weeks that I work
Focusing on my unique abilities of speaking, coaching and writing
Enjoying a support team of 3 people who are responsible for the key performance activities of the business - finance, marketing, sales, resource development and team development
Most importantly of all - have clients who rave about the difference we make in their lives

Would you like to know more?

Receive your Free E-Newsletter
"Removing Your Roadblocks"

Includes access to our free resources section: Articles, Assessments, Case Studies, Tip Sheets and More So That You Can Start Working With Simon Right Now!

Simon Reilly
The Financial Advisor Coach

Personal Bio

Simon was born in the UK and as a young boy, immigrated to Vancouver, Canada with his family in 1957. His sales career started at the early age of 8 when he was recognized by UNICEF / New York, for individually collecting the most money in North America on a Children's door-to-door Halloween UNICEF fund raiser. You could go door-to-door by yourself in those days and $113.00, more than 30 times that of most, was a lot of money for a young boy in 1963. Simon had "the gift".

Fresh out of high school, with a few college courses in business administration, Simon embarked on his sales career in 1975 with National Aluminum Products (NAP). Simon started in the factory producing aluminum windows, moved up quickly to delivery, and was quickly promoted to sales. His promotion was brought about by Simon taking a company price list along with him on deliveries and talking with home builders along the way. Without knowing it, he outsold the area sales representative's previous month's sales in one day. He also went from having a perfectly good paying job to waking up every morning unemployed, meaning "you are on commission"! Sales came easy to Simon, he had "the gift".

He also had an eye for his customers needs, and started "Reilly Marketing" as a part-time business in 1978, providing a range of high quality building products including "Pella Windows", skylights and sunrooms to the booming new construction industry. In 1980, he was the first sales person with NAP to reach $1M in sales. While at NAP, there were a number of months when Simon outsold the residential sales force by two and three times. Simon was visited one day by NAP's largest competitor and was told that there were 13 other window manufacturers that were represented in the same market place that Simon was serving. The competitor advised him that Simon had 85% of the market and the other 12 had to share the other 15%. Simon was on fire.

Simon's company grew to over 40 employees providing and installing products as far north as Fort St. John, British Columbia and as far south as San Bernardino, California. The booming new construction industry lasted until 1981 and the repercussions of a failing new construction economy did not seam to affect Simon's company, Simon had "the gift". In 1984, the industries "skeletons in the closet" caught up with Simon along with his lack of business experience - one can sell all day long, but if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Three of Simon's largest client's filed for bankruptcy, all within a six week period. Simon had the unfortunate experience of receiving 13 cents on the dollar which put an end to the company that he worked so very hard to build.

Simon started over again in 1985 as an individual sales person with National Heating Ltd., offering custom heating systems and heat recovery ventilation systems to the budding energy efficient R-2000 building market. In the beginning, Simon's "sales gift" was natural, but with the pain of losing everything and with being in the bottom of a bust, new construction industry, Simon found it very difficult to find "the gift".

In order to re-ignite "the gift", he started to read countless sales books and took numerous sales courses from 1985 - 1989 from sales pioneers and greats like Tom Hopkins, Og Mandino, Brian Tracey, Hank Tristler and Zig Ziegler. He also read countless books and took numerous courses in the areas of personal & professional development. The more notable are; Context Training Corporation, The E-Myth - Michael Gerber, First Things First - Stephen Covey, Think & Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill, Time Text, and Unlimited Power - Anthony Robbins.

The sales pioneers and personal & professional development where just what Simon needed! He soon became the number one salesperson and was promoted to sales manager. Yet there was still something missing, "the gift" of selling was back but he didn't seem to have the original enthusiasm that he had in the early days. The goals, the income and the possessions were not enough.

In 1989, at the ripe old age of 34, Simon had grown weary of selling tangible products in the often, cutthroat construction industry. Simon jokes that when client's asked for terms he quipped, "Would you like the 30, 60, 90 or never plan", alluding to the thought that the risk was high and sometimes one did not get paid.

1989 was a pivotal year for Simon. He attended The Science of Success Conditioning with Anthony Robbins, live in Seattle, Washington. The reason it was pivotal was because as Victor Kiam of Remington electric razors said, "I liked it so much I bought the company".

Simon was inspired by the notion of being able to pass on and compound the value of all of his experience in professional and personal development. Simon thought that he had the answer and he could share things so that his clients did not have to go through the growing pains that he had experienced over the past 15 years. "The gift" felt re-ignited.

In 1990, Simon co-founded the Vancouver, Canada Robbins Research International (RRI) franchise which he owned from 1990 - 1995. During this time, Simon received one on one coaching and training from Tony Robbins at the RRI office in San Diego and at Tony's home in Del Mar, California and at his resort in Namale, Fiji. He had the pleasure to meet and serve hundreds if not thousands of clients and the Vancouver franchise became the number one franchise in sales in North America for the Unlimited Power Seminar for 1991 and 1992.

And yet again, something was missing. The motivation that he was selling was unsustainable for him. To enhance his own performance and his coaching, consulting, facilitator and public speaking training Simon improved through the study of Attitudinal Healing, Emotional Intelligence, Emotional Release Work, Family Systems Theory, and Inner Child Work. Things were now finally starting to make sense. He was beginning to understand the motivation behind "the gift".

While transitioning from a public speaker/trainer to a coach, Simon enrolled in Coach University in 1995 and graduated in 1999 completing the Personal Foundation Program, the Irresistible Attraction Program and Million Dollar Coach Program with the late Thomas Leonard, founder of Coach University.

Taking Thomas Leonard's Personal Foundation Program was another pivotal event in Simon's journey.

He came to understand that the motivation underneath "the gift" that had served him well when it came to meeting and exceeding sales goals, that had also left him unfulfilled, was based upon subconscious unmet needs of recognition and safety. He finally "got" that "the answer is not out there". That the answer was to identify his needs and meet them himself, versus trying to get his needs met through business and sales. This pivotal work with Thomas allowed him to needlessly offer value to others.

To enhance his work on values, he began his Values & Behaviors Assessment Certification Training with Target Training International in 1997 and completed the Facilitator Training for Real Time Coaching in 1998. All of this completed Simon's transition from a public speaker/trainer to a coach.

From all of this experience, Simon has developed “Removing Your Roadblocks To Your Success” which is the first step in the Leading Advisor Coaching Program.

Simon is a pioneer in the Coaching, Personal & Professional Development Industry with over 15 years of experience and has been featured on CTV National News and Global/BCTV News with Thomas Leonard, and the CBC. He has had articles published in Canadian Business, Profit Magazine, The Globe & Mail, The Vancouver Sun and The Province.

As a Values & Behaviors Analyst, Simon has been providing one on one telephone and live coaching since 1998 offering his clients Professional & Personal Development through Strategic Planning, Coaching, Hiring Systems, Conflict Resolution and Communication, Management & Sales Workshops. He serves Canadian, US & UK Business Leaders, Entrepreneurs, Managers and Sales Associates and the Advisory Professions of accounting, financial planning, law and real estate.

In early 2005, Simon was featured on Global TV News introducing "Simon's Success Strategies".

Today, Simon works exclusively with Financial Advisors in Canada and The United States through One On One Telephone Coaching, Resources Section of his Web Site, E-Newsletter - “Removing Your Roadblocks To Your Success” and Daily Blog. His programs are structured around his own experience and what he considers to be the best of the best.

His clients meet and exceeded their goals through working with the 10 Steps to Build A Successful Advisor Practice.

“Breakthrough! - Removing Your Roadblocks To Your Success” is the first step to help clients to understand WHY they may have the Roadblocks and HOW to remove them.

Removing Your Roadblocks To Your Success
Create a Vision for the future
Develop a Business Plan made of Sharp Strategies and Robust Systems
Implement Excellent Financial Controls
Recruit and lead a Championship Support Team
Refine your Marketing and Sales Skills
Own a Unique Brand in an Affluent Niche
Focus on Specialized Products
Become the Recognized Expert for your Clients
Deliver Amazing Customer Service

Simon is very happily married to his wife Laura. They live in Vancouver, Canada and enjoy travel, music, plays, nature, cycling, working out, and enhancing their personal and professional development through the work that they love.

Values of; Community, Currency, Empathy, Energy, Encouragement, Focus, Fun, Partnering, People, Professionalism, Quality, Sense, Service, Teaching, Venture & Wisdom continue to inspire Simon to continually advance his commitment to attending and providing the best training possible.

Simon is writing, "Eliminate Fear – Removing Your Roadblocks To Your Success".

Simon can be reached at: sreilly@leadingadvisor.com