Varun Rajan: 0:06

Hey everyone. Welcome back to the Push Pull podcast where we dive into career inflection points that define who we become in our careers. This is part two of my conversation with Omar Dinar, picking up right where we left off in the thick of his journey at Barclays. He just transitioned from aerospace engineering into finance, uh, and joined Lehman Brothers at the height. Of the financial crisis and then subsequently they got acquired by Barclays. We explore his transition from joining Barclays to getting into a management role, and then pivoting back to an individual contributor role in order to be more focused on markets and the technical work. we cover his time at MUFG and ultimately his bold leap into. Wealth management, Omar reflects on setbacks, pivots, and what it really means to find work that aligns with your life and your values. one quick heads up. There is a good bit of static in the background of this episode. We were using a different setup in the audio Didn't come out as clean as usual. I spent a bunch of time trying to figure out how to properly get it to remove the static. But still maintain the clarity of the, the words and the audio. but unfortunately, uh, it didn't come out as clean as it normally does. But I appreciate your patience with the sound quality because the insights Omar shares today are absolutely worth sticking around for. So let's get into it. Okay. Here again with Omar Dinar. Thank you so much for being with me again to, to talk about the kind of like phase two of your career.

Omar Dinar: 1:53

Yeah, absolutely. happy to be here, Vern. Thank you for the.

Varun Rajan: 1:57

Of course. so where we had left off, I had asked you a little bit about what your time at Barclays was like. I, we obviously know that you had been there for six plus years, seen a couple of promotions, and you walked through a little bit of what the. first phase of being at Barclays was like, which was really integrating post the acquisition of Lehman Brothers. all of the kind of how they manage risk, the software that they use as well as like the cultural differences. So you went through that a little bit and then I think what we were not able to get in the recording last time, was what came next in terms of your career progression there.

Omar Dinar: 2:30

Yeah, absolutely. so yeah, what's, so this was probably 2009, let's call it, 'cause the bankruptcy happened in September of oh eight. And then we started going through, the, all the integration and dust starts really settle in 2009, where we were able to start putting into place the teams processes and we were building up this team, really from scratch, essentially with a handful of people who were from Barclays and a handful of people myself, who were from Lehman trying to put this new, trying to put this, this team together. And, and it led to some opportunities, fortunately for me, to really grow, not only in learning about this new area, this new field of risk management that, that really, I had known very little about previously, but I was rapidly learning. But also this was my first opportunity to, get involved in management and having, so happened, later that year where. As our team was growing and capacity and we were expanding. as the business was growing, there was a big need for, this risk oversight as well as just a lot of new regulations coming into play, requiring more robust risk calculations and procedures. I had my, I was able to bring in my first direct report and frankly he was, he's one of the best hot I got lucky very early on. He was. One of my best hires, I actually, my first two hires were my two best hires of my career. they're both, I, they're both fantastic. They're both extremely successful in what they do. and it just, and it just worked out that way that, that I had that they're like one A and one B in, in my mind. and what I was really looking for when I was trying to hire, I really valued was. Just, not only that they can do the job, but what's their long term potential? What's their ceiling? always wanted to find people with high ceilings, to work with. And so I wasn't just thinking about, okay, who would be the best person to do the job today, but what, where can they be 5, 10 years from now? Am I gonna be bringing in some really great talent and maybe they won't be working for me, their whole career and they're gonna move on to bigger and better things. But, but I always, I, that's what I really valued more than anything. Not necessarily. Maybe you had, x number of years experience prior to that. That's good too. But really it was really the potential, and of course the skillset and those based off of that criteria, I was really, I had I, my first two hires, like I said, really checked those boxes and they were fantastic. I've had several other hires subsequent to them. All of which were good in various ways. it's just that in terms of fit and everything overall, it just ended up working out really great, with those two. and when I started to figure out how to manage people, I looked back on two things. One was my first manager at Sikorsky who, who was one of my first mentors in my career. and I really tried to emulate him and his approach. he was always very approachable, very humble, very knowledgeable and, reliable. and I wanted to be that for them. I wanted to make sure I could help guide them and make sure that they were always comfortable to come to me with questions, with issues. 'cause I was really focused on trying to bring out the best in them because then it made my life my job easier because I can delegate and, that would give me a greater opportunity to do other things, more value added things that were happening. at. Bye.

Varun Rajan: 6:04

Yeah, that, that's wonderful. A couple of questions there actually. when you think about. Making the right hires and you were talking about these first couple that you really knocked it outta the park with. and thinking about those high ceilings, Are there, are there particular skill sets or competencies or personality traits that you were indexing on back then? Or could look back in retrospect and say oh, maybe this is why third or fourth hire were not the same caliber, let's say as like first or second hire. looking back on it.

Omar Dinar: 6:35

Yeah, I think, obviously they had the right skill set. it was very quantitative, so you needed to have a very strong math background. And, some financial knowledge certainly helped as well. But it was really, it was really, high character, high energy, really great attitudes, ambitious people that, and I think that combination where, you know, they had no problem coming in every day and working hard. They, I. Felt like you can't teach attitude. you can teach most other things to be your staff, but you really need them to come in on day one, ready to work and go to work and to work. And, and that's what I, that's really what I always was looking for. And then as a team was growing, I was hiring in more people. Definitely I was trying to consider fit as well. who are they gonna be working with the most and bring them into the interview process, make sure that fit, I had to take into. not only just skillset or, high ceiling and all these other things, but then so that started, there was a little bit more layers of complexity I had to consider as my team was growing.

Varun Rajan: 7:42

Yeah. it, tell me about, te tell me about what came next at Barclays. what were the kind of peaks and troughs of the challenges and the role that you had as a manager. And, what ended up happening before you moved into your next role at Barclays?

Omar Dinar: 7:55

Yeah. things were growing over time and, in terms of the business was growing, all these new regulations, all different ways we had to manage risk was growing over the years and there was a big need to hiring in people. so that a really opportunity there. And also since things were going relatively well. They kept giving me more responsibility on the management side and I started having a team that I was managing who were based in London as well. So I had people, I had staff in New York and in London that, were reporting to me that I was trying to work with, trying to bring out the best, trying to delegate. And so that added a new layer was people that, we didn't have Zoom back then, to be able to, everything was over the phone or chat or email. So you had to really start building how do you build up that rapport and it it was really interesting. we had, we were very international. we had offices in Singapore, London, in New York, and a lot of people I had never seen face to face, but they gave us a technology, around shortly after that time where they put webcams on all of our computers and when our phone would ring, if they also had a webcam, it would turn it on. And I think that just being able to see each other for the first time, I think that really made a huge difference also in being able to connect with them and just keep building up that rapport once you could see them. Because I, I didn't have too much opportunity to travel, to want them to see a lot of these people face to face. the video capabilities, which were early on, really helped. and also just culturally. In New York, there's, there's certain demographics and people, and in London it's, there's some differences and the cultural aspects also trying to account for as well, at that time, now were going well in role and, I, I was more of a manager having risk analysts come to me, report to me doing this day to day, work. I had somebody approach me a couple of years in asking me to join team, I was going to move away from becoming, being a manager and being more focused on a specific trading desk and being far more connected with the markets again, and a bit more technical. And, and I ended up taking that opportunity, not because I didn't enjoy managing people, I really did, but I really enjoyed doing that. But, I felt I was a little bit removed from the business and the markets, which, I'm very passionate about. I had a huge interest in, and so I thought this would also help me just career wise, in. So I, I didn't just have purely manager responsibility that I was able to be. Also had this experience as being more of a specialist. so I made a switch a couple of years in, at Barclays and moved into this risk role where I was entirely focused on one particular trading desk and helping to manage the risk on a day-to-day basis

Varun Rajan: 10:51

so you move away from, so one of the things I'm curious about, obviously you did love managing people. The draw for you for this new role was to be a little bit more technical, be more exposed to the markets, which you weren't getting. really an opportunity to do in the management role. one of the things I think we had talked about last time, I was curious what were the aspects of being in a managerial role, and maybe it's not the direct relationships with people that you had, which I think it clearly gave you a lot of energy and was really fulfilling. Were there aspects of being a manager that you didn't like so much?

Omar Dinar: 11:25

the aspects of being a manager, there's, you have to deal with personnel issues. it's typically when somebody who's reporting to you says to you, Hey, can we step away and have a and talk? It's never because that they're happy, it's because that they're upset about something or there's, there's something that they're, that they, they want to, that, that some issue that they're having. which is fine. That's part of the job. it does get a little bit political also when you're, when you are a manager, I feel like, one example, not to go too deep into. bonuses, you know that when you're on a team and you're allocated a bonus pool and distributing that out, that can get a bit contentious too. And that's, and I think the last thing was sometimes you have to enforce things that maybe you don't necessarily totally agree with, but it's company policy. And, but, you're there, may be some things where it's told from you from above that has to get done. and maybe you're not in total agreement, but you need to do it because that's what needs to get done. And so I'd say those were

Varun Rajan: 12:27

Yeah.

Omar Dinar: 12:28

some of those kind of forces, you like those that kind of dealing with, from time to time as.

Varun Rajan: 12:34

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I'd be curious to know also, for those things that are essentially mandates that you're forced to essentially cascade down to your team, was there an expectation that you're. Also publicly, like in agreement with those things? Or was it very much guys, I don't like it either. Like how did you approach those, as. a manager?

Omar Dinar: 12:56

I think you have to set, an example. And I would, if I had to, if I had to dictate this out, I had to buy into it myself. I felt and so maybe there's something I wasn't in total agreement with, and that's fine. That's gonna happen from time to time in the job. But you have to accept it. And then, you have to then be able to, deliver that down to your team. they're gonna see if you're not being authentic, people are gonna see through that. And I do feel like you, you have, as long as it's something that doesn't conflict with like my morals or anything, which you never did, but whether it was a particular decision that maybe I didn't totally agree with, but, found ways to accept it and then being able to deliver that down. I would be frank with people acknowledging if it is a difficult thing that's being passed down there's, and be sympathetic for that. but I, I would want to, try to buy into it as best I can and.

Varun Rajan: 13:50

Makes sense. cool. you're enjoying the management role. There are some, maybe political, and. bureaucratic aspects of it that aren't as exciting to you, but more importantly, you're. kept away from the markets and the technical side of things, which as a, something that's actually like very interesting to you and something that you're passionate about, as well as something that you understand will bring down to the benefit of your career, further down the line. so you transition into this, like supporting Trading Desk role. tell me about, the kind of like final stretch of your time at Barclays and, how it wrapped up.

Omar Dinar: 14:26

Sure. I did that for about two years, my final two years at Block Lakes, which was really, interesting and gave me some really good experience into some markets that I didn't know as much about at the time. and that was really good. I, but, there was. the, in, in our industry, it's a relative, I like to say it's a pretty small industry. there's a lot of movement and you tend to sometimes see people in other companies and there was a lot of movement of people leaving Barclays and moving to another firm, to this, to a Japanese firm. And, actually was contacted by a prior manager of mine, from Barclays, who I had a very good rapport with, who's based in London. And he asked if I would be interested. He had a role he was hiring in this firm, which was more of a managerial based, role if I was interested in doing that and considering it, and taking a interview, which I ended up doing. and ultimately then moving over to this Japanese firm, which had a very small footprint in the US at the time, but was quickly growing and I think because of it being so small. really siloed the way a large corporation like Barclays is, where you have very defined roles when you're in your position, in your department and when there's only, when you have a team of let's say a hundred people at Barclays in one department, but at this Japanese firm at Mitsubishi, there were maybe two people doing it. And you were able to then to have a huge, a much bigger insight into a lot of different functions that. he may have had very limited interaction with. So I found that to be really enticing and then ended up moving to, to, to this Japanese bank, after my sixth or so year tenure at.

Varun Rajan: 16:11

Yeah. is it fair To say that your motivations for making this transition was a combination of feeling maybe a little bit. Constrained by being part of a really giant financial institution and seeing the opportunity to be exposed to more parts of the business as well as the people aspect. It sounds like at Barclays you either had a full people aspect, you had to be like totally embedded in and away from the markets or like in the markets, but also not exposed to like different functions of the business. but like here you got to have your cake and eat it too a little bit.

Omar Dinar: 16:44

To some extent, yeah. I, it was still, a bit more manager managerial in that, in, in the role. but, But definitely it gave me much, a chance that to, to have a bit of both, like what you said. Absolutely.

Varun Rajan: 16:56

Very cool. cool. And this is, this was MUFG, is that right?

Omar Dinar: 16:59

That's correct.

Varun Rajan: 17:02

Wonderful. So tell us a little bit about your time there. Did you get to do, as much. Hiring? yeah. what was it like?

Omar Dinar: 17:10

Yeah. there was, I spent the next four years at MUFG, immediately coming in. I, there was somebody already there who came into report to me. he, we, him and I. Then started building up a really good rapport and he worked for me for my full four years there. And, and as, and just similar to Barclays, in that they were, at that time they were growing quite rapidly. they were looking to build a US base, for this Japanese, bank and not just do us business for Japanese clients, but also building up a base. In the us. So they were putting in a lot of resources into growing and expanding this operation in New York. and so that gave me then opportunities to start expanding the team, which we were able to do since we were adding in new businesses. That created more need for people in Visa in these functions. And it wasn't just, it gave me insights into that. multiple areas of risk. and when you're in a large institution, you're really centric around that one aspect. For example, for me it was market risk, at I was able to get insight into pretty much all the different areas of risk management, and really get to know those specific areas. But also because the firm was so small, was able to also form some really good partnerships with the business, with the trading desks, and be able to get really. Down into the weeds at the same time, into understanding the business, understanding these, all these other areas of risk and also managing a team. And it was really enjoyable. it was, I learned a ton during that time. That could have taken me much longer at Barclays if I, 'cause I would've probably had to change jobs, change roles, to be able to do that since being a bit more siloed in a big organization. So that, that gave me a huge amount of experience. and new knowledge, being in that role.

Varun Rajan: 19:03

Yeah, how did your role, change over time while you were there? I'm curious, you said that you were exposed to a lot. Did that, did you have Pretty clean kind of distinctions between phases of your time there, different projects you were working on or like scope of your responsibilities, whether it was more, like more managerial work versus others. I know you said you were more of a manager there, but,

Omar Dinar: 19:24

Yeah, I think, one, one thing that happened about two years in were some new regulatory changes that happened that, not to go too deep into it, but basically all the different, not just the businesses within the company, but there were. a retail bank and a commercial lending, institution that were all underneath the MUFG banner, which operated pretty much as independent entity. we had to be more connected, that we had to have set up a consolidated US holding company, which was new regulation about two years in. And so that, that changed and that got me into a lot more of a project management type role, where I was balancing out, managing some projects in addition to managing. Managing teams, 'cause of that. And so I'd say about halfway through is where things changed a bit, where we weren't just a small operation that was growing, all of a sudden we were consolidated with all these other, parts of the business that were part pre, previously separate. And then that changed quite a bit. And so the next two years was still, within the trading operation where I was at was still growing. But we were far more connected with. The retail and the lending and all these other areas of the difference that, that we previously had, zero, relationship with. And so I'd say that's how, that's when things really changed a lot. I said, this kind of run at two year mark.

Varun Rajan: 20:48

Yeah. tell me about, what led to your wrapping up your time at MEFG.

Omar Dinar: 20:54

it was really had to do. one of my, one of the biggest disappointments in my career, I was put up for promotion and that was the one time in my career I didn't get it. and it was crushing. I was, I, and you put a lot of your hopes and you understand it's not guaranteed, but still, when you're told no, it's not happening this year, that even we don't think you're ready yet, though you really felt like you were ready and your peers were all in supportive of you and your management. But, they have a very opaque process into the promotions and understandably And, and it just didn't work out. And, and I took that very personally and, and I had decided, it wasn't the right, it ended up not being the right move, but I was trying to move based off of, to get that from a. which I ended up doing. I ended up finding a role in a, in what? My, in, in, in a different firm, a US based band called State Street. But, with the title I was desiring, but, I think I ended up doing it for the wrong reasons. Not, more out of, just anger or spite more than anything else. Okay. And, that ended up being a very short lived role, which for factors outta my control, basically I had I, around that time I moved back to Connecticut with my wife from New York. we just bought a home. We were looking to start a family and lay down our roots here. and, and less than a year into my role, there was a big reorg and my job was to move to Boston and I wasn't gonna make that move. my, my priorities have changed to where I, I knew that our family was gonna become, raising the family was gonna become a big aspect. and of my wife and I are originally from Connecticut and we really wanted to do it where we had purchased our home, which we're still at today. And I made a decision then that, I was gonna step down when I had not, was given an opportunity to do And then I had to really think about what to do next, and that's where I made my, my, my pivot into where I'm at today.

Varun Rajan: 22:47

Yeah, tha thank you for walking me through that and I really appreciate your candor, about the end of your time at M-U-F-G-I. I think that it's something that a lot of people can really empathize with and have probably felt themselves, in terms of that. Immediate gut reaction, to being passed over for a promotion. And one of the things that you had mentioned was that, okay, maybe I was doing it for the wrong reasons. obviously it eventually led you to a place where, you've said that you're incredibly happy and fulfilled, which is really wonderful. but I would be curious, what would you recommend to somebody who might be in that position where you know they are. Historically a high performer. I guess a couple of different questions is one is like, what would you say to somebody who is in a similar position who's historically a high performer? And gets passed over for a promotion that they think that they're very much worthy for is one question. And the second is, if you took a look at your environment at the time, was it accurately one of those, was it accurately, one in which you could not actually get promoted, doubled down on your efforts one way or another in the next year, and see if in the next cycle you get promoted.

Omar Dinar: 24:00

Yeah, I'd say, maybe I reacted too quickly. I should have waited out a little bit to, to, to. To let the emotions settle first before making that kind of decision. But I think what really led me to it was, because of some external factors, I just didn't feel like I had the adequate support by men, by, by upper management, I, it may potentially happen again. I think if I had that full trust, in some of the. Senior managers that I worked for then I think I would've thought differently. I think it was, that was also a factor I feel, when you feel at times that you don't feel like you have, that your senior managers, you don't have their full support. then also I think that was another factor that, that y use, I think, you one is to try to rationalize as best you can as, because sometimes this happens to people, whether. I've seen other people who are very qualified to get passed and then one or two or three years later they get their promotion that they deserve, or some cases they leave their firm to get that promotion. I've seen them both happen. but I think it comes down to as long as you still think that long, long term that's still the right company, that's still the right role for you to try to tough through to get that promotion in the next however many years it takes. I think that's really the decision that, that you have to. to make sure that you have that support and that you're still in the right place to be able to work through to get that.

Varun Rajan: 25:30

That makes perfect sense to me. because it's also that level of trust or feeling like the senior leader leadership didn't have your back, is not, is not a sentiment that. Shows up when you get told you're not getting the promotion right? that's something that probably has a lot of symptoms that you're seeing or maybe ignoring, because you're focused on the work and you have a goal in mind for yourself in your career. but then that kind of, that, that sense of maybe distrust or feeling like, Hey, this might not actually be the right place for me, maybe Ossify. And the signal to you is that lack of promotion, at the time. is that fair to say? Say, I'm not sure if I'm reading that correctly.

Omar Dinar: 26:12

Yeah, I think that's definitely the case.

Varun Rajan: 26:17

Yeah. you got a title at State Street. long story short, you end up making a move. They end up, essentially asking you to relocate, very. a short amount of time into your stint there, which obviously for personal reasons you're not going to do, you had just settled in, started family, all that kind of stuff. so what comes next, after you, turn down moving?

Omar Dinar: 26:40

Yeah, so that's where I was ready to take this leap. I've been, I've had in the back of my mind for a couple of years knowing that I didn't want to do risk for the rest of my career. I felt like at some point it's unsustainable that you can't spend the rest of your career in these functions. That eventually, the inevitable happens and you end up. What I call pricing yourself out of the role and being laid off or whatever the case is. I felt like I needed, I wanted to make a transition into something that I find more fulfilling and enjoyable and something that would give me a little bit better work life balance. Not necessarily working less, but just having a bit more flexibility in my schedule since I knew family was gonna become a much, much bigger aspect of my life. So a couple years earlier, I ended up caught my attention, a, a certificate program at NYU in financial planning. I did that for about six, seven months at nights, just to, just like when I had done my first master's, learn about something new and see whether that's something that would interest me as a career. And so I did that over the time and I thought, I think this is something I want to do, at some point in my career. some, this is something helping others with their financial needs would be something I would genuinely enjoy and be happy doing. and so that was my opportunity then. I saw that as an opportunity, let me take the risk and give it a try. And I spoke with my wife about it first, and I was Hey, this is a little bit more risky instead of going into another role that I've done before that, could probably be much more stable. And my wife was pregnant at the time. She was, she was in her third trimester and, she was very supportive, thankfully. And, and I started taking interviews at the local wealth management firms here in Connecticut. And, and ended up, ended up coincidentally I was supposed to have one of my rounds of interviews at Merrill Lynch, and that was the day my wife into labor. and I forewarned the company after the first round saying, this is beyond the due date for my wife. I may have to cancel last minute. And at about six in the morning from the hospital room, in between contractions, I was able to email, email them, let them know my wife's in labor and I'll have to reschedule. Unfortunately, they were totally fine about it. They didn't, they had, they were very accommodating. And, and I really love, you know what stood out for me with all, with different firms I was interviewing with was, I really genuinely thought I would get, I clicked really well with the management that I interviewed with and felt like I would get really, be really well supported in this new role where it is fairly risky. you're building up a client base for nothing. a limited window to do that, and if you don't. You're out the door and historically those percentages aren't in your favor. So I knew I was taking a risk, so I wanted to make sure I found the role, a company and a management team that I think would be a really great fit and be very supportive. And so that's why I took the role and Merril and, didn't have the best timing. I seemed to have really terrible timing when I'm making career changes. I did that in, the end of 2019. Had to do some securities license exams and training and so forth. and I was on the ground running, starting to build up a client base February of 2020, and then just a few weeks later, our offices shut down and the whole world goes upside down because of Covid.

Varun Rajan: 30:08

Wow.

Omar Dinar: 30:09

was, not the best timing again.

Varun Rajan: 30:13

Yeah. did that impact your kind of like ramping up, at all?

Omar Dinar: 30:18

Absolutely. I. First off, I was planning to do, different in-person type meetings and networking events and that all went out the door, things like that. they were, there were also a lot of, just being able to, being able to, how to interact with people and what, and I also, with the markets being where they were at that time, so turbulent. A lot of people were more in like a wait and see mode, which was totally fair, for those. First, few months, a lot of people that were interested in working with me. it really started summertime is when it really started to build up because by then the markets had recovered. we knew that this was gonna be what the reality of the situation was gonna be like for the next year or so, and then things started to start, started to move along after that.

Varun Rajan: 31:04

Yeah. that makes a lot of sense. I'm curious about the, you talked a little bit about kind of the risk of. moving into kind of a new function, within finance, you had talked a little bit about some of the risks and risk management, and like staying in that. career, pricing yourself out over time as you gained seniority, et cetera. What were the draws to, to wealth management for you?

Omar Dinar: 31:32

I think just, overall job satisfaction. I, I have to borrow this from you. when we were talking previously where, this kind of mixed, the best of both worlds, between kind of the people aspect of the job. Which I really love, now it's with clients. Previously it was with people working for me and then the market side of things. I think this is for me, for my, what I enjoy doing and my skillset, I think this is the perfect one doing this job. It's something I really genuinely enjoy, which, at times it's, I can't, I haven't been always able to say that, previously and just the variability from one day to the next when you are in risk management. There's certain things that have to be done every day on a daily basis. Certain metrics that get calculated, certain reports that need to get viewed, certain things that have to happen. So a lot of that, at least half of my day was very similar each day, and I don't have that view. and it's great, and, and also, it, gives me that schedule flexibility, which I really wanted. So now. I can, I can join my, my, my wife and I walk our now 5-year-old son out to the bus stop every morning, drop him off. start my day before that here at home. I'll hit the road, at some point in the morning, go into my office a couple of days a week and, and if I need to, some something's going on, personally, I can a lot of times be there and then, to help raise my son and balance out, especially. Kind of post Covid being able to work remotely. The technology has gotten so good and robust. I can have a home office here, so I can do a lot of work, throughout the day while still being able to be around my family. And, and I feel like that this role me, gives me that, that flexibility far better than prior roles. I.

Varun Rajan: 33:21

Yeah, I love that. I remember, I think, we had We had drawn the line through from even the transition that you made at Barclays where you really love the people management side of things, but there was the process and administrative aspect, political aspect of the personnel management, that was not as fulfilling to you as the relationship side of things. and then when you made that transition because you wanted to focus on products and markets. there are instances where you try to find the ability to strike the right balance, to be able to do more of the people empowerment side of things, as well as be close enough to the markets that you're learning and staying up to date. I. And the other thing that I think is really beautiful is that over time, the other thing that you're starting to prioritize as you just become a grownup and have a family is making sure that you have the time and the flexibility to make sure that your life is well taken care of and your family as well taken care of as well. and it sounds Over time, you've been calibrating for your kind of career professional fulfillment as well as life fulfillment needs and getting closer and closer to exactly where you wanna be. Which it sounds like is where you are right now with the kind of like empowering people, the, aspect of, management philosophies that you even picked up in your MBA that you're able to apply to client management. the actual kind of like product and market exposure, as well as the life stuff, which I think is really wonderful.

Omar Dinar: 34:47

Yeah,

Varun Rajan: 34:48

yeah.

Omar Dinar: 34:48

I think that's a great way to summarize it. it took, for some people it takes them sooner to come to that realization to balance things out. it took me a little longer, which is fine. and the other thing I would just also say is, just in terms of, I was very for fortunate at Merrill was I was able to start partnering up with, An advisor, she just celebrated the 26th year at the firm.

Varun Rajan: 35:09

Wow.

Omar Dinar: 35:10

and we've been, we've collectively over the last four and a half years built up a team of advisors and client associates, which are bit of our administrators and, been building out this shared practice. and it's been really wonderful where, when you are able to have somebody that you work really well with and click with and somebody you really do genuine trust because. you're sharing clients, you're sharing revenue, you're sharing a paycheck almost so you know, to, I'm, I, it really worked out so well that I was able to partner up and now we even building up this rapidly growing team, at Merrill. And, and it's, and a lot of it is just because I was able to fortunate my teammates who were starting to work together, realized it clicked really well after a few months before we decided okay.

Varun Rajan: 35:59

Awesome. cool. Omar, what, I guess a couple of different things. One is what are you excited about, for this kind of next phase of your career? you're settled into a position that you really like. You have an awesome partner. what are you excited about? And then the second question really is as you're reflecting on your career, what parting words of wisdom would you like to share with our audience?

Omar Dinar: 36:22

Sure. So I'd say, this is the first role I've had in my career where I can say I, I'd like to do this for the rest of my career. it took me a while to get here. So hopefully that works out and I can do this for a couple more decades. and keep enjoying it. it now as I will, let's say 20 20 20 or so years from now. I think, other things, the job is, I think it's just an, it's just amazing being able to work with my clients, build these relationships that are gonna last for years and for decades. obviously. that I, that, that would report to me times, that would be for 1, 2, 3 years. A lot of which I'm still in touch with and become good friends of mine. but still to be able to have these clients building up these reports, working with them, and see them go through their lives, their milestones, seeing them get married, have kids buy homes, second homes, retire, whatever the case is. a part of all that is really fulfilling and being able to help be a part of that, is, is great. And, I think just on the parting thoughts, for me, I think it, I try to plan things out maybe too much at times, every time I made it a change of a new phase in my career, it took a lot. It. It took a lot of thought. It was a couple year process. I don't like to just have to radically, I like to try to, educated on it as much as possible. in each case that when I made a transition in my career, I, there was some education component. There was going into a, it was me reaching out, speaking with people, trying to get as much insights as I can, make the most informed decision possible for me to know that this would be a good long term fit. and lastly, I tried to always hold myself to a deadline, to keep myself accountable. I needed for, oh six, I want by oh six. I wanted to do, get into an MBA program. I had personally set up when I was starting to think about wealth management, I did that certificate program in NYU. I had just, put in a date of summer of 2020, and that was a couple years prior. And I did it a year sooner. But, I think. if I'm able to, if I keep a, hold myself to a deadline, that's gonna keep me that much more on point and driven to be able to hit these goals, to be able to make that transition. And it's, sometimes it can be daunting going, taking that leap of faith and going into the unknown. even with this much education or research or whatever, there's still unknown aspects, but you have.

Varun Rajan: 38:50

Yeah. Taking well calibrated risks, thought through. And also setting things like deadlines to hold yourself accountable. I think that's all a great set of advice. awesome. thank you so much, Omar, for sharing your whole story, being willing to share the story again, with me here, for my benefit and my audience's benefit. really enjoyed getting to know you and, to meet you and thanks so much for being willing and able.

Omar Dinar: 39:17

thank you Varun. you have a great podcast here that you've been really growing out. I'm looking forward to seeing your podcast just keep getting bigger and.

Varun Rajan: 39:27

Appreciate it. Okay. All the best.

Omar Dinar: 39:30

Thank you.

Varun Rajan: 39:37

That was part two of my conversation with Omar Dinar and, uh, I'm really grateful for his vulnerability, thoughtfulness, and clarity in tracing such a, uh, dynamic career path from being passed over for a promotion to building a practice that he truly loves and owns. Omar's story is a reminder that setbacks in our career don't have to define us, but how we respond to them might. I appreciated that he was incredibly thoughtful about. taking those bets on himself, but doing so in a way where he is well planned and well thought out, uh, and eventually finding, uh, work life balance when life ended up. Needing to be prioritized. thanks again for bearing with the audio static. We've got more clean sound and compelling stories coming your way soon. As always, if you're enjoying the show, please feel free to subscribe, re leave a review or reach out. I would love to hear what resonated. And until next time, stay curious and keep pushing or pulling towards whatever's next for you.