Finance to Philanthropy: Lily Fallah's Inspiring Journey

Carlsbad, people, purpose, and impact, an essential podcast for those who live, work, visit, and play in Carlsbad.

Good afternoon, and welcome, everyone. My name is Brett Schanzenbach. I'm the president and CEO of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce. I'm your host today, and I'm very pleased to have with me Lily Fala. Lily is a financial planner from Guide My Finances.

Good afternoon, Lily.

Hi, Brett. How are you?

I am excellent. How are you?

I'm wonderful. Thank you for having me here.

Very happy to have you down here. So I was doing some background checking. You know? Oh, that sounds weird. Not background checking, but just research.

And, I saw that you are a San Diego State grad here in Aztec, which is awesome. Were you born and raised in San Diego area or no?

So I was not born in San Diego. I was actually born in Torrance, and then I grew up in LA for about the first 10 years of my life. And I came down to San Diego, and I've been here ever since I was 10. I have a big Persian family. Nice.

And family is really important to all of us. So my parents uprooted and came to San Diego so we could be close to everyone.

Very cool. I'm I'm like you. I was born in Orange in Orange County and got down here at a young age too. So similar. I love that.

And out of college, it looks like you went into, financial wealth management, whatever the phrase is, fairly immediately. Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, now GuideMyFinances. So tell us about why did you, go into financial advising planning, in college, or or why was that your focus? And what do you love about it? What's kept you there?

Tell us about your little journey.

Yeah. Thanks for asking that question. I feel like there were a lot of different things along the way that really inspired me to get into finance. I have a funny story when I was a kid, you know, as all kids do. I think parents try to bribe their kids a little bit, give them a few dollars here and there.

And as a kid, I I'd like to think I was always really good with money. And so, somehow, I always had more money than my sister.

Wait. Okay. Is this an older sister or younger? Oh.

Older sister. And significant then. Yep. And so my dad would always say, I'll give you $5 to clean the closet. I'll give you $5 to peel a pomegranate.

Just whatever the random task would be, and I would jump at it. I would always jump at it. And my sister was like, I don't care. Yeah. It's not worth it.

Kind of thing.

Like a.

And I remember 1 year so I mentioned, you know, I come from a big Persian family. So we have Persian New Year every year. And it's typical that, you know, the adults will give the kids some money.

Okay.

And I remember 1 year, you know, I probably had $40 from the family. And I just kept telling everyone I'm rich. I'm rich. And and so my dad said, okay. If you're so rich, why don't you pay for everyone's dinner?

And they're like, oh.

And I'm like, okay. Gladly. So that was the quick the quickest $40 that ever left my bank account or cash, whatever you wanna call it, at once. And so I learned the value of money really soon and really early, and I always wanted to be in business. I always thought of myself as an entrepreneur when I was younger and wanting to go that route.

And then when I got into college, I I declared a business major. And as I got, you know, throughout different programs and classes in college, I actually joined a professional coed business fraternity, which was one of the best decisions I made in college. And I would look in the room, and I would ask myself, who in this room inspires me the most? Mhmm. And it was always the people that were studying finance.

It was the finance majors. And I said, okay. I really wanna emulate those around me who would really inspire me. And so I declared finance as my major, and I just dove right in. I started working at Morgan Stanley.

I was at Wells Fargo Advisors for over 6 years. I had an amazing experience there. And then I've been with GuideMyFinances for a little over a year.

Yeah.

And what's been really amazing about that too is I've been able to really put together my passion of working with, you know, people who need it the most in terms of financial plans Yeah. And, also, working with families who also really need the help in terms of if they have kids with special needs. It's also a big passion of mine of working with those families. So I've been able to interweave both of those passions together.

Fantastic. And I'm gonna I'm gonna circle back to the special needs part. But I wanna ask you to kind of share you know, you started with Morgan Stanley, then you spent a few years, 6 years with Wells Fargo. Those are pretty big names in the financial world. Right?

And now you're with what is like a boutique, you know, financial planning company. I mean, we love GuideMyTinances. So I mean that with all respect. Yeah. But talk why come to a small like, what's the difference for you and, you know, you're here and you seem super happy here.

So what's the difference between these big brand names that we've all heard versus a small, you know, intimate local based company?

That's a good question. You know, my time with Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo Advisors, I was within boutique teams within the big name.

Okay.

And you can kind of think of that as very similar with GuideMyFinances. We're a boutique team with the backing of, you know, Ozaic. So we do have a larger, you know, parent company supporting us and things like that as well. But what I would say is the reason for the transition that I made, and I had such a wonderful time in every experience, was when I started to, you know, serve more families with special needs. I wasn't able to promote that as much before.

Mhmm. And I was allowed more of that flexibility and freedom within GuideMyFinances to do, you know, what I really wanted to do was help more families with with kids with special needs.

Very interesting. So I saw in 2020, it looks like that you became a chartered special needs consultant. So why don't you tell us what that is and and what drew you to to take that route?

Yeah. So as I mentioned, having a big family, one of my cousins has autism. Mhmm. So that was very prevalent my whole life, just seeing that and being surrounded by that. And I don't think that I realized just how much of an impact he made in my life until I look back.

You know, I was always part of Best Buddies and

Oh, yes.

Different organizations like that. And so when I was in high school, I was on the varsity basketball team. And one of our team managers, you know, she has Down syndrome. Mhmm. And I held her hand at every basketball game.

Oh. And I made sure that she was well taken care of. And I looked after her, and we would get together on the weekends. And that was in high school. And so many years passed.

I just started my career. And, and out of nowhere, she reaching out to me. And she said, Lily, I miss you. I wanna talk to you and see you. And so I started picking up, you know, every phone call, every FaceTime.

And her dad hopped on the phone one time and said, Lily, please don't feel the need to answer these calls. I'm sure you're really busy. I said, it's a joy and honor talking with your daughter.

Yeah.

He asked me what I did for work. And then the very next day, he said, you're so good to my daughter. I'm gonna come and bring my personal investment accounts to you that I want you to manage, and I want you to become an expert in special needs.

Wow.

And it was, you know, one of the first accounts that I had opened up. And I was really racking my brain of how does one become an expert in special needs. I've never heard of a financial planner with this specialty.

Right.

And so I did what everyone might do, and I did a lot of googling. And I found that there was the chartered special needs consultant designation through the American College of Financial Services, and I thought this is exactly what I need to do. That was my next step. And it was kind of this light bulb moment where I realized, wow, this is an incredible opportunity to mix two passions of mine and to make my my job and my work and everything even more fulfilling than it already was. Yeah.

And so I got that designation. And then soon after, I became a board member for The Arc of San Diego, which is a nonprofit for families with disabilities. And I'm their treasurer now, and it's been an honor serving them. And I think that's just really what catapulted everything was really that, you know, my cousin and then also that, you know, that family friend member as well that really inspired me. And that was the start of it, and it's been very rewarding and fulfilling.

That's amazing. We are gonna take a quick break. We're talking to Lily Fala. She is a financial planner for Guide My Finances. And when we come back, we're gonna talk a little bit more about her specialty with, in working with families with special needs.

And we're gonna talk about her activities at The Arc of San Diego. So stick with us. We'll be right back. So, Lily, before we took a break, you were just kind of explaining your journey into the special needs, which is amazing. One of our, adult sons, young adult sons, is an Asperger's, young adult.

So, yeah, it is a it's a scary thing as a parent, you know, when you're it's one thing when your kids are young because you you wrap a lot of services around them and they're you're very involved in their lives, but then when they become adults. And he he worked, he graduated Cal State San Marcos. He worked for Qualcomm for 4 years and then got laid off, which he survived, like, 2 rounds of layoffs, and then, you know, it just is what it is. But, you know, now looking for work because it's been, man, it's been almost a year since the layoff. But my wife and I know, like, he's gonna outlive us, and, like, how do we make sure, like, he's cared for?

So I I can relate to that that dad that you were sharing about and how he appreciated your attention to his daughter. And I'm I'm guessing there's lots of families out there with special needs, kiddos, and whether they're kids or adults or young adults or whatever, that would be very motivated to work with somebody who's taken the time to specialize.

Thank you. I appreciate you for saying that, and I appreciate you for sharing as well. And, you know, 1 in 5 Americans has a disability. So whether that's, you know, autism, Down syndrome, ADHD, depression, you know, it's such a wide range. And what I like to focus on is not the disability, but the person that has the capabilities behind that.

And just like anyone, you know, everyone's so unique in their abilities, and so that's why we like to plan for everyone's unique situation. So it's it's very different for each individual, and I appreciate you you sharing that. And I hope that, you know, he gets a job soon and does exactly what he wants to do.

Yes. Exactly. Thank you. From your mouth to god's ears. So tell us about The Arc and that you're on the board there and, you're engaged there.

Tell us what The Arc of San Diego does and how amazing they are.

The Arc of San Diego has been really life changing for me. I remember the very first meeting or the the very first event that I went to. They had this building, and they had an event called our place. And I remember I walked in. And, you know, when you're in middle school or high school, you have the special education classes, and so you're kind of surrounded by, you know, people that maybe have different capabilities around you.

And I think as we get older, sometimes we don't really see those individuals as much anymore. And I remember I walked into the building, and I was brought to tears because I just saw so many people around me with different types of special needs that were doing Zumba. They were dancing. They were doing music and art. And I was fighting back tears because it was the most beautiful thing that I experienced, and I knew right then and there I need to be part of this.

Mhmm. I need in some capacity to volunteer more with them. I would love to be on their board. And so every single Saturday for probably a year or more before COVID hit, I was volunteering with them. And it was really beautiful.

And then I was able to, you know, get on their board and things like that. So they they do a lot with individuals with special needs, all the way from infancy to senior citizens. They provide housing for individuals. They provide, you know, job training. They provide classes, you know, online Zoom classes.

They they do it all. And it's been really wonderful to be part of an organization that I believe in so strongly.

Oh, that's wonderful. When I was in between college semesters this is going back aways because, I am old. No.

You're not.

I'm seasoned, maybe. But I did, so for 2 2 different summers, I did, 1 week long camps that were for special needs. You always wanna say kids, but they were they're probably older than I was at the time. You know? Young adults.

And so we were up in where we were in the Julian area somewhere, in the mountains up there at a cool camp, you know, and so we do these week long camps. And it was it was really great because it was, like, one volunteer like myself per camper because you really you you know, they they needed that, and so you would go with them on all the different activities. And there was, you know, getting on a canoe on the lake, and then, like, you were just saying dance classes and all this stuff. And I remember this one time, I had the same camper for both years. His name was Robert, and he was a Down syndrome, adult.

And I was late. I I got kinda I got kinda stuck on the lake, you know, paddling some people around, and our group transitioned to, like, a diff different activity. And so I had to catch up. You know? They were they were ahead of me, and they were already there.

And I got there, and I thought, you know, Robert was out there. It was a dance class of some sort. And, I thought he was mad at me because I was late, and I was trying to figure it out. And he wasn't mad at me because I was late. I was, infringing on his time with the ladies, and he wanted me to kinda take a step back.

He was fine. Oh, man. When I figured out what was going on, I laughed so hard. He was he was a joy.

That is too funny. And he was a little brat. Yeah.

Oh, man. The fun memories.

Absolutely.

Yeah. Great experiences too. So you've had, in your professional life as a financial planner here for GuideMyFinances. Now I don't know previous, like, when you're with Wells and more Morgan Stanley, but at least in the last year, you've had some pretty cool recognition. I saw I mean, for us, for the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce, you're one of our top 40 under 40.

But I also saw for the San Diego Magazine, you are a financial rising star. So congratulations on those different accomplishments. It's gotta kinda, you know, feel good in the professional world.

Thank you. I really appreciate that. I I think that I take a lot of pride in, you know, doing always what's best for our clients and, you know, making sure that their goals are top of mind. And so it does feel really good to get that, you know, acknowledgment. So thank you.

I appreciate that a lot.

Yeah. Absolutely. And it's been fun since you, joined the team there at guide my fan finances, having you come to our various networking things here and there. And you've had a significant development in your personal side of life. Those of us who are fortunate enough to have met you and got to know you over the last year, it wasn't like a shock that this was coming, but you got engaged recently?

I did. I did. It was really, really special. We got engaged in August, and he definitely threw me off a little bit because we had a trip planned to Greece which we just got back from. And so I thought it was gonna happen in Greece.

Uh-huh. So he threw me off, and it was so lovely. He took me to Sunset Cliffs, and he had our friends, they were there. And a couple of our guy friends, they had gone to the fabric store, and they had gone to, like a like a furniture store. They they built an arch

No. Hang on.

For us. They built the arch, and then I had some girlfriends, you know, get all the champagne and everything. And it was the most beautiful, experience at Sunset Cliffs. And my parents were there, so it was it was really lovely.

Wow. That's wonderful. That's great to hear your parents were there because, like, you talked about how important family is to you guys. That's fantastic. So is there is there a date set?

There is. Come on. It's happening 4th July.

Oh, wonderful. Yeah.

So we're deep in planning, and it has been so much fun

Oh, good.

To kinda go through this experience together. And it's been a really great journey, and I love wedding planning. It's been really fun.

Good. Good. Well, hopefully, it stays that way. Obviously, there could be parts that are stressful. But, hopefully, for the majority of it, it stays super fun.

So what other, hobbies do you and your fiance have? Do you have, what other things that that did I was I unable to uncover?

Let's see. What are my hobbies? Well, I love my people. I love to connect with, you know, my people at all times. And so a 100% of the time when you see me driving, I will probably be on the phone with someone.

I'm either on the phone. I'm voice memoing. We love to travel. You know, we just got back from 9 days in Greece. Uh-huh.

And it was an interesting experience. It was an amazing time. But day 3 of day 9, we were riding the scooters.

Oh, yeah.

And, I don't think we should ever be allowed on the scooter again because last year in Italy, I rode a scooter, crashed into a wall, and fainted.

Oh, no.

And then this time, he crashed the scooter and ended up, fracturing his ankle.

Oh, golly.

But we still had an amazing time. Oh, that's good. Yeah. We made the most of it. He didn't skip a beat.

We love to travel. We love to be with our people. I love to, as corny as it sounds, long beach walks. Yeah. They'll find me there.

Nice. Yeah. So and and just being active. Every summer as a kid, we would go to Yosemite

Yeah.

And spend the summer there with all the cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, everyone. And so nature is really important to me too.

Oh, that's fun. Very fun. Well, if somebody is listening in today and is meeting Lily for the first time, how would they contact you if they want to learn more or talk about, your services and all that you do? What would be the best way to get in touch with you?

Great question. Send me an email. My email is lily, lily, atguidemyfinances.com. They can find us on the website, guide my guide my finances.com or my LinkedIn, which is my name, Lily Fala.

So lily@guidemyfinances.com or Lily Fala on LinkedIn, f a l l a h, if you're, like, challenged the way I am.

I

had to practice three times to get her name correct before we went on the like

You crushed it.

Yeah. Thankfully. But, well, that's great. Thank you so much for taking the time to come down today and share. Thank you for all your engagement with our chamber and for all that you do for our community too.

It's a great service. We love GuideMyFinances, and we love having you part of our family here.

Oh, it's an honor and a and a privilege. Thank you so much.

Thanks for joining us today on our Carlsbad People, Purpose and Impact podcast. If you got value out of our episode today, please hit the follow button on your favorite podcast app and please tell a friend. Can't wait to see you next time on Carlsbad People, Purpose, and Impact.