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Ambassador Byrne Nason hosted at Dublin Bridge Park, Dublin, Ohio Ascend Headquarters
Monday, August 5, 2024
DUBLIN, OHIO – Ascend Advisory is proud to share insights from Tony Reilly, CEO, Ascend Advisory's speech last week. He had the privilege of hosting Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason for an intimate evening at the Dublin, Ohio headquarters with a intimate group of fellow Irishmen as part of a ribbon cutting ceremony.
Watch Tony Reilly, CEO, Ascend Advisory share personal story of Irish beginnings & what Ireland means to him.
Full Transcript
"Ambassador, I'm sure as well aware of it as is Mark, the 1980s, we hit a wall and the economy was brutal. I'm gonna insert my personal story here real quick. So it's 1986. I got offered a soccer scholarship to come to America. That's the great news. The bad news is it was partial everything, partial tuition, partial room and board.
And so I needed to come up with resources to come over. And this is very personal to me, but I think it relates to putting these connecting these dots. And so it was just brutal the summer of 1986. And I could go get a job somewhere, a typical job a kid would get after school, but there was really not very much pay.
But there's one job you could get the paid a ton, but I knew nobody that was crazy enough to go get a job there. And it was a slaughter factory, a meat factory. Today, it's a very regulated business. It's a wonderful industry. But then in 1986, this was a brutal place. This is a dangerous place. So I'll if I go to the meat factory and that's how I'm going to make ends meet so I can get to America.
Fast forward halfway through the summer. I come home one day. Every day I came home. My mother, Philomena Riley, would greet me and she tell me everything's going to work out every single day. This day I came home and I said, I lost today I lost the battle. Today the meat factory won and I lost. I told her all the gory things that happened.
And here's what she said. She said to me, she goes, honey, she goes, no problem. You can quit. You can quit tomorrow. I thought, well, that's pretty easy. And here comes the most powerful words I've ever heard, she says. But just remember, your American dream is over. I went to bed that night. I got up and went back to work, and the rest is history.
And I get to be here. So fast forward. My mother didn't go to econ school or college. My mother didn't have the internet to find out how great America was. She started to connect the dots that were clearly evident on Main Street every day in Ireland, and every little town and in every city that great things are happening.
But it just takes a while. You got to plant a lot of seeds. Guess what happened in the 1990s? A place called Silicon Valley blows up in a good way. And where do they all want to put their stake? They all want to put their steak in Ireland. The gateway to Europe. You can get it to all of Europe through Ireland.
English speaking country, highly educated country, great culture, very technical. And once in a while good weather.
And so? So here you have that whole sequence of events. And I am privileged personally and professionally and honored that I get to take advantage of it. I get to be a citizen of only two countries Ireland and America. It's not like I'm picking cherry picking my favorite two out of 10 or 2 out of 20. I mean, I recognize how unbelievable that is.
And so to come full circle, I personally believe a huge part of all of our calling is, you know, we're in the investment business and they're sales. But all my team will tell you, all the people that know me really well, you have to cross over from selling to serving. And when you're serving yourself, you're selfish goes down and your selflessness goes up.
And that's what I saw from my mother that day. She was a servant. She volunteered the community. She worked in the community. And so to understand serving, overselling changes so much. I'm not standing here. If I didn't have that influence in my life. And now look at Ireland. The best tech companies, the best manufacturing, tourism, the medical industry, financial services, clean energy.
We're somewhere at the top of every measuring stick out there. And to bring it back to Ohio, think about Ireland and Ohio with so much in common. Ohio is 42,000mi². Ireland is 27. Ohio has 11 million people. We have five. And so little old Ireland is about half the size of Ohio. And guess who we host? 60% of foreign direct investment in Ireland comes just from America.
The other 40% or all the other countries in Europe and around the world combined. And that's 60% produces. I won't go too deep on this, but this is unbelievable. 12 billion a year in payroll, 9 billion a year in goods and services, and another 7 billion in CapEx, capital spending. If the idea and foreign direct investment and all those decades, if we weren't working hard at that, that's not happening.
So I'm going to turn it over to the ambassador. I want to read out her amazing resume. But remember, as an Irishman and as an American, to have someone like the ambassador, to have someone like Mark on their team and Ellen, what they're doing every day really matters. Most likely, I think my daughter is the youngest in the room.
Sophie is somewhere I can't see her, but Sophie at 18, heading off to college. God willing, I think she'll be somewhere in her 50s and in her 60s. Gone. You know, 50 years just sounded like a long time. She'll find out as we know it flies by and be it really is about the combination of all the efforts, not just one effort."
About Ascend Advisory Group
Ascend Advisory Group (Ascend), headquartered in Dublin, Ohio is a leading financial advisory with clients in 44 states and $2B assets under management (as of 3/28/24), starting with $27M in 2001.
Ascend was built upon the belief that planning should be about stewardship. The company is rooted in service, with a commitment to humbleness and honesty. While the company has grown tremendously, the culture remains steadfast and true to the mission of helping clients ask the right questions and understand the nuances of their options. Ascend works to ensure the mission for each client’s dollar is achieved.
Ascend has been recognized on Forbes 2024 Best-In-State Wealth Management Teams for the State of Ohio(1).
1 2024 Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Management Teams: Awarded January 2023; Data compiled by SHOOK Research LLC based on the time period from 3/31/22 - 3/31/23 (Source: Forbes.com).
The Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Management Teams rating algorithm is based on the previous year’s industry experience, interviews, compliance records, assets under management, revenue and other criteria by SHOOK Research, LLC. Investment performance is not a criterion. Self-completed survey was used for rating. This rating is not related to the quality of the investment advice and based solely on the disclosed criteria.
Media: Samantha Mooney, Marketing Director, Main: 614-784-6000, Samantha.mooney@wfafinet.com
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