I grew up in Philadelphia, the oldest of eight. Our neighbors on one side had 11 children, and the family on the other side had 14. It was a competitive environment. My first job was as a paperboy. Most people grabbed the sports page first, but I was interested in the business section.

I started tracking stocks in grade school. My father, who attended business school at night, talked to me about stocks. The father of my best friend in high school was a branch manager at E.F. Hutton, and I learned about the securities business from him. Years later, they both joined me at Janney.

I attended LaSalle College, now LaSalle University, and in 1982, I took a job with a small broker-dealer near Philadelphia that offered tax-sheltered annuities. I stayed a year and got sales experience, and then joined Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia as a financial consultant. I wanted more opportunity. I loved it. I knew a lot of people in the area and I wasn't afraid to make cold calls. Some of my customers from my former employer followed me and it didn't take long to build a clientele.

Two or three years after I started, a client referred me to an entrepreneur in media properties who wanted to raise capital for one of his ventures. We had a small investment banking arm at the time, and he asked if Janney would be interested. It didn't work out, and there were hard feelings between the parties involved. I called the man afterward and invited him to lunch. I said I wanted to learn from him so I could do a better job for potential clients in the future. He was so impressed that after lunch he opened an account and became one of my best customers.

I entered management in 1992 to start our fee-based advisory platform. After leading our wealth management division for three years, I was promoted to my current role in 2004. People in leadership positions don't always think carefully enough about the firm's culture for which they're responsible. One wrong hire can significantly impact that culture. During my career, I hired one person who was wrong for the company. It didn't work out for the person, and it also had repercussions for the firm. We had to devise a repair strategy afterward.

As my responsibilities have increased, so has my waistline. If I could do one thing differently, it would be to work harder on balance and not focus solely on work.

I rowed in high school, in college and competitively into my late 30s. I won a national championship as a junior in high school, and I also won competitions at La Salle College and afterward. The discipline required in rowing, especially with 6:00 a.m. practices and additional workouts later in the day, carried over to my career. I learned how hard work and success go hand in hand.

My three children are college athletes, and my wife still runs marathons. I'm their number one fan. Growing up, I also worked as a lifeguard at the Jersey shore in the summer months, and in this respect my kids followed in my footsteps. We own a beach house in Avalon, N.J. and a lot of our summer nights are spent watching the kids' lifeguard tournaments.

As told to Pat Olsen.