I grew up in Gilroy, Calif, known as the garlic capital of the world. One of my clearest memories is always being the tallest kid in my class. In every class photo, I'm the one in the center of the back row. By eighth grade, I was 6'7".

I picked up a basketball for the first time as a freshman in high school and went on to capture the school's scoring and rebounding records. I received a full scholarship to Stanford University and played center for four years. A teammate was recruited to play in Japan, and he knew another team that needed a center. The coaches from that team scouted me and made me an offer a month before I graduated in 1989. I was planning to go to law school but instead played basketball in Japan for three years.

We played by international rules, which are slightly different from those in the United States. There's a more frenetic pace for one thing. Another difference: In Japan, players work for the company that sponsors their team. So I was an equity research analyst for Mitsui Insurance during the day and played ball in the evenings. I was determined to learn the language, and being immersed in the culture really accelerated my learning curve. I also met my future wife there.

Back in the U.S., I became a portfolio manager for The Portola Group, in Menlo Park, Calif. I enjoyed the sales side of the business, but I was not particularly interested in portfolio management. I left to join Charles Schwab where I sold custody services to advisors and helped build the institutional business. Next I moved to Merrill Lynch in New York and ran its institutional custody business. I started two weeks before the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks. The aftermath of the disaster and the subsequent bear market taught me management lessons that I wouldn't have encountered during normal business cycles.

I left and joined TD Ameritrade in 2004 as national sales manager for their institutional business. In 2007, LPL Financial offered me the position as CEO of its Affiliated Broker-Dealers in San Diego. After the integration of our affiliates last year, I became National Sales Manager of our Independent Advisor Services business. The hybrid RIA has been the fastest-growing segment of financial advisors. It allows them flexibility in the way they deliver advice to their clients. We've built a powerful platform to support their business plans and goals and without any retail advice conflicts. We're seeing impressive growth in our advisor and RIA businesses.

One issue that is on my mind is the need for increased disclosure regarding financial packages associated with advisor job transitions. If advisors ask clients to follow them to another firm, or if they accept a retention bonus to stay, the clients should know about any financial incentives involved. The regulators are beginning to focus on this and I'm hopeful we'll see progress toward greater disclosure.

As told to Pat Olsen