By Kayla O’Brien
There’s no typical day at the office for Tanya Marchiol. Whether it’s attending spring training and the NFL draft, hosting “The Real Deal,” or writing a new book, this self-made real estate and finance professional lets her success story speak for itself as she makes and maintains solid relationships. Marchiol’s clients are in a league of their own, as she educates and advises professional athletes and entrepreneurs on money-management and retirement strategies while they are still young and have control of their financial futures.
A former pro volleyball player, Marchiol personally relates to the financial pressures of professional athletes-especially once they’ve ended their careers. Marchiol was fortunate-while recovering from an ankle injury-to find her niche, during what she describes as a lull in her life after volleyball.
“I understood what it was like for athletes to play all their life-playing with their friends, having that camaraderie, and living a different lifestyle. But when you no longer play, you don’t understand the concept of working,” says Marchiol.
After she took real estate classes and entered the business with her mother, her neighbor-Justin Lucas, a former football player with the Arizona Cardinals-asked for her assistance with his real estate endeavors. Not long after, she created Team Investments, Inc., a full-service, independent real estate firm in Arizona dedicated to enhancing clients’ overall real estate investments and experiences so they’ll never have to work a nine-to-five job after their careers end.
“I realized that the education process really didn’t exist when it came to investing in real estate and creating lifelong wealth,” she says. “We all get financial advisors, but we aren’t consciously doing the right thing by our wealth. I just really wanted to tell them.”
Today, Marchiol continues to see great opportunities for her business, helping athletes purchase their first homes and make wise financial decisions. According to Marchiol, the two most important things she can teach her clients are the importance of credit and running their lives and finances like a business.
“Our whole lives we’ve had people catering to us-which is great-but understanding credit gives you the ability to leverage your finances,” she says.
Marchiol’s first recommendation is to create an LLC. By doing so, the athletes are put into the position where everything they purchase is a write-off.
“As soon as they get paid from their game checks, they need to go ahead and loan their corporation the money and pay themselves interest-like playing bank,” she says.
Unlike most other real estate companies, what’s unique about Team Investments, Inc. is its unnecessary need for mainstream marketing-solely leveraging trusting relationships.
“Truly, I don’t market,” she says. “I’ve been in the business long enough where it’s come down to word of mouth. I go to the NFL Draft, meet baseball players in Arizona, and I get introduced. The business proceeds itself.”
To make this process succeed, says Marchiol, it’s all about your approach and your goals when it comes to differentiating yourself.
“You really need to create relationships where the guys trust you,” she says. “They realize first and foremost that I’m their friend and then their financial advisor.”
Since helping professionals like Donovan McNabb, quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles, and first-round draft picks like: JaMarcus Russell, for the Oakland Raiders; Jarvis Moss, of the Denver Broncos; and San Diego Chargers’ Craig Davis find homes in 2007, Marchiol’s next venture is writing a new book. Prosperity Principles, based on her basic platform, speaks to each person’s ability to achieve their goals.
“I really want everyone to know that financial wellness is obtainable for everyone,” she says. “Financial wellness is more than money in the bank. When the light goes on and they do things they wouldn’t have done without my help-that’s what I really enjoy.”
Tanya Marchiol’s book Prosperity Principles outlines four lifestyle-changing standards:
1. Make wise decisions-not just in finances but in every area of your life. It’s more than, “should I go to this club tonight?” It’s taking a look at how you make decisions throughout your life.
2. How do you run your life like a business? It’s all about creating LLCs, making sure everything you do is a tax write-off-just like you’d run a business.
3. Lead your wealth. It’s great to have a financial advisor, says Marchiol. But make sure you’re actually in charge of your own wealth and know where it is.
4. Money does grow on trees. “It does for me,” says Marchiol. It’s about reconditioning your mindset so everything you do is positive. “I was told ‘you can do anything you want to’ while growing up. My mom never let me say ‘I can’t.’ It’s more difficult when we’re older, but you can recondition yourself. Financial well-being is obtainable for everyone.”
