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The Life and Times of an Athlete Turned Financial Advisor

As a kid, Greg Dennis was known for two things: his love of basketball and his fascination with electronics. And in college, he was able to marry the two as an electrical engineering major and student-athlete at Eastern Tennessee State University. Greg planned on finishing his four years of school and immediately joining the workforce – possibly after a quick detour to grad school. However, life had other plans as he was given the opportunity of a lifetime to go pro and live his dream of becoming a professional basketball player. After a stint in the NBA, Continental Basketball Association (CBA), United States Basketball League (USBL), and playing overseas in Greece, Macedonia, Argentina, and Puerto Rico, Greg developed a new passion – financial planning.

After retiring from basketball, Greg started out his career with Morgan Stanley as a financial advisor, where he learned the ropes of the financial services industry and earned his Series 7, 24, 66, and 53 licenses. After a decade of moving up the ranks and honing his skills at companies like New York Life and AIG, Greg decided to set out on his own and start his own full-service financial services firm in his hometown of Charleston, West Virginia. Although he enjoyed the freedom of owning his own business, Greg was open to the idea of returning to a corporate structure. That’s when he found United Bank. Greg began his career with the Bank as the chief operating officer of the burgeoning United Brokerage Services, Inc. After a few years in that leadership role, he realized his desire to return to a client-facing capacity and eventually decided to make the move to his current role of financial advisor – a move which he hopes to be his last, as he plans to retire one day with United Bank.

Today, Greg continues to do what he loves. He still plays basketball and serves as a basketball camp counselor with Emerald Youth Foundation. He has also remained steadfast in his commitment to educating young people about the advantages of financial education. He regularly speaks at local primary and secondary schools in the area, as well as to the student-athletes of his alma mater, using his 25 years of experience to offer the services and advice he sought as a young athlete once in their shoes. We spoke to Greg about his time in college and playing professional basketball, as well as how his life has changed since entering the financial services industry and what’s stayed the same.

Meet Greg Dennis

How would you describe your experience as a student-athlete? I started as an electrical engineering major. As a kid, I used to love taking things apart and putting them back together again – just figuring out how they really work. So, I figured my tinkering would turn into a career as an electrical engineer. But as a student-athlete, with practice every day and having to travel for games, it became increasingly difficult to juggle basketball with such a demanding workload as an engineering student. I eventually decided to switch to a physical education major, with plans of returning to school after finishing my college athlete career to finish my engineering degree. But for some reason, some people decided they wanted to pay me to play basketball! And that was the start of my professional basketball career.

But continuing my education is still a goal of mine. I started pursuing an MBA for some time and plan to finish that one day when things slow down a bit.

You started as an engineering major and college athlete turned professional basketball player. Working in the financial services industry seems like quite the career pivot – how did that happen? Since I was a child, I always knew I wanted to be a professional athlete. I played basketball my entire life – I still play 2-3 times a week actually – and I was very fortunate to have been able to go pro after graduating from college. But I was also fortunate enough to have been taught to always be smart with my money and I intended to do just that with my new salary as a basketball player.

We’ve all heard the stories about the athletes who get these huge contracts and suddenly come into a large sum of money just to then turn a blind eye to how it’s being managed and end their careers with nothing. Well, I didn’t want that to be me. I decided that I wasn’t just going to find a financial management firm to help me, I was going to be very hands on with my money and learn all I needed to. I did my own research and found where I wanted to invest my money to make sure I was making the best, most informed decisions for me. I found that I really enjoyed this, and that I was good at it. So, when I retired from basketball in ’99, I decided that that’s what I wanted to do for a career moving forward.

How did you find the transition to a new industry? Are you now the go-to financial expert for your friends and family?

They are actually the hardest group to get to take me seriously! I try to be as professional as possible and provide them with sound financial advice, but they just can’t take me seriously. It’s kind of hard to get the people that I knew before to see me in my new role. We joke, we hang out, we all play ball together, and now suddenly I’m the guy in the suit trying to give them financial advice. But for them it’s like, “No you’re the guy from back in the day who does sports, not finance!”

I hadn’t really thought about how hard the transition would be. I got interested in financial services because when I signed with my agent, he didn’t offer any financial advising. So, my goal when I did retire was to go into business with him and provide the financial services component to his business. I still wanted to be around the sports world because it was my passion, you know? But in this capacity, I could offer athletes something that I wish I had when I was in their position. And I thought it would be as simple as, “Hey, I have all these friends who are athletes and I can give them advice and help them,” but it wasn’t as easy as I’d anticipated. This industry is very dependent on relationships, and at that point, many of those guys already had relationships with financial firms that they’d been working with. So, it’s hard to take that business away.

You’re very accomplished – an engineering major, student-athlete, professional basketball player, business owner, and seasoned leader. What do you attribute to your success?

I’ve always had a great support system growing up. My family and friends always believed in me, and my coaches did everything they could to make sure I was making the most of my talent. I can even go as far back as my high school coaches as having helped pave the way for me. Without their support, I wouldn’t have been able to play college ball, and then go pro, and then had the education and resources to be where I am today.

But I think my older sister is who I look up to the most. She was the first in our family to graduate from college, so she really set the standard for me and was a great example of what I could do with my life. She graduated from WVU Tech and also played ball. We’re so similar so there’s always been a bit of friendly competition, at least on my side. She’s been a teacher in the Charleston area for over 30 years, but she’s also never stopped learning. She has a master’s degree herself, so of course I decided to pursue an MBA. She’s also considered going back to school, and I was like, “Well, if you get a doctorate, then I have to get a doctorate too!” So, she inspires me and has pushed me to do more than I might have planned for myself otherwise, and I am so grateful to her for that. But I try to watch those around me and learn from their example and use that as the blueprint for what I’d like to achieve in life. I hope that I’ve set a good example for my four daughters as well.

We have quite a few former athletes working at United Bank. Do you think there’s a connection between sports and financial services? I really enjoy the freedom my job affords me. This isn’t exactly your typical 9-5, and that suits me really well. I was an athlete most of my life, and while I did have structure, I didn’t really have a regular schedule or the typical life behind a desk from this set time to that set time. So, I really like the autonomy of this role. It requires you to be a go-getter and want to push yourself. I’m the one going out and finding deals and meeting with potential clients because I want their business, so this doesn’t feel like a job for me. I genuinely enjoy what I do, and I believe in what we’re doing here. I started down this path because it was an interest of mine and I would be financial planning for myself anyway, so I figured I might as well use what I’ve learned to help other people out as well.

Team sports are a microcosm of the real world. You’ve got management as coaches, you’ve got people on the same team as you who play different positions based on their strengths and personal knowledge, and you’ve got the other guy who you know you have to beat. When you are part of a team, you have to be able to take instruction and manage a certain situation. And as the coach, or as leader in a business setting, you’ve got to be able to inspire your team and train them to perform at their best because you can’t be the one on the court or in the field doing the work for them. Leadership, accountability, teamwork, all those things that go along with it in sports, line up the same way in the corporate world.