Planner Uziel Gomez on breaking into the profession

Is winter's coldest stretch getting you down? Do you seek an escape from the harsh, frigid conditions on Wall Street? 

Then allow Financial Planning to transport you back to the dog days of summer and directly into the heart of Surf City.

This new year, unwrap a special look at the Future Proof Festival through a series of interviews with insiders and newsmakers conducted by the Financial Planning editorial team.

In this clip, planner Uziel Gomez told FP Chief Correspondent Tobias Salinger how he broke into the profession as a financial planning resident with Burlingame, California-based Ballast Point Financial Planning. Gomez obtained his certified financial planner designation in the months after the conference, and he's also a volunteer with the BLatinX Internship Program.

The internship pairs fee-only registered investment advisors with Black or Hispanic college students seeking to enter the profession. Ballast Point founder Shawn Tydlaska and planners Chloé Moore, Luis Rosa and Emlen Miles-Mattingly launched the program in 2020, and applications for participation next summer by firms and students are open until Jan. 31.

Gomez spoke about how Rosa acts as a mentor to him and shared his advice for young people considering careers in the planning profession. 

Check out the full interview below.

Future Proof, an event billed as the first wealth festival, attracted more than 2,200 people to Huntington Beach, California, earlier this year. Financial Planning was a sponsor of the event. Dates for Future Proof 2023 have already been announced. The event is slated to return to the beach Sept. 10-13, 2023.