Where good people grow: Sanjay Beach and his unconventional road to finance
Sanjay Beach began valuing financial confidence and freedom at an early age. He recalls watching his Jamaica-born parents attend night school and work tirelessly to provide necessities to him and his brothers when they were young. When it came time to decide his path in life, he knew he wanted to pursue a college education. His way of getting there would be through athletics, which led to his current career path in financial services.
An unconventional start that opens doors to a bright future
Before he was a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, Chartered Retirement Plan Specialist™, Certified 401(k) Professional and Certified Plan Fiduciary Advisor®, Sanjay was as a wide-receiver on the football field. His football career launched at Colorado State University, where he was named an Academic All-Western Athletic Conference student-athlete. In 1998, his career was taken to new heights when he was drafted to play for the Dallas Cowboys.
Throughout his six-year career with the National Football League, Sanjay played as a wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys, New York Jets, San Francisco 49ers and the Green Bay Packers. When he played for the San Francisco 49ers under Coach George Seifert, he admired Seifert’s leadership style, to which Sanjay credited their winning season and the team’s stellar culture.
“The athletic talent on competing teams can be the same, but the difference-maker is the level of expectation and accountability from top to bottom in the organization,” Sanjay says. “As a leader, when you own what’s going on and standards are communicated, the team rises to the challenge.”
Years later, Seifert’s leadership continues impact Sanjay’s life and remains the model for his branch, Beach Wealth Planning Partners.
From playing on the football field to helping clients plan their future
“I wouldn’t have access to this profession or this industry if it wasn’t for my athletic endeavors,” Sanjay says. “My parents are from Jamaica, and sports wasn’t a part of their lives beyond exercise.”
Crediting sports as his entryway into this industry, he recognizes how it helped expose him to financial services, how it opened doors for him and helped prepare him for building his business.
His drive and discipline on the football field translated off the field as he grew his wealth management business. And even now, while prioritizing the futures of his clients, Sanjay constantly keeps the future of his business top of mind, as he works with his son, Makis, and daughter, Kalpana, both credentialed financial advisors and potential successors for his business. Alongside his children and Kathy Crisp, senior registered client service associate, Sanjay continues to apply the lessons he learned throughout his sports career to his gameplans for his business and for the clients they serve.
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, Certified Financial Planner™, CFP® (with plaque design) and CFP® (with flame design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements.