Climbing the Financial Capital of the World with John Tuttle

I say there are four buildings that define America, the

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White House, the Capitol, the Supreme

Court, and the New York Stock Exchange.

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So whether it's their own savings for

again, their children's education, their

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retirement, their financial freedom, or

the pension fund, it for teachers, for

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firefighters, for, auto workers, those

pension funds are invested in the market.

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So how the market performs the

competitiveness of the U S capital markets

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really, touches their lives directly

every day and can help for the long

8

term competitiveness of the country.

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Cliff Duvernois: Hello everyone, and

welcome back to Total Michigan, where we

10

interview ordinary Michiganders who are

doing some pretty extraordinary things.

11

I am your host, Cliff Duvenois.

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Today we got a very unique guest.

13

And if you went and you listened to

my interview with the CEO of Biggby

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Coffee, Mike McFall, he reached out to

me after our interview and said, Hey,

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I've got the perfect guest for your show.

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And, I couldn't believe it when I saw

it, but I was like, I got to talk to him.

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And he's gracious enough

to give us some time today.

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So ladies and gentlemen.

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Today we're talking with John

Tuttle, Vice Chairman of the

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New York Stock Exchange, and the

president of the N Y S E Institute.

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John, how are you?

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John Tuttle: It's great to be with

you and we do share a mutual friend

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in Mike McFall Who is an extraordinary

Michigander and a dear friend of mine now.

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Cliff Duvernois: Yes, I absolutely

loved his interview so if you

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hadn't had an opportunity go

and make sure to check him out.

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So John let's talk about you.

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We're gonna make this all about you.

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So why don't you tell

us where are you from?

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Where did you grow up?

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John Tuttle: Yeah, sure, absolutely.

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So I'm a proud seventh

generation Michigander.

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My father grew up in Walled Lake,

my mother grew up in Detroit.

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I am from Milford, born and raised, very

proud that my folks still reside in the

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house I came home from the hospital to.

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My wife is from Milford as well,

so I have deep roots to the state,

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to, to Oakland County as well.

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So, so grew up there, went to school

in southeast Michigan, went off to,

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go school to Eastern Michigan and

then a couple other places after that.

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and stumbled my way to New York City.

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But never lost my love

or my ties to Michigan.

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Cliff Duvernois: Boy, I tell

you, once Michigan gets in your

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blood, it just never leaves.

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John Tuttle: it's pumping

through it as we speak.

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Cliff Duvernois: It's

pumping through as we speak.

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You will, and I know as somebody who's

spent like a couple decades outside of

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the state, Michigan always comes back.

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So what did you study

when you were at Eastern?

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John Tuttle: So I did grow

up in, in, in Milford.

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I went off to Eastern Michigan.

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I went there to go play football

and I have to just tell you a

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little bit of context there because

it was cause of some frustration

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within my, my, my family because I

was born, raised and indoctrinated

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a University of Michigan fan.

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But my father, who's a very proud

alum, has had the same season

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tickets at the big house for a half

a century and wanted his son to, to

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go off to the University of Michigan.

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So I went off to Eastern

Michigan to play football.

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That was strike one.

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Strike two was then I went on to

Notre Dame for graduate school.

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I guess where strike three was I

married a Michigan State Spartan.

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So I didn't do anything south of the

border, but, and make my way to Columbus.

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I, I certainly position myself

as the black sheep of the family.

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But I did go off to Eastern Michigan.

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I went there to play football and, and

after a season ended up getting injured,

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not playing football, playing basketball

in a friend's driveway at that time.

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And then realizing that there probably

was more to life than me pretending that

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there was a career for me in football.

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So I, I explored some different

avenues, different paths, which

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led me to where I am today.

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Cliff Duvernois: So let's talk a little

bit about that because it's a little bit

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of a stretch to go from playing football

to, basically, almost like one of the

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top positions for the stock exchange.

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So I guess taking a step

back here for a second.

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what, how did that path go?

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Like when you decided, maybe

football isn't a career for me.

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What was that next path that you took?

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John Tuttle: Sure.

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It's not that interesting.

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But I'll give you the story.

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So I ended up breaking my ankle in a

friend's driveway playing basketball.

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And I was sitting there, I

thought, what am I going to do?

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And I'd always been interested in

current events, public policy and And

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I thought, you know what, I'm going,

now I have a little bit more bandwidth.

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I'm not playing football.

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I'm not, not having to do all the

things that go along with that.

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But maybe I'll apply for an

internship with my congressman.

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And so I was not from a

politically connected family.

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I was, not tied into any

political party at the time.

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And so I went online, which was still,

believe it or not, a relatively new

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concept at that time that you could

go online and find information.

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But I went online and I found

out what I needed to do to get an

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internship for my local congressman.

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Or I should say apply for an

internship with my local congressman.

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I needed three things.

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I needed to, draft an essay, I

needed to send my resume, and get

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three letters of recommendation.

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I thought, all right, easy enough.

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I'll do that.

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So I went off and got that together.

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And at the same time, I

thought, you know what?

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Again, I'm not from some donor

family or anything like that.

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Why don't I see what the requirements

are for a White House one?

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And I was like 19 years old at the time.

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And, It was immediately after 9 11,

they had cut the program down from,

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I don't know, several dozen people

to probably about a dozen folks.

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And lo and behold, it was

the same requirements.

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It was, send an essay, send your resume,

and send three letters of recommendation.

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I thought, all right, I can double

dip here and, fast forward, I never

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heard back from my congressman.

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I ended up getting the best

spot in the White House.

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And fortunately, to this date, at

least it's been the only job I've

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ever had to apply for in my life.

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So the rest is a lot of luck after that.

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I ended up at the White House,

shortly after President Bush.

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Bush, became president shortly

after 9 11 as well, got to

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know some wonderful people.

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Ended up going back to

Michigan and finishing school

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as fast as I possibly could.

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And the day I graduated, I got

a call saying, can you come down

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and, return to Washington DC.

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But this time, we want you to

work in Secretary Rice's office.

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And Condoleezza Rice was just

nominated and confirmed to be the

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president's Secretary of State.

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And I thought, sure.

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So my first day at the State Department

was her first day at the state department.

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And just as an aside.

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Again, politics aside.

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She is truly one of the

most wonderful Americans and

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people I've ever come across.

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And, 20 years later when she's in lower

Manhattan or we're in the same town,

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I may be in Palo Alto where she is

still has a senior role at Stanford.

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She'll reach out or I'll reach out

and we'll get together for coffee.

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And again, better part of a quarter

century later, we're still close.

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I was in my twenties.

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And, she was gracious enough to

give me the time and an opportunity.

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And so from there, I spent a number of

years and I got to travel to Palo Alto.

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All kinds of amazing

places around the world.

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I, everything from, being part of the

president's delegation to the Winter

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Olympics to going to rebel leaders

funerals in southern Sudan to being

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in the tribal regions of Pakistan

to Kosovo and everywhere in between.

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Yeah.

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the monetary compensation

wasn't very high.

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but the compensation and kind of

life experience was just unmatched.

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So it was an incredible life experience.

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And, for some reason, I've always been

in a hurry, just to I don't know where

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the destination is, and, I figured

I want to go to graduate school.

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So I wanted to find a business

school program that would allow

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me to crank out an NBA in the

shortest amount of time possible.

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I don't know if it's a wiser strategy,

but it's the one I pursued at the time.

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So I convinced the University of

Notre Dame to let me in there and

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to complete was traditionally a two

year program in about 11 months.

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And so I cranked that out.

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Yeah, and, yeah.

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And when I graduated, I thought I was

either going to go down to Washington, D.

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C.

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and get back involved in,

maybe the Treasury Department

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or something like that.

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Or go off to law school.

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I had applied and gotten into

a number of places, and so that

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was part of the plan as well.

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And I ended up getting a call from

somebody, who had worked for the president

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for six years as governor, five years as

President, who had left the administration

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to go up to the New York Stock Exchange.

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And he is somebody I had worked

with the State Department and

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a great friend to this day.

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And he says, John, I need

you to come to New York.

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I said, I have no interest

in moving to new York City.

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He says, here's the trade.

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You do it for six months.

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If you hate it, I'll be the

best reference you ever had and

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consider it to be another degree.

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And so I packed my bags.

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I moved to New York.

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I started the next week and that was,

the better part of two decades ago.

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So I, I came to the New York

Stock Exchange at a time

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when it was going global.

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it wasn't your grandfather's

stock exchange anymore.

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They had shifted from being this kind of

public utility member owned, hierarchical

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organization to a public company to

being for profit, publicly traded,

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multi asset class, multi geography.

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And they quickly learned in the

first, maybe five minutes, if not

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the first 15 minutes that, exchanges

are a business where economies

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of scale come in very quickly.

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You can put two exchanges together, remove

one fixed cost base, and realize your

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cost and revenue synergies very quickly.

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So we started, or NYSE started off

on this strategy to start acquiring

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other exchanges around the world.

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And what they learned in those first

few minutes was that every country has

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a flag, an army, and a stock exchange.

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So there's a lot of national

pride that goes along with it.

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And so I was brought in to work

our way down the food chain.

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Instead of up the food chain, but down

the food chain when it come to deal when

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it came to dealing with policy makers.

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So regulators, central bank governors,

finance ministries, the diplomatic

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corps, because that's a lot of the

folks I built relationships with

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during my time at the State Department.

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And we ended up acquiring the stock

exchanges in Paris, Lisbon, Brussels,

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Amsterdam, and then percentages of

different exchanges or portions of

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other exchanges in Brazil, Poland,

Qatar, and around the world.

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So I got to do that for my first,

few years, run international

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at the New York Stock Exchange.

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And then, and then was very fortunate,

for the first time in two centuries,

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we were the target of an acquisition.

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rather than the acquirer.

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And we were bought or a bid was made

for us, and it took a year's worth of

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kind of regulatory hurdles being cleared

by a company called Intercontinental

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Exchange, 14 year old quasi startup

out of Atlanta, Georgia, out of our now

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chairman's spare bedroom, and, made a

bid for the New York Stock Exchange.

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We got acquired.

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And I want to say of the top 50 people at

the New York Stock Exchange a year later,

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48 of them were gone and I was still there

and it either meant I was cheap, I knew

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something, or a combination of the two.

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But it ended up being an incredible

opportunity for me because we

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completely transformed the culture.

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And the place and I, I was made head

of corporate affairs shortly after

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that I ended up running our largest

business, which about a half billion

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dollar plus business for us flagship is

the person in front of me was, the head

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runner before 30 years older than me.

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So it really went from being

a seniority based organization

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to complete meritocracy.

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And, and so I was fortunate enough

to turn those many of the businesses

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which on an absolute basis,

we're not in bad shape at all.

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We're very good businesses, but on a

relative basis for how they had been

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historically and how they should be,

we're not where they needed to be.

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and I was fortunate enough that I

was given the opportunity to, turn

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those businesses around and buy all

financial and operating metrics,

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they've never perform better.

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I add on all of our new business,

our funds businesses, our iconic 11

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wall street building is our chief

operating officer for a number of

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years of the New York stock exchange

and oversaw a whole host of financial

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and operational projects there.

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and today I am a Vice Chair of the

New York stock exchange and I am also

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president of the NYC Institute, which

is our public policy arm and really

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focused on making sure that policymakers

in Washington and in capitals around

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the world understand the important

role that public markets and public

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companies play in driving inclusive

economic growth and helping ensure

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the long term competitiveness of U.

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S.

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capital markets.

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But, I've given you a full

download of the past 20 years and

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about the past four minutes here.

242

But I will say every moment I am not

doing that, that job or in New York,

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you'll find me in Michigan, either in

Milford or in, idyllic northern Michigan.

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Cliff Duvernois: So there's like

50 things we need to unpack.

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So we'll just take them one at a time.

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So I know you said that you had.

247

You've always had this interest

in like public policy and

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government and even politics.

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So where do you think that came from?

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John Tuttle: I think, I would like to

think that one of the attributes I bring,

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to, to any relationship or business is

that I have a high level of curiosity.

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It's also an attribute I look

for when hiring people as well.

253

And I think the ability to understand

what a lot of people are focused on,

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understand that you can make an impact

in a lot of different ways, maybe never

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as much as you can from the inside.

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So getting as close as you can

to the inside, has been there.

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And so I just think it was, a high

level of curiosity, my, my family

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has always been, I said, we weren't

big donors or active politically,

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but been very interested in it and

good citizens, I'd like to think.

260

So I think being good stewards

of the state of what we've been

261

given and all that is, is what

initially sparked that interest.

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And, it's, I'm the Forrest Gump of

finance and of the policy world.

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I just found myself in the right

place in the right time with the

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right people and kept on running.

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Cliff Duvernois: What I would also like to

explore too is it seems like, and this is

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definitely a good thing, it seems like no

matter where you go, somebody is reaching

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out to tap you for that next big thing.

268

So when you're going into these places

and you're working, talk to us a little

269

bit about what it is that you're doing

inside of there that has made you

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a a little bit of a hot commodity.

271

Like I said, people are tapping

you saying, Hey, we want you

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to come back to Washington.

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Hey, we want you to come

out to the stock exchange.

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we're talking big players

here, are reaching out.

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So talk to us a little bit about

when you go into these environments

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and work, what is your thought

process when you're going in

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John Tuttle: Yeah, sure.

278

It's always putting the mission in

front of your own, in front of your

279

own interests or your own agenda,

park your agenda at the door.

280

We're all in here to

achieve something together.

281

And I think a lot of people say

that, but to actually do it requires

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you to internalize that type of

philosophy and it almost becomes

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subconscious or just natural for you.

284

And that's what, when you find yourself

surrounded by people who are putting the

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mission ahead of themselves or their own

agenda, you can achieve great things.

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And those are the type of

people you want to be around.

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So that's the type of behavior

I've tried to model throughout

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my life and through my career.

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and fortunately for me, it's paid off.

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I've also learned along

the way through that.

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And, I gave you a little bit of

a glimpse into just how I got my

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foot in the door with some of these

opportunities, but really you realize

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that sometimes, the best outcomes come

when you find people who, I don't want

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to say have disrespect for, but have

little obligation to the status quo.

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And when I talk to students, I talked to

kids at Eastern Michigan all the time.

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My wife and I were fortunate enough

to endow a scholarship there.

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We've, we funded a whole host of projects

there, which again, I'm just a simple

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kid from Southeast Michigan, but I, I.

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What it allows me to do is spend time

with this next generation of students

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and leaders, and I find it so inspiring

and exciting because that's, it makes me

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bullish on Michigan, bullish on America

when you meet people with this level of

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enthusiasm and intellect and all that.

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But they often ask, some questions

about, Oh, how do how do you get to,

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how do you get a job like you have, or

how did you get your foot in the door?

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It goes back to not having the

respect for the status quo and, Or

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not being bound by it, I should say.

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And, it's, don't go

through the HR process.

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Don't go online and apply.

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find your, find the person

you have commonality with.

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I'm sure there's somebody in the

organization that went to your

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same school, or is from your

hometown, or something like that.

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Find them, and reach out to them.

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Yeah, focus on the relationship because

you'd be surprised, more often than not,

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you never know when they're going to open

that door and give you a helping hand.

315

And it may not be on day one, but it

may come years later down the road,

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but that's what life is all about.

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And that's how you should

be thinking about life.

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And so yeah, so that's, I think one

of those attributes that has kept

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me around is that, I'm willing not

just to, to follow the well worn

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path, but to explore new ones.

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Cliff Duvernois: For our audience,

we're going to take a quick

322

break to thank our sponsors.

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And when we come back, we're going

to ask some more questions for john.

324

So we'll see you after the break.

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Hello everyone, and welcome

back to Total Michigan.

347

I am your host, Cliff DuVernois.

348

Today we're talking with John

Tuttle, Vice Chairman of the

349

New York Stock Exchange, and the

president of the N Y S E Institute.

350

Got your full title in?

351

Boom.

352

there we go.

353

Yes.

354

So I'm actually learning a

lot from this conversation.

355

And I want to explore a little

bit more here about about

356

the New York Stock Exchange.

357

what I would like to do is, I'd

like to first take a step back

358

here, because I know that a lot of

people have a lot of perceptions

359

about the New York Stock Exchange.

360

What I would like to do is, from your

standpoint there, what is maybe like

361

one or two of the common myths that you

see when it comes to the Stock Exchange?

362

John Tuttle: Yeah, absolutely.

363

more changes happen at the New York

Stock Exchange in last 20 years

364

than the preceding two centuries.

365

We are not your grandfather's

stock exchange anymore.

366

We're very diverse and dynamic

organization that's focused on technology.

367

And probably touches, if not impacts

the lives of every American every

368

single day, one way or another.

369

So we operate 12 exchanges, seven

clearing houses around the world,

370

the NYC and our broader organization.

371

So that's everything from The New York

Stock Exchange, where we trade shares or

372

373

Those companies are from 46

countries around the world, but

374

most importantly, those companies

employ 43 million people directly.

375

So it's an incredibly large

platform that's there.

376

We also operate the world's exchanges

for soft commodities like coffee,

377

sugar, cotton, cocoa, orange juice.

378

And each and every day, we process,

let's say, north of a trillion unique

379

messages a day in a median response

time of under 26 microseconds.

380

So think about the throughput and

the technology that's required to

381

be able to provide that type of,

that type of capacity and systems.

382

And so we're an incredible organization.

383

We're a for profit,

publicly traded company.

384

and, one of the things that, that

for better or worse, I would flag is

385

that I say there are four buildings

that define America, the White House,

386

the Capitol, the Supreme Court,

and the New York Stock Exchange.

387

And when the market's up,

they show it on the news.

388

When it's down, they show it on the news.

389

When people want to protest things

that have absolutely nothing to do

390

with the New York Stock Exchange, they

do it from in front of our building.

391

But, but it's a reminder of

the importance of the platform.

392

And I mentioned, you heard me rattle

off the stats that our list of companies

393

employ 43 million people directly.

394

But this is a place where people can

save for their, save their money and

395

invest their money for their children's

education, for their own retirement,

396

even their own financial freedom, and the

ability to pursue their version of the

397

American dream, however they define it.

398

And one of the things that is very

special about our country, and it's not

399

popular to say is part of the reason

why we enjoy the quality of life we

400

do in this country and we're able to

export it to other parts of the world is

401

because of this system that we operate.

402

And yes, it can always get better.

403

Yes, it can always be more inclusive, but

the ability for an entrepreneur or company

404

to access capital, to grow and actually

launch a business, to grow and expand

405

it, to tap into new geographies, create

new products, and ultimately create jobs

406

along the way is unique in this world.

407

But the other side of that, like I said,

the ability for investors to be part

408

of that journey and be part of that

success is equally as special as well.

409

And so that's why I wake up each and every

day trying to find ways we can not only

410

make sure we're continuing to evolve to

meet the market demands, but we're opening

411

our doors to the broadest number of

constituents possible because when they're

412

successful, that's when we're successful.

413

And then that's good for not only states

like Michigan, but countries like the

414

United States and really the world.

415

Cliff Duvernois: And you know you

bring up a good point there when

416

you're talking about parents being

able to save for their kids education.

417

Because i'm thinking about the

proliferation of 401ks right union

418

pension funds are all now linked

and tied into the stock exchange.

419

John Tuttle: Yeah.

420

Absolutely.

421

So like I said, it touches the life of

every day Americans one way or another

422

directly or indirectly each and every day.

423

So whether it's their own savings for

again, their children's education, their

424

retirement, their financial freedom, or

the pension fund, it for teachers, for

425

firefighters, for, auto workers, those

pension funds are invested in the market.

426

So how the market performs the

competitiveness of the U S capital markets

427

really, touches their lives directly

every day and can help for the long

428

term competitiveness of the country.

429

And one of the things I've been very

focused on is making sure that our

430

markets are as accessible to the largest

number of people and the broadest

431

set of constituents as possible.

432

What I mean by that is, technology

has made markets much more efficient,

433

allowed a lot more accessibility,

so you think about, 401ks and other

434

products, savings products that are

out there, but also think about just

435

using technology to buy or sell a

stock or an exchange traded fund.

436

you used to have 20 years ago, you

used to have to walk and drive to

437

a broker's office, walk in there,

pay them a $30 commission on either

438

side of that trade and wait for

a few days for it to be processed

439

and for your money to go through.

440

Now trading is, and frankly,

access to information is

441

instantaneous and essentially free.

442

And so now that creates more opportunity

for more people to participate.

443

But where I've spent a lot of my

time is creating more products.

444

How do we make sure that playing

field is as level as possible?

445

how does somebody in Copper Harbor,

Michigan or Detroit, Michigan, how do we

446

make sure that they have the same access

to the same opportunities with the same

447

protections as somebody who may be at a,

the hedge fund in Greenwich, Connecticut,

448

or a big asset manager in Manhattan.

449

let's make opportunity

available for all folks.

450

And also, let's think about, because

you're poor doesn't mean you're dumb.

451

Because you're rich

doesn't mean you're smart.

452

And so how can we give people who

may not have the means at this moment

453

access to these type of opportunities,

they should be able to invest in

454

things beyond just stocks and bonds.

455

And if we can provide them access

to more products with the protection

456

and liquidity of the public markets,

that's what we should be doing.

457

Cliff Duvernois: Amen.

458

John Tuttle: Preaching to the choir.

459

Cliff Duvernois: Yeah, you are.

460

I'm all for, I'm all about capitalism.

461

I'm all about free market.

462

So I'm absolutely enjoying

this and I'm learning a lot.

463

What I'd like to do is I want

to circle back to something

464

that you talked about before.

465

And that is something I did not know,

the stock exchange had been acquired

466

by this group out of Georgian.

467

You're talking about the New York

Stock Exchange acquiring, other

468

trading, globally around the world.

469

This I did not know

470

John Tuttle: Yeah.

471

Cliff Duvernois: that this

could actually happen.

472

So talk to us a little bit about that.

473

John Tuttle: Sure.

474

So I mentioned on the onset of the

program that we went out and acquired

475

various exchanges around the world.

476

And for the first time in our

477

became the target of an acquisition

rather than the acquirer.

478

And, an amazing company was founded out

of Atlanta, Georgia with by probably one

479

of America's least known but greatest

entrepreneurs, a guy named Jeff Sprecher,

480

who I have a very close relationship with.

481

And, he was an entrepreneur on the West

Coast who was looking for a way to,

482

hedge or manage the price of energy.

483

So he was building these power plants.

484

He and a colleague were building

these power plants on the west coast.

485

And this is the time of

the rolling blackouts.

486

If you remember that, you were probably

living in California at the time.

487

And so part of that was just because of

total mismanagement of the energy markets.

488

And so we thought, how can we

actually price electricity and

489

allow electricity to trade?

490

And he bought a fledgling

technology company for a

491

dollar out of Atlanta, Georgia.

492

And locked himself in a spare bedroom and

built this company, which today now is

493

north of a 60 billion market cap company.

494

And along the way, the, that exchange

was roughly 12 to 14 years old when they

495

acquired the New York Stock Exchange.

496

And over the preceding decade or so,

the New York Stock Exchange went from

497

being this kind of large, member owned,

not for profit, quasi public utility

498

slash old boys club in a way and had

to become You know, it went public, it

499

changed, due to regulatory and market

pressures, it became more efficient, more

500

shareholder and customer focused, leaner.

501

And on the other end of it, you

had Intracontinental Exchange

502

founded on this guy's spare bedroom.

503

And it, as it grew and expanded,

had become a little more structured

504

and a little more process oriented.

505

And so when the transaction happened,

while both sides had moved towards

506

the center on this continuum over the

preceding decade, there was still a gap.

507

And you can only have one culture in

an organization unless you're Warren

508

Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway, and you can

really fully decentralized like that.

509

Yeah, he's a special man.

510

but unless you're Warren

Buffett, you can only have one

511

culture in your organization.

512

And we brought on the ice culture,

which really served me, I think,

513

at a time in my life in my career.

514

And so what is that?

515

what's an example of what that looks like?

516

It's the I don't care how

long you've been here.

517

It's a meritocracy, who's going to

deliver who's focused on the mission

518

who's put focused on putting the

mission before their own agenda.

519

And who's focused on again,

disrupting the status quo saying,

520

I don't have to wait my turn.

521

Let's get this done.

522

And, and the stat I give is that

prior to our deal with ice, I

523

think 20 percent of the company

was within five layers of the CEO.

524

think the employees with five layers.

525

Two years after the acquisition,

99 percent of the employees are

526

within five layers of the CEO.

527

And that's not a euphemism for saying

we've ripped out middle management.

528

It's a, it's a way of saying we

brought management very close to

529

the front lines of the business.

530

We became flat and that

allowed us to evolve.

531

And that's why, yeah, when I was fortunate

enough to start taking up, senior

532

leadership positions in the organization,

I was able to implement changes.

533

I was able to know what needed to be

done and be able to deliver what were

534

the best financial and operating results

in the history, the then 220 plus year

535

history of the New York stock exchange.

536

Cliff Duvernois: That's awesome.

537

And I could spend forever in a day

just on that concept of leadership.

538

I will say that of the companies that

I've looked at, it always seems to me

539

that the closer the C suite is to the

worker, the better the company is versus

540

the ones that are completely, removed.

541

And I've never even been down

to the manufacturing floor.

542

I don't even know what we produce here.

543

John Tuttle: exactly.

544

And I think, what we've realized

is, you want to operate a very

545

lean and efficient organization.

546

You don't want to cut to the bone or kind

of starve the organization, but you want

547

to make sure you're operating efficiently.

548

Because that allows people to fill gaps,

that allows them to find opportunities,

549

and you have little, you don't have

any room for internal politics because

550

you're spending all your time, there's

plenty of external things to work

551

Cliff Duvernois: Yes.

552

Yes.

553

And what I would like to do, cause we're

talking about, you mentioned something

554

about internal politics and I would like

to explore this a little bit because I

555

know that there's this whole, there's

this next generation that's coming up.

556

And.

557

I know probably somebody's going to

be listening to this interview or

558

watching this interview, and they're

going to be like, you know what?

559

I want to get in this game, right?

560

What John is doing.

561

I want to do it as well.

562

So for those people that are coming

up right now that are following in

563

our footsteps, what would be like

maybe a couple of key pieces of

564

advice that you would give them?

565

John Tuttle: It's a good question.

566

I touched on some of them earlier.

567

Number one is, you gotta be a bit

of an HR ninja to find your way to

568

the right spot, and you shouldn't

just, bank on going through the

569

process and expecting the result.

570

And that's a lesson I've learned along

the way, too, is that, I said I came from

571

a family of kind of people who are very

kind of law abiding and respectful of

572

the rules and the process and all that.

573

and I think those are good attributes,

but at the same time, you'll realize

574

that in real life, you, you can follow

the rules, you can follow the recipe.

575

You can do all the right things.

576

You can expect the outcome to be

what you want it to be, but it's

577

not sometimes going to be that.

578

And it's how you respond to that

and position yourself, which is

579

also going to help you your career.

580

So the first thing is

be a bit of an HR ninja.

581

find that commonality, with somebody in

the organization of where you want to be

582

or who you want to be like, and, and reach

out to them and build that connectivity.

583

If somebody went to your school,

somebody went to your hometown.

584

Or, reach out and offer some insight,

it's the, Hey, I'm looking to get

585

on your calendar to have coffee.

586

Great.

587

Happy to do that.

588

But if somebody actually comes with

something that's going to make my

589

day job a little bit easier, make me

smarter for it, you're delivering value.

590

And when you deliver value,

there's always a home for you.

591

so I think that's a big part of it.

592

And also understand, again, you

could follow the right playbook,

593

but sometimes the results won't be

what you want them to be, what you

594

expected them to be, or frankly,

in some cases, what they should be.

595

And it really comes down

to how you respond to that.

596

you never want to be, doing

anything out of protest.

597

You want to be running towards

something, not from something,

598

Cliff Duvernois: Definitely.

599

And one thing that I would also like to

explore here is that, you've made some

600

leapfrogs, throughout your life to get to

where you are today, which is fantastic.

601

Opportunity comes, take advantage of it.

602

What do you think the future holds?

603

John Tuttle: For me or in general?

604

Oh, I don't know.

605

Like I said, I'm just the

Forrest Gump of finance.

606

I kept on running and I don't

plan to slow down anytime soon,

607

but I've, I'm very fortunate.

608

Like I said, I have two young children,

a five year old son and a three year

609

old daughter and a wonderful wife.

610

And I used to spend probably more weekends

than I should in the office, and it was

611

because I wanted to, not 'cause I had to.

612

But I've certainly reprioritized

part of my life as well.

613

And so spending a lot of time with

my kids at these formative ages is

614

where you'll probably find me when

I'm not, when I'm not putting in my

615

nine to five every week or every day.

616

But, but, I gotta say, there's a,

you watch the news and it's easy to

617

get depressed on all the things that

are going on in the state or outside

618

of the state or around the world.

619

But all I have to do is go visit my

five year old's preschool and now

620

he's going into kindergarten and that

gets you excited about the future.

621

They're a sharp kid, they're

smart, they're excited.

622

And as long as we can make sure

we don't leave too big of problems

623

for them to clean up, I'm excited

about the future of not only this

624

state, but this country as well.

625

Cliff Duvernois: I absolutely love that.

626

And the final question, John, is if

somebody's listening to this, they

627

want to maybe connect with you online

or maybe they want to follow like

628

the policies or what's going on?

629

what would be the best way for them to do

630

John Tuttle: Yeah, sure.

631

The door is always open

to any Michigander, anyone

632

really, but any Michigander.

633

And one of the things I love about

being a Michigander is that all

634

Michiganders look out for Michiganders.

635

So if there's a, and that's why

I love what you're doing as well.

636

And, you're talking to a lot

of extraordinary Michiganders.

637

And I've just had the good fortune

of being around extraordinary

638

people in extraordinary places.

639

And I don't think any of that's rubbed

off on me, but, I, but I am here to help

640

and be of assistance in any way to anybody

from the greatest state in the union.

641

So if anybody wants to reach out to me,

you can always find me on like LinkedIn,

642

John Tuttle on there, or you can send me

an email and I'll, To friends of you, I'll

643

give out my personal emails at john at

644

nyse.

645

com, john at nyse.

646

com, So reach out anytime.

647

please no spam, don't put me on any

mailing lists, but happy to, happy

648

to be a resource in any way possible.

649

Because people were to me and,

life's about paying it forward and

650

making sure that people have the

opportunities that they all deserve.

651

And so to the extent I can be helpful

in helping them achieve what they're

652

looking to do, I'm here to do that.

653

Cliff Duvernois: John,

it's been an absolute treat

654

having you on the show today.

655

I appreciate it.

656

Appreciate your time.

657

John Tuttle: it's a pleasure and thanks

for doing what you do each and every day

658

and I'm an avid listener of the podcast.

659

Now you've obviously had some, some

friends of mine on here as well.

660

But the more we can talk about the

great things, great people are doing,

661

the more they should be celebrated.

662

Cliff Duvernois: Awesome.

663

And thank you for that.

664

Really do appreciate it.

665

And, for our audience, you can

always roll on over to TotalMichigan.

666

com.

667

Click on John's interview and, get all

the information that he mentioned above.

668

We'll see you next week when we talk

to another ordinary Michigander doing

669

some pretty extraordinary things.

670

We'll see you then.