Bentley’s voice carries a weight of humble sincerity that makes it difficult to brush off anything he says, from discussing the stigma that single moms and their kids face, to talking about 401(k)s or his sons’ baseball games, to modestly downplaying his own role in great endeavors. His sure tone leaves no room for pride or inflation, as he discusses inherited wealth and his distaste for getting involved simply for the label of “philanthropy”. “I don't like to talk about myself,” he states firmly, eyes serious. After hearing him explain what he does and why, a message arises from an array of financial terms and concepts I don’t understand: don’t just get involved in anything.
Don’t just get involved in something. Don’t get involved just to be involved either. Get involved with what speaks to you personally. Perhaps it speaks to you by its semblance to your own childhood or because you watched your friend struggle with an issue.
Bentley sits thoughtfully for a few moments before answering any question, such as “Why an advocacy center?” “I think one of the reasons why that one resonates is the loss that I suffered. Watching your parent die in front of you is nothing like getting abused as a child. But, trauma is trauma, right? I had allowed that to define me and I held on to a lot of negative emotions from that. Like a self-inflicted pre-destiny because ‘now I don't have this influence, I don't have this backing, I don't have this…’ I know how amazingly freeing it was when I was able to break the chains of that trauma, let it go, and stop believing that had anything to do with me.” He pressed his fingers against the dark surface of the table and shook his head with emphasis, “My life turned around like the flip of a switch because of somebody's influence over me. You don't know where those influences are going to come from, it had to happen very organically for me.
Somebody came into my life who could get into my head and my heart to help me believe it.”
As newlyweds, Bentley and his wife, Lori, were briefly connected with the Children’s Advocacy Center of Collin County while living in Frisco. After moving to Flower Mound and losing contact with those connections, a Leadership Flower Mound class brought him to Amy Ferdinando, former Director of Development at Children’s Advocacy Center for North Texas. “It was a natural fit”, Bentley said, “When invited, I jumped on the opportunity to support that organization, went through the selection process… Since then we've just been trying to pour a lot of time and resources into that organization, it's just surprising how significant the need is.” We saw over 2,500 kids last year at the center. The fervor of Bentley’s words hangs heavy with the truth of such a topic as this, his passion for the issue goes beyond just seeking justice and into restoration.
We can help restore in them what they're capable of accomplishing so that trauma doesn't define anything that they're able or unable to do.” A pattern emerges as Bentley shares what means the most to him. He seems drawn to making a difference for good at pivotal points, where one could let the trauma win and keep cycling, or step in and restore.
“I definitely want my kids to see me giving back, but I want them to take the same ‘giving back journey’ that I did.” It was church mission projects in high school where the investment in service was learned, he explained. “There's a need everywhere around you and you cannot help everybody, but do what you can to help.” It was surprising how deep and personal his roots ran, “What I do is very much personal to me. Prime Capital is part of me, but I'm doing it because I want to give back, not because I want to put Prime Capital's name out there. I've scaled some of my roles back because I got to a point where I was an inch deep and a mile wide. I was making a little bit of impact in a lot of places, so I wanted to scale it back so I could go deeper and make a real impact somewhere. Right now, that ‘somewhere’ is Children’s Advocacy Center for North Texas, two years ago that ‘somewhere’ was coaching baseball, two years from now it may be somewhere different.”
Only after gushing about why he is so passionate about such organizations like the Children’s Advocacy Center for North Texas does he finally settle down and talk about his business as Managing Director, Dallas Market, with Prime Capital Investment Advisors (PCIA). And yet the passion doesn’t diminish as he talks business. “One of the reasons why I do what I do is because I love what I do and I get to help people at the same time. Everybody has to deal with money, right? And money can be one of the biggest stresses. Whether you have it or you don't have it. It has an impact on your life, relationships, marriages, success… So being an advisor, one of the things that I do is go out and provide group education or one-on-one meetings to companies and employees. Maybe it's not wealth management or helping people who have a lot of money. Most of those people who come and sit in a conference room or a training room don't have the means to go and get financial help. So it allows us to help them, either, 1) manage their assets if they have them and create a financial plan, or 2), train and equip them to succeed financially and overcome what challenges they might have. The way I view it, it's my way to give back because so many financial advisors probably wouldn't spend the time to sit in a conference room. I travel all over the country doing it. That's another way that I feel like I do give back even though it's not charitable in nature, but it is giving.”
The giving that Bentley of PCIA is so passionate about illuminates the importance of simply giving versus having a spirit of giving. The spirit of giving relies on the why of the giving, hardly the what it is you gave. Whatever it is you give away this season, do it for you and for the Kingdom.
Bentley Ford and his team at Prime Capital apply their unique approach to financial planning and investment management toward the goal of turning their clients’ dreams into reality. At the root of every relationship is the passion to help people achieve their life’s ambitions. Prime Capital is dedicated to helping business owners, retirees and upper-level corporate leadership on such services as wealth-management, tax-advantaged investing strategies, risk-management strategies, estate & legacy planning.
