Knowing Me, Knowing You

The financial questions people bring to the table are rarely the whole story. Behind concerns about retirement, investing, or making the wrong decision are experiences, beliefs, fears, and priorities that can shape how someone thinks about money for decades. In this episode, Derrick Kinney explores what happens when the conversation starts with the person rather than the product. From asking quest...

For decades, wealth management has focused on accumulation, optimization, and reaching a number. But money alone doesn't tell us what someone is trying to create with it. In this episode, Mike Milligan explores what changes when the conversation starts with a different question: Why is money important to you? From the experiences that shape financial behavior to the importance of asking “why”...

Clients aren't spending their days thinking about investment returns, products, or the latest financial strategy. More often, they're asking a much simpler question: Am I okay? Understanding what that question means to each person is where meaningful advice begins. In this episode, Mando Salivanti shares how he's built a fast growing wealth management practice by paying attention to...

The future often feels unpredictable, especially as technology reshapes how we live, work, and make decisions. But what if the future isn't something that simply happens to us? What if the most important question isn't what AI will do next, but what kind of future we want to create for ourselves? In this episode, I am sharing one of my favorite conversations with, Brian David Johnson, fu...

Clients rarely walk into an advisor's office asking for a specific investment product. They come looking for confidence. Reliable income. Greater flexibility. Protection from uncertainty. The advisor's job is not to start with a solution. It's to first understand the problem the client is trying to solve. In this episode, John Cole Scott shares why specialization matters, how decade...

As niches become table stakes in wealth management, what actually separates advisors who signal value from those who deliver it? In this episode of Knowing Me, Knowing You, we sit down with Michelle Smith, founder of Wife2CFO and advisor at Savant Wealth Management, known widely as "the divorce consigliere." Michelle has spent over two decades helping women navigate the financial and emo...

As AI makes investing, portfolio construction, and optimization increasingly table stakes, where will advisors create real value? In this episode of Knowing Me, Knowing You , we sit down with Chad Taylor, President and Founder of Seapoint Wealth Advisors, to explore why the future of advice is becoming less about managing investments and more about deeply understanding the people behind them. Chad...

Few people have shaped modern wealth management like Joe Duran. As the founder of United Capital, Joe transformed a startup into one of the nation's largest Registered Investment Advisors before its $750 million acquisition by Goldman Sachs, where he became a Partner and CEO of Personal Financial Management. Before that, he founded Centurion Capital, which was acquired by GE, where he led the...

Most advisory firms believe they need more marketing. More content. More campaigns. More visibility. But what if the real challenge is not getting noticed? What if it is making sure people truly understand the value you already create? In this episode, we explore why communication has become one of the biggest competitive advantages in wealth management. We discuss how firms can move beyond generi...

How do the fastest-growing wealth management firms shift from accidental growth to intentional design? In this episode of the Knowing Me, Knowing You podcast, Marla sits down with Erica Rodrigues and Morgan Bell from the Strategic Advisory Group at Constellation Wealth Capital. Together, they dive into why a firm’s growth engine and technology stack are not two separate strategies, but two ends of...

How has the affluent investor’s journey fundamentally changed while the first advisor meeting remains stuck in 1984? In this episode of the Knowing Me, Knowing You podcast, Marla takes us behind the scenes of her own recent, deeply personal search for a financial advisor. Sharing the challenges of navigating contrasting money beliefs with her husband, she dives into why traditional, rigid discover...

Most financial advisors present a perfectly logical wealth strategy, only to watch a client completely freeze. The standard response is to reopen the spreadsheet, point to historical returns, and double down on the math. But resistance is rarely an analytical problem; it is an emotional signal rooted in deep personal history, unaddressed biases, and a natural fear of giving up control. While the i...

Most successful professionals handle massive complexity at work, but feel completely overwhelmed by their own financial clutter. Papers pile up, accounts sit scattered across institutions, and a five-million-dollar portfolio still looks exactly like the ten-thousand-dollar starter account they built decades ago. Finding a specific niche can certainly help, but the deeper opportunity often lies in...

Most people hear the words "reverse mortgage" and shut down. The reputation precedes the product, and for decades, that reputation wasn't good. But the landscape has changed, and so has the conversation around what home equity can actually do for people in retirement and beyond. In this episode, we sit down with Kevin Gutman, senior mortgage broker, certified reverse mortgage profes...

Every wealth management firm wants organic growth. Few achieve it consistently. In this episode of Knowing Me, Knowing You, we sit down with Mark Tibergien, one of the most influential voices in the evolution of the RIA industry. As the longtime leader of Pershing Advisor Solutions, Mark helped shape the growth of hundreds of advisory firms and witnessed firsthand the transformation of wealth mana...

Every wealth management firm wants growth. More leads. More meetings. More assets. Yet despite increased spending on marketing, lead generation platforms, AI outreach, and prospecting tools, many advisors are finding that growth feels harder than ever. Pipelines may be full, but conversion remains frustratingly low. In this episode, we explore the trust gap that exists in modern prospecting. While...

For decades, retirement planning has revolved around a familiar process: determine a client's risk tolerance, build a diversified portfolio, and hope the numbers work out. But what if that entire framework starts in the wrong place? In this episode, we explore why cash flow, timing, and purpose may matter far more than traditional risk questionnaires. As retirees transition from accumulating...

In this episode, I sit down with Sonya Lutter, Certified Financial Planner, licensed marriage and family therapist, and a leading voice at the intersection of money and mental health. As a co-founder of the Financial Therapy Association, Sonya has spent her career helping the industry bridge the gap between technical expertise and human understanding. We explore what financial advisors are still m...

In this episode, I sit down with Natalie Taylor, CFP®, nationally recognized financial planner, fintech consultant, and founder of the Goodland Group, to explore what it really means to deliver advice that works in real life and not just on paper. With over 20 years in financial planning and a decade building inside fintechs like Learnvest, SoFi, Monarch Money, and Ellevest, Natalie brings a rare...

In this episode, I sit down with Wesley Rowlands, partner and advisor at Atikan Wealth Partners, to explore a different approach to financial planning that starts with purpose, not products. With nearly two decades of experience and a deeply personal connection to the impact of money, Wes brings a perspective rooted in both technical expertise and lived experience. We talk about why most advisors...

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Daniel Crosby, psychologist, New York Times bestselling author, and Chief Behavioral Officer at Orion Advisor Solutions. Daniel has spent nearly two decades bridging the gap between academic behavioral science and the real-world work of financial advisors, and the conversation we had is one I know you'll return to again and again. We explore why behavioral...

In this episode, I sit down with Matt Goren, a driving force behind the modern financial planning education movement. As Chief Strategy Officer at Danko Education and director of curriculum at the Global Financial Planning Institute, Matt helps shape how the next generation of advisors learns, thinks, and serves clients across borders.  We explore how psychology and behavioral finance fit into han...

Financial institutions are great at planning for the predictable, but what happens when life doesn't follow the plan? A divorce, a medical crisis, a leaky roof. These are the moments that reveal whether the financial system was really built for the people inside it. In this episode, I sit down with Amanda Estiverne-Colas, Director and Head of Payments Practice at Proficient, founder of AGE Ad...

Every advisor knows the feeling. A promising prospect sits across from you, nods through the whole conversation, says it was helpful, and then disappears. Most advisors chalk it up to competition or timing. But what if the real problem happened before anyone walked through the door? In this episode, we explore why the moment that determines whether a prospect converts isn't the first meeting....

If you’re an advisor trying to grow your firm while still buried in the day-to-day of clients and operations, this episode will hit home. Steven Tenney has spent over three decades in wealth management, from building his own RIA to advising leaders on how to grow, scale, and create firms that last. In this conversation, Marla and Steven break down the shift most advisors never fully make: moving f...