Behind The Advisor

Melissa Ellis joins us this episode to share her story and some of the lessons she learned along the way to where she is now. Despite putting off her dream due to being told financial planning wasn't appropriate for women and that the timing wasn't right, she finally went for it and never looked back. She shares the steps she took along the way and all the jobs and experiences that fed her knowled...

Building a new business is always a lot of work. This didn't deter Andrew Damcevski and Devon Klumb from starting their practice and quickly adjusting and putting it in the perfect position to succeed. By become part of a bigger firm, their business has been able to see a large amount of growth and they are able to reach the type of customers they are passionate about working with. You can find sh...

Anna Segunina knows the difference between a  business  and a  practice  - which she's proved with her fantastic work helping to develop Main Street Planning into what it is today. On this episode, Anna shares the story of her career, from how she got started in the business to how she became the owner of a highly successful planning practice. Anna shares many valuable takeaways from her experienc...

Are you actually using data to make decisions in your firm — or just going with your gut? In this episode of Behind The Advisor , we're joined again by Shawn Tydlaska to talk about why tracking your metrics matters more than you think, especially for smaller, growing advisory firms. If you want clearer insights, better decisions, and the ability to look back and actually understand what moved the...

Every member of XYPN has a unique take on what we teach, and it's always fun to hear how each advisor is building a unique and valuable practice. Tony Madsen is building an RIA in rural Minnesota, after taking a leap out of the world of broker-dealers so he could have more fun with planning. In this interview, Tony shares his first-year revenue and expenses and talks openly about where he spent mo...

We often talk about the utility of the retainer model here at XYPN. One of our earliest members, Cristina Guglielmetti, is cleverly combining retainer clients with a lot of project work to craft an uber-flexible schedule that you'll find interesting. Cristina shares how she's created a business and schedule that work for her life as she raises a son and invests in a local bar with her husband and...

Mike Solari started his own independent firm in 2012 without a single client. He joined us here at XYPN in 2014, and we've gotten to witness his business grow as he's built a practice that serves about 26 people - two-thirds of which are on retainer. In this interview, Mike talks about his biggest struggles and successes running the business, and how he's made up for his own shortcomings with grit...

We know our mailbag is overflowing, so we're back with another Alan & Kitces Unhinged episode to answer as many of your questions as possible!  We've also received questions about how to talk to clients about transitioning from an AUM only model to a retainer + AUM model. Often it seems trickier than it is, and we've got some guidance on how to make it easy. And we'll talk about the relevance of p...

Farnoosh Torabi is one of our keynote speakers at #XYPN17 this year, and on this episode she gives a little sneak preview of what she'll be talking about. Farnoosh kicks things off by telling us how she became one of the country's most popular financial experts. After studying finance in college, she decided she wanted to marry her expertise with money to her fascination with journalism so she cou...

Helen Ngo is here today to share her experience working her way into the financial planning world and starting her own successful business by the age of twenty-six. There's a whole lot to take away and apply to your own business plan, whether you want to start a business or you're already in the process. Starting out in a male-dominated field definitely didn't make Helen shy away from business; it...

Nannette Kamien took a long and winding road to becoming an entrepreneur in the world of financial services, but her previous career continues to improve her offering as a financial services professional. To build a modern practice, she's drawn on her background in information technology. This technical expertise has allowed her to serve clients and move fast toward establishing her own firm.  In...

When Bill Nelson realized that working on Capitol Hill wasn't for him, he joined Price Waterhouse Cooper and became an expert on compliance. But when he and his future wife decided to move so she could attend medical school, Bill considered opening his own firm. In this interview, Bill shares why he took the safe route when he first moved rather than start his own RIA. He talks about what he learn...

Oftentimes we're so excited about financial planning around here that we can gloss over some of the tougher, less glamorous aspects of running your own business.   After a 12-year career in tech herself, today's guest, XYPN member Meg Bartelt decided to get a Masters in financial planning and switch careers entirely.  Meg shares candidly about the obstacles that she's confronted in her first year...

We're super excited to be hosting today's guest, Mitch Anthony, because he's also going to be our keynote speaker at #XYPN17 this year! Mitch is a communication guru and longtime advisor of financial advisors - and he's got a great system for getting to the root of clients' needs.  In this interview, Mitch shares how he stumbled into the financial planning industry and how he applies storytelling...

It's no secret the first year of running your own RIA is no walk in the park. But this week's guest and XYPN member Shawn Tydlaska has had some unique and impressive success in his first year as an independent advisor. Shawn talks about how his long and winding path through the financial services industry led him to practicing true financial planning. He walks through the obstacles he's overcome a...

You've undoubtedly heard about FMeX if you're a regular listener and lover of finding innovative ways to connect with your clients. We're lucky enough to have Ric McConkey, Managing Partner at FMeX, with us today to talk about how his service helps advisors provide clients with valuable, relevant content and improve your marketing. Ric shares how the rapid rise of technology has forced advisors to...

It's been a while since we dug into our mailbag, so we're back with another Alan & Kitces Unhinged episode. On this edition: the differences between prospecting and marketing, varying service models, how to educate yourself on financial planning, and E&O insurance. We start off by digging into prospecting and marketing and explaining why we generally focus more on the latter here at XYPN. We also...

It's hard to believe we've already made it to episode 100, but here we are! We're so thrilled you've been with us this long, whether you've listened to every single episode or you only recently discovered the podcast. We're doing something a bit different for this episode to celebrate! From tips on entrepreneurship and persistence to those on having fun and being positive, tune in to our one-hundr...

Many of you listeners will be familiar with (and undoubtedly excited to hear from) our very own Director of Getting Shit Done, Maddy Roche. She's shifted from being our first hire and a jack-of-all-trades member of XYPN, to a manager, leader, and member engagement expert within the company. In this interview, Maddy shares how she's grown along with XYPN and some of the key things she's learned alo...

Arlene Moss re-entered the workforce after raising children, and became a coach for the Alliance of Comprehensive Planners. After realizing there were some shortcomings to the one-off coaching model, she decided to go it alone and begin her own coaching business.   In this episode, Arlene and I talk about how coaching can take your advisory to the next level. Arlene shares her highly personalized...

Just a few years ago, Dan Andrews was working as an investment manager for a broker dealer and running a side blog about personal and professional development. After attending the 2015 FPA Conference in Boston, Dan realized that there was a path in the financial services industry that was more aligned with his interests, expertise and values. In this interview, Dan and I talk about his journey to...

Seth Johnson of Redi2 Technologies was working for an enterprise software company where his team focused on building an excellent billing software for big broker dealers. The burst of the dot-com bubble and strain on the company gave he and his co-founder-to-be a unique opportunity. They pitched an all-new company, exclusively dedicated to billing software, to their CEO - and got the green light. ...

It's always fun to catch up with longtime members of XYPN because we've witnessed eachothers' struggles and triumphs alike. Today's guest, Jason Mirabella, has been with us from nearly the beginning. Jason started his first RIA just before the 2008 financial downturn, and had to return to other financial jobs before embarking on his next entrepreneurial venture. Jason talks about his new firm Henf...

Usually when we talk to new advisors on the show, they're a couple of years into the process and have figured out the pacing of their practice. But today's guest, Ryan Frailich, is still right at the beginning of establishing his own firm, and has generously agreed to share the ups and downs of his daily experience. Ryan talks about why he decided to get into financial planning, why he started his...

Being an independent advisor is often the second, third, or even fourth stop in many advisors' careers. Sean Kernan, independent RIA owner and host of the How to Go Independent podcast, joins us today to talk about what the transition from employee advisor to independent business owner looks and feels like. Sean talks about his time as a broker dealer for Edward Jones at the beginning of his caree...