Behind The Advisor

We're excited to have XYPN member Ben Wacek, founder of Guide Financial Planning, and his firm's Operations Manager, Amy Artiga, on the show today. We discuss the EOS model, client surges, and what their future plans are for themselves and their business.  If you want to learn about what it's like to go from a stay-at-home mom, to helping run a financial planning firm targeting your ideal clients...

We're excited to have XYPN member Todd Pouliot, owner of Gateway Financial, a fee-only firm out of Northfield, OH, on the show today. Todd started his career spending time as a captive insurance agent and a long-time rep at a broker-dealer.  In this episode, Todd talks about his evolution to understanding the responsibilities of being a fee-only advisor , and how that drove his ultimate decision t...

We're excited to have XYPN members Dan and Natalie Slagle, owners of Minnesota-based fee-only firm, Fyooz Financial Planning, on the show today. Dan and Natalie are partners in life  and  business, and together have nearly 20 years of industry experience.  Today, they talk about how they built Fyooz intentionally to reach their target market: successful, fun, and authentic couples. They discuss wh...

We're excited to have XYPN teammate, Taylor Deardorff, on the show today. Taylor currently manages XYPN's Tech Team as the Product Owner, a role that allows her to leverage her deep understanding of member needs to design and create cutting-edge technology solutions for the Network. Taylor pivoted into this industry when she joined Team XYPN back in 2018 as one of the original team members. We cov...

We're ‌excited‌ ‌to‌ ‌have‌ ‌XYPN‌ ‌member‌ ‌Lamar‌ ‌Watson,‌ ‌owner‌ ‌of‌ ‌Dream‌ ‌Financial‌ ‌planning,‌ ‌a‌ ‌fee-only‌ ‌firm‌ ‌out‌ ‌of‌ ‌Reston,‌ ‌VA,‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌today.‌ ‌ Lamar‌ ‌started‌ ‌his‌ ‌career‌ ‌in‌ ‌this‌ ‌industry‌ ‌before‌ ‌he‌ ‌even‌ ‌went‌ ‌to‌ ‌college‌! ‌He‌ ‌was‌ ‌an‌ ‌avid‌ ‌follower‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌stock ‌market‌ ‌and‌ ‌reader‌ ‌of‌ ‌Warren‌ ‌Buffet.‌ ‌While‌ ‌he‌ ‌wa...

Today, XYPN co-founders, Alan Moore and Michael Kitces, join us for a special episode to discuss the findings of XYPN's 2020 Benchmarking Survey. Each year, XYPN members participate in a comprehensive survey about their businesses, and each year, Alan and Michael discuss the trends they see, the themes that emerged, and their perspective on where the industry is headed. If you're interested in hea...

We're excited to have XYPN member Natalie Taylor, owner of Natalie Taylor Consulting Services, on the show today. Natalie is only 10 months into building a fee-only RIA business, but she has already served nearly forty clients since opening her doors in early 2020. Natalie walks us through her professional background, which includes substantial experience in the financial industry, both on the pri...

We're excited to have XYPN member Helen Ngo, Founder of the Atlanta-based RIA, Capital Benchmark Partners, on the show today. A lot has changed for Helen since she was last on the show in 2017; she got married, had a baby, and has transitioned her firm to 100% virtual. What hasn't changed at all is her passion for growing her business. Today she serves over 70 client households, the majority of wh...

We're excited to have XYPN member Ashley Murphy, Founder of Areté Wealth and the Global Financial Planning Institute (GFP), on the show today. This is Ashley's second time sharing his career journey and expertise in the expat space on XYPN Radio. Today, he joins us to give us an update on how a niche can turn into a full-blown industry-shaking initiative. After recognizing a gap in technical train...

We're excited to have XYPN member Brooklyn Brock, Founder of Ellevate Advisors, a fee-only firm in Tulsa, OK, on the show today. Brooklyn is a third-generation CFP® and after several years of working at her family Ameriprise office, Brooklyn got the itch to start her own firm. But Brooklyn took an unconventional route when she launched a part-time firm. That's because she's still working for fee-o...

We're excited to have XYPN member Pierre-Emmanual Jovue, owner of InsuraWealth, a fee-only firm out of Tampa, FL, on the show today. Pierre started his firm in 2016, and today, serves 85 clients, most of whom are young professionals.  Pierre talks about how and why he "niched" his client base to focus on a specific employer and explains how a narrow niche and use of LinkedIn and referrals have all...

We're excited to have XYPN teammate, Dan Keslin, on the show today. Dan is the Director of XYPN Books and he joins us today to shine light on the responsibilities of an RIA owner when it comes to keeping books and financial records accurate and updated—a task many advisors underestimate when starting out. Dan talks about how having a deep understanding of your accounting allows you to make strateg...

We're excited to have XYPN member Britton Gregory, owner of Austin-based fee-only firm, Seaborn Financial, on the show today. Britton had a long career as an engineer before catching the personal finance bug and deciding to chase his encore career. Today, he stays connected to his career roots by serving engineers.  Britton describes the mental and emotional process he went through as he switched...

We're excited to have XYPN member Justin Brownlee, owner of the Houston-based fee-only firm Brownlee Wealth Management, on the show. Justin started his own firm last year after spending nearly a decade in the insurance and brokerage world.  If you're wondering what it really takes to build an intentional and niched firm, this episode is for you. You can find show notes and more information by clic...

We're thrilled to have Lucy Robeson, the Managing Director of AdvicePay, a compliant payment processor for financial advisors, on the show today. Like many others on the show before her, Lucy took a meandering path to where she is today. She started her career as a retirement actuary, spent some time as a non-profit coordinator in Fiji, then moved into the RIA space and pursued her CFP® designatio...

We're excited to have XYPN member Morgen Rochard, owner of Origin Wealth Advisors, a fee-only firm out of Austin, TX, on the show today. Morgen joined us on episode 178 to share her journey transitioning from a trader to a firm owner. Today, Morgen joins the show to share what she's been up to over the past few years, specifically how she continues to run a high revenue business with just 25 clien...

We're excited to have Emily Purdon, Director of XY Tax Solutions (XYTS), and Sara Williams, Operations Specialist at XYTS, on the show today. We dive into what it's like to roll outsourced tax prep under an RIA - specifically how to leverage experts to deliver great client experience, and how outsourcing can help you stay sane as you continue to scale your firm.  Today, Emily and Sara talk to list...

We're excited to have XYPN member Cady North, owner of North Financial Advisors, a fee-only firm in San Diego, California, on the show today. Cady joined us on #XYPNRadio nearly four years ago, during Episode 79, to share her journey transitioning from the corporate world into that of an entrepreneur.  Today, she talks about what she has been up to since then: establishing a great work-life balanc...

We're excited to have student loan expert, Heather Jarvis, and college funding expert, Joe Messinger, on the show today. This year for #XYPNLIVE(ish), XYPN's annual national conference turned virtual, Heather and Joe are offering a combined Post-Con for advisors interested in learning about the dynamic landscape of college planning and student loans. Today, Joe and Heather highlight the issue of s...

We're honored to have George Kinder, who many know as the founder of life planning, and Lora Woodward, Communications Director at the Kinder Institute, on the show today to discuss the Seven Stages of Money Maturity Post-Conference they have planned for XYPN LIVE. On today's episode, we hear from George and Lora about what advisors can expect during the two-day training and what they can expect ou...

We're excited to have Candice Carlton, a digital marketing expert, on the show today to talk about her upcoming #XYPNLIVE(ish) Post-Con, a workshop titled: A Blueprint for Kickass Video. Candice is a pioneer of video in this industry and has begun to share her passion for it with other advisors. Today, you'll hear Candice talk about how advisors use video as a way to effectively communicate with t...

We're excited to have XYPN member Wendy Marsden, owner of ProsperiTea Planning, out of Greenfield MA, on the show today.   Wendy is currently in what XYPN calls the "scaling phase," she has hit capacity to serve her clients on her own and is facing a whole slew of different challenges ranging from hiring to processes.   Today, Wendy talks to us about how she's built two businesses, a robust tax pl...

We're excited to welcome our one-thousandth XYPN member, Luis Rosa, owner of Build a Better Financial Future, a fee-only firm in Las Vegas, Nevada on the show today. Due to the state of Nevada's registration process, it took Luis 7 ½ months to launch his own firm and transition two dozen clients.  Listen as Luis talks about what it's been like to make that transition while dealing with a global pa...

We're honored to welcome Scott Gill, XYPN Senior Compliance Consultant, and Abby Morton, an XYPN member and partner of Goldman Financial Planning, a fee-only firm out of Maine, on the show today. Through XYPN's Compliance Coaching Program, Scott and Abby have been able to work together to help Abby scale her compliance program as she continues to grow as a firm owner. Join us as we talk about Abby...

We're excited to have both Travis Johnson, XYPN's Director of Compliance, and Kendra Rehm-Dehn, an XYPN Compliance Specialist, on the show today. Simply put, starting your journey towards running your own RIA can be stressful, and one of the most stressful parts of it is just getting started with compliance. There's so many unknowns: how you will charge, what services you're going to offer, and th...