Behind The Advisor

We're honored to interview Emily Purdon, XYPN's former Financial Planning and Process Coach (transitioning to Director of XY Tax Solutions), on the show today. Having just finished her first year at XYPN, Emily has been the mind behind our XYPN Financial Planning & Process. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here:  http://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/268

We're honored to interview the leaders of the XYPN Diversity Committee - Shehara Wooten, Miguel Gomez, Ryan Frailich, and Abel Soares - on the show today. These wonderful XYPN members have all served on our Diversity Committee over the past 12 months and are on the show today to discuss: the value of the CFP® designation; their own personal journey pursuing it; and ultimately the scholarships and...

We're honored to have XYPN members Jan Schalkwijk and Erica Blake on the show today to talk about how they've incorporated Socially Responsible Investing (SRI/ESG) into their firms. While Erica and Jan run their own RIAs, they met each other when Jan put a call out in the XYPN Member Forums about forming a study group around this investment focus. You can find show notes and more information by cl...

Join us as we discuss Jocelyn Wright's experiences being the first and only Black person in many rooms over the years in her industry, and how she has viewed it as an opportunity to lean in by networking. Learn from Jocelyn's passion for her work and the importance of our current environment for making real change in our industry. Finally, listen to her message around diversifying the industry and...

We're thrilled to welcome back XYPN co-founder and Industry Guru, Michael Kitces, to the show today to talk through XYPN's lawsuit against the SEC. As you may be aware, in September 2019, XYPN challenged the Regulation Best Interest rule in federal court. After months of litigation, we officially received a ruling against us in late June 2020. Today, Michael shares what that ruling means and how X...

We're excited to have XYPN member Levi Sanchez, founder of Millennial Wealth, a fee-only firm in Seattle, Washington on the show today. Like many advisors, Levi got his start in this industry immediately after college at Merrill Lynch and went through their advisor training program. Although he only spent about three years there, he speaks highly of the experience and credits it for training him o...

We're excited to have XYPN member Therese Nicklas, owner of Wealth Coach for Women, a fee-only firm in Rockland, MA, on the show today. With 40 years of experience in this industry, Therese has spent time working in the insurance business with employee benefits as well as a substantial stint at LPL. However, it wasn't until 2016 when Therese decided to sell her commission business and open up her...

We're excited to have XYPN member Leslie Ransom, owner of Indie Financial Planning, a fee-only firm in Chicago, IL, on the show today. Having spent nearly two decades on the sale and distribution side of the music industry, working with bands and music labels all across the nation, Leslie was first introduced to the concept of managing money and providing advice when the music economy began to mov...

We're excited to have XYPN member Tyler Landes, owner of Tandem Financial Guidance, a fee-only firm in Kansas City, Missouri, on the show today. Tyler has a really unique experience building his firm. In 2014, Tyler became a founding member of XY Planning Network and joined the then-group of 30 financial advisors and discovered how he wanted to build his own firm. Being a planner, however, Tyler w...

We're excited to have XYPN member Dave Rowan, owner of Rowan Financial, a fee-only firm in Bethlehem, PA, on the show today. Dave is a career changer; he spent a majority of his professional life at Crayola - yes, the Crayola - as the Director of Research and Development, and though he loved his work, he found that he was drawn to financial planning and decided in 2010 to start his own firm on the...

We are thrilled to have XYPN member, Angie Furubotten-LaRosee, owner of Avea Financial Planning, a fee-only firm in Richland, WA, on the show today. Angie shares her unique experience in the world of entrepreneurship, having launched her firm once in 2011 and then again in 2018 and she expresses the challenges she and others have faced when starting a business, particularly in those first few year...

We're excited to have XYPN members Diana Bacon with FSG out of Dallas, TX, and Scott Bell with GDP Inc out of Manhattan Beach, CA on today's show. Both Diana and Scott started and grew their own RIAs during the 2008 recession. During this episode, we reminisce about their experiences getting started in the industry and their decision to go out on their own during such a tumultuous time in our hist...

This week, we're changing things up and are excited to have XYPN coaches Emily Purdon, Arlene Moss, Carolyn Dalle-Molle and BB Webb on the podcast today. Once COVID-19 became recognized as a global pandemic, the XYPN team recognized that advisors were going to be facing new experiences, opportunities, and hardships. As we braced for a new reality, the XYPN Advisor Success team rolled out "The Way...

We're thrilled to share the story of XYPN member, Chuck Donalies, on the show today. Chuck is the owner of Donalies Financial Planning, a fee-only firm in Washington DC. Chuck started his career in the biotech space, but while pursuing his MBA, he was drawn to financial planning. Shortly after graduating, Chuck changed careers by taking a position at a fee-only RIA—what he describes as the perfect...

Today, I'm excited to welcome Kenneth Klabunde, founder of Precedent Asset Management in Indianapolis. When we last spoke with Kenneth four years ago, his firm was just getting established. Now, he's returned to share how his business has not only survived but thrived through recent market volatility. What struck me most during our conversation was Kenneth's remarkable achievement: amid significan...

We're honored to have XYPN members Ian Bloom, Meg Bartelt, Brian Thompson and Leighann Miko on the show today as they talk about communicating authentically with clients during a time of crisis. This group of members have invested heavily into themselves, their business and their clients by engaging in the George Kinder's "EVOKE® 5-Day Life Planning Training" program, where they learned the tenant...

We are excited to have XYPN members Sean Gillespie and Paul Allen - founders of the fee-only firm Redeployment Wealth Strategies, located in Virginia Beach, VA - on the show today. Both Sean and Paul served in the Navy for over 20 years, and chose financial planning as their encore careers. We discuss at length how Sean and Paul teamed up to rebrand Paul's RIA into their own three years ago after...

On this special episode centered around COVID-19 and XYPN's pro bono effort, we are joined by long-time XYPN members Kevin Mahoney, founder and CEO of Illumint, and Dana Menard, founder and CEO of Twin Cities Wealth Strategies. Kevin and Dana, who have been running separate fee-only firms for several years, discuss how they have made their advice available on a pro bono basis for consumers around...

Scott Weiss is the owner of Weiss Financial Group, a fee only firm in Mahopac, NY. In today's episode, we discuss Scott's previous career as an art director in the magazine world, as well as why he decided to leave that industry and enter into the financial planning profession. Listen in as we delve into Scott's story: what it was like joining a family firm, how they broke the business into a tax...

Martha Williams is the owner of Williams Wealth Services, a fee-only firm in Ann Arbor, MI. Like many advisors, Martha began her career in this industry, from the bank channel to broker-dealers and independent BDs to eventually running her own firm. Martha shares her journey with us and how the underlying desire to help people followed her with every career move she made. In 2017, she finally brok...

Trent Porter is the owner of Priority Financial Partners, a fee-only firm in Durango, CO. Trent began his career in this industry and, after graduating with a financial planning major, started his first RIA while still in his 20s. Trent provides an especially interesting perspective on the show today about having built not just one firm over the years, but two. Join us as we talk about his investm...

Cliff Downie is the owner of Downie Financial Group, a fee-only firm in Orange County, California. Cliff has spent his career in this industry, going from Merrill Lynch to an independent big broker-dealer, and then ultimately becoming the owner of his own RIA. He joins the show today to discuss his unique perspective on running a firm that serves over 100 clients while still maintaining valuable t...

Kelly Luethje is the owner of Willow Planning Group, a fee-only firm in Holderness, New Hampshire. Kelly spent most of her early career working in investor relations at a bio-tech company and after getting her own financial house in order she was drawn into Financial Planning industry. After working at another fee-only firm, she decided to start her own RIA and today she runs a completely virtual...

Joe Morgan is the owner of Best Financial Life, a fee-only firm in Danville, California. Joe has spent his career on the corporate side of this industry and after nearly 20 years, he is experiencing the most joy he ever has - joy he credits to his firm. Today Joe joins the show to share his advice for advisors breaking out on their own and reminds us how great it can be when you push through the h...

Rooted Planning Group is a firm started by XYPN member Amy Irvine, and it consists of financial planners Kate Welker, Kerrie Beene, and Becky Partridge-Eason. Amy found herself hitting capacity a few years ago—both in terms of sanity and time—so she decided to start laying the foundation for what is now a four-person company. Today Amy and her team join the show to discuss their unique experiences...