Between Now and Success

To borrow a phrase from recent podcast guest Alan Smith, financial advisors are facing "a Spotify moment." Just as streaming upended the traditional music business of selling records and put a premium on the live concert experience, AI is commoditizing traditional money management and raising the value of ... Well, what exactly? What is the financial advisor's equivalent of a live concert? What is...

In the early 1980s, Al Ries and Jack Trout published the seminal marketing book Positioning: The Battle For Your Mind. They argued that marketing wasn't simply about products or services; it was about capturing a specific space in the consumer's mind. Think of Volvo and you immediately think of "safety." Think of Walmart and you think, "Low prices." If you want "fast food" you'll probably start lo...

Are you sure? And, perhaps more importantly, are your clients? In an increasingly polarized world, folks are becoming more and more dug-in about what they believe to be true. But an "either/or" mentality can lock out important data when we're weighing complex, real-life challenges. And when we value being "right" above all else, we may fail to recognize that not every challenge is a problem we can...

Organic growth has been stalling for years. AI is compressing basic money management into a commodity. And in this uncertain economic environment, where even the reliability of the 60/40 portfolio is in flux, advisors can't just count on long bull runs to keep their bottom lines up and their clients happy. To blast off this plateau, advisors must fundamentally rethink how they train their teams, w...

The launch of advanced AI models capable of writing code and executing complex tasks has coincided with a sharp drop in the share prices of some large financial service companies. The market is reflecting the reality that the traditional, technical, number-crunching value proposition of a financial advisor is rapidly being commoditized. But what does this mean for the individual human advisor and...

According to a recent study from Schwab Advisor Services, 63% of advisors are now using AI in some capacity. However, the RIA AI landscape remains highly experimental: only about 10% of firms report having fully integrated AI into their core strategy, while 30% say they are still just experimenting. So, if 2025 was the year of the AI notetakers, how can firms take the next step and truly harness t...

In 1984, Andy Schwartz and his twin brother Scott joined a startup Northwestern Mutual district agency in New Jersey. Four decades later, their firm, OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners, manages approximately $15 billion in assets. Andy, now CEO and Managing Partner, describes their early days as operating like a "band of pirates" sharing resources and reinvesting heavily in building capacity. His firm's...

I recently had the pleasure of joining Dave Zoller on his YouTube channel, Streamline My Practice, to discuss something I've been thinking deeply about lately: the difference between owning a business and being owned by your business. If you're a financial advisor wondering whether you've built a thriving enterprise or just created a demanding job for yourself, this conversation is for you. Dave a...

Most people spend their lives trying to eliminate tension: Work or rest. Control or flow. Clarity or creativity. But a well-lived life isn't free of tension—it's guided by how we hold it. In this podcast, I walk through the three polarities I'm using to guide my life and work in 2026, and reflect on how last year's polarities shaped some of my most meaningful experiences—from sailing and writing t...

Guest: Nikki Henderson, a world-class professional sailor. In 2018, Nikki became the youngest skipper to lead a team in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. At the age of 25, over the course of more than 40,000 miles of ocean racing, Nikki led a diverse team of mostly amateur sailors from 16 countries to an extraordinary second place finish. She's also skippered numerous transatlantic races and...

I discuss how well I executed on my 3 words from 2024 and then reveal why and how I'm changing the exercise for 2025. For 2025, I'm going to explore polarities —pairs of words that represent the tension and harmony between opposing yet complementary concepts. This shift feels like a natural evolution. Just as life is a balance of contrasts—action and rest, growth and reflection, giving and receivi...

Guest: Dr. Preston Cherry, AFC®, CFT-I™, CFP®, Ph. D., an entrepreneur, coach and speaker. Dr. Cherry is the creator of the Life Money Balance™ approach and founder of Concurrent Financial Planning. His new book is Wealth in the Key of Life: Finding Your Financial Harmony. In a Nutshell: "Songs in the Key of Life" is one of Stevie Wonder's most famous albums. In a similar vein, Dr. Preston Cherry...

Guest: Kendra Wright, owner of Rebel Media Agency, a marketing company specializing in financial professionals. In her prior life, Kendra worked in rock 'n roll marketing for some of the biggest names in music (Willie Nelson, Motley Crue, Matchbox Twenty, and more). In a Nutshell: Great copy means you'll never experience a failure to communicate. Great copy is simple. Great copy is found and it co...

After I left Peak Advisor Alliance (now Carson Coaching), I settled on the idea of starting my Between Now and Success podcast as part of my next chapter. I figured podcasting would be a great way to stay in touch with people in our industry, keep networking, and learn from the best of the best. Now, 10 years later, across five separate podcasts, I've recorded more than 850 episodes, the vast majo...

Guest: Mindy Diamond, the founder and CEO of Diamond Consultants and the author of a fantastic new book called Should I Stay or Should I Go? In a Nutshell: Between the competition for top talent at large firms and the proliferation of smaller lifestyle RIAs, many advisors feel like they need to be constantly evaluating their career options. But the grass is not always greener, and FOMO should neve...

Guest: Eric Brotman, CFP®, AEP®, CPWA®, is a Principal and the Chief Executive Officer of BFG Financial Advisors. Eric began his financial planning practice in Baltimore in 1994, and founded Brotman Financial Group in 2003, which later became BFG Financial Advisors. He and his team focus on supporting families and individuals by providing comprehensive financial planning and wealth management serv...

Guest: Dave Zoller, CFP®, owner of Streamline Financial Services in Warrenville, IL. Streamline currently manages over $450 million in assets for 250 client households. In a Nutshell: Digital marketing isn't about trying to strike lighting and "go viral," although that certainly helps! The advisors I've talked to who have mastered YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook. email, and other channels turn clicks...

Guest: Josh Self, CLU, ChFC, CFP®, Managing Partner of Ridgeline Wealth Advisors in Raleigh, NC. In a Nutshell: Do you serve your business or does it serve you? Josh Self decided to do a complete rebrand and design his business around his personal passion of being an everyday explorer. He wanted to attract other like-minded outdoor enthusiasts so his website and podcast are 100% geared toward that...

In a Nutshell: Steve and Amy Koenig, a financial advisor coach, are back for a deep dive on an issue every advisor will face at some point which is, how do you transition existing clients to another advisor and do it so the clients stay and there's no drop in service. Sometimes there's a personality mismatch. Sometimes goals aren't aligned. Sometimes advisors need new challenges. Or, as was the ca...

Guest: Lisa Salvi, Managing Director, Advisor Services at Charles Schwab. In a Nutshell: If you could start from scratch and sketch out what the ideal advisory practice looks like, what would you come up with? Lisa Salvi and her team have developed just such a blueprint for what the most successful firms at Charles Schwab are doing to manage and grow their businesses. On today's show, Lisa and I d...

Guest: Erin Scannell, Chief Executive Officer of Heritage Wealth Advisors. In a Nutshell: When I talked to Erin Scannell in 2020, he was directing 50 team members, 18 advisors, and about $2 billion in AUM. Four years later, Heritage has doubled to $4 billion in AUM, and Erin is in charge of over 80 team members, including 20 advisors and a robust support team. On today's show, Erin shares the secr...

Guest: Dr. Shaywanna Harris-Pierre, a licensed professional counselor and financial therapist with a rich background in marriage and family therapy. Dr. Shay is also the owner of Shades of You Counseling and Consulting. In a Nutshell: Every family is unique, and no family is perfect. The dynamics, positive and negative, that exist between loved ones create ideas and emotions around money that infl...

Guest: Amy Koenig, a financial advisor coach and the Chief of Operations at ROL Advisor. In a Nutshell: Amy Koenig was the first coach I hired back in 2004 when I was running Peak Advisor Alliance-now Carson Coaching. She coached advisors, operations leaders, and she developed the entire systems manual that was a key part of our coaching offering back in the Peak days. Now, Amy coaches with me and...

Guest: Shannon Warwick, Certified Personal Trainer, Yoga Teacher, & Sports Nutritionist. In a Nutshell: There's a profound connection between our physical health and the stress that we carry around with us every day. Today's show is a bit different from my usual focus on financial advisor practice management. Shannon and I dive deep into the topic of reducing stress in our lives - something that I...

What can Elton John, Van Halen, and Taylor Swift teach financial advisors about running a successful firm? On today's show, Matt Ackermann and Andree Mohr discuss their unique spin on writing about practice management, which examines stories about how famous musicians hone their craft and applies those lessons to what we do as advisors.