Financial Planner Life Podcast

In this episode of Financial Planner Life , Sam Oakes speaks with Heather Hiley , founder of Heather Hiley Financial Planning and a Partner Practice with St. James’s Place . Heather shares her inspiring transition from retail and e-commerce into financial planning via the St James's Place Financial Adviser Academy at the age of 45 , showing what’s possible with courage, curiosity, and commitm...

Title: From 17 Clients to £500M AUM: How Marc Norris Built a Thriving Financial Planning Firm In this episode of Financial Planner Life , Sam Oakes is joined by Marc Norris , founder of Twelve Wealth Management , to explore how he went from estate agency to building a financial advice business with over £500 million under management . Marc shares his journey from day one of the St. James’s Place A...

In this episode of Financial Planner Life , Sam Oakes talks with Neil Whiteside , a financial planner at First Equitable , about his winding, risk‑reward career journey from starting as a cashier in banking to embracing financial planning, taking a pay cut for growth as a trainee Financial Planner, and ultimately choosing a role that lets him help build a business rather than just sustain one. Nei...

In this episode of Financial Planner Life, Sam Oakes speaks with Tammy Salmon and Emma Layton of Salmon Financial Planning , a partner practice of St. James’s Place in Bishop’s Stortford . We hear how Emma transitioned from redundancy to a qualified financial planner through the St. James’s Place Financial Adviser Academy , supported by Tammy’s mentorship. Tammy shares her 20-year journey in finan...

This week on the Financial Planner Life podcast, Sam Oakes sits down with Rosie Hooper , Chartered Fellow and Financial Planner at Quilter Cheviot. Rosie shares her inspiring 26-year journey from her early days in bank management, through corporate employee benefits, to becoming a highly respected private client planner. Rosie talks candidly about how growing up in a household where money was tigh...

This week on the Financial Planner Life podcast, Sam Oakes speaks with James Westpfel, a financial planner at Foster Denovo, who shares his career journey from self-employed to employed and how going hyper-local helped him build a thriving client base from scratch. After 22 years working in a building society, James made the leap into self-employment. With no client book and no lead funnel, he tur...

In this episode of the Financial Planner Life podcast, Kanishk Swarup shares his incredible journey from high-stakes equity derivatives trading at JP Morgan and Credit Suisse to launching his own financial planning practice through the St. James’s Place Academy . We explore what it’s really like to work on a trading floor, the burnout behind big bonuses, and the unexpected truth: even successful f...

In this episode of Financial Planner Life, host Sam Oakes sits down with Andrew Spence , Co-Founder of Aspen , to challenge the industry’s most controversial questions - what we call the Marmite topics of financial planning. Aspen was born out of something deeper than disruption. After a personal health crisis led Andrew to reflect on the impact of his work, he decided to build a model portfolio s...

Karen Berisford, Chartered Financial Planner and Fellow of the PFS, left a prestigious investment role at JP Morgan to build a client-first advice practice with St. James’s Place . She prioritised trust, time control, and service over scale-at-all-costs. In this episode of the Financial Planner Life podcast, Karen shares how she grew to £150M AUM without relying on social media or paid marketing....

Is This the Best IFA Network?  Sam Oakes Meets Sam Wallis – New Leaf Distribution Visit:  reach out to new leaf - click here  Welcome back to the Financial Planner Life Podcast, where we explore what it really takes to build a meaningful and rewarding career in financial planning. This week, host Sam Oakes speaks with Sam Wallis, Managing Director of New Leaf Distribution, to unpack how this IFA n...

In this episode of the Financial Planner Life podcast, Sam Oakes sits down with Hannah Witty, Chartered Financial Planner at Foster Denovo , to explore her inspiring journey into financial planning. From working on superyachts to becoming one of the earliest Chartered female planners in the UK, Hannah shares the personal and professional hurdles she faced as a woman, a mother, and a leader in a ma...

🎥 Financial Planner Life Golf Day | Game 1: Vikash Kanani vs Paul Taylor Real Golf. Real Financial Planners, Real Finanical Planning Career advice. Watch this episode on YouTube or Spotify - here Welcome to the first ever Financial Planner Life Golf Day, where the fairway becomes a forum for honest, unfiltered career advice in financial planning. 🏌️‍♂️ The Match: It’s Vikash Kanani (MD, Chatswort...

Welcome to Day 2 of the Financial Planner Life Golf Day – where birdies, bogeys, and brilliant business insights go hand in hand. You can watch this episode on youtube or spotify!  here   This round sees Michael Yuille CFP™ (aka Mr #ChickenTuesday) and Sam Oakes take on Carla Brown (President of the PFS) and Guy Skinner (Citygate Financial Planning) in a best-of-seven match play showdown — with ca...

How do you pass the CII RO exams and achieve the DipPFS?  In this episode of Financial Planner Life , host Sam Oakes speaks with Gary Paul (Academy Relationship Manager, St. James’s Place Academy ), John Smith (Qualifications/Technical Trainer, Redmill Advance ) and Rebecca Bidwell , who passed the DipPFS in just 5 months . We answer the top questions aspiring advisers ask: What are the RO exams?...

How do you get clients as a financial planner without buying leads or relying on referrals? In this episode of Financial Planner Life , Sam Oakes interviews Jak Ali, Managing Director of J.A. Financial Planning Ltd, a Partner Practice of St. James’s Place Wealth Management. Jak shares exactly how he generates clients as a financial adviser using creative, confident, and relationship-based business...

Mortgage Adviser Explains Why She Went Self-Employed, and Will Never Go Back! 👉 “I left my job after 16 years, and it turned out to be the best decision I ever made.” That’s what Carly Naylor, Mortgage and Protection Adviser at Foster Denovo , told me when we sat down to record this episode of Financial Planner Life. Carly’s been in financial services for over two decades. She started her journey...

If you’re a newly Level 4 Diploma qualified financial adviser with or without CAS status , an experienced financial planner wanting to run your own practice, or a mortgage broker looking to expand into financial planning, this episode of the Financial Planner Life podcast is a must-listen. This week, host Sam Oakes speaks with Mark Hobbs , founder of New Leaf Distribution - an I FA network that su...

What if your advisers could serve 20–30 more clients, save 45 minutes per meeting, and reduce suitability report time from 3 hours to 10 minutes - all without hiring more support staff? That’s what Saturn AI is already delivering for over 600 financial planning firms  ( 1600 Advisers ) , and in this episode of the Financial Planner Life Podcast , Sam Oakes sits down with co-founder Rohit Vaisha to...

Thinking about a career in financial planning ? In this episode of Financial Planner Life , Miriam Murphy joins Sam Oakes to share her powerful career switch story, from Executive Assistant to qualified financial planner , with support from the St. James’s Place Academy . Miriam opens up about her early money mindset, paying off debt, buying a home, and how mentorship from Rob Gardner helped her s...

  Wayne Griffiths | One Financial Solutions | Financial Planner Careers In this episode of the Financial Planner Life podcast, Sam Oakes sit down with Wayne Griffiths , Managing Partner at One Financial Solutions , to explore how he’s creating meaningful, supportive career paths for self-employed financial planners . We also dive into the ongoing debate: what’s better, restricted or IFA? Wayne sha...

From Admin to Self-Employed Financial Planner with £10M AUM by 26!  In this episode of the Financial Planner Life Podcast, Sam Oakes sits down with Lawrence Bearman, a 26-year-old Chartered Financial Planner at Westminster Wealth Management who's gone from admin assistant to managing £10 million in assets, all within his first year of self-employment. We unpack: Why Lawrence chose to go self-...

From Critical Illness to £60M Practice: Russell Cook’s Story of Resilience, Mindset and Career Growth at Foster Denovo In this special partnership episode of the Financial Planner Life podcast with Foster Denovo, we speak with Russell Cook — a senior partner, self-employed financial planner, and two-time survivor of life-threatening illness. Russell shares how he built a thriving £60 million pract...

In this episode of the Financial Planner Life podcast, host Sam Oakes reconnects with Emmanuel Asuquo, a leading financial planner, TV personality, and social media educator. Emmanuel was Sam’s second-ever guest when the podcast launched, making this a special full-circle conversation. They dive deep into Emmanuel’s journey from growing up on a council estate to becoming one of the UK’s most recog...

In this episode of the financial planner life podcast, Sam Oakes sits down with Katie, a former Army officer who transitioned into a successful financial planning career with the St. James’s Place Academy . Katie’s story is one of resilience, adaptability, and building a business that fits around life’s big moments, including becoming a mum mid-way through growing her firm. We cover: ✅ How milita...

Jeri Williams on Scaling a Business, Letting Go of Control, and Building a Life with More Freedom In this episode of Financial Planner Life , Sam Oakes sits down with Jeri Williams , the powerhouse behind Smooth Accounting in the UK and now Smooth Dubai . Jeri shares how she built a business that runs without her, the mindset shift that allowed her to finally let go of control, and why protecting...