Financial Advisor Success

Kelly Shikany is a financial advisor and Director of Wealth Management for Lakeside Wealth, a hybrid RIA where she manages a base of nearly $90 million in client assets. Deciding to not hang her hat as a solo advisor, Kelly instead navigates existing advisory firms so she can focus more on her clients. She joins the show to discuss her career path and how she has worked her way to the successful p...

Steph Bruno is the founder of Sea to Peak Financial Advisors, an independent RIA that oversees nearly $70 million in assets under management for 45 affluent clients. Today Steph joins the show to discuss the process of branching out and starting her own independent firm after spending 15 years as an employee for another firm.   Listen in as she explains why she decided to take the leap from a stab...

Peter Lazaroff is a shareholder and the Co-Chief Investment Officer of Plancorp, an independent RIA that oversees nearly $4.4 billion of assets under management for 1,300 affluent clients. Today he joins the show to discuss how he has been able to build his own personal brand, both as a mechanism to grow his client base and to help him navigate career opportunities. Listen in as Peter describes th...

DeLynn Zell is the founder and CEO of Bridgeworth Financial, a hybrid RIA that oversees nearly $1.6 billion of assets under management for almost 2,000 clients. Today DeLynn joins the show to discuss how Bridgeworth was built from the start to sustain past the founders and how they have taken steps to attract next-generation talent to ensure the firm remains a success in the long run. Listen in as...

Derek Notman is the founder of Intrepid Wealth Partners, operating as an agent for New York Life and overseeing nearly $50 million in assets under management for almost 200 clients. Today Derek joins the show to share how he evolved his advisory firm from a high-volume, bricks-and-mortar office into an entirely virtual practice. Listen in as he shares how he built up his virtual practice and team,...

Mary Beth Storjohann is the Chief Marketing Officer for Abacus Wealth Partners, an independent RIA that oversees nearly $2.6 billion in assets under management for almost 1,700 clients. After joining us for episode 61 nearly two years ago, today she is back for a second time to discuss the major changes she has made since then. Listen in as we discuss why Mary Beth decided to sell her own firm to...

Dan Allison is the founder of Feedback Marketing Group, a marketing and sales consulting firm that helps financial advisors to increase their growth by teaching methods to generate referrals from existing clients. Today Dan joins the show to discuss how he uses his background in behavioral psychology to help his clients to find more referrals by reducing their mental barriers, allowing them to be...

Beverly Flaxington is the founder of The Collaborative, which provides sales training and organizational development support for financial service firms. A firm believer that it's not just about knowing what to do, it's about knowing how to change your behavior to actually do it, Beverly joins the show to share the human behavioral coaching approach she takes to teach sales and how to get more com...

Luna Jaffe is the founder of Lunaria Financial, an advisory firm that oversees nearly $55 million in assets under management for 100 client households. In an effort to make financial knowledge affordable, Luna launched the Sacred Money Studios and Prosperity Pie Shoppe, a literal pie shop across the street from her advisory firm office that offers low-cost financial education programs on budgeting...

Tanya Nichols is the founder of Align Financial, a hybrid advisory firm that oversees nearly $50 million of assets for 80 client households. After nearly 20 years of working in a larger firm environment, Tanya finally found the courage to start her own advisory firm and took the leap to create the business she wanted. In this episode, she shares her journey through the advisor industry, focusing o...

Susan John is the managing director and financial advisor for F.L. Putnam, an independent RIA that manages nearly $2 billion of assets under management. After 25 years of building her own independent financial planning firm from scratch, Susan decided to join F.L. Putnam for part of her succession—but not her retirement. Today she joins the show to discuss why she made that transition and how she...

Laura LaTourette is the founder of Family Wealth Management Group, a hybrid advisory firm that oversees $45 million of assets under management for 86 client households. Today Laura joins the show to share how she has built her firm to work primarily with the LGBTQ community and how she found the right time to come out to her broker-dealer. Listen in as we discuss her financial planning process, wh...

Jeff Dobyns is the founder of Southwestern Investment Group, a hybrid advisory firm that oversees nearly $3.5 billion of assets under management. Today Jeff joins the show to discuss how he has developed next generation talent in his firm by only hiring new advisors in their 20s and giving them the opportunity to learn alongside experienced advisors. In this episode, you'll hear about the mentorin...

Ross Levin is the co-founder and CEO of Accredited Investors Wealth Management, an independent RIA that oversees nearly $2 billion of assets under management for 475 affluent clients. Today Ross joins the show to discuss the way he systematized the financial planning process across his firm and developed a wealth management index system that tracks clients' progress. Listen in as he shares how he...

Roger Pine is the co-founder of Holistiplan, a tax planning software built to systematize and automate the process of reviewing a client's tax return to find potential planning opportunities. Today he joins the show to discuss how he transitioned from working as a financial advisor to becoming a financial tech entrepreneur. Listen in as we talk about Roger's software and the ever blurring lines be...

Tom Bradley is the former president of TD Ameritrade Institutional, one of the leading RIA custodial platforms serving nearly 7,000 independent RIAs with almost $600 billion of assets held in custody. For over 25 years, Tom was a part of the growth of financial advisors operating as independent RIAs on a custodial platform. Today he joins the show to discuss the evolution of the RIA custody model...

Cathy Curtis is the founder of Curtis Financial Planning, a solo independent RIA that oversees nearly $60 million in assets under management for 52 client households. By positioning her business into a niche of serving women—in particular, single, independent-minded women who want to work with a female advisor—Cathy has managed to stand out in an over-crowded marketplace to build her firm. Listen...

Matt Oechsli is the founder and CEO of Oechsli Institute, which does primary research into affluent investors and how they select advisors. A marketing and sales consultant for financial advisors, Matt joins the show to share how you can connect with more affluent clients simply by building better relationships with them. Listen in as we discuss the importance of paying attention to details—like t...

Kristen Luke is the founder of Kaleido Creative Studio, a marketing consulting firm that specializes in multi-advisor fee-only RIAs with $100 million to $1 billion in assets under management. Today she joins the show to discuss the wheel of advisor marketing activity she has created, as well as its six core areas and what it takes to improve in each of them. Listen in as Kristen explains the impor...

Adam Cmejla is the founder of Integrated Planning and Wealth Management, an independent RIA that oversees approximately $45 million in assets under advisement for nearly 100 clients. Over the past two years, Adam's practice has undergone an incredible transformation, increasing their financial planning fees and growing revenue by nearly 80%. In this episode, Adam shares how his marketing process h...

Michele Clark is the senior portfolio manager for Acropolis Investment Management with more than 25 years of experience in financial services. From cold knocking to becoming a regional investor educational specialist and now working in investment management, Michele really has done it all within the industry. She even ran her own independent hourly financial planning practice until she recently de...

Douglas Boneparth is the founder of Bone Fide Wealth, an independent RIA that manages nearly $80 million of assets under management. After starting out in a fairly traditional broker-dealer model serving affluent retirees, Douglas decided to transition and focus on high-income millennials. Today he joins the show to discuss why he chose to invest in younger clients and how he has been able to succ...

Lou Tranquilli is the founder of Tranquilli Financial Advisor, an independent full-service financial firm that oversees $100 million in assets under management for 110 clients. Now focused on a niche that has helped triple his firm in under four years, Lou joins the show to discuss how his advisory firm has evolved over more than two and a half decades in business. Listen in as he explains how he...

Nina O'Neal is a partner and investment advisor with Archer Investment Management, a hybrid advisory firm that oversees nearly $90 million in assets under management. She joins the show today to talk about her advisory firm's structure and why they have no plans to change it, as they don't view the hybrid model as a way to the independent RIA model. Listen in to hear Nina speak candidly about how...

Kathryn Brown is the co-founder of Morton Brown Family Wealth, a firm that oversees nearly $110 million of assets under management for 85 affluent households. With her firm now positioned for the potential of 10x growth in the upcoming years, Kathryn has overcome many challenges to get to where she is today. In this episode, she opens up about her inspirational journey, including how she persevere...