Malcolm Thomas became XYPN’s Director of Advisor Success about six months ago, and he brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience. Having had the unique experience of being on both the buy-side and sell-side of mergers, as well as various roles throughout his career, Malcolm has seen almost every corner of the industry.
In this episode, he shares his insight on the various business models out there, as well as the struggles each are facing. Listen in to hear the lessons he’s learned over the years, his mission in working with XYPN’s Advisor Success Department, and his outlook on the future of the industry.
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/184
Today’s episode is great for all financial planners, but especially those wanting to incorporate more in-depth tax planning—and even tax preparation—into their service model. XYPN member Dave Zaegel is here to share his journey from public accounting to financial planning to starting not one, but two firms of his own. Now a partner at both an accounting firm called CPAs for Hire and a financial planning firm called CWOs for Hire, Dave provides comprehensive financial planning services, including tax work, for his clients.
In this episode, Dave discusses how his two businesses are structured and how they work together within his service model. He also talks in depth about the way his financial planning process works, why he decided to focus on a niche of small business owners, and his plans for the future as both of his businesses continue to grow.
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/183
Although he didn’t expect to become a financial advisor, Evan Loomis is now a successful owner of a firm that has gained 22 clients in just one year. How did he get there? In this episode, we’ll hear about his start in collections, as well as how he excelled in his financial career due to his work ethic and ability to ask the right questions and listen.
Evan discusses how he strives to improve people's lives through his unique philosophy that unites his passion for soccer and finances, and opens up about the issues he had working at different levels of the financial sector that pushed him to move to a smaller firm before eventually starting his own. He also shares why he still coaches on the side, how he leverages his soccer network and what his plans are for the future of his firm.
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/182
Today I’m excited to have XYPN’s Chief Operating Officer, Raul Dominguez, on the show! After spending the first part of his career as a Navy helicopter pilot, Raul decided to transition to civilian life and ultimately joined our team back in 2015. He joins this episode to share what his day-to-day looks like as COO in order to give listeners some insight into what operations-focused team members do—and why they are so valuable.
We talk in depth about the concept of the visionary and integrator roles that we’ve been exploring lately on the podcast, and we discuss helpful tools for clarifying roles and responsibilities, goal setting, and developing staff. Whether you’re an entrepreneur thinking about hiring an operations manager or someone who wants to be on the operations side of things, this is an episode you don't want to miss.
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/181
XYPN co-founder Michael Kitces is back on the show! For the second year now, we have collected data from our member firms to help us better understand their businesses and how they’re operating, and Michael joins me today to talk about what we found.
We dive into our 2018 Benchmarking Study's primary charts and cover key data points that will help advisors thinking about launching a firm set realistic expectations about growth. How much revenue should you expect for your first years in business? Is it really necessary to find a niche? Does the CFP even matter? Listen in to get those answers and more!
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/180
XYPN member Michelle Gass has had quite a unique path into the financial planning world. After starting her career as a tax accountant, Michelle transitioned into a family office, and then ended up launching and running a successful hedge fund for over twenty years. It wasn’t until after she retired that she decided to get her CFP and launch her own financial planning firm.
Now the founder of Paradigm Advisors, a fee-only financial advisory practice that focuses on guidance and support, Michelle joins this episode to share her professional journey. She opens up about what it was like starting a firm from scratch, what her business looks like today, and the important lessons she learned along the way.
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/179
Morgen Rochard started out trading but eventually ended up owner her own RIA firm. In this episode we will learn how her trading experience has affected how she does business and actually guided her into financial planning. She shares her journey with us and tips from her experience in breaking into the financial planning world, growing a firm and even advice for women who want to start a firm AND a family.
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/178
Danna Jacobs and Rob Colon are an impressive brother and sister duo that went from launching a firm in 2013 with just one client—who happened to be their grandfather—to running not just one, but two successful businesses. The founders of Legacy Care Wealth and Inspired Vision Accounting, Danna and Rob have figured out how to balance their particular strengths and weaknesses to form a strong partnership.
In this episode, they share how their brother/sister dynamic works for their business, as well as how they divide up responsibilities between Danna’s role as the integrator and Rob’s role as the big-thinking visionary. Listen in to hear what they did to grow their businesses to where they are today, the technology tools they use to help manage their assets and to-do lists, and advice they’d give themselves if they could go back and do it all over again.
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/177
Todays' guest decided to start his own firm just six months after buying into a partnership to become the succession plan for a retirement-age advisor. Now the founder of Greater Than Financial, Wakefield Hare began his journey to starting his own firm after he learned about XYPN in 2015 and realized that he wanted to serve clients his way.
Three years later, Wakefield runs a successful practice serving just over 100 client households, and he has started to focus more on his niche of working with homeschool families. But now that he has achieved all that he initially set out to achieve, he admits that contentment has kept him from actively pursuing more opportunities. Listen in to hear our discussion about what made him decide to take the leap and start his own firm, how he built it to the success it is today, and what drives you in your entrepreneurial journey when you realize you have enough.
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/176
My guest today is a great example of how powerful it can be to nail down a niche. David Barson is the founder of Barson Financial Planning, and nearly two years after starting his firm, he has really started focusing on his ideal client profile: Genentech employees. Having started his own career in biotech and worked at the company himself, David is able to connect with current employees in ways most other advisors can’t, making his client relationships that much stronger.
In this episode, David shares his experience transitioning into the financial planning world and ultimately making the leap to starting his own firm. Listen in to hear how he built his firm from the ground up, as well as key advice for other advisors hoping to do the same.
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/175
When it comes to balancing work and life, Linden Cornett seems to have found a really interesting way to do that. Last time we spoke with her she had promised her family to not work as much by taking on only 5 new clients per year. In this episode we catch up with her to see how this plan has gone and how she is balancing family life, her practice and a part-time job.
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/174
Balancing two careers, Police sergeant Mike Bronson brings us some serious motivation and inspiration with his whirlwind life and career. He has some great insight and advice to share on time management, niche marketing, resilience and much more. Mike talks in depth about where he found his passion for finance and noticed an important need for financial help in the field he is so passionate about.
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/173
Many people start a business as a side-hustle with the goal to take that full time but Leo Nunez and James Estep of Everest Financial Advisors have two full time jobs. On this episode you’ll learn how two firefighters fell into finance and decided to follow their passion for helping firefighters manage money while remaining with their original careers. They have some great insight into managing two careers, letting passion lead the way and ensuring work/life balance.
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/172
Rebecca Connor took the leap and started her own financial planning firm. Her early success is something she credits to having a specific niche from the start and implementing processes that nurtured growth. She discusses the risks she took on, her unique niche in tech and the various experiments she made to figure out the right path for her firm.
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/171
Most people are very careful to keep politics out of their business in order to not offend or alienate potential clients. Zach Teutsch has found that his unapologetic political stance has actually helped his business. He discusses why he thinks his practice has grown due to his political views and why he decided to choose the controversial niche that he did.
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/170
Entrepreneurs view risk differently and Martin Lundgren is the perfect example of this. We’ll chat about his career journey into financial consulting and eventually his own successful business. He talks about the unique challenges and risks involved as an immigrant and shares many tips on what to do (and not to do) when it comes to starting your own firm.
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/169
Today I’m excited to have XYPN member Deb Meyer on the show. The founder of both WorthyNest and SV CPA Services, Deb started her career on the tax side of the business before eventually finding her way into financial planning. After working for a large family office firm, she realized that her passion wasn’t in working with super wealthy families and decided to switch gears.
Deb launched WorthyNest two years ago, and her focus is now on working with Christian parents who share her values. She continues to run her tax practice in addition to the RIA, and managed to do so while living in Spain for three months with her husband and three young sons. In this episode, she shares how she balanced her work and family time throughout her entrepreneurial journey, why she felt compelled to launch her RIA, and advice for listeners who are considering starting a business of their own.
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/168
Steve Crawford is a financial advisor, a coach to other financial advisors, and the founder of both Experience Wealth and XY Adviser in Australia. After working in the industry and realizing he wasn’t serving the client base he wanted to focus on, Steve started his own financial planning firm at what was probably the worst possible time to start a firm: 2008.
Despite the timing—and despite committing four major don’ts with his own firm—Steve has been steadily growing his business and helping his clients become financially independent. Since bringing on a couple of other advisors, he’s shifted his focus to providing cash flow planning services, and also training other advisors on how to provide this service. Listen in to hear how Steve integrated cash flow planning into his service model, where the majority of his clients come from, and what to expect from the cash flow presentation he'll be giving at the XYPN LIVE 2018 Conference.
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/167
Today I'm excited to have XYPN Member Eric Gabor on the show! Eric has spent his entire career as a financial advisor, but he realized early on that he wanted to work with a different client base than the one most firms serve. After making the decision to leave a high-paying job to follow that desire, he ultimately launched his own firm, Eagle Grove Advisors, in 2016.
In this episode, he shares the struggles he went through in his first year as an entrepreneur, dealing with very little interest from prospects and limited revenue. Now averaging one prospect meeting per week, Eric has built a successful firm that allowed him to spend 5 months out of the country over the last two years. Listen in to hear how he did it, as well as his advice for other financial planners hoping to start their own businesses one day.
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/166
The financial planning industry has mostly targeted the higher earners and often been less accessible for those that really need financial planning and advising services. Michael Anderson joins us to talk about how he is working on providing options for the lower income clients. He also discusses the importance of having a relationship with his clients and why he works so hard on communicating effectively in order to understand his clients’ needs and serve them in the best way.
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/165
Breanna Reish is the founder of Wealth of Confidence, a women's wealth firm that aims to transform the financial planning experience for women. After starting her career on the tax side of the business (and having to plan pregnancies around tax season), Breanna decided to leave and work for an RIA doing financial planning.
Still finding herself unsettled, she ended up meeting a coach who helped her really understand the clients she wanted to serve and rediscover why she was in this business. Breanna ultimately chose to start her own firm, making the decision with her husband to become a two-entrepreneur household—while having two young children.
In this episode, she shares her journey to finding her place in the industry, as well as encouragement for women who want to start a firm, but also want to start a family. Listen in to hear how Breanna managed her own firm launch, how she determined her service model, and how she balances it all so well that she's hit her revenue goals for her first twelve months and first full calendar year in business.
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/164
My guest today has seen his firm through some of the most explosive growth we’ve seen on the podcast. Kyle Moore is the founder of the fee-only financial planning firm Quarry Hill Advisors, and his path into and through the industry is as surprising as it is inspiring.
In this episode, Kyle shares how he went from traveling the country as a professional golfer to working as a financial advisor at a firm that saw its partners split up just nine months after he joined. Listen in to hear how he got through his rocky start in the industry with a young child at home, why at one point he accepted a $25,000 salary, and what ultimately made him decide to leave what he calls “the best associate planner position in the country” to start his own firm.
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/163
Today’s guest is a thought leader in the financial industry who has been published in Black Enterprise, CNBC, Financial Advisor, ThinkAdvisor, MarketWatch, US News & World Report, Women’s Health, and many more. Rianka Dorsainvil is the founder of Your Greatest Contribution, as well as the creator and host of the 2050 Trailblazers podcast, which directly addresses the lack of diversity in the financial planning profession.
A young minority female, Rianka offers a unique voice in the industry, and she is using it to promote inclusion of all kinds. Listen in to hear her inspiring story of following through with what she was meant to do—even when she sometimes didn’t want to embrace it—how she's working to make the industry more inclusive, and what she says all entrepreneurs need to remember in order to keep going even when the going gets rough.
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/162
Brad Sherman is the founder of Sherman Wealth Management, an independent fee-only financial planning and wealth management firm with $38 million in AUM. While Brad started his career on the mortgage side of the business and went through several job changes, he slowly made his way over to financial planning and ultimately made the decision to launch his own practice—while his wife was 36 weeks pregnant.
In this episode, Brad shares how he built up his firm with a young baby at home, as well as what made him decide to break away from his broker-dealer and form his own RIA. Listen in to hear what he did to grow his client base as a new business owner, what he’s learned over the last five years of running his own firm, and what he envisions for the future.
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here:http://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/161
Many listeners have requested that we bring back some of the interviews and see where their businesses are after a year. Today we get the chance to catch up with Ryan Frailich who has now been in business for about 18 months. He opens up about the changes, challenges and successes that he and his business has gone through over the past year since we last got a chance to chat.
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here:http://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/160