Financial Advisor Success
Michael Kitces
The Financial Advisor Success podcast brings you real success stories and insights from the most successful financial advisors, and leading industry consultants, about how to take your advisory business to the next level. Get a glimpse of what it's like behind the scenes building a successful advisory business, and how entrepreneurial advisors navigate the inevitable highs, and lows, of growing a firm. Whether you're a new financial advisor trying to get started on the right foot, or an experienced advisor who's hit a wall, we're here to give you the insights and inspiration you need to break through and reach the level of success you want to achieve. Subscribe to the show, and get even more at the leading industry blog Nerd's Eye View at www.Kitces.com.
Episodes
Mentioned books
14 snips
Oct 6, 2026 • 1h 31min
Ep 510: Creating Effective Discovery Meetings To Convert 100% Of (High-Value) Prospects Into Clients with Michael Yoder
Michael Yoder, founder of Yoder Wealth Management, is a CFP professional and former actuary serving affluent households. He reveals how a carefully designed discovery process has converted every qualified prospect over the past decade. Topics include values-based questioning, retirement income and equity compensation specialization, QSBS-driven referrals, transitioning to fewer ideal clients, and building a practice around family, flexibility, and “enough.”
45 snips
Sep 29, 2026 • 1h 30min
Ep 509: Systematizing Your Differentiated Service As A (True) Retirement Expert While Scaling To $850M Of AUM with Dana Anspach
Dana Anspach, founder of Sensible Money, leads an $850 million retirement-focused RIA. She explains how her firm systematizes decumulation planning through detailed data gathering, tax scenarios, historical stress tests, fundedness ratios, and asset-liability matching. She also discusses custom planning software, scaling to 330 households, burnout, leadership, and growing a firm without losing sight of personal values.
37 snips
Sep 22, 2026 • 1h 35min
Ep 508: Leveraging Video The Right Way To Add $1M Of New Revenue In Less Than 12 Months with Nate Hoskin
Nate Hoskin, co-founder of SageContent and former advisory-firm founder, shares how he built an audience of nearly 80,000 on TikTok and generated nearly $1 million in annual revenue. He explores audience fit, performance marketing, video funnels, content analytics, and the operational strain of rapid growth. He also discusses repurposing content, batching production, and choosing the right video format.
23 snips
Sep 15, 2026 • 1h 25min
Ep 507: Growing Bigger For Succession And Then Intentionally Downsizing For A Simpler Lifestyle Practice with Carolyn McClanahan
Carolyn McClanahan, a physician-turned-financial planner and founder of Life Planning Partners, shares her surprising journey from building a 100-client firm to intentionally downsizing. She discusses succession missteps, career paths, team development, the hidden cost of growth, and respectful client transitions. She also makes the case for medical-style residency programs in financial planning and reveals how employee ownership can support a simpler, more sustainable future.
72 snips
Sep 8, 2026 • 1h 31min
Ep 506: Building A 'Killer' Scorecard To Track Key Weekly Metrics On The Path To $275M AUM with Jenna Biancavilla
Jenna Biancavilla, founder of Phoenix-based Pearl Capital Management and co-founder of Savvy, shares how her firm reached $275M in AUM. She discusses building a weekly scorecard, using EOS and quarterly “rocks,” solving operational problems, and tracking both growth and team wellbeing. She also explores demonstrating planning value before fees, team-based compensation, and designing a business that creates more freedom.
Sep 1, 2026 • 1h 31min
Ep 505: Using A "Pillow Test" To Make The Hard Business Decisions On The Way To $3.5B AUM with Andrew Rosen
Andrew Rosen, executive chairman of Diversified LLC, helped transform the firm into a multibillion-dollar, partner-owned wealth business. He explains his “pillow test” for weighing difficult decisions, including private equity, acquisitions, and career risks. Rosen also shares lessons on radical candor, founder transition, ownership buyouts, scalable leadership, and why relationships and employee success matter more than expertise alone.
29 snips
Aug 25, 2026 • 1h 29min
Ep 504: Taking Your Growth To The Next Level By Building An Authentic Personal Brand with Sheri Fitts
Sheri Fitts, a marketing strategist who helps advisors build authentic personal brands, shares how every advisor already has a brand and why shaping it matters. She talks about finding what clients truly value, narrowing focus to attract the right people, testing niche viability with research and AI, and experimenting where your audience consumes information. She also covers aligning channels with how you like to show up.
65 snips
Aug 18, 2026 • 1h 31min
Ep 503: Organically Growing To $800M AUM In Less Than A Decade By Investing In Educational Marketing with David Brooks
David Brooks, founder of Retire SMART and builder of an $800M RIA, scaled his firm through educational marketing. He breaks down using seminars, radio, TV, podcasting, YouTube and mailers to build funnels. He also discusses measuring marketing ROI, tax-focused planning, staff and operational scaling, and moving from in-person funnels to digital reach.
81 snips
Aug 11, 2026 • 1h 30min
Ep 502: Managing $240M As A 3-Person Team Through A Structured Meeting Approach with Wendy Ciehanski
Wendy Sahansky, Senior Wealth Advisor who manages a multi-million-dollar book and a three-person team. She discusses a decades-refined structured client review process. Topics include standardized agendas and meeting cadence, batching and prep routines, life-first conversations, segmentation of meeting frequency, and lessons from merging with a larger firm.
Aug 4, 2026 • 1h 30min
Ep 501: Navigating Succession Planning That Doesn't Turn Out As Expected (Even When You're Doing Everything Right) with Rick Kahler
Rick Kahler, founder of Kahler Financial Group who grew an RIA to ~$300M, shares a decade of succession planning trials and a final sale to a local accounting firm. He recounts choosing and losing successors, using therapy to vet partnerships, navigating legal and cultural hurdles, handling last-minute staff upheavals, and why flexibility and early preparation matter when transitions go off-script.
