Behind The Advisor

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: https://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: https://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: https://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: https://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: https://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: https://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: https://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: https://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: https://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/161