1. Podcasts
  2. Business News
  3. Financial Advisor Success
Financial Advisor Success cover art

16 episodes

Financial Advisor Success

by Michael Kitces · English

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.

Latest episodes

All episodes

Ep 515: Crafting Deeper Client Relationships To Drive Loyalty, Referrals, And Gain Career Flexibility with Sarah Baker

Sarah Baker (Mason Investment Advisory Services) explains how she builds deeper client relationships to drive loyalty, referrals, and career flexibility—by meeting clients where they are, identifying…

10 Nov 2026 · 1h 29m · 36 chapters

Ep 514: Optimizing A $160M AUM Solo Practice For Client Impact Over Scale with Nick Ibello

Nick Ibello explains how he intentionally caps his solo virtual advisory practice at about 100 client households (roughly $160M AUM) to maximize “depth over activity” and client impact, using a…

3 Nov 2026 · 1h 30m · 33 chapters

Ep 513: The Path From (Unpaid) Intern To CEO Of A $3.4 Billion Advisory Firm with Neela Hummel

Neela Hummel’s career journey at Abacus Wealth Partners—from unpaid intern to CEO—plus how she built client-facing trust, advanced into leadership, and helped professionalize the firm.

27 Oct 2026 · 1h 39m · 44 chapters

Ep 512: Winning Clients And Moving 'Upmarket' By Being Confident In Telling Your Value Story with Chris Smith

How financial advisors can win higher-dollar, more complex “upmarket” clients by redesigning the discovery and sales process—especially leadership in discovery, listening/synthesizing, assertive…

20 Oct 2026 · 1h 41m · 36 chapters

Ep 511: Outsourcing And Managing Client Headcount To Stay Lean As A Two-Founder, $150M Firm with Ashlee deSteiger

How Ashlee deSteiger, co-owner of Gunder Wealth Management (a two-founder, ~$150M RIA), stays lean while scaling by outsourcing back-office and paraplanning support, then managing client headcount…

13 Oct 2026 · 1h 31m · 37 chapters

Ep 510: Creating Effective Discovery Meetings To Convert 100% Of (High-Value) Prospects Into Clients with Michael Yoder

How Michael Yoder’s structured discovery-meeting system converts 100% of high-value prospects into clients, and how his firm redesigned itself from a generalist practice into a focused “lifestyle…

6 Oct 2026 · 1h 38m · 43 chapters

Ep 509: Systematizing Your Differentiated Service As A (True) Retirement Expert While Scaling To $850M Of AUM with Dana Anspach

Dana Anspach (Sensible Money) explains how she systematizes “true” retirement expertise while scaling her RIA to $850M AUM.

29 Sep 2026 · 1h 38m · 38 chapters

Ep 508: Leveraging Video The Right Way To Add $1M Of New Revenue In Less Than 12 Months with Nate Hoskin

Nate Hoskin explains how to use video marketing to generate qualified leads and revenue for financial advisors, contrasting “performative” marketing (posting activity) with “performance” marketing…

22 Sep 2026 · 1h 42m · 43 chapters

Ep 507: Growing Bigger For Succession And Then Intentionally Downsizing For A Simpler Lifestyle Practice with Carolyn McClanahan

Carolyn McClanahan (Life Planning Partners) explains how she grew her Jacksonville RIA to 100+ clients, then intentionally downsized to 65 clients to execute succession and regain work-life balance,…

15 Sep 2026 · 1h 25m · 33 chapters

Ep 506: Building A 'Killer' Scorecard To Track Key Weekly Metrics On The Path To $275M AUM with Jenna Biancavilla

Jenna Biancavilla, founder of Pearl Capital Management (Phoenix, AZ), explains how she uses an EOS-style weekly scorecard and quarterly “rocks” to manage growth toward about $275M AUM, track leading…

8 Sep 2026 · 1h 31m · 43 chapters

Ep 505: Using A "Pillow Test" To Make The Hard Business Decisions On The Way To $3.5B AUM with Andrew Rosen

Andrew Rosen explains his “pillow test” decision framework for building and scaling an RIA—evaluating not only what happens if a choice goes wrong, but also the downstream effects if it goes right.

1 Sep 2026 · 1h 31m · 30 chapters

Ep 504: Taking Your Growth To The Next Level By Building An Authentic Personal Brand with Sheri Fitts

Building an authentic personal brand for financial advisors to stand out with “fit” clients, align with values, and grow referrals—especially as trust shifts from institutions to individuals.

25 Aug 2026 · 1h 29m · 25 chapters

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 (Omaha, NE), explains how he grew the RIA to about $800M AUM in under a decade using educational marketing funnels, heavy marketing spend, and tight tracking of…

18 Aug 2026 · 1h 31m · 39 chapters

Ep 502: Managing $240M As A 3-Person Team Through A Structured Meeting Approach with Wendy Ciehanski

How Wendy Sahansky and her husband Chris run a 3-person wealth practice (RIA Composition Wealth) managing about $240M AUM and 156 households using a highly structured client review meeting…

11 Aug 2026 · 1h 30m · 37 chapters

Ep 501: Navigating Succession Planning That Doesn't Turn Out As Expected (Even When You're Doing Everything Right) with Rick Kahler

Rick Kahler (Kaler Financial Group, Rapid City, SD) recounts a 10+ year succession planning effort that repeatedly failed despite “doing everything right,” culminating in an external sale to a local…

4 Aug 2026 · 1h 30m · 34 chapters

Ep 500: Amplifying Business Growth By Constantly Honing Your Time Towards Its Highest-And-Best Use with Michael Kitces

Michael Kitces (interviewed by Adam Van Dusen of Kitsis.com) explains how he manages time to maximize “highest-and-best use,” using time-tracking, delegation, and business scaling decisions across…

28 Jul 2026 · 1h 40m · 40 chapters