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Financial Advisor Success: Daily Summaries Delivered
by 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.
Latest Episodes
The most recent episodes — sign up to get AI-powered summaries of each one.
- 5 days ago1h 30m
Ep 507: Growing Bigger For Succession And Then Intentionally Downsizing For A Simpler Lifestyle Practice with Carolyn McClanahan
Making the decision to downsize after growing can be shocking, but might also be the best decision for work-life balance. Today's guest shares the lessons she learned from growing her firm to more than 100 clients, before ultimately deciding that downsizing was the right choice. Carolyn McClanahan is the founder of Life Planning Partners, an RIA based in Jacksonville, Florida, that oversees $300 million in assets under management for 65 client households. In this episode, Carolyn opens up about how she used business coaches to create clearer career paths, establish measurable expectations, and improve compensation structures, before ultimately recognizing that the firm's growth strategy was contributing to burnout. Listen in to learn why she believes the financial planning profession could benefit from medical-style residency programs and why building a great advisory firm sometimes means knowing when not to grow. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/507
- 1 weeks ago1h 30m
Ep 506: Building A 'Killer' Scorecard To Track Key Weekly Metrics On The Path To $275M AUM with Jenna Biancavilla
Key metrics can not only show how your advisory firm is performing, but also whether your team is thriving. Today's guest builds a 'killer' scorecard to track the metrics that matter – from client engagement and new business activity to employee time off and retention – as well as why she shares valuable planning insights with prospects before they even become clients and how being more selective about the clients she works with has helped reduce stress and create more time. Jenna Biancavilla is the founder of Pearl Capital Management, an RIA based in Phoenix that oversees approximately $275 million in assets under management for 110 client households. In this episode, she breaks down how she balances weekly and quarterly metrics, sets achievable targets, and uses data to keep her team focused on the firm's biggest priorities. Jenna also explains how adopting the Entrepreneurial Operating System helped her team address issues faster, run more effective meetings, and prioritize quarterly "rocks" that move the business forward. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/506
- 2 weeks ago1h 30m
Ep 505: Using A "Pillow Test" To Make The Hard Business Decisions On The Way To $3.5B AUM with Andrew Rosen
How do you know you're making the right decision, especially when every option comes with trade-offs? Whether you're making career decisions or leading a growing advisory firm, today's guest offers practical lessons on building a business that aligns with your values while creating long-term success. Andrew Rosen is the Executive Chairman of Diversified, LLC, and in this episode, he shares the decision-making framework he calls the "pillow test," a simple but powerful way to evaluate career moves, business opportunities, and strategic decisions. Listen in as Andrew explains how this mindset shaped his career, from choosing a lower-paying role with greater long-term opportunity to navigating acquisitions, ownership transitions, and decisions around private equity investment. You'll learn how Diversified evolved from founder-led ownership to a partner-owned firm, what matters just as much as technical expertise when earning clients' trust, and more. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/505
- 3 weeks ago1h 29m
Ep 504: Taking Your Growth To The Next Level By Building An Authentic Personal Brand with Sheri Fitts
What makes a financial advisor stand out? The answer isn't a better logo or tagline—it's building a personal brand that stands out in the eyes of good-fit clients and ensures their work is in sync with their values. Sheri Fitts is a marketing strategist, and she joins the show to explain why every advisor already has a brand (whether they realize it or not), and how intentionally shaping that brand can attract more of the right clients. Listen in to learn how to uncover what existing clients value most about working with you, identify the niche that best aligns with your strengths and passions, and test your positioning before making major marketing investments. Sheri also shares how AI can help validate market opportunities, why experimentation is essential when refining your brand, and how having the courage to be bold—and stay true to your purpose—can create a business that's both more fulfilling and more successful. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/504
- Aug 18, 20261h 30m
Ep 503: Organically Growing To $800M AUM In Less Than A Decade By Investing In Educational Marketing with David Brooks
Whether you're looking to scale your advisory firm, improve your marketing strategy, or build a stronger brand presence, today's guest offers practical insights into how he has successfully done all that and more. David Brooks is the founder of Retire SMART, an RIA based in Omaha, Nebraska, that oversees approximately $800 million in assets under management for 1,000 client households. David joins the show today to share his strategic approach to marketing and growth, including how educational events, radio, television, podcasts, YouTube, and social media have helped him expand his reach and build trust with prospective clients. He also talks about how he measures marketing ROI, creates value through tax-focused planning, and navigates the operational challenges that come with rapid growth. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/503
- Aug 11, 20261h 29m
Ep 502: Managing $240M As A 3-Person Team Through A Structured Meeting Approach with Wendy Ciehanski
Your client review meetings could become your firm's biggest competitive advantage. Today's guest shares how her advisory firm has refined a structured client review process over more than 25 years, creating a consistent meeting cadence that improves efficiency while strengthening long-term client relationships. Wendy Ciehanski is a Senior Wealth Advisor at Composition Wealth, and she joins the show today to talk about how standardized agendas, thoughtful preparation, and repeatable systems can help advisors deliver a high level of service without sacrificing personalization. Listen in to hear why leading with life conversations creates better client outcomes, how Wendy's team segments meeting frequency based on client needs, and why merging with a larger firm allowed them to spend less time on administration and more time serving clients. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/502
- Aug 4, 20261h 29m
Ep 501: Navigating Succession Planning That Doesn't Turn Out As Expected (Even When You're Doing Everything Right) with Rick Kahler
You can take all the 'right' steps for succession planning… and it still might not go according to plan. After building an RIA managing approximately $300 million in assets for 130 client households, today's guest discovered that even the most carefully considered succession plans can unravel, forcing firm owners to adapt and rethink their future. Rick Kahler is the founder of Kahler Financial Group in Rapid City, South Dakota, and he joins the show to share the candid story of his decade-long succession journey. Listen in to learn why succession planning should begin years before an anticipated transition, how to structure partnership discussions to prepare for unexpected outcomes, and what Rick learned after multiple succession attempts before ultimately completing a successful sale to an external buyer. Whether you're years away from stepping back or just beginning to think about your firm's future, this conversation offers practical lessons on preparing your business and protecting your legacy. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/501
- Jul 28, 20261h 40m
Ep 500: Amplifying Business Growth By Constantly Honing Your Time Towards Its Highest-And-Best Use with Michael Kitces
Building a highly successful advisory platform is less about running every department yourself and more about finding the right operational partners to turn big ideas into a structured reality. Today's milestone episode explores the personal frameworks, scaling pain points, and core values that propelled a solo blog into a powerhouse industry platform. Michael Kitces, co-founder of the 26-person Kitces.com platform, turns the microphone around for our 500th episode to be interviewed by financial planning nerd Adam Van Deusen. Unpacking his personal approach to time management, Michael breaks down the "look at the tape" tracking framework that helps pinpoint an entrepreneur's highest and best use. He also details his transformative shift away from direct people management by partnering with an operational "integrator" (inspired by Gino Wickman's Rocket Fuel), and how building firm-wide metrics around the platform's QNR (Quality, Nerdy, Relevant) content standards gave him the confidence to hand off production. Listen in to hear raw lessons learned from navigating a painful 4X hyper-growth cycle, the exact 49-day interview process Michael uses to ensure cultural alignment, and how his definition of success has evolved after 500 episodes of interviewing industry leaders. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/500
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About Financial Advisor Success
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.
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