Behind the Advisor, an XYPN Podcast, takes you behind the scenes of what it really takes to launch, run, and grow a successful fee-only financial planning firm. Through candid conversations with industry leaders and real-life advisors, we uncover the challenges, victories, and lessons learned along the way. Whether you’re starting out or scaling up, this podcast delivers the front-line insights and actionable strategies you need to build a thriving, purpose-driven firm—on your terms.
On this special episode centered around COVID-19 and XYPN's pro bono effort, we are joined by long-time XYPN members Kevin Mahoney, founder and CEO of Illumint, and Dana Menard, founder and CEO of Tw…
Scott Weiss is the owner of Weiss Financial Group, a fee only firm in Mahopac, NY. In today’s episode, we discuss Scott’s previous career as an art director in the magazine world, as well as why he d…
Martha Williams is the owner of Williams Wealth Services, a fee-only firm in Ann Arbor, MI. Like many advisors, Martha began her career in this industry, from the bank channel to broker-dealers and i…
Trent Porter is the owner of Priority Financial Partners, a fee-only firm in Durango, CO. Trent began his career in this industry and, after graduating with a financial planning major, started his fi…
Cliff Downie is the owner of Downie Financial Group, a fee-only firm in Orange County, California. Cliff has spent his career in this industry, going from Merrill Lynch to an independent big broker-d…
Kelly Luethje is the owner of Willow Planning Group, a fee-only firm in Holderness, New Hampshire. Kelly spent most of her early career working in investor relations at a bio-tech company and after g…
Joe Morgan is the owner of Best Financial Life, a fee-only firm in Danville, California. Joe has spent his career on the corporate side of this industry and after nearly 20 years, he is experiencing …
Rooted Planning Group is a firm started by XYPN member Amy Irvine, and it consists of financial planners Kate Welker, Kerrie Beene, and Becky Partridge-Eason. Amy found herself hitting capacity a few…
Denise Downey is the owner of Financial Trex, a fee-only firm located in Spokane, Washington. One of the first 50 women to join XYPN, Denise has worked on the trading floors of the Chicago Stock Exch…
Today XYPN member Rob Brown, owner of Brownsboro Financial, joins the show. After starting his career in the film industry as a production manager, he craved something new and decided to start a care…
Erik Klumpp is the owner of Chessie Advisors, a fee-only firm in Rochester Hills, Michigan. After gaining invaluable experience at four different firms straight out of college, Erik built his practic…
Relationships, trust, and follow-through with clients are all incredibly important in the financial advising field. XYPN member Hillel Katzeff joins us on this episode to share how he has truly taken…
Scott Arnold is the owner of Impact Folio, a fee-only firm in Denver, Colorado. After starting his career in this industry—working both at Schwab and an RIA—he realized he wanted to offer impact inve…
Leighann Miko is the owner of Equalis Financial, a fee-only firm in Los Angeles, California. Although she began her career in this industry, her money scripts that led her into this career were forme…
BB Webb is XYPN’s sales coach, having joined the team with the unique experience of being an entrepreneur herself. Today she joins the show to discuss the challenges she faced as a business owner bef…
Kingston Hollman is one of XYPN’s compliance consultants and a former regulator with the state of Minnesota. Having been a financial advisor and firm owner himself in the past, Kingston now provides …
Today we are joined by the team from Financial Design Studio (FDS), a fee-only firm in Deer Park, Illinois. Husband and wife duo Michelle and Stephen Smalenberger started FDS three years ago with the…
Today we have XYPN member David Shotwell on the show! Now the owner of Shotwell Rutter Baer, David says he feels like he is just getting started—despite beginning his career in the brokerage world ov…
Alex Yeager started his career out of college at Vanguard, gaining valuable experience working with clients and their investments. After feeling as though he would like to work more intimately with c…
Today XYPN member Craig Joncas and his partner, Jim Bradley, join the show to share their experience building Penobscot Financial Advisors. As Jim reveals how the practice originally got started and …