Financial Advisor Success

Julie Littlechild is a speaker, writer, and researcher focused on understanding and improving financial advisors’ engagement with their teams and their clients. She is now the founder of Absolute Engagement, a firm that provides ongoing research into personal, client, and team engagement to support a dynamic business. One of her primary subjects of research, which is especially relevant helping financial advisors get more and better quality referrals from clients that will help grow your practice. Julie talks about how she got drawn into the world of financial advisors in the first place and how she knew coaching wasn’t the right fit for her. We then discuss why satisfied clients often don’t translate into quality referrals, and the steps you can take to increase the number of referrals you do get. Julie also shares the experience of selling her coaching business Get the full show notes and transcript for this episode at: https://www.kitces.com/3 

It’s taken Ron Carson considerable energy and determination to get where he is today, and this interview sheds light on all the hard work he’s done to build such an impressive career. While it may seem like successful people simply spring into existence, I hope these interviews show you that all financial planners encounter triumphs and obstacles alike. Ron talks candidly his humble beginnings and the moment of physical, emotional, and professional burnout that actually turned into his career-making opportunity. He also shares the mistakes he’s made along the way, including his slow adaptation of technology and hesitance to invite other über-talented people into his practice’s inner circle. We then discuss Ron’s thoughts on making your employees into shareholders, and how he juggles the advising, mentoring, and charitable businesses he’s founded over the years. Get the full show notes and transcript for this episode at: https://www.kitces.com/2

I’m thrilled to bring you weekly episodes featuring interviews of successful financial planners, their stories and the insights you can learn from their valuable experience. In this first episode, I have a conversation with Rick Kahler, a financial planner in Rapid City, South Dakota who built his own practice to a stable of 100 clients and $200M in assets under management. Rick’s story is truly humbling as he openly shares the events and decisions that brought him to where he is today. You’ll hear about his decisions that worked well in growing his practice, and quite frankly the sheer persistence in Rick’s professional career that allowed him to consistently and repeatedly overcome roadblocks and challenges. Between losing 5 out of 6 employees in under 60 days, facing insolvency and near bankruptcy 6 times, and failing on multiple businesses before running his practice, Rick’s ability to persist when times are uncomfortable will simply inspire you. Get the full show notes and transcript for this episode at: