Latest / The Matriarchy Would Never | A Promote Yourself to CEO Podcast Series / How Cris Caruso Built a Financial Practice for GenX Women and LGBTQ+ Communities

Transcript

How Cris Caruso Built a Financial Practice for GenX Women and LGBTQ+ Communities · The Matriarchy Would Never | A Promote Yourself to CEO Podcast Series

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: When financial advisor Chris Caruso decided to go off on her own to launch her new business, Savoir Financial, a few years ago, she knew exactly who she wanted to serve.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Women, specifically Gen X women, and LGPTQIA plus clients, who have historically been overlooked by traditional financial services.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: In this conversation, she's sharing how she successfully transitioned her practice out on her own independently, how she brought her clients along and built a business that combines hospitality with education.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: Her insights on the coming wealth transfer to women and the power of building genuine relationships reveal why going more niche isn't just good business.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's transforming how underserved communities access financial guidance.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: This episode is a must listen for any service professional who is ready to make their bold move.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: Are you ready to grow from stressed-out solopreneur to confident CEO?
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: You're in the right place.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Rachel Cook, and I've spent the last 15 years helping women entrepreneurs to sustainably scale their life-first business.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: If you're serious about building a more sustainable business, it's time to put strategy systems and support in place to make it happen.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: Join me each week for candid conversations about stepping into your role as CEO, the hard lessons learned along the way, and practical, profitable strategies to grow a life-first business without hustle and burnout.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: Hey there, CEO Rach here.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so excited for this conversation today because, you know, I usually do solo episodes here on Promote Yourself to CEO.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: I usually do a lot of deep dives into strategy and systems to help you scale your life first business.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: But what I also love to do is bring you stories of real entrepreneurs who are implementing these strategies so that you can see what we are talking about here isn't about doing things my way, right?
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's not about doing it because this is how Rachel does it.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: And it's always about finding your way.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's all about finding the path that aligns with you and using this framework as a way to get the clarity that you really need so that you can align your business with your values and your vision and your personality and your strengths, all of these different aspects that make you unique and different and make your business unique and different.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: And that's exactly what Chris Caruso has been able to do.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: So when Chris came to us about two years ago, she's at the end of her second year inside of the CEO collective, headed into her third year with us.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: And when she came to us, she had just gone independent with her financial advisory practice.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: She had spent almost 20 years working within a much larger organization.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, this happens.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: This is what we see happen for a lot of women entrepreneurs.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, the average age of a woman entrepreneur right now is 44, and they bring usually decades of experience doing this work within much larger organizations.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: And the research shows that the reason women start to want to go independent, they want to start their own business, doing the same work, but in a unique and different way, in a way that's more aligned.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: They're seeing an opportunity in the market, they're seeing something that maybe isn't being acknowledged within the context of these huge, you know, corporate organizations.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: We're seeing a lot of people make this leap and decide to take their, you know, decades of experience in finance or accounting or law or insurance or any of these types of things and go independent and really be able to do it in a unique way that is a hundred percent aligned with them, which I absolutely love.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: That is what we are a fan of here because we don't do one size fits all, we don't do cookie cutter, we don't do, you know, this is the A-Z blueprint, you have to do it exactly this way.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: We are all about helping our clients take proven business strategy and learn how to apply it and tweak it so that it really works for them and their business.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: So that is exactly what Chris has done with Savoir Financial.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: Savoir Financial is where she provides comprehensive financial planning services for LGBTQ individuals, couples, unmarried partners, and women decision makers.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, Chris, I'm so excited you are joining me for promote yourself to CEO.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, thanks for having me.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I absolutely wanted to have you come talk to all the CEOs who listen to the podcast.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: One, because they need to know who you are and your work with your business at Savoir Financial, but also because I think the work you're doing is just so important and it's a great example of how any type of business can really niche down into working with a group they care about so much.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: So I'd love for you to start by giving us a little background history about your journey to actually launching Savoir Financial.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: So I um have been in the financial services industry since 2004, so 20 years now.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um I started Savoir Financial two years ago with the sole vision of working with women and people in the LGBT community and really also working with people in the Gen X age group.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because I feel like we're often overlooked between millennials and boomers.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I think this is something that is such an amazing opportunity for a lot of us to think about when we're thinking about who we are wanting to work with is who is underserved, who is overlooked.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: And you have clearly like this is in a way, your ideal clients are you, right?
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: So like you are trying to connect with people who are very similar to you and help them overcome things that the mainstream hasn't really created support systems for, to be honest.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: So when you started Savoir Financial, what was your, you know, reason for going off 100% on your own and leaving the bigger organization you were a part of before?
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was really important to me as the organization I was with before got bigger.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: That voice that I was really trying hard to cultivate in this community that I was trying to establish relationships and trust with was just getting diluted because the other advisors and the other folks on this team didn't have that same alignment.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: They were very welcoming and accepting of me having this group of people that I connect best with.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: But I felt like the firm wide alignment sort of diluted that voice.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: And so it felt like I was climbing uphill a little bit.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it was really important to me to take that message to sort of double down on me and who I am and how I move around the world and invite people to do the same and invite people like me, women, people in the LGBTQ community, Gen Xers, to see themselves, to see themselves in an industry where women are underrepresented, queer people are underrepresented, and Gen Xers sort of get overlooked between boomers and millennials.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_01: And so when we talk about money, we're talking about all the people on the other sides of us and not us.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: And so in creating Sabar, it was so important to say this is who we are, and this is who we work with, and we're here to help.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: And it's so it's so incredible to look at just the last couple of years since you have gone out on your own, because when you joined us inside of the CEO collective, I was learning more about your business.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: I was getting really excited about your mission, and you were able to actually bring clients with you, which is a little different from a lot of small business owners.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: Usually, when they leave a bigger organization, they're not able to bring their clients, but you were able to actually bring a lot of your clients with you.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's unique to the type of industry that you're in.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: But also, I'd love to know like, how did you approach that leaving a bigger organization and saying to them, hey, I'm going off on my own.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love you to come with me.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: What was that like for you?
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: It was the hardest thing I've ever done.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: It was scary.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: It was petrifyingly scary.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: It took me a long time to have enough belief in myself that I could do this.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: It took a long time and a lot of support from coaches and other people in my network and other professionals and talking to other people who have these very niched down independent practices like I do to see that this is happening and to sort of develop that confidence and belief that I could do it.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um and then unfortunately, you know, that exit from that other practice was very fast.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: That once I need my my wants very clearly identified, you know, there wasn't room for me to be there anymore.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, it was a fast transition when we actually got down to it, but it had been simmering in my mind for a while.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: And it probably took me a good nine months of preparation to sort of put everything in in order to be able to go.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: I think this is something that keeps a lot of people stuck.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because you build a career, right?
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: You build a career, you have all these relationships, you have all this work that you've done.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: And the idea of leaving the kind of safety net of a larger organization with all of the infrastructure they have and all of the, you know, resources they have, and then suddenly figuring out how to do it all on your own.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: What was that like for you?
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: Because this, there were a lot of really significant changes when you decided to hang your own shingle, right?
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: So, what did that look like when suddenly you went from a massive organization with lots of resources at your disposal to now you're the you're the one.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: You're the one doing all the things.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: I am.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_01: And so I had to learn, you know, I had to rely on other professionals, right?
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: I have an attorney that I worked with.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: I have I interviewed a number of other organizations.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, there's a lot of ways to run a business like mine from literally just doing everything on your own to the other end where I had been before, where the firm I was with did everything for us.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_01: And there's such a spectrum in between that I knew I wanted, I needed support.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, on identifying and understanding who was gonna, who are I was I gonna affiliate and align with, who was gonna be enthusiastic about bringing somebody like me on, and not just, you know, being like, oh yeah, sure, I guess you could try that, or nobody's ever done that before, but really finding people who were like, Yes, come do that with us.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so putting together some other professionals who have areas of expertise that I do not and bringing them together.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_01: And so that's a lot of pieces.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: I think one of the hard things is that the there's so many choices.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: So I am someone that can very easily get overwhelmed by having to make too many decisions and really just having to lean back on what I know, and in some cases, just sticking with those same things that I've always used because it was one less decision I had to make and one less new thing I had to learn.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: So, some of the tools I'm using, I've used for many, many years.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe eventually we'll put it in a rotation to review and change.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: But when I started, I needed a lot of, I needed some things to stay the same.
• 13:12
  unknown: Yeah.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: Because the decision fatigue can be really real.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I feel like that's where leaning into other people, leaning into other professionals, letting experts do their jobs.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I had to take that advice for myself because I give my clients that advice.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_01: I am the expert, let me do my job.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I had to take that advice and let other experts do their jobs for me and hire them where I knew I needed them.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's such a different experience than I think a lot of other entrepreneurs that I've talked to simply because you said you took, you know, nine, 10 months to plan taking this leap on your own.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: But the minute that you made it known, it was fast.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's a little different of a situation because often people can build while they're still working, but that wasn't going to work in this situation as a financial advisor, financial planner, because it would be a conflict, right?
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: Because it was the same job.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't have this side thing that I was building, you know, that uh or passion project that I wanted to turn into a business and ease out.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: I wanted to do the same business.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: And so I just wanted to do it differently.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: And so, yeah, there was absolutely no way that I could overlap.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I think the other thing that was really, really challenging for me was I had worked with this group of people for a very long time.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, I loved them very much.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, we had built very, very close relationships.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: And so that emotional piece was also very challenging to unwind.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it was a big leap of faith for you to make that decision, but fast forward two years.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: How has that been for you?
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: You know, now looking back, it's been a few years.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: Most of your clients came with you.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: Many of my clients came with me.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: It's been two years.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: We just had our second anniversary, September of 2024.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_01: We just had our second anniversary.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I say that while it is all, it is two things at the same time.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: It is the hardest work I have ever done, but it is the most satisfying and rewarding work I've done at the same time.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and we very strategically, in part with help from you, took year one as a fund, a foundation year.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_01: We spent year one really attending to the clients that came with me, the ones that took that leap of faith and that trust to come with me on this new adventure, making sure they had what they needed, making sure that we loved them up the best we could, but also building the foundation of the business, building our systems, building our policies, building the culture that was so important for me to create.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: And folks, that sort of go slow to go fast.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_01: So year two is yeah, we have implemented we've and tweaked and adjusted because you know, you try things for a little while and we have to tweak them because for any number of reasons.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_01: So we've made a lot of adjustments this year, but we've really put into practice what we built in year one and year two has been so good.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's amazing because I think a lot of times people don't want to focus on the systems first.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: But you had the first initial challenge for a lot of small businesses kind of solved once those clients came over with you, right?
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: You that's one of the things that makes your business a little bit different was that those clients committed to coming over with you, which means you had revenue from the beginning.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: You weren't starting from scratch like a lot of small business owners.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: But knowing that you lost so much infrastructure and operational support going on your own, I remember you were building out all these systems, you were building out all this onboarding.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: The one of my favorite things, though, that you've built out, and I want to have you talk about this, is you have a client-only newsletter and you have an educational process for all your clients that I just think is so smart because as a financial planner and advisor, your clients stay with you for a long time.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: So once they're with you, they're with you for a long time.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I think this is one of those industries where there's a lot of people who do similar work who don't provide a whole lot of value once you've moved your money to be managed by them or once they've made your retirement plan.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: But your approach has been so different.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: So can you share a little bit about how you develop this like client experience that has got people so excited about continuing with savoir?
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: So part of my past employment background is I worked in the hospitality industry.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_01: So I bring two very distinct former employment experiences to being a financial advisor, and that is one of them.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: The other one is I went to school to be a teacher.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: So I always say teaching is my superpower.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_01: So I have a really well-built ability to explain highly technical and highly complicated concepts in an easy way.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_01: So we bring a lot of education into our practice.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: But the other thing that I really believe is important and is different that we do is that level of service and bringing that hospitality background into what we do.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_01: So we build very intimate and in, you know, strong relationships with our clients.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: And we love them up.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_01: We, you know, talk to them regularly.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: I want to be in that top 10 list when a life event happens.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_01: I want to be in that top 10 list of who gets the phone calls, the good or the bad.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um and our client-only newsletter is an interesting mix of education, resources, um, and things that are, I think my clients find interesting.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: One of the ways we shape that is we pick a yearly theme.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: Because, like I like you said, I've worked with these people for so long that it I don't ever want to run out of things to address or talk with, talk about with my clients.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_01: And so by picking a theme and rotating through them every few years, it's about the time to revisit those themes.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, when we do back to school, so our August newsletter is always sort of geared about back to school.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the things that we did that really benefited a client last year was I always remind all of my clients who have kids who are turning 18 that there's certain things that they should be putting in place for those newly minted young adults before they go out into the world.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_01: Because as when they're 18, our you know, parents' abilities to have you know to make decisions on behalf of their kids starts to shift.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: And so when we remind those parents very specifically, hey, your kid's gonna turn 18, here's what I'm recommending for you.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_01: And then they implement that, that's that added touch that yeah, a lot of advisors aren't adding in.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's so important and it becomes a great way to provide value, but also a great way to like not overwhelm people.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I think the world of personal finance is definitely one where there's a lot of the deer and headlights when it's just like we need to do this and this and this and this, and it just becomes so disheartening when you can see people like this is too much.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: I can't do all of this right now.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: But by the way that you kind of strategically give them these little insights, like, hey, your kid's 18, it's time for them to come talk with me, it's time to do these couple things, or like you, I know you had done a whole series around um estate planning, you know, or family planning or all these things that I we don't always think about until we're in the middle of it.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like a perfect reminder.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: But I also know that because this is a client-only newsletter, this is such a great strategy to retain those clients and to re engage them, but also a great opportunity for referrals.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I think this is something that you've done so well because your whole business continues to be referral based.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: It does.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_01: And not by, I think, on purpose, but yeah.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Long as it continues to sustain our growth, uh it is the way that we will, you know, sort of I will take them.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_01: I love talking to my I love my clients, they're such cool people, and they have the coolest friends and family members, and so I am always super excited to talk to their their network and their people.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I also think because of who we are and because of our niche, to know that the person who is coming to me through a referral already has a sense of who I am, already has a sense and the potential to be aligned with the work that we're doing, versus somebody who maybe sees somewhere where I've spoken or finds my website because they Googled, you know, Financial Advisors Washington, DC or whatever they do.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um I know that a referral is going to already be aligned with the practice that we are creating, with that niche that um, you know, we're aligned with.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I think this is another thing that I really love about the way your business is set up right now, because you are specifically calling in women, you're specifically calling in Gen X women, and you and I have messaged back and forth around this.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: We are just seeing a huge shift right now in the transfer of wealth and what is going to come.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: And women are such an underserved segment.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_00: So you shared with me that you're starting to see a lot of times when, you know, most of the time, if you're if you're married to a man, men tend to not live as long as women.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_00: So the first major transfer of wealth that we're about to see is not necessarily generational.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be between, you know, women losing as those boomers age, more women who are in that generation are gonna start realizing, oh, I have to handle all this myself now.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: But maybe their advisor never talked to them because they weren't the man.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: And so we're seeing this huge shift already where women are like, I want people who are actually gonna support me and encourage me.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to talk about that for a second.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what are you seeing as far as like the needs of women when it comes to personal finance?
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think when we talk about widowed women of all ages, um, and I don't know the statistic off the top of my head, but it is startlingly high.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_01: The number of women that leave their family's financial advisor within the first 12 to 24 months of their male partner's death is staggeringly high because they don't have a relationship with that typically male advisor.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_01: The in that boomer generation, that advisor was probably a friend of their husband's.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: It was probably a family friend.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_01: The average age of advisors in our industry right now is 60 something.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_01: So as those advisors, advisors start to retire out, um women are often those ones making the decisions and maybe they've never had to make them before.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_01: And women work well in relationships.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_01: They want to know that they can trust, especially if they don't feel like this is an area they have confidence in.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_01: They want to find an advisor and any professional, all of their professionals, they want people that they can relate to and that they can trust.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_01: And they don't feel like they're being pushed to make decisions quickly.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_01: They don't want to feel ashamed and embarrassed for maybe not understanding the industry lingo and lingo, language and lingo, where you know it's just can be really fast-paced.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: And they are looking for people who will take the time with them, who are conversational, who are relational, and are willing to meet them where they're at.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_00: I'm seeing this across so many professional industries.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I just did a talk to a bunch of accountants and bookkeepers, same situation.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, in the insurance industry and the legal industry, a lot of these professional um services industries, we are just seeing this issue where one, there's not as many people going into those industries as maybe in previous generations.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_00: And like you said, the average age is in their 60s.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: So for women who are wanting to, if you if you're a financial advisor, if you're an accountant, if you're a lawyer, if you're in insurance, any of these, you know, traditional professional roles, and you haven't loved the environment or the culture of those organizations, there's such a massive business opportunity here to talk to people and support people in the way that they that you probably wished, you know, was available.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: But I think this is such a huge opportunity for a lot of small business owners who, you know, we're in this opportunity where you still probably have 10 or 20 years left in your career.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_00: There's gonna be a lot of turnover where people are looking for new advisors and new support.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: And the way that you stand out is by clearly calling in the ideal client you want to work with.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_01: And when we think about like elder millennials and Gen X women who are marrying later, or not at all.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_01: We are often the primary breadwinners.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_01: We are busy, and we also need people who will do that same thing, right?
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_01: The from me, the service model is the same, like, you know, age-wise.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but maybe Prince or Princess Charming never came along, or maybe they did come along and they don't make good financial decisions, or they don't know any more than you do.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like that expectation that women maybe had generations ago is that someone would come along and just take care of these things.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't happen.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, when the age of marriage is is later andor not at all, um, as non-traditional families, blended families.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um and that's a huge opportunity too.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: I have another friend who's in um a financial planner advisor, and she's like basically specializes in post-divorce women.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's how her practice has evolved.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_00: But I think the reason I'm so excited about this is we know that there has been a wealth gap between men and women, that there has been an education, traditionally an education gap, that women have not been talked to about money or about planning.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_00: And for anyone who this is the world you're in, and you've been the one woman in the office full of guys, and you're like, how can I take this and do it myself?
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_00: I think the way that you were able to do this was so great because you led with relationships, you were able to provide value to people and really talk specifically to the needs that they were having, um, the people that were able that wanted to continue working with you.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I think a lot of maybe old school mindset might have been trapped in the scarcity thinking of I should take anybody and everybody, because the most important thing is that I have as many clients as possible.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: But I think your approach of saying, no, I want to work with this, these specific types of clients, help be that person for them, help them navigate these transitions in their lives and in your own way close the wealth gap by closing the education gap and closing all the things that have really left women at a disadvantage for so long.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I just think there's such a huge opportunity here for so many women who are who could potentially make a similar transition.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel like when we, you know, when we talk about my clients in the LGBTQ community, for so many reasons.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, for my Uomer and elder millennial, you know, my Gen X clients, many of them didn't think they'd live through the HIV crisis to have careers in their 50s and 60s and a retirement to even plan.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_01: Or as kids, they didn't feel like they fit in, they didn't see a future for themselves.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_01: And so maybe it took them a little longer to get their career started.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_01: And so they're behind, and now they need to catch up because you know, we they they, you know, it took a minute.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_01: So no, family planning, like right, or they've been cut off from their families and they don't have that generational wealth coming.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_01: There's so many layers to why I believe that these two communities need this support.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_01: We they need the visibility, we need to be seen, we need the support that is more than just accepting, but that is compassionate, that is, you know, relational, that yeah.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's amazing.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's just, you know, uh you're on the journey right alongside your clients, being there is as a huge part of their support system.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's part of how we need to think about our, you know, professional advisor people who who we're coming to is they should understand where you're coming from.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember when I first started my business, it was frustrating.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_00: I got a lot of um talking to professional experts and you know, accountants and lawyers, and it was a lot of how cute this little business.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so the way that women have been traditionally like kind of talked down to is a huge reason why I'm so passionate about more women getting the support they need and finding support systems that believe in what they're doing and that are not going to, you know, patronize you if you have a question.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_00: Because these are the reasons women have been held back, right?
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_00: Is we don't want to look dumb, we don't want to ask a question, we've kind of given away a lot of power to people or didn't have power to begin with.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's really exciting to see businesses like yours start to get even more traction and serve the audiences that you are serving.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_00: So as you are continuing to build Savoir Financial, you have clients where all over uh Virginia, DC area, a lot of the country, really.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_00: All over the country.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_00: You're starting to get on podcasts and starting to talk more.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, what is a great step for someone who's looking for a financial advisor like you?
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_00: What is the the first step you recommend that they do in order to find the right fit?
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, ask ask somebody that you trust and admire who they are working with, ask a friend, ask a family member, um, you know, get a referral.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_01: And then I always tell my potential clients that as financial advisors, we all sort of have the same tools.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_01: And none of us are technically any better than the next person.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_01: Like we're all very good at what we do, and there's a lot of different ways, but the most value and the most progress comes from finding someone you can trust.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_01: So that relationship and that trust and gelling or connecting with someone is going to be more important than what tool they use or what kind of reports they give you.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, understanding how they communicate and does that align with your learning styles?
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_01: How do they give you information and does that align with you?
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_01: And ask your people.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_01: Ask the people in your community and in your net, you know, that you're aligned with, who do they work with?
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_01: And you're gonna get some really great referrals.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_00: Again, referrals are our favorite ways to get clients.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_00: And I think not enough small business owners or you know, people in my world who are talking to small business owners are amplifying how important those referrals are.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_00: But truly, in this space, the relationship is so important.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_00: Having the people you can trust is so important.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_00: I think the referrals tell me as a business strategist that you're doing great work and your clients trust you.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_00: If you're not getting a lot of referrals or you're afraid to ask for referrals, that tells me that there's like a disconnect here between you and your clients.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um and that relationship that we're really looking for, especially in your personal finances, isn't as strong as it as it should be.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_01: No, and I know that when I need a professional, I go to the people that are in my world.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_01: I go to the people that I admire.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_01: I go to the people who are aligned with me and say, hey, I need an ex.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_01: Who do you know?
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I ask a couple of people.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_01: And so far I've had great success with healthcare providers, other professionals that I need, because I know that people who are similarly aligned with me are going to perhaps approach finding these other professionals the same way.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_01: So finding your financial advisor, of course, you do your due diligence once you get some names, but it takes away that noise.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_01: Again, I'm all for this ease and decision making.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_01: Rather than starting fresh and going onto the internet, I'm gonna ask the people in my circle who they work with.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_00: So as we wrap up our conversation, I want to ask you, you know, if anyone was coming to you to ask about your experience at the CEO collective and how we've supported you over the last couple of years, going all on your own, starting to build your team, getting ready to relocate to Richmond, because that's one of the things that tends to happen is I make everyone fall in love with Richmond.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, jokingly, I've only had like five clients move to Richmond, you guys, which is kind of wild.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_00: But um what's something you would share with somebody if they were looking at the CEO collective and how that's been able to support you in this process?
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think coming in at two different ways.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_01: Like I came in as a brand new business owner.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_01: So I knew very clearly, and I have been following you and listening to your podcast for a little while, and I think I found you through TikTok, but I knew really clearly that when I was ready to launch, I knew how to be an advisor.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't know how to run a business.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I knew that's the support I was going to need.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_01: I knew I was going to need that business support in my early days.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_01: And that's exactly what I got.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and in my even still as a solo or small team, because now I've got a small team, having that community to answer, to bounce ideas off of like, hey, you know, what are you guys doing about this?
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_01: What are you using for this?
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, here's some resources that I just found for folks that are running businesses that have been affected by these recent hurricanes.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_01: Here, let me share this with you because I've done the work to save you the work to share with your clients.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_01: The community is amazing and super supportive.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_01: And I think as solo business owners, having that sounding board is so important, building that community, but then also having the structure of here's the systems, here's how we're gonna help you, here's how we're gonna support you, build the back end and the business side of your business.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_01: So many of us know what the product is, the business is, the service is.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_01: We need the support on the backside.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what we love to do is get everybody on our 90-day framework.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_00: And it's amazing when I start seeing, you know, people get through year one and then year two.
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_00: We have a lot of people who are new with us year after year because of, you know, that support system, being able to know that you're coming into a room with people who see what you're doing and they're excited about it, but are willing to just 100% give feedback or share openly, it's a game changer.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_01: And it's it's a roller coaster being a business owner.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_01: And so I love that the support is is the wins and the resources.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_01: But when that roller coaster is sort of at the bottom as it's climbing back up, that support is there too.
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel like that's just as valuable.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, absolutely.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Chris, where can people learn more about Savoir Financial and get access to some of your resources?
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_00: Because I know you have quite a few different things available to support people who are trying to figure out how to get their financial house in order and how to just be more empowered in their personal finances.
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the best place is right on my website, savoirfinancial.com.
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_01: There are tons of resources.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_01: There's a whole tools section where there's um articles and some ebooks and calculators right on my website.
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and that's anything that I share in other places is also linked right on my website.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_01: So that's the best place to start.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_00: The calculators tab makes me so happy because I love a good calculator.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_00: If I can just be like, what do I need to do this?
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_00: And then plug in a couple of things that tells me the answer, it's self-clarifying.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_00: But I feel like often we're scared to even go plug in a couple numbers.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_00: So I love those resources.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_00: I will make sure they are all linked up on the show notes page for anyone who wants to learn more about Chris or follow along with Savoir Financial or reach out for a consult if you are looking for more support going into 2025.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_00: She's amazing.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_00: I absolutely love working with her.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you so much, Chris, for joining me today.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for having me.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's a pleasure.