Between Now and Success

According to a recent study from Schwab Advisor Services, 63% of advisors are now using AI in some capacity. However, the RIA AI landscape remains highly experimental: only about 10% of firms report having fully integrated AI into their core strategy, while 30% say they are still just experimenting.

So, if 2025 was the year of the AI notetakers, how can firms take the next step and truly harness this massive technological shift through the rest of 2026?

On today's show, I welcome back Lisa Salvi, Managing Director of Business Consulting and Education at Schwab Advisor Services. We discuss the current pace of AI innovation and why AI is forcing advisors to redefine their core value proposition and how they communicate it to the marketplace.

In 1984, Andy Schwartz and his twin brother Scott joined a startup Northwestern Mutual district agency in New Jersey. Four decades later, their firm, OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners, manages approximately $15 billion in assets.

Andy, now CEO and Managing Partner, describes their early days as operating like a "band of pirates" sharing resources and reinvesting heavily in building capacity. His firm's trajectory accelerated significantly when they left Northwestern Mutual in 2015 to become independent, and in 2024, Andy and Scott took an investment from Joe Duran's Rise Growth Partners to fuel their next stage of expansion.

What makes Andy's story compelling isn't just the size of the firm he built, but his intense focus on the fundamentals: outworking the competition, relentlessly reinvesting in the business, and creating a culture where everyone -- from the newest advisor to the receptionist of 30 years -- shares in the firm's success.

On today's show, Andy Schwartz and I discuss the pivotal moments in his extraordinary career, his philosophy on giving equity to team members, and how he plans to scale a $15 billion firm even as the bottom might be "falling out" for financial services.

I recently had the pleasure of joining Dave Zoller on his YouTube channel, Streamline My Practice, to discuss something I've been thinking deeply about lately: the difference between owning a business and being owned by your business. If you're a financial advisor wondering whether you've built a thriving enterprise or just created a demanding job for yourself, this conversation is for you.

Dave and I discuss:

• The Four Levels of Advisory Business Evolution
• The Identity Shift That Changes Everything
• The Power of a Compelling Three-to-Five-Year Vision
• Two Real-World Examples of Extreme Freedom
• The Get-Keep Framework
• Technology, AI, and Practical Action Steps for Advisors

Most people spend their lives trying to eliminate tension: Work or rest. Control or flow. Clarity or creativity. But a well-lived life isn't free of tension—it's guided by how we hold it. In this podcast, I walk through the three polarities I'm using to guide my life and work in 2026, and reflect on how last year's polarities shaped some of my most meaningful experiences—from sailing and writing to health, family, and business. Rather than problems to solve, these are tensions to navigate—and learning to hold both sides has quietly changed how I make decisions, set direction, and define success. My three 3 Polarities for 2026 are: Mythos – Method Living a meaningful story and building the discipline to bring it to life. Compass – Wind Setting a clear direction while adapting to changing conditions. Precision – Poetry Writing and thinking with clarity without losing what moves people. Along the way, I also reflect on:

• Why "balance" often leads to frustration
• How experience earns you the right to loosen your grip
• What sailing teaches us about leadership and decision-making
• Why rest isn't laziness—and control isn't always wisdom

This conversation is for leaders, advisors, creators, and anyone who senses that life is asking for integration, not optimization.

If you've ever felt pulled between two good things—and wondered why choosing one never feels right—this podcast is for you.

Guest: Nikki Henderson, a world-class professional sailor. In 2018, Nikki became the youngest skipper to lead a team in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. At the age of 25, over the course of more than 40,000 miles of ocean racing, Nikki led a diverse team of mostly amateur sailors from 16 countries to an extraordinary second place finish. She's also skippered numerous transatlantic races and won the Race to Alaska.

In a Nutshell: How do you define your job as a leader?

Nikki Henderson says that what she does as a skipper is pull together disparate individuals, build them into high-performing amateur teams, and then compete in the most extreme sailing races in the world.

I experienced Nikki's leadership first hand a few weeks ago when I sailed with her in the Caribbean 600 as part of her amateur crew. This was a grueling 600-mile race around 11 Caribbean islands. Despite long odds, we ended up finishing third and celebrated on stage with our prize: a big bottle of rum.

On today's show, Nikki Henderson and I discuss making life transitions, paradoxes and polarities in leadership, and decision-making under pressure and uncertainty.

I discuss how well I executed on my 3 words from 2024 and then reveal why and how I'm changing the exercise for 2025.

For 2025, I'm going to explore polarities—pairs of words that represent the tension and harmony between opposing yet complementary concepts.

This shift feels like a natural evolution.

Just as life is a balance of contrasts—action and rest, growth and reflection, giving and receiving—polarities allow for a more nuanced exploration of the rhythms that shape us.

It's not about choosing one over the other, but about navigating the balance between the two, finding wisdom in their interplay, and allowing them to guide me in a more holistic way. This approach reflects where I am now—a stage of growth that seeks to integrate opposites and embrace the richness of life's cycles.

My 3 Polarities for 2025

• Horizon – Hearth: Pursuing dreams while not losing sight of what's amazing in my current day-to-day life.
• Slack – Flood: Adjusting my pace to optimize my energy.
• Control – Flow: Blending detailed planning with tapping into the universe's current.

There's an old quote from Richard Branson that has stuck with me for many years. He said, "I don't think of work as work and play as play, it's all living."

Similarly, in recent years, My 3 Words, and now My 3 Polarities, make little distinction between the personal and professional. I view them as a guide for living. That way, I don't have to ask myself, "Does this apply to work or to my personal life?' And if I do, the answer is, "Yes."

Here are some practical tips for creating a "My 3 Polarities" exercise:

1. Identify Key Tensions: Reflect on areas of your life where you feel pulled between two opposing but complementary forces (e.g., fear vs. courage, ambition vs. contentment, chart vs. explore, journey vs. destination, reinvention vs. continuity).
2. Choose Meaningful Pairs: Select three polarities that resonate deeply with your values and current life stage. Ensure each pair addresses a distinct aspect of your life, such as goals, energy, or mindset.
3. Define Each Side: Clearly articulate what each side of the polarity represents for you, including the values and behaviors they inspire.
4. Create Guiding Questions: Develop a key question for each polarity to guide your decisions and self-reflection (e.g., "If I wasn't fearful, what decision would I make?").
5. Track Progress: Use a journal or weekly reflection to assess how well you're honoring both sides of each polarity.
6. Integrate Into Daily Life: Regularly remind yourself of the polarities and apply them to real-life choices, whether at work, home, or in personal growth. Print them or have them on your computer screen and see them daily.

Now it's your turn. Take a first pass at your My 3 Polarities exercise for 2025 and then set it aside. Revisit what you wrote the next day and see if they still feel good.

Guest: Dr. Preston Cherry, AFC®, CFT-I™, CFP®, Ph.D., an entrepreneur, coach and speaker. Dr. Cherry is the creator of the Life Money Balance™ approach and founder of Concurrent Financial Planning. His new book is Wealth in the Key of Life: Finding Your Financial Harmony.

In a Nutshell: "Songs in the Key of Life" is one of Stevie Wonder's most famous albums. In a similar vein, Dr. Preston Cherry wants people to find that kind of harmony between their money, their values, and their lives. And advisors who can help folks create a financial life that really sings are going to connect more deeply with clients and empower them to live -- and plan -- with more intention.

On today's show, Dr. Preston Cherry and I discuss his new book and his unique perspective on how to bring purpose, balance, a "permission to prosper" and a little bit of rhythm to your financial planning process.

Guest: Kendra Wright, owner of Rebel Media Agency, a marketing company specializing in financial professionals. In her prior life, Kendra worked in rock 'n roll marketing for some of the biggest names in music (Willie Nelson, Motley Crue, Matchbox Twenty, and more).

In a Nutshell: Great copy means you'll never experience a failure to communicate. Great copy is simple. Great copy is found and it comes from the mouths of your clients and prospects. Your job is to transfer what you find to your website and client communication.

As important as social media, podcasting, YouTube, and email have become, your marketing plan is incomplete if you don't have a professional homepage that tells prospects who you are, who you serve, and what outcomes people can achieve by working with you.

And let's not forget, people come to you because they have a problem, a question, and they want help. How clearly does your website show that you know their questions, you know their pain, and you know how to solve their problems?

On today's show, Kendra Wright and I do a deep dive on finding and communicating great copy and we put several financial advisor websites under the microscope and discuss what they did well and where they could improve.

This one is best watched on the YouTube video.

After I left Peak Advisor Alliance (now Carson Coaching), I settled on the idea of starting my Between Now and Success podcast as part of my next chapter. I figured podcasting would be a great way to stay in touch with people in our industry, keep networking, and learn from the best of the best.

Now, 10 years later, across five separate podcasts, I've recorded more than 850 episodes, the vast majority of which are interview shows. Thanks to podcasting, I went from having a handful of trusted mentors to learning from hundreds of world-class teachers.

While I could easily list dozens of unique and actionable ideas I've learned from a decade of podcasting, these 10 insights stand out.

Guest: Mindy Diamond, the founder and CEO of Diamond Consultants and the author of a fantastic new book called Should I Stay or Should I Go?

In a Nutshell: Between the competition for top talent at large firms and the proliferation of smaller lifestyle RIAs, many advisors feel like they need to be constantly evaluating their career options. But the grass is not always greener, and FOMO should never be the lead driver of a major career decision. Instead, advisors should follow their internal compass towards opportunities that will help them accomplish what matters the most to them in their lives and work.

On today's show, Mindy Diamond shares the process she uses to help advisors clarify their goals and make the right decision for their careers. We also explore the concept of living your best business life and how aligning your personal values with your professional environment is a key to long-term success. Mindy offers practical advice for advisors at any stage of their careers on assessing your options, asking the right questions, and understanding when it's time to stay put or make a move.