Beyond Referrals

IN THIS CONVERSATION, YOU'LL LEARN:

• Why peak performance as a leader starts with presence, not tactics or metrics, and what that actually looks like in practice
• How to prospect like a fiduciary financial planner, and why that reframe changes everything about who you attract and how relationships begin
• What it takes to keep growing, keep competing, and keep showing up at the highest level in this industry
• Phil's perspective on how financial services has evolved across nearly three decades, and where it is going
• The human story behind one of the most well-known leaders and executive coaches in the industry

Phil Bender spent 29 years as a Managing Partner at a Fortune 100 firm and is one of the most respected executive coaches and leaders in financial services. He is the founder of Sea Captain Performance and the kind of person you want in your orbit, with a podcast, multiple books, and a body of work that is worth your time.To connect with Phil, find him on LinkedIn and visit Sea Captain Performance.

Connect more with Emily: 

• Free Advisor Brand Assessment

• Emily's LinkedIn

• Emily's Instagram

• Emily's YouTube Channel

• Wonderlab Strategy

  
  

Want to be on the show or nominate someone? Reach out to [email protected] 

IN THIS CONVERSATION, YOU'LL LEARN:

• Why differentiation starts with unlearning who you think you need to be as an advisor

• How to think about your marketing funnel in three simple questions, no automation required

• Why niching doesn't just attract better clients, it develops IP and competitive advantages nobody else can replicate

• How to choose the right channel for your specific ideal client instead of trying to be everywhere

• What a compliance-friendly marketing strategy actually looks like in practice

• Why specificity is the engine behind every advisor who has built a standout brand

  
  

Kendra Wright is the founder of Rebel Media Agency and one of the most respected marketing minds in the financial advisory space. Michael Kitces credited her with driving a 58% lift in his growth rate. Carl Richards called her a marketing unicorn. She has worked with hundreds of advisors and built a reputation for making marketing feel simple, strategic, and actually doable.

Go follow Kendra and her podcast, Advisor Marketing Made Simple. And if you are serious about your marketing, reach out to Rebel Media Agency.

To connect with Kendra, find her on LinkedIn or visit Rebel Media Agency.

Connect more with Emily: 

• Free Advisor Brand Assessment

• Emily's LinkedIn

• Emily's Instagram

• Emily's YouTube Channel

• Wonderlab Strategy

  
  

Want to be on the show or nominate someone? Reach out to [email protected]

IN THIS CONVERSATION, YOU'LL LEARN:

• What the dream practice actually looks like, and how Jack built it

• How Csenge Advisory Group is using AI across client screening, meeting prep, follow-up, execution, and even client gifts, and doing it right

• Why you should be revisiting and reevaluating your tech stack every single year

• The philosophy of just helping the client in front of you, and how AI makes that possible

• How live events have become one of the most powerful growth and retention strategies in the firm, with clients flying in from across the country to attend

• What to look for when hiring in an AI-first world and why interpersonal skills matter more than ever alongside technical ones

• What a multigenerational practice actually looks like and why deep local roots combined with a nationwide client base is a rare and powerful combination

  
  

Jack Csenge, CFP® is a leader of Csenge Advisory Group, one of the most well-known and admired wealth management practices in their area with a $4 billion multigenerational client base. His dad started the firm and Jack has built it into something truly special.

Want Jack's recommended tech stack list? Reach out to Emily directly and she will send it to you.

To connect with Jack, find him on LinkedIn.

Connect more with Emily: 

• Free Advisor Brand Assessment

• Emily's LinkedIn

• Emily's Instagram

• Emily's YouTube Channel

• Wonderlab Strategy

  
  

Want to be on the show or nominate someone? Reach out to [email protected]

IN THIS CONVERSATION, YOU'LL LEARN:

• Why AI is the asteroid coming to wipe out the dinosaurs, and what that means for your practice right now

• The great wealth transfer and where Gen Xers, women, and the next generation of clients fit into what is happening

• Why we are already 100,000 advisors short of meeting today's demand and what has to change

• What the next generation of advisors actually wants and whether the industry needs to completely reimagine the opportunity it is offering them

• Why most people are listening to respond rather than listening to actually hear, and how that is costing them in business and in life

• Matt's strong, specific, well-informed takes on where social media fits into the future of this industry

  
  

Listen to this episode with a notebook. Pause it. Write things down. Come back to it.

Matt Halloran is the Chief Evangelist at Zocks and the author of Shut the F Up and Listen. He has over 25 years in the financial services industry and one of the sharpest, most honest perspectives on where it is going that Emily has ever encountered.

To connect with Matt, find him on LinkedIn, go follow him right now.

Connect more with Emily: 

• Free Advisor Brand Assessment

• Emily's LinkedIn

• Emily's Instagram

• Emily's YouTube Channel

• Wonderlab Strategy

Want to be on the show or nominate someone? Reach out to [email protected]

IN THIS CONVERSATION, YOU'LL LEARN:

• Why growth does not create problems, it exposes them, and what that means for how you diagnose what is actually wrong

• Why slowing down before your next hire or investment is the fastest path to real growth

• The ScaleSmart framework: People, Priorities, Processes, and how to use it before adding more resources

• Why brand clarity and mission alignment are a competitive advantage in the age of AI

• How to identify where the real friction is in your firm before throwing more money at the wrong thing

• What the Working Genius tool is and why Charity uses it with every team she works with

  
  

This episode is specifically for managing partners, managing directors, ensemble owners, and firm leaders responsible for growth and performance.

Charity Williams is the co-founder of Empire Growth Partners and has spent ten years consulting high performance organizations and eight years working inside them before that. She brings both the inside view and the outside lens to firm growth and performance.

To connect with Charity and learn more about Empire Growth Partners, find her on LinkedIn.

Connect more with Emily: 

• Free Advisor Brand Assessment

• Emily's LinkedIn

• Emily's Instagram

• Emily's YouTube Channel

• Wonderlab Strategy

  
  

Want to be on the show or nominate someone? Reach out to [email protected] 

IN THIS CONVERSATION, YOU'LL LEARN:

• The 364-day problem and why silence between annual reviews is a serious liability right now

• Why a monthly client newsletter is the simplest most effective way to stay visible, deepen relationships, and activate referral moments

• The untapped prospect newsletter opportunity and why that warm list sitting in your CRM is one of your most valuable assets

• Why AI makes this easier than ever and why there is genuinely no reason not to do this anymore

• What Hillary is seeing actually work across the industry right now, including what is building real LinkedIn followings and why behind the scenes content outperforms

• How AI search is reshaping the way prospects find advisors online and what that means for your content strategy

  
  

Hillary Gale is a copywriting strategist and the host of The Finance Marketing Podcast, where she has interviewed hundreds of experts in the financial services industry. She runs Moneta Copy and knows this space inside and out.

Free resource from Hillary: 7-Day Email List Growth Sprint Challenge: monetacopy.com/emailsprint 

Visit Hillary's website at monetacopy.com and find her on LinkedIn and Instagram at @monetamarketing.

Also check out The Finance Marketing Podcast guest playlist on Spotify.

Connect more with Emily: 

• Free Advisor Brand Assessment

• Emily's LinkedIn

• Emily's Instagram

• Emily's YouTube Channel

• Wonderlab Strategy

  
  

Want to be on the show or nominate someone? Reach out to [email protected]

IN THIS EPISODE:

• The Devil Wears Prada 2 scene that stopped Emily cold and the question it raised about efficiency, scale, and what makes our work meaningful

• The client experience that made it all real, and what hollow, automated connection feels like from the other side

• How Emily is using AI to get more human, not less, including the Cowork agents that gave her back enough mental space to be fully present at the park with her three year old

• Why the bar for human connection just got higher, not lower, and what that means for advisors and service professionals right now

• Five practical things to do this week to raise your standard for human connection

  
  

Connect more with Emily: 

• Free Advisor Brand Assessment

• Emily's LinkedIn

• Emily's Instagram

• Emily's YouTube Channel

• Wonderlab Strategy

  
  

Want to be on the show or nominate someone? Reach out to [email protected] 

IN THIS CONVERSATION, YOU'LL LEARN:

• Why succession planning is not about you, it is about your clients, and why that reframe changes everything

• What it actually looks like to build an enduring firm that outlives any individual advisor on the team

• How K Street Financial has built a culture that is known across the entire Northwestern Mutual organization for professionalism and excellence

• Why documentation and operational structure are the unsexy work that makes everything else possible

• Why what works for a team of six will never work for a team of twenty-five, and why that is growth, not failure

• Why your systems should always be evolving and how to build the habit of documentation and iteration

  
  

This episode is specifically for ensemble leaders, managing partners, managing directors, and anyone responsible for culture, growth, or long-term firm strategy.

Jason Colenda is the CEO of K Street Financial, a thriving ensemble inside Northwestern Mutual with over $1 billion in AUM. K Street has a reputation across the entire NM organization for culture, professionalism, and excellence.

To connect with Jason, find him on LinkedIn.

Connect more with Emily: 

• Free Advisor Brand Assessment

• Emily's LinkedIn

• Emily's Instagram

• Emily's YouTube Channel

• Wonderlab Strategy

  
  

Want to be on the show or nominate someone? Reach out to [email protected]

IN THIS CONVERSATION, YOU'LL LEARN:

• Why you do not get referrals by asking for them, you get them by being genuinely referable

• What Wow Moments are and how to create them for your clients without big budgets or grand gestures

• The Infinite Referral Advantage framework from Scott's book and how to use it

• The Key Relationship List, the practical system Scott uses to nurture his most important relationships over time

• How to navigate the tension between pure service and needing to grow and survive

• Why referrals and digital presence are not either or, and how they actually make each other stronger

• Why the human side of your business is your single biggest competitive advantage right now

  
  

Scott Grates is the founder of Scott Grates Consulting and the author of Referrals Done Right. He has built a seven figure business in New York entirely through service, generosity, and genuine community, no cold calls, no complicated funnels. Just being so good to the people around him that referrals became inevitable.

Grab Scott's book Referrals Done Right

To connect with Scott, find him on LinkedIn.

Connect more with Emily: 

• Free Advisor Brand Assessment

• Emily's LinkedIn

• Emily's Instagram

• Emily's YouTube Channel

• Wonderlab Strategy

  
  

Want to be on the show or nominate someone? Reach out to [email protected]

IN THIS CONVERSATION, YOU'LL LEARN:

• Why the parallels between social media 17 years ago and AI today are not a coincidence, and what that means for advisors right now

• What Beautiful Constraints means and why the limitations of your ecosystem are actually your creative brief

• The Visibility + Credibility = Opportunity formula and why you do not need a massive following to make it work

• Why the most refreshing marketing advice is also the simplest: start today, keep it simple, you can do this

• How to think about compliance as a partner rather than an obstacle

• Real examples of advisors who have leaned into digital presence and what it has done for their business

  
  

Sarah LeBlanc has over 25 years of marketing experience, including 17 years as VP of Marketing at LPL Financial. She was in the room at Capital One when "What's in your wallet?" was created, one of the most iconic campaigns in financial services history. She has watched major marketing shifts happen in real time and knows exactly what they mean for advisors.

To connect with Sarah, find her on LinkedIn.

Connect more with Emily: 

• Free Advisor Brand Assessment

• Emily's LinkedIn

• Emily's Instagram

• Emily's YouTube Channel

• Wonderlab Strategy

  
  

Want to be on the show or nominate someone? Reach out to [email protected]