Many individuals families want to secure their retirement and also pass on a meaningful legacy, but the fear of outliving money or leaving loved ones unprepared can feel overwhelming. For older generations, echoes of the Great Depression and Dust Bowl have shaped how we view money—through the lens of scarcity and survival.

In this episode, hostess Angelina Carleton speaks with Laura Phillips on how reverse mortgages can free trapped equity and transform fears into confidence. By preserving investments, easing financial pressure, and opening new streams of stability, individuals and families can plan not just for themselves but for three or four generations to come. Listeners will discover that legacy isn’t just about documents—it’s about funding hopes and dreams that last. When you shift how you see money and equity, you gain the clarity and courage to design a legacy that truly endures.

Learn more at https://lauraphillips.com.

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At Legacy Planning©, we work with rising entrepreneurs, wealth creators, and family stewards who are ready to turn their success into lasting contribution. Our co-active coaching and advisory services help you clarify what truly matters—beyond balance sheets and the four corners of a document. We guide you in aligning your values, relationships, and influence into a living legacy you can lead with confidence today, and pass on with intention tomorrow.

Whether you're navigating a personal transition, succession planning, or seeking deeper meaning after financial success, we provide the structure and space to ask life's most important question: What will you leave in the hearts and hands of others? Because legacy isn’t what you leave behind—It’s how you show up now.

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Looking for a meaningful gift for the visionary in your life? Give the gift of clarity, purpose, and legacy with a personalized coaching session from Design Your Legacy©. Perfect for birthdays, milestones, or major life transitions—this gift card opens the door to deeper impact and intentional living. www.angelinacarleton.com/gift-card

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/design-your-legacy-life-lessons--6631446/support.

How do you shift from focusing on loss to being able to move past grief to see the joy and beauty each day? We know processing emotions is difficult but what’s worse is sweeping it under the rug when the rug is only so big. So how do you move the energy trapped within you, caused by stress, grief or loss, so as to be grateful and present compared to checking out? There are many forms of escape as a temporary fix but, in the end, healing is a straight line from A to B where how we cope and heal becomes a part of our legacy as well as the skills we pass on.

In this episode, hostess Angelina Carleton speaks with Harvard alum and executive coach Laing Rikkers about deliberately seeking beauty and sitting in the presence of something bigger than yourself to pay it forward. Tune in to hear about how you can’t be afraid while being grateful, in finding the answers to ‘what is of ultimate consequence’ for your legacy. Learn how you too can face and cope with unexpected misfortune and tragedy so the design of your legacy will be better for it.

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Laing Rikkers is an Executive Coach with over 30 years of corporate leadership experience, specializing in helping high-performing individuals find purpose, clarity, and joy amid personal and professional challenges. She empowers executives to navigate pivotal moments with resilience and focus, integrating emotional intelligence with practical business strategies. Laing’s approach supports leaders in sustaining peak performance while emerging stronger and more purpose-driven.

As the author of "Morning Leaves: Cultivating a Life of Beauty, Meaning, and Joy," (Red Hen Press March 2026), Laing blends leadership acumen with a deep understanding of grief’s impact. Her work fosters a culture of resilience within organizations, enabling leaders to overcome obstacles while driving successful outcomes. Through a structured, confidential approach, she partners with clients to develop tailored solutions that align individual and organizational goals. Learn more about Laing at https://www.laingrikkers.com.

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At Legacy Planning©, we work with rising entrepreneurs, wealth creators, and family stewards who are ready to turn their success into lasting contribution. Our co-active coaching and advisory services help you clarify what truly matters—beyond balance sheets and the four corners of a document. We guide you in aligning your values, relationships, and influence into a living legacy you can lead with confidence today, and pass on with intention tomorrow.

Whether you're navigating a personal transition, succession planning, or seeking deeper meaning after financial success, we provide the structure and space to ask life's most important question: What will you leave in the hearts and hands of others? Because legacy isn’t what you leave behind—It’s how you show up now.

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Looking for a meaningful gift for the visionary in your life? Give the gift of clarity, purpose, and legacy with a personalized coaching session from Design Your Legacy©. Perfect for birthdays, milestones, or major life transitions—this gift card opens the door to deeper impact and intentional living. www.angelinacarleton.com/gift-card

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/design-your-legacy-life-lessons--6631446/support.

What if men asked women more often to join boards, in trusting they can handle it, and women trusted themselves more in their experiences and skills ... to show up and become board members in the design of their legacies? And how is unconscious bias getting in the way when we look at examples of the Finnish Prime Minister vs. the Australian PM? Why do so many women all over the world get left out of the corner offices (C Suite), CEO roles as well as board member roles?

In this episode, hostess Angelina Carleton speaks with Sandra D’Souza, Founder & CEO of Ellect, to share how she’s breaking down barriers with both men and women in overcoming all types of biases and building a marketplace for gender equality, equity, and opportunity. If you’re a leader, entrepreneur, or changemaker who cares about designing a legacy of inclusive leadership, this conversation is a must-listen!

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Sandra is the CEO and Founder to Ellect. Ellect is a platform dedicated to empowering companies to create a more inclusive and diverse workplace. Ellect provide tools and resources to help businesses measure and improve their gender and diversity initiatives. Ellect's ultimate goal is to create a world where everyone, regardless of gender or identity, has the opportunity to reach their full potential. 

Sandra is an entrepreneur and advocate for gender equality in business. She believes that leadership should be diverse, inclusive, and accessible to everyone, regardless of gender. That’s why she founded Ellect—a platform dedicated to increasing women’s representation in leadership and board roles. But her journey here wasn’t a straight path: By her early 30s, she had built a successful corporate career, working with global brands like MTV Europe, Telstra, and UBS. In 2019, she launched Ellect to help businesses create more gender-balanced leadership teams.

The platform recognizes and supports companies that champion diversity, aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for Gender Equality and Reduced Inequalities. Her work has been recognized globally, including being featured on the NASDAQ Tower in New York as part of Nasdaq’s Spring 2021 Milestone Makers Program. In 2023, she was honored as the Most Influential CEO by CEO Monthly, and her book became a finalist in the Australian Business Book Awards and The Leadership Awards.

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At Legacy Planning©, we work with rising entrepreneurs, wealth creators, and family stewards who are ready to turn their success into lasting contribution. Our co-active coaching and advisory services help you clarify what truly matters—beyond balance sheets and the four corners of a document. We guide you in aligning your values, relationships, and influence into a living legacy you can lead with confidence today, and pass on with intention tomorrow.

Whether you're navigating a personal transition, succession planning, or seeking deeper meaning after financial success, we provide the structure and space to ask life's most important question: What will you leave in the hearts and hands of others? Because legacy isn’t what you leave behind—It’s how you show up now.

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Looking for a meaningful gift for the visionary in your life? Give the gift of clarity, purpose, and legacy with a personalized coaching session from Design Your Legacy©. Perfect for birthdays, milestones, or major life transitions—this gift card opens the door to deeper impact and intentional living. www.angelinacarleton.com/gift-card

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/design-your-legacy-life-lessons--6631446/support.

Parents traveling with young children often face the stressful reality of rideshares and taxis without car seats. In 2016, Nelson Nigel saw this firsthand as an Uber driver and recognized the risk families were forced to take... even before app's were well known as they are in 2025. Instead of waiting for another to lead, he chose to act as a pioneer, creating apps such as Kidmoto (under "Moto Nation")—a company he built to ensure safe, convenient travel for parents and their children. But how did it all start and what did Nelson have to overcome to finally write that great business plan?

In this episode, hostess Angelina Carleton speaks with Nelson Nigel about how he turned his personal challenges as an immigrant from Guyana (in South America) into 7-figure success while in New York City (USA). Tune in to hear how he leveraged all of his life experiences, from selling T-shirts and building a commercial property, to then develop his first app's. In one sentence, hear how Nelson defines his legacy as his four core values are a reminder that no matter the heart break and pain, resilience makes your legacy become a reality in 64 cities with expansion into Europe. We are our own legacy architects! 

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Nelson Nigel is the Founder and CEO of Moto Nation. In 2016, as an Uber driver, he observed the absence of child car seats in taxis and car services, leaving parents in vulnerable positions. Recognizing the gap in the market left by Uber and Lyft, Nelson developed a mobile app to offer a convenient and safe solution for parents traveling with small children, particularly to and from airports.

Moto Nation has since become a trusted brand, connecting parents with a network of skilled drivers providing secure child car seats for airport transfers in United States cities and soon, to be in Europe. Despite Nelson's challenging background—growing up poor and surviving a train accident that left him in a coma for weeks—he maintained a positive mindset no matter what in order to be in service to others. His hard work and respect for humanity has led Kidmoto to achieve milestones he could only dream of, including 40,000+ completed rides, a 7-figure revenue for 2023, and a valuation of $25 million USD. 

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At Legacy Planning©, we work with rising entrepreneurs, wealth creators, and family stewards who are ready to turn their success into lasting contribution. Our co-active coaching and advisory services help you clarify what truly matters—beyond balance sheets and the four corners of a document. We guide you in aligning your values, relationships, and influence into a living legacy you can lead with confidence today, and pass on with intention tomorrow.

Whether you're navigating a personal transition, succession planning, or seeking deeper meaning after financial success, we provide the structure and space to ask life's most important question: What will you leave in the hearts and hands of others? Because legacy isn’t what you leave behind—It’s how you show up now.

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Looking for a meaningful gift for the visionary in your life? Give the gift of clarity, purpose, and legacy with a personalized coaching session from Design Your Legacy©. Perfect for birthdays, milestones, or major life transitions—this gift card opens the door to deeper impact and intentional living. www.angelinacarleton.com/gift-card

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/design-your-legacy-life-lessons--6631446/support.

Many women stepping into philanthropy face common but rarely discussed challenges: uncertainty about how to give effectively, lack of confidence in navigating male-dominated financial structures, and difficulty finding trusted advisors who truly honor their values and vision. Add to this the pressure of balancing family expectations with their desire to lead boldly, and the path to creating a meaningful legacy can feel overwhelming.

In this episode of Design Your Legacy, hostess Angelina Carleton speaks with Deborah Goldstein, Founder of Enlightened Philanthropy and Co-Dean of the Purposeful Planning Institute. Deborah shares how she equips women with the clarity, confidence, and tools they need to give with impact, align their wealth with purpose, and design a legacy that reflects their authentic voice. Tune in to hear how they uncover how women can overcome barriers, embrace philanthropy as a platform for leadership, and inspire future generations to connect wealth with meaning.

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Deborah Goldstein has decades of experience guiding families and professionals and is recognized for her ability to translate complex family dynamics into opportunities for connection, resilience, and impact. Deborah is especially passionate about empowering women and rising generations with tools for philanthropy, leadership, and purpose-driven legacy design. Her work inspires individuals to view wealth not just as financial capital, but as a catalyst for lasting influence and generational well-being.

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At Legacy Planning©, we work with rising entrepreneurs, wealth creators, and family stewards who are ready to turn their success into lasting contribution. Our co-active coaching and advisory services help you clarify what truly matters—beyond balance sheets and the four corners of a document. We guide you in aligning your values, relationships, and influence into a living legacy you can lead with confidence today, and pass on with intention tomorrow.

Whether you're navigating a personal transition, succession planning, or seeking deeper meaning after financial success, we provide the structure and space to ask life's most important question: What will you leave in the hearts and hands of others? Because legacy isn’t what you leave behind—It’s how you show up now.

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Looking for a meaningful gift for the visionary in your life? Give the gift of clarity, purpose, and legacy with a personalized coaching session from Design Your Legacy©. Perfect for birthdays, milestones, or major life transitions—this gift card opens the door to deeper impact and intentional living. www.angelinacarleton.com/gift-card

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/design-your-legacy-life-lessons--6631446/support.

For too long, venture capital has been a game reserved for the elite—where only accredited investors with deep pockets get access to the most promising startups. But what happens when you challenge that system and design a future where everyone can participate?

In this episode of Design Your Legacy, host Angelina Carleton sits down with Gerry Hays, JD, founder of Doriot, to discuss how he’s tearing down the walls of exclusivity in startup investing and building a new path forward. Gerry shares his journey from law and entrepreneurship to pioneering Venture Staking™, Fantasy Startup®, and the QAI certification—all designed to give everyday investors the tools, knowledge, and confidence to join the wealth-creation cycle. Listen now and discover how Gerry Hays, JD is rewriting the rules of venture capital so that wealth creation becomes a shared legacy.

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For over 25 years, Gerry Hays has been working at the crossroads of entrepreneurship, education, and innovation — launching and exiting startups, mentoring early-stage founders, and teaching venture strategy and mindset everywhere from Indiana University to classrooms around the world.

But Gerry isn’t just another serial founder. After years of watching the capital markets become more exclusive and less effective, he decided to stop playing defense — and start building alternatives.

He’s the founder of Doriot (Dor-ee-o), where he’s pioneering VentureStaking™ — a patent-pending, community-powered model for startup investing that flips the traditional system. He also created Fantasy Startup®, a gamified investing platform as addictive as fantasy sports, and QAI, a first-of-its-kind certification that offers a practical on-ramp to accredited investor status for the everyday person.

Gerry talks fast, thinks bold, and doesn’t hold back — especially when it comes to equity, access, and the future of investing. If you are interested in disruption, democratizing finance, or what’s really broken in venture capital, Gerry brings a conversation that doesn’t just observe change — he builds it.


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At Legacy Planning©, we work with rising entrepreneurs, wealth creators, and family stewards who are ready to turn their success into lasting contribution. Our co-active coaching and advisory services help you clarify what truly matters—beyond balance sheets and the four corners of a document. We guide you in aligning your values, relationships, and influence into a living legacy you can lead with confidence today, and pass on with intention tomorrow.

Whether you're navigating a personal transition, succession planning, or seeking deeper meaning after financial success, we provide the structure and space to ask life's most important question: What will you leave in the hearts and hands of others? Because legacy isn’t what you leave behind—It’s how you show up now.

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Looking for a meaningful gift for the visionary in your life? Give the gift of clarity, purpose, and legacy with a personalized coaching session from Design Your Legacy©. Perfect for birthdays, milestones, or major life transitions—this gift card opens the door to deeper impact and intentional living. www.angelinacarleton.com/gift-card

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/design-your-legacy-life-lessons--6631446/support.

Few agents, lenders, or brokers can communicate in sign language, forcing reliance on interpreters who may not always be provided. On top of that, closing documents are full of legal jargon. Without clear, accessible communication, deaf/HoH clients risk signing documents they don’t fully understand. In some scenarios, interpreters aren’t offered at all, or those provided aren’t trained in legal terminology as to their qualifications. The process is often rushed. Without accommodations like interpreters, CART captioning, or written explanations, the deaf and HOH can feel pressured to sign quickly without clarity.  

Then, there are side conversations between lenders, agents, and attorneys who may exclude the deaf/HoH client(s), undermining their participation and trust. With AI today, many e-signature platforms, remote notary systems, and lender portals aren’t designed with accessibility in mind (limited captioning, no video relay integration, etc.). Or worse, some professionals may see accommodations as an “inconvenience” rather than a right, creating friction and distrust at the table, in their lack of empathy.  

In this episode, Angelina Carleton speaks with Maria Gallucci about growing up with two deaf parents and helping them buy their first home at age 12.  As a CODA (child of a deaf adult), Maria learned the weight that the deaf and HOH (hard of hearing) carry as well as how to read facial expressions, body language, lips from a distance and a room. Tune in to hear how Maria’s experiences are changing the
residential real estate industry and how you too can bridge the gap between the deaf/HOH with the hearing communities. Plus, how Maria’s core values not only feed her soul but her legacy plan as well!

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Maria serves on boards for Rocky Mountain Deaf School, DOVE, and Colorado Association of the Deaf. Her motto "just try" reflects her belief that meaningful connection starts with one small step. Her debut book Raised in Silence is both a love letter to the Deaf & Hard of Hearing community and a guide for bridging communication gaps. Learn more at: https://www.compass.com/agents/maria-gallucci/ and https://bit.ly/mariagallucci.

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At Legacy Planning©, we work with rising entrepreneurs, wealth creators, and family stewards who are ready to turn their success into lasting contribution. Our co-active coaching and advisory services help you clarify what truly matters—beyond balance sheets and the four corners of a document. We guide you in aligning your values, relationships, and influence into a living legacy you can lead with confidence today, and pass on with intention tomorrow.

Whether you're navigating a personal transition, succession planning, or seeking deeper meaning after financial success, we provide the structure and space to ask life's most important question: What will you leave in the hearts and hands of others? Because legacy isn’t what you leave behind—It’s how you show up now.

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Looking for a meaningful gift for the visionary in your life? Give the gift of clarity, purpose, and legacy with a personalized coaching session from Design Your Legacy©. Perfect for birthdays, milestones, or major life transitions—this gift card opens the door to deeper impact and intentional living. www.angelinacarleton.com/gift-card

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/design-your-legacy-life-lessons--6631446/support.

Individuals as well as families don’t know how to articulate their stories. We all have extraordinary experiences and insights, but we struggle to capture them in a way that’s compelling and coherent to create the through-line—the “golden thread”—whether that's now or for 10, 100 or 500 years from now. Add to this lack of clarity the fear of vulnerability as well as oversharing. So how do you balance honesty with dignity, so as to define your best stories to inspire while maintaining discretion?

In this episode, hostess Angelina Carleton speaks with founder Greg Logan of Narrativity about ‘what if the importance of your legacy is your story?’ Individuals, families and organizations frequently pass on wealth and traditions without the story behind the why and the details. This can create confusion, disconnection, and even conflict. Greg’s strategies ensure your narratives are preserved alongside your assets, so your best stories are not lost, forgotten or never told. Tune in to hear how you can start re: the emotional connection needed for your legacy, so influence extends beyond transactions and titles.

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At Legacy Planning©, we work with rising entrepreneurs, wealth creators, and family stewards who are ready to turn their success into lasting contribution. Our co-active coaching and advisory services help you clarify what truly matters—beyond balance sheets and the four corners of a document. We guide you in aligning your values, relationships, and influence into a living legacy you can lead with confidence today, and pass on with intention tomorrow.

Whether you're navigating a personal transition, succession planning, or seeking deeper meaning after financial success, we provide the structure and space to ask life's most important question: What will you leave in the hearts and hands of others? Because legacy isn’t what you leave behind—It’s how you show up now.

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Looking for a meaningful gift for the visionary in your life? Give the gift of clarity, purpose, and legacy with a personalized coaching session from Design Your Legacy©. Perfect for birthdays, milestones, or major life transitions—this gift card opens the door to deeper impact and intentional living. www.angelinacarleton.com/gift-card

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/design-your-legacy-life-lessons--6631446/support.

If you do not believe you are enough, you will never believe you have enough. Or are doing enough. So then how do you get to your mindset of abundance in order to discover ‘what matters most’?  The challenge is not just getting your paperwork in order —it’s about aligning decisions for how you would like to contribute to the world when feeling worthy and whole.  Especially when there’s unresolved grief that lives in your body or fear that shows up in ‘scarcity conversations’.  Without alignment, people often delay or avoid the most vulnerable conversations, leaving others with uncertainty or nothing.  

In this podcast episode, hostess Angelina Carleton speaks with Kathleen Quinn, an accomplished author and advisor, who has devoted her career to helping others design their giving while at Stanford University.  She believes your values are the real drivers ... especially when you can feel grounded, free and fulfilled. Tune in to hear how she asks the key question of “does this align with the world I want to create?” in rewriting beliefs at any stage or year of your life.  Learn how your values demand your visibility and how buffalo run right through storms compared to pushing their feelings down.

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Kathleen Quinn is a mindset coach and certified Grief Educator—whose 30+ years as a Stanford philanthropy leader inform her relational and values-focused perspective on wealth. She specializes in guiding clients to align their financial decisions—not just with outcomes, but with their core values and desired legacy. She not only speaks into how fear and grief can live into our bodies but also about how boundaries can serve as your wealth compass to align with what matters most.

How do you use your core values as filters for financial decisions, investments, and charitable giving? How do you set values-aligned boundaries around requests and expectations regarding money? How do you recognize that our most treasured relationships deserve boundaries around time, energy, and emotional investment? Kathleen’s work aligns beautifully with the subject of legacy planning as legacy is more than what we leave behind—it’s how we live now. Her approach offers both intention and strategy for anyone ready to design a legacy that’s authentic, grounded, and deeply meaningful.

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At Legacy Planning©, we work with rising entrepreneurs, wealth creators, and family stewards who are ready to turn their success into lasting contribution. Our co-active coaching and advisory services help you clarify what truly matters—beyond balance sheets and the four corners of a document. We guide you in aligning your values, relationships, and influence into a living legacy you can lead with confidence today, and pass on with intention tomorrow.

Whether you're navigating a personal transition, succession planning, or seeking deeper meaning after financial success, we provide the structure and space to ask life's most important question: What will you leave in the hearts and hands of others? Because legacy isn’t what you leave behind—It’s how you show up now.

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Looking for a meaningful gift for the visionary in your life? Give the gift of clarity, purpose, and legacy with a personalized coaching session from Design Your Legacy©. Perfect for birthdays, milestones, or major life transitions—this gift card opens the door to deeper impact and intentional living. www.angelinacarleton.com/gift-card

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/design-your-legacy-life-lessons--6631446/support.

Christian LeFer is the Founder to Instant Nonprofit. He speaks about nonprofits and social enterprise topics based on his track record of starting almost 3,000 US 501(c)3organizations, in addition to 30+ years of writing and fundraising for myriad causes. He believes social enterprise founders are the superheroes of today's new era. Christian also believes in empowering people to live their purpose without limits, driven by his passion for liberty and helping others do good.

He believes our core values supersede traditional norms as the new basis for our identity as well as behavior. Welcome to the convergence of cause with commerce. Learn more at https://instantnonprofit.com/podcasts-design-your-legacy! 

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At Legacy Planning©, we work with rising entrepreneurs, wealth creators, and family stewards who are ready to turn their success into lasting contribution. Our co-active coaching and advisory services help you clarify what truly matters—beyond balance sheets and the four corners of a document. We guide you in aligning your values, relationships, and influence into a living legacy you can lead with confidence today, and pass on with intention tomorrow.

Whether you're navigating a personal transition, succession planning, or seeking deeper meaning after financial success, we provide the structure and space to ask life's most important question: What will you leave in the hearts and hands of others? Because legacy isn’t what you leave behind—It’s how you show up now.

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Looking for a meaningful gift for the visionary in your life? Give the gift of clarity, purpose, and legacy with a personalized coaching session from Design Your Legacy©. Perfect for birthdays, milestones, or major life transitions—this gift card opens the door to deeper impact and intentional living. www.angelinacarleton.com/gift-card

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/design-your-legacy-life-lessons--6631446/support.