Healthy Advisor

By Diana BrittonBusiness Health & Fitness Mental Health Education Self-Improvement Management

Healthy Advisor episodes

February 18The Healthy Advisor: The Toll of Caregiving with Melissa Caro
In 2018, Melissa Caro’s perfectly healthy 72-year-old mother was suddenly diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, and within 24 hours she became her sole caregiver, her financial planner, her life coach and her healthcare advocate. At the same time, her 87-year-old stepdad was falling apart and spiraling into dementia, and her husband was in the hospital with severe back problems.
As a Type A personality, she struggled significantly during this time. During one doctor’s visit for her mother, a nurse reminded her to take care of herself.
In this episode of The Healthy Advisor, host Diana Britton speaks with Caro, founder of My Retirement Network, a financial education resource for clients and the advisors who serve them, on how she navigated caregiving while managing her career and other responsibilities.
She discusses the emotional complexity of caregiving, the gap in financial literacy for those without advisors, and how her experience shaped her mission to help people understand their finances during life’s most challenging moments.
She discusses:
Her journey into financial services
The sudden shift from professional routine to full-time caregiving
The financial, physical and emotional toll caregiving can have on a person
The things that helped her cope and get through the struggling times
How financial fear intensifies during illnesses
How her caregiving experience shaped the work she does today with My Retirement Network
How personal loss can help advisors listen, communicate and frame their role with clients
Resources:
Listen to The Healthy Advisor on Wealth Management
Subscribe and listen to The Healthy Advisor on Apple Podcasts
Subscribe and listen to The Healthy Advisor on Spotify
Connect With Melissa Caro:
LinkedIn: Melissa Caro
LinkedIn: My Retirement Network
Website: My Retirement Network
[email protected]
Connect with Wealth Management:
Wealth Management
LinkedIn: Diana Britton
[email protected]
LinkedIn: Informa
LinkedIn: Wealth Management
About Our Guest:
Melissa Caro is a Certified Financial Education Instructor, CFP, and the founder of My Retirement Network, a digital media platform dedicated to promoting financial literacy. With a mission rooted in the belief that knowledge empowers people to create the future they envision, Melissa brings decades of experience in finance and education to her work. She has witnessed firsthand the positive impact that understanding finances can have on people’s lives, far beyond just numbers.
Melissa’s goal is to make financial literacy accessible and meaningful for everyone. My Retirement Network was created to bridge the gap between complex financial concepts and the everyday decisions that shape financial futures. The platform empowers individuals at every stage, whether they’re planning for retirement, starting a career, or teaching their children about money, to understand and take control of their financial well-being. Through education and awareness, Melissa supports people on their journey to building a stronger, more informed financial foundation.
37 min
January 21The Healthy Advisor: Taking Control of Your Finances with Bridget Venus Grimes
After facing divorce, financial hardship and even losing her home in a wildfire, Bridget Venus Grimes rebuilt her life and career around helping other women do the same, taking control of their finances, finding community and redefining success on their own terms.
In this episode of The Healthy Advisor, host Diana Britton sits down with Grimes, president of WealthChoice and co-founder of Equita Financial Network, to explore her journey from Wall Street trader to pastry chef to financial planner for breadwinner women.
From personal struggle to powerful purpose, Grimes reveals how she built a network to uplift female advisors and how coaching, balance, and connection helped her thrive through life’s toughest seasons.
She discusses:
The unconventional path that led Bridget from trading floors to Paris kitchens and back to finance
How divorce, debt and disaster shaped her passion for empowering women through financial planning
Why pay inequity and lack of flexibility persist for women in financial services
What inspired her to create Equita Financial Network
How coaching, community, and boundaries can protect advisors from burnout
Resources:
Listen to The Healthy Advisor on Wealth Management
Subscribe and listen to The Healthy Advisor on Apple Podcasts
Subscribe and listen to The Healthy Advisor on Spotify
The Healthy Advisor: Overcoming Insecurities and Self-Doubt With Stephanie Bogan
Focused on the Future: Breadwinner Women, Gen Z, and Succession with Bridget Venus Grimes
Connect with Wealth Management:
Wealth Management
LinkedIn: Diana Britton
[email protected]
LinkedIn: Informa
LinkedIn: Wealth Management
Connect With Bridget Venus Grimes:
LinkedIn: Bridget Venus Grimes
[email protected]
Equita Financial Network
LinkedIn: Equita Financial Network
WealthChoice LLC
LinkedIn: WealthChoice LLC
About Our Guest:
Bridget Venus Grimes, CFP, is President of WealthChoice, a wealth management firm for women executives, and Co-founder of the SEC-registered investment advisor Equita Financial Network, a community of women-led financial planning firms. Bridget began her career in 1987, trading stocks for private hedge funds in New York City, before pursuing her passion for financial planning for women.
Bridget believes in empowering women to take confident steps toward a better life. She authored the best-selling book Corner Office Choices: The Executive Woman’s Guide to Financial Freedom and has written countless articles for major US media channels. Her commitment to women’s financial education extends not only to women professionals but also to fellow financial planners. She has spoken at major industry conferences and co-hosted the Financial Planning Association’s Women’s Knowledge Circle.
Bridget splits her time between Arizona and California and enjoys boating, golf, entertaining, anything French, and, most of all, cooking. She holds a B.A degree in German language and literature and a minor in Art History from Mount Holyoke College.
37 min
December 17, 2025The Healthy Advisor: An Unexpected Stroke and the Way Forward With Mark Singer
For 35 years, Mark Singer owned an independent financial planning firm, Safe Harbor Retirement Planning, in the Boston area, a Commonwealth Financial Network affiliate. During that time, he was living life at full speed—running three businesses, exercising, playing golf, boating, spending time with grandchildren—until he had a life-changing stroke in October 2022.
He lost his ability to speak, swallow, eat and perform the most basic functions. His recovery forced him to slow down and retire from the business earlier than he expected.
In this episode of The Healthy Advisor, host Diana Britton talks with Mark Singer, a retired financial advisor, about how the stroke reshaped his view of success and identity. His story points to the strength of resilience, perspective and compassion, both in business and in life.
Diana and Mark discuss:
Mark’s journey from textile manufacturing to founding Safe Harbor Retirement Planning in Boston
The moment the stroke upended his life, and how he figured out a way forward
Mark’s mantra of “focus on the what is, not the what if.”
How things played out with his financial planning business
The role of friendships, community and client relationships in his recovery
Lessons learned from 35 years as an advisor
Resources:
Listen to The Healthy Advisor on WealthManagement.com
Subscribe and listen to The Healthy Advisor on Apple Podcasts
Subscribe and listen to The Healthy Advisor on Spotify
Connect With Mark Singer:
LinkedIn: Mark Singer
[email protected]
Connect with WealthManagement.com:
WealthManagement.com
LinkedIn: Diana Britton
[email protected]
LinkedIn: Informa
LinkedIn: WealthManagement
About Our Guest:
Author Mark Singer has been recognized for his vision and creativity within the world of financial planning. He is the author of two books, and the most recent, The Six Secrets to a Happy Retirement, is available on Amazon.com. Drawing upon his over three decades as a founder of one of the leading retirement firms in Boston, the book profiles the financial, emotional, and physical issues associated with the transition into retirement.
He retired from his role as president of Safe Harbor Retirement Planning in 2022, and had served as the Retirement Guide to thousands of investors since 1986. Mark’s approach was to focus on each individual client and ask the questions that other advisors and investors often overlook.
Mark is a frequent speaker and has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, ABCNews.com, FoxNews.com, and Bloomberg Radio, as well as locally (Boston) on NECN and WRKO.
Mark is also a multiyear recipient of Boston Magazine’s 5 Star Wealth Manager Award.
28 min
November 19, 2025 The Healthy Advisor: A Heart for Serving the Neurodivergent with Ryan Marcus
Ryan Marcus has a passion for helping the wealth management industry better serve the neurodivergent community. He argues that the industry is not serving them in an intentional way. Neurodivergence refers to divergence in mental or neurological function from what is considered typical or normal. It’s frequently used with reference to autistic spectrum disorders. The …
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35 min
October 15, 2025 The Healthy Advisor: A Parkinson’s Diagnosis Prompts an Early Retirement With Lisa Erickson
Lisa Erickson spent 37 years in financial services, ultimately leading the Public Markets Due Diligence team at U.S. Bank, which manages over $500 billion in client assets. In addition to her business acumen, she was best known for her selflessness, positivity and character. But earlier this year, Lisa chose to retire early after being diagnosed …
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31 min
September 17, 2025 The Healthy Advisor: How a Near-Death Experience Became an ‘Origination Point’ With John Connell
The summer after his freshman year in high school, John Connell went on the Texas Giant rollercoaster in Arlington, Texas, the tallest wooden rollercoaster in the U.S. at that time. John ended up in the hospital, with injuries the doctors weren’t sure he’d recover from. That became an “origination point,” a wake-up call that forever …
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31 min
August 20, 2025 The Healthy Advisor: An Unconventional Path to a More Sustainable Life with Paula Nangle
After a successful career in the pharmaceutical industry—rising from clinical research to business development and marketing—Paula Nangle took a step back to raise her young children and reflect on what truly mattered. Motivated by her early experiences with money and a desire to make a meaningful impact, she reinvented herself as a Certified Financial Planner, …
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26 min
July 16, 2025 The Healthy Advisor: Overcoming Burnout and the Pressures of Leadership With Drew Shockley
Drew Shockley grew up on a dairy farm in Tennessee. He started working in insurance for $7.50/hour, and by his 30s had built and sold multiple companies—including an eight-figure exit in 2020. From the outside, it sounds like a dream. But the road to Drew’s success was not a straight path. Along the way, he …
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39 min
June 11, 2025 The Healthy Advisor: Riding Out the Storm with Beth Bosworth
When natural disasters hit, your life can turn upside down. Beth Bosworth experienced this firsthand when Hurricane Helene hit her town of Asheville, N.C. on Sept. 27, 2024. The hurricane caused severe damage to the city, including fallen trees, destroyed power lines, and flooded roads. Her neighborhood is still feeling the effects of that storm …
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36 min
May 14, 2025 The Healthy Advisor: How Vulnerability Transforms Leadership with Stacie Calder
When Stacie Calder first joined the financial services industry, she pounded the pavement and quickly climbed the corporate ladder. But her rise came with a cost. In this episode, she opens up about the persona she adopted to fit a traditional mold of leadership, one that silenced her authentic voice in favor of external approval. …
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29 min

About Healthy Advisor

From the publisher's feed

Healthy Advisor is a podcast from WealthManagement.com focused on advisors’ personal wellbeing and healing. In this podcast we explore some of the deepest struggles and hardships that many advisors…