Her Life, Her Practice, Her Way

What if stepping back is sometimes the best way to move forward?

In this episode, I talk with Bridget Borel, CFP®, founder of Clairwell Financial, about the winding path that led her to financial planning, entrepreneurship, and a practice focused on helping women navigate divorce.

Bridget shares openly about a period of profound change in her own life—including divorce, the loss of her mother, and other personal challenges—and why she chose to step back before deciding what she wanted next. We talk about launching her own firm around age 50, the unexpected challenge that forced her to rethink her firm's name and brand, and how taking the time to really listen to the women she wanted to serve ultimately gave her greater clarity about the business she wanted to build.

We also explore the role therapy and personal growth have played in Bridget's life and work, including the idea that our ability to help others is connected to the work we're willing to do on ourselves.

Throughout our conversation, Bridget offers a powerful reminder that progress doesn't always mean pushing harder or moving faster. Sometimes stepping back gives us the clarity, healing, and self-knowledge we need to move forward in a way that is more intentional and more aligned with what we truly want.

What can the way we earn, save, spend, and hold money reveal about ourselves?

In this season-opening episode, Tara talks with financial planner, coach, and author Liz Hand about her new book, Money Is a Mirror. Liz introduces us to “The Responsible Ones”—the dependable, conscientious people who take care of everyone around them, often without stopping to consider what they really need or want.

Together, Tara and Liz explore:

• How responsibility can turn into overperforming
• Why slowing down can help us hear ourselves more clearly
• What it means to experience genuine joy
• How intuition can guide our financial and life decisions
• Why financial freedom is not always about having more money
• The value of creating more spaciousness in our lives
• Small experiments that can help us make choices from trust rather than fear

This thoughtful conversation invites us to consider not only what our money reveals about us, but also what might become possible if we gave ourselves permission to want something more.

As Tara closes out the first season of Her Life, Her Practice, Her Way, she reflects on what these conversations have revealed—about the profession, about the women in it, and about herself.

Through powerful themes like mentorship, meaningful work, and the desire to build a life that feels aligned, Tara shares what stood out the most from her conversations with this inaugural season of female financial advisors.

She also speaks candidly about the quiet struggles many women face—juggling too much, navigating an industry that hasn’t always been built or welcoming for them, and questioning whether they belong.

This episode is both a reflection and an invitation—to think differently, to create more space, and to trust yourself in building a life and practice that truly fits.

Before taking a break, Tara shares what’s next, what she’s still figuring out, and why she believes this work—and this community—matters more than ever.

Joanne Burke didn’t start her career in financial planning. She began in tax at KPMG, working with ultra-high-net-worth families and developing deep technical expertise. But over time she realized that what interested her most wasn’t just the numbers—it was the conversations about what people actually wanted their lives to look like.

That realization led Joanne to build Birch Street Advisors, where she focuses on thoughtful planning and long-term client relationships.

In this episode of Her Life, Her Practice, Her Way, Tara talks with Joanne Burke about her journey from tax to planning, the courage it takes to evolve your career, and how her definition of success has changed over time.

Joanne also shares how she is entering the next phase of her firm—hiring and mentoring a new team member—and what she hopes the future of her practice will look like.

It’s a thoughtful conversation about clarity, growth, and building a practice that supports the life you actually want to live.

What happens when you get crystal clear about your impact — and equally clear about what is enough for you?

In this episode, Tara sits down with Oakland-based CFP®, Ella Taylor to explore environmental sustainability, systemic investing, philanthropy, and designing a life that truly fits.

Ella’s mission is bold: move as much capital as possible toward positive impact for our planet and the people on it. Her firm integrates sustainable investing, shareholder engagement, philanthropy consulting, and systemic investing — all grounded in deep, relational financial planning.

But this conversation is about more than investing.

Motherhood reshaped her ambition. She paused growing her firm. She stopped taking new clients for more than two years. She redefined what “enough” looked like. And now she is growing again — with more clarity and intention than ever.

In this episode, we explore:

• What systemic investing really means
• Why outsourcing felt harder than it looked
• How scarcity mindset can hide inside high performers
• Designing a firm around your values
• Letting ambition evolve without losing your drive
• Defining success on your own terms

Ella reminds us that impact does not require burnout — and that success can expand and evolve as we do.

Episode Highlights

• From pastry chef to CFP® — and rediscovering creativity inside finance
• Launching her firm at the start of COVID and feeling unexpectedly abundant
• Environmental sustainability as a true north
• What “systemic investing” means and why it’s the next iteration of impact investing
• Including a philanthropic consultant as part of the advisory experience
• Wrestling with money scarcity while building a thriving firm
• Extending maternity leave and pausing growth without regret
• Redefining ambition and deciding what “enough” looks like
• Choosing 60 households, four days a week, and deep relationships as her version of success
• Hiring from alignment, not urgency

Melissa Yano didn’t get into financial planning because it was some lifelong dream.

She got into it because she thought she needed it as a young single mom.

Growing up, money was a source of stress and wasn’t talked about. It wasn’t something that was taught but she thought it was something she should learn so she started taking the financial planning classes and kept going.

She enrolled in a CFP program because she wanted and needed those skills for herself. She then wanted to help others with the knowledge and skills that she had learned. She knew that this information could make a difference in people’s lives.

Today, Melissa owns her own firm, Capital Wealth Planners, and primarily works with small business owners — many of them women who are the primary breadwinners in their families like she is. She understands them deeply because she had to learn how to run her own business too. She wasn’t trying to become a business expert — she had to become one.

In this conversation, we talk about:

• Why money is a learned skill (and why no one should feel embarrassed about not knowing it)
• The pressure women feel in this industry to prove themselves
• Choosing depth over scale
• Letting go of “more is better”
• And defining what “enough” really looks like

Melissa loves the impact she has on her clients’ lives. She helps business owners move from just trying to make ends meet… to being strategic, intentional, and building something that supports both today and their future.

There is always more to learn in this profession. And there is always more room to grow — not just financially, but personally.

This conversation felt honest and steady. I could relate to so many of the things Melissa said. I hope the episode gives you permission to build your practice — and your life — in a way that truly fits you.

Episode Highlights

• Melissa’s path into financial planning as a single mom who needed and wanted the skills for herself
• Growing up without conversations about money — and how that shaped her mission
• Why money is a learned skill, not a moral judgment
• Becoming a business owner — and realizing she had to learn how to run one and once again wanting to share that knowledge and expertise
• Working with small business owners who are often just trying to “keep the doors open”
• Helping clients shift from reactive to strategic
• The unique pressures women face in a male-dominated industry
• Choosing a smaller, deeper practice instead of chasing scale
• Delegating, outsourcing, and creating margin for herself
• Defining what “enough” looks like — personally and professionally

In this episode, Tara talks with Kim Abmeyer, founding equity partner of Ascentis Wealth and Ascentis Asset Management, about responsibility, growth, and the importance of women supporting one another in financial services.

Kim shares how she grew into the role of advisor over time—initially not wanting to be an advisor—and why that early hesitation may be one of her greatest strengths today. She reflects on building long-term client relationships, creating asset models, and finding fulfillment in the positive impact she makes.

The conversation also explores the value of community, including the women’s group Kim is part of that prioritizes connection, friendship, and mutual support over competition.

This episode is a reminder that there’s no single right way into this profession—and that caring deeply, even feeling scared at first, can be a sign you’re exactly where you’re meant to be.

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Disclaimer - The opinions expressed in this podcast are for general informational purposes only and not for specific, individualized advice.

The information does not constitute financial or legal advice.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

The RIA is not liable for actions taken based on the podcast content.

What happens when fear becomes a signal to pay attention to, rather than a stop sign?

In this episode, Tara sits down with Amy Irvine to talk about the courage it takes to build a financial planning practice that truly fits your life. Amy shares how loss became a wake-up call, why she walked away from a traditional AUM model, and what she learned when she realized she had planned for failure—but not for success. It’s a thoughtful, honest conversation about values, mentorship, and trusting your own voice as you design what comes next.

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In this episode of Her Life, Her Practice, Her Way, I sit down with Amy Irvine, founder of Rooted Planning Group, for a deeply human conversation about courage, intention, and what it really means to build a practice that fits your life.

Amy’s story isn’t one of chasing growth for growth’s sake. It’s a story shaped by loss, reflection, and a quiet but persistent inner voice asking, Is this the life I want to be living? After the sudden loss of her uncle, Amy found herself questioning not just how she worked—but why she worked the way she did. That moment became a catalyst for change.

She shares what it was like to leave a traditional AUM-based firm, launch a values-driven planning practice before “remote work” was normalized, and build a flat-fee model that prioritizes people over portfolios. Along the way, Amy speaks candidly about fear, self-doubt, and the realization that she had planned carefully to avoid failure—but not fully for success.

What stands out most is Amy’s humanity: her commitment to mentorship, her generosity with other advisors, and her willingness to talk openly about the emotional complexity of leadership and succession. Now, as she thoughtfully transitions her firm to the next generation, Amy is once again modeling what it looks like to trust, let go, and lead with integrity.

This episode is a reminder that you don’t have to follow someone else’s blueprint. You can build a practice rooted in your values, your voice, and the life you actually want to live.

Episode Highlights

• How personal loss became the wake-up call that changed everything
• Why Amy chose a flat-fee, planning-first model over traditional AUM
• The fear she didn’t talk about—and what finally pushed her forward
• “I planned for failure, not success”—and what she learned from it
• Building a practice before remote work was the norm
• Mentorship as both a gift received and a responsibility carried forward
• Navigating succession, identity, pride, and grief—at the same time

Operations coach and business owner Kristen Lux shares her journey from working in restaurants to systems / operations consulting and coaching. She talks about what it’s really like to run a business with her husband, and why entrepreneurship is personal development on steroids. We talk ADHD, boundaries, couples counseling, and why being good at this work starts with being a good human.

• How Kristen's childhood and her parents' divorce shaped her and led to years of disassociation and depression as a teen.
• What the restaurant industry taught her about people, prioritization, and operating in constant chaos — and why she still has “server nightmares.”
• Being passed over twice for management in favor of older men, and how that painful experience eventually pushed her out of restaurants and onto something different.
• Moving into commercial real estate and then the solar industry, where she essentially built “a company inside a company” and discovered she was an operations person at heart.
• Feeling like the “junk drawer” at work — the person everything gets handed to — and how that fueled her passion for dignifying operations roles.
• The leap into entrepreneurship and how her husband nudged her into it, even when stability felt safer.
• Why she calls business ownership “personal development on steroids” and what happens when things aren’t working and the mirror points straight back at you.
• Bringing her husband into For the Love of Systems: their complementary strengths, shared clients, proprietary frameworks — and the stress and uncertainty that surfaced a challenging season.
• Habit Story: the assessment that maps behaviors to the stories we tell ourselves, and how retaking it showed her how much she had actually changed.
• Trauma therapy, couples counseling, and the deep inner work that helped them come out the other side with a stronger marriage and clearer roles in the business.
• Her people-first approach: paying a small team well, offering benefits, and designing a digital-first company so she can treat employees like how she wants to be treated.
• Why she loves working with financial advisors - strong values alignment, and believes the future of advice is female — with mentorship as a key lever.
• How systems and tech (and good boundaries) help her manage ADHD and avoid burnout in both life and business.
• Designing a life around walking in nature, being close to trails in Columbia, MO, and defining success as freedom — including the dream of a four-day workweek.
• The sweetest part of all: after a hard season, her marriage is now the thing bringing her the most joy.

Michelle Gass shares how four different careers led her to the work she was truly meant for. In this conversation, she reflects on discovering life planning, building a team that genuinely hums, and creating a practice that finally feels like home.

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In this conversation, I had the true pleasure of sitting down with Michelle Underwood Gass—with Paradigm Advisors. Michelle’s path makes you believe in serendipity and the ways life prepares us for the work we’re meant to do.

Michelle didn’t arrive in financial planning quickly or conventionally. Her journey spans four careers: tax accounting, working in a family office, hedge fund management, and finally financial / life planning. Every chapter added something essential. As she says, her work today is “a culmination of everything I’ve ever done and got me to my happy place.”

What stands out most is her deep love of people. Michelle is very curious, non-judgmental, and committed to treating everyone with dignity. It’s no surprise she found her calling in life planning, where the work moves beyond spreadsheets and goes into values, meaning, time, and what really matters.

Michelle has also built something rare: a truly humming team. Each person plays to their strengths, collaborates closely, and shares ownership of the client experience. Her clients don’t refer to themselves as “Michelle’s clients.” They say, “I’m a Paradigm client.” That team-based clarity takes intention and heart—qualities she embodies.

This episode is full of wisdom for anyone building a practice, questioning their next step, or wanting to serve from a place of purpose. Michelle is proof that our careers can evolve beautifully and surprisingly over time—and that when we listen to what lights us up, we find work that feels like home.

Episode Highlights

• • How Michelle’s four-decade journey through tax, family office, and a hedge fund unexpectedly led her to her true calling in financial planning.
  • Why discovering the Kinder life-planning approach felt like coming home—and how she uses money, time, and values as the foundation of her work.
  • The intentional way she built a four-person team where everyone works in their highest and best role.
  • What she loves most about planning: “seeing the sense of relief and fulfillment that our clients get once they realize that they’ve got this.”
  • Her early belief that she had to “master everything” before moving forward—and how she eventually learned to leap before everything was perfect.
  • How she defines the right client: engaged, willing to collaborate, and ready to invest time in their own financial life.
  • Why she wants more women in the profession—and how the industry can demystify the math and build confidence in women earlier
  • The power of simplicity: why complex strategies aren’t always better, and why helping people live the life they want matters more than any investment product.
  • Her reflections on designing a practice that fits her life now—balancing impact, growth, and making time for family and joy.
  • The wisdom she hopes younger advisors embrace: don’t wait until everything is perfected. “If you don’t try, you can’t fail. If you can’t fail, you’ve never done anything.”