Knowing Me, Knowing You

Financial advice is filled with best practices. Maximize the match. Choose the right retirement plan. Follow the right investment strategy. But the same answer doesn’t work for everyone.

In this episode, Ben Rapp explores why better financial decisions start with understanding the person, business, or employee behind them. From designing retirement plans around what business owners actually want to accomplish to understanding how younger investors think about security, liquidity, and their financial futures, the conversation shows why context matters as much as technical expertise.

The future of wealth isn’t about giving everyone a better version of the same answer. It’s about giving people the space to articulate what matters to them, understand the choices available, and make decisions that reflect their own lives.

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• Marla Sofer on LinkedIn
• Knomee
• Ben Rapp on LinkedIn 
• RPG Consultants 

People can have the same financial goals on paper and completely different reasons for wanting them. Security, success, family, and peace of mind are deeply personal, and understanding what those words mean to each individual can reveal far more than the numbers alone.

In this episode, Chad Coe explores what changes when people are given the space to articulate what matters to them. From values and financial anxiety to the questions that uncover deeper motivations, Chad shares why meaningful conversations begin with listening rather than assuming we already know what someone needs.

As technology makes information and financial tools increasingly accessible, the future of wealth becomes even more human. It starts with helping people understand and express what they want their money to make possible, then building from there.

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• Marla Sofer on LinkedIn
• Knomee
• Chad Coe on LinkedIn 
• Coe Financial Group 

The financial questions people bring to the table are rarely the whole story. Behind concerns about retirement, investing, or making the wrong decision are experiences, beliefs, fears, and priorities that can shape how someone thinks about money for decades.

In this episode, Derrick Kinney explores what happens when the conversation starts with the person rather than the product. From asking questions that help people uncover what’s really on their minds to recognizing the importance of tone, timing, and listening, Derrick shares why meaningful discovery requires more than simply gathering financial information.

As technology makes information easier to access, understanding becomes an even greater differentiator. The future of wealth belongs to experiences that give people the space to articulate what matters, uncover what may be shaping their decisions, and feel genuinely known before solutions enter the conversation.

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• Marla Sofer on LinkedIn
• Knomee
• Derrick Kinney on LinkedIn 
• Success for Advisors 

For decades, wealth management has focused on accumulation, optimization, and reaching a number. But money alone doesn't tell us what someone is trying to create with it.

In this episode, Mike Milligan explores what changes when the conversation starts with a different question: Why is money important to you? From the experiences that shape financial behavior to the importance of asking “why” more than once, Mike shares why understanding the person behind the money can reveal needs that financial statements never will.

The future of wealth isn't about creating the same path for every client. It's about giving people the space to articulate what matters to them, understand what drives their decisions, and use money as a tool to build a life that is uniquely their own.
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Marla Sofer on LinkedIn
Knomee
Mike Milligan on LinkedIn
One Oak Financial 

Clients aren't spending their days thinking about investment returns, products, or the latest financial strategy. More often, they're asking a much simpler question: Am I okay? Understanding what that question means to each person is where meaningful advice begins.

In this episode, Mando Salivanti shares how he's built a fast growing wealth management practice by paying attention to how clients actually want to engage. From creating an authentic presence on social media to designing a flexible fee model around high earning professionals, his approach challenges many of the industry's traditional assumptions about how trust and relationships are built.

As information becomes easier to access and technology continues to change the advisor's role, relevance will come from something much harder to replicate: knowing your clients deeply enough to understand what they need, how they define success, and what gives them confidence in the decisions they're making.

Connect with us! 

• Marla Sofer on LinkedIn
• Knomee
• Mando Sallavanti on LinkedIn 
• Freedom Path Wealth 

The future often feels unpredictable, especially as technology reshapes how we live, work, and make decisions. But what if the future isn't something that simply happens to us? What if the most important question isn't what AI will do next, but what kind of future we want to create for ourselves?

In this episode, I am sharing one of my favorite conversations with, Brian David Johnson, futurist, engineer, professor, and former Chief Futurist at Intel, to explore the power of agency in an age of accelerating innovation. We discuss future casting, the importance of human centered technology, why trust must remain at the core of every technological advancement, and how curiosity and optimism shape better outcomes than fear ever will.

Whether you're leading a business, advising clients, or simply thinking about your own future, this conversation is a reminder that the strongest decisions begin by understanding what matters most and intentionally building toward it.

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• Marla Sofer on LinkedIn
• Knomee
• Brian David Johnson on LinkedIn 
• Phaedrus Engineering 

Clients rarely walk into an advisor's office asking for a specific investment product. They come looking for confidence. Reliable income. Greater flexibility. Protection from uncertainty. The advisor's job is not to start with a solution. It's to first understand the problem the client is trying to solve.

In this episode, John Cole Scott shares why specialization matters, how decades of studying closed-end funds have shaped his perspective on investor behavior, and why the future of wealth management belongs to advisors who understand people before portfolios. We discuss behavioral coaching, investor psychology, niche expertise, AI, and why having more investment options only creates value when they're connected to what clients actually need.

As technology continues to expand access to information and investment research, differentiation will come less from knowing more products and more from asking better questions. Because clients don't remember the investment you recommended. They remember whether you understood what they were trying to accomplish.

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• Marla Sofer on LinkedIn
• Knomee
• John Cole Scott on LinkedIn 
• CEF Advisors 

As niches become table stakes in wealth management, what actually separates advisors who signal value from those who deliver it?

In this episode of Knowing Me, Knowing You, we sit down with Michelle Smith, founder of Wife2CFO and advisor at Savant Wealth Management, known widely as "the divorce consigliere." Michelle has spent over two decades helping women navigate the financial and emotional complexity of divorce, building an entire curriculum around one transformative year: the year a woman moves from having no control over her finances to becoming the CFO of her own life.

Michelle shares how she distinguishes specialization from true differentiation, why personalization only works when it's rooted in deep pattern recognition rather than checkboxes, and how she helps women navigate the shame, fear, and betrayal that often accompany financial transitions. We also explore how AI raises the floor for advisors while raising the bar for the human judgment layer, and why repetition, patience, and emotional intelligence are non-negotiable when clients are in crisis.

"You have to learn it. You have to learn each and every scenario."

A conversation about what it really takes to build trust, restore confidence, and deliver the kind of depth that generic advice can never replicate.

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• Marla Sofer on LinkedIn
• Knomee
• Michelle Smith on LinkedIn
• Savant Wealth Management

Statements and opinions expressed are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Savant Wealth Management. Information provided is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as personalized investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Please consult your financial professional regarding your unique situation.

As AI makes investing, portfolio construction, and optimization increasingly table stakes, where will advisors create real value?

In this episode of Knowing Me, Knowing You, we sit down with Chad Taylor, President and Founder of Seapoint Wealth Advisors, to explore why the future of advice is becoming less about managing investments and more about deeply understanding the people behind them.

Chad shares lessons from nearly three decades advising high-net-worth families and business owners, including how he approaches discovery, why financial goals continually move, how emotions shape financial decisions, and what it takes to create a consistent client experience as an advisory firm grows.

We also explore a changing definition of retirement, the rise of the advisor as behavioral coach, and why technology may actually make the human relationship more important, not less.

“What matters to clients is how deep do you get with them?”

A conversation about moving beyond the portfolio to understand what clients really want their money to make possible.

Connect with us! 

• Marla Sofer on LinkedIn
• Knomee
• Chad Taylor on LinkedIn 
• Seapoint Wealth Advisors 

Few people have shaped modern wealth management like Joe Duran.

As the founder of United Capital, Joe transformed a startup into one of the nation's largest Registered Investment Advisors before its $750 million acquisition by Goldman Sachs, where he became a Partner and CEO of Personal Financial Management. Before that, he founded Centurion Capital, which was acquired by GE, where he led the wealth management business that later became AssetMark. Across three decades, Joe has consistently challenged conventional thinking and helped redefine what great financial advice looks like.

In this conversation, Joe shares what he's learned from building category-defining companies, advising thousands of financial professionals, and pioneering the integration of behavioral finance into the advisory process long before it became mainstream.

Together, we explore the future of RIAs, the impact of AI, private equity's influence on the industry, why investment performance is no longer a differentiator, and how the most successful firms of the next decade will create value by understanding people before building portfolios.

Joe explains why the future belongs to advisors who combine technology with humanity, create unforgettable client experiences, and help clients make better life decisions, not simply better investment decisions.

Whether you're an independent advisor, RIA leader, enterprise executive, or simply passionate about the future of wealth management, this episode offers rare insights from one of the industry's most influential entrepreneurs and visionaries.

Connect with us!

• Marla Sofer on LinkedIn
• Knomee
• Joe Duran on LinkedIn 
• Rise Growth Partners