Purposeful Planning Podcast

Emma shares insights from interviewing philanthropy advisors from 15 countries for her new book, Advising Philanthropists: Principles and Practice, which she co-authored with Dr. Beth Breeze. She explains that how and why advisors practice is as important as what they do. 

About Our Speaker

Emma Beeston is an independent philanthropy advisor to philanthropists, families and foundations. Her advice guides donors from exploring their values through to implementing their giving to achieve their philanthropic goals. Emma specialises in supporting those new to philanthropy and facilitating multigenerational giving. Prior to her current role, Emma worked for grant-making organisations including BBC Children in Need, Lloyds Bank Foundation and Comic Relief. Emma co-created with Beth Breeze the Advising Donors module for the Philanthropic Studies master’s degree programme at the University of Kent. She is also a lecturer on the Philanthropy, Grantmaking and Social Investment master’s degree programme at Bayes Business School and a trainer with the Association of Charitable Foundations. She wants philanthropy to be accessible to all and is co- founder of a giving circle, Bath Women’s Fund.

In this episode, we sit down with industry experts Gretchen Figge and David York to discuss one of the most critical yet overlooked elements in wealth planning for high-net-worth clients. Join us as we explore how understanding this missing piece is crucial to meeting the unique needs of an affluent clientele.

They will introduce us to a cutting-edge tool designed specifically for advisors and consultants. This innovative resource empowers professionals to ensure that the "Why" and "Who" of planning take the lead in driving the "What" and "How." By leveraging this tool, advisors can deepen their understanding of clients' values and motivations, aligning their financial plans accordingly.

Introduction to Our Speaker(s):

Gretchen Figge is the CEO for COREnology. She oversees the company's sales and operations. She is very excited about the development of COREnology's software and can't wait to share it with the industry.

Gretchen Figge is most known for her entrepreneurial spirit, which shows itself in both business and her personal relationships. After a few years of working in the corporate world, she started her first company, Elf Works, Inc., in 2002, which specializes in helping other companies grow. After a successful first two years, she hired her husband, who is now her business partner. Over the years, she has had the opportunity to not only start several additional businesses but also become an investor in others. She has also consulted with many entrepreneurs and provided them guidance in starting their own companies. 

Gretchen loves to support those in the process of growth, as such, she has seen great organizational success and growth as she has served on the boards of both professional organizations and non-profits.

Gretchen graduated from the University of Utah with a bachelor’s degree in political science. She later had the rare opportunity to attend and graduate from the Goldman Sachs Small Business Program and is still an active alumna. She is also an ACC ICF credentialled coach and a licensed General Contractor.

When she's not working, Gretchen is likely enjoying time with her husband and 13-year-old son, cooking for friends, or watching sci-fi shows.

David R. York is an Attorney, Certified Public Accountant, and Managing Partner with the Salt Lake City law firm of York Howell.  David practices law in the areas of estate planning, tax, business planning, and non-profit entities.  He is a Fellow with the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and is the Dean of Legacy with the Purposeful Planning Institute.  David has extensive experience in designing and implementing advanced wealth planning strategies for high net worth clients.  David has spoken to hundreds of public groups and professional organizations, including the TedXSaltLakeCity, Q Commons, the Hawaii Tax Institute, the Purposeful Planning Institute, Investments and Wealth Institute, Valmark Member Summit, the Southeastern Family Office Forum, and the Million Dollar Roundtable.

He is the co-author of three books, Entrusted: Building a Legacy That Lasts and Riveted:  44 Values that Change the World, which after its release was the #1 Business Ethics book on Amazon, and author of The Gift of Lift.  He also created the game Experience RivetsTM, which helps individuals, families, and businesses identify their unique and shared core values to assist them with holistic wealth transfer, effective estate planning, and team building.  He has also written for Trusts & Estates Magazine, Estate Planning Magazine, and Investments and Wealth Monitor.  In 2017, YHG was recognized as an Inc. 5000 Company.

David currently serves on the Board of Directors of Holding Out HELP and Healing Nations.  He lives in the Salt Lake City, Utah area with his wife, Mindy, and their five children, Emma, John, Samuel, Hudson, and Avery.  He enjoys biking, skiing, softball, writing, and photography.

Join us as we delve into the world of community foundations and donor choices in order to maximize charitable impact. Our esteemed guest speakers, Richard "Rick" Peck, an independent philanthropy advisor and founder of The Philanthropy Guy, and Vanessa Denney, Director of Philanthropic Services at the Omaha Community Foundation, bring their extensive expertise to the conversation. Together with host John A. Warnick, Esq., Founder of the Purposeful Planning Institute, they discuss the history of community foundations, highlight the unique aspects that differentiate them from private foundations and commercial donor-advised funds, and explore how community foundation staff collaborates with donors and professional advisors to make a meaningful impact. Gain insights into typical donor profiles and discover the various types of assets that can be donated. Don't miss this engaging episode that equips you with the knowledge to navigate the world of community foundations and make a difference in your philanthropic journey.

About Our Guest Speakers:

Richard “Rick” Peck is an independent philanthropy advisor with Richard C. Peck Consulting, LLC and founder of The Philanthropy Guy, a leading-edge charitable giving resource hub featuring a podcast series, interactive website, learning opportunities, and book.  Rick’s depth of expertise includes 18 years in philanthropy, most recently as VP of Development and Philanthropy Services for the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, as well as philanthropy leadership roles with Dartmouth Health, The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, and Dartmouth College.  He holds key roles in a variety of national fundraising associations, including as incoming president of the board of directors for the International Association of Advisors in Philanthropy (AiP).  Rick is a Certified Financial Planner®, a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy® and a Chartered Financial Consultant®.  

Vanessa Denney is the Director of Philanthropic Services at the Omaha Community Foundation, joining in January 2020 after serving in both the government and nonprofit sectors in Omaha. She and her team partner with foundations and their advisor teams to further their philanthropic missions.  Vanessa is a graduate of the University of Nebraska at Omaha with a Master of Arts in Critical and Creative Thinking.  She earned her Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy (CAP®) designation from the American College of Financial Services and is a 21/64 Certified Advisor, enhancing her effectiveness when working with philanthropic individuals and families. 

In this episode, Coventry Edwards-Pitt will share takeaways from her new book, Engaged Healthy, Wealthy & Wise: Lessons from Inheritors and Their Significant Others on how they have navigated love and family wealth and forged their own joint path. After conducting 50+ interviews over two years, Covie was blown away by the perspective of young people who are rarely asked for their views by an industry that is employed largely by their parents’ generation. Engaged, the first book to focus exclusively on the experience of inheritors and their significant others – shines a lens on the perspective of the inheriting generation and allows us to understand how their lives have been impacted by the wealth advising strategies we so routinely recommend. Their insights upend a number of our industry’s norms and call on us to look within to assess what it really means to do right by our clients.

Meet Our Host

Dr. Jamie Traeger-Muney is the founder of the Wealth Legacy Group, a firm specializing in the emotional impact of wealth on inheritors, women, and couples. She works with multi-generational families, helping them to concretize their values, develop a vision for their future, and create sound governance structures.

Jamie’s personal experience as a second generation owner of a family business and board member of her family foundation, combined with her theoretical and practical expertise in wealth psychology, has given her a unique sensitivity to issues surrounding the inter-generational family dynamics of affluence.

Based on research done with 4th generation family enterprises, she co-authored, Social Impact in 100-Year Family Businesses: How Family Values Drive Sustainability through Philanthropy, Impact Investing, and CSR as well as part of Borrowed From Your Grandchildren. Jamie also contributed a chapter to Wealth of Wisdom: Top Practices for Wealthy Families and Their Advisors. She is currently researching Financially Diverse couples, a topic that while becoming increasingly common, has yet to be clinically studied.

Jamie has the distinction of being the first psychologist to be hired as an employee of a bank, to work with their clients (2007). She worked as a Family Wealth Consultant for Wells Fargo’s Family Wealth Group, a multi-family office platform serving families with $50 million and above in investable assets.

Jamie has been married for 30 years and has two children.

About Our Guest Speaker: 

Coventry Edwards-Pitt, CFA, CFP®, is the Chief Creative Officer at Ballentine Partners, a firm that specializes in providing investment and wealth management advice to wealthy families and entrepreneurs. She is responsible for thought leadership for the firm. She began her career at Goldman Sachs after graduating from Harvard University.

Engaged Healthy, Wealthy & Wise: Lessons from Inheritors and Their Significant Others is the third book in Covie’s Healthy, Wealthy & Wise series. The first, Raised Healthy, Wealthy & Wise (2014), focuses on helping parents to raise grounded children amid wealth, and the second, Aged Healthy, Wealthy & Wise (2017), centers on how to design a vibrant later life and legacy. Covie’s books live at the intersection of heart and wealth and share positive success stories of how individuals have reconciled their financial abundance with the values and relationships that matter most in their lives.

Covie has spoken on the books at over 150 events for wealth-owning families and their advisors and consults to individuals about how to implement the books’ best practices in their own families. She lives in the Boston area with her husband and daughter.

Dr. Fowler started doing mediation with families in business in 1983 when in a client family
he was working with, the parents had recently died, the excellent estate plan was then active, and the
siblings or cousins were in conflict and did not support the estate plan design. Because of this, Dean
shifted his work to make sure that the successor generation had a critical role in the design of the estate
plan to support their own vision for the future. Join us to hear some of the lessons learned and get a
glimpse into The Family Navigator, a family business assessment tool used to support successful,
intergenerational transitions.

About Our Speaker: Dean R. Fowler, Ph.D., is recognized as one of the world’s leading family business
advisors. For forty years he has served hundreds of families-in-businesses and facilitated Forums for
Family Business™ – peer advisory boards. The Family Firm Institute honored him with the prestigious
Award for Interdisciplinary Achievement. He is the author of several books including "Love, Power, and
Money", "Proactive Family Business Successors", and "Family Business Success Factors", and his essays
appear in both editions of "The Wisdom of Wealth." Through his international research, he developed
an assessment process - The Family Navigator - completed by the entire family and its advisors to
measure twelve competencies for successful intergenerational transitions.

Learn a few simple rituals and practices that encourage young people to be generous, explore purpose and passion, and even begin to understand their place in the world. These practices allow young people to pair the power of questioning with the power of giving. It offers them a safe space to explore big ideas such as, “Am I enough?”  “What is enough?”  and lets them know that adults are interested in what they have to say.

About Our Speaker: 

Sue Schwartzman has over two decades of experience working with high- net worth individuals, families, and teens, to systematically and strategically engage in philanthropy and volunteerism and to navigate and communicate about money and values. 

Sue recently co-authored her first children’s book, Two Measly Spots!- a children’s book so delightfully adventurous and vibrantly animated on a topic important for all of us to explore: what does enough mean? What is enough? What is the allure of more? Sue is on a quest to support people in determining their own “enoughness”. 

Sue pioneered one of the most esteemed teen philanthropy programs internationally. Her work is responsible for training more than 900 teenagers who have raised over $10 Million for an array of non-profits. She also developed a Seventh Grade Philanthropy Curriculum still used to foster giving and civic engagement in middle school-aged kids. 

With a Masters of Education from Stanford University, Sue takes a distinct learn-by-doing approach to philanthropy that is informed by her decades-long teaching of hundreds of kids and young adults. She is passionate about connecting with youth and millennials alike, and is an acclaimed speaker and facilitator. 

Her work has also been featured in The San Francisco Chronicle, Investor’s Business Daily, The Atlantic Philanthropies, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Chicago Tribune and Times of Israel. 

A CAP (Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy), A 21/64-certified multigenerational family trainer, speaker, and advisor, Sue is a master at giving voice to all generations around the family philanthropy table, and at connecting family members in new and lasting ways. Learn more at www.SchwartzmanAdvising.com or reach Sue at [email protected].

Delve into the fascinating realm of understanding client personalities and their influence on financial decisions. In this session, we explore how personality traits can accurately predict saving, spending, and investing behaviors, enabling you to anticipate your clients' future actions and enhance your advisory skills. Learn about a variety of methods to measure personality, including observations, structured interviews, and tests that can provide valuable insights and uncover the unique characteristics of your clients, enriching your dialogue with them about money-related experiences and beliefs. 

About Our Speaker: Sarah Stanley Fallaw, Ph.D. is the co-author of The Next Millionaire Next Door and the founder of DataPoints. She works with firms around the world to help them understand their clients’ personalities. Sarah received her Ph.D. in Applied Psychology from the University of Georgia in 2003.

Maggie Klokkenga, CFP®, CPA shares how she utilizes the Klontz Money Script Inventory (KMSI-R) assessment with her clients in her financial coaching practice. She also introduces us to a tool that helps her clients practice the money scripts that they want, serving their current and future selves.

About Our Speaker: Maggie Klokkenga is a CFP® professional and CPA who has worked for almost 25 years in the financial services industry.  She has developed tools and understanding to help clients create the financial life they have always dreamed of.

What does “educating and empowering the next generation” really entail? Hear stories and best practices collected from work with hundreds of members of the rising generation and their families, from values and mindset to education and governance.  

About Our Speaker

Whitney has been working with multi-generational families since 2012 on topics ranging from wealth purpose, philanthropy, financial literacy, entrepreneurship, effective communication, relationships and prenups, and more. She is the Managing Director of Governance, Education, and Philanthropy at Cresset Capital and is the Founder of Launch Generation, experiential learning programs for teens.

In this episode, we explore the power of “clean language” in improving communication and avoiding conflicts within families. Emily and Melissa provide practical tips and insights on how to intentionally use jargon-free, simple, and clear language to enhance communication between family members. By learning how to communicate effectively, and differentiate between observations and facts, you can build trust and create a more positive environment for complex decision-making. Join us on this journey to better communication and stronger family relationships.

About Our Speaker

A specialist in family dynamics, Emily Bouchard focuses on the emotional impact of wealth on estate and financial planning. Backed by her extensive experience, she fosters better communication and leadership skills to help multigenerational families successfully transition their businesses, assets and values.

About Our Host

Melissa Mitchell-Blitch helps family members develop skills to navigate decisions, transitions, and conflict related to business and wealth. She is the author of "In the Company of Family: How to Thrive When Business IS Personal" and serves as Dean of Individual Development for the Purposeful Planning Institute.