Zebra Smash - Real Financial Planners | Real Conversations

It usually only takes one look around a conference ballroom to figure out that the majority of the financial planning industry consists of middle-aged white men. That's a problem, because the demographics of our society are changing. Shouldn't the financial advisory industry change, too?

We're joined on this episode by Lazetta Rainey Braxton, founder and CEO of Financial Fountains, to talk about diversity (and the lack thereof) in financial services. In addition to her numerous other activities, Lazetta was part of the Diversity Advisory Group of the CFP Board Center for Financial Planning, which published Racial Diversity in Financial Planning: Where We Are and Where we Must Go at its first ever Diversity Summit in October, 2018. Our conversation touches on the many findings and suggestions put forward in the Center's report.

We revisit our soon-to-be-a-hit musical about the life and times of William Playfair, the inventor of the pie chart, line graph, and bar chart.

Be warned that listeners have been known to spontaneously start tap dancing, so be sure to stretch before you press Play.

If you missed it, be sure to check out Episode 52, in which we revealed the big power ballad from the same show.

Robert Cialdini wrote the groundbreaking book Influence back in the 1980s. Over 30 years later, he's back with what he's calling a pre-quel, Pre-Suasion.

Does this one deliver better than the Star Wars prequels did? Find out in our opinionated review.

What will it take to bring financial planning to the mass market in a truly scalable way? Roger has been pondering this idea for several months now, and is beta testing his attempt at an answer. Listen in as we discuss the origin story of this project, the current state, and where it might go from here.

Stay tuned to the end for a rant about the Lean Startup.

Human Capville: https://www.humancapville.com

What's it like to be an exhibitor at a financial planning conference? How do vendors make the most of the experience? And what can we as advisors and attendees do to make our interactions with vendors as valuable as possible?

Paige Uher, a longtime denizen of the NAPFA exhibit hall, was kind enough to talk with us the day before Thanksgiving to share her experiences.

Paige's firm, Zeo Capital Advisors, is not a sponsor of Zebra Smash. That said, it's only fair that we drop a link to her firm in the show notes: www.zeo.com

Referrals are the most powerful and cost effective component of a successful business development strategy. But are we thinking about referrals correctly? Are we thinking about them at all?

Stacey Brown Randall has some great common-sense tips for building that referral machinery.

Ben's recap of the 2018 fall NAPFA conference in Philadelphia. He took notes. Lots of notes.

Chad Smith returns after his inspiring 2017 review of the Fincon Conference. Was 2018 just as good? And does Roger have anything worthwhile to say about it after attending virtually?

Join us as we read and critique the new academic journal from the CFP Board. We combed through the details and footnotes so you don't have to.