The Pleasant Street Pod

Most people think negotiation is about getting what you want. In reality, it’s about understanding what the other person needs. In this episode of The Pleasant Street Pod, host Taylor Nissi, CFP®, CEPA, welcomes negotiation expert and Black Swan Group trainer Jonathan B. Smith for a conversation about tactical empathy, active listening, and how better communication can improve leadership, business decisions, and relationships. Taylor and Jonathan discuss: Why tactical empathy creates better out

What if you didn’t have to sell your investments every time you needed cash? There’s a different way to think about liquidity, and most people have never heard of it. In this episode of The Pleasant Street Pod, host Taylor Nissi, CFP®, CEPA, sits down with Joseph Wang, Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer of SyntheticFI. They get into a tool that’s been showing up more and more in real client conversations, especially for high earners and entrepreneurs who have built significant portfolios but s

Growth sounds exciting, but most entrepreneurs hit a point where what used to work suddenly stops working. The challenge is not just growing the business; it’s changing how you lead it. In this episode of The Pleasant Street Pod, host Taylor Nissi, CFP®, CEPA, sits down with Dan Bubniak, certified EOS implementer and former COO/CFO, to unpack what it takes to scale a business with clarity, structure, and confidence. Dan shares lessons from helping grow a family business 20x, including why decisi

What if “everything looks normal” is actually the problem? For high performers, average health may be the very thing holding you back. In this episode of The Pleasant Street Pod, host Taylor Nissi, CFP®, CEPA, sits down with biologist and Second Prime founder Andrew Martin to explore what it really means to take a proactive, data-driven approach to health. Andrew shares his personal journey through years of unresolved health challenges and how that experience led him to help entrepreneurs optimi

What if the biggest challenge after success is not building more, but knowing what comes next? This episode explores the decisions that quietly shape an entrepreneur’s wealth, time, and sense of freedom. In this episode of The Pleasant Street Pod, host Taylor Nissi, CFP®, CEPA, sits down with Ali Nasser, Amazon #1 bestselling author of The Business Owner’s Dilemma, to unpack the core challenges high-performing entrepreneurs face as their businesses and wealth grow. Taylor and Ali discuss: The R

Building wealth requires more than growing your business. What happens when life takes an unexpected turn? In this episode of The Pleasant Street Pod, host Taylor Nissi, CFP®, CEPA, sits down with Stefan Cherneski, CFP®, Private Wealth Insurance Specialist, to explore how business owners can protect what they’ve built through strategic risk management. Stefan shares his remarkable journey from being a first-round NHL draft pick to building a career in insurance after a career-ending injury taugh