Episodes

Born into a prosperous family in Vietnam, Kim-Ha Nguyen’s life changed dramatically when her family fled the country following the fall of Saigon. Arriving in the United States as a teenager with limited English, she watched her parents rebuild their lives through determination, sacrifice and an unwavering commitment to education. Those early experiences shaped the perspective she would carry into every stage of her life. As she built a career in information technology, raised three children, an...

Michael Kitces has spent years studying what drives satisfaction among financial advisors, going beyond firm performance metrics to focus on personal wellbeing and career fulfillment. His latest research, the 2025 Advisor Wellbeing Study, reveals how advisor happiness has shifted in recent years and what factors are shaping those changes. Drawing from responses across the industry, the study highlights both encouraging trends and emerging concerns. One of the most notable findings is that overal...

Growing up in a small Pennsylvania town, Max Kulyk knew from an early age that the identity others saw didn’t fully match how he understood himself. Over the course of several decades, he built a career in financial services, raised a family, pursued theology and founded Chicory Wealth, all while continuing to explore questions of purpose, identity and authenticity. After years of reflection and personal growth, Max made the decision to begin his gender transition at the age of 64. That experien...

Carolyn Armitage spent decades building a career in wealth management while privately carrying the emotional effects of childhood trauma. For years, she compartmentalized those experiences, believing she could simply push through them while focusing on work, achievement and daily life. After an emotional breaking point following her mother’s funeral, Carolyn began exploring deeper forms of healing, including somatic therapy and psilocybin, a natural psychedelic compound found in over 200 species...

Terri Kallsen has had an outstanding career in financial services over the last 30 years. During her tenure at Charles Schwab, she led 7,000 employees and managed $1.6 trillion in assets, played a key role in transforming Wealth Enhancement Group as COO and over the last two years, she has been instrumental in building Rise Growth Partners, the RIA investing company started by former United Capital CEO Joe Duran. And this year, she’s serving as chair of the CFP Board, a huge undertaking. Terri h...

Throughout his career, RJ Moore has led some of the largest wealth management firms in the industry through challenging times. He’s held CEO positions at Cetera Financial Group, Legal & General Investment Management America, and ABN AMRO La Salle Bank. He’s also the former president of LPL Financial. But perhaps his biggest challenge came during the summer 2023, when he was diagnosed with Stage IV melanoma. His doctor called, saying the skin cancer had spread to much of his body, including his b...

This month, Jamie Hopkins’ new book, “Your Retirement Sketchbook,” co-written by Bonnie Treichel, hits bookstores, and a lot of advisors know Hopkins as a retirement planning expert. Less known is his own personal story, which includes the passing of his father in a job-site accident when he was 8 years old. “This has impacted so many things in my life—my desire to be a dad, a sense I would die early, a fear of heights and a scarcity mindset for years around money,” he writes in the book. In thi...

In 2018, Melissa Caro’s perfectly healthy 72-year-old mother was suddenly diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, and within 24 hours she became her sole caregiver, her financial planner, her life coach and her healthcare advocate. At the same time, her 87-year-old stepdad was falling apart and spiraling into dementia, and her husband was in the hospital with severe back problems. As a Type A personality, she struggled significantly during this time. During one doctor’s visit for her mother, a nurse...

After facing divorce, financial hardship and even losing her home in a wildfire, Bridget Venus Grimes rebuilt her life and career around helping other women do the same, taking control of their finances, finding community and redefining success on their own terms. In this episode of The Healthy Advisor, host Diana Britton sits down with Grimes, president of WealthChoice and co-founder of Equita Financial Network, to explore her journey from Wall Street trader to pastry chef to financial planner ...

For 35 years, Mark Singer owned an independent financial planning firm, Safe Harbor Retirement Planning, in the Boston area, a Commonwealth Financial Network affiliate. During that time, he was living life at full speed—running three businesses, exercising, playing golf, boating, spending time with grandchildren—until he had a life-changing stroke in October 2022. He lost his ability to speak, swallow, eat and perform the most basic functions. His recovery forced him to slow down and retire from...

Ryan Marcus has a passion for helping the wealth management industry better serve the neurodivergent community. He argues that the industry is not serving them in an intentional way. Neurodivergence refers to divergence in mental or neurological function from what is considered typical or normal. It’s frequently used with reference to autistic spectrum disorders. The issue is personal to Ryan, whose nephew, Nicholas, is on the spectrum. That experience revealed how unprepared the wealth manageme...

Lisa Erickson spent 37 years in financial services, ultimately leading the Public Markets Due Diligence team at U.S. Bank, which manages over $500 billion in client assets. In addition to her business acumen, she was best known for her selflessness, positivity and character. But earlier this year, Lisa chose to retire early after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, a movement disorder of the nervous system. She now enters a new phase of her life, having to deal with this illness. That wasn...

The summer after his freshman year in high school, John Connell went on the Texas Giant rollercoaster in Arlington, Texas, the tallest wooden rollercoaster in the U.S. at that time. John ended up in the hospital, with injuries the doctors weren’t sure he’d recover from. That became an “origination point,” a wake-up call that forever changed the trajectory of his life. In this episode of The Healthy Advisor podcast, WealthManagement.com Executive Editor Diana Britton talks with John Connell, co-f...

After a successful career in the pharmaceutical industry—rising from clinical research to business development and marketing—Paula Nangle took a step back to raise her young children and reflect on what truly mattered. Motivated by her early experiences with money and a desire to make a meaningful impact, she reinvented herself as a Certified Financial Planner, helping others navigate their financial lives with clarity and confidence. In this episode, Diana Britton speaks with Paula, who’s now p...

Drew Shockley grew up on a dairy farm in Tennessee. He started working in insurance for $7.50/hour, and by his 30s had built and sold multiple companies—including an eight-figure exit in 2020. From the outside, it sounds like a dream. But the road to Drew’s success was not a straight path. Along the way, he experienced burnout and struggled with the pressure of leading a much larger team. The personal lessons really stuck with him. In this episode of the award-winning Healthy Advisor podcast, We...

When natural disasters hit, your life can turn upside down. Beth Bosworth experienced this firsthand when Hurricane Helene hit her town of Asheville, N.C. on Sept. 27, 2024. The hurricane caused severe damage to the city, including fallen trees, destroyed power lines, and flooded roads. Her neighborhood is still feeling the effects of that storm several months later. In this episode, Diana Britton, WealthManagement.com executive editor, speaks with Bosworth, head of financial planning and wealth...

When Stacie Calder first joined the financial services industry, she pounded the pavement and quickly climbed the corporate ladder. But her rise came with a cost. In this episode, she opens up about the persona she adopted to fit a traditional mold of leadership, one that silenced her authentic voice in favor of external approval. A turning point came when a close friend called out her lack of vulnerability, sparking a profound shift in how she showed up, not just as a leader, but as a person. T...

What happens when professional achievement outpaces personal well-being? Dr. Preston Cherry, founder of Concurrent Financial Planning, seemed to have it all—a thriving career and a secure six-figure salary in his late 20s. But beneath the surface, he was stuck in a seven-year fog, struggling to align his personal life with his financial success. In this episode, Diana Britton, executive editor at WealthManagement.com, sits down with Dr. Cherry as he opens up about his challenges—bankruptcy, self...

Mary Saylor had been working hard to earn her accounting degree at Penn State University when she got some shocking news at the beginning of her senior year—she was pregnant. And while many women would think of it as a roadblock, Saylor saw it as a blessing. It didn’t stop her from pursuing her degree and a career in financial services. If anything, it made her more determined. Not long after giving birth to her daughter, she graduated from Penn State and started working in corporate accounting ...

Many advisors know Aaron Klein as the super-friendly, charismatic leader of Nitrogen, formerly Riskalyze, the company he founded about 13 years ago as a risk tolerance documentation tool. He’s since stepped down from his role leading the company. What most advisors probably don’t know is Aaron’s personal journey—the challenges he faced balancing running a major fintech company with adopting and raising three children. In this episode, WealthManagement.com Managing Editor Diana Britton sits down ...

Michelle Begina started her journey to financial independence after an unexpected betrayal. When she was just 17 years old, her parents used her college fund to buy a yacht instead of supporting her education. Michelle then had to forge her own path, overcoming adversity and reshaping her perceptions of money and trust. In this episode, WealthManagement.com Managing Editor Diana Britton sits down with Michelle Begina, a senior partner, managing director and private wealth advisor with Snowden La...

George Kinder, raised in St. Clairsville, Ohio, was inspired by his passion for freedom and creativity to explore a deeper purpose for his life beyond traditional career paths. His work as a tax preparer revealed a universal longing for fulfillment, leading him to pioneer life planning, a method empowering individuals to pursue their true aspirations. And while he has trained hundreds of advisors to use life planning with their clients, he also hopes advisors will use it inwardly. Kinder recentl...

Adventure racing—an off-road, navigation-based sport that fuses endurance, strategy, and teamwork—became a life-changing journey for Ryan VanGorder. What started as a casual comment while watching The Echo Challenge with friends transformed into a relentless pursuit of his physical and mental limits. Since 1999, Ryan and his team have tackled grueling competitions that stretch from a few hours to several days, pushing themselves against nature and their own endurance. But Ryan’s path took a harr...

Having grown up around financial planning, Matthew Newman realized the importance of having everything in place before tragedy strikes. His father’s advice to plan for the negative moments was a lifeline. At age 39, he was diagnosed with Grade 3 Astrocytoma, a form of brain cancer. At the time, he had three children under 5, and his father-in-law was battling pancreatic cancer. All of a sudden, he saw life through a new set of lenses. Throughout his battle, he sought to make his journey a commun...