Catherine Williams sits down with Mark Sparvell, author of Good Brain Bad Brain and head of social learning initiatives at Microsoft. Together, they explore the neuroscience behind leadership, emotional intelligence, and the human capacity to thrive amid stress and change. Catherine and Mark discuss how understanding the brain’s survival wiring—and learning how to reframe stress—can unlock motivation, improve firm culture, and foster better decision-making as firms face time and capacity constra...
Jun 20, 2025•1 hr 1 min
Dennis Moseley-Williams, founder of DMW Strategic Consulting, brings a fresh lens to the financial services industry through the concept of the “experience economy.” Dennis shares how financial advisors can grow their business by shifting from delivering services to staging experiences. Learn how the experience economy can help you deepen client relationships, drive referrals, and create a brand that stands out.
May 16, 2025•1 hr
Casey Jacox, sales leader and author of Win the Relationship, Not the Deal , turned his experience in sales and leadership into a career of coaching and mentoring professionals on building authentic relationships. He shares his expertise in building confidence, communication, and business development, offering strategies for advisors to strengthen client connections, differentiate their services, and develop the next generation of industry leaders.
Apr 11, 2025•39 min
Scott Highmark, President of Mosaic Wealth, shares how his firm’s mission, vision, and values have become the foundation for driving growth, shaping culture, and delivering a transformational client experience. From fostering a team-first environment to aligning financial strategies with clients’ personal values, Scott breaks down how Mosaic integrates purpose and accountability into every decision. Catherine Williams, Head of Practice Management at Dimensional Fund Advisors, and Scott explore l...
Mar 21, 2025•49 min
How can financial advisory firms successfully transition to the next generation of leadership? In this episode, host Catherine Williams talks with Jessi Howe of Silver Oak Advisory Group and Yusuf Abugideiri of Yeske Buie about their journeys to firm leadership. They share key lessons on succession planning, developing future leaders, and balancing ownership with firm growth. Whether you’re a founder preparing to step back or an advisor looking to step up, this discussion offers valuable insight...
Feb 21, 2025•48 min
In this episode of the Managing your Practice podcast , Catherine Williams of Dimensional Fund Advisors is joined by Brady Fineske, president of TFO Wealth Partners, and Richard Stott, CEO and CIO of Connectum Capital Management. They explore the critical connection between health and wealth, sharing personal stories and strategies for helping clients align their finances with their life and health goals. Covering topics from fostering trust to using innovative tools like fulfillment indices, th...
Jan 31, 2025•45 min
Join Dimensional’s Practice Management team as they recap the top trends that shaped advisory firms in 2024 and share insights to help you succeed in the year ahead. From strategic planning and business scaling to managing talent and enhancing the client experience, this year-end podcast highlights key takeaways, actionable strategies, and emerging opportunities. Hear expert perspectives on what worked, what didn’t, and how to position your firm for growth and success in 2025. Don’t miss this co...
Dec 19, 2024•1 hr 20 min
In this episode, Gordon Bernhardt and Scott Oeth discuss how storytelling and incorporating their own personal “why” into various interactions can support deeper client relationships and drive growth in their advisory firms. Bernhardt, a wealth manager and principal with Modera Wealth Management, and Oeth, a wealth manager and principal for Cahill Financial Advisors, dive into the connection between personal passion and professional success—hear how Bernhardt’s Camino de Santiago journey plays a...
Nov 22, 2024•43 min
Helen Stephens, president and CEO of Aspen Wealth Management, has more than three decades of experience serving investors across various client profiles. Her firm has developed several personas for those clients that they serve best, and Stephens attributes success to advisory councils that match those personas. The councils provide a dedicated venue for soliciting feedback, communicating with the most engaged clients, and even creating growth opportunities through referrals. Hear how Helen’s te...
Oct 25, 2024•41 min
Helen Learmonth, director and financial planner at WealthFlow, and Matt Hall, cofounder and CEO of Hill Investment Group, put the client experience at the forefront of their business operations to increase retention and drive referrals. They have each incorporated their firms’ mission and values, as well as a higher level of service and presence, to encourage client engagement and satisfaction within their teams. Hear how they do it, why trust is at the core, and what it can mean for the bottom ...
Sep 03, 2024•58 min
Mark Johnsen, CEO of Wealth Architects, and Rob Greenman, Chief Growth Officer of Vista Capital, both live, breathe, and bear the responsibility in their respective firms for managing growth, and with it, creating a culture and sales cycle that fosters a business development mindset. They talk through their leadership styles and some of the ways their firms are driving behaviors on their team, including incentives like compensation, encouraging healthy competition, and promoting psychological sa...
Jul 19, 2024•41 min
Art Markman, PhD, is vice provost for academic affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and the author of more than 150 scholarly works on cognitive science and related topics. In this podcast episode, he shares his expertise on “smart” thinking and decision-making. With tens of thousands of decisions to make every day, what allows us to move from basic functions to strategic thinking and, as business leaders, form innovative ideas? Hear how you can actively optimize those thoughts to build ...
Jun 21, 2024•55 min
With more options than ever, how do advisors decide on a custodial partner? Ben Harrison of BNY Mellon Pershing, Gabe Garcia of SEI, and Thomas Moore of Betterment for Advisors join us in a roundtable discussion on how their custodial firms are going beyond asset security to offer services in other major operational and strategic capacities. They each offer internal perspective on what advisors should look for, priorities to consider, and key questions to ask when choosing a partner.
May 16, 2024•1 hr 1 min
Jennifer Climo, CEO of Milestone Financial Planning, and Martine Lellis, chief talent officer at Mercer Advisors, work in advisory firms that are vastly different in size but have the common goal of creating an environment that fosters growth in both revenue and talent. They share their experience in bringing on new employees, how their firms continue to develop internal opportunities for progression, and the importance of clearly defined career paths that emphasize advocacy on the part of both ...
Apr 10, 2024•44 min
David DeVoe, founder of DeVoe & Co., appropriately nicknamed the "RIA M&A Guru," has spent 15 years helping advisors buy, sell, and merge their firms. With so much to consider in a deal, how are advisors avoiding analysis paralysis when preparing for a transition? Hear from the expert on why you should get purposeful and have a succession plan in place today, what might affect a firm’s value in the current landscape, and how to retain your talent and culture, all while continuing to grow...
Mar 05, 2024•44 min
Dr. Moira Somers, founder of Money, Mind and Meaning, is a financial psychologist, family wealth consultant, executive coach, and author, specializing in areas like neuroscience and behavioral economics. Her body of work helps financial advisors facilitate follow-through on recommendations and advice to clients. She poses important questions to identify true client priorities, mitigate procrastination, and ensure your firm can operate at a high level without compromising the client experience....
Jan 29, 2024•55 min
Daron Roberts, founding director of the Center for Sports Leadership & Innovation at the University of Texas, is a Harvard Law School graduate turned NFL coach who now guides students, athletes, and business leaders on stepping outside their comfort zone, practicing discipline, and hiring and managing teams. In this special live episode, hear insights honed on the gridiron that translate to how advisors can approach their own firm’s goals.
Dec 14, 2023•55 min
Arabella Macpherson, director of Resonate Communications, turned a passion for acting into a career coaching, mentoring, and training leaders and teams to overcome communication obstacles. She shares her experience in influencing, negotiation, and conflict resolution; ways that advisors can manage difficult conversations with clients and employees; and the impact that communication styles can have on your business.
Nov 17, 2023•55 min
Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place to Work®, has found data-driven ways to connect the dots between human-centered leaders and good business. He shares how a focus on trust in the workplace correlates with business performance, what leaders can do to enhance the employee experience, and insights from his own 30-year career that have had a lasting impact on how he’s approached new roles and leadership positions.
Oct 27, 2023•56 min
Lisa Salvi, Managing Director of Advisor Services at Schwab, manages advisor benchmarking studies that have collected data for over a decade on key business metrics for financial advisory practices. Listen as she shares focus areas for firms to measure and what actually matters for performance. She also discusses how firms differentiate when it comes to those areas with the greatest impact, such as talent, succession planning, referral programs, and value propositions.
Sep 22, 2023•45 min
Ben Slater of Buckingham Strategic Partners works closely with advisory firms that are near critical growth points and considering outsourcing or partnering to manage the expansion. As you approach the next level of growth, you may ask questions around when to hire, what functions to outsource, and how you can thrive as you grow. Hear how to evaluate cost vs. time, determine where you can relinquish decision-making, and return to the areas of the profession that bring you joy.
Aug 25, 2023•43 min
Shandel Sutherland and Liv Olson share more than four decades of combined experience helping build highly effective teams. In this episode, they define key characteristics of those teams, ways to identify gaps in your own firm, and actionable steps to enhance performance. Learn why they believe investing in employee and team development is an essential aspect of achieving long-term success and creating an exceptional client experience in your advisory firm.
Jul 28, 2023•54 min
Robin Wigglesworth, editor of FT Alphaville and author of Trillions, describes his career as “geeking out” on all things finance, writing to great depths on investing and markets. Hear how he connected with some of the greatest minds in finance to tell the origin story of index funds, his take on integrating corporate cultures through M&A, and what’s next in the evolution of financial advice and incorporating AI. Trillions is included on Dimensional’s 2023 Summer Reading List, which you can ...
Jun 23, 2023•48 min
Nirav Batavia, co–managing partner and chief technology officer of Forum Financial has used technology to build systems and processes that increase efficiency, enhance the employee and client experience, and scale the business, all while maintaining a focus on profitability. He shares his expertise on how advisors can combine technology with human interaction to support growth goals, determine areas of opportunity and improvement, and spend time doing the parts of their job they enjoy most. Nira...
May 25, 2023•51 min
Michael Goodman, president of Wealthstream Advisors, founded a lifestyle practice that evolved into a $1 billion ensemble practice after combining the skills of multiple professions and taking on partners to facilitate the firm’s growth over the past three decades. Hear the pros and cons of running an ensemble practice; how hiring, team structure, and business processes transform through the progression; and why it’s important that your long-term goals and motivations match those of your people....
Apr 28, 2023•31 min
Peter Lazaroff, CIO at Plancorp, knew from a young age that he would have a career in investments and wealth management. Now, he helps deliver financial planning advice to clients in various life stages and offers his perspective on how advisors can engage with clients in ways that foster a long-term investment mindset and referability. Hear how he approaches these conversations with clients, solicits feedback on their experience, and his thoughts on the evolution of an advisors’ role. Peter Laz...
Apr 05, 2023•29 min
Joe Stephan of Stephan Independent Advisory experienced a familial succession firsthand when his father passed his advisory firm on to him. The transition left him with a desire to help other advisors in strategically planning for succession, either within the family or externally. He shares key considerations for advisors preparing for succession, the nuances of a transition within a family, and how succession is impacted by the current state of the financial advisory industry in Australia....
Mar 16, 2023•44 min
Julie Littlechild, founder and CEO of Absolute Engagement, has spent over 25 years finding ways to measure the client experience in financial advisory firms. She shares how advisors can analyze feedback from clients around engagement and satisfaction to anticipate needs and wants, and ultimately help clients drive business growth through referrals.
Feb 17, 2023•43 min
Allen Darby of Alaris Acquisitions and Jason Carver of Pure Financial Advisors have sat on both sides of the M&A table and experienced some of the recent, record-breaking years of deals done across the wealth management industry. They share their thoughts on when and how to start planning for a deal and searching for a partner, what each side considers deal breakers, and why you should always be prepared to sell. If you are buying, selling, merging, or simply beginning to think about the fut...
Jan 20, 2023•57 min
Louis Diamond, of Diamond Consultants, guides advisors through major career transitions like launching RIA firms, scaling independent businesses, and succession planning. He joins Dimensional’s Catherine Williams to discuss how advisors can prepare for movement across the industry, best practices for building a successful advisory firm, and what strategic moves they should consider today.
Dec 14, 2022•47 min
