In this conversation, Kathy Longo and Michele Lenz each bring an incredibly unique perspective to #YAFPNW listeners. This is a fantastic episode for anyone interested in building a career path, who wants to scale a firm, or who is interested in growing their career as a planner into a future firm partner.

 

Kathy Longo, CFP®, is the founder of Flourish Wealth Management in Edina, MN. Over the past few years, she has grown her team to five active members. Today we’re joined by Kathy, and Michele Lenz, CFP®, who is a wealth manager on her team.

In this conversation, Kathy and Michele each bring a unique perspective to #YAFPNW listeners. This year, Kathy is celebrating her 5th anniversary of founding and growing Flourish Wealth Management. As she looks back, she’s able to reflect on the lessons she’s learned as a business owner, pitfalls she ran into when scaling her firm, and how her vision for her business has changed with time. Kathy discusses, with host Matt Fizell and Michele Lenz, what it’s like to create a hiring process, how she has navigated hiring team members who weren’t a fit, and why she’s still excited and passionate about building out career paths within her firm.

Michele brings an equally helpful perspective to the table. She is in the shoes of many #YAFPNW listeners, having graduated from college with a focus in financial planning, she met Kathy early in her career as a new planner. She and Kathy discussed her career goals, as well as her strengths and weaknesses, and Michele quickly realized she was being interviewed! Kathy knew she was a fantastic fit for the team, and was excited to have her come on board.

Together, they’ve worked to build a career path program within Flourish Wealth Management. Michele feels supported in her growth, and Kathy is always learning and seeking feedback from her team - who may become partners in the future.

This is a fantastic episode for anyone interested in building a career path, who wants to scale a firm, or who is interested in growing their career as a planner into a future firm partner.

 

What You’ll Learn:

  • What a hiring process looks like in a scaling firm
  • How a business owner and a newer planner who is being hired relates to the hiring process
  • The importance of hiring for fit, from a business owner’s perspective
  • How creating career paths can shape a firm
  • How to encourage growth in new team members
  • What to expect when working for a small practice as a new planner
  • The importance of transparency in conversation, and being open to feedback

 

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