Radical Transparency: How Financial Advisors Can Build Team Trust and Reduce Turnover

Trust Is a Commodity. Here's How You Earn It with Dan Brothers

You might think trust takes months to build. Dan Brothers earned it in a single conversation… by saying almost nothing. In this episode, Pete sits down with Dan Brothers, CFP and co-founder of Brothers Wealth Management at Edward Jones. Dan brings a rare dual perspective to the conversation: he's spent decades building trust with clients as a financial advisor, and he's also experienced firsthand what it feels like to be on the receiving end of that process for better and for worse. Through two vivid stories (a personal trainer who showed up in slacks instead of gym shorts and a real estate agent who missed the point entirely), Dan reveals what separates advisors who build loyalty from those who quietly lose it. His central lesson: trust isn't automatically given. It's earned through curiosity, consistency, and the willingness to ask one more question than most people bother to ask. What You’ll Learn: * Why trust is an earned commodity and what it actually takes to build it fast. * How listening before advising creates an immediate foundation of confidence. * Why asking "dumber" questions leads to deeper understanding and better outcomes. * How vulnerability in leadership and advising signals sincerity, not weakness. * Why consistency without ego is one of the fastest trust-builders in any relationship. * How technology and instant gratification have made trust harder to build. Ideas Worth Sharing: * "Trust is earned, and it's not automatically given." - Dan Brothers * “As I get older and I learn more, I actually find myself asking dumber questions because it helps me understand better, not only from a conceptual perspective, but from an intent perspective.” - Dan Brothers * “If you're showing that you can be comfortable in your vulnerable state, then it allows them to understand that there's a lot of sincerity and meaning behind what you're trying to do.” - Dan Brothers About Dan Brothers: Dan Brothers is a CFP® professional and co-founder of Brothers Wealth Management at Edward Jones in Danvers, Massachusetts, where he works alongside his wife and fellow CFP® Ashley Brothers. After losing his father at 58 and witnessing the financial fallout his unprepared family faced, Dan built his practice around one central question: "What happens when my paychecks stop?" Resources: * Dan Brothers | Edward Jones [https://www.edwardjones.com/us-en/financial-advisor/dan-brothers] * Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action [https://www.amazon.com/Start-Why-Leaders-Inspire-Everyone/dp/1591846447] by Simon Sinek Connect with Dan: LinkedIn: Dan Brothers, CFP® [https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbrothersedwardjones] Connect with Pete: LinkedIn: Pete Mockaitis [https://www.linkedin.com/in/petemockaitis] Connect With Us If you enjoyed this episode, follow The Rise and Fall of Trust wherever you get your podcasts. And if you’re thinking about launching a podcast that builds trust and drives results, that’s our jam. Schedule a free call at Cashflow Podcasting [https://www.cashflowpodcasting.com/] to learn more.

Building Your Health Account: A Guide for Financial Advisors with Stevyn Guinnip

What happens when the advice people need most goes against everything they have been taught to believe about health? In this episode, Anne sits down with Stevyn Guinnip, founder and CEO of Grow Wellthy, to explore why trust is essential in health conversations shaped by fear, vulnerability, and long-standing habits. Stevyn helps financial advisors treat health like a long-term asset rather than a short-term fitness problem. She explains why many high performers struggle to trust a slower, more sustainable approach to wellness, especially when the broader industry keeps telling them to push harder and do more. Through a story of rising trust with a client facing pre-diabetes and another of falling trust in a respected public figure, Stevyn shares what helps people feel safe enough to change. What You’ll Learn: * Why doing less can get better health results. * What finally calms clients who feel health panic. * How to make people trust your advice faster. * Why sleep may matter more than another workout. * What happens when a trusted expert disappoints you. * Why people trust systems more than random advice. * How imperfection can make you more credible. Ideas Worth Sharing: * “Trust is everything because the currency that I work in, which is people's health, is very personal.” - Stevyn Guinnip * “ Actually, you need to work with your body and you need to listen to it, and sometimes you do less instead of more.” - Stevyn Guinnip * “Whatever the image is, you have to stop and say, what is the real person, and are those things aligned with each other?” - Stevyn Guinnip About Stevyn Guinnip: Stevyn Guinnip is the founder and CEO of Grow Wellthy, a health and wellness advisory firm focused on financial professionals. She is an exercise physiologist, certified wellness coach, author, and speaker who helps advisors protect their health with the same intentionality they bring to building wealth. Resources: * Grow Wellthy [https://www.growwellthy.com/] * Take the Quiz to Find Out Your Wellth Score [https://www.growwellthy.com/quiz.html] * Well-Advised Newsletter [https://www.growwellthy.com/newsletter.html] * Get-Up! Challenge [https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stevyn-guinnip_happy-get-up-saturday-who-stevyn-the-ugcPost-7337085959181627392-5Lfg] * Grow Wellthy: The Financial Advisor's 4-Step Plan to Protect Your Health Like an Asset [https://www.amazon.com/Grow-Wellthy-Financial-Advisors-Protect-ebook/dp/B0G1YK7SH1] by Stevyn Guinnip Connect with Stevyn: LinkedIn: Stevyn Guinnip [https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevyn-guinnip/] Connect with Anne: LinkedIn: Anne Claessen [https://es.linkedin.com/in/anne-claessen] Connect With Us If you enjoyed this episode, follow The Rise and Fall of Trust wherever you get your podcasts. And if you’re thinking about launching a podcast that builds trust and drives results, that’s our jam. Schedule a free call at Cashflow Podcasting [https://www.cashflowpodcasting.com/] to learn more.

The Breadwinner’s Partner: Empowering Women Through Financial Trust with Bridget Grimes

What does it cost to trust someone who publicly champions your success but privately limits it? In this episode, Anne Claessen speaks with Bridget Grimes, CFP and president of WealthChoice, a fee-only financial planning firm serving high-earning breadwinner women. After a decade in an industry that repeatedly asked her to shrink, Bridget’s perspective on trust is shaped by both the damage that experience caused and what she chose to construct afterward. Listen in as she shares what she learned about trust from both sides of professional betrayal. You’ll learn why stated values without supporting structures are not values at all, what intentional succession planning actually requires, and how the wrong firm became the reason she built the right one. What You’ll Learn: * Why fiduciary responsibility and personal trust are not the same thing. * The real cost of the gender pay gap in financial planning and advisory firms. * How fee-only RIAs can build stronger advisor partnerships through clear expectations. * What intentional succession planning looks like inside a family-owned firm. * How structured communication helps Gen Z advisors transition into financial services. * What women in finance need from firm leadership beyond stated support. Ideas Worth Sharing: * "I think a client's only going to take the steps that you suggest if they really believe that you are trustworthy." - Bridget Grimes * "Whoever your tribe is, you have to have this group of people." - Bridget Grimes * "If you are surrounded by folks you trust, who you know are interested in sharing and helping each other succeed, then far more women will succeed in this industry." - Bridget Grimes About Bridget Grimes: Bridget Venus Grimes is a CFP Board Ambassador and founder of WealthChoice, a fee-only financial planning firm built around the financial lives of breadwinner women. She co-founded Equita Financial Network, a community and RIA platform designed to keep women-led advisory firms in the industry on their own terms. Her work as an advisor, speaker, and mentor is shaped by her own experience navigating financial discrimination and rebuilding professional trust from the ground up. Resources: * WealthChoice [https://wealthchoice.com/] * Equita Financial Network [https://www.equitafn.com/] Connect with Bridget: LinkedIn: Bridget Venus Grimes, CFP® [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bridget-venus-grimes-cfp] Connect with Anne: LinkedIn: Anne Claessen [https://es.linkedin.com/in/anne-claessen] Connect With Us If you enjoyed this episode, follow The Rise and Fall of Trust wherever you get your podcasts. And if you’re thinking about launching a podcast that builds trust and drives results, that’s our jam. Schedule a free call at Cashflow Podcasting [https://www.cashflowpodcasting.com/] to learn more.

Radical Transparency: How Financial Advisors Can Build Team Trust and Reduce Turnover

Most firms invest heavily in client relationships while quietly neglecting the internal ones. The result is predictable: talented people leave, institutional knowledge walks out the door, and the cost rarely shows up on a single line item. In this episode, Anne speaks with Zack Hubbard, Director of Financial Planning at Sargent Investment Group, an independent fee-only RIA based in Bethesda, Maryland. He has spent his career building financial planning teams from the ground up inside firms where the role didn't exist before he arrived. Tune in as Zack shares what he has learned about trust from both sides of the manager-employee relationship, including why direct feedback compounds over time, what makes a young hire genuinely bought in, and why routing criticism through a third party quietly destroys what took months to build. What You’ll Learn: * Why financial advisory firms lose good employees they never meant to lose. * The feedback structure that quietly predicts employee retention. * What indirect feedback signals to the team members receiving it. * How trust in a financial planning team moves from credentials to genuine loyalty. * What a new hire's feedback quality reveals about their commitment. * Why the honest hiring conversation most managers avoid is also the best retention tool. * The cost of waiting for an annual review to say what needed saying months ago. Ideas Worth Sharing: * "If you're not building that relationship with your employees the same way you think about your relationship with your clients, you're not going to keep them." - Zack Hubbard * "The more trust you have with your employees, the more they will stick around and weather some hard times." - Zack Hubbard * "If you can build that level of trust where they have an unwavering belief that it's going to work out, you can weather a lot." - Zack Hubbard About Zack Hubbard: Zack Hubbard, CFP®, is the Director of Financial Planning at Sargent Investment Group, an independent fee-only RIA based in Bethesda, Maryland. Before joining SIG, he built the centralized planning practice at Greenspring Advisors and developed its training program for incoming financial planners. He holds the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® designation and is an active member of NAPFA. Resources: Sargent Investment Group [https://www.sargentinvestmentgroup.com/] Connect with Zack: LinkedIn: Zack Hubbard [https://www.linkedin.com/in/zack-hubbard/] Connect with Anne: LinkedIn: Anne Claessen [https://es.linkedin.com/in/anne-claessen] Connect With Us If you enjoyed this episode, follow The Rise and Fall of Trust wherever you get your podcasts. And if you’re thinking about launching a podcast that builds trust and drives results, that’s our jam. Schedule a free call at Cashflow Podcasting [https://www.cashflowpodcasting.com/] to learn more.

Trusting Yourself at the Bottom: Promises, Small Clients, and Long-Term Loyalty

What holds a relationship together when outcomes are uncertain, mistakes are inevitable, and incentives begin to shift? In this episode, Anne speaks with Brett Danko, president of Danko Education and a financial advisor at Main Street Financial Solutions. Working in both financial education (where students place their future in his hands) and in advisory work (where clients do the same with their money), Brett has seen that trust grows through candor, responsibility, and relationship.  Tune in as Brett shares what he has learned about trust through the years, including the value of saying “I don’t know,” owning mistakes quickly, and treating people as more than transactions. As you listen, consider where trust in your own work depends less on being flawless and more on being transparent, steady, and willing to stick around when things get difficult. What You’ll Learn: * Why saying “I don’t know” can build more trust than pretending certainty. * How a spouse’s belief and a clear time boundary helped Brett bet on himself. * The cost of treating early, “small” clients as disposable once you’ve grown. * What broken business promises reveal about someone’s true reliability. * How transparent communication can preserve trust in failure. * Why many younger investors no longer trust traditional markets and what that signals. * How real conversation, not online conflict, restores trust across differences. Ideas Worth Sharing: * “In the end, it comes down to relationships, and I found that when people actually talk to one another, even from different viewpoints, they tend to understand one another.” - Brett Danko * “When you’re working with clients, it’s all about trust. They have to know that you are a fiduciary. They have to know that you have their best interests at heart.” - Brett Danko * “You can have a business that doesn’t work out, but yet the trust still remains because it’s about the longer-term relationship. That’s what really matters.” - Brett Danko About Brett Danko: Brett R. Danko, CFP® is the Founder and Managing Partner of Main Street Financial Solutions, LLC, where he actively advises clients on complex financial planning and investment issues. He also leads Danko Education, teaching CFP® Certification Education and exam prep courses nationwide, bringing real-world planner experience into the classroom. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Brett grew up in Pittsburgh, PA and now lives in Newtown, PA with his wife and two children. Resources: * Brett Danko | Danko Education [https://www.brettdanko.com/] * Main Street Financial Solutions [https://www.msfsolutions.com/] Connect with Brett: * LinkedIn: Brett Danko [https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-danko-a32b247] Connect with Anne: * LinkedIn: Anne Claessen [https://es.linkedin.com/in/anne-claessen] Connect With Us If you enjoyed this episode, follow The Rise and Fall of Trust wherever you get your podcasts. And if you’re thinking about launching a podcast that builds trust and drives results, that’s our jam. Schedule a free call at Cashflow Podcasting [https://www.cashflowpodcasting.com/] to learn more.