February 18, 2026 • 24 mins
In this episode, we talk with Christi Robinette, CEO of Fragasso Financial Advisors, about her journey from financial advisor to leading one of Pittsburgh’s most respected wealth management firms.
With degrees in social work from the University of Pittsburgh, Christi brings a unique, people-first perspective to financial planning and leadership. We discuss how empathy shapes client relationships, her approach to building a collaborative culture, and what it takes to guide a firm focused on long-term trust and strategic growth. An inspiring conversation about leadership, purpose, and impact in today’s financial world.
https://www.fragassoadvisors.com/
With degrees in social work from the University of Pittsburgh, Christi brings a unique, people-first perspective to financial planning and leadership. We discuss how empathy shapes client relationships, her approach to building a collaborative culture, and what it takes to guide a firm focused on long-term trust and strategic growth. An inspiring conversation about leadership, purpose, and impact in today’s financial world.
https://www.fragassoadvisors.com/
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
And welcome in this is the CEOs You Should Know podcast.
I'm your host, Johnny Heartwell, let's say hello to Christy
Robertette for GASO Financial Advisors. Thank you for being with me.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Hi, thank you so much for having me, Johnny, I
really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
So tell us everything we need to know about your company.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Oh wonderful, thank you. I think, first and foremost, we
are an independent investment management and financial planning firm founded
in nineteen seventy two, so we've been around over fifty years.
Local Bob Fragasso started the business that father, my father. Yes,
(00:42):
I'm very proud of him and learned a heck of
a lot from him through the years. But I think
probably what makes us different than most other firms within
our industry is a lot of firms lead with products performance,
and that's important, don't get me wrong, but that's not
(01:02):
the center of our model. We really the core of
our model and the core promise is the relationship itself,
and that goes back to the beginning, and that's ingrained
in our culture. We do a very deep dive and
a deep understanding of your priorities, your goals, your fears,
(01:24):
your values, your family, and the legacy that you want
to leave, and we start there. Always we are not
looking at anything in a vacuum, and we.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Really do you use the.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Planning, financial planning process to lead us to what is
correct with investment management.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
If you will, okay, let me ask you to take
me to the beginning. If somebody a client comes to you,
thank you. What's the process?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yes, yes, So we work mostly with high net worth individuals, families,
business owners. We also work with retirement plan sponsors and nonprofits,
so we have we kind of run the gamut and
a lot of our clients do have several of those things,
(02:13):
and may be a business owner who also has a
retirement plan with us. But no matter how you come
to work with us, we start with a financial plan.
It's a complementary plan, and we're not going to work
with you without doing that. We're not just going to
invest your money. The goal of that is to truly
understand where you're at now and where you want to be,
(02:38):
and so we start by gathering all that information. And
it's again not just about investments. It is about income,
it's about debt, it is about your taxes, how that
affects all of your investments. It is about what are
your retirement goals and cash flow projections. It is about
(02:58):
estate planning and legacy planning, charitable planning. That is all
touched upon within our financial plan, and we do all
of that before someone becomes a client. We want to
make sure we understand the entire picture, financial as well
as emotional, because truly, wealth really is emotional before it's
(03:18):
going to be financial. And if you have the right
relationship and you trust the person you're working with, you're
going to achieve the things that you're setting out to do.
So once we deliver that plan, then someone can decide
to become a client. I think one thing that's really
(03:39):
really different than I know any other firm out there
locally and nationally is what we do when we have
gathered that data and it's inputed into our software every
Friday morning. We call it the Friday plan meeting. It
used to be in person when we were downtown and
you know everybody who's in the office five days a week,
(04:00):
but we now do it on Zoom and it is
all of our advisors as well as our managers, marketing,
portfolio management, client account specialists. They all sit in and
we kind of put that plan up. I always save
the board, but it really is up on the screen
now and we pick it apart and put it back
(04:21):
together together. So when we're doing a plan, it is
not just one advisor coming up with recommendations. It is
all of the advisors, and especially our portfolio management department,
who is in house, plays a big part when we
decide how we're going to invest the money depending on
(04:43):
someone's risk tolerance and what their goals are.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Well, that leads me to a question, tell me more
about your team.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Yes, yes, So we have about forty five people in
our firm, and I think that with every client that
we work with, we have an advisor, we have a
financial planning analyst, and that is someone who is doing
a lot of the legwork with data input, schedules, really
(05:09):
kind of creating the things and gathering that data so
that the advisor can make the best recommendations to the client,
as well as a client account specialist that handles all
the operational stuff. The goal there is to allow the
advisor to be in front of our prospects and our
clients as much as possible, not bogged down with picking
the investments that are going to go into your portfolio
(05:32):
or you need a check sent out or a distribution.
They are there to be able to service our clients
and our prospects, and our client experience is extremely important
and it is uniform across all of our advisors. That's
actually I was an advisor for twenty years. I love
(05:54):
the client experience part of it, and so for the
last ten years I have really managed that client experience
and taking a look at every area of it from
the time someone calls or comes through the internet, and
what are those touch points. How are we making sure
that we're listening, not talking about what we do or
(06:16):
how great we are, but what do you need?
Speaker 3 (06:19):
What are your needs? So that.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
A true fiduciary. Yes, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Take me back. Your father started the company, Yes he did?
What year?
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Nineteen seventy two, And if you don't mind me telling
a funny story that I wasn't funny at the time
for him, but funny that we think about it. I
was two at the time. So my dad went to
Duquane University and he studied to be an English and
history teacher.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Wow. Yeah, okay, yes that took a left heart.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
You will see how it doesn't though, as he brought
it into our firm. He kind of decided that I
was too. My sister was a newborn, and he thought,
I don't know if I'm going to be able to
raise a family on a teacher's salary, so he decided
to go into the investment business. Nineteen seventy two nineteen
(07:12):
seventy three, oil embargo hits sitting in gath lines and
he tells it, thinking, my God, did I die and
go to Hell? I have two children at home? What
am I thinking? But I think starting out and getting
through that and persevering. His number one saying is persistence
(07:33):
is underrated, and he is the epitome of that throughout
his entire life. But I think that gave him the
confidence to just keep going and keep growing through the years.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Hard times makes you appreciate the good time.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
And when you talk about English and history. He built
the business by teaching financial literacy classes now believe it
or not. Back in the day, and I taught him
for a while too. It would be three nights, three
weeks in a row for three hours. People would come
(08:09):
and whether it's at a library or the University of
Pittsburgh CCAC, we would teach everything you needed to know
about financial planning. Investments were in there, but so was
everything else, and so he brought that education piece to it.
And what that did was once they became a client
and then we had a market downturn, for example, having
(08:31):
that perspective and they said, I remember, you know, and
all of the different stories, and that educational piece makes
it a lot easier for someone to stay the course
when everybody's afraid or the market is not going the
way we'd like it too.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Yeah, fabulous story.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Yes, that is yes.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
And from the English standpoint, I mean, you know, we've
had a magazine, the Advisor Magazine, that comes out three
times a year. We have always done tons of blogs.
They used to be in paper, they're now all online.
But it is always about writing well and educating our clients.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
When did you become interested in becoming a financial advisor?
Speaker 2 (09:17):
So I always say my first job was at the
age of about ten. I worked for my dad and
my sister and I filed So that was back again
when everything was paper, and so that was my first job,
filing all the documents. I worked through high school all summers,
and I also worked through college. I went to the
(09:39):
University of Pittsburgh, So I'd take the bus down and
help with Oh my gosh, he would do in the newspaper.
He'd highlight contacts that he'd want, and I'd be the
data input person and that's who he'd send the mailers
out to. Or I would help put together all of
the stuff that went out for the seminars. But I
did not study finance in college. I told my dad
(10:03):
I wanted to help people, right, Okay, So I have
a master's degree in social work, and I worked at
Southwood Psychiatric Hospital here in the South Hills for a
couple of years with suicidal and homicidal teens, doing family
therapy with them.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
Loved it.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Probably would still be there if it wasn't for managed
care and you know, kids not being able to stay
long enough to really give them the help. So my
dad tells the story that about two and a half
years in I called him and said, all right, Dad,
what possibly can I do? And he said he had
to like keep his cool and not count too excited.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Okay, your father learned the teaching aspect of teaching people
financial and wealth management. Yes, what did you learn by
going through that social work?
Speaker 3 (10:57):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (10:59):
I mean truly I'm not sure I ever really understood
the benefit of it until I started working with clients.
I think you hear so often now behavior finance. That's
a term that's out there that really someone's behaviors, their thoughts,
really can get in the way more than anything when
(11:20):
it comes to investing. Well, that's what I studied, That's
what I did. It came naturally to me, where I
don't think back then it was taught as much in
the financial world, if you will. But I really focused
a lot on women in financial transition. So I worked
with divorcing women doing financial planning and divorce. I also
(11:45):
worked with widows and just that requires a lot of handholding,
a lot of patience and really taking it at the
speed they want to and of course, you know, wrapping
your arms around them and being that sounding board for
whatever they need during such a difficult transition.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
All right, So after you started doing social work and
then you asked your father, is there something I can do?
Did you ever see yourself leading the firm back then?
Speaker 3 (12:17):
No? No, no, So what was that evolution? Oh? It
was a large evolution.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
So first of all, when I first came over, my
dad had decided to leave Smith Barney at the time,
and so I was at the new office. So I
was the first employee once we left, and I was
kind of a charge of getting all the deliveries, if
you will. And then when I was there studying for
my series seven, I was the receptionist at the front desk,
(12:46):
so you really started, Oh, I have done every job
yes in the firm, which I like though. I like
to know what goes on and that knowledge there so
that I can help make the best decisions everybody for
everybody in yes, yes, yeah. So and then I was
an advisor for about eighteen years and.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
Then I was uh and then no, no, no.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Yes, and so then moved up to when someone else left.
It gave the opportunity for me to come into more
of a management role, and that was managing our advisors,
but really centered around that client experience and making sure
that no matter what client or prospect comes in and
(13:39):
whatever advisor you're working with, it is uniform and.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
It is that high touch, high listening.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Environment that is really important for people to feel comfortable
and trust us with their money and their future.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
I think there has to be a certain amount of
pride when it comes from your your father, Bob that
not only is his daughter taking the baton and moving on,
but his first employee. Think about it, his first employee
is the person who moved up the ranks.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
And you're gonna make me cry, Johnny, Yes, I know
he is. Yeah, I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
No, I think that's I think.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Yeah, I hope, I hope he is. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
So what was there any piece of advice that he
gave you that that you hold on to that has
helped through so much?
Speaker 2 (14:39):
I said it already, but persistence is underrated, you know.
I mean growing up for I even you know, thought
I would work for the firm.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
That was how we were brought up. You know.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
It wasn't that you came in and said I'm unhappy
with something. It was I'm unhappy. But here's what I
think I should be doing. What do you think?
Speaker 3 (14:59):
You know?
Speaker 1 (15:00):
So?
Speaker 2 (15:00):
I think that mentality has served me well in every
part of my life because you're always going to come
up with those challenges and to be able to think
about that next step and how I'm going to solve it.
And I don't need anybody else to solve it. I
will ask opinions and get the knowledge I need. But
how do you take it that next step and not
(15:23):
get stagnant or suck.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
How has financial planning changed from the time you started
to maybe now, or it maybe hasn't changed.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
It has changed a lot. So you hear a lot
now about fee based management. Back when I started, and heck,
if you go back to when my dad started, it
was way way different. But it was a lot of
commission based investments, a lot of mutual funds. So basically
what you would do is you would purchase an investment
(15:55):
and either you paid a sales charge up front or
there were higher internal costs, and that just it is
what it was. You know, we didn't know any better,
but probably gosh, by the time we were moving to LPL,
that's really where fee based management.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
Yes, let's go private ledger.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
So when we left Smith Barney, that was the independent
firm that we moved to. They were incredible. We were
there for twenty three years. But that allowed us to
really become a fiduciary in a different way, and that
was not having any proprietary products. That was really getting
(16:38):
pushed a lot in the wirehouses. That was the reason
my dad had left. We wanted to be able to
make the recommendations that were best for the clients and
kind of really at the forefront of fee base management.
And that really puts the advisor and the client on
the same side of the coin, and that is you
(16:58):
both want the assets to grow, your investments to grow.
But the part that did not change. Investments management may change,
but the part that never changed was how we began
our relationship with a prospect, and that is understanding everything
about them doing a financial plan, to determine in black
(17:20):
and white what steps need to be taken to make
sure you're okay and you reach your goals. That has
been consistent across the board in the entire time that
I've been with the firm.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
It's pretty obvious to me that you're very passionate about
what you do.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
I love it. I love it. I love helping people.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
I love when they're able to trust us and we
to be able to see our clients in all the years,
you know, reach those goals, whether it's children or children
going to college, becoming grandparents, retirement. You know, clients that
I started with that way back, being able to congratulate
(18:02):
them because they made it, they're doing well, they're okay,
and you know that's the biggest part about financial planning.
It's not a snapshot, it's not a one time thing.
We need to be able to look at that on
a regular basis with our clients, and before you make
a major decision, we want to come back to the numbers,
(18:24):
take a look. Are we making sure that we're keeping
in mind anything that could get in the way, And
then when you can see it in the black and white,
you're good to go. And that gives people the confidence.
And that's whether it's individuals that was really important with
divorce planning. You know, people get really stuck not knowing,
(18:47):
and the emotional side can really get in the way.
So the planning and the schedules and all of that
kind of assists in helping our clients get where they
need to be.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Now, I've known your father for some time, and the
one thing I've known about him is that giving back
to the community was very important to him. Yes, I'm
going to assume since you're oh, yes, you're Bob Ragaso's daughter. Yes,
you have the same kind of passion.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
Yeah, and I.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Do. And our entire firm is it is ingrained in
our culture and it's not even vocally expressed a lot
of the time, it just is in the culture, and
that is the people that are attracted to come to
our firm, work with our firm, and stay with our firm.
But yes, I love giving back to the community. I
(19:40):
certainly followed in my dad's footsteps. He's on the board
of Animal Friends now he's the president. Uh so, Uh,
they're happy since he could back off from work a
little bit, they grabbed him. He's the president of the
board there. But I've been on Humane Animal Rescue of
Pittsburgh's board since twenty nineteen and it is my true passion.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Yeah. So both your father, boy, you are your father's child.
I mean just about every aspect. Yeah, so when did
you When did he develop a love for animals? And
when did you We.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
Always always did.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
And if you don't mind me telling a funny story,
So when we were younger, when my parents first got married,
they had a dog who was really misbehaved, you know,
and so my mom had kind of said no more dogs,
and she three girls.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
My dad was working NonStop.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
I mean he worked from the moment he got up
till the moment he went to bed. If he was
at home, I would talk to him in his office.
I mean, he just really worked all the time. But
we wanted a dog so bad. And my dad took
us to Shenley Park for a cross country race and
a dog came up to us, and unfortunately, that is
where a lot of people drop off dogs. And we
(21:04):
coaxed the dog like three quarters of a mouth, to
our car and brought him home and we told my
mom that we didn't know what to do. The dog
followed us and jumped into the car, and so.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
Choice me.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
So.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
And the dog's name Jingles, and I got to name him, yes,
and that was kind of the start of it. He
was a goal anden retriever mix, uh huh. And then
my parents had dogs all those years. But my sister,
who was my youngest sister, Vicky, was very passionate about
animal rights and she did an internship and Animal Friends
(21:44):
when they were down in the Strip District, and my
dad started to learn about what they did and he decided, oh, yes,
I want to be a part of this, and so gosh,
that would have been nineteen ninety. So he's been on
the board an Animal Friends since nineteen ninety and growing up,
I've done a lot of fundraisers for Animal Friends. Before
(22:08):
I ever was able to get on the heartboard, my
sister and I did a huge fundraiser dashed for dogs
and cats in South Park for many years. And then
obviously when the time came that I had the chance
to go on to Humane Animal Rescue, I jumped at it.
And what I love is the two shelters really work
(22:31):
well together. There's not that competition, you know, animal rights,
animal welfare is a community issue, and I love that
the two shelters are able to work so closely together.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Yes, very important question. Did Mom ever warm up to Jingles?
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Oh? Yes, so we posted We had to post, you know,
notes or I don't know. I think you put in
the newspaper when you lost a dog back then, I'm
not sure. And we thought some on was we found
the owner and I knew she turned the corner when
she came in and said it wasn't his owner, And
then so she was now a die heard dog lover
from their own it.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yeah, all right.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
We cover a lot of subjects your father and Jingles
and is there anything else that we missed that you
want people to know about your firm? No?
Speaker 3 (23:25):
I think we covered most of it. I think that.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
What I want people to understand most is we are
a local firm.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
We will always be a local firm.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
We are employee owned, and what that translates to is
long tenured employees, especially long tenured advisors. Everybody really is
in it to do the best for our prospects on
our clients. They own it because they are owners, and
(23:59):
our our goal is to really listen and help as
many people as possible reach their financial, family, emotional and
legacy goals for years to come. In the website www
dot forgasoadvisors dot com.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
Christy, it's been a pleasure.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
Thank you, thank you, Thank you so much, Johnny.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
This has been fun.
Speaker 3 (24:24):
I enjoyed it.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
This has been the CEOs you Should Know podcast showcasing
businesses that are driving our regional economy, part of iHeartMedia's
commitment to the communities we serve. I'm Johnny Heartwell, thank
you so much for listening.
And welcome in this is the CEOs You Should Know podcast.
I'm your host, Johnny Heartwell, let's say hello to Christy
Robertette for GASO Financial Advisors. Thank you for being with me.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Hi, thank you so much for having me, Johnny, I
really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
So tell us everything we need to know about your company.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Oh wonderful, thank you. I think, first and foremost, we
are an independent investment management and financial planning firm founded
in nineteen seventy two, so we've been around over fifty years.
Local Bob Fragasso started the business that father, my father. Yes,
(00:42):
I'm very proud of him and learned a heck of
a lot from him through the years. But I think
probably what makes us different than most other firms within
our industry is a lot of firms lead with products performance,
and that's important, don't get me wrong, but that's not
(01:02):
the center of our model. We really the core of
our model and the core promise is the relationship itself,
and that goes back to the beginning, and that's ingrained
in our culture. We do a very deep dive and
a deep understanding of your priorities, your goals, your fears,
(01:24):
your values, your family, and the legacy that you want
to leave, and we start there. Always we are not
looking at anything in a vacuum, and we.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Really do you use the.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Planning, financial planning process to lead us to what is
correct with investment management.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
If you will, okay, let me ask you to take
me to the beginning. If somebody a client comes to you,
thank you. What's the process?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yes, yes, So we work mostly with high net worth individuals, families,
business owners. We also work with retirement plan sponsors and nonprofits,
so we have we kind of run the gamut and
a lot of our clients do have several of those things,
(02:13):
and may be a business owner who also has a
retirement plan with us. But no matter how you come
to work with us, we start with a financial plan.
It's a complementary plan, and we're not going to work
with you without doing that. We're not just going to
invest your money. The goal of that is to truly
understand where you're at now and where you want to be,
(02:38):
and so we start by gathering all that information. And
it's again not just about investments. It is about income,
it's about debt, it is about your taxes, how that
affects all of your investments. It is about what are
your retirement goals and cash flow projections. It is about
(02:58):
estate planning and legacy planning, charitable planning. That is all
touched upon within our financial plan, and we do all
of that before someone becomes a client. We want to
make sure we understand the entire picture, financial as well
as emotional, because truly, wealth really is emotional before it's
(03:18):
going to be financial. And if you have the right
relationship and you trust the person you're working with, you're
going to achieve the things that you're setting out to do.
So once we deliver that plan, then someone can decide
to become a client. I think one thing that's really
(03:39):
really different than I know any other firm out there
locally and nationally is what we do when we have
gathered that data and it's inputed into our software every
Friday morning. We call it the Friday plan meeting. It
used to be in person when we were downtown and
you know everybody who's in the office five days a week,
(04:00):
but we now do it on Zoom and it is
all of our advisors as well as our managers, marketing,
portfolio management, client account specialists. They all sit in and
we kind of put that plan up. I always save
the board, but it really is up on the screen
now and we pick it apart and put it back
(04:21):
together together. So when we're doing a plan, it is
not just one advisor coming up with recommendations. It is
all of the advisors, and especially our portfolio management department,
who is in house, plays a big part when we
decide how we're going to invest the money depending on
(04:43):
someone's risk tolerance and what their goals are.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Well, that leads me to a question, tell me more
about your team.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Yes, yes, So we have about forty five people in
our firm, and I think that with every client that
we work with, we have an advisor, we have a
financial planning analyst, and that is someone who is doing
a lot of the legwork with data input, schedules, really
(05:09):
kind of creating the things and gathering that data so
that the advisor can make the best recommendations to the client,
as well as a client account specialist that handles all
the operational stuff. The goal there is to allow the
advisor to be in front of our prospects and our
clients as much as possible, not bogged down with picking
the investments that are going to go into your portfolio
(05:32):
or you need a check sent out or a distribution.
They are there to be able to service our clients
and our prospects, and our client experience is extremely important
and it is uniform across all of our advisors. That's
actually I was an advisor for twenty years. I love
(05:54):
the client experience part of it, and so for the
last ten years I have really managed that client experience
and taking a look at every area of it from
the time someone calls or comes through the internet, and
what are those touch points. How are we making sure
that we're listening, not talking about what we do or
(06:16):
how great we are, but what do you need?
Speaker 3 (06:19):
What are your needs? So that.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
A true fiduciary. Yes, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Take me back. Your father started the company, Yes he did?
What year?
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Nineteen seventy two, And if you don't mind me telling
a funny story that I wasn't funny at the time
for him, but funny that we think about it. I
was two at the time. So my dad went to
Duquane University and he studied to be an English and
history teacher.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Wow. Yeah, okay, yes that took a left heart.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
You will see how it doesn't though, as he brought
it into our firm. He kind of decided that I
was too. My sister was a newborn, and he thought,
I don't know if I'm going to be able to
raise a family on a teacher's salary, so he decided
to go into the investment business. Nineteen seventy two nineteen
(07:12):
seventy three, oil embargo hits sitting in gath lines and
he tells it, thinking, my God, did I die and
go to Hell? I have two children at home? What
am I thinking? But I think starting out and getting
through that and persevering. His number one saying is persistence
(07:33):
is underrated, and he is the epitome of that throughout
his entire life. But I think that gave him the
confidence to just keep going and keep growing through the years.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Hard times makes you appreciate the good time.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
And when you talk about English and history. He built
the business by teaching financial literacy classes now believe it
or not. Back in the day, and I taught him
for a while too. It would be three nights, three
weeks in a row for three hours. People would come
(08:09):
and whether it's at a library or the University of
Pittsburgh CCAC, we would teach everything you needed to know
about financial planning. Investments were in there, but so was
everything else, and so he brought that education piece to it.
And what that did was once they became a client
and then we had a market downturn, for example, having
(08:31):
that perspective and they said, I remember, you know, and
all of the different stories, and that educational piece makes
it a lot easier for someone to stay the course
when everybody's afraid or the market is not going the
way we'd like it too.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Yeah, fabulous story.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Yes, that is yes.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
And from the English standpoint, I mean, you know, we've
had a magazine, the Advisor Magazine, that comes out three
times a year. We have always done tons of blogs.
They used to be in paper, they're now all online.
But it is always about writing well and educating our clients.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
When did you become interested in becoming a financial advisor?
Speaker 2 (09:17):
So I always say my first job was at the
age of about ten. I worked for my dad and
my sister and I filed So that was back again
when everything was paper, and so that was my first job,
filing all the documents. I worked through high school all summers,
and I also worked through college. I went to the
(09:39):
University of Pittsburgh, So I'd take the bus down and
help with Oh my gosh, he would do in the newspaper.
He'd highlight contacts that he'd want, and I'd be the
data input person and that's who he'd send the mailers
out to. Or I would help put together all of
the stuff that went out for the seminars. But I
did not study finance in college. I told my dad
(10:03):
I wanted to help people, right, Okay, So I have
a master's degree in social work, and I worked at
Southwood Psychiatric Hospital here in the South Hills for a
couple of years with suicidal and homicidal teens, doing family
therapy with them.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
Loved it.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Probably would still be there if it wasn't for managed
care and you know, kids not being able to stay
long enough to really give them the help. So my
dad tells the story that about two and a half
years in I called him and said, all right, Dad,
what possibly can I do? And he said he had
to like keep his cool and not count too excited.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Okay, your father learned the teaching aspect of teaching people
financial and wealth management. Yes, what did you learn by
going through that social work?
Speaker 3 (10:57):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (10:59):
I mean truly I'm not sure I ever really understood
the benefit of it until I started working with clients.
I think you hear so often now behavior finance. That's
a term that's out there that really someone's behaviors, their thoughts,
really can get in the way more than anything when
(11:20):
it comes to investing. Well, that's what I studied, That's
what I did. It came naturally to me, where I
don't think back then it was taught as much in
the financial world, if you will. But I really focused
a lot on women in financial transition. So I worked
with divorcing women doing financial planning and divorce. I also
(11:45):
worked with widows and just that requires a lot of handholding,
a lot of patience and really taking it at the
speed they want to and of course, you know, wrapping
your arms around them and being that sounding board for
whatever they need during such a difficult transition.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
All right, So after you started doing social work and
then you asked your father, is there something I can do?
Did you ever see yourself leading the firm back then?
Speaker 3 (12:17):
No? No, no, So what was that evolution? Oh? It
was a large evolution.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
So first of all, when I first came over, my
dad had decided to leave Smith Barney at the time,
and so I was at the new office. So I
was the first employee once we left, and I was
kind of a charge of getting all the deliveries, if
you will. And then when I was there studying for
my series seven, I was the receptionist at the front desk,
(12:46):
so you really started, Oh, I have done every job
yes in the firm, which I like though. I like
to know what goes on and that knowledge there so
that I can help make the best decisions everybody for
everybody in yes, yes, yeah. So and then I was
an advisor for about eighteen years and.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
Then I was uh and then no, no, no.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Yes, and so then moved up to when someone else left.
It gave the opportunity for me to come into more
of a management role, and that was managing our advisors,
but really centered around that client experience and making sure
that no matter what client or prospect comes in and
(13:39):
whatever advisor you're working with, it is uniform and.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
It is that high touch, high listening.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Environment that is really important for people to feel comfortable
and trust us with their money and their future.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
I think there has to be a certain amount of
pride when it comes from your your father, Bob that
not only is his daughter taking the baton and moving on,
but his first employee. Think about it, his first employee
is the person who moved up the ranks.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
And you're gonna make me cry, Johnny, Yes, I know
he is. Yeah, I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
No, I think that's I think.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Yeah, I hope, I hope he is. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
So what was there any piece of advice that he
gave you that that you hold on to that has
helped through so much?
Speaker 2 (14:39):
I said it already, but persistence is underrated, you know.
I mean growing up for I even you know, thought
I would work for the firm.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
That was how we were brought up. You know.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
It wasn't that you came in and said I'm unhappy
with something. It was I'm unhappy. But here's what I
think I should be doing. What do you think?
Speaker 3 (14:59):
You know?
Speaker 1 (15:00):
So?
Speaker 2 (15:00):
I think that mentality has served me well in every
part of my life because you're always going to come
up with those challenges and to be able to think
about that next step and how I'm going to solve it.
And I don't need anybody else to solve it. I
will ask opinions and get the knowledge I need. But
how do you take it that next step and not
(15:23):
get stagnant or suck.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
How has financial planning changed from the time you started
to maybe now, or it maybe hasn't changed.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
It has changed a lot. So you hear a lot
now about fee based management. Back when I started, and heck,
if you go back to when my dad started, it
was way way different. But it was a lot of
commission based investments, a lot of mutual funds. So basically
what you would do is you would purchase an investment
(15:55):
and either you paid a sales charge up front or
there were higher internal costs, and that just it is
what it was. You know, we didn't know any better,
but probably gosh, by the time we were moving to LPL,
that's really where fee based management.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
Yes, let's go private ledger.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
So when we left Smith Barney, that was the independent
firm that we moved to. They were incredible. We were
there for twenty three years. But that allowed us to
really become a fiduciary in a different way, and that
was not having any proprietary products. That was really getting
(16:38):
pushed a lot in the wirehouses. That was the reason
my dad had left. We wanted to be able to
make the recommendations that were best for the clients and
kind of really at the forefront of fee base management.
And that really puts the advisor and the client on
the same side of the coin, and that is you
(16:58):
both want the assets to grow, your investments to grow.
But the part that did not change. Investments management may change,
but the part that never changed was how we began
our relationship with a prospect, and that is understanding everything
about them doing a financial plan, to determine in black
(17:20):
and white what steps need to be taken to make
sure you're okay and you reach your goals. That has
been consistent across the board in the entire time that
I've been with the firm.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
It's pretty obvious to me that you're very passionate about
what you do.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
I love it. I love it. I love helping people.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
I love when they're able to trust us and we
to be able to see our clients in all the years,
you know, reach those goals, whether it's children or children
going to college, becoming grandparents, retirement. You know, clients that
I started with that way back, being able to congratulate
(18:02):
them because they made it, they're doing well, they're okay,
and you know that's the biggest part about financial planning.
It's not a snapshot, it's not a one time thing.
We need to be able to look at that on
a regular basis with our clients, and before you make
a major decision, we want to come back to the numbers,
(18:24):
take a look. Are we making sure that we're keeping
in mind anything that could get in the way, And
then when you can see it in the black and white,
you're good to go. And that gives people the confidence.
And that's whether it's individuals that was really important with
divorce planning. You know, people get really stuck not knowing,
(18:47):
and the emotional side can really get in the way.
So the planning and the schedules and all of that
kind of assists in helping our clients get where they
need to be.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Now, I've known your father for some time, and the
one thing I've known about him is that giving back
to the community was very important to him. Yes, I'm
going to assume since you're oh, yes, you're Bob Ragaso's daughter. Yes,
you have the same kind of passion.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
Yeah, and I.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Do. And our entire firm is it is ingrained in
our culture and it's not even vocally expressed a lot
of the time, it just is in the culture, and
that is the people that are attracted to come to
our firm, work with our firm, and stay with our firm.
But yes, I love giving back to the community. I
(19:40):
certainly followed in my dad's footsteps. He's on the board
of Animal Friends now he's the president. Uh so, Uh,
they're happy since he could back off from work a
little bit, they grabbed him. He's the president of the
board there. But I've been on Humane Animal Rescue of
Pittsburgh's board since twenty nineteen and it is my true passion.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Yeah. So both your father, boy, you are your father's child.
I mean just about every aspect. Yeah, so when did
you When did he develop a love for animals? And
when did you We.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
Always always did.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
And if you don't mind me telling a funny story,
So when we were younger, when my parents first got married,
they had a dog who was really misbehaved, you know,
and so my mom had kind of said no more dogs,
and she three girls.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
My dad was working NonStop.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
I mean he worked from the moment he got up
till the moment he went to bed. If he was
at home, I would talk to him in his office.
I mean, he just really worked all the time. But
we wanted a dog so bad. And my dad took
us to Shenley Park for a cross country race and
a dog came up to us, and unfortunately, that is
where a lot of people drop off dogs. And we
(21:04):
coaxed the dog like three quarters of a mouth, to
our car and brought him home and we told my
mom that we didn't know what to do. The dog
followed us and jumped into the car, and so.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
Choice me.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
So.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
And the dog's name Jingles, and I got to name him, yes,
and that was kind of the start of it. He
was a goal anden retriever mix, uh huh. And then
my parents had dogs all those years. But my sister,
who was my youngest sister, Vicky, was very passionate about
animal rights and she did an internship and Animal Friends
(21:44):
when they were down in the Strip District, and my
dad started to learn about what they did and he decided, oh, yes,
I want to be a part of this, and so gosh,
that would have been nineteen ninety. So he's been on
the board an Animal Friends since nineteen ninety and growing up,
I've done a lot of fundraisers for Animal Friends. Before
(22:08):
I ever was able to get on the heartboard, my
sister and I did a huge fundraiser dashed for dogs
and cats in South Park for many years. And then
obviously when the time came that I had the chance
to go on to Humane Animal Rescue, I jumped at it.
And what I love is the two shelters really work
(22:31):
well together. There's not that competition, you know, animal rights,
animal welfare is a community issue, and I love that
the two shelters are able to work so closely together.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Yes, very important question. Did Mom ever warm up to Jingles?
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Oh? Yes, so we posted We had to post, you know,
notes or I don't know. I think you put in
the newspaper when you lost a dog back then, I'm
not sure. And we thought some on was we found
the owner and I knew she turned the corner when
she came in and said it wasn't his owner, And
then so she was now a die heard dog lover
from their own it.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yeah, all right.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
We cover a lot of subjects your father and Jingles
and is there anything else that we missed that you
want people to know about your firm? No?
Speaker 3 (23:25):
I think we covered most of it. I think that.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
What I want people to understand most is we are
a local firm.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
We will always be a local firm.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
We are employee owned, and what that translates to is
long tenured employees, especially long tenured advisors. Everybody really is
in it to do the best for our prospects on
our clients. They own it because they are owners, and
(23:59):
our our goal is to really listen and help as
many people as possible reach their financial, family, emotional and
legacy goals for years to come. In the website www
dot forgasoadvisors dot com.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
Christy, it's been a pleasure.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
Thank you, thank you, Thank you so much, Johnny.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
This has been fun.
Speaker 3 (24:24):
I enjoyed it.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
This has been the CEOs you Should Know podcast showcasing
businesses that are driving our regional economy, part of iHeartMedia's
commitment to the communities we serve. I'm Johnny Heartwell, thank
you so much for listening.
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