July 18, 2025 • 40 mins
Are you beating yourself up over work-life balance every single week?
On this episode of Don't Do That, Kelly Waltrich sits down with Sara Baker, Head of M&A at Allworth, for a candid conversation about leadership, career pivots, and redefining balance. With a background that spans corporate law, financial services, and M&A, Sara shares her unique perspective on navigating growth, both professional and personal.
Kelly and Sara cover:
00:00 Introductions and Sara’s new role at Allworth
01:00 How a career in law led to a passion for solving business problems
03:00 The explosion of M&A activity and what’s changed in the advisory space
06:30 The future of advisory firms: Integration, tech, and client segmentation
08:50 AI’s potential and its actual role in wealth management
12:00 The lonely reality of leadership and why community matters
14:00 How Sara connects with founders making their biggest business decision
17:50 Why client experience is still the ultimate differentiator
20:15 Sara’s personal “Don’t Do That” — stop judging your success in short-term increments
23:00 Making peace with trade-offs and the myth of daily balance
30:00 How AI is making Sara both a better leader and more efficient
33:00 Being a working mom: hard conversations, real lessons, and giving yourself grace
41:00 The power of knowing your gifts, your heroes, and giving yourself space to grow
Connect with Sara Baker
About Our Guest:
Sara Baker is the Executive Vice President of Mergers & Acquisitions for Allworth Financial. With deep expertise in advisor growth strategies, practice management, and mergers and acquisitions, she leads the firm’s partnership strategy—driving scalable, sustainable growth with a focus on cultural alignment and operational excellence.
Prior to Allworth, Sara served as president of Triad Wealth where she was responsible for setting the firm’s long-term vision. She also previously held high-ranking roles at Edleman Financial Engines, most recently serving as the VP of Advanced Planning where she built out the firm’s tax preparation and planning offering. Prior to that, she served as Senior Vice President, Wealth Management and Strategy Counsel at Mariner Wealth Advisors and was responsible for national partnership growth. Given this extensive background, Sara is also a recognized thought leader in the wealth management space and a frequent speaker at leading industry conferences nationwide.
Sara started her care
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sara Baker (00:00):
I used to like at the end of the week, I would
feel so much guilt over I didn'tspend enough time with my kids,
I didn't spend enough time withmy spouse, or I go on vacation,
and I gave nothing to work, Ichecked out, and now I don't do
that anymore. Now I'm much morepatient. I have a much broader
perspective, and now I look atmore year time frames. So I look
(00:24):
back at the end of the year, I'mlike, Did I have balance? Did I
give everything I have to myspouse, to my kids, to my
family, to my work, to myfriends, instead of these, like,
week increments, because you'reyou're gonna fail like you can't
give 100% to all of those areasand every week,
Kelly Waltrich (00:43):
welcome to the don't do that podcast. I'm Kelly
Waltrich, CEO and Co-founder ofIntention.ly, and like me, this
show is no fluff and no BS, justsmart advice to help you learn
from the best and level upfaster. So what are we not doing
today? Let's find out how Hieveryone, and welcome to the
(01:04):
don't do that podcast. I'm Kellywochick, your host, and today I
am here with Sara Baker, head ofM&A at Allworth. Hi Sara!
Sara Baker (01:12):
Hi Kelly. It's great to see you. We've been
Kelly Waltrich (01:15):
trying to get this on the books for some time,
but we're both very busy,ladies, so it's been, it's been
a tough one, and I couldn't bemore thrilled to have you. And
we have a really funconversation planned for
everybody here today. You'reprobably all noticing that my
background is not intentionally.
Today, I was just telling Sarah,I am in my beach era. I am at
the shore for a month. I'venever done that before, but I'm
(01:35):
doing it, and I feel like it'sdone wonders for my mental
health. So I suggest you alltake a take a beach month, if
you can, if you can. Okay, Sara,so this is the first time I'm
seeing you in your new capacityas head of M&A at Allworth. And
I am really dying to hear how isit going. Yeah. Why this change?
Why this company? What are youup to? What is your new role
(01:57):
look like, and what can we learnabout about all with that we
didn't know before?
Sara Baker (02:02):
Yeah, so I've been in Allworth for two months now,
which is a big change. I was atTriad before I was the President
of Triad Wealth Partners, andit's actually a really fun part
of my career. I feel like I'mcoming back full circle. I
started my career in financialservices in M and A I was an
attorney and went to do mergersand acquisitions at Mariner
(02:23):
Wealth Advisors, but I had metJohn bunch at Financial Engines.
They had just gone through anacquisition of the mutual fund
store where John was the CEO.
And so John and I have somehistory. I worked with him at
Financial Engines. He was thefirst, really, truly, the first
leader who made me believe Icould be more than a lawyer and
try, just try, use my skill setsof so I love solving problems.
(02:48):
That's my favorite thing to do.
And I like really complex, hairyproblems, and I'm really
relational. And he's like, let'sput that to work. So we've kept
in touch. He called me. He'sbeen at all worth for about a
year and a half, he called meand said, Hey, like we're doing
some really exciting things atAllworth right now, I'm trying
to grow inorganically, but it'sso much more than that. When you
(03:10):
think of M and A, it's not just,you know, acquiring firms, it's
part of your growth story andhow you impact more clients. So
was super inspired by thetransformation that has been
happening at all worth sinceJohn joined the end of 2023 and
felt like it was an opportunityI just could not say no to to
bring it full circle. I love Ilove M&A. I love working with
(03:34):
advisors on, I think the thehardest decision they have to
make in their professionalcareers, of like, what do you
do? Do you do you partner withsomeone who's got more
capabilities that's gonna giveyour team more career pathing
all the reasons. And I startedmy career as a legal counsel,
and I still feel like I'm acounsel. I still feel like I
(03:54):
love to play that role withadvisors. I'm really passionate
about what advisors do withtheir clients. And I love trying
to be the advisor to advisors,and you really get that
opportunity when you're sellingyour business. And I don't even
like saying selling yourbusiness when you're partnering
with someone to do one plus oneequals three, and really
accelerate your company's growthand give your team this
(04:16):
incredible opportunity to dobigger, bigger things than they
ever thought imaginable. So itwas always, always my passion to
do, to do deals. So it's twomonths in, and I'm having a
blast and seeing all worthreally transform and and doing
the types of deals were reallyexpanding capabilities. I got to
be part of that journey atMariner, and it's really fun
(04:37):
seeing all worth add morecapabilities, support, more
clients and just grow at anextraordinary pace. We just
crossed 30 billion in
Kelly Waltrich (04:45):
assets. Wow, that's amazing. Okay, so we need
to rewind for a second. I lovethat you just said, be more than
a lawyer. Be more than anattorney. That boggles my mind,
because I have an attorney on myteam and Intention.ly, and I
always think to myself, hewould. Rather be here than in a
courtroom. I don't understandit. I don't get it. So tell me
about that. Like, what's yourmindset around that?
Sara Baker (05:07):
Yeah, I was actually so I graduated in 2009 from law
school where and I wanted to bea corporate attorney. I always
wanted to go corporate, but ofcourse, there were no no rules
like that. In the really big lawfirms, you had to be a
litigator. So I was forced to bea litigator, even though I took
no litigation courses in lawschool, it was all just business
(05:27):
courses. So litigation, oh, man,it did not work for me. I loved
being a lawyer. I loved theculture of a professional
services firm, and that hasreally stuck with me as I think
through some of the challengesthat our industry is trying to
solve with advisors, successionplanning, client retention,
adding client value. So I lovethe model of a professional
(05:49):
services firm, and I think somelaw firms obviously don't do it
as well, but I felt like I wasreally lucky. I worked at a law
firm I think had a really greatmodel and had really talented
lawyers that were reallyobsessed with delivering the
best advice possible to clients,but it was so contentious and
and I was like, this is probablynot not what I meant to do. So
(06:10):
when I had the chance to go backto doing more corporate legal
work, I jumped all over that.
But when you're a lawyer, forme, I felt like I could only
solve one problem for theclient, like they were only
coming to me with, we have thislegal problem, we need to solve
it, and I wanted to have abigger impact of solving
problems that could benefit theentire company and all clients,
not just something that wasreally kind of siloed to one
(06:32):
specific lawsuit or one specificlegal issue. So for me, it was
just, I wanted to have as big ofimpact as I could and inform
relationships with people inlots of different departments.
I'm a natural collaborator, andwhen we're in a legal role,
sometimes that's limited.
Kelly Waltrich (06:51):
Yeah, all right, that makes sense. I'm always
baffled by that comment, but Ithink that that makes sense.
Okay, so M&A in our space iswild to me. It is. It's wild
right now. I've never seenanything like what's happening
in our space. That consolidationis out of control. The creative
ways that firms are going afteradvisors, what they're paying
everything, is just mind blowingto me. Give us your view of sort
(07:14):
of the landscape,
Sara Baker (07:15):
yeah, I do think, I mean, consolidation is well
underway, right? This was verymuch a cottage industry, and now
you're starting to see even morethan consolidation. You're
starting to see integrationthat's happening within in our
space. And I went to Mariner,this was like, you know, long
time ago, 2013 or so, 2014 andthere weren't that many
(07:37):
integrators. It is so different.
I think the last list I saw had85 acquirers, where, when I
started in a it just was notlike that. The the tactics and
the strategies that you coulduse to really add value for an
advisor and help them with thatdecision. I mean Night, night
and day different becauseeveryone now, the things that I
thought were differentiating you10 years ago, are table stakes.
(07:59):
Now, do you have tax planning?
Do you do tax prep? Do you haveestate planning? We take all the
non client facing things offyour plate, like that's what
every integrator does now. So Ithink that where there's
opportunities to reallydifferentiate and for firms to
kind of survive thisconsolidation phase is to really
(08:19):
be true to your culture, tocreate a community of advisors,
to ship, to give career pathingto junior advisors. We have so
many advisors that are retiring,and so being the type of firm
that can develop that nextgeneration of talent, I think is
so important. So I think nowthere's this great opportunity
to differentiate on clientservice, on culture, on
(08:41):
community, and not the types ofthings that have now become
table stakes, because there'sjust so much competition, it is.
And everything's banker LED.
Everything's banker LED. Nowthere's so many investment
bankers there. I feel like Iused to be able to name all the
investment bankers 10 years ago,and now I'm like, oh, there's a
new one.
Kelly Waltrich (08:58):
Okay, so you outline the things that you
think are table stakes now,which I totally agree, and the
things that you think people canjust differentiate on. Is there
a new wave of things that youguys are thinking about that you
think you're gonna have to beprepared to support that maybe
hasn't been so important in thepast? Like, is there a firm of
the future type of thinking thatyou guys are undergoing?
Sara Baker (09:20):
I mean, I mean, I definitely think the firm of the
future really has to think aboutclient segmentation and about
delivering the right advice tothe right clients with
technology and with AI andnurturing the accumulators and
the second generation ofclients, and that service model
needs to look really differentfor a client in their 20s or 30s
and 40s. So I think the firmsthe future are really thinking
(09:42):
about multi generationalplanning and thinking, how do we
use technology to service and toengage the children, the
grandchildren, clients in their20s, 30s and 40s? Because every
single firm right now reallywants to go after high net worth
clients. That's really if. Yougo to the top 20 ranked
integrators, I think they'd allsay that they want to serve the
(10:04):
same types of clients. So Ithink where you really have to
focus is client segmentation andfinding ways to add value across
the whole spectrum of thefamily, not just the current
let's call it CFO, the ChiefFinancial Officer, or decision
maker of the family. So usingtechnology and using AI, the
firm the future is going to useAI, and going to use it really
(10:27):
well, and is going to be aheadof the curve on using AI to make
your teens and your advisorsmore efficient. It's not going
to replace advisors. I trulydon't think that. I remember
when robo advisors came to thescene, and everyone was really
losing their minds thinking thatrobo advisors. I mean,
seriously, it was crazy, if youI mean, if you went back and
read all the headlines when roboadvisors came out, I'm sure we'd
(10:50):
all give our we chuckle ofthinking we were going to be
displaced and and that didn'tactually happen. And I don't
think bulk management is thetype of space where you can just
remove the human interaction,because I think the power that a
wealth manager has with theirclients is to get them thinking
different. Is to get them comingout of a meeting like I never
(11:10):
would have thought about that,thinking about my goals and
thinking about my children andthinking about all these things,
and you'd expanded the way Ithink about my life. And you
need a human to do that. I can'tdo that
Kelly Waltrich (11:22):
right, right? I feel like I am so deep in the
weeds of all the things that Iwant AI to be able to do. I
don't want you know they'resaying marketing is one of the
things that is going to bedisrupted, and I am not going to
let that happen to my agency. SoI'm like, up to my eyeballs in
all the things. And it is socool, and it's so crazy and it's
so easy to get so lost in all ofit. So I think we have a long
(11:44):
way to go in terms of figuringout exactly how our space uses
it appropriately. I
Sara Baker (11:50):
don't know about you, but I this is anything
really vulnerable right now, Ifeel like I'm sometimes less
efficient because of AI, becauseI'm trying to learn how to use
it, whereas before I knew, like,if I needed to build a deck, if
I like, I just felt like Ireally had things down with my
processes and just how to how toget work done and how to
(12:11):
facilitate and influence andcommunicate. And now AI is this
new tool that I kind of have tolearn and figure out, what role
does it play in my processes,and you kind of have to take a
step back or two before you cantake step forward. So I'm trying
to navigate that of how I makeit, yeah, how I actually am more
Kelly Waltrich (12:28):
team the other day, and I was like, Hey, give
efficient with it,me a list of all the things that
we do that you wish a robotcould do. So we're having a wild
time just trying to figure out,Is it possible? Like, what is
possible, you know? So anyway,okay, so back to M&A, yeah. So
you're going through thisprocess, you're talking to lots
of firms what is and I'm justgonna give you an example, when
(12:50):
I at Intention.ly, when I'mselling, I know some that's a
dirty word, but when I'm talkingto people about their marketing
and yeah, so trying to get onboard, trying to get them on
board, to partner with us. Iknow when I know I can see the
moments that click right like Ican see when I say to someone,
it's really hard to build amarketing team with all of the
skill sets that you need. I canusually see it click. Or I know
(13:12):
I sit in your shoes. I knowyou're trying to report to this
executive team and this board ofdirectors, and that's really
hard, and you wish you had awingman that was gonna take you
through that and make sure thatyou're proving your value. Like,
I see the moments that firms arelike, yes, they get it, and I
need that. So tell me what thatis for you, as you're talking to
firms, like, what are thosemoments where you're seeing it
(13:35):
sort of click? Yeah.
Sara Baker (13:38):
So I view my role, and the role of any M&A team is,
your job is really to identifyfor that founder. Where are they
at right now, and what's theirideal in state? Like, let's just
say they're at 2 billion, andtheir goal was they really
wanted to get to 2 billion or 3billion or 5 billion, and say,
Okay, now there's a gap. There'sa gap between where you're at
(14:00):
and where you really want to be.
There's lots of ways to getthere and really just paint the
story of how your firm can helpnavigate that path and show the
exams and really uncover what'skeeping them up at night. So
here you're at point A you wantto get to point B. There's lots
of ways you can get there what'skeeping you up at night, and
then connect those dots of howwe solve those problems. So I
like to really approach it fromthat angle of advisor. Because,
(14:23):
because advisors get that, theydo that with clients all day
long. They help their clientsget to their end destination.
And so I think you have touncover and let them actually
share what it is. I don't thinka lot of advisors actually say
it out loud until they engage inthe process of selling their
firm. Of like, Well, what do youreally want? My favorite
questions is like, what's yourperfect day? What's your perfect
(14:45):
day? And it's like, Okay, now,now, let's talk about how we can
help you accomplish that. It'slike, Oh, okay. This is really
exciting, because I feel likewhen you partner with a new
firm, that is a chance to justhyperex. Accelerate your growth
and accomplish things you didn'tthink were possible. So you want
to start creating those storiesand generating that excitement
(15:06):
for them, so the partnershiptogether is beneficial for them,
but also for your company aswell.
Kelly Waltrich (15:13):
Yeah, that's great. And I feel like, can you
give me a sense of like, therole that technology plays in
the conversations? Are youfeeling like? You know, I had, I
had someone the other day tellme he was working with a PE
firm, and he was helping themdecide on their single tech
stack. So they didn't want togive any advisors that came
under their umbrella or anyfirms that came under their
umbrella choice anymore. And Ithought about that for a minute.
(15:35):
I'm like, Huh? All right, so wewent from the best of breed to
all in one, to back to the bestof breed, and now PE firms are
trying to go back to all in one.
What is? What are? What areadvisors telling you they want?
Sara Baker (15:48):
Yeah, so I feel like I consistently hear advisors
care about their clients. Theywant their clients to have a
really great experience. Theydon't want to lose clients in
the transition process, but theywant a story to tell their
clients of why they're doingthis and why this is better for
them, I am always in awe of howconsistent that is with every
advisor I talk to that they caremost about their clients and
making sure that they're goingto have a similar or even better
(16:12):
client experience. So for me, Ilook at technology as a way of
what do we do and that we canoffer to help improve your
client experience. And I dothink that for the most part,
advisors understand thedifference of there's certain
technology that's behind thescenes that clients don't see.
They don't care. They don't careif you're using Tamarack or
Orion, your client just doesn'tcare, right? And there's just
(16:34):
certain things that are behindthe scenes. It's what is
actually client facing. And so Ireally try to, like, suss that
out, to figure out what's thetechnology that you use, that
you like, because it makes yourjob easier, and your team's used
to it, versus there's actualclient impact at the end of the
day, advisors really care abouttheir clients and protecting
that client experience.
Kelly Waltrich (16:54):
Yeah, it's interesting. I, you know, doing
marketing in this space for areally long time, and obviously
do a ton of testing in terms ofwhat works with advisors and
what gets them to make certaindecisions. And I would say
you're spot on in that they takeaction, and the messaging that
wins is always the putting theclients first, messaging. And
(17:16):
sometimes I ask myself, Is thatreal, or is that what they feel
like they need to say, I don'tknow you're closer to that than
I am, but I know from amarketing standpoint that
certainly wins every time.
Sara Baker (17:27):
Yeah, and I do believe, like whatever your
perception is that is thereality, that you're going to
have to work within thoseconstraints, because perception
is reality, regardless of whatyou may feel otherwise. So yeah,
from the from the advisors,perception, I feel like it's,
it's, it is, I need to make surethat I'm fulfilling my promises
to my clients. And when I toldthem I was going to be a
(17:49):
fiduciary, and I told them, I'mgoing to do what's best for
them, that they honor that.
Kelly Waltrich (18:00):
All right, so we said in the beginning, there's
tons of competition. You havemore firms than ever before
buying for firms attention. Sowhat's your competitive edge?
Like, how personally I don't Iunderstand your firm, but like
you personally? Like, what? Howdo you how do you relate to
people? Because I feel likerecruitment is such is all about
the real, you know, therelationships and making them
(18:20):
feel like you understand wherethey are,
Sara Baker (18:24):
yeah, well, so one thing I felt like that's true
now that I don't think I coulduse this Well, I definitely
couldn't use this storypreviously, but now I really
understand what it's like towear all the hats. And I was
lonely. I was lonely where, andI didn't take it for granted.
I'm glad I did it, and it wasamazing experience. But when I
(18:44):
was at Mariner and at Edelman,really large firms, I had a
group of peers that I couldcollaborate with and I could
talk to, and you could be reallyopen with and really vulnerable
with. And then when I steppedinto triad and I took on the
president role, you do have tokeep your cards a little closer
to your vest, and I didn't havea peer, and it was really
(19:05):
lonely, and I was wearing allthese hats. And I did love it. I
loved figuring things out. Itfelt really good to be like,
Okay, I'm a marketer, I'm agraphic designer, until I hired
intentionally, but, but I had tojust do all the things, and you
just have to figure it out andbe really scrappy and really
gritty. So I do feel like now Ican really empathize with
(19:26):
someone who's coming to allworth, or any founder who's
wanting to have a conversationabout, should I do a minority
stake? Should I sell the privateequity? Should I just partner
with someone strategic, like, inall worth? Like, I feel like I
can give them really goodinsight. And I've seen every
model now. I've seen the w2model, I've seen the 1099 model,
I've seen the tamp model. I gotto experience a lot of different
(19:49):
flavors now in the industry,going to triad and working with
lots of different types offounders. So for me personally,
I can really empathize of howexhausting it is to. Wear lots
of hats, and want to raise yourhand and say, I know what I'm
really good at. And I want toknock it out of the park with
what I feel is my God givengift, instead of trying to do
(20:11):
everything. And I want peers. Iwant a community. I don't want
to be so lonely.
Kelly Waltrich (20:17):
Oh my gosh, the lonely is the thing I feel like,
startup, yeah, it's like,hallelujah, when you get to the
point where you have the rightpeople around you, like, you
know, Joe on my team, yes,they're just a couple of people
that will make got big enoughfor them to be next to me. I was
like, okay, yeah. Thank God, youknow. So I totally get that. It
(20:39):
tried to
Sara Baker (20:40):
an extent, it just was still, it takes time, you
know, to to build that. And forme, I did like the larger
company, but what attracted meto all worth was it was in the
middle. It wasn't as big asEdelman, which is what like 300
300 billion at this point. Butit wasn't a startup either. It
(21:01):
was we are a rocket ship, butwe've already gone through some
of the growing pains, butthere's still so much more to
go, and I really liked that kindof middle, middle spot for where
I was at in my career.
Kelly Waltrich (21:09):
Awesome. Well, I'm really excited for you. I
can't wait to see how this pansout. All right, Sarah, so this
is the point in don't do that,where we remind everybody that I
believe that people learn betterfrom their mistakes than their
wins. And I love that we get togo through this industry and
hear folks like you tell us thatthey stepped in it, because it's
(21:30):
nice to know that people arereal and that we make mistakes
and that everything isn't whatit looks like on Instagram. So
tell us, Sara, what are we notdoing today?
Sara Baker (21:38):
Yeah. So what? I've definitely stopped doing that. I
beat myself up pretty bad overat the beginning of my career,
was trying to measure how good Iwas in different areas of my
life. In a really short timespan, I used to like at the end
of the week, I would feel somuch guilt over I didn't spend
enough time with my kids, Ididn't spend enough time with my
(22:00):
spouse, or I go on vacation, andI gave nothing to work, I
checked out, and now I don't dothat anymore. Now I'm much more
patient. I have a much broaderperspective, and now I look at
more year time frames. So I lookback at the end of the year, I'm
like, Did I have balance? Did Igive everything I have to my
spouse, to my kids, to myfamily, to my work, to my
(22:24):
friends, instead of these, like,weak increments, because you're
you're gonna fail, like, youcan't give 100% to all of those
areas, and every week, you'regonna have to make trade offs
and choices. So I stopped doingthat, and it's been incredibly
refreshing. And just this weighthas been lifted off my shoulder
feeling like that's okay. It'sokay sometimes to be gone for a
week when you have to for work,and it's okay to, like, step out
(22:47):
of work for a day because mykids are in summer camp, and I'm
doing the carpool thing, andI've got to be really engaged,
and I want to enjoy the carrides with them when they
actually talk to me right now.
So like, I'm not taking the workcall because, like, I don't get
that time back, and I'll miss itwhen they go off to college. So
it's been, it's been reallynice. So I, for the listeners
out there, stop thinking interms of shorter periods of time
(23:11):
and look over the whole year ofdid you make good choices and
have balance in your life as awhole? I love that
Kelly Waltrich (23:20):
so much So Ron Carson 10 years ago, I guess it
was when I was younger, andtrying to figure it out, he said
something, and I'm gonna get itwrong, and Joe reminds me what
he actually said all the time,and I don't, I don't nail it,
but it was something along thelines of work life, harmony or
something like that instead ofwork life balance and how
(23:43):
everybody finds their own. And Ihave lived by that my whole
career, and it's I'm okay ifI'm, like, on a phone call on
the beach, because you're on thebeach, and I'd rather be on the
beach than on the office, butI'm on the phone, and that's a
thing, and it is what it is. Andso I have sort of lived by life
and work are gonna be like thisinstead of like this, and if you
(24:04):
can get okay with that and ridethe waves, so I am in wild
agreement with your assessment.
It's really hard though, right?
Like, in the moment, it's reallyhard. I think
Sara Baker (24:16):
it is in like, I think I didn't have this
perspective when I was younger.
I thought like people actuallycared about what I was doing,
and people have their ownproblems and have their own
things that are going on intheir life. So I thought there
was so much more judgment of methat was taking place when I was
younger, and now I'm like, yeah,no. People are not, like, paying
that much attention to thoselittle trade offs and things
(24:39):
that you do, like when I was 30,I really thought people were
judging my every action and andnow that I'm older and a little
wiser, I know that that's justnot, not the case. If I had to
just make something work and Ineeded to take a work call while
I was on the go on vacation, or,like, taking my kids to
something. Thing that would eatme up, and I would feel like I
(25:00):
was inferior, or we get introuble. And now, I mean the
thought of even caring aboutthat, I just can't even imagine
Kelly Waltrich (25:10):
so. And it's almost like people want to know
you're human, right, like peoplewant to know that you have a
life, and people want to be ableto relate to you. And it's so
all those things that we thoughtwere detrimental or actually
what makes us real and human?
Sara Baker (25:24):
Yeah, and people are on the go too. People are on the
go like you want to be asefficient as possible. So if you
want to connect with a colleagueon your way to the airport,
they're probably just gratefulthat you picked up the phone
honestly and call them and talkto them, instead of sending them
a teams message or a crypticemail, like, It's okay just to
pick up the phone and call whenyou're on the go, whereas, when
(25:45):
I was younger, I'd be like,like, Oh, they're gonna like,
think I'm being unprofessional.
I'm like, what is that? Justpick up the people would rather
talk to you while you're on thego than get an email that's
doesn't make sense.
Kelly Waltrich (25:56):
Yeah. And it's like, at the end of the day, if
you're high achieving, which Iknow you are, and it's like, how
you get, how the sausage ismade, matters a whole lot less.
And I think about that with allmy employees like and I hope
that they feel that from me,like I want you to do your best
work, and I want you to show up,and when you're here, I want you
(26:17):
to be here, and I want you tocrush it, but I don't want to
babysit, yeah. And so we have anOH Slack channel. So all day
people are like, going to get acoffee, going for a run back in
a little while, taking my kidhere, taking my kid here to
clear my head. I'm going for awalk in the park. And it's like,
how we keep up with each other.
But I also created that with thegoal of, like, it's okay to not
(26:38):
be sitting in front of your desk24 hours a day. Like, get up,
move, do the things you have todo, get your work done, but
like, not at the expense ofother things. So I don't know
it's hard to instill that inyour culture, but we
Sara Baker (26:53):
try important I honestly have found too I'm more
fluid with my thoughts when I'mwalking and talking. Yeah,
there's just, I don't knowthere's something, something to
it when you're especially if youcan do it side by side, like I
used to do this. I don't as muchright now as I don't have a team
in Kansas City, but if you havethe opportunity, I highly
recommend it of having a one onone, like doing a walk and talk.
(27:17):
It's it's more informal, likeyou just, there's so many great
ideas that come out. You're outin nature. I'm a huge fan of the
walk and talk and meet, greatideas you can came up with, and
problems you can solve whenyou're just talking and walking.
Yeah, and
Kelly Waltrich (27:31):
you know what we were talking about AI earlier.
And the other thing that I loveabout AI is the record feature,
because sometimes what I think Iwas missing in my career is like
someone following me around,capturing all the craziness and
turning it into something good.
You know how we always hang onas leaders to those people who
can, like, decipher our crazyideas from our good ones and
(27:51):
then take action on them. So,like, chat GPT for me, has been
like that person that I neverhad, who I just have to hit
record, and it talks, and I say,summarize that and turn it into
something and like, is this, andit's the first half of the step.
So I've been doing a lot of,like, walking and talking to my
my AI tools too, which is kindof weird partner, right, yeah,
(28:14):
but it's working for me, youknow,
Sara Baker (28:18):
incredibly powerful thought partner that it just
makes my ideas a little morecrisp, where I feel like I've
brought it almost the way there,but then put it through chat
GPT, and it pulls out, it pullsout the best concepts, and just
makes it a little moreorganized. I'm a huge fan of
that. So
Kelly Waltrich (28:35):
let me ask you this, do you think men and
you're I know you, a lot of youare listening think the same way
as we do about the need forbalance in terms of, in our
case, it's being a mom and beinga spouse and being a good
coworker. Like, do you think menthink the same way? Or are we
No,
Sara Baker (28:54):
no. I mean just, I mean even just in my
conversations with my husband,who works in an engineering
firm, he's an accountant, andwhen we kind of unpack the day
and talking about kids and like,even just talking to him, it's
like, wow. Like we areapproaching this little
different and like, love him andlike, but we have, we are
(29:20):
definitely approaching the worklife balance a little bit
different, and some of it is andI think every household is
different. I really do that. Idon't think you can necessarily
stereotype, but for anyone whois the primary caretaker, where
every family, I think, has thatperson, whether it's a man or a
woman, of who's the onescheduling the doctor's
(29:41):
appointments and registering forthe camps and registering for
the kids activities and makingsure the kids got their backpack
and for school and the backschool clothes and all the
things, because you're going toget at least 50 emails from
school every day gearing up forschool. It's it's a nightmare,
like kids in two differentschools. So it's just. Like, Oh,
my goodness, are you? Are weserious right now? Yeah. And so
(30:03):
if you are that person where youhave to be the, like, the you're
the one running point on yourchildren's logistics. Because I
do feel like I also have a jobas an Uber driver. I just don't
get tipped and paid for it. Butlike, I absolutely am an Uber
driver at night, getting kidswhere they need to be. Your
perspective, you're justthinking about some different
things, and got to prioritize alittle bit different and find
(30:26):
ways to be really efficient thanif maybe you're not the one who
feels like they own it. And myhusband's great. We definitely
divide and conquer, but someonehas to own certain things when
it comes to your kids, as far asmaking sure the appointments get
scheduled and the train stays onthe tracks when it comes to
school. You
Kelly Waltrich (30:47):
the other day, so Steve Waltrich, my husband,
is amazing, and I probably don'ttell him enough, but hopefully
he's listening, and he helps mewith intentionally. And I was
thinking the other day that,like, we don't have a set like,
You handle this and you handlethis, we have a like, we're
we're both going to do thethings that need to be done, and
(31:07):
hopefully all the things getdone. And I think that's going
to bite us in the butt at somepoint here, because without
having a list of all the things,there's inevitably things where
we're like, yeah, who?
Sara Baker (31:19):
Yeah, who's doing that?
Kelly Waltrich (31:20):
Yeah. Yeah. How is that getting done? But it's
worked. It's worked so far forus, I think. And he, he works
for a large raa, and so the ourdinner conversations are, as you
would imagine them, to beamazing. But yes, I feel very
lucky, and you're right, like,it is a whole nother job. But
he's also, I always wonder, likeall men like him, like he's very
(31:43):
easygoing and he doesn't getflustered, and he's not thinking
himself all day, like, Oh, am Ibalancing this well? He's
thinking, Oh, I don't know whathe's
Sara Baker (31:52):
thinking. I am way more critical. I feel like I
there's i feel like i do haveimposter syndrome, and I feel
like I've had that. I've got itway more in control now, later
in my life than earlier and someof his life. I said, Don't do
that. Of like, big picture, likethat comes into play as well. Of
the imposter syndrome, of like,hey, broader picture, like, look
(32:14):
at what you're accomplishing andresults over the year, not like
this day and not this week,where if you feel like you
didn't accomplish everything youwanted to, or your to do list
grew instead of getting smaller,because just more, because
that's what happens every day,every single day. I think I'm
gonna, like, crush the day andcheck every box on my to do list
(32:35):
and I just end the day with a 20thing to do list. Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, yeah, but, but I, I'm justa more critical, and that's my
personality. Though I'm going tobe more more critical, whereas
my husband's going to be morelaid back and not beat himself
up over like, balance and didhe? Did he knock being a dad out
(32:59):
of the park today and acolleague like,
Kelly Waltrich (33:02):
yeah, mindset.
All right, so here's a questionfor you. How do you explain that
to your kids? Because So Imentioned the beginning, I'm
here at the shore. Never donethis before, never take never
worked from the shore like I amthis summer, and my kids are
here with my niece who'swatching them, and they are
going to the beach every day,and they're living the life. And
my son today was like, Mom,like, I really want you to come.
(33:24):
They went to the library hereand they were doing some crafts,
or whatever they're he's like, Ireally want you to come. And I
find myself having tocontinuously explain to him,
like, Why mom can't come. Andit's such a hard I think your
kids are a little older thanmine, but it's still like, it's
such a hard conversation, likeeven and just trying to instill
work ethic and all that kind ofstuff. I believe that working
(33:47):
moms give something to theirchildren that's so important
around work and balance and allthat kind of stuff. But what,
how do you think about that, andhow do you communicate
Sara Baker (33:57):
yeah to your Yeah.
So my kids are my kids are inmiddle school, and it is
different the way you cancommunicate with middle school
kids, because they are, they'relike many adults, honestly at
that point, and they they feel,it feels like they're so fully
baked honestly by the time theyget to middle school. So I have
pretty direct conversations. I'ma very direct person, though,
like one of my big things isjust have the hard
(34:19):
conversations. Be direct, behonest. Always. Be kind by
telling the truth. Don't be niceby telling your kids or your
colleagues what they want tohear. No one brings by being
nice. So with my daughter, moreso than my son really wants me
at everything, and she's moresensitive. I'm sure a lot of
listeners can relate. You havekids with very different
personalities, where we have toparent one kid is totally
(34:42):
different than we have to parentthe other kid. But I want my
daughter to have the skill set,and my son to have the skill set
of being able to make trade offsand being able to understand
just consequences to decisions.
And what I really try to do whenI miss things with her is say I
miss. Using this. But one thingI never miss are your
(35:02):
tournaments. So sometimes I dohave to miss the holiday party
because I'm traveling for work,like I do. I miss, I feel like I
miss all holiday parties andlike, the PTO things and stuff
like that. But it's like, but,yeah, but the one thing my but
my promise, that's like, whereI'm going to be really
consistent, and the trade offis, like, I will always be there
when you have tournaments on theweekends. I won't miss those.
(35:25):
Those are sacred, and I'llprotect those. And so she can
see that, like, hey, like,sometimes you just have to make,
you have to make trade offs, andyou have to have balance and
explain to her the why,
Kelly Waltrich (35:35):
yeah, I'm in this stage where I'm trying to
help my son. So he's five. I'mtrying to help him understand
that things cost money, and inorder to have money to do
things, we have to do our job.
So I'm, like, going through thiswhole thing, and the questions
that come out of him are justwild, and they're things that
I'm totally not prepared for.
And you know, you get thequestions about, like, is that
(35:55):
more important to you? Andyou're just like, oh gosh, am I
doing my job? If, like, that'sthe kind of as that's the
questions that you're asking.
But yeah, so I'm in that they'revery young, and they're just
trying to understand.
Sara Baker (36:08):
I don't know I I felt like I was constantly
thinking when my kids wereyounger, when I'm screwing them
up. I know I'm screwing them up,I just don't know how it's like.
I don't I don't know what theimplications are going to be,
but I'm sure I'm screwing themup one way or another. Way or
another. I'll figure it out.
I'll definitely know oncethey're adults, but now I've
just kind of like accepted that,like I'm doing the best I can,
(36:28):
and I feel like I'm verypresent. They know I love them,
and I'm trying to build a solidfoundation in their life. So
that way, when they're choosingtheir friends, when they're
choosing their jobs, whenthey're making choices that they
choose their contractors wisely,who are building their house,
but at least, at least I'vegiven them the foundation
Kelly Waltrich (36:54):
I love that I told I don't what's the name of
that? That like kids, creditcard, I forget what it is, green
something. If I told my husbandthe other day, I'm like, I'm
getting him that I went throughthe process and I did it, and
he's like, my husband's like,he's five. And I'm like, Yeah,
but I need to be able to explainthese things to him, and there's
no better way to do it. Andwe're starting now instead of in
(37:14):
five years, and I don't care. SoI'm like, giving my five year
old this credit card, and I'mlike, You're gonna do work and
you're gonna make money, yeah,and you're gonna be better off
for it in life, because you'regonna understand these concepts.
Sara Baker (37:27):
And I, like, feel like I'm trying so hard to help
my make sure my kids, like,right now, especially with AI,
there's abundance of learningthat's available. There's almost
so much information that's outthere. What I really want, and I
want this for for my team, and Ilook for this in cultures, is
like, is, do you though have adesire to learn? Because the
(37:49):
desire to learn is reallyscarce, but learnings are very
abundant, and so I feel like I'mtrying to so hard instill that
in my children, of like, whatjust be a learner. Want to grow,
try new things, fail fast andwell, hopefully it all works
Kelly Waltrich (38:07):
Oh my gosh, it will all work out. Yeah, I love
out.
that. All right, guys, foreverybody that's joined us
today, Sarah and I went down apath talking about her role at
all worth the state of M&A inour industry, but most
importantly, that as you'rethinking about yourself as a in
your career, and as a parent andas a spouse, and giving yourself
(38:29):
the time to judge, not lookingat it in short term increments,
because it's too easy to failthat way. It's too easy to be
hard on yourself, but looking atthat in over the course of the
year to find the balance thatyou're looking for. And I think
that any woman that's listeningto this will certainly agree,
and any man, I think, will learnsomething too, Sara, anything
(38:50):
that you want to leave ourlisteners with on that note, how
they can think about this, howthey can incorporate it better
in their lives, how they can bea little easier on themselves as
they're trying to figure out howto be good at all things.
Unknown (39:01):
Well, I'd say just one.
Know what your God given giftsare, know what you're really
good at, and really invest inthat, and know who your hero is.
Be really focused on, like,who's the hero in your life,
whatever it is, you can't gowrong. You can't go wrong if you
know what you're really great atand what you're passionate
about, and what lights that firein your life and where you feel
like you're really contributing,and know who your hero is,
(39:23):
whether that's your spouse, yourkids, your the advisors you work
with your clients, if you're anadvisor, and give yourself some
grace along the way.
Kelly Waltrich (39:34):
I love it. Thank you so much. Sara, this has been
really fun. Yeah. Thank you.
Thanks for listening, guys. Seeyou soon. See ya. Thanks so much
for tuning in. If you enjoyedtoday's show, subscribe to be
notified when new episodesbecome available, and please
consider giving us a five starreview on Apple or Spotify. This
podcast is sponsored byintentionally a financial
(39:56):
services growth engine design.
Consultancy and agency. If youwant to learn more, please email
me atkelly@growintentionally.com.
Thank you again for listeningand check back to hear what
we're not doing next.
Unknown (40:12):
The information covered and posted represents the views
and opinions of the guest anddoes not necessarily represent
the views or opinions of KellyWaltrich. The content has been
made available for informationaland educational purposes only
the.
I used to like at the end of the week, I would
feel so much guilt over I didn'tspend enough time with my kids,
I didn't spend enough time withmy spouse, or I go on vacation,
and I gave nothing to work, Ichecked out, and now I don't do
that anymore. Now I'm much morepatient. I have a much broader
perspective, and now I look atmore year time frames. So I look
(00:24):
back at the end of the year, I'mlike, Did I have balance? Did I
give everything I have to myspouse, to my kids, to my
family, to my work, to myfriends, instead of these, like,
week increments, because you'reyou're gonna fail like you can't
give 100% to all of those areasand every week,
Kelly Waltrich (00:43):
welcome to the don't do that podcast. I'm Kelly
Waltrich, CEO and Co-founder ofIntention.ly, and like me, this
show is no fluff and no BS, justsmart advice to help you learn
from the best and level upfaster. So what are we not doing
today? Let's find out how Hieveryone, and welcome to the
(01:04):
don't do that podcast. I'm Kellywochick, your host, and today I
am here with Sara Baker, head ofM&A at Allworth. Hi Sara!
Sara Baker (01:12):
Hi Kelly. It's great to see you. We've been
Kelly Waltrich (01:15):
trying to get this on the books for some time,
but we're both very busy,ladies, so it's been, it's been
a tough one, and I couldn't bemore thrilled to have you. And
we have a really funconversation planned for
everybody here today. You'reprobably all noticing that my
background is not intentionally.
Today, I was just telling Sarah,I am in my beach era. I am at
the shore for a month. I'venever done that before, but I'm
(01:35):
doing it, and I feel like it'sdone wonders for my mental
health. So I suggest you alltake a take a beach month, if
you can, if you can. Okay, Sara,so this is the first time I'm
seeing you in your new capacityas head of M&A at Allworth. And
I am really dying to hear how isit going. Yeah. Why this change?
Why this company? What are youup to? What is your new role
(01:57):
look like, and what can we learnabout about all with that we
didn't know before?
Sara Baker (02:02):
Yeah, so I've been in Allworth for two months now,
which is a big change. I was atTriad before I was the President
of Triad Wealth Partners, andit's actually a really fun part
of my career. I feel like I'mcoming back full circle. I
started my career in financialservices in M and A I was an
attorney and went to do mergersand acquisitions at Mariner
(02:23):
Wealth Advisors, but I had metJohn bunch at Financial Engines.
They had just gone through anacquisition of the mutual fund
store where John was the CEO.
And so John and I have somehistory. I worked with him at
Financial Engines. He was thefirst, really, truly, the first
leader who made me believe Icould be more than a lawyer and
try, just try, use my skill setsof so I love solving problems.
(02:48):
That's my favorite thing to do.
And I like really complex, hairyproblems, and I'm really
relational. And he's like, let'sput that to work. So we've kept
in touch. He called me. He'sbeen at all worth for about a
year and a half, he called meand said, Hey, like we're doing
some really exciting things atAllworth right now, I'm trying
to grow inorganically, but it'sso much more than that. When you
(03:10):
think of M and A, it's not just,you know, acquiring firms, it's
part of your growth story andhow you impact more clients. So
was super inspired by thetransformation that has been
happening at all worth sinceJohn joined the end of 2023 and
felt like it was an opportunityI just could not say no to to
bring it full circle. I love Ilove M&A. I love working with
(03:34):
advisors on, I think the thehardest decision they have to
make in their professionalcareers, of like, what do you
do? Do you do you partner withsomeone who's got more
capabilities that's gonna giveyour team more career pathing
all the reasons. And I startedmy career as a legal counsel,
and I still feel like I'm acounsel. I still feel like I
(03:54):
love to play that role withadvisors. I'm really passionate
about what advisors do withtheir clients. And I love trying
to be the advisor to advisors,and you really get that
opportunity when you're sellingyour business. And I don't even
like saying selling yourbusiness when you're partnering
with someone to do one plus oneequals three, and really
accelerate your company's growthand give your team this
(04:16):
incredible opportunity to dobigger, bigger things than they
ever thought imaginable. So itwas always, always my passion to
do, to do deals. So it's twomonths in, and I'm having a
blast and seeing all worthreally transform and and doing
the types of deals were reallyexpanding capabilities. I got to
be part of that journey atMariner, and it's really fun
(04:37):
seeing all worth add morecapabilities, support, more
clients and just grow at anextraordinary pace. We just
crossed 30 billion in
Kelly Waltrich (04:45):
assets. Wow, that's amazing. Okay, so we need
to rewind for a second. I lovethat you just said, be more than
a lawyer. Be more than anattorney. That boggles my mind,
because I have an attorney on myteam and Intention.ly, and I
always think to myself, hewould. Rather be here than in a
courtroom. I don't understandit. I don't get it. So tell me
about that. Like, what's yourmindset around that?
Sara Baker (05:07):
Yeah, I was actually so I graduated in 2009 from law
school where and I wanted to bea corporate attorney. I always
wanted to go corporate, but ofcourse, there were no no rules
like that. In the really big lawfirms, you had to be a
litigator. So I was forced to bea litigator, even though I took
no litigation courses in lawschool, it was all just business
(05:27):
courses. So litigation, oh, man,it did not work for me. I loved
being a lawyer. I loved theculture of a professional
services firm, and that hasreally stuck with me as I think
through some of the challengesthat our industry is trying to
solve with advisors, successionplanning, client retention,
adding client value. So I lovethe model of a professional
(05:49):
services firm, and I think somelaw firms obviously don't do it
as well, but I felt like I wasreally lucky. I worked at a law
firm I think had a really greatmodel and had really talented
lawyers that were reallyobsessed with delivering the
best advice possible to clients,but it was so contentious and
and I was like, this is probablynot not what I meant to do. So
(06:10):
when I had the chance to go backto doing more corporate legal
work, I jumped all over that.
But when you're a lawyer, forme, I felt like I could only
solve one problem for theclient, like they were only
coming to me with, we have thislegal problem, we need to solve
it, and I wanted to have abigger impact of solving
problems that could benefit theentire company and all clients,
not just something that wasreally kind of siloed to one
(06:32):
specific lawsuit or one specificlegal issue. So for me, it was
just, I wanted to have as big ofimpact as I could and inform
relationships with people inlots of different departments.
I'm a natural collaborator, andwhen we're in a legal role,
sometimes that's limited.
Kelly Waltrich (06:51):
Yeah, all right, that makes sense. I'm always
baffled by that comment, but Ithink that that makes sense.
Okay, so M&A in our space iswild to me. It is. It's wild
right now. I've never seenanything like what's happening
in our space. That consolidationis out of control. The creative
ways that firms are going afteradvisors, what they're paying
everything, is just mind blowingto me. Give us your view of sort
(07:14):
of the landscape,
Sara Baker (07:15):
yeah, I do think, I mean, consolidation is well
underway, right? This was verymuch a cottage industry, and now
you're starting to see even morethan consolidation. You're
starting to see integrationthat's happening within in our
space. And I went to Mariner,this was like, you know, long
time ago, 2013 or so, 2014 andthere weren't that many
(07:37):
integrators. It is so different.
I think the last list I saw had85 acquirers, where, when I
started in a it just was notlike that. The the tactics and
the strategies that you coulduse to really add value for an
advisor and help them with thatdecision. I mean Night, night
and day different becauseeveryone now, the things that I
thought were differentiating you10 years ago, are table stakes.
(07:59):
Now, do you have tax planning?
Do you do tax prep? Do you haveestate planning? We take all the
non client facing things offyour plate, like that's what
every integrator does now. So Ithink that where there's
opportunities to reallydifferentiate and for firms to
kind of survive thisconsolidation phase is to really
(08:19):
be true to your culture, tocreate a community of advisors,
to ship, to give career pathingto junior advisors. We have so
many advisors that are retiring,and so being the type of firm
that can develop that nextgeneration of talent, I think is
so important. So I think nowthere's this great opportunity
to differentiate on clientservice, on culture, on
(08:41):
community, and not the types ofthings that have now become
table stakes, because there'sjust so much competition, it is.
And everything's banker LED.
Everything's banker LED. Nowthere's so many investment
bankers there. I feel like Iused to be able to name all the
investment bankers 10 years ago,and now I'm like, oh, there's a
new one.
Kelly Waltrich (08:58):
Okay, so you outline the things that you
think are table stakes now,which I totally agree, and the
things that you think people canjust differentiate on. Is there
a new wave of things that youguys are thinking about that you
think you're gonna have to beprepared to support that maybe
hasn't been so important in thepast? Like, is there a firm of
the future type of thinking thatyou guys are undergoing?
Sara Baker (09:20):
I mean, I mean, I definitely think the firm of the
future really has to think aboutclient segmentation and about
delivering the right advice tothe right clients with
technology and with AI andnurturing the accumulators and
the second generation ofclients, and that service model
needs to look really differentfor a client in their 20s or 30s
and 40s. So I think the firmsthe future are really thinking
(09:42):
about multi generationalplanning and thinking, how do we
use technology to service and toengage the children, the
grandchildren, clients in their20s, 30s and 40s? Because every
single firm right now reallywants to go after high net worth
clients. That's really if. Yougo to the top 20 ranked
integrators, I think they'd allsay that they want to serve the
(10:04):
same types of clients. So Ithink where you really have to
focus is client segmentation andfinding ways to add value across
the whole spectrum of thefamily, not just the current
let's call it CFO, the ChiefFinancial Officer, or decision
maker of the family. So usingtechnology and using AI, the
firm the future is going to useAI, and going to use it really
(10:27):
well, and is going to be aheadof the curve on using AI to make
your teens and your advisorsmore efficient. It's not going
to replace advisors. I trulydon't think that. I remember
when robo advisors came to thescene, and everyone was really
losing their minds thinking thatrobo advisors. I mean,
seriously, it was crazy, if youI mean, if you went back and
read all the headlines when roboadvisors came out, I'm sure we'd
(10:50):
all give our we chuckle ofthinking we were going to be
displaced and and that didn'tactually happen. And I don't
think bulk management is thetype of space where you can just
remove the human interaction,because I think the power that a
wealth manager has with theirclients is to get them thinking
different. Is to get them comingout of a meeting like I never
(11:10):
would have thought about that,thinking about my goals and
thinking about my children andthinking about all these things,
and you'd expanded the way Ithink about my life. And you
need a human to do that. I can'tdo that
Kelly Waltrich (11:22):
right, right? I feel like I am so deep in the
weeds of all the things that Iwant AI to be able to do. I
don't want you know they'resaying marketing is one of the
things that is going to bedisrupted, and I am not going to
let that happen to my agency. SoI'm like, up to my eyeballs in
all the things. And it is socool, and it's so crazy and it's
so easy to get so lost in all ofit. So I think we have a long
(11:44):
way to go in terms of figuringout exactly how our space uses
it appropriately. I
Sara Baker (11:50):
don't know about you, but I this is anything
really vulnerable right now, Ifeel like I'm sometimes less
efficient because of AI, becauseI'm trying to learn how to use
it, whereas before I knew, like,if I needed to build a deck, if
I like, I just felt like Ireally had things down with my
processes and just how to how toget work done and how to
(12:11):
facilitate and influence andcommunicate. And now AI is this
new tool that I kind of have tolearn and figure out, what role
does it play in my processes,and you kind of have to take a
step back or two before you cantake step forward. So I'm trying
to navigate that of how I makeit, yeah, how I actually am more
Kelly Waltrich (12:28):
team the other day, and I was like, Hey, give
efficient with it,me a list of all the things that
we do that you wish a robotcould do. So we're having a wild
time just trying to figure out,Is it possible? Like, what is
possible, you know? So anyway,okay, so back to M&A, yeah. So
you're going through thisprocess, you're talking to lots
of firms what is and I'm justgonna give you an example, when
(12:50):
I at Intention.ly, when I'mselling, I know some that's a
dirty word, but when I'm talkingto people about their marketing
and yeah, so trying to get onboard, trying to get them on
board, to partner with us. Iknow when I know I can see the
moments that click right like Ican see when I say to someone,
it's really hard to build amarketing team with all of the
skill sets that you need. I canusually see it click. Or I know
(13:12):
I sit in your shoes. I knowyou're trying to report to this
executive team and this board ofdirectors, and that's really
hard, and you wish you had awingman that was gonna take you
through that and make sure thatyou're proving your value. Like,
I see the moments that firms arelike, yes, they get it, and I
need that. So tell me what thatis for you, as you're talking to
firms, like, what are thosemoments where you're seeing it
(13:35):
sort of click? Yeah.
Sara Baker (13:38):
So I view my role, and the role of any M&A team is,
your job is really to identifyfor that founder. Where are they
at right now, and what's theirideal in state? Like, let's just
say they're at 2 billion, andtheir goal was they really
wanted to get to 2 billion or 3billion or 5 billion, and say,
Okay, now there's a gap. There'sa gap between where you're at
(14:00):
and where you really want to be.
There's lots of ways to getthere and really just paint the
story of how your firm can helpnavigate that path and show the
exams and really uncover what'skeeping them up at night. So
here you're at point A you wantto get to point B. There's lots
of ways you can get there what'skeeping you up at night, and
then connect those dots of howwe solve those problems. So I
like to really approach it fromthat angle of advisor. Because,
(14:23):
because advisors get that, theydo that with clients all day
long. They help their clientsget to their end destination.
And so I think you have touncover and let them actually
share what it is. I don't thinka lot of advisors actually say
it out loud until they engage inthe process of selling their
firm. Of like, Well, what do youreally want? My favorite
questions is like, what's yourperfect day? What's your perfect
(14:45):
day? And it's like, Okay, now,now, let's talk about how we can
help you accomplish that. It'slike, Oh, okay. This is really
exciting, because I feel likewhen you partner with a new
firm, that is a chance to justhyperex. Accelerate your growth
and accomplish things you didn'tthink were possible. So you want
to start creating those storiesand generating that excitement
(15:06):
for them, so the partnershiptogether is beneficial for them,
but also for your company aswell.
Kelly Waltrich (15:13):
Yeah, that's great. And I feel like, can you
give me a sense of like, therole that technology plays in
the conversations? Are youfeeling like? You know, I had, I
had someone the other day tellme he was working with a PE
firm, and he was helping themdecide on their single tech
stack. So they didn't want togive any advisors that came
under their umbrella or anyfirms that came under their
umbrella choice anymore. And Ithought about that for a minute.
(15:35):
I'm like, Huh? All right, so wewent from the best of breed to
all in one, to back to the bestof breed, and now PE firms are
trying to go back to all in one.
What is? What are? What areadvisors telling you they want?
Sara Baker (15:48):
Yeah, so I feel like I consistently hear advisors
care about their clients. Theywant their clients to have a
really great experience. Theydon't want to lose clients in
the transition process, but theywant a story to tell their
clients of why they're doingthis and why this is better for
them, I am always in awe of howconsistent that is with every
advisor I talk to that they caremost about their clients and
making sure that they're goingto have a similar or even better
(16:12):
client experience. So for me, Ilook at technology as a way of
what do we do and that we canoffer to help improve your
client experience. And I dothink that for the most part,
advisors understand thedifference of there's certain
technology that's behind thescenes that clients don't see.
They don't care. They don't careif you're using Tamarack or
Orion, your client just doesn'tcare, right? And there's just
(16:34):
certain things that are behindthe scenes. It's what is
actually client facing. And so Ireally try to, like, suss that
out, to figure out what's thetechnology that you use, that
you like, because it makes yourjob easier, and your team's used
to it, versus there's actualclient impact at the end of the
day, advisors really care abouttheir clients and protecting
that client experience.
Kelly Waltrich (16:54):
Yeah, it's interesting. I, you know, doing
marketing in this space for areally long time, and obviously
do a ton of testing in terms ofwhat works with advisors and
what gets them to make certaindecisions. And I would say
you're spot on in that they takeaction, and the messaging that
wins is always the putting theclients first, messaging. And
(17:16):
sometimes I ask myself, Is thatreal, or is that what they feel
like they need to say, I don'tknow you're closer to that than
I am, but I know from amarketing standpoint that
certainly wins every time.
Sara Baker (17:27):
Yeah, and I do believe, like whatever your
perception is that is thereality, that you're going to
have to work within thoseconstraints, because perception
is reality, regardless of whatyou may feel otherwise. So yeah,
from the from the advisors,perception, I feel like it's,
it's, it is, I need to make surethat I'm fulfilling my promises
to my clients. And when I toldthem I was going to be a
(17:49):
fiduciary, and I told them, I'mgoing to do what's best for
them, that they honor that.
Kelly Waltrich (18:00):
All right, so we said in the beginning, there's
tons of competition. You havemore firms than ever before
buying for firms attention. Sowhat's your competitive edge?
Like, how personally I don't Iunderstand your firm, but like
you personally? Like, what? Howdo you how do you relate to
people? Because I feel likerecruitment is such is all about
the real, you know, therelationships and making them
(18:20):
feel like you understand wherethey are,
Sara Baker (18:24):
yeah, well, so one thing I felt like that's true
now that I don't think I coulduse this Well, I definitely
couldn't use this storypreviously, but now I really
understand what it's like towear all the hats. And I was
lonely. I was lonely where, andI didn't take it for granted.
I'm glad I did it, and it wasamazing experience. But when I
(18:44):
was at Mariner and at Edelman,really large firms, I had a
group of peers that I couldcollaborate with and I could
talk to, and you could be reallyopen with and really vulnerable
with. And then when I steppedinto triad and I took on the
president role, you do have tokeep your cards a little closer
to your vest, and I didn't havea peer, and it was really
(19:05):
lonely, and I was wearing allthese hats. And I did love it. I
loved figuring things out. Itfelt really good to be like,
Okay, I'm a marketer, I'm agraphic designer, until I hired
intentionally, but, but I had tojust do all the things, and you
just have to figure it out andbe really scrappy and really
gritty. So I do feel like now Ican really empathize with
(19:26):
someone who's coming to allworth, or any founder who's
wanting to have a conversationabout, should I do a minority
stake? Should I sell the privateequity? Should I just partner
with someone strategic, like, inall worth? Like, I feel like I
can give them really goodinsight. And I've seen every
model now. I've seen the w2model, I've seen the 1099 model,
I've seen the tamp model. I gotto experience a lot of different
(19:49):
flavors now in the industry,going to triad and working with
lots of different types offounders. So for me personally,
I can really empathize of howexhausting it is to. Wear lots
of hats, and want to raise yourhand and say, I know what I'm
really good at. And I want toknock it out of the park with
what I feel is my God givengift, instead of trying to do
(20:11):
everything. And I want peers. Iwant a community. I don't want
to be so lonely.
Kelly Waltrich (20:17):
Oh my gosh, the lonely is the thing I feel like,
startup, yeah, it's like,hallelujah, when you get to the
point where you have the rightpeople around you, like, you
know, Joe on my team, yes,they're just a couple of people
that will make got big enoughfor them to be next to me. I was
like, okay, yeah. Thank God, youknow. So I totally get that. It
(20:39):
tried to
Sara Baker (20:40):
an extent, it just was still, it takes time, you
know, to to build that. And forme, I did like the larger
company, but what attracted meto all worth was it was in the
middle. It wasn't as big asEdelman, which is what like 300
300 billion at this point. Butit wasn't a startup either. It
(21:01):
was we are a rocket ship, butwe've already gone through some
of the growing pains, butthere's still so much more to
go, and I really liked that kindof middle, middle spot for where
I was at in my career.
Kelly Waltrich (21:09):
Awesome. Well, I'm really excited for you. I
can't wait to see how this pansout. All right, Sarah, so this
is the point in don't do that,where we remind everybody that I
believe that people learn betterfrom their mistakes than their
wins. And I love that we get togo through this industry and
hear folks like you tell us thatthey stepped in it, because it's
(21:30):
nice to know that people arereal and that we make mistakes
and that everything isn't whatit looks like on Instagram. So
tell us, Sara, what are we notdoing today?
Sara Baker (21:38):
Yeah. So what? I've definitely stopped doing that. I
beat myself up pretty bad overat the beginning of my career,
was trying to measure how good Iwas in different areas of my
life. In a really short timespan, I used to like at the end
of the week, I would feel somuch guilt over I didn't spend
enough time with my kids, Ididn't spend enough time with my
(22:00):
spouse, or I go on vacation, andI gave nothing to work, I
checked out, and now I don't dothat anymore. Now I'm much more
patient. I have a much broaderperspective, and now I look at
more year time frames. So I lookback at the end of the year, I'm
like, Did I have balance? Did Igive everything I have to my
spouse, to my kids, to myfamily, to my work, to my
(22:24):
friends, instead of these, like,weak increments, because you're
you're gonna fail, like, youcan't give 100% to all of those
areas, and every week, you'regonna have to make trade offs
and choices. So I stopped doingthat, and it's been incredibly
refreshing. And just this weighthas been lifted off my shoulder
feeling like that's okay. It'sokay sometimes to be gone for a
week when you have to for work,and it's okay to, like, step out
(22:47):
of work for a day because mykids are in summer camp, and I'm
doing the carpool thing, andI've got to be really engaged,
and I want to enjoy the carrides with them when they
actually talk to me right now.
So like, I'm not taking the workcall because, like, I don't get
that time back, and I'll miss itwhen they go off to college. So
it's been, it's been reallynice. So I, for the listeners
out there, stop thinking interms of shorter periods of time
(23:11):
and look over the whole year ofdid you make good choices and
have balance in your life as awhole? I love that
Kelly Waltrich (23:20):
so much So Ron Carson 10 years ago, I guess it
was when I was younger, andtrying to figure it out, he said
something, and I'm gonna get itwrong, and Joe reminds me what
he actually said all the time,and I don't, I don't nail it,
but it was something along thelines of work life, harmony or
something like that instead ofwork life balance and how
(23:43):
everybody finds their own. And Ihave lived by that my whole
career, and it's I'm okay ifI'm, like, on a phone call on
the beach, because you're on thebeach, and I'd rather be on the
beach than on the office, butI'm on the phone, and that's a
thing, and it is what it is. Andso I have sort of lived by life
and work are gonna be like thisinstead of like this, and if you
(24:04):
can get okay with that and ridethe waves, so I am in wild
agreement with your assessment.
It's really hard though, right?
Like, in the moment, it's reallyhard. I think
Sara Baker (24:16):
it is in like, I think I didn't have this
perspective when I was younger.
I thought like people actuallycared about what I was doing,
and people have their ownproblems and have their own
things that are going on intheir life. So I thought there
was so much more judgment of methat was taking place when I was
younger, and now I'm like, yeah,no. People are not, like, paying
that much attention to thoselittle trade offs and things
(24:39):
that you do, like when I was 30,I really thought people were
judging my every action and andnow that I'm older and a little
wiser, I know that that's justnot, not the case. If I had to
just make something work and Ineeded to take a work call while
I was on the go on vacation, or,like, taking my kids to
something. Thing that would eatme up, and I would feel like I
(25:00):
was inferior, or we get introuble. And now, I mean the
thought of even caring aboutthat, I just can't even imagine
Kelly Waltrich (25:10):
so. And it's almost like people want to know
you're human, right, like peoplewant to know that you have a
life, and people want to be ableto relate to you. And it's so
all those things that we thoughtwere detrimental or actually
what makes us real and human?
Sara Baker (25:24):
Yeah, and people are on the go too. People are on the
go like you want to be asefficient as possible. So if you
want to connect with a colleagueon your way to the airport,
they're probably just gratefulthat you picked up the phone
honestly and call them and talkto them, instead of sending them
a teams message or a crypticemail, like, It's okay just to
pick up the phone and call whenyou're on the go, whereas, when
(25:45):
I was younger, I'd be like,like, Oh, they're gonna like,
think I'm being unprofessional.
I'm like, what is that? Justpick up the people would rather
talk to you while you're on thego than get an email that's
doesn't make sense.
Kelly Waltrich (25:56):
Yeah. And it's like, at the end of the day, if
you're high achieving, which Iknow you are, and it's like, how
you get, how the sausage ismade, matters a whole lot less.
And I think about that with allmy employees like and I hope
that they feel that from me,like I want you to do your best
work, and I want you to show up,and when you're here, I want you
(26:17):
to be here, and I want you tocrush it, but I don't want to
babysit, yeah. And so we have anOH Slack channel. So all day
people are like, going to get acoffee, going for a run back in
a little while, taking my kidhere, taking my kid here to
clear my head. I'm going for awalk in the park. And it's like,
how we keep up with each other.
But I also created that with thegoal of, like, it's okay to not
(26:38):
be sitting in front of your desk24 hours a day. Like, get up,
move, do the things you have todo, get your work done, but
like, not at the expense ofother things. So I don't know
it's hard to instill that inyour culture, but we
Sara Baker (26:53):
try important I honestly have found too I'm more
fluid with my thoughts when I'mwalking and talking. Yeah,
there's just, I don't knowthere's something, something to
it when you're especially if youcan do it side by side, like I
used to do this. I don't as muchright now as I don't have a team
in Kansas City, but if you havethe opportunity, I highly
recommend it of having a one onone, like doing a walk and talk.
(27:17):
It's it's more informal, likeyou just, there's so many great
ideas that come out. You're outin nature. I'm a huge fan of the
walk and talk and meet, greatideas you can came up with, and
problems you can solve whenyou're just talking and walking.
Yeah, and
Kelly Waltrich (27:31):
you know what we were talking about AI earlier.
And the other thing that I loveabout AI is the record feature,
because sometimes what I think Iwas missing in my career is like
someone following me around,capturing all the craziness and
turning it into something good.
You know how we always hang onas leaders to those people who
can, like, decipher our crazyideas from our good ones and
(27:51):
then take action on them. So,like, chat GPT for me, has been
like that person that I neverhad, who I just have to hit
record, and it talks, and I say,summarize that and turn it into
something and like, is this, andit's the first half of the step.
So I've been doing a lot of,like, walking and talking to my
my AI tools too, which is kindof weird partner, right, yeah,
(28:14):
but it's working for me, youknow,
Sara Baker (28:18):
incredibly powerful thought partner that it just
makes my ideas a little morecrisp, where I feel like I've
brought it almost the way there,but then put it through chat
GPT, and it pulls out, it pullsout the best concepts, and just
makes it a little moreorganized. I'm a huge fan of
that. So
Kelly Waltrich (28:35):
let me ask you this, do you think men and
you're I know you, a lot of youare listening think the same way
as we do about the need forbalance in terms of, in our
case, it's being a mom and beinga spouse and being a good
coworker. Like, do you think menthink the same way? Or are we
No,
Sara Baker (28:54):
no. I mean just, I mean even just in my
conversations with my husband,who works in an engineering
firm, he's an accountant, andwhen we kind of unpack the day
and talking about kids and like,even just talking to him, it's
like, wow. Like we areapproaching this little
different and like, love him andlike, but we have, we are
(29:20):
definitely approaching the worklife balance a little bit
different, and some of it is andI think every household is
different. I really do that. Idon't think you can necessarily
stereotype, but for anyone whois the primary caretaker, where
every family, I think, has thatperson, whether it's a man or a
woman, of who's the onescheduling the doctor's
(29:41):
appointments and registering forthe camps and registering for
the kids activities and makingsure the kids got their backpack
and for school and the backschool clothes and all the
things, because you're going toget at least 50 emails from
school every day gearing up forschool. It's it's a nightmare,
like kids in two differentschools. So it's just. Like, Oh,
my goodness, are you? Are weserious right now? Yeah. And so
(30:03):
if you are that person where youhave to be the, like, the you're
the one running point on yourchildren's logistics. Because I
do feel like I also have a jobas an Uber driver. I just don't
get tipped and paid for it. Butlike, I absolutely am an Uber
driver at night, getting kidswhere they need to be. Your
perspective, you're justthinking about some different
things, and got to prioritize alittle bit different and find
(30:26):
ways to be really efficient thanif maybe you're not the one who
feels like they own it. And myhusband's great. We definitely
divide and conquer, but someonehas to own certain things when
it comes to your kids, as far asmaking sure the appointments get
scheduled and the train stays onthe tracks when it comes to
school. You
Kelly Waltrich (30:47):
the other day, so Steve Waltrich, my husband,
is amazing, and I probably don'ttell him enough, but hopefully
he's listening, and he helps mewith intentionally. And I was
thinking the other day that,like, we don't have a set like,
You handle this and you handlethis, we have a like, we're
we're both going to do thethings that need to be done, and
(31:07):
hopefully all the things getdone. And I think that's going
to bite us in the butt at somepoint here, because without
having a list of all the things,there's inevitably things where
we're like, yeah, who?
Sara Baker (31:19):
Yeah, who's doing that?
Kelly Waltrich (31:20):
Yeah. Yeah. How is that getting done? But it's
worked. It's worked so far forus, I think. And he, he works
for a large raa, and so the ourdinner conversations are, as you
would imagine them, to beamazing. But yes, I feel very
lucky, and you're right, like,it is a whole nother job. But
he's also, I always wonder, likeall men like him, like he's very
(31:43):
easygoing and he doesn't getflustered, and he's not thinking
himself all day, like, Oh, am Ibalancing this well? He's
thinking, Oh, I don't know whathe's
Sara Baker (31:52):
thinking. I am way more critical. I feel like I
there's i feel like i do haveimposter syndrome, and I feel
like I've had that. I've got itway more in control now, later
in my life than earlier and someof his life. I said, Don't do
that. Of like, big picture, likethat comes into play as well. Of
the imposter syndrome, of like,hey, broader picture, like, look
(32:14):
at what you're accomplishing andresults over the year, not like
this day and not this week,where if you feel like you
didn't accomplish everything youwanted to, or your to do list
grew instead of getting smaller,because just more, because
that's what happens every day,every single day. I think I'm
gonna, like, crush the day andcheck every box on my to do list
(32:35):
and I just end the day with a 20thing to do list. Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, yeah, but, but I, I'm justa more critical, and that's my
personality. Though I'm going tobe more more critical, whereas
my husband's going to be morelaid back and not beat himself
up over like, balance and didhe? Did he knock being a dad out
(32:59):
of the park today and acolleague like,
Kelly Waltrich (33:02):
yeah, mindset.
All right, so here's a questionfor you. How do you explain that
to your kids? Because So Imentioned the beginning, I'm
here at the shore. Never donethis before, never take never
worked from the shore like I amthis summer, and my kids are
here with my niece who'swatching them, and they are
going to the beach every day,and they're living the life. And
my son today was like, Mom,like, I really want you to come.
(33:24):
They went to the library hereand they were doing some crafts,
or whatever they're he's like, Ireally want you to come. And I
find myself having tocontinuously explain to him,
like, Why mom can't come. Andit's such a hard I think your
kids are a little older thanmine, but it's still like, it's
such a hard conversation, likeeven and just trying to instill
work ethic and all that kind ofstuff. I believe that working
(33:47):
moms give something to theirchildren that's so important
around work and balance and allthat kind of stuff. But what,
how do you think about that, andhow do you communicate
Sara Baker (33:57):
yeah to your Yeah.
So my kids are my kids are inmiddle school, and it is
different the way you cancommunicate with middle school
kids, because they are, they'relike many adults, honestly at
that point, and they they feel,it feels like they're so fully
baked honestly by the time theyget to middle school. So I have
pretty direct conversations. I'ma very direct person, though,
like one of my big things isjust have the hard
(34:19):
conversations. Be direct, behonest. Always. Be kind by
telling the truth. Don't be niceby telling your kids or your
colleagues what they want tohear. No one brings by being
nice. So with my daughter, moreso than my son really wants me
at everything, and she's moresensitive. I'm sure a lot of
listeners can relate. You havekids with very different
personalities, where we have toparent one kid is totally
(34:42):
different than we have to parentthe other kid. But I want my
daughter to have the skill set,and my son to have the skill set
of being able to make trade offsand being able to understand
just consequences to decisions.
And what I really try to do whenI miss things with her is say I
miss. Using this. But one thingI never miss are your
(35:02):
tournaments. So sometimes I dohave to miss the holiday party
because I'm traveling for work,like I do. I miss, I feel like I
miss all holiday parties andlike, the PTO things and stuff
like that. But it's like, but,yeah, but the one thing my but
my promise, that's like, whereI'm going to be really
consistent, and the trade offis, like, I will always be there
when you have tournaments on theweekends. I won't miss those.
(35:25):
Those are sacred, and I'llprotect those. And so she can
see that, like, hey, like,sometimes you just have to make,
you have to make trade offs, andyou have to have balance and
explain to her the why,
Kelly Waltrich (35:35):
yeah, I'm in this stage where I'm trying to
help my son. So he's five. I'mtrying to help him understand
that things cost money, and inorder to have money to do
things, we have to do our job.
So I'm, like, going through thiswhole thing, and the questions
that come out of him are justwild, and they're things that
I'm totally not prepared for.
And you know, you get thequestions about, like, is that
(35:55):
more important to you? Andyou're just like, oh gosh, am I
doing my job? If, like, that'sthe kind of as that's the
questions that you're asking.
But yeah, so I'm in that they'revery young, and they're just
trying to understand.
Sara Baker (36:08):
I don't know I I felt like I was constantly
thinking when my kids wereyounger, when I'm screwing them
up. I know I'm screwing them up,I just don't know how it's like.
I don't I don't know what theimplications are going to be,
but I'm sure I'm screwing themup one way or another. Way or
another. I'll figure it out.
I'll definitely know oncethey're adults, but now I've
just kind of like accepted that,like I'm doing the best I can,
(36:28):
and I feel like I'm verypresent. They know I love them,
and I'm trying to build a solidfoundation in their life. So
that way, when they're choosingtheir friends, when they're
choosing their jobs, whenthey're making choices that they
choose their contractors wisely,who are building their house,
but at least, at least I'vegiven them the foundation
Kelly Waltrich (36:54):
I love that I told I don't what's the name of
that? That like kids, creditcard, I forget what it is, green
something. If I told my husbandthe other day, I'm like, I'm
getting him that I went throughthe process and I did it, and
he's like, my husband's like,he's five. And I'm like, Yeah,
but I need to be able to explainthese things to him, and there's
no better way to do it. Andwe're starting now instead of in
(37:14):
five years, and I don't care. SoI'm like, giving my five year
old this credit card, and I'mlike, You're gonna do work and
you're gonna make money, yeah,and you're gonna be better off
for it in life, because you'regonna understand these concepts.
Sara Baker (37:27):
And I, like, feel like I'm trying so hard to help
my make sure my kids, like,right now, especially with AI,
there's abundance of learningthat's available. There's almost
so much information that's outthere. What I really want, and I
want this for for my team, and Ilook for this in cultures, is
like, is, do you though have adesire to learn? Because the
(37:49):
desire to learn is reallyscarce, but learnings are very
abundant, and so I feel like I'mtrying to so hard instill that
in my children, of like, whatjust be a learner. Want to grow,
try new things, fail fast andwell, hopefully it all works
Kelly Waltrich (38:07):
Oh my gosh, it will all work out. Yeah, I love
out.
that. All right, guys, foreverybody that's joined us
today, Sarah and I went down apath talking about her role at
all worth the state of M&A inour industry, but most
importantly, that as you'rethinking about yourself as a in
your career, and as a parent andas a spouse, and giving yourself
(38:29):
the time to judge, not lookingat it in short term increments,
because it's too easy to failthat way. It's too easy to be
hard on yourself, but looking atthat in over the course of the
year to find the balance thatyou're looking for. And I think
that any woman that's listeningto this will certainly agree,
and any man, I think, will learnsomething too, Sara, anything
(38:50):
that you want to leave ourlisteners with on that note, how
they can think about this, howthey can incorporate it better
in their lives, how they can bea little easier on themselves as
they're trying to figure out howto be good at all things.
Unknown (39:01):
Well, I'd say just one.
Know what your God given giftsare, know what you're really
good at, and really invest inthat, and know who your hero is.
Be really focused on, like,who's the hero in your life,
whatever it is, you can't gowrong. You can't go wrong if you
know what you're really great atand what you're passionate
about, and what lights that firein your life and where you feel
like you're really contributing,and know who your hero is,
(39:23):
whether that's your spouse, yourkids, your the advisors you work
with your clients, if you're anadvisor, and give yourself some
grace along the way.
Kelly Waltrich (39:34):
I love it. Thank you so much. Sara, this has been
really fun. Yeah. Thank you.
Thanks for listening, guys. Seeyou soon. See ya. Thanks so much
for tuning in. If you enjoyedtoday's show, subscribe to be
notified when new episodesbecome available, and please
consider giving us a five starreview on Apple or Spotify. This
podcast is sponsored byintentionally a financial
(39:56):
services growth engine design.
Consultancy and agency. If youwant to learn more, please email
me atkelly@growintentionally.com.
Thank you again for listeningand check back to hear what
we're not doing next.
Unknown (40:12):
The information covered and posted represents the views
and opinions of the guest anddoes not necessarily represent
the views or opinions of KellyWaltrich. The content has been
made available for informationaland educational purposes only
the.
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