Tag: Client Experience
Leading With Empathy and Financial Vision with Cary Carbonaro

Leading With Empathy and Financial Vision with Cary Carbonaro

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Many people want guidance that truly supports their goals, yet the way advice is delivered can shape how confident they feel.

How do you create space for every voice at the table? How do you build a client experience that reflects communication, care and long-term thinking?

In this episode of Focused on the Future, host Suzanne Siracuse talks with Cary Carbonaro, CFP, MBA, author, fee-only financial advisor, and CFP Board ambassador, about her early industry realizations, her mission to elevate the experience for women clients, and her approach to building a practice with a clear purpose. 

Cary explains how she built her firm from the ground up, why communication gaps still exist across the profession, and how empathy, education and emotional intelligence foster lasting relationships. She also discusses what advisors can do now to prepare for the great wealth transfer and better serve the clients who will soon lead it.

Key points:

  • How women were routinely left out of early client conversations and how this shaped Cary’s mission
  • The importance of empathy, education and emotional intelligence with women clients
  • Why the great wealth transfer demands changes in communication and client experience
  • How Cary maintained trust through four practice transitions
  • How media presence and clear messaging help advisors expand influence

Resources:

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Connect With Cary Carbonaro:

 About Our Guest:

Cary Carbonaro, CFP, MBA, is an award-winning Certified Financial Planner Professional with over 25 years of experience in financial services. She is the Managing Wealth Advisor and Women and Wealth Ambassador at Ashton Thomas, where she leads a multimillion-dollar financial planning practice focused on empowering women.

Cary is the bestselling author of The Money Queen’s Guide and Women and Wealth: A Playbook to Empower Clients and Unlock Their Fortune (Wiley 2025), which offers actionable strategies for better serving women in financial services. Through her writing, speaking, and advocacy, she is helping reshape the industry to better support its fastest-growing client segment.

She has been honored as a CFP Board Ambassador for over a decade, named a “Women to Watch” by Investment News, and ranked six times among Investopedia’s Top 100 Financial Advisors. In 2024, Cary was appointed as the first female member of the NASDAQ Advisor Council, further cementing her leadership in the field.

Before building her advisory practice, Cary held leadership roles at JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, and Lord Abbett Investment. Today, she is a respected industry voice and frequent media contributor, with appearances on dozens of TV stations. 

Through her decades of experience, Cary remains a passionate champion for financial literacy, gender equity, and empowering women to take control of their financial futures.

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Leading With Values, Growing With Intention with Julia Carlson

Leading With Values, Growing With Intention with Julia Carlson

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Building a firm that reflects your values does not happen by accident.

In this episode of Focused on the Future, host  Suzanne Siracuse talks with Julia Carlson, founder and CEO of Financial Freedom Wealth Management Group, about creating an inclusive culture, serving clients without traditional minimums and using technology to strengthen relationships. Julia also shares insights from her new book, Let’s Get You Fired, which helps entrepreneurs step back so their companies can grow.

Julia also describes how she built Financial Freedom from the ground up, why she hires from her client base, how the Inspired Wealth program supports emerging investors, and how AI is reshaping client service and advisor training.

Key takeaways:

  • How Julia went from a 19-year-old bank teller to launching Financial Freedom Wealth Management at age 23
  • The way her own “misfit” experience sparked an inclusive, values-driven culture that hires from unexpected places
  • How the Inspired Wealth program lets the firm serve people below traditional asset minimums while staying profitable through revenue-based design and focused coaching
  • Why her upcoming book Let’s Get You Fired helps entrepreneurs step back, build strong teams, and grow values-based and valuable companies with a strong lens on generosity
  • How JUMP AI, Salesforce and Microsoft Copilot are reshaping notetaking, prep, training and client experience while freeing advisors to focus on real conversations

Resources:

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Connect With Julia Carlson:

 About Our Guest:

Julia Carlson is the Founder and CEO of Financial Freedom Wealth Management Group, LLC. She founded the firm at the turn of the century, and with its successes, she has become a thought leader in the financial industry. Julia is an entrepreneur, speaker, author, educator and expert on the investment landscape. She is recognized as being especially knowledgeable on topics relating to tax strategies for retirement and distribution planning, as well as exit planning for business owners.

Julia has been identified as an InvestmentNews 2020 Women to Watch honoree. She was also recognized as one of Forbes’ 2018-2022 Top Women Wealth Advisors as well as a 2018-2021 Top Wealth Advisor Mom by Working Mother magazine and SHOOK Research. Furthermore, Julia provides her knowledge through a financial column in a local newspaper. She actively participates in her community as a Rotary member, Chamber of Commerce member and Vice President for the Pacific Communities Health District Foundation Board. Julia works from our office in the beautiful coastal community of Newport, Oregon, where she resides with her husband and their three children.

Julia has been interviewed by Barron’s, Forbes, Financial Advisor Magazine, CIO Views, MSN, Reuters, InvestmentNews, USA Today, yahoo! Finance, TD Ameritrade Network and Nasdaq.

Julia is an Investment Advisor Representative and Registered Principal with LPL Financial. She has her Series 24, 7, 63 and 66 Securities registrations held with LPL Financial, as well as her state Life and Health Insurance licenses.

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The Power of Evolution: Building a Purpose-Driven Firm with Liz Miller

The Power of Evolution: Building a Purpose-Driven Firm with Liz Miller

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In this episode of Focused on the Future, host Suzanne Siracuse speaks with Liz Miller, founder and president of Summit Place Financial Advisors and current chair of the CFP Board, about how she’s built a purpose-driven firm that prioritizes clarity, culture, and continuous evolution.

Liz shares her journey from institutional portfolio management to launching a boutique firm focused on multigenerational families, and why personal connection became central to her definition of impact. She also reveals how a marketing mindset and persona-based messaging help attract the right clients.

From community service to professional development and the growing role of artificial intelligence, Liz emphasizes the importance of staying flexible and always evolving to meet client and team needs in a changing profession.

Resources:

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Connect With Liz Miller:

 About Our Guest:

Liz Miller, CFP® CFA®, is the founder and President of Summit Place Financial Advisors, LLC, an independent SEC-registered advisor, offering personalized investment management and financial consulting to elite families and individuals.

Previously, Liz was a principal owner of the investment manager, Trevor Stewart Burton & Jacobsen Inc., in NYC. In addition to managing portfolios and client relationships, she led the firm’s equity research activities and stock selection of the investment committee. Liz started her career as a mergers & acquisitions analyst for The First Boston Corporation. She went on to become a portfolio manager for Oppenheimer Mutual Funds. In 2008, she founded Summit Place Financial Advisors, LLC to focus on the complex financial needs of today’s multi-generational families.

Liz has been a leader in the development of wealth management. She led the first Private Wealth Management committee at the CFA Society of NY, where she was honored with a Volunteer of the Year award, and later served on the Board of Directors. Liz also served on the Wealth Management task force for CFA Institute, contributing to the initial curriculum on wealth management for CFA candidates.

Liz is the author of “Clutter-Free Wealth: A Goal-oriented Guide to Gaining Control of your Affluence” and is a member of the editorial advisory board for Trusts and Estates Magazine.

Liz received a B.S in economics from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an M.A. from Columbia University. Liz is the proud mother of grown twin daughters, and she and her husband reside in New York City.

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