Welcome to the Financial Advisor Success Podcast, where you go behind the scenes with financial planner,

speaker and consultant Michael Kitsis to hear stories of how leading financial advisors

navigated the inevitable challenges that arise on the path to success and get insight from leading

industry consultants about how to break through to the

next level in your advisory business. And now here's your host, Michael Kitsis. My guest on today's

podcast is Deb Weatherby. 23 years ago, Deb founded what has now become one of the largest

independent RAs in the country with nearly $4.5 billion under management,

66 team members, and a whopping $10 million client minimum. But what makes whether it be

asset management fascinating to me, though, is not just the size of the firm or the affluence of

his clientele, but the way it's grown its team. On the podcast, you hear how Deb's firm

is created an incredibly rigorous

hiring process with multiple interviews, outside experts doing personality tests, and an onboarding

process that includes one meeting just to talk about the culture and values of the firm and another

that guides employees about what they need to do to be successful in the firm, culminating in what

are now 17 owner advisors in the firm, culminating in what are now 17 owner

advisors in the firm. You'll also hear about how Deb struggled with wanting to feel like she was

part of the team and not separating herself out as their leader, and how she ultimately found

she had to focus on developing her own leadership skills to move past that.

And that despite the size and success of the firm today, it actually took her three years of growth just to break even in the new RAA business.

And she actually wrapped up credit card debt along the way just to stay afloat to build

what ultimately is today a very large and successful firm.

And so with that introduction, I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Financial Advisor

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