Ep 456: Expanding From $75M Solo To $260M Multi-Advisor Team By Creating A Company Blueprint Of How Clients Will Be Served with Hilary Hendershott
Financial Advisor Success
Michael Kitces
4.8 • 696 Ratings
🗓️ 23 September 2025
⏱️ 90 minutes
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Summary
Scaling a solo advisory firm into a thriving team-based business takes more than strong systems—it takes a shared sense of purpose and values that guide every decision. This episode explores how one advisor used a living “Blueprint” to align her team, empower her staff, and create a consistent, values-driven client experience.
Hilary Hendershott is the founder of Hendershott Wealth Management, an RIA based in San Jose, California, overseeing $260 million in AUM for 150 client households. Listen in as she shares how her firm’s "Blueprint" (anchored by individual callings, an ultimate intent, and a firm-wide promise to create safety and openness) shapes internal culture and client communication alike. You'll learn how this document differs from a traditional mission statement, how it evolves with team input, and how it supports key business decisions.
For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/456
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Financial Advisor Success Podcast, where you go behind the scenes with |
| 0:07.1 | financial planner, speaker, and consultant Michael Kitsis to hear stories of how leading |
| 0:12.4 | financial advisors navigated the inevitable challenges that arise on the path to success |
| 0:17.4 | and get insight from leading industry consultants about how to break through to the next |
| 0:22.2 | level in your advisory business. And now here's your host, Michael Kitsas. Welcome, everyone. |
| 0:28.8 | Welcome to the 456th episode of the Financial Advisor's Success Podcast. My guest on today's |
| 0:34.6 | podcast is Hillary Henderson. Hillary is the founder of Henderson-Wealth Management, an RIA based in San Jose, California, |
| 0:41.6 | that oversees $260 million in assets under management for approximately 150 client households. |
| 0:48.3 | What's unique about Hillary, though, is how she has successfully grown her firm from a solo practice |
| 0:53.3 | to a larger advisory business, |
| 0:54.8 | in part by creating a company blueprint that serves as a cornerstone for how clients will |
| 0:59.4 | be served and how staff will be treated. |
| 1:02.1 | In this episode, we talk in depth about how Hillary's blueprint includes each team member |
| 1:06.2 | articulating their calling. |
| 1:07.6 | For example, her calling is that people are free and off through their lives. |
| 1:15.6 | The firm's ultimate intent that people are thriving, and the firm's promise to create an environment of safety, understanding, and openness, how Hillary uses this blueprint to |
| 1:19.7 | inform client communication and serve as an important reference when making challenging |
| 1:23.8 | business decisions and how Hillary finds that the blueprint is more effective than a |
| 1:27.7 | traditional firm mission and vision statement, both because it's regularly put to use and because |
| 1:31.8 | it's a living document that incorporates the values of current and new team members. |
| 1:36.2 | We also talk about how Hillary has stepped back from being the primary advisor as her firm has grown, |
| 1:41.5 | with her now only serving 15 clients, empowering her team to take the lead on client relationships and giving her more time to attract new clients, how Hillary implemented a diamond team approach made up of a senior advisor, two lead advisors, and an associate advisor supported by a client service associate, to efficiently serve clients while allowing next generation advisors to build their skills, and how that while |
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