XYPN member Michelle Gass has had quite a unique path into the financial planning world. After starting her career as a tax accountant, Michelle transitioned into a family office, and then ended up launching and running a successful hedge fund for over twenty years. It wasn’t until after she retired that she decided to get her CFP and launch her own financial planning firm.
Now the founder of Paradigm Advisors, a fee-only financial advisory practice that focuses on guidance and support, Michelle joins this episode to share her professional journey. She opens up about what it was like starting a firm from scratch, what her business looks like today, and the important lessons she learned along the way.
Listen to the Full Interview:
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What You'll Learn from This Episode:
- An overview of Michelle’s practice.
- Her unique career path.
- The definition of a family office.
- What a hedge fund is.
- Why Michelle decided to come out of retirement and open her firm.
- The most challenging part of starting her own business.
- What her first months ramping up were like.
- Why she opened two offices at the same time.
- Key lessons she learned from starting her own firm.
- What Michelle calls the biggest failure of any business.
- How her fee structure has evolved since she started.
- Staff she has hired and their roles within the company.
- Paradigm's service model.
- Michelle's onboarding process with clients.
- Her long-term vision and priorities for growing her firm going forward.
- Advice she would go back and give her younger self.
Featured on the Show:
- Michelle Gass: Website | LinkedIn
- Fidelity
- eMoney
- Elizabeth Jetton
- Joe Messinger
- XYPN Radio Episode #65: Developing a Specialty Service Around College Planning
This Episode is Sponsored By:
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