Money Matters Episode 316 - ESG, SRI, and Beyond with Melissa Reaktenwalt

Melissa Reaktenwalt: Money Matters Podcast Interview

April 29, 2024 . 3:24 PM . ID: 820682941

Transcript

00:01 - 00:03
[speaker unknown]
This conference will now be recorded.

00:04 - 00:04
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
All right.

00:04 - 00:08
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
And I'm gonna edit out just the beginning here because I'm gonna throw up I'm using a teleprompter.

00:08 - 00:13
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
This is something new for me, so if it looks like I'm reading, it's also because I have my readers.

00:14 - 00:14
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
All right.

00:16 - 00:17
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
Give me just a second.

00:17 - 00:17
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
Here.

00:17 - 00:18
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
We go.

00:18 - 00:18
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
Ok, so.

00:20 - 00:24
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
Welcome to Money Matters where we unlock the door to financial success.

00:24 - 00:31
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
Today we're joined by Melissa be Reckoned, an industry veteran with 18 years of experience.

00:31 - 00:35
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
She's here to share invaluable insights to elevate your financial journey.

00:35 - 00:36
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
Will explore.

00:36 - 00:45
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
Melissa is dynamic entry into the industry for evolution into a renowned public speaker and how she balances educating clients while managing their investments.

00:45 - 00:54
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
She'll reveal her insights into the credit union bank channel versus the independent channel for advisors, providing a clear roadmap for navigating these paths.

00:54 - 01:11
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
Melissa will also guide us through values based wealth management explaining yes, G and SRI Principles, influencer practice will uncover her money mantra, offering a blueprint for financial success, and delve into how, diversity and inclusion are shaping the industry.

01:12 - 01:16
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
This episode is packed with actionable insights from Melissa's journey.

01:16 - 01:22
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
So stay tuned to the end for tips that will leave you empowered and ready to take charge of your financial future.

01:23 - 01:27
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
Ok, that's the intro, so I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna edit there.

01:27 - 01:32
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
And let me just turn off the teleprompter now, because it's distracting to me.

01:33 - 01:36
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
Text display.

01:36 - 01:36
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
Here we go.

01:36 - 01:36
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
Ok.

01:38 - 01:39
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
All right.

01:39 - 01:42
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
Melissa, welcome so much to the show.

01:42 - 01:44
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
Thank you so much for having me, I'm happy to be here.

01:45 - 01:46
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
Absolutely.

01:46 - 01:51
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
Now, Melissa, I was lucky enough to meet you at future proof in real life.

01:51 - 01:58
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
And this was a, this was an industry event, and we were networking, and we sat down, and we had a really good conversation together.

01:58 - 02:05
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
But for listeners, who are just now learning about you, can you share a little bit about yourself so that we can get to know you better?

02:06 - 02:07
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
Absolutely.

02:08 - 02:15
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
So, yes, in that brief 15 minutes that we chatted, I gave you the short version of, and I'll do the same here.

02:15 - 02:22
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
But, yes, North erect And while I have had quite a meandering career in financial services but a really good one.

02:23 - 02:25
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
That led me to start my own firm ...

02:25 - 02:31
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
Financial in 20 18 as solo practice, and we've grown and grown and grown from that point.

02:32 - 02:40
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
But as you mentioned, I've got just about 18 years in the industry and moving again, from firm to firm.

02:40 - 02:42
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
I'm trying to find the right fit.

02:42 - 02:46
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
So it's been an interesting journey for sure within the financial services world.

02:47 - 02:49
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
But happy to be here and thriving.

02:49 - 02:50
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
I love it, I love it.

02:51 - 03:01
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
And I'm smiling here because when we talked about 20 years or so, maybe a couple extra years there for extra credit, into the, into my career as well.

03:01 - 03:16
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
So, we know a lot of things were, were very similar And yet, you know, some of the growth and evolution that you went through, a little bit different is, well, how is your approach to wealth management evolved over, you know, nearly two decades in this field.

03:16 - 03:19
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
And what key lessons have you learned along the way?

03:20 - 03:22
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
I think that's a great question.

03:22 - 03:40
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
I, I have had the opportunity and advantage, and maybe fortune, of being in the room with lots of different types of financial advisors and financial planners over the years and have worked with a lot of them, either as associate advisors or even business partners.

03:41 - 03:44
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
Already seen a lot of different sides of the industry and the business.

03:45 - 03:58
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
And that kind of broad depth of experience there, I think, has given me a really unique vision and perspective on the wealth management industry as a whole, but also kind of how I work with clients.

03:59 - 04:05
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
And I've tried really hard to differentiate myself, because, of course, that's what everyone tells you to do.

04:06 - 04:07
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
The reasons industry.

04:07 - 04:09
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
But I wanted to be very genuine in that.

04:09 - 04:16
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
So I took a lot of those different experiences and a lot of those different perspectives from other advisors that I've worked with over the years.

04:16 - 04:21
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
To kind of helped craft my vision for a firm and what I did not want, and what I absolutely didn't want.

04:22 - 04:27
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
And that plays into how I work with clients on the wealth management side and the financial planning side.

04:28 - 04:28
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
I love it.

04:28 - 04:29
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
I love it.

04:30 - 04:36
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
Let's talk, I'm gonna pivot just a little bit here, and because one of the other things that we connected on was, was public speaking.

04:37 - 04:37
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
As.

04:37 - 04:51
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
As, in addition to having your own practice and your own wealth management, financial planning company, you also do a lot of public speaking, Your public speaking journey has been a prominent aspect of your career.

04:51 - 04:54
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
How did you get started and what challenges are mindful?

04:54 - 04:56
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
Milestones have shaped your journey as a speaker?

04:57 - 04:58
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
Yeah, absolutely.

04:58 - 05:00
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
I also started a great question.

05:01 - 05:12
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
So, I think a lot of advisors think that when I say, I'm a public speaker, and lots of other people think that I'm doing educational workshops and those types of things for clients, I certainly do that.

05:12 - 05:16
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
That is a big part of our, our community education that we do.

05:16 - 05:18
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
And reaching clients and getting the prospect.

05:19 - 05:40
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
But on the Public speaking side of the line, it started in the financial services realm, and that I was asked to, I submitted a bid for a speaker at a women's conference, talking about kind of financial basics for women business owners, and did not get that, they wrote back and said, Hey, thanks so much for that.

05:40 - 05:41
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
For that pitch.

05:42 - 05:53
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
We love it, We're gonna instead ask you to be a moderator and panelists, but a moderator for a panel at this event because we think that, you know, based on your experience, that makes sense.

05:54 - 05:56
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
I just check my ego for just a moment.

05:57 - 06:04
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
Not immediately say, Absolutely not, I'm not going to do that, but that was my first step into graciously accepted.

06:04 - 06:12
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
And that was my first step into being on a relatively big stage that was a panel on women in business and entrepreneurship and that journey.

06:12 - 06:28
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
And that sort of balloon into a couple of other events, and a couple of other invites sitting on a couple of other panels as a panelist, and then doing a couple of keynotes over the years.

06:28 - 06:34
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
So it's just kind of balloon from sort of that first ego, crushing bone.

06:36 - 06:38
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
But, you know, all upheld through here.

06:39 - 06:44
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
But it has been a really big part of my career, and it's funny, to me.

06:44 - 06:56
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
I am an extreme introvert, I think, in a lot of cases, and so this career, I'm a little bit of an anomaly there, but also, as a public speaker, I think that that is it's a little bit different.

06:56 - 07:05
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
So, I bring a little bit of a different energy there, so it's been a really big part of my journey in financial services and also building out to that kind of business owner community as well.

07:06 - 07:07
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
Love it.

07:07 - 07:07
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
I love it.

07:07 - 07:18
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
So what I'm hearing is saying Yes, You know, initially when they told you, Hey, you're going to be a moderator, That's, that's not what I pitched you on, but that opened.

07:18 - 07:19
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
Up the.

07:19 - 07:23
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
Big stage that you're now doing, lots of public speaking.

07:23 - 07:27
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
And you're doing a lot of things that you didn't quite see yourself doing at the beginning of that.

07:27 - 07:28
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
Journey.

07:28 - 07:31
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
You mentioned that, your your core introvert.

07:31 - 07:38
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
But you're also able to check the box and get in front of a group, and it's, I would say, it's even a different skill set or energy level there.

07:38 - 07:42
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
And that's That's fantastic to see that the, share that with other people here.

07:43 - 07:49
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
I want to revisit what we taught, what we mentioned a little bit in the intro that year was the bank channel.

07:49 - 07:54
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
Because I, before I was a financial advisor, I worked in the bank channel as well.

07:55 - 08:03
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
So, you know, you have this background, where you came from the credit union first and then into the independent channel.

08:03 - 08:07
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
What advice do you have for someone considering each of these different paths?

08:08 - 08:09
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
Yeah, absolutely.

08:09 - 08:09
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
So it is.

08:10 - 08:12
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
I started very candidly.

08:12 - 08:20
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
I started on the credit union side of the line, and they're sort of brokerage and investment arm as an assistant or a financial planner.

08:21 - 08:23
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
And that was because that was the first job that was offered to me.

08:25 - 08:31
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
Very, very fresh, 20 year old and I took it because that's what you need to do to pay your bills.

08:32 - 08:38
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
So took that and worked for her for a couple of years and really fell in love with a career.

08:38 - 08:41
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
I will say it was such a soft dart.

08:41 - 08:44
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
It was not a hard launch into this business.

08:44 - 08:59
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
It was a very soft starting point, because there's a very nice office and a branch location, and members of the credit union would just be walked over from the teller, or from the Manager or the loan officer to say, Hi.

08:59 - 09:06
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
You might want to talk to the other advisor at that point, about, so and so for your IRA and these types of things.

09:06 - 09:11
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
So it was very much a, Oh, there is no prospecting, there is no growth path that we're looking at.

09:11 - 09:13
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
You come in, you receive a paycheck.

09:14 - 09:17
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
You service the clients that are in front of you.

09:18 - 09:28
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
When I transitioned to taking over for her role, when she left the credit union system, I was very quickly licensed and very quickly, in charge of three different branch location.

09:29 - 09:33
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
And so, that was an eye opener right to say, OK, I can do this.

09:33 - 09:34
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
Absolutely, I love the work.

09:34 - 09:37
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
And there has to be a better way to do that.

09:38 - 09:50
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
I let that sit and kind of simmer for some time because, again, I was going to first talk to position and a very comfortable one that I know not a lot of people coming into the industry are in initially.

09:51 - 09:59
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
But I did then take the leap and went to kind of a semi independent firm, Then, went independent from there.

09:59 - 10:10
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
So, and I talk about this a lot in my public speaking, my kind of business owner journey, it started with, get the foundation that you need and want, and then build from that point.

10:10 - 10:13
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
That is a very conservative way to do it.

10:13 - 10:15
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
But it worked really well for me.

10:16 - 10:28
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
I think that if you feel like there is that draw, or that desire to do something better, to do something different, you have an expanded option of things to be able to do for your clients.

10:28 - 10:41
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
On the wealth management side, on the financial planning side, looking at that, either independent or independent channel is really a great way to go, but you have to be prepared for the island that it can then sometimes put you on.

10:42 - 10:43
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
That's the other side of the line.

10:43 - 10:51
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
Very cushy, very soft on one side, not harsh, but different and sometimes more challenging on the other side.

10:52 - 10:53
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
I love it.

10:53 - 10:56
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
I love it and say if it was easy, everybody would be doing you know.

10:58 - 11:07
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
You talked about these, these islands that you can end up on but you also talked about having that foundation first and then building from there.

11:07 - 11:17
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
As a business owner, you talked about the soft start and the idea of you know when you're in the bank channel these these relationships are being handed to buy tellers.

11:17 - 11:17
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
And Branch.

11:17 - 11:18
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
Branch Manager.

11:18 - 11:25
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
So, you're able to still do the stuff that you think of As a financial advisor, but the way that it's coming to you, looks a little different.

11:25 - 11:28
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
And then, fast forward to now where you're completely independent.

11:28 - 11:34
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
And you're having to wear your marketing hat, and your client, your client acquisition, and your financial planning out there.

11:34 - 11:44
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
So, I think, thank you for sharing that, because, I think for people who might be coming out of the bank channel, or credit union, a channel, to hear that, that's, that's very helpful for them.

11:46 - 11:50
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
Let's talk a little bit about diversity in the industry.

11:50 - 11:56
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
You know, I'm, I'm 50, I just turned 50, I've been in the industry for 20 years, and, boy, things have changed.

11:58 - 12:03
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
Over the past, you know, the tail end of the eighties and the early nineties there.

12:03 - 12:12
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
What do you see as the current state of diversity in the financial industry, and what steps can be taken to encourage greater inclusion across all levels?

12:15 - 12:29
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
I think that it is a, a very important topic, I think, that a lot of folks view it as a hot topic, and not necessarily a very important topic, but as, as being one of those people.

12:29 - 12:44
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
So, my previous associated minute to call the triple threat young, black woman in this industry is somewhat coveted, but also very much an outlier, so that's been my experience than starting 18 or so years ago.

12:45 - 12:50
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
And somewhat, Unfortunately, that hasn't shifted a whole lot over the years.

12:50 - 13:02
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
I will say that there is, there's a lot of talk, and a lot of foundation for bringing in some diversity, equity, and inclusion topics.

13:02 - 13:09
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
I've sat on a advisory council for a D&I group for a couple of years.

13:09 - 13:32
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
We did some really good work there, but a lot of it was foundational, so I feel like, in financial services, we are behind the curve, Not terribly behind other industries, but certainly behind the curve, and making some moves there, and making some progress, but I do think that it is on the docket, I think that a lot of people are starting to talk about it, and talk about it in a meaningful and more impactful way.

13:32 - 13:35
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
These days, which is refreshing to see.

13:36 - 13:57
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
So, I think that there is such a runway, or a diverse population within financial services, not just an administrative staff, not just this pair of planners, not just to support folks, but as advisors and firm owners and RA owners, and all of these different components.

13:57 - 14:05
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
Then, I think a lot of that starts with representation for having folks that look like me, that look a little bit different, that run their practice a little bit different.

14:06 - 14:15
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
I think it's important to have those folks out there and say, Hey, if this is possible for you to, it's not easy, but it's absolutely possible.

14:15 - 14:18
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
So, the D and I work, I think, is really important work.

14:19 - 14:21
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
I think it's also a bit of an uphill battle sometime.

14:23 - 14:26
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
100% agree, I mean, we're further along than we were 20 years.

14:26 - 14:27
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
Ago when it was all white.

14:27 - 14:28
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
Dude.

14:28 - 14:35
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
But now I want to say a little bit further down the road, you know, to be, you know, have different politics.

14:35 - 14:37
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
It's almost like being a unicorn, so So.

14:37 - 14:38
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
So I'm with.

14:38 - 14:39
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
You here.

14:39 - 14:39
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
So.

14:40 - 14:45
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
This is a good lead way into really kinda how you built your practice.

14:45 - 14:50
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
Because one of the things that you've incorporated that you're passionate about is ESG and SRI.

14:50 - 14:53
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
And really values based wealth management.

14:53 - 15:01
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
How do you incorporate ESG and SRI principles into your wealth management practice and how do these values resonate with clients?

15:01 - 15:05
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
And I'm gonna pause myself during, I'm gonna have to say you might have to explain to listeners with ESG and SRI.

15:05 - 15:08
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
They may not know the acronym.

15:11 - 15:14
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
I appreciate the opportunity to do that.

15:14 - 15:21
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
And I will say that ESD and SRI, which is environmental, social, and governance issues.

15:21 - 15:27
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
Within your investment portfolio, SRI, stands for Socially Responsible Investing.

15:27 - 15:30
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
So, depending on who you're talking to, they may be interchangeable.

15:30 - 15:31
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
They may not be.

15:32 - 15:37
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
But the gist is that these are values based investment strategies that we're looking at.

15:37 - 15:44
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
Kind of your core values as a human, not necessarily or investment philosophy, although that comes into play too.

15:45 - 15:53
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
But looking at some of the core values, the issues that you find important, investing more in line with those values.

15:53 - 16:01
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
So, I started my firm when I went, so I started my firm on the basis of education.

16:01 - 16:02
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
First.

16:02 - 16:04
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
I wanted to be very much a community resource.

16:05 - 16:16
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
This is where some of the public speaking and some of that workshop kind of environment came from, but I wanted it to be an education first firm, and if that, and that is such a beautiful thing to me.

16:17 - 16:25
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
And when I started the firm almost six years ago, I wasn't really into the ESG or the SRI side of the line.

16:25 - 16:34
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
I thought like a lot of other advisors thought that it was a bit of a fad and a bit of a phase and maybe not something that was truly going to have an impact.

16:34 - 16:57
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
But the more that I did, my due diligence, and more that I did my research on some of these things, and found other advisors who are doing very similar, really impactful work and have the metrics to actually, you know, solidify that I think it was really eye opening to me to say, Man, this can be a component of that financial education piece as well.

16:57 - 17:05
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
It's not just about stocks and bonds and mutual funds and index funds, like it is, Look at all of these things that you can do with your money.

17:05 - 17:09
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
So it's something that we incorporate into our practice.

17:09 - 17:13
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
It is not a requirement for clients to invest that way if they do not want to, or don't have a penchant.

17:13 - 17:14
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
For that.

17:14 - 17:22
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
But it is something that we bring up and are forward with because it's something that's important to me and something that's important to the rest of my staff.

17:22 - 17:29
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
And if it's important to clients, we want to be able that we'll be able to offer that when when it's available.

17:31 - 17:33
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
I know your, your firm is called E V.

17:34 - 17:35
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
And.

17:35 - 17:45
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
The E is for education, So we've talked a little bit about that, can you dive just a little bit deeper as to where that lies in your practice, how, how important is education to you, and where does that fit?

17:46 - 17:46
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
Yeah, absolutely.

17:46 - 18:00
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
So, I actually started, I fell in love with a career because of some of my upbringing, so I didn't have a lot of that financial literacy and education, and my, you know, coming up, I just wasn't there.

18:00 - 18:07
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
And I remember feeling very strongly about, like, I can educate myself out of this situation.

18:07 - 18:19
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
I can get out of this Tiny little town, nothing, wrong, title, mid-west, town level, and then with that, I needed to get out of, what was I going to do to get out of the title?

18:19 - 18:22
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
So, education was always a very big part of that for me.

18:22 - 18:32
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
I had no idea that the financial education piece is going to become essentially my entire livelihood in my entire career, but it flows so seamlessly together.

18:33 - 18:46
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
But on the side of the line, for easy, for that education first firm, the education focused firm, it was that, it was that desire to be accessible to folks, to not always come, and just with a hard sell.

18:47 - 18:52
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
We're an asset management firm, and we do wealth management, and this, and this, and this, on the investment side.

18:53 - 18:53
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
Yeah.

18:53 - 19:00
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
We do those things, but also, we want you to understand what you're doing with your money and what that means, and why we're doing these different thing.

19:01 - 19:11
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
But I think that education piece is not only crucial for clients, but it's also really nice relationship, sort of, you know, stronghold for that relationship, for us.

19:11 - 19:12
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
So that's where we started.

19:13 - 19:14
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
I love it.

19:14 - 19:14
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
I love it.

19:15 - 19:22
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
We are bumping towards got about eight minutes left here, so you talk about something called your Personal Money Mantra.

19:23 - 19:27
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
How does that shape your professional approach to wealth management and advising clients?

19:28 - 19:28
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
Yeah.

19:29 - 19:30
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
Thanks for that.

19:30 - 19:33
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
My personal money mantra is, earn all you can, say?

19:33 - 19:35
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
Well, you can give all you can.

19:36 - 19:48
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
Actually came from my CFRA C, which is a Chartered Socially responsible Investment Counselor, heard designation, It started from that.

19:49 - 19:56
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
I think my initial money mantra was, Make what you can do a good job at that, and the earn.

19:56 - 19:58
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
You can save all.

19:58 - 19:59
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
You can get all you can.

19:59 - 20:01
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
That's something that's very important to me.

20:01 - 20:09
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
And I think comes through to all of my clients, whether that is their same money mantra or that where their mind is as well.

20:09 - 20:10
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
Absolutely fine.

20:10 - 20:12
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
And we'll talk to you, and we'll still do the work.

20:12 - 20:16
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
But, I think that Just putting it out there, to say, these are the basics, right.

20:16 - 20:22
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
How do we make sure that we're doing each of these things in a smart and efficient way?

20:23 - 20:26
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
And that's gonna get you to where you want to be in your financial life.

20:26 - 20:32
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
So, it's really just that, just living that on a day-to-day basis and also importing that into my clients.

20:32 - 20:38
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
I love it, I love it, So earn all you can, save all you can, give all you can.

20:39 - 20:39
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
Love.

20:39 - 20:40
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
It.

20:40 - 20:42
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
What a great money mantra there.

20:42 - 20:47
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
Let's talk about industry trends, because you've been in the industry as long as you've seen.

20:48 - 20:48
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
Quite.

20:48 - 20:49
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
A bit of stuff there.

20:50 - 21:00
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
In your experience, how has the financial industry changed over the past 18 years, particularly regarding sustainable investing and client priorities?

21:01 - 21:04
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
Hmm, I think that be a focus on.

21:06 - 21:21
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
A more trans parent financial services industry has been, has been a focus and has been a priority for the powers that be behind the theme, which I think is good.

21:21 - 21:31
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
So I am not an advocate or over regulation or over disclosure, but I do appreciate that sort of spirit of transparency there.

21:31 - 21:35
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
I think that has been the biggest change, is really the regulatory space.

21:36 - 21:53
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
But I think that's also then created a shift where advisors are moving towards away from that sort of days or softer, cushion, and more into the independent faith and more into the RA and sort of see only space.

21:53 - 22:01
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
I think it's pushing advisors more that way because of all of the sort of extra parameters that are put on advisors.

22:01 - 22:05
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
And I'm not saying that's good or bad, but I am saying it's certainly happening.

22:05 - 22:07
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
And certainly something that I'm seeing.

22:08 - 22:19
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
And I think back to our other point about, you know, DNI initiatives and things like that within the industry, I think that, that has been a notable shift, again, for that conversation.

22:19 - 22:21
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
It's been coming up a lot more.

22:21 - 22:24
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
It's much more frequent and I think, ultimately, it will be much more impactful.

22:26 - 22:46
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
And I think the last point on that, and kind of shifting trends and how that's impacted my view, and that in this position of the firm owner, I think is really, how am I going to best serve my clients for their priorities for making sure that they're sort of, whole person is taking care of on the financial side of the line.

22:46 - 23:00
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
That's really been our goal as a firm, to make sure that we're doing that, and, we've just consistently, tried to evolve, as our clients are evolving, as regulation, and, oversight is evolving all of that stuff.

23:01 - 23:13
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
It's hard to do, and it's a lot to manage, but it is certainly something that, as long as we're putting the client needs first and creating that space for that, or person, whole wellness, for your financial life.

23:13 - 23:14
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
I think that's where we want to be.

23:16 - 23:16
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
I love it, I love it.

23:16 - 23:18
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
You know, I'm here in Houston.

23:18 - 23:20
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
So, thank Stanford, think Enron.

23:20 - 23:23
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
This, this is the time I got started.

23:23 - 23:32
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
So we're, you know, anything that we do is either self regulating or compliance, or fiduciary responsibility, it's helping move us away.

23:32 - 23:35
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
So what the term you use transparency, I think that's huge.

23:35 - 23:39
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
That's helping us, you know, get get to where we want to be as an industry.

23:39 - 23:41
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
Well, fantastic.

23:41 - 23:43
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
We're right here, at the end of the show.

23:43 - 23:51
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
I'd like to ask you, for listeners who would like to find out more about you, where can they find out more about?

23:52 - 24:00
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
Sure, to very easy places on LinkedIn, I'm, Melissa erect and Walt, I'm the only one to relatively easy to find.

24:01 - 24:03
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
And then, on our website, ...

24:03 - 24:10
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
Financial dot com has got a great overview of all my stuff and who I am and what I'm out and about doing.

24:10 - 24:11
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
So, two great resources there.

24:12 - 24:19
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
I love it, and Melissa, in the last few minutes that we have here, what have I forgot to ask you that you'd love to share with listeners today?

24:21 - 24:23
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
I think we covered most of the ground.

24:23 - 24:29
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
I don't think that there's anything else that you need to add in there, but this is a great conversation.

24:29 - 24:30
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
I'm really happy to have been here.

24:31 - 24:32
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
Well, thank you so much for being on the show.

24:33 - 24:33
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
Melissa.

24:33 - 24:35
Christopher Hensley, RICP®, CES™
Have a great rest of the day there.

24:36 - 24:37
Melissa B. Reaktenwalt
Thanks, CTO.