My Story
Hi there! I’m Brent. I’m a money and behavioral finance expert (CFP®, ChFC®), business owner and entrepreneur, certified life coach (but far from a life expert), CrossFit level 1 trainer (because health is a form of wealth), and proud girl dad.
I’m a co-founder of Facet and the The Financial Wellness Project.
I’ve been a financial advisor for almost 20 years. I’ve owned two firms, started one and helped build both. I’m an alphabet soup of designations because I’m infinitely curious about money, how it works, how to build wealth (the right way), and what it can do in our lives. Plus I believe that financial experts should be, well, real experts.
I’ve seen a broken “wealth management” industry and a financial advice model that’s expensive, exclusive, and filled with conflicts of interest and bad advice. It’s a system that just doesn’t work for people like us and it’s one that ignored and failed my family (and millions of Americans). My family never had money so we were always on the outside looking in.
It’s an industry that was built to keep knowledge and power from us instead of working to empower us so we could take control of our money, achieve financial success (as we define it), and unlock the true potential of money in our lives. It was their game. They defined the rules. And only a select few were allowed to play it.
The system was built to hold “power over” us instead of being an inclusive “power with” system that works for all of us.
I realize that I am speaking broadly about “an industry”, and that isn’t fair to some advisors (some of whom are dear friends of mine). There are very good financial advisors out there doing excellent work for their clients. What we need is a new industry standard – a new definition of what financial advice and planning should be, clear and fair pricing models, an environment where consumers are empowered to choose what works best for them, and a system that creates greater access to financial planning which, in my opinion, is really just about improving the quality of our lives.
*BTW, these are my grandparents (Winnie and Leroy aka Nanu and Pop). I grew up with them, and they are my “why”. The industry ignored them and then took advantage of them, so I set out to fight for families like mine.*
While I look forward to the day when outdated and conflicted business models are no longer a part of the industry, I don’t spend my time thinking about the destruction of old models. Rather, I focus on the process of creation – building new models that can support both the best interests of consumers and true professionals, those that care deeply about the well-being of their clients, in building meaningful careers.
I had a vision of a better way forward – a new game, one that levels the playing field. It was a vision of a new system that works for all of us, where we define the rules, where we have the power, and I’ve been on a mission since 2016 to build it and share it with the world (that’s my company Facet if you’re curious).
I’ve also seen the true power that money can have in our lives when we have access to the tools, resources, and advice necessary to unlock it’s potential.
And I believe that unbiased, personalized financial advice that looks at every facet of our lives is essential to living well and that all people deserve access to it.
This isn’t just about achieving financial success or building wealth. This is about creating freedom from financial worry and stress, making financial decisions with clarity and confidence, and putting ourselves in control of the lives we want to live.
Unfortunately, we’re never taught this stuff in school or as adults. And the industry (yes, the one I mentioned above) wasn’t (and still isn’t) there to help most of us.
This thing we call money can be challenging, complex, and confusing (not to mention one of the most emotionally charged elements of our lives), but it doesn’t have to be. I’ve seen it’s power to destroy and to create. I’ve seen it ruin people’s health and well-being and even their relationships and, more importantly, I’ve seen it help people rise to heights that they never thought possible.
The power that money can have in our lives is limitless if we know how to harness it.
So I’m here to share my 20 years as a financial advisor, business owner, entrepreneur, and imperfect and self-doubting human - the knowledge, the failures, the learnings, the lessons, the stories - with you. I’ll share with you everything I know so that you can master not just your money but your mindset (believe me…this matters more than most people know).
In short, I’ll teach you how to master every facet of your money so you can thrive in every facet of your life.
My hope is that you’ll gain the edge you need to unlock the power of money in your life. I will help you turn money from a stressful, hard, complicated thing into a powerful force that can fuel the most extraordinary life you can imagine - or maybe just help you conquer that one thing that is holding you back (sometimes we need to break free before we can break through to our next level).
So here is what I know and here is what I’ve learned. This is my path and my journey. I hope you will join me on it. Now, let’s go take our power back.
By the way, that company I co-founded back in 2016 to fight for families like mine? We started with just five people crazy enough to believe we could change the (financial) world. This is a picture of our first ever company conference in Philadelphia last year. This is how far we’ve come. Pretty cool to see.
Thank you for being here. My hope is that you find my content valuable and that you feel compelled to share it with someone you know.
Cheers to health, wealth, and the good (financial) life,
Brent