When most people think about a financial planning firm (and I’m sure it’s often!), they might picture spreadsheets, investment reviews, maybe the occasional tax strategy conversation. And yes, we do plenty of that.

But some of the most important conversations we have as a team happen when no clients are in the room. They’re not about portfolios or performance. They’re about people.

We talk about the moments that matter most in our clients’ lives, the decisions that aren’t on a balance sheet but affect everything on it. We talk about aging parents, kids going off to college, difficult health diagnoses, second acts in retirement, and what really keeps people up at night.

We talk about how we show up for the families we serve, not just as professionals, but as real people who care. How to be steady when things feel uncertain. How to pause and really listen, instead of rushing to solve the world’s problems.

Sometimes we talk about whether we have asked the right questions in a meeting.  Or if we missed something that might have only been said between the lines. We remind ourselves that no one hires a planner just to grow their money.  I often joke with clients that our goal isn’t to make the number at the bottom of the page as big as possible!  People hire a financial planner to do something with their money.  To protect, to provide, to give, to dream.

And yes, we do talk about how we can be better. Better communicators. Better collaborators. Better stewards of the trust our clients place in us.

These behind-the-scenes conversations don’t show up on a quarterly statement or performance charts. But they shape everything we do. They remind us that planning is about more than just the numbers.  It’s about people, and the lives they’re building.

And we wouldn’t want it any other way.