Empowering Women to Find Their Identity
Michelle Smith is the CEO of Source Financial Advice, a specialist independent advice firm offering comprehensive wealth management and investment planning to high-net-worth women — specifically those who have divorced. Divorce isn't easy for anyone, but it particularly impacts women, with divorced women over 50 facing a 45 percent drop in their standard of living. Michelle and her team are on a mission to support women through this difficult time, finding ways for their money to empower them to live the life they've always dreamed of.
“"In any profession, when you can find the intersection of life experience, what you're naturally good at, and the market, it's a really good recipe for success. As a financial advisor, it's so important because it magnetises the market when you can find that natural niche. And it has such a resonance with clients that it becomes your differentiator." — Michelle Smith, CEO, Source Financial Advice”
Discovering the Power of Personal Values
This story comes from using Lumiant with an existing client we'll call Wendy. Divorced for eight years, Wendy is now retired with no income, having had a successful career in the medical profession.
“"What we noticed over the years of working with her is that her non-negotiable is travel. With no children of her own, Wendy often took trips to see her extended family — brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews. And although we knew her really well, we didn't truly understand the underlying reasons why travel was so important beyond staying connected with family. We couldn't understand how she was giving herself permission to spend on travel, yet would not spend in other areas of her life — even though she could afford to."”
That was until Lauren — Source Financial's relationship manager — and Michelle took Wendy through the Lumiant process. During their 90-minute values session, they uncovered an incredible story from 50 years ago that had quietly shaped Wendy's entire financial life.
“"During the session, she told us this story of saving her money to go to the store to buy the Barbie she had always wanted with her grandmother. What she discovered was that this experience had driven home a family ethic — you have to work for the things you want — because she wasn't given the toy but had to save for it. How that one story from 50 years ago has manifested itself in her life is that she doesn't spend frivolously on material things. But what she does spend on is travel."”
In fact, Wendy wasn't touching a significant proportion of her monthly sustainable withdrawal rate and was at risk of being overfunded in retirement. The values session — which Wendy herself called "financial therapy" — allowed her advisors to understand what was truly driving her financial behaviours. Reflecting on her past helped Wendy break through a mental barrier and give herself permission to spend her untouched funds meaningfully on other areas of her life.
“"What's come out of it for her is intentional philanthropy — and this is a really cool pivot. She really wanted to gift those unused funds to her nieces and nephews right now. And she was like, 'Wow, that money will change their lives right now.'"”
The values session helped Wendy articulate the meaningful outcomes she wanted to achieve. And as a result, she became far more open and transparent with her advisor — expanding the opportunities Michelle and her team have to serve her well.
The best part: when you give people the agency to co-create their plans and set the stage for them to piece together their best lives, they are far more likely to follow through.
Michelle's Top Tip: Let the Client Do the Talking
As advisors, we're natural communicators. We're so used to having a solution before we've received all the information that we often reach a conclusion without fully taking the client on the journey.
“"The first time I used Lumiant, I was too directive. I was shaping answers, and it was almost like clients felt they needed to say certain things because I was guiding them there — and they didn't want to say something 'wrong.' People don't like to be wrong. They like to know that what they want to achieve is normal behaviour. And I was directing the conversation so much that it was changing the outcome."”
Michelle's advice: don't solve a problem that doesn't exist yet. Don't assume what an answer is going to be. Don't over-engineer the meeting. Ask the open-ended question — and then let them talk.
Once a client picks a value, that's when you say: "Wow, talk to me about that" or "What does that mean to you?" or "That's really interesting — tell me more." Then stop talking. Michelle keeps a glass of water in front of her and takes a sip whenever she feels the urge to fill the silence.
The Lumiant process is designed to invite clients to share. You don't need to over-direct — and in fact, doing so produces faulty output. It becomes your story, not theirs. So sit back, listen, and let the client define their own story. That's how you co-create a plan they'll actually stick to — and guide them toward living their best life.