The I just fell into Financial Planning Podcast

Everyone selling a Financial Planning firm obsesses over the multiple of EBITDA or Recurring income. Almost nobody prepares for the Monday morning after.
So I sat down with Vicky Hicks from Melo, who has been on both sides of this. Shestarted in financial planning at 22 after being made redundant from Northern Rock.
She worked for a Financial Planning firm in York working her way up to becoming a Director of the firm before selling along with her partners her stake in the business.
That sale is what pushed her into M&A. She's done around a hundred transactions since.
We got into:
● Why her own sale was selling to get in, rather than to get out and why the realityafterwards didn't match the press release● The three-year lock-in that meant she couldn't advise, couldn't set up on her own and had to build something else entirely.● Why roughly 70% of owners end up disappointed post-sale, and how much of ittraces back to cultural mismatch rather than the money● The personal readiness nobody does the work on: who you are when the business isn't yours any more.● Why EBITDA powers every deal, not the multiple of recurring income everyonequotes.● Deal structures worth knowing: shared upside, true-ups, full revaluations, and why the headline price is the least interesting number.● Fish and chip offers - quote the big number at the start that gets chipped away through due diligence, and why it usually isn't the buyers fault.● How a small firm competes for talent with a consolidator offering a client bank and £80k salary: growth shares, EMI schemes, MBOs and employee ownership trusts.● The baby boomer wave about to hit the profession, and what it does to supplyOne line that stuck with me: quote's amazing how quickly the number in the bank account wears off.If you own a planning firm, you're thinking about your exit, or you're trying to build a team that could one day take it over, there's a lot in here you can steal.⏱️ Chapters00:00 Who is Vicky Hicks (and Melo)01:04 Northern Rock, redundancy, and starting at 22 with no clients02:37 Becoming MD of a chartered firm, then selling in 201804:36 We were selling to get in, not to get out05:22 What actually happened after the sale: losing autonomy09:02 The three-year lock-in and the hardest decision10:27 City & Capital Acquisitions, and the Melo rebrand14:39 I missed it. I grieved.18:28 Why so many sales go wrong: the 70% problem21:11 What culture actually means when you're matching firms23:25 The personal readiness nobody prepares for25:42 Exit as a phase, not a transaction29:11 The fee alignment problem32:43 Why EBITDA powers the deal, not recurring income multiples
34:40 Deal structures: shared upside, true-ups and revaluations38:26 Why the headline price lies, and fish and chip offers42:19 How small firms compete with consolidator salaries49:55 Growth shares, EMI schemes, MBOs and EOTs explained59:35 The grieving process, and the baby boomer wave1:02:55 The one piece of advice she'd give any owner1:07:43 What Melo's Exit Readiness Assessment covers

Everyone in financial planning is arguing about whether AI is coming for their job. Paraplanners are feeling it first.
So I sat down with Gareth Millard, founder of Clear Path Paraplanning, who has spent 28 years in the profession, from churning through quotes at a product provider at 18, to going Chartered, sitting the CFP, and this year finally backing himself to launch his own outsourced paraplanning business.
We got into:
How he fell into it at 18 as a quotes administrator, and the 28-year road that led to going out on his own
The AI tools he actually uses day to day (Copilot for spreadsheets, interrogating meeting-note transcripts), and the exact point where he refuses to let it near the work
Why being “just a document producer” is a dangerous place to stand right now, and what replaces it: an end-to-end, second-opinion service on a level with the adviser
Chartered vs the CFP, and why he built a financial plan from scratch across 64 spreadsheet tabs just to prove he could
The honest reality of going solo after 28 years employed: the freedom, the pricing headache, and finding clients in a crowded market
Why he wants a partnership and not a shop window, and why he keeps his content authentically his in a feed full of template AI posts
One line that stuck with me: “I don’t think AI takes jobs. It takes tasks.”
If you’re a paraplanner, a financial planner, or you’re weighing up going solo, there’s a lot in here you can steal.
Chapters:
00:00 Who is Gareth Millard (and Clear Path Paraplanning)
01:05 How Gareth fell into financial planning at 18
02:07 28 years and several firms: the career path
03:40 When lifestyle planning and cashflow modelling clicked
07:15 Why he launched Clear Path this year
08:27 Chartered vs CFP: building a plan from scratch (all 64 tabs)
13:22 The AI tools he actually uses (Copilot and meeting notes)
16:07 AI and authentic marketing: the “template post” problem
18:52 His ideal client: a partnership, not a shop window
20:56 Will paraplanners cease to exist?
25:28 Employment vs self-employment
29:01 The pricing problem nobody warns you about
34:18 The importance of doing hard things
35:37 Where AI has to stop: it takes tasks, not jobs
37:59 His biggest mistake in year one
39:43 Learning to love the business side

Everyone in financial planning obsesses over advice, investments and clients. Almost nobody talks about the engine room: operations.
 
So I sat down with Chris Hindle, Operations Director and co-founder of Fraser James, who went from "the assistant to the assistant administrator" (his words: the tea boy of the tea boy) to building one of the more interesting remote-first planning firms in the UK.
 
We got into:
 
How he broke in with zero experience, self-funding his RO1, "getting inside the tent", and why the long cut ends up being the shortcut
What an Operations Director actually does day to day, and why recruitment, reward, recognition and retention aren't an add-on to the job, they ARE the job
Going four-day week and fully remote years before COVID, and what really holds culture together when nobody shares an office
Building the firm with James McKay, and why "one plus one equals three" when you pick the right business partner
Writing job ads to "an audience of one" (they had 1,400 applications for a single admin role)
Who they actually serve: the HENRYs (High Earners, Not Rich Yet), and why mindset beats profession every time
 
One line that stuck with me: "you increase the surface area of luck through your own efforts and preparation."
 
If you run a planning firm, want to start one, or are trying to get into the profession, there's a lot in here you can steal.
 
Chapters:
00:00 Who is Chris Hindle (and Fraser James)
00:59 Breaking into financial planning with no experience
03:03 Landing the first job: persistence at Jones Hill
05:54 Standing out: self-funding your RO1 and "getting inside the tent"
09:52 What a Practice Manager actually does
13:44 Pioneering the four-day work week
22:04 Managing a fully remote team: trust over micromanagement
28:11 Ovation, and meeting his future business partner
29:51 How Fraser James was born ("one plus one equals three")
34:00 What an Operations Director really does
35:46 From lifestyle business to hiring the first team
38:04 COVID: going national and winning on digital marketing
42:34 Handling 100+ inquiries a month
45:06 Who Fraser James serves: the HENRY client
49:53 Writing job ads to "an audience of one"
57:42 Right person, right role: values and the GWC framework

Being a Financial Planner is tough, being an International Financial Planner across many jurisdictions is even tougher.
 
With Dion I discuss on a surface level how he helps his International clients and as ever how he "fell" into the profession after a career that initially started out in Marbs, before he went into the Army.

This episode of "The I just fell into Financial Planning Podcast" is with Alexander Thomas of GP3 Financial Solutions.
Alexander started in the profession with the deVere Group in Barcelona, we talk not only about his career in Financial Planning but also about his venture into the Property at a very young age.
We have a look at the journey he's been on with Content Creation and how he makes it stick out (I learnt a bit from him on this topic) and what this yields from a lead generation point of view.

I speak with Hannah about her career, starting off working for her fathers firm before setting up Core as an Outsourced Paraplanning Firm.
We talk about her journey to starting off in Financial Services Administration to setting up an outsourced Paraplanning firm, how she became Diploma qualified, Artificial Intelligence in Paraplanning and how she became an accredited outsourced Paraplanning firm for Quilter. 

Mike LeGassick is a Financial Planner that works for Manning and co based in Cornwall.
 
Just before Christmas I sat down with Mike and we had a chat about not only the two books he has written "Your money and your life" and "Mind over money" but also around what got him into the profession, the best way to coach clients and how storytelling can really win them over.
 
Think you'll enjoy this episode, I really loved Mike's passion for the profession and how to get his message out there.

Warning – There is a lot of Football chat in this Podcast (we had to take some out).
If you want to skip Rob’s football talk we get into the juicy Financial Planning chat around 26 minutes.
Being a big Football fan we really get into the nitty gritty of Rob’s career as a footballer, bar meeting Barry Fuller, Lyle Taylor and a few other Wimbledon players around the old Kingstonian bar I didn’t really know what to expect. I put these players up on a pedastool.
When I met Rob though I was instantly at ease, he was someone who I saw a lot of the Wimbledon spirit in, someone who by his own admission wasn’t the most gifted footballer, but someone who was a grafter a bit like Baz I alluded to up above.
Rob’s story in Financial Services starts at Natwest before joining RBS making his way up the greasy pole of the corporate ladder before becoming a Director of the Wealth side at IronMarket Wealth.
Rob’s journey into Financial Planning though started off with as he put it being sold to by a Financial Adviser (or salesman) as he puts it. There was no real education and since everyone else was putting money into a Pension he thought he would too.
We also discuss after football and when times are tough the decisions he had to make, which ended up causing issues later on and is why he has such a passion for Financial Planning Education as he felt let down by those in trusted positions who didn’t educate him on why Financial Planning was so important.
We also discuss IronMarket Wealth and the business they have set up headed up by the MD Wes Wilkes (a bit too briefly – we will do another episode) and their Platinum Partnership with Port Vale Football Club, which means they have their branding on the side of the kits. I could tell you how I haven’t forgiven Port Vale for taking Ethan Chislett and Ronan Curtis but that probably isn’t for today.
I will be chatting with Rob and Wes in 2025 more in depth about IronMarket Wealth and the Fint app Wes has helped create. Hope you enjoy!

Jake Crossley is as far as I'm concerned one of the success stories in Financial Planning.
He joined the profession when he was 17 doing an internship with Poynton Financial Services before going to University for a term in Sheffield.
Jake then went back to Poynton in January 2023 as a Paraplanner, learning from his Director there how to conduct meetings and the role as a researcher and report writer. He started his exams in April 2023 and becoming fully qualified Diploma qualified this year, taking just one year to get all of his exams done.
I explore with him his early days at Blithe Financial Planning and how he has tackled being one of the youngest Financial Planners in the Profession.
I find out from Jake why he joined the Financial Planning profession and decided against "doing the norm" of going to University.
Most importantly I get from him his tips for anyone looking to get into the Profession and how to tackle the exams.

This weeks guest is Henry Blunt, Acquisitions Director at Wren Sterling. Henry and I are former colleagues, when we first met Henry was studying Biology at Newcastle uni and naturally this correlated nicely with acting as a broker for Financial Planning businesses.
He forged his career at Retiring IFA and contributed to the business starting to deal with more complex succession planning solutions for Financial Planning business.
After 8 years brokering deals he joined Wren Sterling as Director of Acquisitions. What Henry has done in his three years there is beyond impressive. The business has accumulated another £3bn in AUM and their profits have grown by over 50%.
Join us as Henry gives an account of what you need to do to get your business ready for sale and also tips for smaller businesses on what to do when acquiring as well as the general state of play in the marketplace as a whole.