Talk FS

Building a financial services business from nothing. That's exactly what Brad Ainsworth did, starting with three months' money and one client. Now Cathedral Wealth Management looks after around a thousand clients. In this episode of Talk FS, Ryan Venner sits down with Brad Ainsworth, founder of Cathedral Wealth, to talk about how he backed himself to build a business from nothing, the health challenges he has overcome along the way, and the lived experiences that shaped his approach to leadership, client care and purpose. You'll learn: ✅ How Brad worked his way from a bank commission desk into financial services ✅ Why the client who changed everything, Jean, inspired him to start Cathedral Wealth ✅ How he has built the business while living with sight loss, ADHD and tumour diagnoses ✅ Why meeting Stephen Sutton and the "86,400 seconds" philosophy reshaped his outlook ✅ How Springboard to Business came from a desire to give back ✅ What it takes to build a team and culture rooted in trust This is Talk FS, the podcast for professionals in or entering the financial services industry.  

From administrator to Managing Director in just over a decade. Olivia Maynard's career journey in financial services is a masterclass in adaptability, leadership and mentorship. In this episode of Talk FS, Ryan Venner sits down with Olivia Maynard, Managing Director at TFP Financial, to talk about how she progressed from an entry-level admin role to running the business, the mentors who shaped her leadership style, and how she built a culture of empowerment across her team. You'll learn: ✅ How Olivia found her way into financial services after considering the army and midwifery ✅ Why splitting advising and business ownership was the best decision TFP made ✅ How mentorship shaped Olivia's approach to leadership ✅ Why "feedback is a gift" and how to build a culture of empowerment ✅ Olivia's ambitions for herself and TFP Financial over the next four years   This is Talk FS, the podcast for professionals in or entering the financial services industry. 🔔 Subscribe for more career journeys, leadership insights and industry conversations. #TalkFS #FinancialServicesCareers #Leadership #CareerJourney #FinancialPlanning

Romany Youell became the UK's youngest financial advisor at 18. In this episode of Talk FS, she talks to Ryan Venner about the mentors, setbacks and one pivotal networking event that shaped her career. Romany grew up sitting in client meetings alongside her father, a mortgage adviser who built his business from his spare bedroom. She dropped out of college at 16, joined his firm, and became the UK's youngest ever financial adviser after an exception was made to Quilter's usual age requirements. Today she runs The Finance Woman, a business built around clients the traditional industry has often overlooked, including women, business owners and non-traditional professionals, and she's now mentoring the next generation of advisers herself. Watch the Video Version Here: https://youtu.be/ODpOSdIP9nQ

Lifestyle financial planning is the approach that transformed Nick Lincoln's career, and in this episode of Talk FS, he explains why it's made his advice business one of the stickiest in the industry. Nick is an independent financial adviser and founder of Values to Vision Financial Planning, with over 20 years' experience in the industry. He entered financial services almost by accident in 1993 before qualifying as an IFA in 2001. In 2008, a chance seminar introduced him to lifestyle financial planning, and he's used it with every client since, building a business of 85 families with what he describes as a near-zero attrition rate. In this conversation with host Ryan Venner, Nick discusses: - How he stumbled into financial services with no long-term plan, and why he never left - What lifestyle financial planning actually is, and why cash flow modelling changes client conversations - Giving clients "permission" to spend the money they've spent a lifetime saving - Why he believes AI will increase, not reduce, the need for human financial advisers - How to build the judgement and resilience new advisers need to guide clients through market downturns - Why he thinks the "advice gap" is really a money gap - The value of consistency, trust and treating every client the same way, regardless of wealth Whether you're an adviser, a paraplanner, or considering a career in financial services, this episode is a candid, unfiltered look at what it actually takes to build a long-term advice business rooted in trust rather than product-pushing. 🎧 Subscribe to Talk FS for more conversations with the people shaping the future of financial services. Guest: Nick Lincoln, Values to Vision Financial Planning Website: https://www.v2vfp.co.uk/ Podcast: The Real Adviser Podcast, https://www.therealadviserpodcast.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hattipnick/ Prefer to Watch? https://youtu.be/eysKzwK1nG8  

Self-employed paraplanner Rebecca Hewick joins Talk FS just two weeks into launching her own paraplanning business, and she's pulling back the curtain on exactly what it took to get there. In this episode, host Ryan Venner sits down with Rebecca to trace her career from financial services administration, through para planning and leadership, to taking the leap into business ownership. They dig into:   ✅ What really pushed Rebecca to go self-employed, and why it wasn't about the money ✅ The practical steps to prepare for self-employment in financial services (IT, insurance, security, notice periods) ✅ Why building a genuine professional community and network matters more than people think ✅ The evolving role of the paraplanner — and why "report writing" is dying out ✅ The difference between transactional paraplanning and true collaborative partnership with advisers ✅ Why Rebecca chose paraplanning over becoming a financial adviser ✅ Her advice for anyone considering the leap into self-employment   Whether you're a paraplanner thinking about going independent, an adviser wanting to understand how to get the best from your paraplanning support, or just curious about career paths within financial services, this conversation is full of honest, practical insight. 🎙️ Talk FS is the podcast for professionals in, or entering, the financial services industry, hosted by Ryan Venner. 👉 Subscribe for more conversations with the people shaping careers in financial services.