Monthly Archives: December 2025

#104 – Building an 8-Figure Financial Practice with Julia Carlson

Leadership, Practice Management, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

“To grow to an 8-figure business, you have to fire yourself – let go of doing all of the things that you think you have to do as the founder, as the advisor, and really let go so you can step into this visionary leadership role that most founders want to be in.”

Julia Carlson

In this conversation, Julia Carlson shares how she grew her practice from scratch, building a dynamic team and eventually stepping into a visionary leadership role (yes, “firing herself” in the process). 

You’ll hear about her dedication to helping both retirees and entrepreneurs, her passion for holistic financial planning, and her mission to inspire 1,000 entrepreneurs to each give $1 million to causes they care about, ultimately creating a $1 billion movement for good.

Whether you’re looking for insights on scaling a business, creating meaningful differentiation, building a powerful team culture, or simply finding happiness and balance as an advisor, you’ll find Julia brings both practical strategies and a refreshingly authentic perspective. 

Bill and Julia Discuss:

  • How leaders shift from rugged self-reliance to collaborative leadership as their firm scales.
  • How her Retirement Readiness Checklist becomes a magnet for her Right-Fit Clients.
  • The power of serving both pre-retirees and business owners and how this dual focus fuels deeper relationships.
  • Why Julia chose organic growth over acquisitions and what that has meant for her firm’s culture, trust, and scalability.
  • The impact of embedding generosity into a business model and how the $1 Billion for Good movement inspires teams and clients alike.
  • Why modern advisors must blend investment + insurance + planning into one holistic approach.

Sponsor:

Connect With Julia Carlson

Resources: 

Connect With Bill Cates:

About Tessa Santarpia:    

Julia Carlson is the Founder and CEO of Financial Freedom Wealth Management Group, a nationally recognized firm ranked in the top 1% of the industry. An entrepreneur, speaker, author, and educator, Julia has become a respected thought leader on tax-efficient retirement strategies, distribution planning, and exit planning for business owners. She launched her firm at the turn of the century and has since built a reputation for exceptional client service and visionary leadership.

Julia is the author of Money Loves You and has a new book forthcoming in February 2026: Let’s Get You Fired – How Entrepreneurs Scale to 8 Figures by Letting Go and Leading with Vision. Through her coaching and guidance, she helps entrepreneurs grow beyond the hustle, build companies that thrive without their constant presence, and create a legacy of generosity. Her bold mission: help 1,000 entrepreneurs scale to 8 figures and give $1 million each to causes they care about—fueling a $1 billion movement for good.

A frequent voice in the media, Julia has been interviewed by Barron’s, Forbes, Financial Advisor Magazine, MSN, Reuters, InvestmentNews, USA Today, Yahoo! Finance, and Nasdaq. She has been named an InvestmentNews Women to Watch honoree, and a multi-year Forbes Top Women Wealth Advisor.

She works from the firm’s office in the beautiful coastal community of Newport, Oregon, where she lives with her husband and their three children.

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#103 – Rewire Your Brain: The neuroscience behind the emotions and beliefs that drive financial decisions with Tessa Santarpia

Client Experience & Loyalty, Leadership, Practice Management, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

For the human brain, we all have a negativity bias. It’s not a flaw; it’s actually a survival mechanism. So, it’s not that your clients are necessarily overreacting, it’s more that their biology is perceiving a threat when none might even be there.

Tessa Santarpia.

In this episode of Top Advisor Podcast, my guest Tessa Santarpia and I are diving deep into the fascinating world of neuroscience and its impact on financial decision-making. 

This is a compelling conversation about your clients’ brains – as well as YOUR brain – that offers insight into the way we think, feel, and act around money.

Tessa explains why logic alone doesn’t drive financial behavior and how factors like negativity bias, survival mode, and early “money memories” can have a powerful influence on everything from market anxiety to risk-taking. 

You’ll learn practical, neuroscience-backed techniques that advisors can use to calm client fears, foster meaningful conversations, and build deeper trust.

Plus, Tessa shares actionable strategies for advisors to regulate their own emotions, shift out of survival mode, and cultivate a growth mindset—so they can lead clients by example.

Quick Excerpts:

[00:06:30] “When someone sees red on a chart or a market downturn, the nervous system treats it like a physical threat and their body treats it as such.”

[00:07:40] “There are actually very simple neural techniques that advisors can do to re-engage that rational part of the brain.”

[00:08:55] “The client is not just listening to your words, they’re actually feeling your nervous system.”

[00:11:23] “Advisors have the same brain wiring as their clients. So, the amygdala, the fear center, is still getting hijacked…”

[00:24:18] “The most important thing you can do is to really get out of the head, drop into the body. This is when you just want to allow that emotional wave to pass through you.”

Whether you’re looking for fresh perspectives to enhance client relationships or want to better understand your own (and your team’s) financial behaviors, this episode is packed with insights and tangible takeaways you won’t want to miss!

Sponsor: 

Connect With Tessa Santarpia:

Resources: 

Connect With Bill Cates:

About Tessa Santarpia:    

Chief Executive Officer and Lead Trauma-Informed Healing Facilitator

Tessa Santarpia brings a rare blend of strategic healthcare expertise and deeply embodied healing practice. With a background in Health Policy and Management from Columbia University, she has led physician practice operations in both integrative medicine and mental health clinics, focusing on optimizing systems that prioritize patient experience, access, and impact.

Tessa’s professional path has always been rooted in one question: How can we make alternative healing therapies more understandable, accessible, and backed by science? This curiosity has led her to study the brain and nervous system through the lens of trauma, altered states of consciousness, and embodied healing. She is trained in mindfulness and meditation, somatic breathwork, psychedelic integration, and flow state facilitation, weaving these modalities into the fabric of VISUALIZEin360’s offerings.

As a trauma-informed healing facilitator, Tessa is passionate about creating spaces that support emotional safety, nervous system regulation, and inner transformation. Her leadership is driven by a belief that people deserve tools that meet them where they are and are grounded in both science and spirit.

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