Ep #74: Employee to Entrepreneur with Maria King

Maria King is the President and Founder of TranscendPM, a practice management firm based out of Boston, MA that coaches and consults with financial advisory firms. Before making the transition to entrepreneur and launching TranscendPM, Maria was an employee at CommonWealth Financial Network and has valuable insight into hiring in the financial planning industry.

Listen in as she shares her journey, learning the ropes of practice management as an employee before deciding to branch out on her own. You'll hear about how she has navigated the inevitable ups and downs of entrepreneurship, the common characteristics that the most successful firm owners have, what sets job seekers apart in the industry, and what skills are crucial to having a successful financial planning career.

What You'll Learn In Today's Episode:

How Maria got started in financial planning. (2:10)
How she learned the the ropes of practice management. (4:40)
Some of the most common topics that firms consult with Maria about. (8:10)
How Maria helps firms with hiring and succession deals. (10:00)
The characteristics that make for good candidates. (13:40)
What makes a firm successful. (17:30)
Maria’s journey from CommonWealth to entrepreneurship. (20:00)
The skills that are needed to be a successful advisor. (23:45)
Maria’s thoughts on a financial planning career. (26:30)

Ideas Worth Sharing:

“I knew that I didn’t want to be an advisor myself, but that I wanted to work in that space.” - Maria King Share on X “There are three things that make or break {succession deals}: one is company culture, the second is the client experience, and the third is the investment philosophy.” - Maria King Share on X “Shared values, as well as an ownership mentality, are the two big things that lead to success.” - Maria King Share on X

Resources In Today's Episode:

Download your free copy of the New Planner Career Roadmap!

In this roadmap, you'll be guided through the details of various stages of your financial planner career, including position descriptions, licensing, skill and experience level requirements, and compensation ranges.