By Ken Boyd, Editor-in-Chief
To celebrate women in finance, Modern American Advisor interviewed three women who are building successful advisory businesses and overcoming obstacles along the way. As you’ll read, these women are at different stages of their careers, and each has an interesting story to tell.
Perhaps most importantly, these women are succeeding in a male-dominated industry. They are blazing a trail that other women can follow to become financial advisors.
Shai Gothreau
Shai is the owner of Infinity Financial Services, a fee-only, fiduciary financial planning firm based in Dallas, Texas. Infinity specializes in helping millennials and Gen Z professionals make confident financial decisions, from budgeting and investing to retirement planning and life transitions. She focuses on education, empowerment, and long-term financial success.
Shai started her advisory business one year ago while working full-time for Travelers. She joined Travelers out of college and leads a team of developers.
School and Career Experiences
“I discovered my passion for helping people with their personal finances in college, where I worked in financial aid. I assisted students and parents with navigating the complexities of college planning and witnessed how financial stress has such a huge impact on people’s lives.
This experience made me realize how crucial it is to be financially prepared and how important it is to be a financial resource. After graduating college, I worked in Corporate America for six years, and in 2023 I decided to pursue my passion to help people with their personal finances through financial planning.”
Challenges Starting as an Advisor
Financial services is a male-dominated industry, and Shai noticed many young men showing confidence as advisors. She had to overcome imposter syndrome about her abilities as an advisor.
“I heard comments that male advisors don’t typically hear. Prospects have quizzed me about my industry knowledge and seemed to be concerned about the quality of my advice.”
Shai overcame these challenges by operating as a lifetime learner.
“If there’s an answer to a question, I’ll find it.”
She is a strong networker who focuses on active listening, empathy, and a passion for helping people.
The Business Model
Infinity is a flat fee only business, a structure that Shai believes removes conflicts of interest and is preferred by her demographic. Millennials and Gen Z clients are more fee-conscious and prefer the fee-only option.
This demographic is also technically savvy, and many explore do-it-yourself (DIY) investing platforms. Shai finds, however, that many people try a DIY option and decide that they want to hand off financial management to a professional.
“The secret sauce is to articulate the value proposition. That is the hardest part of my job.”
Shai Gothreau
Shai sees the emotional impact of financial events, such as the death of a parent. Advisors must balance the need to make decisions and the client’s emotional state.
She provides planning advice on cash flow, estate issues, and tax decisions.
Resources
Shai highly recommends an 8-week summer externship with Amplified Planning. The externship trains financial planners, and Shai feels that the experience helped her start a successful business.
Kelly Klingman
Kelly Klingaman founded KKFP to focus on the financial, career, and personal needs of women, especially those facing additional workplace challenges within male-dominated industries like finance and tech.
Early Career
Kelly started her career at Dimensional Fund Advisors, eventually working as a Vice President of Business Development and earning her CFP. Finance is a male-dominated career path, and Kelly faced the same challenges that many women encounter.
“Early on, I knew I wanted to one day be a financial advisor. It sounded like really fulfilling work, but I didn’t really know what it would look like. I earned my CFP certification very early on, which was great, and that continued to motivate me to want to one day potentially be an advisor.”
Dual-Career Couples
Kelly also focuses financial planning and investment management for professional women and dual-career couples. She understands the challenges of high-achieving professional women and their families, particularly those women in their early to mid-career working in the finance and tech industries.
Most of Kelly’s clients are in their 30s and early 40s.
“I realized that I would love to be a financial advisor that served women like me. I was at the time and still am to this day, the breadwinner in my relationship.”
This business niche appeals to Kelly based on her background. She and her husband, a graphic designer, have two children. Kelly relates to families in which the woman earns more income than the husband. She believes that both spouses need to be involved in money management decisions.
Issues That Clients Face
Young parents with dual careers are busy working and raising children, and many do not prioritize their personal finances. For example, the parents may not have life insurance coverage or an estate plan to protect the children.
Parents must deal with the mental load of managing home and work life, including what Kelly describes as the “invisible work” of maintaining the home and raising children.
Kelly strives to lighten the mental load. She also wants couples to feel connected when it comes to money.
She tries to gain a deep knowledge of each client’s values to provide useful guidance. A life event, such as a work promotion, a child’s birth, or a parent’s death, can spur the client to make financial decisions.
Money decisions can be highly emotional, and Kelly helps clients work through difficult financial decisions. If a client may be grieving the loss of a parent
Trusted Advisors
If clients are searching for other trusted professionals, such as a CPA, an attorney, or an insurance broker, Kelly is willing to make a trusted recommendation. She refers clients to other professionals who have similar views on customer service.
Advice for Women
Many people are looking for women advisors, and Kelly sees a need for more women RIAs.
Women should not view an advisor’s work as a “sales-type” job. Effective advisors are trusted, well-educated professionals.
Michelle Wagner
Michelle is the founder of Wellful Money, a comprehensive financial planning business that specializes in empowering women and their families. She is also a CFP.
She grew up in North Carolina and moved around the country with her husband, Bill, who is a fighter pilot in the Navy.
Starting in the Industry
Michelle worked with several financial companies before starting her advisory business.
Started her career at notable wealth management firms in the DC area helping high-net-worth families. Didn’t enjoy turning away those who didn’t have millions to invest.
Increasing fees based on AUM were also an issue for Michelle.
“Why was a family paying me so much more for doing the same amount of work? That just never fully sat well with me. They were almost getting penalized for having accumulated more money.”
Michelle then worked at innovative financial planning startups that sought to serve people often overlooked by the industry. She found deep fulfillment in helping those clients, but with larger client bases, it felt nearly impossible to offer each family the proactive care and authentic conversations they truly deserve.
“I decided to bring the best of both of these worlds to clients and give them the very high quality, high touch feel of a boutique firm, while also not turning away people because they don’t hit minimums, not penalizing people, just because they’ve accumulated more money.”
The Wellful Money Concept
By working with a limited number of hand-selected households, Michelle can provide the depth, clarity, and ongoing attention that transforms financial planning from a service into a true partnership.
She wants to be a trusted partner who can take things off your plate and help clients implement realistic strategies.
“I want to be one of those first calls, and I want to feel like I’m almost part of the family for some of these people. I operate as their CFO. I get to know their personal financial situation. And they don’t feel like they’re just a number.”
Women as Decision Makers
Michelle also wants to ensure that women are included in a couple’s financial planning process.
“I feel like a lot of women just feel excluded from the industry. A lot of my girlfriends and people that I know feel like their husband is the one handling most of it. In many cases, the financial advisor is mostly talking to the husband, and the wife is excluded from a lot of those conversations. That is something that I really want to change.”
Advice for Women Advisors
“Right now, I think one of the biggest challenges is trying to get heard, trying to get your message out there. I started out in those firms as one of the only women in the room and worked my way up.
I think just staying consistent and having my work speak for itself and showing up, gaining leadership as much as possible, that really had a big impact for me.”
Industry is Changing
Women are starting their own advisory businesses, and many are being promoted into higher levels of management. Women are making gains, but the road is still difficult. These three women are proof that resilient professional women can thrive in financial services.
Continue Reading
Women in Finance: Three Success Stories is featured in Modern American Advisor’s Torches of Freedom issue, alongside conversations with industry leaders and analysis examining the changing role of women in wealth management. Explore more from the issue.
