After more than 25 years as an independent business owner, specializing in sophisticated, multidisciplinary estate planning, people often assume the moments I value most are tied to growth milestones, significant cases, or financial wins. Those moments matter, of course. But the two days I truly love the most each month are far simpler: the first and the fifteenth.
Not because those are the days I get paid—but because those are the days I have the privilege of paying others.
Over the course of my career, I’ve had the opportunity to work with and assemble an exceptional team of highly talented, specialized professionals. On the first and the fifteenth of every month, I’m reminded that running a business isn’t just about strategy, revenue, or efficiency. It’s about people. It’s about supporting families, helping individuals build stability, and allowing them to pursue their own dreams and goals through meaningful work.
That perspective didn’t come overnight. Early in my career, there was a time when I could do nearly everything myself. Like many entrepreneurs, I wore every hat—advisor, administrator, marketer, problem solver. As the business grew, however, so did its complexity. Today, we track our work in multi-million-dollar monthly flows, and it is abundantly clear that success at this level is impossible without a committed, capable, and deeply invested staff.
My first priority as a business owner has always been to serve our clients well. We work in an industry where trust, precision, and long-term thinking matter deeply. Our clients rely on us to navigate complex legal, financial, tax, and legacy issues that will impact generations. Creating a unique value proposition—one that clients not only understand but want to engage with—requires excellence across disciplines and consistency across every interaction.
That excellence does not happen by accident. It happens because of people.
Over the years, I’ve learned an important truth about leadership and compensation: you can pay people to do almost anything, but you cannot pay people to care. You cannot write a check and purchase genuine commitment, integrity, or pride in one’s work. Those qualities are earned, cultivated, and protected through culture, respect, and shared purpose.
That is why I consider it a privilege to work alongside highly talented individuals who genuinely care about our clients, our business, and doing things the right way. When people care, details matter. Follow-through matters. Ethics matter. And in the world of advanced estate planning, those details can mean everything.
Equally rewarding is the ability to compensate and reward these individuals in ways that help them achieve their personal and professional goals. There is something profoundly satisfying about knowing that the work we do together allows someone to provide for their family, invest in their future, or pursue opportunities they value. Compensation, when aligned with contribution and care, becomes more than a transaction—it becomes a partnership.
As business owners, we often talk about assets, resources, and growth strategies. From my perspective, the most essential resource we have is our people. Systems can be built. Processes can be refined. Markets will change. But a dedicated, caring, and capable team is what sustains a business through every cycle.
On the first and the fifteenth of each month, I’m reminded of that truth. I don’t take the responsibility (or the privilege) of being an employer lightly. I have an awesome staff, and they are not just part of the business; they are the foundation of it.
