The Values Behind Your Experience

At YeskeBuie, our core values aren’t words that we framed and forgot. Rather, they are principles that were co-created and have been challenged, refined, and embraced over time, becoming the compass that guides our decisions and shapes our interactions and the way we serve you.

Today, we are beginning a series that will explore each of our six core values, what we call The BIGs. In this series, we’ll tell the story of how they came to life, what they mean to us, how they show up in our work with you, and why they remain central to who we are as a firm.

You already know Live Big and you may also know Give Big, but behind these familiar phrases, along with the other four core values, is a deeper story. It is one we hope will give you even greater confidence, and perhaps a sense of pride, in knowing that the team you’ve entrusted is grounded in values you can recognize and may even embody in your own life.

We’ll begin today with a history lesson to set the foundation for how the values were created, and, in the months ahead, we’ll highlight each of the six core values in turn.

Every story has a beginning and for The BIGs, that beginning traces back to a chalkboard covered in sticky notes in 2014.

In 2014, our team gathered for a staff retreat with one clear intention: to articulate, with greater precision, who we are.

Retreats had long been a space where we clarified our cultural foundations. Through previous work, we had define our grand goal, refined our shared leadership principles, and established our communication agreements. This year, however, the focus turned squarely to defining what truly made YeskeBuie, YeskeBuie.

We began with a simple exercise. Each team member wrote single words on sticky notes, as many as they wished, capturing the essence of our firm. Soon, the wall filled with reflections:

Together, guided by our longtime coach and facilitator, we grouped the words thematically. Conversations were thoughtful and themes emerged.

By the end of the retreat, we had drafted a series of aspirational value statements that included commitments such as: thinking and acting from the Client’s perspective; learning on the edge; giving selflessly of our time and intellect; and, behaving in ways that align our values with our goals.

Importantly, we did not declare the work finished. The 2014 retreat acted as a new beginning. And we committed to returning to this work.

In the spring of 2015, we gathered again to revisit the themes that had emerged the year prior. Through a structured mind mapping exercise, we distilled those early value statements into six clearer pillars. Flip charts covered the walls as we explored each theme from multiple vantage points: our Clients, our profession, our team, our founders, and the broader communities we serve.

The language began to take more recognizable shape:

• Live Big

• Give Big

• Grow/Learn Big

• Be the Client

• Creative Strategies, Grounded Wisdom^®

• HDRA Communication (Honest, Direct, Respectful, and Aware)

This was not about crafting statements. It was about defining standards. We wanted language that accurately reflected how we already operated and how we intended to hold ourselves accountable going forward.

When we gathered again that fall, our focus narrowed further. This time, the work was refinement. The six values were finalized in the language we use today: Client Big, Live Big, Give Big, Think Big, Learn Big, and Be Big.

From there, we turned to the belief statements beneath each BIG that further define what each value means to us. Flip charts once again lined the walls and the floor. Words were tested. Assumptions were challenged. Sentences were rephrased until they felt precise, authentic, and lasting.

During one particularly meaningful exercise, our Founding Partners stood on one side of a wall while the rest of the team stood on the other. Independently, each group identified which values felt most essential, both personally and within the firm.

When the results were compared, the alignment was nearly complete.

That moment mattered. It affirmed that these values were not created by leadership and handed down to the team. They were shared beliefs, created and owned collectively.

By the close of 2015, The BIGs had their official birthday, along with the belief statements that continue to anchor us today:

Defining The BIGs in 2015 was an important milestone, and living them has been the enduring commitment. Since their creation, our team has:

• Refined the language when necessary, including editing our Client Big belief statement in 2016 from “see the world through their eyes” to “feel the world through their hearts” because, for us, true service requires empathy as much as expertise.

• Embedded them into our daily environment, placing a visual of The BIGs on every team member’s desk as a constant reminder that our decisions must align with our values.

• Created a BIGs Book in 2016 (refreshed again in 2025) that captures real examples and photos of how our team lives these values in practice, sharing it with new hires and revisiting it internally as a continued reminder.

• Returned to them intentionally at every annual retreat, assessing where we are fully embodying each value and where we see gaps and opportunities to grow.

Additionally, internally, our Chief Planning Officer and C3O, Lauren Stansell, has earned the affectionate title of “Protector of The BIGs” for the way she consistently challenges our leadership team to articulate the value alignment behind key decisions, ensuring our actions remain firmly rooted in the principles that define who we are.

While you may never see the flip charts or sticky notes firsthand, you do experience their impact. It is reflected in the creativity and groundedness of our recommendations, in the empathy present in our conversations, and in our commitment to evidence-based and policy-based financial planning. From first contact through our discovery process, and every other step along your journey, our dedicated team is not only committed, but excited, to walk with you and serve you in alignment with our values. We’re honored to be your first call (or one of them!) while supporting your Live Big^® life.

The BIGs provide a unified framework for how we lead and serve, and they help ensure that you are cared for the YeskeBuie Way in every interaction throughout our relationship.

We hope you have enjoyed this look back at how The BIGs came to life and perhaps learned something new about the culture shaping your experience with YeskeBuie. In the months ahead, we look forward to exploring each of these values more deeply and sharing how they continue to guide our work with you every day. We hope you’ll follow along.