Elissa and Dave in the Wall Street Journal

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal profiled three adviser couples who work together. Elissa and Dave were one of those couples. Here is what Caitlin Nish had to say in her article, “Adviser Couples Who Live, Work Together”.

Dave Yeske and Elissa Buie

Yeske Buie Inc., Vienna, Va. and San Francisco, $440 million in assets under management

First comes a board commitment, then comes marriage:

Mr. Yeske and Ms. Buie met while on the board of a financial planning group in 1996. At the time, they each had their own practice–on opposite coasts, he in California and she in Virginia. They also were married to others. Six years later, when both were single again and at a conference in Alaska, they decided not to let 2,419 miles stand between them, Ms. Buie says.

They married in 2006 and finished merging their firms in 2008.

Why they combined practices:

“At first we assumed we wouldn’t merge,” Mr. Yeske says. “We thought we might kill each other.” But their businesses were complementary: Ms. Buie had the staff and systems to serve clients in a particularly consistent and effective way. Mr. Yeske had hardly any staff but strong technology.

They also had different interests: Ms. Buie wanted to manage the business. Mr. Yeske wanted to work with clients and bring in new ones.

How he got top billing:

Ms. Buie volunteered for the second spot in the firm’s name. “She said, ‘It matters more to you. And, oh, by the way, I’m going to be the CEO,'” Mr. Yeske recalls.

The toughest part of working together:

“We eat, sleep and breathe the business,” Ms. Buie says, adding that it occasionally frustrates their daughters. “The challenge is making sure we focus on things other than the business.” These include sports, opera and travel.