Mid-Year Reflections from the COO

My three-year-old daughter, Aria, recently transitioned to a more advanced classroom at her daycare, and she now comes home most days singing a catchy song to remember the months of the year. She gets them right most of the time, though one early misheard lyric never fails to make me smile:

As I reflect on my experience of 2025 so far, I think I’ll take a cue from Aria – ALIVE feels like just the right word to describe this year’s wild and meaningful journey.

In September of last year, our second child, Cameron, was born, opening a new chapter for our family. I was deeply grateful to have the support of my business partners and teammates to take maternity leave through February, and I rejoined the team with renewed energy in March. During this time, we also became first-time homeowners and moved to a new neighborhood. It’s been a season of sweeping change and while it has been, and continues to be, challenging, life feels fuller and more alive than ever.

Since returning from maternity leave and stepping back into my role as Chief Operating Officer, I’ve been focused on preparing for Elissa and Dave’s retirement and enhancing the Yeske Buie Client Experience – a focus that will continue through the remainder of 2025. Here’s a glimpse into the work that’s been shaping my year.

Preparing for Elissa and Dave’s Retirement

As we announced last year, our Founders, Dr. Dave Yeske and Elissa Buie, will be retiring at the end of this year. Though their succession has been years in the making, the leadership team has been focused on refining the final pieces of the transition in the following ways:

• Communicating with Clients: It’s important to us that our Clients feel secure in their relationship with us as we navigate this transition together, and we’ve been using special editions of TheLiveBigWay^® Digest – like this one and this one – to share more about our values system, highlight the myriad of impacts that Elissa and Dave have made as pioneers in this profession, and instill a sense of excitement in how the firm will continue to serve you and all future generations of your family to the Yeske Buie standard. We hope you’ll stay tuned in this space for more “Retire Big” focused stories and content.

• Ensuring Operational Readiness: Over the past several years, I’ve been working closely with Elissa to gradually take on her operational responsibilities within the firm. The final outstanding operational task was officially transitioned to me during this past tax season, and while I still have a few personal milestones I plan to make progress on before year-end, and plenty of room to continue deepening my expertise, it feels like a major success to say that these responsibilities are no longer on Elissa’s plate. In this new role, I’m also carefully reviewing our business structure and logistics to ensure that the next generation of owners has the documentation and authority needed to keep operations running smoothly.

• Harnessing Team Support: It’s become increasingly clear that the next-generation partners can most effectively step into Elissa’s and Dave’s roles with the strong support of our talented team. Since the start of the year, we’ve had open conversations about what the team needs from the firm to feel confident in providing that support, and our focus has been on boosting confidence, refining expertise, and practicing our communication agreements. The result has been nothing short of stellar, consistent, and thoughtful support across the board. I feel grateful for the trust, the teamwork, and the space to grow, and I look forward to continuing to deepen my relationships with those who support me and watching them serve our Clients and the firm with excellence.

Enhancing the Yeske Buie Client Experience

Our Clients are the reason that we exist as a business and it is a privilege to walk alongside them through life’s many seasons. We hold ourselves to a high standard of excellence in every interaction and are always seeking ways to enrich both the experience and the relationship. Here are a few of the ways I hope to do just that:

• Host High-Quality Relationship Building Events: This year, we’re committed to hosting five live webinars (including one featuring a guest speaker), two in-person gatherings, and a virtual holiday celebration. Each event is thoughtfully designed with a high degree of intentionality, centered on creating meaningful, engaging experiences that reflect the value we place on our relationships.

• Produce and Share Engaging Content: Our bi-weekly newsletter, TheLiveBigWay^® Digest, is both a labor of love and a source of immense pride. Every article is written in-house, contributing to a robust library of content covering financial planning, investments, firm news, events, and more. We’re constantly considering what content will be most valuable to you, which has led to additions like this year’s Your Financial Journey series as a creative way to inform and engage. We also recently welcomed Tricia Lowney to the team as our Communications Support Specialist. With her strong skill set, we’re confident she’ll help us deliver even more impactful content across our website, social media, and other platforms.

• Contribute to the Refresh of Our Client Experience Processes: Led by our Chief Planning Officer, Lauren Stansell, we’re in the midst of a thoughtful refresh of our internal client experience processes and documents to ensure they reflect our current practices, approach, and standard of excellence. So far this year, we’ve collaborated across the team to propose updates to our onboarding process and communication templates (special thanks to one of our most tenured teammates, Cristin Etheredge, whose project management skills have kept us moving forward with clear steps and steady progress). Looking ahead, we’re excited to continue refining these processes and exploring technologies that will help us track our work more efficiently and meet our goals with greater impact.

• Identify Additional Opportunities to Connect with Clients: With an eye toward the future, I hope to carve out time later this year for open thinking and brainstorming around new ways to serve and connect with our Clients. We’ve already identified several areas of opportunity including deepening our multigenerational relationships, streamlining how we confirm key Client details to ensure accuracy in their financial plans, and planning more intimate events to celebrate meaningful life milestones. I’m excited to see where this exploration leads us as we continue evolving the ways we connect with and support our Clients’ Live Big lives.

This season of growth has reminded me just how energizing it is to do work that matters with people who care deeply. I feel deeply grateful for the trust our Clients place in us – it fuels our commitment, sharpens our focus, and makes us come alive with purpose – and for the support of my mentors and our incredible team. I feel more alive than ever, and I’m inspired by the buzzing energy that surrounds us as we continue building something meaningful together. Here’s to the second half of 2025! May it be just as full of energy, connection, and opportunities to Live Big.