When we started Painted Porch Advisors, we did it with a subtle, but deliberate, act of defiance in mind.
We were passionate about using our finance backgrounds to help people move toward genuine happiness and self-actualization—to help them build the lives they imagined now, rather than waiting for permission to do so at retirement.
But we also knew exactly what we didn’t want to be. We refused to be part of the traditional, sales-heavy wealth management industry. We would not chase assets under management or spend our energy “convincing” people they needed us. Our philosophy was simple: Help First. If we couldn’t add value, we didn’t want clients signing up for a long-term engagement or paying us fees for value they weren’t feeling.
While we are deeply committed to our “Help First” ethos, we never assumed our clients would join in our enthusiasm for the impact of the work we’re doing or become advocates for this movement we were hoping to create. We thought we’d just do great work, keep our heads down, and let the chips fall where they may.
It turns out, we were wrong.
Over time, something unexpected happened. Many of our clients and community didn’t just quietly appreciate the work—they became fierce advocates for it. We watched our clients and partners get energized about the impact they felt on the Porch, and eager to share that feeling with the people they cared about most.
It forced us to confront a conundrum. If the good operators in this industry—the ones who genuinely care about human potential and alignment—keep themselves a secret, we quietly cede the world to the self-interested salespeople. By shrinking back to avoid looking like “slick financial advisors,” we leave a vacuum for the aggressive, volume-driven firms to fill.
It brought to mind a beautiful reminder from Marianne Williamson:
“We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? …Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.”
By holding back on sharing the Painted Porch with the world, we realized we’ve been playing small. We were shrinking to avoid a broken industry norm, rather than stepping fully into the impact we can have. Worse, we weren’t giving our community the tools or opportunities to fully impact their own circles.
We couldn’t be more honored by your advocacy.
Over the past seven years, we have intentionally built an incredible team of human-first finance nerds. We didn’t build this team to hit a corporate growth target; we built it to ensure we could serve more people without ever diluting the deep, personal care our existing clients receive. We also built it to give these amazing, do-gooder advisors a place to thrive, shielded from the predatory sales incentives that plague our industry.
And honestly? We think we’re doing well. We have the team, the capacity, and the passion to expand our circle.
It’s finally time for us to stop holding back.
Stay tuned for our blog post, part 2. We’ll talk about what it means for us to stop holding back.
And if you’re feeling the impact of this work, we’d love for you to share the Porch with people you care about. We’ll walk through how that works next time: who’s a good fit, how to make the introduction, and what happens after that.
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