In this episode of the financial planner life podcast, Sam Oakes sits down with Katie, a former Army officer who transitioned into a successful financial planning career with the St. James’s Place Academy.

Katie’s story is one of resilience, adaptability, and building a business that fits around life’s big moments, including becoming a mum mid-way through growing her firm.

We cover:

✅ How military skills like leadership, discipline, and resilience translate into financial planning

✅ What it’s really like going through the St. James’s Place Academy (and how Katie passed her exams in just 6 months)

✅ The importance of mentorship and building your support network

✅ How social media, especially Instagram Stories, has helped her win new clients

✅ Balancing business growth and motherhood, and how becoming a parent opened new networking opportunities

✅ Why financial planning needs more diverse voices and more women in leadership

✅ Tips for using LinkedIn and Instagram for business development

✅ The power of storytelling and human connection in financial services

Whether you’re ex-military, thinking about a career change, or wondering how to balance parenthood with self-employment, this is a must-watch.

Begin your financial planning career journey today

Whether you are looking to become a paraplanner, administrator, mortgage and protection adviser or financial planner, the Financial Planner Life Academy is for you.

With limited entry-level job roles, giving yourself the best financial planning career education, will not only kick start your financial planning journey with relevant qualifications and skills, but it’ll also help you achieve success much faster.&nbs

Be sure to follow financial planner life on YouTube for extra content about a career within Financial Planning HIT THAT SUBSCRIBE BUTTON!

If you're looking to start your career in Financial Planning, check out the Financial Planner Life Academy here

Reach out to Sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or career development.

Jeri Williams on Scaling a Business, Letting Go of Control, and Building a Life with More Freedom

In this episode of Financial Planner Life, Sam Oakes sits down with Jeri Williams, the powerhouse behind Smooth Accounting in the UK and now Smooth Dubai.

Jeri shares how she built a business that runs without her, the mindset shift that allowed her to finally let go of control, and why protecting her time is now non-negotiable.

We dive deep into:

✅ Why she expanded into Dubai - and how it’s transforming her business
✅ The reality of stress and anxiety as a business owner
✅ What it really means to delegate and build a self-sufficient team
✅ Her obsession with time, freedom, and being present for her kids
✅ How showing up consistently online has helped her grow a loyal client base
✅ The role of marketing in building trust, visibility, and long-term success
✅ Why community, not competition, is at the heart of her approach

This conversation is packed with practical insights for business owners, financial professionals, and anyone chasing more freedom without sacrificing success.

🔗 Learn more about Jeri: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeriwilliams
📚 Join the waitlist for her new book on moving to Dubai
🎧 Subscribe for more career stories and insights from Financial Planner Life

Begin your financial planning career journey today

Whether you are looking to become a paraplanner, administrator, mortgage and protection adviser or financial planner, the Financial Planner Life Academy is for you.

With limited entry-level job roles, giving yourself the best financial planning career education, will not only kick start your financial planning journey with relevant qualifications and skills, but it’ll also help you achieve success much faster.&nbs

Be sure to follow financial planner life on YouTube for extra content about a career within Financial Planning HIT THAT SUBSCRIBE BUTTON!

If you're looking to start your career in Financial Planning, check out the Financial Planner Life Academy here

Reach out to Sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or career development.

In this episode of the Financial Planner Life podcast, Sam Oakes speaks with Aleem Nijabat, a self-employed financial planner who built £12 million in AUM without a client bank, without leads, and without a background in finance.

Aleem started during lockdown, working alone from his bedroom. He had just qualified, had no clients, and relied entirely on cold outreach through LinkedIn to get started.

This conversation is packed with practical advice for anyone considering a self-employed career in financial planning, especially those thinking about going it alone.

What we cover:

• How Aleem used LinkedIn Sales Navigator to connect with ideal clients
• Why consistency in cold outreach beats waiting for inbound leads
• What it really felt like starting during a market downturn
• The role mentorship played in levelling up his client base
• How joining Foster Denovo changed the game for his business
• Why testimonials and authentic content now matter to his strategy
• His goal of becoming a Senior Partner before the age of 30

This episode offers a real-world view of what it takes to build a financial planning business from the ground up. It’s not about shortcuts or luck - it’s about showing up every day and doing the work.

👉 Ready to take control of your financial planning career?
Subscribe for weekly conversations with the professionals shaping the future of this industry.

Begin your financial planning career journey today

Whether you are looking to become a paraplanner, administrator, mortgage and protection adviser or financial planner, the Financial Planner Life Academy is for you.

With limited entry-level job roles, giving yourself the best financial planning career education, will not only kick start your financial planning journey with relevant qualifications and skills, but it’ll also help you achieve success much faster.&nbs

Be sure to follow financial planner life on YouTube for extra content about a career within Financial Planning HIT THAT SUBSCRIBE BUTTON!

If you're looking to start your career in Financial Planning, check out the Financial Planner Life Academy here

Reach out to Sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or career development.

In this episode of Financial Planner Life, Sam Oakes is joined by certified money coach Dennis Harhalakis to explore the powerful emotional side of money - and why financial planners can't afford to ignore it.

Dennis shares how our earliest money experiences shape the way we think, feel, and act around money as adults. Whether it’s shame, fear, scarcity, or self-worth, these emotional drivers often get in the way of good financial decision-making.

We discuss:

• Why childhood money stories influence adult financial behaviour
• How money shame blocks clients from implementing advice
• Why planners must understand their own money beliefs first
• The power of creating emotional safety in client conversations
• Tools and training to help financial planners explore money coaching

If you're a financial planner who wants to build deeper trust, improve client outcomes, and bring more human connection into your advice process - this one's for you.

🔗 Learn more about Dennis and Cambridge Money Coaching:
https://www.cambridgemoneycoachinguk.com/

📌 Subscribe to the channel for more career insights from the world of financial planning.
👍 Like this video if it made you think differently about client conversations.
🗣 Drop a comment — what’s your first memory of money?

Begin your financial planning career journey today

Whether you are looking to become a paraplanner, administrator, mortgage and protection adviser or financial planner, the Financial Planner Life Academy is for you.

With limited entry-level job roles, giving yourself the best financial planning career education, will not only kick start your financial planning journey with relevant qualifications and skills, but it’ll also help you achieve success much faster.&nbs

Be sure to follow financial planner life on YouTube for extra content about a career within Financial Planning HIT THAT SUBSCRIBE BUTTON!

If you're looking to start your career in Financial Planning, check out the Financial Planner Life Academy here

Reach out to Sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or career development.

In this episode, Sam Oakes is joined by John O’Driscoll and Wenyu Bai from St. James’s Place to explore how AI and technology are being developed to support the future of financial planning.

Discover how SJP’s 2030 vision is being built around:

• Advice Assistant: An AI-enabled tool already in production that reduces the time to produce advice packs from hours to minutes
• Chat SJP: An internal GPT-style assistant that delivers fast, accurate, compliant answers to technical questions
• Agentic AI: The concept of digital support agents acting as a virtual back office
• The Innovation Sandbox: A safe space for financial planners to test and build new tools
• A strategic focus on simplifying, streamlining and elevating the planner and client experience

This isn’t about replacing financial planners. It’s about giving them better tools, more time, and the freedom to focus on what they do best - building meaningful relationships with clients.

Whether you’re considering your future as a planner, leading a firm, or just want to understand where the profession is headed, this episode is for you.

🎧 Listen now and subscribe for weekly insights from the front lines of financial planning careers.

Begin your financial planning career journey today

Whether you are looking to become a paraplanner, administrator, mortgage and protection adviser or financial planner, the Financial Planner Life Academy is for you.

With limited entry-level job roles, giving yourself the best financial planning career education, will not only kick start your financial planning journey with relevant qualifications and skills, but it’ll also help you achieve success much faster.&nbs

Be sure to follow financial planner life on YouTube for extra content about a career within Financial Planning HIT THAT SUBSCRIBE BUTTON!

If you're looking to start your career in Financial Planning, check out the Financial Planner Life Academy here

Reach out to Sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or career development.

Roger Brosch | 20 Years of Foster Denovo, 47% Growth, and the Launch of Foster Denovo Talks

In this episode of Financial Planner Life, we welcome back Roger Brosch, CEO of Foster Denovo, to reflect on a standout year for the business.

• 47% revenue growth
• 200+ new hires
• 7 acquisitions
• A thriving culture that’s stronger than ever

Roger shares what’s driven Foster Denovo’s success over the last 12 months, who he credits for the results, and why they’ve just launched their own podcast, Foster Denovo Talks, produced by Financial Planner Life Productions.

We dive into:

• The power of culture in driving performance
• The importance of transparency in talent attraction
• Why storytelling is now part of their employer brand
• What Foster Denovo Talks aims to achieve

Whether you're an aspiring financial planner, a firm owner, or simply curious about what people-first leadership looks like at scale - this is an episode worth tuning into.

📢 Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and follow Foster Denovo Talks for more insights from inside one of the fastest-growing firms in the UK.

Begin your financial planning career journey today

Whether you are looking to become a paraplanner, administrator, mortgage and protection adviser or financial planner, the Financial Planner Life Academy is for you.

With limited entry-level job roles, giving yourself the best financial planning career education, will not only kick start your financial planning journey with relevant qualifications and skills, but it’ll also help you achieve success much faster.&nbs

Be sure to follow financial planner life on YouTube for extra content about a career within Financial Planning HIT THAT SUBSCRIBE BUTTON!

If you're looking to start your career in Financial Planning, check out the Financial Planner Life Academy here

Reach out to Sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or career development.

In this episode of the Financial Planner Life podcast, host Sam Oakes sits down with Jay Dhaliwal, Chartered Financial Planner at Chase de Vere, to talk about her inspiring career journey.

Jay shares how facing rejection twice for financial planner roles early in her career didn’t stop her - it fueled her.

Already working as a paraplanner, she used the setbacks as motivation to deepen her technical expertise, achieve Chartered status, and carve out a specialist niche advising NHS medical professionals on their complex pension needs.

Jay’s story is a reminder that rejection isn’t the end - it’s often the beginning of real career growth.

If you're at a crossroads in your financial planning career, or wondering how to turn setbacks into success, this episode is packed with practical insights and inspiration.

Begin your financial planning career journey today

Whether you are looking to become a paraplanner, administrator, mortgage and protection adviser or financial planner, the Financial Planner Life Academy is for you.

With limited entry-level job roles, giving yourself the best financial planning career education, will not only kick start your financial planning journey with relevant qualifications and skills, but it’ll also help you achieve success much faster.&nbs

Be sure to follow financial planner life on YouTube for extra content about a career within Financial Planning HIT THAT SUBSCRIBE BUTTON!

If you're looking to start your career in Financial Planning, check out the Financial Planner Life Academy here

Reach out to Sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or career development.

How a Former Recruiter Built a £266M Financial Planning Business - Vikash’s Journey from BD to Chartered Adviser

In this episode of the Financial Planner Life podcast, Sam Oakes is joined by Chartered Financial Planner Vikash, who shares how he made the bold move from a successful recruitment career into the world of financial advice.

Vikash’s story is one of intentional reinvention. After building a strong career in recruitment and business development, he stepped away from the boardroom and into financial planning - starting from scratch, taking a pay cut, and retraining in his early 30s.

Now, ten years later, he co-leads Chatsworth Wealth Management, a thriving practice with £266 million in Assets Under Management, serving over 1,000 families.

We talk about:

• What made him walk away from recruitment
• Why recruiters are uniquely skilled for financial planning
• How he took over and scaled an existing practice
• Building client trust and social proof through content
• The future of advice, succession planning, and team culture
• The value of understanding client happiness and purpose

If you're in recruitment and wondering what’s next, or you're considering a second career in financial advice, this episode is packed with insight and inspiration.

Begin your financial planning career journey today

Whether you are looking to become a paraplanner, administrator, mortgage and protection adviser or financial planner, the Financial Planner Life Academy is for you.

With limited entry-level job roles, giving yourself the best financial planning career education, will not only kick start your financial planning journey with relevant qualifications and skills, but it’ll also help you achieve success much faster.&nbs

Be sure to follow financial planner life on YouTube for extra content about a career within Financial Planning HIT THAT SUBSCRIBE BUTTON!

If you're looking to start your career in Financial Planning, check out the Financial Planner Life Academy here

Reach out to Sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or career development.