Original 40 Under 40 winners shift lanes but stay the course

A little older, and a lot wiser. Alumni from the first two InvestmentNews classes of 40 Under 40 have made a few course corrections, translated entrepreneurial ambitions to reality, and now are shifting into midlife with a renewed sense of purpose.

Following a well-established path, many have launched their own firms or nonprofits. In that, they are in the mainstream: Midlife is the preferred age for applying career experience to entrepreneurship, according to the Kauffman Foundation, with 26.7% of ventures launched by those ages 45 to 54, and 23% by those ages 35 to 44. For financial advisers, the most difficult part of the transition is shifting from the role of individual practitioner — personally working with clients — to business owner — running an operation — said financial advisory business development coach Erin Botsford.

Achieving early career milestones often triggers a phase of reflection and re-centering, said Suzanne Norman, an executive coach who works primarily with financial professionals. Once people make a lap around the fast track, they start to consider the meaning of the race.

“People think: ‘Am I really happy? Am I doing what I want to do?’” she said.

The key to moving into midlife with confidence is the ability to trust your own responses to the daily unforeseen while also knowing how to stay true to your core mission. “It’s a real connection to your own values and to your purpose,” Norman said.

Here’s a representative sample of what the classes of 2014 and 2015 have done since being recognized as some of their generation’s brightest stars.

Erik Milam

Partner, TrustCore
40U40 Class of 2014 
Age: 42
Personal investment: The Stuttering Foundation
Major milestone: Becoming an equity partner in 2018

A client confessed to Erik Milam that she wasn’t as happy as she thought she would be, having achieved her ambitions of a high-paying, demanding career and creating a loving family. His financial analysis revealed that she’d overshot her goals to the degree that she could downshift her career in midlife. A few weeks later, he caught sight of her at a local store, shopping with the teen daughters she yearned to spend more time with.

“I help people live their best life through the prism of their money.”

“I was witnessing a moment that wouldn’t have happened if that plan had not helped her realign her daily life with her core priorities,” he said. Milam knows a little bit about overcoming difficulties, as he has been dealing lifelong with the implications of cerebral palsy and stuttering. At TrustCore, he is now a senior leader, and he continues to build an advocacy platform for people with stuttering, especially. “I never thought I’d be a public speaker,” he said. “But I’ve realized that most people want you to do well, and that’s one thing that gives me confidence to encourage others to find their voices.”

Rianka Dorsainvil

Co-founder, Co-CEO, 2050 Wealth Partners
40U40 Class of 2015
Age: 35 
Personal investment: Raising her 2-year-old son
Major milestone: Merging her individual practice to form 2050 Wealth Partners

RIANKA Dorsainvil got off to a fast start, holding national leadership positions and landing on the InvestmentNews 2015 40 Under 40 list when she was only 28. By the time she was 30, she realized that the traditional thresholds for accepting clients were incompatible with her life experience and the way she wanted to build her practice.

“I’m a first-generation wealth builder. I’m a first-generation college graduate, too. There should be more access to the knowledge that I have, and it shouldn’t just be for people with a million dollars or more,” Dorsainvil said.

“We’re helping new money become old money.”

She envisioned a firm where professionals truly can bring their “full selves” to understand the deeper drivers of clients’ money stories and aspirations. And her firm’s virtual structure anticipated the now-ubiquitous issue facing all industries: How to invest in staff who are also investing in their families.

Sameer Somal

Co-founder, Blue Ocean Global Technology
40U40 Class of 2014
Age: 39
Personal investment: Co-founder, Girl Power Talk
Major milestone: Transitioning from creating a wealth management firm to creating a company focused on providing opportunities to the next generation of female leaders in finance. 

Why shouldn’t a young woman in Zimbabwe gain entrée to a New York-based career in financial services? Sameer Somal sees no reason.

In the process of building a financial services technology firm, he was struck by the volume of smart, motivated young women he met in India and in African nations. The only barrier between them and the Western countries that need their capabilities is logistics. Talent is everywhere, but meaningful employment is not — and that’s a problem Somal believes he can solve. He co-founded Girl Power Talk (India) and the corresponding American nonprofit, Girl Power USA, to provide experiential learning across departments, including financial services careers, to develop young women by providing experiential learning.

“I saw the opportunity to build an organization that stays true to gender lens investing and that shows how women earn opportunities on merit.”

The twin organizations offer full-time work to young women in 18 countries, he said, with employers that want to tap global talent. In turn, the young women “find their purpose professionally while doing good in their communities.” Social impact and an ambitious professional path don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

Robert Russo

Founder, Independent Advisor Alliance
40U40 Class of 2015 
Age: 45
Personal investment: Equipping homeless children for educational success

Only someone who has been an RIA understands the complexity of daily operations. That was the insight that has kept Robert Russo evolving his business goals and growth.

When he, as a wealth manager, realized both the critical importance and the demands of back-office operations, he redirected his ambitions from becoming an expert in 401(k) plans to building the machinery that now supports over 250 practices. “I saw a gap in the industry and now, in 2022, I’m glad I took the risk,” he said. “It’s an old idea but I refreshed it with new tools.”

“If you’re unwilling to take the risk, you might not have the mindset to be a business owner.”

With the company at cruising altitude, he has the time, money and energy to invest in another tech platform for advisers and in his adopted hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina, especially in efforts that help homeless children continue with their educations despite daunting daily circumstances. Oh, and opening a Philly cheesesteak restaurant as a nexus for his own neighborhood.

Luke Dean

Associate professor, Utah Valley University
40U40 class of 2014
Age: 43
Major milestone: Boosting UVU’s personal financial planning program to No. 3 nationally
Personal investment: BELIEVE International, which helps students in the Philippines gain leadership skills and experience

“I’m on the front lines with the next gen and I’m so excited to help first-gen and diverse students to get into this white-collar profession. I get a perverse joy out of helping a blue-collar kid with amazing work ethic get into this white-collar profession so they can help families in their communities decide what to do with their money,”  Luke Dean said. He leads student participation in national personal finance competitions and also was the primary author of the CFP Board’s Career Path Guide. State schools are an overlooked source of fresh talent for the advisory and investment profession, in his opinion, and embody characteristics for sustained success.

“I have a magnifier effect on the world. As I help students, they pay it forward by helping thousands of clients.” 

“Our students have grit, humility and a lack of entitlement. If you could start to build the world’s most perfect job from scratch, what would you want? Almost all people have the same answers. They want something that’s meaningful, they want flexibility, they want to be compensated well and most want to be mentally stimulated. Financial planning checks every one of those boxes. In a world in which most people hate their jobs, we’re sitting on a gold mine of a profession.”

Jennifer Kenning

CEO, Co-founder, Align
40U40 Class of 2014 
Age: 43
Major milestone: Launching Align in the forefront of the impact investing trend
Personal investment: Economic development by providing people opportunities for upward mobility

When Jennifer Kenning opened her firm in late 2014, ESG investing was still a niche. “I had to get creative about how to launch and fund it appropriately,” she said. Her strategy worked. The firm now advises on more than $2 billion and has 23 employees.

Not that success was a straight line: In 2017, Kenning made a major course correction, remixing leadership and winning a large infusion of capital.

“I want the talent at my firm to be on the next 40 Under 40.”

Now, with ESG becoming mainstream, she is concentrating on propelling growth through wide-open competition. In that, her diverse team will, she believes, deliver the winning edge. 

Bill Winterberg

Vice president, financial planning growth, AdvicePay
40U40 Class of 2014
Age: 44
Major milestone: Transitioning from business ownership to an executive position
Personal investment: Equipping children’s hospitals with pinball machines  

Fee-for-service financial planning is the wave of the future, Bill Winterberg thinks, and he has his surfboard at the ready. Shifting from being an “inside scoop” industry blogger to a corporate executive translates his trend-spotting to corporate strategy for subscription-based planning tools. In his off time, it’s back to the future.

“It’s about transparency: You should always have visibility into exactly what, as an adviser, You are paying for.”

As a national advocate for Project Pinball, he helps find, refurbish and install vintage pinball machines at children’s hospitals to be integrated into patients’ therapies. Playing pinball builds hand-eye coordination and balance and, of course, it’s fun.

David Blanchett

Managing director, head of retirement research, QMA/PGIM 2
40U40 Class of 2014
Age: 40
Major milestone: New role developing investment solutions and strategies for Prudential and PGIM
Personal investment: Four children

David Blanchett has scaled up at home — he now has four children ages 3 to 9 — and professionally, with a major position with a division of Prudential Financial. But personally, he has dialed it back a bit. “I had more of a plan 10 years ago and now I’m trying to enjoy what I have,” he said.

His newfound Zen stems in no small part from realizing that his parents, both teachers, imparted a sense of mission to his quant-driven talents.

“You can change how people approach their financial goals when people feel good about those strategies.”

“You can help a lot of people as a planner, but one at a time,” he said. “Now, I’m creating solutions that help thousands of people. It’s a chance to influence things at a higher level.”  

Chiara Sockel Renninger

Wealth advisor, Buckingham Strategic Wealth 
40U40 Class of 2014
Age: 47
Major milestone: Stepping into senior leadership in her community
Personal investment: Power of the Purse giving circle

Pooled resources add up fast. Chiara Sockel Renninger wasn’t sure how to address some of the pressing social issues she saw in her hometown of Reading, Pennsylvania, but she knew she couldn’t do it alone.

The solution: a giving circle comprised of women who each commit $500 to $1,000 annually (depending on their age) and decide together how to direct their pooled fund to help women rebuilding their lives.

“Make sure your philanthropy is something you really believe in.”

The model echoes her own career path, moving from a small firm to a large firm and discovering opportunities she didn’t even realize existed.

Jason Van Duyn

President, AQuest Wealth Strategies
40U40 Class of 2014 
Age: 44
Major milestone: Closing six acquisitions in the past five years
Personal investment: Preserving the rainforest in Costa Rica

With the arrival of twins (now 8 years old), ecological stability felt much more urgent to Jason Van Duyn. Having enough money to launch a significant philanthropic effort merged with his already ambitious growth goals.

“My goals aren’t about me anymore.”

The result: 500% growth in the past six years, fueled by both acquisitions and intense marketing. Now, he’s in a position to move the big pieces into place for a conservation effort to deconvert Costa Rican farmland into rain forest — and maybe even live there for hands-on expansion.

Christy Raines

Financial planner, Azimuth Wealth Management
40U40 Class of 2015
Age: 39
Major milestone: Enabling her husband to retire from the military and start his second career
Personal investment: Pro bono financial planning for military widows

Pacing her firm’s growth with her family growth has been no small engineering feat. As a military wife with three — soon to be four — children, Christy Raines contains her workweek to her children’s school schedule and still grew the business to $90 million from $20 million, currently serving 60 families. “I always say the first $20 million is the hardest if you are building from $0 on your own — and it sure was,”’ she said.

“There is no better job for a mom.”

Raines tightly focuses her practice on families and relies almost exclusively on word-of-mouth marketing. Now that the Raines clan is settled for good in Colorado, she expects to deepen her firm’s offerings to current clients and selectively add staff and clients for sustainable growth.

Julia Carlson

Founder, CEO, Financial Freedom Wealth Management Group
40U40 Class of 2014
Age: 45
Major milestone: Shifting to a business owner mindset
Personal investment: Pacific Communities Health District Foundation

No bachelor’s degree? No problem. At 19, Julia Carlson got to know a local financial planner while working at a bank. She thought it sounded like a sustainably flexible career, so she zipped through her qualifying tests and opened her own practice at 23.

Now, each year she and her husband quietly sponsor career exploration experiences for a few high school seniors who are not headed for college. “There’s plenty of money for kids going to college. The kids who are overlooked are those who aren’t sure what they’ll do, or who want to start a business,” she said.

“This industry needs more ‘why not?’”

Building a practice and a family at the same time invoked some of the classic work-life conflicts, so Carlson has created a mastermind group for others to “structure their firms to ensure their personal life isn’t sacrificed as a result of a successful business,” she said.

“Part of that journey is letting go,” she said. “That’s hard when these are beloved clients that you’ve worked with since day one. But the clients are okay with it because they’re rooting for me. They’re glad we’ve grown.”

Related Topics: 40 Under 40