Grow for Impact

Jack Casady
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Investing
  • Biweekly

Grow for Impact is the podcast for modern, values-based financial advisors building firms designed to matter. Presented by Formative, the show explores how forward-thinking advisors are growing their businesses, serving clients more intentionally, embracing new technology, developing stronger teams, and building firms around a clear sense of purpose. Each episode features candid conversations with advisors, founders, industry leaders, and innovators shaping the future of financial advice. We go beyond surface-level growth tactics to examine the decisions, ideas, and operating models behind enduring advisory businesses. From technology and practice management to client experience, investing, leadership, succession, and growth, Grow for Impact is about what it takes to build a better advisory firm and a more meaningful business. If you believe growth and impact should go hand in hand, this show is for you. Thinking about building an independent advisory firm of your own? Formative helps values-driven advisors make the transition and build businesses designed for long-term growth. Learn more at formativefinancial.com. **Grow for Impact is presented by Formative.**

Episodes

  1. Oct 28 ·  Video

    Money Walks Into a Room. What Does It Look Like?

    You're at your favorite café, the sun is out, and money walks in. Gabe Rissman had two very different answers for what it looks like. Episode 3 of Grow for Impact is a crossover with Money Is Weird, Lev Mandel's project on how money feels. Lev sits down with Gabe Rissman, co-founder of YourStake and President of Formative, and asks him the questions money usually makes awkward: his first memory of it, his best and worst decisions with it, and whether he was the rich kid or the poor kid in middle school. WHAT THEY GET INTO · A physics-and-philosophy student's case that we're all fundamentally interconnected · Penny wise, pound foolish: the cheaper gas station that wasn't worth the drive · How Gabe ended up working on values-aligned investing in the first place · The optimist's case for AI, from someone who also sees the other side · A lemonade stand, a younger brother, and a first lesson in pricing · The money-equals-good trap, and what money looks like as a person · Giving money and giving time as the same decision CHAPTERS 00:00 Money Is Weird, with Gabe Rissman 01:10 One truth most people would disagree with 03:05 What does money feel like? 04:35 The best money decision 06:02 Why not just make as much money as possible? 09:47 Community, and why it isn't all or nothing 11:16 The optimist's case for AI 13:29 A first memory of money: the lemonade stand 18:01 The biggest money mistake 18:48 Money as a cartoon, and money as a person 22:45 Peter Singer and the drowning child 25:43 Deciding where to give 28:34 See you in Phoenix JOIN US IN PHOENIX The Growth for Impact Conference is November 8–11, 2026 at the Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass in Phoenix, Arizona — four days with advisors who refuse to choose between their clients' values and their business growth. Register: https://www.growforimpact.com/ Money Is Weird: https://moneyisweird.com/ Learn more about Formative: https://www.formativefinancial.com/ Advisor inquiries: businessdevelopment@formativefinancial.com The opinions and concepts presented are based on data believed to be reliable; however, no assurance can be made as to their accuracy. Mention of a specific company or security is not a recommendation to buy or sell that security. Past performance is never a guarantee of future results. For information regarding the suitability of any investment for your portfolio, please contact your financial advisor. The views expressed in this conversation are those of the individual speakers at the time of recording and are not necessarily those of Formative. Lev Mandel is an investment advisory representative of First Affirmative Financial Network, LLC DBA Formative an independent Registered Investment Advisor (SEC File #801-56587). Lev's guest, Gabe Rissman, is President of Formative and a co-founder of YourStake, the technology platform Formative is built on. The views expressed herein are those of First Affirmative, doing business as Formative, and may not be consistent with the views of individual investment advisors or Broker-Dealers or RIA firms doing business with Formative. Network Advisors may offer securities through various Broker-Dealers and Registered Investment Advisory firms. These affiliations, and all fees charged to clients, are clearly disclosed. Formative's ADV Disclosure Brochure is available any time. Please write or call for a copy or visit formativefinancial.com/about-us. Copyright © 2026. A publication of First Affirmative Financial Network, LLC, doing business as Formative. Registered Investment Advisor (SEC File #801-56587) · 5475 Mark Dabling Boulevard, Suite 320, Colorado Springs, CO 80918 · p: 719-478-7036 · www.formativefinancial.com

  2. Oct 7 ·  Video

    The Numbers Are the Numbers. How Does the Plan Feel?

    Every advisor has had the client who hands over a folder and says "just tell me what to do." The paperwork shows the truth of their financial life. It doesn't show what they believe about it. In Episode 2 of Grow for Impact, co-hosts Dasarte Yarnway and Lev Mandel take on what Dasarte calls off-the-spreadsheet advice: the part of the job no software does for you. They work through three places where the numbers and the client's life stop matching — financial planning, portfolio construction, and the family history that shapes both.   WHAT THEY GET INTO · The prospect who hands over a folder and says "just tell me what to do" · What the statements show, and what they can't: the beliefs, worries and values underneath · Why leading with data is the least human way to open a relationship · Building a values-aligned portfolio without chasing performance, and why there's no perfect one · Money lessons learned before we could choose them, and doing that work with couples · Advisor or counselor: where the job actually lives   CHAPTERS 00:00 Welcome back 00:23 When the better answer isn't the right one 02:56 One: financial planning 04:06 The pension decision, and how the client will feel about it 06:31 The differentiator is how you connect 08:47 Two: portfolio construction 12:53 Hearing what the client hasn't said out loud 16:35 Three: family history, bias, and how money felt growing up 19:06 "You can't make a great plan without the family side" 21:33 "The numbers are the numbers" 22:34 The feel-good moment of the week   JOIN US IN PHOENIX The Growth for Impact Conference is November 8–11, 2026 at the Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass in Phoenix, Arizona — four days with advisors who refuse to choose between their clients' values and their business growth. Register: https://www.growforimpact.com/ Learn more about Formative: https://www.formativefinancial.com/ Advisor inquiries: businessdevelopment@formativefinancial.com The opinions and concepts presented are based on data believed to be reliable; however, no assurance can be made as to their accuracy. Mention of a specific company or security is not a recommendation to buy or sell that security. Past performance is never a guarantee of future results. For information regarding the suitability of any investment for your portfolio, please contact your financial advisor. The views expressed in this conversation are those of the individual speakers at the time of recording and are not necessarily those of Formative. Lev Mandel is an investment advisory representative of First Affirmative Financial Network, LLC DBA Formative an independent Registered Investment Advisor (SEC File #801-56587). The views expressed herein are those of First Affirmative, doing business as Formative, and may not be consistent with the views of individual investment advisors or Broker-Dealers or RIA firms doing business with Formative. Network Advisors may offer securities through various Broker-Dealers and Registered Investment Advisory firms. These affiliations, and all fees charged to clients, are clearly disclosed. Formative's ADV Disclosure Brochure is available any time. Please write or call for a copy or visit formativefinancial.com/about-us. Copyright © 2026. A publication of First Affirmative Financial Network, LLC, doing business as Formative. Registered Investment Advisor (SEC File #801-56587) · 5475 Mark Dabling Boulevard, Suite 320, Colorado Springs, CO 80918 · p: 719-478-7036 · www.formativefinancial.com

    The Numbers Are the Numbers. How Does the Plan Feel?

  3. Sep 23 ·  Video

    Think Forward: Worldview, tools, and tribe — and why wealth management is really a hospitality business.

    There is no shortage of financial industry podcasts. There is a shortage of them made from the point of view of the modern, values-based advisor. This is that show.    In the first episode of Grow for Impact, host Dasarte Yarnway sits down with advisor Lev Mandel to open the Think Forward campaign: what it actually means for an advisor to think forward, what the last decade of this business is worth preserving, and what needs to change.    Lev spent ten years as an advisor, and before that worked in tech and taught high school math. Dasarte started, scaled and sold his own firm. Between them they make the case for three things: a complete worldview, the right tools, and a tribe of people thinking the same way.    WHAT THEY GET INTO  · Why forward-thinking always sounds a little crazy to people used to the status quo  · The client as the hero of the story, and the advisor as the passenger in the car  · Wealth management as a hospitality business — and why service becomes the differentiator as technology commoditizes everything else  · The behavior work almost nobody is paid to do well, and why advisors skip it  · Putting your money where your mouth is, in an era when you can bet on a football game from the same app you buy an ETF in    CHAPTERS  00:00 Welcome to Grow for Impact  02:35 What "thinking forward" actually means  04:50 Worldview, tools, tribe  07:20 The client is the hero. You're the guide.  12:15 Worth preserving: the whole financial picture  14:40 Wealth management is a hospitality business  19:25 Worth changing: getting honest about how money feels  23:20 Putting your money where your mouth is  25:45 The most human moment of the week    JOIN US IN PHOENIX  The Growth for Impact Conference is November 8–11, 2026 at the Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass in Phoenix, Arizona — four days with advisors who refuse to choose between their clients' values and their business growth.  Register: https://www.growforimpact.com/    Learn more about Formative: https://www.formativefinancial.com/  Advisor inquiries: businessdevelopment@formativefinancial.com    The opinions and concepts presented are based on data believed to be reliable; however, no assurance can be made as to their accuracy. Mention of a specific company or security is not a recommendation to buy or sell that security. Past performance is never a guarantee of future results. For information regarding the suitability of any investment for your portfolio, please contact your financial advisor.    The views expressed in this conversation are those of the individual speakers at the time of recording and are not necessarily those of Formative.  Lev Mandel is an investment advisory representative of First Affirmative Financial Network, LLC DBA Formative an independent Registered Investment Advisor (SEC File #801-56587).    The views expressed herein are those of First Affirmative, doing business as Formative, and may not be consistent with the views of individual investment advisors or Broker-Dealers or RIA firms doing business with Formative. Network Advisors may offer securities through various Broker-Dealers and Registered Investment Advisory firms. These affiliations, and all fees charged to clients, are clearly disclosed. Formative's ADV Disclosure Brochure is available any time. Please write or call for a copy or visit formativefinancial.com/about-us.    Copyright © 2026. A publication of First Affirmative Financial Network, LLC, doing business as Formative. Registered Investment Advisor (SEC File #801-56587) · 5475 Mark Dabling Boulevard, Suite 320, Colorado Springs, CO 80918 · p: 719-478-7036 · www.formativefinancial.com

    Think Forward: Worldview, tools, and tribe — and why wealth management is really a hospitality business.
  • 3 Episodes

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Grow for Impact is the podcast for modern, values-based financial advisors building firms designed to matter. Presented by Formative, the show explores how forward-thinking advisors are growing their businesses, serving clients more intentionally, embracing new technology, developing stronger teams, and building firms around a clear sense of purpose. Each episode features candid conversations with advisors, founders, industry leaders, and innovators shaping the future of financial advice. We go beyond surface-level growth tactics to examine the decisions, ideas, and operating models behind enduring advisory businesses. From technology and practice management to client experience, investing, leadership, succession, and growth, Grow for Impact is about what it takes to build a better advisory firm and a more meaningful business. If you believe growth and impact should go hand in hand, this show is for you. Thinking about building an independent advisory firm of your own? Formative helps values-driven advisors make the transition and build businesses designed for long-term growth. Learn more at formativefinancial.com. **Grow for Impact is presented by Formative.**

Information

  • Creator
    Jack Casady
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    3
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026
  • Show Website
    Grow for Impact