The Value of Work-Life Harmony, Cultivating a Feedback Culture, and Working Toward Holistic Planning

Steven Atkinson
January 10, 2022

Most of Mary’s professional life has revolved around succession. In the midst of taking over her father’s advisory firm, Mary linked up with the successor of her uncle’s firm and merged the two businesses to form Cambium Wealth & Legacy Strategies. Now, although years from her own retirement, Mary has trained a successor ready to take the reins.

Long before she spearheaded the impressive merger and developed the professional philosophies she lives by today, Mary was a biology student looking for a way into the financial space. Rather than a path padded with nepotism, Mary was offered a minimum wage filing position at her father’s firm.

While it wasn’t the pinnacle of glamor, she learned an invaluable lesson that transformed her approach to running a business – there’s often a wall between employees and employers. As an employer, it’s important to break down that wall and create a culture where feedback is both appreciated and expected.

In this episode, Steve and Mary discuss how to successfully merge two firms, Cambium’s evolution from investment-focused to planning-centric, the value of work-life harmony, the secret weapon that guides client conversations, and the invaluable advice passed down to Mary from generations of advisors past.

“We’ve been able to take the focus off the investments – knowing that we’re doing a great job there – and put the focus on what are the problems the client is trying to solve.” ~ Mary Huntley

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Steve Atkinson

Steven Atkinson

Managing Director, Advisor Relations

Managing Director, Advisor Relations with Buckingham Wealth Group. For 25 years Steve has helped advisors get into the RIA space and/or helped them grow by developing and sharing a variety of client experience best practices. Steve was an original architect of Buckingham’s Design Build Protect client experience process along with the Life Discovery and Feedforward programs. Steve is also an author of The Wealth Solution and 27 Principles Every Investor Should Know. Steve is a graduate of the University of Nebraska at Omaha with a Bachelor’s in Finance and Investment Banking. Steve currently splits his time between Omaha, NE and Edwards, CO with his wife and three daughters.