Financial services may be a transactional business by nature, but it's the personal connections we forge with our clients that truly brings our work to life. Lacy Garcia, founder and CEO of Willow, returns to the podcast to discuss how to grow your business, the right way.

Today we’re joined by Lacey Garcia, founder of Willow, to talk about how to get matched with women and underrepresented investors. Lacey Garcia is the founder and CEO of Willow Willow as an award winning wealth tech platform powering advisors acquisition, growth and retention of tomorrow’s investors, women, next gen and underrepresented groups through Willow certification programs and client acquisition platform, advisors gain knowledge, credentials and exclusive one to 1 to 1 matches to prospective clients. Lacey and Willow are frequently featured in the media, including the Today Show, Think Advisor, Financial Planning, Business Insider, Wealth Management, Dot com, Yahoo Finance, and Gobankingrates. John wasn’t able to join for this discussion today, but we’re so excited to learn more from Lacey.

Hi, I’m John.

And I’m.

Julie.

We’re the hosts of the Hartford Funds Human Centric Investing podcast.

Every other week, we’re talking with inspiring thought leaders to hear their best ideas for how you can transform your relationships with your clients.

Let’s go.

Lacey, thank you so much for joining us on the Human Centric Investing podcast today.

Julie, thank you so much for having me. Delighted to be here with you today.

Well, I am so excited to talk to you about how women and the next generation of investors are seeking information and finding financial advisors. I know this is a passion project of yours, and something that you’ve spent many years pouring your heart and soul and and dipping really into your personal experiences. So maybe you could tell us a little bit about how Willow, your company came about, and then we can talk a little bit about how you’re connecting clients and advisors, because I think it’s just such a fascinating process that you’ve put together.

Julie. Thank you. I so first of all, Willow, really what we’re trying to create is a win win win situation. We partner with advisors to help them to acquire and to grow trusted relationships with women and with the next generation of investors. And this is a deeply personal experience for me, or a passion for me, because I am a former financial advisor. I am also a woman client who who went through multiple kind of difficult, challenging and sort of traumatic experiences in my life that had massive financial implications. And, and I when I started my adult life, I was I had never expected to be the financial spouse or to be, a single mother who was our entrepreneur, who was running a financial technology company that was right on the cards. Right. So there were many lessons that were learned along the way. So my heart with with starting Willow was a to represent first that there shouldn’t be that, you know, I was pulled in to be an advisor because I was able to connect with the women with the next generation in a way, as I was the chief marketing officer. Right. And I was pulled in, you know, to be in the ultra high net worth. I was a private banker to, to to play that role because the other advisors weren’t able to connect with them. And I was like, there’s got to be something wrong with this, you know? I mean, I might have my MBA and like, yes, but I but I was an educator and a coach, so it’s like I’m an educator and a coach, not a marketing person. Like, you know, they’re they’ve all been trained to be the actual, you know, real kind of financial advisor. So so there was a learning in that, right? Like, wait a second, what is it that they’re missing that we can help them because they already have all the hard stuff down, like, how do we give them the soft stuff that, you know, it’s going to help them to better connect. And then similarly, you know, there are so many. It’s not just women. It’s it’s it’s people of all genders, certainly younger investors, you know, who are looking for, you know, who haven’t felt that they’ve been able to find the right advisors that they could really trust. You know, they don’t have felt like but, you know, financial services was built for them. And, and they’re looking for that trusted relationship, that personal connection. And we want to help them define that. And like, really we want to help create this win win win where the, you know, the investors, the consumers, the investors are getting, you know, finding the advisor, getting the advice that they need to be able to grow, protect their wealth. The advisors who are passionate about serving them are able to grow their business and and work with the clients that they really want to work with. And, and, you know, and that everybody’s sort of benefiting, right, that this is the that is creating this win, win win, you know, for not only for everybody’s, you know, for everybody’s personal wealth and their business, but also, you know, we know that as we get more hands in the we’re more money in the hands of more women. Like really in many ways society also benefits and they are controlling more and more wealth. As we talk about Women’s History Month and more than ever, you know, they will be the greatest recipients of this great wealth transfer most immediately and through the next generation. Not just the women, the wives, sort of the widows, or divorcees and single women who are kind of inheriting right now. But also that next, not next gen too. So so we want to make sure that they are able to, to grow, you know, their wealth and that we all benefit as a result of it.

That’s so great. And it’s interesting. I went to your website before our conversation, which is Trust Willow. Com and it really felt and looked very different than other financial services websites out there. And what really struck me was how personal it felt. You know, I saw things like, I like dogs, I like to travel, I live in this city, I like gardening. And all of a sudden I thought, if I were to have put these preferences in there about what I like, and maybe a financial professional was being matched with me, they would know a lot about me and my likes and dislikes. So will you share with our listeners sort of how you’re using technology to help create this win, win win that you’re talking about? Because I just think it’s really interesting how you’re sort of taking this down to a really personalized level in a way that I think is very unique in financial services.

Yes. And, you know, historically, there was this personal relationship between an advisor and its clients that was was meeting in person. Right. And, and, and very, you know, and that was how you were able to deliver. I didn’t get to know your clients. You lived in the same community. You understood their family and their needs. Now we live in this digital society. Right. And where where it’s everything, most everything. Most that your first prospects, your introductions, with the exception of some referrals, referrals of word of mouth, they’re still coming. The first place they’re meeting you is online. They are meeting you through your website, through your social media presence, through what others are saying about you, what you’re saying about yourself. And but they’re there through the pictures that you’re using. They’re meeting you online. Right. So so we are here to help advisors to be able to be their authentic selves online because it’s so for some it’s easy. Right. And then really embracing this digital kind of age and all the modern technology for others, it’s really it’s challenging and it’s kind of seems overwhelming right now. There’s all this pressure to market before we were even allowed to market. Now wait a second. We have to market, you know. And so so how do we we were helping advisors to be able to do that. But to your point, like our website is, first of all, it looks much more like the Bumble for financial services. Right. Like the we we help, you know, we are matching consumers investors with advisors based not just on. Yes. Here’s the financial advice I need. Here’s my net worth, here’s where I live. Or I’m willing to meet virtually all those which are critical, right? But then it’s what you know, who am I as a person? Who are you as a person like, you know, what’s your personality type? What’s your Myers-Briggs personality type? What’s your favorite animal? What’s your favorite hobby like? How are we going to personally connect? Right. And you know, this was after the we what we know works from like an online dating perspective is like we’re really looking to make that personal connection. We know that what has been lacking, what has been missing, missing, which is for for so many women and for younger advisors who are not or, you know, who are leaving their advisor or who can’t find an advisor that they connect with is that they they don’t they don’t have that trust. Like, how do you get the trust like without, you know, we’re vetting, we’re certifying. We’re saying that these advisors are trusted, but then also we’re helping them. The second thing is that personal connection. We’re helping you to show who you are, what your why is in this authentic way online, and then to connect you with investors who will be able to connect with you on a personal level. If they feel like you can, you can really get me. You can understand me. We can, we can, you know, we could really work together. And I feel like I trust that you could actually understand me and support my needs.

We think about the great wealth transfer and yeah, again, you know, we’ve got lots of statistics and headlines. And as we think about that coming up and the continuation of that as advisors, you know, plan for the next generation and the longevity of their practices. Yeah. How do you think technology and especially Willow plays a part in that. And and I guess more specifically, how could financial professionals become part of the Willow process if they’re interested in using technology to, you know, create that presence online to be able to attract the next generation of, of clients that are inheriting the wealth but wanting that more modern relationship.

Yeah. So technology is going to play a critical role as it already does because similar like we all expect right. We have this at our fingertips. Right. And and and we we we expect seamless communications. We get frustrated for some reason a website’s not work. That’s exactly. Devastating, right.

Unacceptable in some in some cases. Right.

Yeah. So these clients no longer want to. I mean, I think most advisors have moved away from this, but they don’t want to print out, you know, like, they they don’t they. You better have DocuSign. You better like they no longer want long printed statements unless they have specifically requested that. Right? They want things. They want community. They want more touch points that are that are more personal. Right. And and they want, you know, so they and they expect that you, you’ve integrated technology through your, in your client service, in your onboarding, in your accounting in a way that that makes it easy for them. Right? So they expect that. But then how do you connect with them on this deeper kind of personal level, like with existing clients and the content you have content that is like engaging them. That’s interesting to them, that’s educating them because we know that we call it the three E’s at Willow. Willow, we know that you need to be able to engage them, to empathize with them. And education is this critical way to be able to connect with them. So are you does your content do that? Right. And then for, for, for, you know, as advisors who are looking to grow their business, it’s it’s happening online, right? It’s happening online. And how advisors work can work with us as Willow offers a new type of lead generation service. You know, our I we’re moving we want to move away from this volume game of getting. 10 to 50 leads a month that we know that advisors chase down. And then they, over the course of a couple months, those 100 leads maybe barely wield one client, right? But they took up a lot of time. Like, we know your time is precious, right? Where our focus is on is on actually helping you to have the skills, have the knowledge, have the talk, track about everything you need that we are then only going to bring you one exclusive match where we we want. Once a client decides that we we’ve matched you to make sure that they fit your criteria, you fit who they want to work with once they select you. We’re not providing that lead to any other advisor. You know, we want you to get on that call and to be able to build a connection and begin a trusted relationship. The focus is not on leads. It’s on. It’s on matches. It’s on building the foundation for a quality relationship. Right. So that’s what our focus is. So, so for advisors who are who perhaps have tried other lead generation services and are like this takes so much time, it’s so expensive. And it isn’t necessarily bringing me the clients that I want or it’s not the best use of my time, or for a lot of advisors who don’t have never wanted to or needed to do that, but they maybe just want to take on a few more, like ideal clients. Right? You know, this is where where please come work with us. You know, come to trust, welcome. You know, come we can, you know, kind of give you demo, sign you up. But we’re here to help you to grow the business that you want to, the way that you want to do it. And. Yes. And what and how do you do that? Online updating and kind of rewriting your bio and your marketing outreach and then helping you to then be able to, you know, grow your business the way you want to grow your business in a way that is respectful of how precious your time is. And and quite frankly, that is going to be, you know, not not a huge investment of of money or time in a way that you won’t see the benefits of it, you know, and because that is we know that that’s a real a lot of frustration kind of pain point for, for advisors where it feels sort of predatory and, and not like a great use of time or resources. So we, we’re trying to help to solve for that. For financial advisors.

That makes so much sense. Has the feedback from advisors who have used your lead generation services. And as you’ve delivered these very, you know, hand curated leads to them, has the feedback been extremely positive in terms of the match with the prospective clients and their ability to connect with them because of similar demographics and likes and dislikes, etc.?

Yeah. So we actually just got this amazing quote that I don’t have memorized, but I’m going to try to paraphrase it from an advisor last week who said, it’s like Willow went into my brain and created a platform exactly the way that I wanted it to, and then has delivered exactly the clients that I’m looking for and like, so. So the answer is.

I.

Was a really library all together, like totally memorized. But but we were like, wow, that’s that was awesome. That felt good. That felt good. But you know, the the the feedback has been has been really, positive. For the advisors that we are working with, and we have, you know, we have a 90 Net Promoter score with advisors, who have been who, you know, who who’ve been working with Willow. And they are, you know, like we are making quality matches. That’s what our focus is on, is helping you to actually be able to grow your business across the board, not just through, like these leads that are sent to you that you have to chase down, but that we you are equipped, you have that. You’re first of all getting certified, that you are, that you are trusted, that you are vetted, that, that, that, that this you know, that that other women or other next gen clients can be like, okay, you know, we can I could trust you, right? I could trust you because sometimes, you know, online, it’s like, how do you figure that out? Right. And then secondly, that that you’re able to, you know, that you’re able to kind of get matched with these the right, the right clients, right, the get, get, get and have the ability to convert them on a call. Right? Say so that, you know, be able to ask the questions and listen the way that you need to to be able to show them that, that you’re going to be able to help them, that you’re going to be able to understand them, you get them, and that you’ll be able to serve their best interests and help them with the right financial planning and the right investment strategy to accomplish their financial and their life goals.

Do you have a certain number of advisors that can be part of the Willow network?

We are. We are growing. I mean, I would say that it’s that there’s a standard, you know, there is there’s criteria for for, you know, being in good standing, having, you know, a peer who can, who can speak to your reputation in the industry, a client who can, who can, you know, speak just sort of quietly attest that you are, that you are, you know, qualified and trusted. So it certainly is, is we are trying to help advisors get to those who are at a higher bar and get to a higher bar through the process. But we are, you know, we are really we are we are we are open here and here to help. And really any advisor who wants to get better, right, who either is is ready today, you know, or her has this this awareness and this desire. Right. We want to help them because so many advisors want to do a better job at serving women or serving younger investors, but they simply don’t know how. You know, it doesn’t mean that they’re not great financial advisors or, you know, investment managers. But like, okay, now I have to do and I have to integrate all this holistic planning, and now I have to I don’t have to wait. Now I have to be a life coach at the same time that I’m being financialized like all these things that they’re being told.

In so many hours in the day.

There’s so many hours in the day. It’s like, how do you do it? Right? And so that’s what we’re here to help you to make it, to make it more bite size and really tactical and then give you, you know, help you kind of tactically, you know, not just say, hey, you gotta do x, y, z and like good luck. But it’s like, here you go. We’re going to help you through our training, through the coaching, through the resources and content. We’re going to we’re going to help you to get there.

That makes so much sense for those listening today that are sitting there, you know, assessing their own situation and thinking, you know, I, I think I’m doing a decent job. I there’s more that I could be doing. I’m not sure I’m ready to take the next step to engage Willow, but I want to, you know, ask myself a few honest, reflective questions. What would be the first step or two that you would suggest? Just at a 30,000 foot level. But maybe a financial, professional or team should be asking themselves as it pertains to, you know, how are they fully using technology or thinking about for the future of their practice as it pertains to attracting, you know, female or the next generation of, of investor or client?

Yeah I would say on the on the communications is so critical. So I’m going to focus on how technology enables communications with my responses. And I first is, are you creating a two way conversation online? First of all, does your website for the clients that you want to engage? Can they see themselves in your website? Can they they they they they read your why and feel like they can connect with you? If you don’t have a social media strategy or presence and maybe, perhaps your compliance department isn’t allowing it, though. We’re seeing this changing right rapidly. Really, you should have one and you should be you should be mindful and aware that the the goal of that to engage is to create a conversation. Right? It’s not just a push out and tell, but to actually bring in and engage. So are you are you doing that with with your website, with your LinkedIn profile, with, you know, whatever other communications that you’re putting out there are they are they just telling or are they listening to, are they pulling in the investors or the prospects to want to engage and to take action with you? Because because those are that that is what you need to do in this day and age to be able to kind of meet your clients technological communication needs. Right. And we know that that is so critical to engaging and to and to growing relationships and to retaining clients is that you’re able to do that.

Those are great ideas and I think excellent assessment points for any financial, professional or team as they think about the next step. So thank you for sharing that. And before we wrap up today, because it is the Human Centric Investing podcast, we’d love to get to know a little bit more about you, Lacey as the human. So if you’re willing, I’d love to dive into our lightning round of questions.

So go for it.

Let’s glide on into that. I hope this. Are you a morning person or a night owl?

Oh, I am a morning person. I’m like a 5 a.m.. Wake up.

I’m right there with you. Those are the best hours of the day. Yeah. If you want me to say anything worthwhile at 5 p.m.. Nope. I’m dressed. Exactly.

Exactly. Yep. I’m with you. I’m with you. I, like, definitely pass out, like, five like that. That’s an excuse. And I’m like. I’m so sorry. I fell asleep with them.

I’m not building no power point at 5 p.m., I can tell you that.

Oh, I’m definitely not either. Definitely not. My goodness. But like I.

Am. Oh, it’s going to be sharp as can be.

I think it’s like 5 a.m. to 630 is the best. That’s where my brain is actually fully working at.

It’s right there with you, cup of coffee in hand. I mean, you’re in the zone.

And if I could squeeze in a workout, like a quick workout, like, right before that, I’m like, really? It’s like it’s max productivity.

That’s like a dream day. Yeah, exactly.

So sometimes that means getting up at 430.

That is true. Yes. Are you a dark chocolate girl or a milk chocolate girl?

You know, I’m just like chocolate girl. So I think that I used to be a milk chocolate girl. And then I got, you know, then the health benefits of dark chocolate with a little sprinkling, by the way, like the sea salt, dark chocolate, you know, which.

Was just the game changer. I know, and I’m not.

Sure about health, about health benefits, but it’s all about the dark chocolate is really about.

All the goodness of the chocolate, but it makes it so tasty. Totally.

So like so I think I think I could convince to be either way, just depending upon the mood or the are the yeah.

Are you messy or neat?

I am, I’m pretty neat, but I have like you know what? I’ve actually and I remember the quote I that some of the I basically I’m neat everywhere except my desk is always a mess. And there was something that I that I remember growing up, somebody telling me something around the lines of like, if you’re creative, like you can have everything’s organized, but there’s has to be something chaotic about your workspace. So it’s this funny thing where, like, I’m pretty neat, like, and then I’m constantly cleaning up my desk, but it’s like every day at the end of the day, I’m like, what’s a hot mess? You’re. Supposed to be doing? All the creative juices were flowing. You know.

What was your favorite board game as a kid?

Oh, that’s such a good one. You know, I still like I still love. I think Trivial Pursuit was so fun. Monopoly, of course. But, like, probably probably Trivial Pursuit.

That was a good one. And then finally, what was the first concert you went to?

You know, it was actually it was James Taylor. It was with one of my best friend, best friends to this day. We were we were returning. It was her 11th birthday, and it was the Wang Center in Boston. And it was a very, you know, so serene concert. But. So I get to play a little less there’s spicier stories, but this was the more kind of serene. But it was really sweet. I mean, obviously James Taylor and like, you’ve got a friend and I will say to this day, my friend Macy was still one of my best friends decades, decades later. But that was my that was my first concert.

Actually. Mine was Tiffany and I was eight years old. I remember it, so, you know, that’s a blast from the past.

So yeah. That’s wonderful.

Well, Lacey, I can’t thank you enough for being here with us on the Human Centric Investing podcast today. And for our listeners, if you’re interested in learning more about Lacey and Willow and her mission to help advisors better serve women and the next generation of investors, please visit Trust Willow. Com. Thank you again for all of the work that you’re doing for financial professionals and clients. Lacey. We really appreciate it.

Julie, thank you so much to you and to Hartford Funds. And I’m just been really so grateful to be on today. And, it was a pleasure. Thank you.

Thanks for listening to the Hartford Funds Human Centric Investing podcast. If you’d like to tune in for more episodes, don’t forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, or YouTube.

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The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the guest who is not affiliated with Hartford Funds.