Advisors Off Script
by Shelby Nicholl
Advisor Communication Skills: Connection Before Content | John…
About this podcast
Advisors Off Script is the podcast where financial advisors step away from the polished talking points and get real about what it takes to build, break away, and boldly grow. These are stories from the independent front lines. Every advisor has a choice: follow the script laid out by the industry—or write your own.
Formerly known as Kick It Open, the show is hosted by Shelby Nicholl, founder of Muriel Consulting and known as the “RIA Whisperer.” She brings candid conversations, insider insights, and practical strategies that help advisors move from uncertainty to clarity and from frustration to freedom. Because this isn’t just a podcast—it’s your playbook for building boldly and living off script.
Get ready for amazing guests, including advisors who have tread the journey before, leaders from the firms serving independent advisors and partners who help advisors create thriving practices.
Here at Muriel Consulting, we're helping advisors kick the door open on their personal success by living a life off script.
About the Host
Shelby Nicholl is the founder and lead consultant at Muriel Consulting, where she helps financial advisors break free from limits, align their businesses with their ambitions, and build thriving practices. With 25 years in leadership roles at firms like LPL Financial and Edward Jones, she combines deep industry experience with her passion for empowering advisors to take bold steps toward independence and success.
She is also the founder of Muriel Network, a digital community for women in wealth management seeking connection, inspiration, and growth.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 51 episodes
- Advisor Communication Skills: Connection Before Content | John Gatewood · 47 min · Season 3 Episode 20Most advisor training teaches knowledge. Very little teaches the skill that keeps clients: communication. Shelby Nicholl talks with John Gatewood, founder of Gatewood Financial…
- Living in the "And": Running a Growing RIA Consulting Firm Through a Family Health Crisis | Shelby Nicholl's 50th Episode · 50 min · Episode 19Fifty episodes in, Shelby Nicholl finally takes a seat on the other side of the mic. For this milestone episode, Libby Greiwe — a past guest, trusted colleague, and one of the…
- Introducing The Vested Network: Fixing Wealth Management Hiring with Co-Founders Jill Barnett, Claire Vitale & Shelby Nicholl · 49 min · Season 3 Episode 18In this special episode, Shelby steps out from behind the interviewer's chair to talk about a company she just launched. The Vested Network is the first wealth…
- The Problem Solver Mindset: How James Bogart Grew Bogart Wealth to Nearly $4B AUM · 48 min · Season 3 Episode 17James Bogart launched Bogart Wealth from his basement — folding tables, a garage postage station, and clients signing paperwork at the dining room table. Six years later, the…
- AI, Risk Surface, and the Fragmented Advisory Firm — A WealthTech Reality Check with Adrian Johnstone · 45 min · Season 3 Episode 16Most advisors are thinking about what a new AI tool can do for them. Fewer are thinking about what it does to them. In this episode, Shelby sits down with Adrian Johnstone…
- The Power of Niching: How to Build a Resonant Financial Advisor Brand with Natalie Hales · 42 min · Season 3 Episode 15In this conversation, Shelby Nicholl and Natalie Hales explore the intricacies of branding within the financial services sector. Natalie shares her personal journey into the…
- What Your RIA Contract Is Actually Saying — And How to Protect Yourself with Attorney Andrew Shedlock · 46 min · Season 3 Episode 14Feeling trapped by your employment agreement? Attorney Andrew Shedlock joins Shelby to unpack the legal clauses that are reshaping advisor transitions — and what you can do about…
- Tripled to $2 MM Top-Line in 5 Years – Growing in a Rural Market | Matt Bragg & Kellie Schleicher · 43 min · Season 3 Episode 13Matt Bragg has been a financial advisor for over 30 years. He grew up watching farm families lose everything because no one talked about money. That experience never left him —…
- The Value Stack Framework Top RIAs Won't Stop Using | Steve Lockshin · 44 min · Season 3 Episode 12Steve Lockshin has been doing things differently since before "going independent" was a trend. He founded his first RIA in the 1990s, co-founded Advice Period, and is now…
- Give It Away to Grow: How to Build a $4B Practice on Abundance | Nathan Bennett · 38 min · Season 3 Episode 11What if the fastest path to a $3M or $5M practice was giving business away instead of hoarding it? Most advisors are wired for scarcity — protecting every client, every lead…
- Women, Wealth & Organic Growth: A Blueprint for Advisors Who Want to Win the Next Decade | Shannon Spotswood · 49 min · Season 3 Episode 10By 2030, women will control over $30 trillion in investable assets — and yet 70% of women change their financial advisor in their moment of greatest need. That stat hasn't moved…
- Are You a “Boring” Advisor? How Jesse Hurst Uses Pop Culture to Make Finance Memorable · 28 min · Season 3 Episode 9Do your clients ever glaze over when you explain markets, risk, or retirement? In this episode of Advisors Off Script, Shelby Nicholl sits down with Jesse Hurst, CFP®, CEO of…
- Overcoming Fear and Leading with Purpose with Derrick Kinney · 40 min · Season 3 Episode 8Are you wondering if you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? To leave your firm and forge your own path? In this episode, Shelby talks with Derrick Kinney—America's…
- Considering an Exit? Max Your Value First with Scott DiGiammarino · 44 min · Season 3 Episode 7Considering an exit isn’t about timing retirement—it’s about maximizing the value of what you’ve built before the window shifts. In this episode of Advisors Off Script, Shelby…
- The Client Mindset at Transition: It’s More Important than the Paperwork with Libby Greiwe · 43 min · Season 3 Episode 6What are your clients really feeling during a transition—and how can advisors reduce stress while strengthening trust? In this episode of Advisors Off Script, Shelby Nicholl is…
- Building With Purpose: Culture, Calling, and Family Office Planning in Middle America with Vaughan Scott · 36 min · Episode 5💥 What if you could build a thriving culture—without tipping into cultish? 💥 What if family office-level planning wasn’t just for the ultra-wealthy—but for builders and business…
- Build the Right ‘Whos,’ Scale the Right Way: Lessons from a $500 Million Advisor with Colleen Bowler · 42 min · Season 3 Episode 4At one point, Colleen Bowler was doing it all — leading client relationships, growing her firm, and keeping every plate spinning. Then she found her "whos" and built the firm to…
- From Edward Jones to $2 Billion: How Cedarwood is Proving What's Possible in Independence with Dylan Ripley and Todd Vincent · 34 min · Season 3 Episode 3You may have seen the headlines: the largest advisor group to ever exit Edward Jones — nine advisors, nearly $1 billion in AUM, and a bold move to independence. This group…
- Brand First: The 3 C’s That Make Breakaway Advisors Look Credible on Day One with Kevin Nichols · 47 min · Season 3 Episode 2A smooth breakaway is rarely decided by your custodian or tech stack. It’s decided by whether your brand looks credible the moment clients start Googling you. In this episode…
- Burnout, Breakaway, and the “Minimum Viable” Move: How Lauren Williams Rebuilt to $200M AUM in 18 Months · 43 min · Season 3 Episode 1Sometimes you don’t get to casually consider change. You hit a wall and realize, this isn’t working anymore. Lauren Williams (Co-Founder + Co-CEO of Prosper Plan Wealth) spent a…
