Corey Beal

Corey Beal, chief executive of Empowering Finance, found a winning formula for success by combining a sense of fun with an hourly fee approach. In the firm’s first year, she gained 45 clients. She sees several prospects weekly.

Beal incorporates fun in onboarding meetings by sharing a slideshow of things that bring her joy, such as travel, crystals and animals.

“It helps clients share more of who they are because I’m sharing who I am,” she said.

Beal also incorporates assessments that help clients identify their life priorities because many are unclear about what they are working toward.

“Seeing their results gets them excited about saving with a purpose because now they know what their future life could look like,” she said.

As a fiduciary, Beal incorporates several onboarding meetings to understand clients’ financial situations in depth in order to give appropriate advice. Thereafter they can engage with her briefly as needed, to discuss topics such as employee benefits, taxes, salary negotiations or  buying a house.

As a result of the website’s emphasis on diversity, the clientele looks like the rainbow. About 50% of clients are people of color or from the LGBTQ+ community, with the rest representing the majority population.

— Deborah Nason