{"id":323225,"date":"2025-12-18T18:25:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T18:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/323225\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T18:25:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T18:25:11","slug":"financial-advisors-with-modest-followings-quietly-take-on-the-finfluencers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/323225\/","title":{"rendered":"Financial advisors with modest followings quietly take on the finfluencers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Whether through podcasts, LinkedIn newsletters, Substack essays or simple, unpolished posts, advisors are contributing to financial literacy.demaerre\/iStockPhoto \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Although \u201cfinfluencers\u201d get a lot of attention, a wave of financial advisors with modest yet focused followings is quietly building communities around something far more compelling: real talk.<\/p>\n

Whether through podcasts, LinkedIn newsletters, Substack essays, or simple, unpolished posts, the point of sharing their views on money and modern life isn\u2019t to explode online, but to be useful. <\/p>\n

And while their posts don\u2019t always go viral, they do something arguably more important for their businesses: build trust.<\/p>\n

Unlike many financial influencers, or finfluencers, some advisors who are active on social media channels never set out to build an online persona. <\/p>\n

Suzette Chambers, an independent advisor with Empowered Financial in Toronto, began posting on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram because she didn\u2019t see licensed professionals talking openly about the realities of money. <\/p>\n

\u201cI started sharing because I didn\u2019t see anyone else doing it \u2013 at least not in a real, credible way,\u201d says Ms. Chambers, whose mission of helping women claim financial independence continues to motivate her message.<\/p>\n

She shares bits from her personal life to make her posts relatable. <\/p>\n

\u201cI get more likes when I post videos with my husband \u2013 people love seeing that human side,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

But she\u2019s careful not to overshare and makes sure every post has a purpose.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to share real stories because fake ones will always catch up to you,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust be yourself. Don\u2019t overthink it. And most importantly, educate \u2013don\u2019t sell. When you lead with education, everything else will evolve naturally.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emma Alexander\u2019s firm had long maintained a presence online, but they tried something new during Financial Literacy Month in November: a \u201cTalk Money\u201d video series on Facebook with short, casual clips where different team members explained a financial concept or offered tips.<\/p>\n

The production value wasn\u2019t high. \u201cWe\u2019re recording from a phone and we\u2019re not professionals at video editing,\u201d says Ms. Alexander, a certified financial planner at Lake Country Financial Group in Vermilion Bay, Ont. <\/p>\n

Still, the rawness helped. \u201cEven though our videos are not the best quality, I think they\u2019re relatable to our clients as they get to see us as actual people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Based on the posts\u2019 likes and engagement, they found their most surprising audience wasn\u2019t current clients but those who had previously declined their services.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis gives us hope that the timing of our meeting may not have been ideal, and hopefully, in the future, we can gain them as clients through staying top of mind using social media,\u201d Ms. Alexander says.<\/p>\n

That slow burn of recognition is exactly what makes social content a strategic asset. <\/p>\n

Still, authenticity alone isn\u2019t enough, says mother-daughter team Karen Erickson and Kayla Caruana of IG Private Wealth Management Inc. in Kelowna, B.C.<\/p>\n

\u201cAuthenticity matters, but it has to be supported by education, ethics and consistency,\u201d Ms. Erickson says. \u201cManaging someone\u2019s financial plan carries a significant responsibility, and competence and accountability are just as important as being relatable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their website features video content designed to demystify what comprehensive planning actually looks like and explain it as a thoughtful, values-driven process.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinancial literacy, especially in video format, isn\u2019t easily accessible from credentialled and reliable sources in Canada,\u201d Ms. Caruana says.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur industry needs higher minimum standards, and that should always come first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tips for getting started<\/p>\n

When Stacy Brooks, financial services consultant and coach in Toronto, launched her LinkedIn newsletter on careers and leadership, the catalyst wasn\u2019t strategic. <\/p>\n

After a collaboration soured, she found herself \u201cconstantly trying to decode conversations that should have been straightforward.\u201d <\/p>\n

Instead of burying her frustration, she published her reflections \u2013 and was struck by the response. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe comments, messages, and shares showed me how many people had experienced similar situations but hadn\u2019t found the words to talk about it,\u201d says Ms. Brooks, founder of Beyond the Hump Advisory and Business Coaching.<\/p>\n

Her audience\u2019s reaction became her editorial compass. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople want real talk. They want someone to name the things that usually stay between the lines,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Ms. Brooks now has more than 750 subscribers following her weekly reflections. The experience has shown her that honesty builds connections faster than any formal strategy. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe expectations in our industry have changed. People no longer want perfection or polished answers. They want advisors and leaders who sound like real humans,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe advisors who build the strongest relationships are the ones who can blend technical knowledge with sincerity and lived experience.\u201c<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Whether through podcasts, LinkedIn newsletters, Substack essays or simple, unpolished posts, advisors are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":323226,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[14370,84,4176,39721,14367,4174,4175,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-323225","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-appwebview","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-finance","11":"tag-globe-advisor","12":"tag-noastack","13":"tag-personal-finance","14":"tag-personalfinance","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=323225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323225\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/323226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=323225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=323225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}