Defining Your Own Financial Success with Heather Banks

 In this episode, certified financial planner Heather Banks of Willow Tree Wealth Planning shares how she helps individuals define what financial success really means to them and then build a personalized roadmap to get there. Drawing on 20 years of experience, Heather explains why comprehensive, customized planning matters, how relationships and trust drive her business, and why business owners often misunderstand the realities of “flexibility” when you’re the one holding the bag.

Heather talks candidly about giving herself grace as an entrepreneur, setting boundaries to protect family time, and using both in‑person and remote work to create a healthier balance. She discusses the power of surrounding yourself with the right team—financial planner, CPA, attorney, and business coach—and how client relationships and word-of-mouth referrals have fueled record growth for her firm. Listeners will hear practical advice on overcoming fear of success, staying on top of ongoing education, and taking the next step toward a clearer, more confident financial future.

Guest contact info:

heather.banks@prudential.com

www.willowtreewealthplanning.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-a-banks-cfp%C2%AE-chsnc%C2%AE-6a516b33/

https://www.facebook.com/Heather-A-Banks-Financial-Planner-at-Pruco-Securities-LLC-669710856515175/

Thanks for Listening. You may contact me or our team at https://billgilliland.biz/

All the best!
Bill

Please hit the subscribe button, leave us a 5 star review,  and share this podcast. You can reach me at williamgilliland@actioncoach.com or at https://billgilliland.biz/

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:34

All right, hello everyone. Welcome to this week's episode of Epic Entrepreneurs. I am Cliff McCray filling in for Bill Gillan with your local business training and coaching firm, Action Coach Business Growth Partners. I'm excited to have Heather Banks with Willow Tree Wealth Planning as the focus for our Epic Entrepreneurs podcast episode today. So, Heather, please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about yourself and your company and what primary products or services you offer our community.

Defining Personal Financial Success

SPEAKER_02 1:00

Sure. So as you said, my name is Heather Banks. I am a certified financial planner. I have been a financial planner now for about 20 years. And I started a firm called Willow Tree Wealth Planning here at Prudential Advisors a couple of years ago, but have actually been with Prudential for the last 10 years or so. Really, I focus on comprehensive personal financial planning. So what exactly does that mean? It means I help people understand exactly what financial success means to them and help them build a roadmap in order to achieve that financial success. And also act as a coach for them along the way to make sure that they're making good, sound, solid financial decisions in order to help reach those goals and the definition of success that they have set out for themselves.

SPEAKER_01 1:49

Perfect. And that's on an individualized level, right? So everybody's a little different.

SPEAKER_02 1:54

That's right. Yep. I find that you know the definition of success can mean very different things from person to person. And so that's why it's so important to work individually with each person and really have a customized financial plan for that person, meet them where they're at, help them figure out where they want to be, and then help them make a roadmap in order to reach those goals.

Lessons From Starting A Firm

SPEAKER_01 2:15

Perfect, perfect. Yeah, if you had to start your business from square one, you know, what would you do differently?

SPEAKER_02 2:22

Gosh, you know, I've been giving that some thought. And I think probably the advice that I would give my younger self is to give myself a little more grace. Give myself a little, a little more grace whenever it comes to building a business. It takes a long time to build that business. And, you know, you work really, really hard. And sometimes it takes quite a while to see the results of all that hard work. And it's easy to get in your own head and kind of beat yourself up. Um, so just giving yourself a little more grace and patience uh and not beating yourself up so much in the beginning. Um, if you keep doing the right thing all the time and follow your passion where you're supposed to be, then the success is going to follow it.

SPEAKER_01 3:01

Yeah, and I guess another thing that we do too, you know, especially if you're a competitive person, is you look at the next person, right? And try to compare how you're doing compared to that person, right?

SPEAKER_02 3:10

Absolutely.

unknown 3:11

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:12

No, I know I'm not.

SPEAKER_02 3:15

You look at yourself too, and you you're constantly competing with yourself, right? Yourself from last year, yourself from five years ago, and you're trying to outpace yourself constantly. Um, and I don't think anybody's harder on themselves or harder on anybody else than an entrepreneur is. And so, you know, just allowing yourself to take a moment and understand um that we need to celebrate where we are right now and the successes that we have as we have those successes. We need to celebrate those while we're, you know, still reaching for more success into the future.

SPEAKER_01 3:47

Okay. So, what have your biggest learnings been as an owner since you started your business?

SPEAKER_02 3:53

Um, you know, really it comes down to relationship. I think that that is probably the most important component of my business is having relationship. And it's not just with clients, it's also with centers of influence, it's with other people within the community, and it's also with other professionals that I can then rely on to refer my clients to whenever the need arises and know that they're going to be taken care of in the same way that I take care of them. Um, so you know, really relationship is where everything starts and what it's all about. I love the clients that I get to work with. I love getting to celebrate with them as we reach new milestones and really getting to become kind of part of their family and part of their story. So relationship is really where it's all at.

SPEAKER_01 4:38

Okay, okay. So you would say you would concentrate more on relationship building earlier on. Is that what you're is that what you're kind of saying?

SPEAKER_02 4:44

Yeah, I mean, I I think sometimes people in my industry as a financial professional, sometimes people get distracted by transactions or they get distracted by the products or the services that we offer. And those are very important, of course. Things like continuing education are also very important. But at the end of the day, it really all comes down to relationship. Building the right relationships with the right people, you know, becomes kind of the driving force behind the success that you find in your business. Because if you're doing the right things and you are continuing education, then having the right people in your corner, both clients, centers of influence, you know, other connections that you make along the way, those people become your cheerleaders and they become the driving force behind new business, you know, as you grow. So yeah, I would say focusing on that relationship is really key.

Myths Of Entrepreneurship

SPEAKER_01 5:30

Okay, okay. So, what are some common misconceptions about running a business, would you say?

SPEAKER_02 5:36

Um, you know, I work with a lot of business owners. So I can see it from both my perspective and from clients that are business owners. And I think probably one of the biggest misconceptions is that, oh, well, you're the owner of the company, and so you have all the flexibility and you can just do, you know, whatever you want. You can set your own schedule, you can, you know, flex time off, et cetera. But the truth is that, you know, as the business owner, you're the one that's really holding the bag, right? At the end of the day, the buck stops with you, and you are the one that's responsible for either the success or the failure of your business. And so does that give you flexibility from time to time? Absolutely. Um, but does it also provide maybe more stress? Yes, also is the answer to that question. So, probably one of the biggest misconceptions that I see is that people are like, oh, well, they own their business so they can kind of do whatever they want. And that's really not the case. Um, I think it's sometimes difficult to balance between having, you know, your personal life and your business life and trying to figure out how do we go about balancing those in a healthy way can can be a bit of a struggle for any business owner.

SPEAKER_01 6:37

Okay. And do you think you are a better entrepreneur or employee? And why?

SPEAKER_02 6:43

I'm definitely an entrepreneur. Uh, you mentioned the competitive nature earlier. And I think, you know, being an entrepreneur allows me to be competitive in my field and also with myself. Uh, and so, you know, it also gives me as a working mom, it gives me, it does give me more flexibility to be able to be where I need to be with my kids when I need to be there. It gives me more control over my schedule. That doesn't mean that I'm working less. Uh, if anything, I'm probably working more, but it's because I choose to do so. Um, so yeah, I would say that, you know, the the reward that you receive as a business owner, there's definitely more risk involved. But as with anything, the more risk that you're willing to take, the more potential reward there is. And that's the same here. There's less risk when you're an employee because you have, you know, a guaranteed salary that's coming to you with guaranteed hours. As a business owner, you're taking more risk, but you're definitely potentially getting a much larger reward in exchange for that.

SPEAKER_01 7:44

Okay. I love that answer. So, how do you handle taking vacations while running a business?

SPEAKER_02 7:50

Um, well, I anybody who knows me knows that I love to travel. Uh, it's one of my life's passions. And so, you know, I try to do that at least a couple of times a year. Um, usually our family takes one larger trip in the summertime for about two weeks at a time. Um, and then, you know, a spring break week and then a fall week. And Christmas, I close my office for two weeks. And so what I've learned over time is that really just setting expectations with clients about availability and accessibility to me is key. Uh, and also having the right staff in place to be able to handle things. If I'm not here, it's not that I'm not completely accessible, it's just that someone else may be standing in to answer those questions in the event that something arises while I'm gone. So having the right person in place has been key to being able to continue to, you know, travel the way that our family likes to do so.

Boundaries And Work Life Balance

SPEAKER_01 8:45

Okay, okay. So, how do you balance your personal life with the demands of running your business? Yeah, yeah. I was about to say, are you are you because you did you did talk about this earlier that you know you you have some flexibility to go, you know, do some things personally, but then also you may run work a little bit more. Are you typically a person that shuts off at 6 p.m. and and calls it at night or are you working well into the night or how does that work?

SPEAKER_02 9:09

Yeah, so early on I worked a lot. Like there was no cutoff time. It was, you know, whatever needed to happen in order to get the business done. Because when you're building a business, it seems like there's no rest for the weary. But as my business has found, you know, new levels of success. And as I've been in this business for so much longer, um, I've really done a better job over the last few years of protecting my personal time. And again, kind of uh I don't know if this is the right way to say it, but kind of training clients to understand and be respectful of the fact that this is my job and I love what I do and I love you as a client, but I can't be available to you 24-7 because I also, for my own mental health and my own family, have obligations that need to be taken care of outside of the job. And I think if you, you know, establish those boundaries early on and you set expectations appropriately with clients, they're very respectful of that and they completely understand it because they want the same thing. And so trying to balance out those things, um, you know, it's it's really just about setting expectations and also holding myself accountable to cutting it off. Because sometimes that's the hardest thing to do is, you know, actually cut it off and go home and disconnect from um, you know, things that might be going on at work uh at the same time. But um, you know, since COVID happened, which has now been crazy enough several years ago, um, I learned that, you know, the ability to work remotely and in person is also a really valuable way to help balance life between work and family life better. Um, because, you know, whenever you're working remotely, there's less commute time and you're able to kind of do things at home in between other meetings, and you're able to, you know, for example, lay something out to defrost for dinner, or you're able to unload the dishwasher so you don't have to do that after work. And so that's also been a nice way to help balance between personal and work life too.

Referrals Through Trust And Education

SPEAKER_01 11:09

Yeah, no, I I totally agree with that. I don't think I've ever seen anybody on their deathbed say, oh man, I wish I would have worked more. I w I wish it would have done more. Um, you know, I I usually it's it's you know, I wish I would have spent more time with this person or spent more time with this loved one, you know what I mean, before something happened to them or whatever the case may be. So I definitely, definitely understand that, having more of that personal life uh over the business stuff. So um so getting back to your business, what have you attributed to your growth of your business so far?

SPEAKER_02 11:38

Oh well, I know I mentioned it a few minutes ago, but again, back to those relationships um and just you know doing the right thing all the time. And, you know, I figure if we always do the right thing and we take care of the clients in the way that we would want to be taken care of and we provide, you know, an educational experience for them so that they understand what it is that we're trying to accomplish with them and why we're making certain recommendations for them, then they don't feel like they're just blindly following along with someone else. They feel like they actually have someone in their corner holding their hand, helping them make those decisions. And so over time, you know, you really do get entrenched in the person's family life and as part of their financial life. Um, you know, we talk a lot about what's important to them, what keeps them up at night, what takes precedence for them, what's on their mind, and how do we go about addressing those things for, you know, each individual or each family as we're working together. And so relationship, whenever you're working with someone like that and you're doing a good job of answering their questions and being a resource for them and helping them to achieve, you know, what those goals might be and helping them, you know, really by meeting them where they're at, uh, because a lot of people are just so overwhelmed whenever it comes to money and all things financial, um, that they become your cheerleader and they really become a source of referral for you because, you know, if you have a good experience somewhere, you're apt to tell someone about it. And so that has really driven a lot of new clients over the last several years just from existing client relationships, um, you know, as we kind of try to navigate through those life events that come up that definitely change a financial picture for people, things like inheritances or the passing of parents or grandparents, um, job changes and adding new family members, like new babies or adoptions, and um all of those things are life events that can impact a financial picture. And as we move through those things with clients, it just kind of is a chance for us to reiterate why we do what we do and how we're a resource for those people. And so they really do, you know, drive new business to us because they share that positive experience um, you know, with their friends and loved ones.

SPEAKER_01 13:50

Yeah, no, I totally totally agree with that. I mean, word of mouth, I feel like it's it sets precedence these these days, especially when customer service is at such a decline. Um, you know, I mean, we we've never been in such a state of the world where customer service is kind of a pre set of a premium these days. So when you do hear that somebody's, you know, doing a great job of customer service taking care of you, I feel like that means a lot more than anything that you could get these days as far as you know, as a business owner. Would you say yeah?

Hiring For Personality And Service

SPEAKER_02 14:18

Yeah, absolutely. Well, and and making people not feel embarrassed about where they're at financially or the fact, because you know, oftentimes I have seen people who even on the surface appear to be very successful financially. Maybe they have a really good job and they have a really high income, that does not mean that they actually know what they're doing when it comes to their money. And sometimes people are just embarrassed about the fact that maybe they don't know what to do or they don't know how to how to tackle that. And, you know, they're kind of overwhelmed by it. And so sometimes we find that they're pushing it to the back burner. Um, and so whenever they hear someone else who maybe has been in a similar situation say, Oh my gosh, I've been working with this woman and she's been helping me so much. And now I understand why it's important that I do X, Y, and Z. And we're working on getting these things accomplished so that my family is taken care of and you know, all these things when they have a positive experience and share it with someone else who maybe is feeling the same way that they did, that's powerful. You know, that that is powerful and being able to, you know, feel like, okay, I don't have to be embarrassed about where I'm at or the financial mistakes that I've made in the past. I've got someone in my corner that can help me from this point forward and we can change the trajectory of my financial future in a very positive way.

SPEAKER_01 15:31

Yeah, no, I agree. So, what qualities do you look for in potential employees? Do you look any for any personality traits or anything like that?

SPEAKER_02 15:39

For sure. Yes. I can teach someone the logistics of how to do, you know, the administrative work that I need done in order to make me more efficient, but I can't teach personality, you know. So as you mentioned, customer service is super important. And so just having the right person in the right place is paramount to my business because, of course, that person is also a reflection of me. Um, my current assistant has been with me for over four years, and I just love her and we work so well together. And I think a lot of it is because um she has such a positive personality, she's bubbly and friendly. She's never afraid to say, you know what, I'm not sure, but I'm gonna look into that for you and I'm gonna get back to you rather than just shooting from the hip and making it up. We never want to do that. And, you know, our clients have really gravitated to her and appreciate the fact that she's so responsive to them whenever they reach out and that she's always so friendly and willing to help. And I think that's so important because again, I can teach somebody, you know, the software, I can teach someone the systems and the products, but I can't teach personality. So you kind of got to have that people personality to begin with. Um, and that that is really what I have found in my current assistant.

SPEAKER_01 16:57

Yeah, yeah. No, that's that's awesome that you found somebody that you really work well with. So uh do you do anything in particular to foster a positive and productive work environment for her?

SPEAKER_02 17:07

Yeah, I mean, we've always had kind of a general rule of open communication. Uh, there are no secrets. We, you know, if there's something that maybe we need to do a little differently or we need to work on in a different way, you know, we're pretty open with each other about how that works. Um and we have a you know consistent weekly meeting where we take time together to sit down each week and go over, you know, here's all the things that are currently in process so that we make sure that nothing gets dropped through the cracks. Um, and we also take that opportunity to share with each other if there's things that are upcoming that we need to address or things that maybe have um, you know, a system or a process that we've been doing that maybe we need to tweak a little bit. Um, so open communication really is, you know, I think the most important component of having a good work environment. Um, the other piece of that is the flexibility that I allow for her because, you know, frankly, as long as the job is getting done, whether she's in person here at the office or whether she's working remotely, it doesn't really matter to me as long as the job is getting done. Um, she started, you know, shortly after COVID when we were all kind of still in that flex environment. And we have just maintained that because for her and her family and her children, you know, that has been um a really valuable thing to be able to do for her is to work remotely as well. And so she works the flex schedule back and forth just like I do, both in person and remotely.

Open Communication And Flex Work

SPEAKER_01 18:32

Okay. All right. So yeah, appreciate that. So now we're gonna head into what's called the quick fire round. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to say a word, and I want you to give me the first idea that comes to your head when you think about running your business when it comes to that word. Now it doesn't your answer doesn't have to be one word. It should just be one idea. All right.

SPEAKER_02 18:53

All right, we'll see how this goes.

unknown 18:55

All right.

SPEAKER_01 18:55

So first word is education.

SPEAKER_02 18:59

Uh continuing education is always important, especially in a field like I work in. You know, things are constantly evolving and changing. And if you're not staying on top of it, then you're gonna fall behind and you're not gonna be, you know, the best version of yourself to help your clients.

SPEAKER_00 19:14

Planning.

Quick Fire: Education, Planning, Commitment

SPEAKER_02 19:16

Uh planning is literally in the job title of my career. So planning is at the heart of everything that I do. Um, you know, if you're trying to accomplish something without a plan in place, then you're really just throwing darts at a dartboard and hoping for the best. So we've got to have a plan in place.

SPEAKER_00 19:34

Inspiration.

SPEAKER_02 19:36

Oh, inspiration. Um can we come back to that?

SPEAKER_01 19:44

Yeah, all right. And then the last one is commitment, and then we'll come back to inspiration.

SPEAKER_02 19:50

Um, yeah, commitment. You know, as an entrepreneur, you've got to be committed to what you're doing. You have to believe in what you're doing and be committed to doing it long term. You can't just be a fly-by-night, you know, situation for people if you want to have a sustainable, repeatable, consistently successful business. Um, so commitment both to the career that you've chosen, the business that you've opened, and to yourself.

SPEAKER_01 20:16

Okay, perfect. Yeah, I appreciate that. And then anything for inspiration?

SPEAKER_02 20:20

I mean, I think inspiration can be drawn from so many different places, but you know, definitely looking at people who have achieved things that you hope to achieve and not just, you know, financially speaking, not just dollar-wise, but also achieved things like, you know, being able to have more control over their, you know, schedule and have better work-life balance and um all those types of things are also really important. So just drawing inspiration from other people who have achieved the things that you, you know, are aspiring to reach as well. Um, I don't know if that answered your question.

SPEAKER_01 20:53

That's perfect. That's perfect. No, that that's exactly it. Yeah, no, I I love it. Love it. All right, perfect. So, you know, and you can be as candid as as you want to on this answer, but what words of advice would you offer to other business owners, particularly small business owners who are looking to grow?

Coaching, Fear Of Success, Your Team

SPEAKER_02 21:09

Yeah, so you know, sometimes the fear of success is just as real as the fear of failure. And I think a lot of times entrepreneurs have a hard time recognizing that that might be what it is that's holding them back. They're actually standing in their own way because they're kind of afraid of that success and they may not even realize that that's what it is. Um, so you know, something that worked for me several years ago was working with a business coach uh to help me understand what those obstacles were and to help me get out of my own way and to overcome those obstacles. Um and also, you know, make sure that you've got a team of people that you're working with outside of your business to help you stay focused on the right things. So obviously, uh, you know, being a financial planner and advisor, I would recommend that everyone have a financial planner or advisor that they work with closely so that as they reach new success, both in their business and their personal income, that they are purposeful with what they do with those, um, you know, that newfound success. Also making sure that you have a good accountant, a good attorney, that business coach that I mentioned, um, you know, and having good centers of influence that you can connect with that can both send referrals to you that you can also refer back to whenever the need arises for your own clients. Um, so you know, making sure that you've got that good, solid team of people that are standing behind you to help you make good decisions as you find success.

SPEAKER_01 22:32

Okay, okay. So what What do you say is the next big thing for Willow Tree Wealth Planning?

SPEAKER_02 22:38

Well, 2025 was a pretty big year for us. We actually um, you know, incorporated the DVA name of Willow Tree Wealth Planning. We got a new website established for us. We moved into a new location uh with a much larger office space. Um, and so 2025 was a pretty big year. So I feel like 2026, we're just going to continue that momentum. I've heard a lot of uh folks talking about 2026 being the year of the horse. And so I am fully embracing that um and just looking forward with momentum to continue doing what we've been doing. Um, you know, last year was kind of a record-breaking year for us, and so that I hope that we can both repeat that and uh, you know, find growth beyond that as well.

SPEAKER_01 23:18

Yeah, yeah, the horse, keep galloping forward, right? Basically.

SPEAKER_02 23:21

That's right.

How To Connect With Heather

SPEAKER_01 23:22

Yeah, perfect, perfect. And lastly, what's the best way for someone to find or get in touch with you? They're interested.

SPEAKER_02 23:28

Yep. So I mentioned that our website uh went live last year. It is Willowtreewalthplanning.com. On the website, it shares all of the information about how we work with clients, how to contact us, how to reach us, and there's also a link to schedule an introductory uh meeting to have a conversation about how we may go about working together. So the website's probably the best way. Um the next best way would be an email. You can reach me at heather.banks at prudential.com. That's also a great way to reach me or my phone number directly, 828-458-4472.

SPEAKER_01 24:03

Perfect. Any social media so we can see you work?

SPEAKER_02 24:05

Or um, yep. So we are on LinkedIn and we're also on Facebook. Uh, they're both listed under my personal name, Heather Banks CFP, uh, and can be found on Facebook and LinkedIn.

SPEAKER_01 24:17

All right, perfect. Fantastic. Yeah, thank you so much for being a part of the community and for all that you're doing. We certainly wish you continued to success. Really appreciate your coming on, Heather.

SPEAKER_02 24:26

No, thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_01 24:27

Yeah, thank you very much.