Total Succession – Details, episodes & analysis

What does successful succession really look like in today’s advisory landscape? Tyson Ray and Kim Cochenour sit down with Dave Patchen to explore the complex dynamics of succession planning – from generational mindsets and private equity pressures to the systems that truly sustain a business.

Whether you’re planning to sell, pass the torch, or build a lasting legacy, this conversation will help you through value-packed insights and actionable takeaways.

• Tyson and Kim are joined by Dave Patchen who shares his insights on business succession and the role millennials play in the process. 
• Dave starts his contribution by talking about where he has seen internal transitions done right – and why it’s a good idea to have a “plan to fail” mindset.
• He points out that it is rare to be able to do them right the first time.
• Dave touches upon whether private equity and the multiples make it harder for the next generation to step in and have the internal succession.
• Tyson discusses the relationship between quality, cost, and service, and how you tend to get two out of the three.
• You have a similar dynamic on the transaction side, with multiples, the client’s best interest, and keeping your team.
• Dave shares his thoughts on advisors realizing that you can’t get high multiples while keeping everything else the same.
• Kim, Dave, and Tyson talk about the next generation of advisors and the implications their mindset, focus and goals have when it comes to successful business successions.
• Dave explains why he believes that, in the professional context, baby boomers need to be more flexible than millennials.
• Dave isn’t a fan of mainly using social media and growing one’s business through “accidental referrals”.
• A client-referral system, a center of influence referral system that is 100% process-driven and a client feedback system are three processes that Dave sees as critical for a business.
• When it comes to selling as an advisor, there’s an important question you should ask yourself: “What’s next?”
• A scientific fact you probably didn’t know: there’s a brain in the gut.
• Dave, Tyson and Kim discuss why approaching business succession requires a plan, whether you like it or not.
• Dave sees Be, Do, Think as the highest order of internal engagement – despite it being the opposite of what we tend to do in Western society.
• “The most powerful practice is the ability to put space around your thoughts,” says Dave. 
• Remember: the way toward helping someone is an open and curious mindset, not a persuasive and thought-driven one.

Mentioned in This Episode:

TotalSuccession.com

FORM Wealth Advisors

Tyson Ray

Kim Cochenour

Dave Patchen on LinkedIn

Raymond James

Bob Dunwoody

If your business can’t run without you, it’s not built to last…it’s as simple as that! Tyson Ray and Kim Cochenour dive into the tough but necessary conversations around delegation, team building and preparing for succession.

From letting go of control to right-sizing your client base, they reveal the mindset shifts every advisor needs to make to lead with vision – and eventually step back with confidence.

• Tyson and Kim look at whether it makes sense to grow your team, fire some of your clients or sell your practice.
• Kim starts the conversation by highlighting the fact that, if your business needs 100% of you to function, you’re dealing with a weight that’s only going to keep getting heavier…
• Tyson shares his story of right-sizing his business twice – and why it was a good idea (both times!).
• During that process, Tyson basically ended up saying “you’re not good enough” to about half of his clients, and this had MAJOR repercussions!
• Ask yourself this: Is delegating part of the decision of growing my team or is it part of someone who’s already done that? 
• Tyson opens up about when he got to the realization that he couldn’t keep running his business – and his life – at that pace.
• When building your own team, whether it’s for business, football, basketball or something else, you need to remember that you typically don’t pick all the right players the first time.
• A big win Tyson had in his business was to let go of responsibilities and letting go of control.
• Being able to let go, getting rid of that ego part leads to better business and leadership decisions.
• Tyson touches upon the difference between micromanaging and empowering team members – something he has done with Kim herself!
• Kim shares an important reminder: whether you’re going to plan to grow your business or to start building a succession plan, it’s going to take you a while to get there.
• Tyson and Kim wrap the conversation up by addressing a career-defining question every advisor should ask themselves.

Mentioned in This Episode:

TotalSuccession.com

FORM Wealth Advisors

Tyson Ray

Kim Cochenour

What if selling your advisory business wasn’t the end, rather the beginning of something new? Tyson Ray and Kim Cochenour sit down with SkyView co-founder Aaron Hasler to explore the emotional and strategic layers of acquisitions and succession planning.

From preparing Gen 2 successors to avoiding common retirement pitfalls – it’s a candid conversation about legacy, leadership, and what it really takes to step away with purpose.

• Tyson Ray and Kim Cochenour are joined by SkyView co-founder Aaron Hasler.
• One of SkyView’s strengths is adding capital and fueling the industry with the funds advisors can use for the succession plan of their choice. 
• Aaron is really excited about fueling the next generation and thinking about how to get more advisors into his industry.
• The idea of what’s coming into advisor retirement is something that’s top of mind for a lot of advisors.
• Aaron believes that today advisors have more choices than ever when it comes to retirement. 
• Over the last 24-36 months, Aaron and his partners have noticed a trend: the generation 2 of a practice is starting to buy out the founders.
• A talent drain is something Aaron sees as a current industry challenge.
• Aaron touches upon where he thinks someone who’s thinking about potentially selling their practice should start from.
• Advisors’ education has been SkyView’s #1 challenge since the business was started seven years ago.
• Tyson brings up a big mistake advisors tend to make: they know so much about financial and retirement planning and take them so much for granted that they end up not doing them for themselves… 
• Aaron takes back the curtain on how he helps his clients – he advises them to work on their succession plan while they’re working in and on your business (even if they’re in their 30s or 40s).
• Aaron talks about the key things advisors preparing themselves to go through a succession should consider, as well as his best practices regarding acquisitions and finalizing deals.
• “I think that a lot of why advisors struggle with retirement is this is a fun business,” says Aaron.
• Aaron illustrates an example of a client he has recently helped with the succession planning process.
• Tyson, Aaron and Kim talk about the good and the bad of “downloading” the knowledge that’s in your head and preparing yourself to pass that along to the next generation of advisors.
• Advisors need to keep in mind that it may take multiple people to replace them.
• Kim points out that many advisors confuse the sale of their business as the end of their business or their career. 
• However, an exit can be a move toward something else...
• Aaron recommends addressing your succession planning annually.

Mentioned in This Episode:

TotalSuccession.com

FORM Wealth Advisors

Tyson Ray

Kim Cochenour

Aaron Hasler on LinkedIn

SkyView Partners

Ameriprise Financial

Stop your succession planning from becoming a list of regrets! Tyson Ray and Kim Cochenour tackle the overlooked, yet vital, element of vision – revealing how advisors often miss defining their own “What’s next?”

Tune in to learn why, without this foundational piece, tactics are just numbers and how asking “What do I want to do when I grow up?” (even in retirement) is key to a fulfilling transition.

• Tyson Ray and Kim Cochenour address something many advisors skip when it comes to succession planning: VISION.
• Kim brings up the fact that, while advisors are supposed to be planners and help their clients with a long-term path for success, they tend to jump straight to the logistics when it comes to their own transition. 
• Kim discusses how, without vision, all tactics and data are just numbers – everything becomes a reactionary piece, instead of being strategic.
• Tyson points out that the question “What do you want to do when you grow up?” is something that should be asked both personally and professionally, even in retirement, because people are trying to define what their life purpose is. 
• Tyson believes that not defining what you want to do both personally and professionally when you exit can lead to some regrets… or, ultimately, even death.
• Your financial advising career is never ending: You’re helping people but that can suck everything out of you and end up draining you.
• Tyson shares an example of a client who initially didn’t have a vision for his professional and personal life and what that ended up leading to.
• Tyson goes through a mental exercise that can help you spur your reflection process. 
• An important question to ask yourself is “What is success for me if I take the money out?”
• Tyson and Kim emphasize that people who care about you play a crucial role in your journey, as they can help you identify “blind spots” you aren’t seeing.
• Kim and Tyson share a small challenge. Over the next month or so, focus on: 1) walk in the morning; 2) talk it out; 3) picture your successor in your role.
• Tyson wraps things up by explaining why you need to have space in your life – even if you feel that you’re always busy!

Mentioned in This Episode:

TotalSuccession.com

FORM Wealth Advisors

Tyson Ray

Kim Cochenour

The world of mergers & acquisitions can be hard to navigate.

What should you think about before exiting? How can you get everyone on board, and how can you ensure that everything runs smoothly and leads to business success?

In this episode, hosts Tyson Ray and Kim Cochenour, alongside Freedom Street Partners founder Scott Danner, explore what it takes to successfully undergo mergers & acquisitions, embracing a growth mindset, and why you should aim at living – and not leaving – a legacy.

• In today’s episode, hosts Tyson Ray and Kim Cochenour are joined by Scott Danner, founder of Freedom Street Partners, to explore the world of mergers & acquisitions.
• Scott kicks things off by discussing the challenges he was facing before Freedom Street merged with Steward Partners.
• Scott opens up about two specific issues that sort of pushed him over the edge. 
• Tyson sees team and resources as key ingredients of the success part of succession.
• Scott’s business skyrocketed the minute he got free to do the things he’s good at: branding, marketing, video, and podcasts.
• Data shows that the entire industry is essentially turning over in the next 10 to 15 years, so Scott and his team acted to create systems and processes that would support next-gen advisors.
• Scott touches upon what it means not to be in the driver’s seat anymore, following the Freedom Street – Steward Partners merge, and the impact on his clients.
• Tyson points out that the first step in total succession is seeing.
• Scott asks an important question: “How about we live our legacy and we’re not waiting to leave it?” 
• By doing that, you’re automatically going to leave a legacy because you lived it your whole life.
• Scott, Tyson, and Kim explore what can light a fire under an advisor’s behind to get things done, especially in a potential mergers & acquisitions context.
• Scott once participated in a panel and heard something he remembers to this day – someone saying, “We should always be ready to sell.”
• Remember: there’s a difference between how you grew and what you’re trying to grow going forward.
• Scott discusses how to get unstuck and go ahead with the implementation of your succession.
• Businesses are like kids. They have to be let free, they have to grow and, at times, they can even grow past us.
• Next, the conversation looks at the commitment before an exit.
• Older advisors who seem to only care about money and are willing to sacrifice all their years of working with clients who loved them is the biggest mergers & acquisitions disappointment for Scott.
• About to sell your business? Get ready, you’re likely to feel a bit lost, at least for a while…
• Mindset enables you to grow at a faster rate because it allows you to grow side by side with the right culture fit.

Mentioned in This Episode:

TotalSuccession.com

FORM Wealth Advisors

Tyson Ray

Kim Cochenour

Scott Danner

Freedom Street at Steward Partners

Edward Jones

Raymond James

Genius Network

Dan Sullivan

Who Not How: The Formula to Achieve Bigger Goals Through Accelerating Teamwork by Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy

From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life by Arthur Brooks

Ted Motheral

Succession planning. Every business needs it, yet most owners don’t really think about it.

But why is it important to carve out time for business succession planning?

Co-hosts Tyson Ray and Kim Cochenour talk about Tyson’s own journey into succession planning, discuss who benefits from a well-planned succession, and what you can expect from future episodes of the Total Succession Show.

As Tyson puts it: “you only exit your business once, so you should create the space to make it happen.” 

• The premise of the Total Succession show, hosted by Tyson Ray and Kim Cochenour, is to help you prepare yourself and your business for the ultimate succession.
• Tyson kicks things off by discussing the fact that you’ll exit your practice one day.
• You’re either going to die owning it and someone’s going to take it over or you’re going to have a succession event.
• In that case, you should ask yourself “What’s going to happen to my family, to my team, and to my clients?”
• After he turned 50, Tyson started to address certain succession planning aspects thinking he had set things up correctly…but it turned out that he didn’t. 
• That prompted him to address the succession planning gap in the financial services industry. 
• Tyson and Kim talk about how Tyson got to the realization that he needed to do some things differently.
• Doing things right isn’t only something you owe to your team but it’s actually something you owe to yourself too.
• Without being deliberate with your focus on your exit, you’ll just stumble into whatever your exit’s going to look like.
• By addressing some key succession planning questions, you’ll start seeing things you have to prepare for – within the business and within the team.
• Talking to an attorney, preparing tax consequences, preparing yourself for conversations with loved ones, your team or clients, or getting data out of your head and into systems other people could use are some of the things you may have to prepare for.
• The upcoming episodes of the Total Succession show will feature resources and expert contributions on practice valuation, developing your team, legal aspects, and on the emotional process of a whole transition.
• Tyson shares that now that he has things in place he has a peace of mind, a sense of freedom and excitement to know that he’s working towards something valuable for himself and others.
• The next episode of the Total Succession show will feature Scott Danner – you’ll hear about his story and why he believes you should always be ready to sell your business.
• A final reminder by Tyson: “Remember that you only exit your business once. Create the space to make it happen.”

Mentioned in This Episode:

TotalSuccession.com

FORM Wealth Advisors

Tyson Ray

Kim Cochenour

So you’ve built a business helping others plan their future. But what’s the plan for yours? Your future deserves the same attention you give your clients every day. It’s time to protect what you've built and prepare for what’s next. Welcome to the Total Succession Show, your resource for learning how to exit confidently, be fully compensated, and keep your clients' interests first. Hosted by veteran financial advisor Tyson Ray and co-host Kim Cochenour, each episode will help you navigate the emotional and strategic challenges of succession planning through real- life stories, insights from industry experts, and Tyson's SPACE framework: See, Prepare, Act, Commit, Exit. Tune in each week and head to totalsuccession.com for free tools to help you start preparing for what's next.

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