Introducing The Marketing Podcast for Financial Advisors! (Listen Now)

Introducing The Marketing Podcast for Financial Advisors!

Today, I am proud to announce The Marketing for Financial Advisor Podcast!

We’ve partnered with top advisors and industry experts to create a powerful audio series to explain everything you need to know to grow your advisory firm through marketing.

We’ll cover what works in marketing today, how to avoid wasting money, what you need to know about technology, how to embrace a specialty, and so much more.

On the Financial Advisor Podcast, special guests and top advisors will join us to give you real-life examples of what’s really working for them. Here’s an overview of the season:

Episode 1: Introducing The Marketing Podcast for Financial Advisors

Episode 2: The Truth About Marketing for Financial Advisors

Episode 3: How to Stand Out From the Crowd with Marie Swift of Impact Communications

Episode 4: How to Get More Referrals with Bill Cates, The Referral Coach

Episode 5: What Makes Your Firm Different? with Maribeth Kuzmeski of Red Zone Marketing

Episode 6: The Best Websites for Financial Advisors with Brandon Brown

Episode 7: Search Engine Optimization with Mike Dobransky

Episode 8: Video Marketing for Financial Advisors with Jill Addison

Episode 9: How to Become a Specialist Advisor with Doug Rainbolt

Episode 10: Embracing a Specialized Niche as a Financial Advisor with Landon Loveall of KB Financial Advisors

Episode 11: Preparing to Sell Your Financial Advisory Firm with Ron Carson

Episode 12: Productivity and Technology for Financial Advisors with Tammy Hawkins

New episodes will be published weekly with various guests, including top advisors, tech consultants, and marketing machines who are excited to tell you how to use proven marketing strategies to grow a thriving practice.

Listen here now, or download and subscribe on iTunes to listen during your commute!


Transcription

Thank you so much for joining me! I’m Claire Akin with Indigo Marketing Agency and you are listening to the marketing for financial advisors podcast. On this financial advisor podcast we are going to teach you everything that you need to know about marketing for financial advisors. If you’re an advisor who is looking to grow their firm, you should listen to the entire season and it’ll teach you everything you need to know from the foundations of marketing, what works in marketing today, how to avoid wasting money, how to build your website, search engine optimization, how to embrace this specialty and so much more. I get a lot of questions from the advisors out there that I talk to every week on the phone about misconceptions they have about marketing or strategies that they are considering doing. I just want to lay it all out on the table for you and give away everything that I know about marketing in a podcast format.

You can also check out my book and Marketing Guide for financial advisors and if you need help doing your own marketing, go to indigomarketingagency.com. We are a full service marketing firm serving independent financial advisors. We do everything from websites to running your marketing for you to helping you create webinars that position you as a subject matter expert and get your clients. Today I just want to walk you through my background and then give you an overview of this season. It’s going to be so exciting with a lot of special guests and tons of value for the advisors listening. Just to give you a little bit about my background, my name is Claire Akin. I actually grew up in the financial services industry and my dad was one of the first independent financial advisors with LPL financial or back in the day, it’s so private ledger back in 1981 and he had been working as a life insurance salesman with prudential for a decade.

Once the concept of an independent financial advisor came out, he jumped on it and he was so excited to be able to offer his clients and more to be able to do their investments to offer comprehensive financial planning. So he was one of the original first independent advisers. And I actually worked with him growing up. I started with him when I was 16. I would do his filing, answer the phones, and then as I got older, after college I went back and worked with his firm. And then after I got my master’s degree, I went back and became an independent financial advisor with LPL financial and worked with my dad for several years and did mainly his marketing. That’s where my passion for marketing really grew and I started my company to help advisers like you who maybe have a small firm and know that they need to be doing marketing but don’t know how to do it on their own and don’t necessarily have the resources to hire a full time marketing person.

My firm allows people to outsource their marketing to a company that understands what works for financial advisors and the compliance constraints that we all face. We actually do all of your marketing for you with the minimum investment of your time because we know that you’re really busy and that you don’t have a lot of time to spend on your marketing. So if you’re interested in something like that, you can go to indigo marketing agency.com learn more about what we do and how we can help. It’s my mission to help advisors like you to serve more of the people who they love to work with. We talk about multiplying your best clients and that’s something that I got from one of the podcast guests this season. Bill Cates, who’s the referral coach. What we really want to do is we want to help you focus on what you do best and to help more of the clients that you love working with so that your marketing is easier because you know how to reach your ideal prospects.

What are the pressing concerns they face and which messaging is really going to resonate with them. And so I’ve seen my dad through the course of the past 30 or 40 years go through a process where it was easy for him to grow his business. He was growing rapidly, his growth was exponential and he was happy. Then things changed. Once the internet came around and he’s not as tech savvy as he would like to be, things got harder, and he started not being able to find the clients he wanted to work with. It became frustrating. It became overwhelming. He didn’t understand what he didn’t know about marketing. At the end of the day he just wants to help his clients and he wants to serve more people that he can help.

It’s my mission to help advisors, like my dad, to reach more people who they love to serve so that they can do more of the really important work that you guys are all doing. I know how important the work that you do is… you’re helping clients at the most difficult times of their lives. It’s one of the most important things in their life: their money, their security, their confidence, their hope in the future. It’s incredibly powerful the service that you do for people and for our communities. So it’s my mission to help you do more of it. This season we’re going to cover a lot and we’re going to give you a foundational marketing perspective. We’re going to start out with the truth about marketing for financial advisors. In this episode, I’m going to tell you what is really working and what no one wants you to know about marketing for financial advisors, how to avoid wasting money on marketing schemes that don’t work, why marketing is so challenging for advisors, what advisors are doing to get new clients today, and how to take something that’s confusing and maybe complicated and to turn it into a consistent repeatable process so that you can feel competent about the future of your business and how you can be in the driver’s seat of growing your business in the future. 

The second episode in the financial advisor podcast, Greg and I do is with Maribeth Kuzmes of Red Zone Marketing and she’s phenomenal. She’s going to talk about what makes your firm different and how to unlock what truly differentiates your firms so that people understand why they would work with you and that you’re easy to refer because even people who don’t buy still understand what makes you different. So we’re going to talk about how to figure out what truly makes you different, how to stand out from the crowd, focusing on what clients actually care about.

In this episdoe of the financial advisor podcast instead of talking about what you think makes your firm different. We’re going to talk about how to use the language that your clients use about what differentiates you and how to use video and social media to capture their attention. Next, we’ll talk to Bill Cates and Bill’s of referral coach to financial advisors. He is a bestselling author and a hall of fame keynote speaker. He’s going to talk about how to get more referrals without being pushy or begging, how to turn your referrals into personal introductions that actually lead to new appointments with clients, how to set more appointments that stick, how to convert prospects at a higher rate, and we’ll talk about his proven referral advantage system and how you can take advantage of that. The next episode we’ll talk with Marie Swift. Now Marie is the president and CEO of impact communications and she’s a marketing and communications and PR expert for financial advisors.

She’s going to help talk about shooting videos, recording podcasts, improving your digital presence. We’ll go through everything about how advisors can stand out using these new technologies and opportunities. How to clarify your ideal niche, the easiest way to record high quality videos, communicating your specialty and how to communicate your specialty without alienating people, which is a big question that I get from advisors out there. After that we’re going to talk about your different marketing channels. The first thing we’re going to talk about is your website, which is critically important and it stands at the hub of your marketing efforts. 

We’re really lucky to have an exclusive guest, Brandon Brown, who is with FMG suite, the leader of websites for financial advisors and Brandon actually and still work with him at FMDC and he has supervised tens of thousands of website builds for independent financial advisors.

He’s going to share with us everything you need to know when building your site. So what’s new and website designed today? What are the biggest mistakes advisors are making on their websites? How advisors like you can choose the best website platform for them, the three things that your website has to have today and how to build your website quickly without stressing. And so that’s a really valuable episode. I definitely encourage you to listen to it. After that, we’re going to talk about something related websites and that’s search engine optimization. You may not even know what this means. You may be confused or mystified by optimization. Take the expert in SEO in our industry, Mike Dobransky, and we’re going to walk through everything that advisors need to know about search engine optimization. First of all, what is it and why does it matter? What advisors need to know about SEL?

The three changes you can make to your website today to drastically improve your search engine optimization. Why you don’t need to spend money each month on SEO and why you can just do a one-time package to lay the foundation and then move on and the biggest SEO mistakes advisors are making. And we’ll also give you one tip of the one thing you can do to improve your SEO now and into the future forever. And so that’s going to be a lot of insight. It’s really going to uncomplicate SEO for you so that you understand what it means. You’re not overwhelmed by it anymore. And the next episode we’ll talk about video marketing. I get so many questions from advisers about creating videos using youtube and whether they should do that, how they can go about doing it. So we will join Jill Addison, the founder of FAA client machine and she helps advisors to create videos and put them on youtube and use youtube as a marketing platform.

We’ll cover how youtube can help you show up veteran search results, the three keys and videos that advisors should have on their websites. If you are only going to create three videos for your website, what are those three videos? How do use video to get people to know, like, and trust you, biggest mistakes advisors make with video and some success stories and how to create your first videos today. Jill is a great resource and she will walk us through how to get started on video marketing. Finally, we’ll have how to become a specialist advisor. So we know that embracing a specialty can help advisors be more successful in their marketing and it can help you charge a premium for your services and make it easier to find your ideal clients. But how can you go about choosing a specialty that’s right for you?

The next episode in our financial advisor podcast, Doug Rainbolt, who is a top consultant to advisors, we’ll talk about how to sane, how to evaluate the potential niches that you’re looking to focus on, how to choose which one is right for you, a proven process for defining your ideal client, solving the biggest problem that is facing your target market. How do I embrace the specialty you love and you using your specialty to market to your ideal prospects. And so he has worked with one of my topic size, our clients, and he really helped them to hone the specialty that led to their marketing success and exponential growth for their firms. So he’ll teach us how he did that and how he helped those advisors. So that’s going to be a really interesting episode. And then to give you even more kind of expertise on embracing the specialization or going to talk to one advisor who is doing it so well.

He’s growing his firm. He started with zero and he used his specialty to build up his firm and they’re growing at an astronomical rate. This is Landon level with kb financial advisors. And we’re going to review how he builds his firm from scratch using niche marketing, including how he originally chose his specialty, how he uses niche marketing to reach his ideal clients, his strategy to avoid alienating people who don’t fit as niche. Then his proven specialty marketing tricks, the one thing that he recommends advisors in order to embrace the specialty and really make their marketing more successful. 

In the next episode, the second to last episode where I’m going to ask Ron Carson on the show. I get a lot of quick questions from advisors about how to do their marketing and their branding when they’re looking to sell their firms

A lot of the advisors we work with are getting a little bit older. Maybe you want to sell half your firm, maybe you want to completely exit and retire or maybe you just want to have the buy sell agreement and maximize the value of your firm should something happen to you. So I pulled in the top expert on this area, Ron Carson with Carson group and he is one of my heroes and mentors. He is a bestselling author. His firm has 15 billion in assets under advisement and he helps advisors all the time to prepare to sell their practices. He’s going to give us all of his secrets on what the selling landscape is like for advisory firms today. How advisors can plan to get top dollar for their firm and what are the things that advisors can do five or 10 years out to help maximize the value that they’ll get when they do sell their firm.

Then we’ll talk about the elephant in the room. Everybody wants to know what are the evaluations that he’s seeing for advisory firms? How much could you sell your firm for? Could you walk away? Could you sell your firm and retire with true wealth? That’s the big question everyone really wants to know. Right? And so then we’ll talk about the factors that impact the success of selling your firm. And so that’s going to be a really important episode. The final episode is a little bit of a bonus. One thing that I think makes advisors happy and successful is when they can use productivity and technology tricks to run their practice in a way that’s efficient and that empowers them to get everything that they need to get done complete and to sleep well at night. I’m going to bring in an expert productivity and technology guru, Tammy Hawkins, and she’s going to discuss how advisors can lead more efficient, less stressed and happier lives by embracing systems and technologies.

We’re going to talk about the top technologies that our advisors are using, how advisors can approach new technologies to be successful. The three secrets to being as productive as you can be. I’ll give you my favorite productivity rule that will change your life. How does stress last they get more done? And how do we improve your client service by embracing technologies in your firm? I really think this is an important episode to listen to and I know that it’ll make you more productive with less stress and be happier when you leave the office each day. So I hope that you enjoy this season and I am, I really appreciate you listening and being a part of indigo marketing. If you have any questions, you can always email me at  [email protected] and I hope the season podcasting is really valuable to you. Thanks for listening.

 

About Claire

Claire Akin runs Indigo Marketing Agency, a full-service marketing firm serving financial advisors. It’s her mission to help independent financial advisors help more people through their incredibly important work. Claire is a former Investment Advisor Representative who holds her MBA in Marketing from the Rady School of Management at UC San Diego as well as a BA in Economics from UC Davis.


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Joshua Yanson

Web Developer
Negros Occidental, Philippines

Joshua spends his days developing client websites, implementing automations, and troubleshooting website issues. He enjoys the challenge of working with websites while simultaneously learning new tips and tricks to optimize them for maximum efficiency.

Originally from Pulupandan, Negros Occidental, Philippines, Joshua holds a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology, and in his free time enjoys playing computer games and watching anime and movies.

Indgio Team Member Dan Corcoran

Dan Corcoran

Account Manager
Madison, Wisconsin

Dan Corcoran enjoys being on the front lines of financial advisor marketing, working directly with advisors to help them build a strong marketing plan to get their firm’s message out. Working remotely can be a challenge as talking to others, brainstorming, and sharing experiences recharges him; he maximizes touchpoints to connect with others to make every day at Indigo rewarding.

Dan holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communication from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He enjoys drone photography and videography (he owns his own drone business, Forward Focus Photography), sports broadcasting (he was a hockey broadcaster for four years prior to COVID), spending time with family, camping/hiking, running, swimming, and road biking.

Originally from Sun Prairie, WI, Dan has three siblings, and prior to joining Indigo’s team, he worked for an RIA in Madison for two years.

Hugo Fernandez CEO of Indigo Marketing

Hugo Fernandez

CEO
Whispering Pines, North Carolina

Leading the Indigo team with heart, Hugo Fernandez is passionate about helping our financial advisors attract a flood of their A+ clients with sustainable marketing campaigns. He enjoys running companies that are wildly successful and wearing a black t-shirt every day of his life. When his two favorite things come together, you have an average day at Indigo.

Hugo Fernandez is also CEO of Indigo’s partner company, Just Digital, and author of The Client Acquisition Blueprint. He has personally helped hundreds of entrepreneurs grow their business through his proven blueprint for creating an EPIC marketing strategy and online presence.

Kelli McLeod Director of Client Services

Kelli McLeod

Director of Client Services
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Kelli McLeod plays an integral role at Indigo while overseeing the Account Services Team, providing customer service, getting financial advisors onboarded and in serving as their primary point of contact during that process. Her team looks to her for her leadership and decision-making abilities For Kelli, the most rewarding part of this role is working with clients one-on-one to ensure they’re happy and that their needs are met.

Kelli has a bachelor’s degree in communications and public relations from Pacific Lutheran University. More recently, she’s done extensive work in the corporate housing and property management industries.

Kelli currently lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with her husband, Ian, who is an officer in the U.S. Army, and their two sons, Zachary and Cameron. When she’s not working, you can find her running or hiking, attending group fitness classes, and cooking. Kelli’s also an avid book club enthusiast, so be sure to reach out to her if you’re looking for a new read.

Sara Dressler

Director of Operations

DuPont, Washington

Sara Dressler manages all systems and operating processes while overseeing several departments. Sara is responsible for supervising many activities within Indigo and identifying areas of improvement to better meet company goals. She functions as the bridge connecting management to every department.

Sara has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a minor in communications from Pacific Lutheran University. She leverages this degree, along with her years of experience as a virtual assistant, to keep our company running like a well-oiled machine. Sara is happiest when spending time with her family. Her three young boys and life as a military spouse keep her busy, but she wouldn’t trade it for the world. She lives an active lifestyle and loves working out, getting outside, and watching sports with her family (whether it’s on TV, at her kids’ games, or in the backyard).

Indigo Marketing Team Member Elizabeth Reider Director of Marketing

Elizabeth Reider

Director of Marketing
Clearwater, Florida

Elizabeth Reider is a woman of many talents. She spent 10 years as a Chief Marketing Officer for a top-level independent financial advisor, and since her entry into financial services, she has networked and become friends with many advisors. Elizabeth admires their empathy, knowledge, and passion for their work, and has seen how independent advisors are more than professionals providing investment and planning advice; they are trusted confidants, life coaches, and guides. Over time, they become a part of their clients’ extended family—and she loves coming alongside that. (Check out this video to hear directly from Elizabeth about why she loves working with financial advisors.)

As Director of Marketing, Elizabeth helps get the word out about how partnering with Indigo can take an advisor’s marketing to the next level and beyond to grow their business and increase their productivity.

Elizabeth earned her bachelor’s degree in management information systems from the University of South Florida Muma College of Business. She also holds a life, health, and variable annuity license, which gives her a special understanding of the many products and services advisors offer. Originally from Clearwater, FL, Elizabeth loves to travel and has visited 12 countries, including extended visits to eSwatini, Africa, to visit family and assist with humanitarian relief programs. She has seen firsthand how independent financial advisors are providing advice to their clients that outpours into the lives of their own families, staff, community, and sometimes across the globe. When she’s not working, Elizabeth enjoys attending orchestral and theater productions with her husband, David, and taking their son, Julian, to art museums, as well as family evenings in the backyard playing baseball with her son and shih-tzu poodle, Wrigley. She is also an active participant in overseas humanitarian work—using her skills to make a difference in the lives of others.

Indigo Marketing Team Member Katie Cress

Katie Cress

Digital Marketing Consultant, Sales & Client Strategist
Cincinnati, Ohio

It’s Katie Cress’s mission to help financial advisors reach their ideal prospects through custom digital marketing. On any given day, you can find Katie meeting with new financial advisors to learn more about their marketing goals, who they love working with, and why they’re passionate about helping others. Her favorite part of her job is meeting new advisors every day and continuing to learn how each firm and individual advisor is different, and using her marketing and small business background to help them craft a game plan that empowers them to grow their business and enhance their services. Often described by loved ones as a “helper” and “caretaker,” Katie is passionate about advocating for her advisors’ needs and supporting her coworkers to help them succeed.

Katie holds an MBA from Xavier University and a BA in Economics from Ohio University. A Midwest girl for life, she lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her husband, Brandon (who’s also a marketing guru), and their three kids, Charli, Lucy, and Teddy. She and her husband also own Clean Eatz Cafe, where they use their collective marketing prowess and love of food to create a welcoming space for employees and hungry customers alike. Katie is passionate about and for small business owners, being raised by her father who was an entrepreneur, being one herself with her husband, and working with them every day at Indigo. She loves the spirit, creativity, and drive of entrepreneurs. When Katie’s not working or helping run the family business, she enjoys working out with her husband at Orange Theory, loving on her three kids, and cooking delicious food.

Indigo Marketing Team Member Lori Koepke

Lori Koepke

Account Manager
Boise, Idaho

Lori Koepke plays a major role as a liaison between Indigo Marketing Agency and its wonderful clients. She works directly with our advisor clients on their marketing strategies, marketing calendars, article creation, editing processes, compliance approvals, deployment of their content, and more. Lori enjoys helping strategize and be a support to her clients, and loves the camaraderie among the Indigo team members.

Before joining the Indigo team, Lori was a schoolteacher for 10 years. She has a Master of Education and Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from Concordia University in Portland, OR. She was born and raised in Vancouver, B.C., and lived in Vancouver, WA, for 25 years before moving to Boise, Idaho, where she currently resides with her husband, Jeremy, and four wonderful kids, Sophie, Tanner, Jonas, and Violet. In her free time, you can find Lori reading, watching football, and driving her kids to all their activities.

Watch this video to hear why Lori loves working with Indigo.

Indigo Marketing Team Member Heidi Wilson

Heidi Wilson

Account Manager

Alexandria, Virginia

Heidi Wilson thrives on helping advisors create an online voice and streamline their marketing efforts. With her mother being a retired financial advisor and her brother-in-law currently a CFP® professional, she’s passionate about taking the marketing pressure off of advisors so they are able to focus on their clients. She loves when advisors tell her something we did for them helped; it can be as simple as taking something off their very busy plate or helping them land a new client with one of the articles we wrote. With broad-based consumer and B2B marketing experience, Heidi is constantly thinking outside the box and brings a fresh perspective to the Indigo team.

Heidi holds a bachelor’s degree in public relations from Florida State University and hails from Tampa, Florida. Her husband, Chris, is in the U.S. Army, and as they are constantly moving, they take every opportunity to explore the new areas where they’re living. Some of their favorite places they’ve called home include Hawaii and New Orleans. Heidi is thankful for the opportunity to work remotely with Indigo, which allows her to take her job with her, no matter where the Army moves her family next.

Watch this video to hear why Heidi loves working with Indigo.

Indigo Marketing Team Member Jillian Segrue

Jillian Segrue

Account Manager
Columbus, Georgia

Jillian Segrue acts as a liaison between clients and the Indigo team, using her 12 years of customer service experience in fields such as healthcare, financial services, and risk management to help hone their message and deploy it effectively and efficiently. Jillian enjoys building unique relationships with each of her clients as she uniquely helps them reach their ideal target audience.

Jillian has a bachelor’s degree in healthcare administration and a minor in business administration from SUNY Brockport. Originally from Rochester, NY, she currently lives in Columbus, GA, with her husband, Tim (an Army captain), daughter, Macie, son, Henry, and two cats. As a military spouse, Jillian appreciates the flexibility Indigo provides—allowing her to juggle motherhood and excelling in her career—and its unmatched positive, supportive, and uplifting company culture. In her free time, Jillian loves to read, shop, and go running outdoors (just not in the Georgia heat!).

Indigo Marketing Team Member Amanda Laskey

Amanda Laskey

Account Manager
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Amanda Laskey works with clients one-on-one to develop and implement marketing strategies that help spread the word about who they are and how they help. In her role, Amanda strives to deliver outstanding customer service to our clients. She is tech-savvy, an independent problem-solver, extremely organized, an excellent communicator, and thrives on helping others. She appreciates the ability to work remotely in a collaborative team environment while supporting her family.

Amanda holds a Bachelor of Arts in Education and a Master of Arts in Inclusive Education from Seton Hill University and has over 10 years of experience in secondary classroom teaching and over 3 years as an Executive Assistant. A proud Army spouse, Amanda resides in Pittsburgh, PA, with her husband, Brandon, their two sons, Jackson and Harrison, and their sheepadoodle, Waylon, and goldendoodle, Cash. Outside of work, Amanda enjoys spending time with her family, relaxing at the beach, traveling to new places, dessert, and all things Disney.

Indigo Marketing Team Member Beverly Anderson

Beverly Anderson

Account Manager
Portland, Oregon

Beverly Anderson is the go-to contact point for advisors to create a targeted and cohesive marketing strategy that is unique to their specific goals. She loves seeing her clients experience positive results from their marketing efforts, and as a world traveler, she appreciates the ability to work remotely and connect with clients from any country.

Beverly holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Oregon State University. In addition to traveling, she enjoys making music as a singer/songwriter and anything outdoors (she’s an avid snowboarder and rock climber). She and her partner have a rescue pup, Toro, a former street dog in Cabo, Mexico, before they adopted him. Beverly has three older sisters, with whom she is very close, and they all, along with her mother, live in the Portland area. Although she spent the first half of her childhood in Fountain Hills, Arizona, Beverly considers Portland to be home.

Watch this video to hear why Beverly loves working with Indigo.

Indigo Marketing Team Member Kasey Yhap

Kasey Yhap

Account Manager
Ellicott City, MD

Kasey Yhap’s commitment to her clients is the driving force behind her work. Her diverse educational background (a bachelor’s and master’s degree in vocal performance from the Peabody Conservatory of Music and a master’s degree in communications from Syracuse University) has equipped her with the unique skill set required for success. Kasey’s strong communication skills and creative mindset, combined with her passion for helping her clients, make her a valuable asset to the team.

In her free time, Kasey stays active and maintains a healthy lifestyle through yoga, CrossFit, and spending time outdoors. These hobbies complement her professional life by allowing her to recharge and bring new ideas to her work at Indigo.

Indigo Marketing Team Member Lisa Gaines

Lisa Gaines

Content Deployment Manager
Fort Hood, Texas

Lisa Gaines spends her work days uploading blog posts to our clients’ websites and LinkedIn profiles, drafting emails, and making adjustments to content as advisors request. Lisa has learned a lot as a long-time member of the Indigo family and has enjoyed seeing the processes evolve to become more streamlined and efficient over time. And she loves working with the amazing Indigo team! 

Lisa is a proud alum of Texas A&M University, where she received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance. As a military child, Lisa feels as though she grew up everywhere; however, she claims central Texas as home where most of her family is originally from. She currently lives in Fort Hood, Texas, with her husband, Korey (an active-duty Army officer), and two kids, Madelyne and Jameson. As a military family, Lisa moves quite a bit—often to areas where the job market is small. She loves that Indigo provides her with a steady job she can take with her wherever she goes. When she’s not working, Lisa enjoys dabbling in interior design, binging a good Netflix series, and spending time with friends and family.

Read more about why Lisa loves working with Indigo.

Indigo Marketing Team Member Anne Wheeler

Anne Wheeler

Marketing Assistant
Cincinnati, Ohio

Anne Wheeler is responsible for a variety of administrative tasks as well as updating social media pages for clients. Anne enjoys the creative side of her position and the ability to collaborate with the team to help advisors get started with Indigo.

Anne holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from the University of Tennessee. Outside of work, she enjoys walking, baking, spending time with her husband, Rick (a structural engineer), and two sons, Thomas and Turner. Anne loves being a full-time mom, and appreciates that Indigo gives her the opportunity to work part-time while still caring for her boys.

Melanie Valdez

Account Manager
Vancouver, Washington

With her marketing expertise, Melanie Valdez leaves no stone unturned when helping clients hone their marketing strategy. She loves interacting with clients and brainstorming new ideas to enhance their marketing results. No two days are ever the same, and that’s the way Melanie likes it!

Melanie holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Western Washington University as well as an MBA from Western Governors University. When she’s not rocking her role at Indigo, she enjoys cooking (trying out new recipes every week), painting, and discovering new restaurants with friends. She and her husband, Dat, love to travel and go on walks with their dog, Brutus, a pomeranian-chihuahua whose personality is definitely not proportionate to his small size!

Indigo Marketing Team Member Jennifer Farrior

Jennifer Farrior

Lead Writer & Proofreader
Louisville, Kentucky

Jennifer Farrior is Indigo’s go-to for all things proofreading and editing. Her attention to detail is unmatched, and she takes pride in making sure every article is clean and concise before it heads out to our financial advisors. She says, “Even a single typo can affect an advisor’s credibility, and we strive for perfection when it comes to how they’re presented online.” As Lead Writer, Jennifer trains and manages the team of writers, and also writes and collaborates with team members to create Indigo’s blog posts and promotional material.

Jennifer holds a bachelor’s degree in English from UCLA. In addition to her role at Indigo, she runs her own copy editing and proofreading business, She Proofreads LLC. Jennifer hails from San Diego, California, but now lives in Louisville, Kentucky, with her three kids, Joshua, Julia, and Joel, and goldendoodle, Dexter. She loves working at Indigo because it provides her with the income, flexibility, and the community she needs as a stay-at-home mom. Outside of work, you can find her spending time with her kids, friends, boyfriend, or working on a puzzle while watching Netflix.

Indigo Marketing Team Member Sarah Robichaud

Sarah Robichaud

Social Media Manager
Rochester Hills, Michigan

Sarah Robichaud uses her love of spreadsheets to create engaging content calendars for our clients’ social media pages. Sarah holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Salisbury University and a master’s degree in marriage and family counseling from Liberty University. In addition to her role at Indigo, Sarah volunteers as a virtual administrator for Army Wife Network, a nonprofit organization that aims to empower and educate military spouses through blogs, podcasts, and various other resources.

Born and raised in Maryland, Sarah currently lives in Rochester Hills, Michigan, with her husband, Andrew, two children, Emily and Logan, and two fur babies, Penny and Chewbacca. As a military spouse and mother, Sarah loves working for Indigo because of the flexibility it affords her, allowing her to continue to build her career while frequently relocating around the globe and working on her own schedule to accommodate a busy lifestyle. Sarah also loves Indigo’s supportive team atmosphere. Outside of work and volunteering, you can find Sarah enjoying time outdoors with her family, typically running, camping, or traveling. An avid traveler, she’s visited 16 countries and is always planning her family’s next great adventure.

Peter Wardenaar

Peter Wardenaar

SEO Specialist & IT Lead
Cali, Colombia

As a natural problem-solver, Peter Wardenaar uses his skills to help financial advisors find new ways to grow their site traffic and attract more clients they love. Peter enjoys the dynamic nature of his role; the challenges are never the same as every situation is unique and requires a different approach. But don’t let Peter’s technical prowess fool you—he also has quite the creative side! Before joining the Indigo team, he worked as a first-grade teacher and university English professor in Cali, Colombia.

Peter has bachelor’s degrees in education and in music from Portland Bible College and a master’s degree in music production and technology from Berklee College of Music. In his spare time, he loves writing and recording music, graphic design, engaging with people, and studying leadership and theology. Peter is also one of the most well-traveled people you’ll ever meet! He was born and raised in the Netherlands but lived in the Pacific Northwest for over 12 years. Today, he resides in Cali, Colombia, with his wife, Gloria Isabel, and their three kids, Emanuel, Paloma, and Violet.

Indigo Marketing Team Member Kourtney Kearney

Kourtney Kearney

Tech Support
Antelope, California

Kourtney Kearney is a data-driven woman with a knack for coding. On any typical day, you can find her building web pages, troubleshooting bugs in code, and setting up automations to make life easier for our clients. Thanks to her technical background, Kourtney has a vast understanding of the inner workings of websites and the data associated with them. She’s always on the lookout for new technology that will help us improve our workflows so we can focus on what we do best—helping financial advisors grow their business. Kourtney enjoys the variation of tasks and loves the challenge of taking an existing website and making it better without completely rebuilding it.

Kourtney is originally from Newark, CA (Bay Area), but currently resides in Antelope, a suburb of Sacramento, and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and Curatorial Studies. Outside of work, Kourtney spends her free time reading, playing volleyball, baking with her two sons, and hanging out with family.

Indigo Marketing Agency Adrian Bachini

Adrian Bachini

Web Developer & Tech Support
Manila, Philippines

Adrian Bachini works on tasks requiring technical knowledge and other various administrative tasks. A software developer by day, prior to joining Indigo, Adrian had very little knowledge on how nontechnical positions operate. His position at Indigo allows him to both learn and experience a variety of platforms and gain more knowledge about how to maximize marketing initiatives.

Adrian holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science with a specialization in software technology from De La Salle University Manila. Adrian considers himself somewhat of a workaholic, with a full-time day job in addition to working with Indigo. When he’s not working, he enjoys watching documentaries, action movies, and anime, and also loves cycling on muddy downhill trails or cross-country rides, playing video games, and simply resting when he can. He is also a licensed commercial pilot and flies in his free time; he obviously also enjoys traveling. Adrian lives with his family and more than a few pets (11 dogs, 6 cats, a few birds, and fish)—he has more pets than humans in his home!

Claire Akin

Claire Akin

Founder
San Diego, California
Claire Akin founded Indigo Marketing Agency with the mission to help financial advisors leverage marketing to grow their businesses. As a former Investment Advisor Representative and proud daughter of an independent advisor, she’s seen first-hand the value advisors bring to their clients and community. Claire transferred ownership of Indigo Marketing Agency to Hugo Fernandez in 2022 to spend more time with her family.
Indigo Marketing Team Member Adriana

Adriana Escalante

Website Project Manager
San Antonio, Texas

Adriana Escalante thrives on creating an online representation that looks and feels true to our financial advisor clients as she builds their websites to best represent them and their businesses. Her experience working on travel and tourism websites motivates her to make sure every site she works on is exciting and engaging to web visitors. A graduate of University of Texas in Austin, Adriana double-majored in International Relations and a Liberal Arts program called Plan II. She also received a certification for front-end development from a coding academy in Austin, which has equipped her to serve as a great liaison between developers and clients.

After living in Austin, TX, for most of her adult life, Adriana now resides in San Antonio, TX (a city with a ton of history and many things to do), with her partner, Russell, and their dog, Abbey. She also has a brother and sister with whom she’s very close and tries to see a few times a year. Most of Adriana’s hobbies revolve around nature. She grew up spending lots of time on a sailboat or at a beach, and her family has a small cabin in Creede, CO, where she spends half the year hiking, camping, skiing, or snowshoeing (depending on the season). When she’s in Texas, she tries to get out most weekends to kayak. A Texas Master Naturalist, Adriana loves learning about all the plants, birds, and animals in her home state. She also dabbles in making stained-glass suncatchers!

Kaitlin Thornal

Marketing Assistant
Fort Moore, Georgia

Kaitlin Thornal helps clients onboard as they begin their marketing journey with Indigo, and she loves meeting new people and learning new things. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communication/Public Relations, International Studies, and a minor in French from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as a Master of Arts in Communication and Leadership Studies from Gonzaga University.

Kaitlin was born at Fort Lewis, Washington, but she moved around a lot growing up, spending the most time in North Carolina. She now resides in Fort Moore, Georgia, with her husband, Mason, and their four children, Caroline, Mason, Jack, and Bo. Kaitlin’s favorite place to live has been Europe (Italy, Ireland, and Belgium) and she would go back in a heartbeat! In her spare time, she enjoys long-distance running, reading, and spending time in the mountains of western North Carolina.

Samantha Triglia

Marketing Assistant
Queens, New York

In her integral role, Samantha Triglia schedules social media posts, deploys email campaigns, and updates Google Business Profile pages for clients’ new blog posts. She also assists with lead generation/tracking and other administrative tasks. Helping out wherever she’s needed, Samantha appreciates the opportunities she has to learn and grow in her position. She says, “I love being a part of the team, especially when content deployment involves many moving parts and collaboration to get done and ready to go.”

A former teacher for 14 years, Samantha holds a Bachelor of Arts in Childhood Education from St. Francis College in Brooklyn, New York. She also holds a Master of Arts in Middle School Earth Science Education from CUNY Brooklyn College and a Master of Science in Educational Administration and Leadership from the University of Scranton. (Yes, TWO master’s degrees!) While in college, Samantha was the assistant to the Chief Compliance Officer of a brokerage firm on Madison Avenue in New York City for high-net-worth individuals and families, so she’s quite familiar with the types of clients Indigo serves.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Samantha currently lives in Rockaway Beach in Queens, New York (the place the Ramones song is about!), with her husband, Matt (a Navy veteran and currently a New York City Firefighter), and their three sons, Matthew, Thomas, and James. Outside of work, Samantha enjoys spending time with her family riding bikes on their neighborhood boardwalk and going to the beach. They love to travel, including yearly family trips to Hershey, Pennsylvania, and Universal Studios in Florida (they’re big Harry Potter fans!). Samantha also stays active exercising and playing on a women’s softball team and a co-ed beach volleyball team with her husband.

Amanda Bicknese

Marketing Assistant
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Amanda wears a few hats at Indigo, bringing value to the team by creating custom social media posts for advisors, assisting with the onboarding process of new team members, and tackling behind-the-scenes team tasks. She loves to collaborate with our amazing clients and supportive team members.

Born and raised in Fort Myers, Florida, Amanda holds a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of Central Florida and a master’s degree in education from North Carolina State University. She worked as an educator for about a decade before pivoting to a career in writing and marketing. A Space Force military spouse (former army), Amanda and her husband, Michael, are currently located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with their two children, Mikayla and William, and two fur babies (a cat and a dog). When she’s not reading or writing fiction in her spare time, Amanda enjoys hanging out with family, hiking, trying new foods, and traveling.

Adam Spera

Account Manager
Astoria, New York

A marketer at heart, Adam finds satisfaction when consulting, strategizing, and implementing strategies to improve his clients’ business. He specializes in organic and paid social campaigns, as well as email and SEO optimization.

Adam holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Central Florida and a Juris Doctor degree from Thomas Jefferson School of Law. Raised in Boca Raton, Florida, by his mom (an event planner) and dad (a private boat charter captain), Adam currently lives in Astoria, New York, with his wife, Olivia, who works in pet care. When he’s not cooking up killer marketing strategies, he enjoys role-playing games, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and reading non-fiction and philosophy books.

Hugo Fernandez CEO of Indigo Marketing

Hugo Fernandez

CEO
Los Angeles, California

Hugo Fernandez acquired ownership of Indigo Marketing Agency from founder Claire Akin in 2022. Leading the Indigo team with heart, Hugo is passionate about helping our financial advisors attract a flood of their A+ clients with sustainable marketing campaigns. He enjoys running companies that are wildly successful and wearing a black t-shirt every day of his life. When his two favorite things come together, you have an average day at Indigo.

Hugo Fernandez is also CEO of Indigo’s partner company, Just Digital, and author of The Client Acquisition Blueprint. He has personally helped hundreds of entrepreneurs grow their businesses through his proven blueprint for creating an EPIC marketing strategy and online presence.

To get in touch with Hugo, email him or connect with him on LinkedIn.