[00:00] Tara Bansal: welcome to Her Life, Her Practice, Her Way A podcast for and about Female Financial Advisors Tara I’m Tara Conti Bansal and I’ve been a financial planner and life coach for over 20 years.

[00:32] I want this show to share other women financial advisors journeys, struggles and triumphs. I want to highlight the unique and similar ways to enjoying our life and our practice on our own terms.

[00:46] I hope to build a community of like minded, deeply caring and exceptional female advisors who want to help our clients and ourselves live a life that we love. One that is filled with love, learning, connection, meaning and joy.

[01:04] Hello. Hello, this is Tara Conti Bansal and I am here with Kristin Stutz. This is the very first episode of my new podcast,

[01:16] Her Life, Her Practice, Her Way. And I thought it would be a good idea to start off with myself and letting people get to know me.

[01:26] I asked Kristin to interview me.

[01:30] I trust her, I know her and she knows this business. So I thought she was a great one to ask and she graciously accepted.

[01:39] And so here we go.

[01:43] I’m going to start with the same question just that I ask everyone of what is my story?

[01:51] And Kristin, jump in like if you have questions. But a big part of my story is that I’m one of seven children.

[02:00] It goes four girls and then three boys in 14 years.

[02:05] My parents moved almost every four years.

[02:11] So when people ask me where I’m from, I always say I hate that question. Just because we moved around so, so much. I think we had each other. Moving was hard,

[02:22] especially as we got older,

[02:25] and yet it taught us to experience that, of meeting,

[02:33] settling in. And I know from experience that takes about two years.

[02:38] So for any of you going through a big move or a big, you know, give yourself two years before you even. At least for me, I started to feel comfortable.

[02:48] I have always been really into sports.

[02:53] I was a swimmer and a gymnast.

[02:56] I ran track and cross country.

[03:00] Not an incredible athlete, but just my whole family has always been into athletics and into sports.

[03:08] I love learning. I was a huge reader growing up and I always did well in math and science.

[03:19] And so I went into that in college.

[03:25] I thought I wanted to be a chemistry professor, like at a small school.

[03:33] I did so well in physics my freshman year of college. I went to Lafayette College that I don’t even know who planted the idea in my head, but they were like, if you’re good at physics, you should be an engineer.

[03:48] So I switched to chemical engineering. Not sure that was really what I should have done,

[03:56] but stayed in the. Stayed in Chemical engineering. I graduated,

[04:03] went to graduate school at Virginia Tech in chemical engineering.

[04:10] Ends up I really did not like research. And if I like in hindsight, I never loved engineering. Like, I don’t know, it was just one of those, like, if you’re good at it.

[04:23] And I could have made good money. It sounded good,

[04:28] but that’s not. I don’t know, I should have gone into psychology or positive psychology. Looking back now, no regrets, but went to graduate school after.

[04:44] I don’t know. One of my biggest. I failed my qualifiers the first time and that was like, I’d never really failed at anything before.

[04:55] I did retake them. I always laugh because I’m not sure I really passed. They just like allowed me to pass is what I think happened. But that’s okay. I never did get my PhD.

[05:08] I just got my Master’s and then. Say that again. Just. Well, compared to a Ph.D. it definitely.

[05:18] And I got married in graduate school to someone I was dating. And actually I changed graduate schools because of him.

[05:30] So we got married young. We were 24.

[05:34] I just got my master’s in chemical engineering and then I got my MBA with a, I guess concentration in finance. And part of it was it was just so much easier chemical engineering for me from there.

[05:54] I got a job at Anderson Consulting in Atlanta and my husband stayed at Virginia Tech, finishing. He did get his PhD.

[06:07] I, I really liked consulting and the people I met there and what I was doing. But like quality of life was not that great. You were traveling and people worked a lot of hours.

[06:22] I loved the people I worked with, so it was fun.

[06:26] Kristin Stutz: Um, I’m curious, what, what exactly did you do in consulting?

[06:31] Tara Bansal: I did IT consulting and I ended up being a PeopleSoft specialist,

[06:39] which was a software package.

[06:43] I don’t know, I mean it was popular obviously in the mid-90s. It has got bought by Oracle,

[06:52] so it no longer exists in the form it was. But that was what I did. And we, I mean some of my first clients were like Alamo Rent a Car and National Rent A Car.

[07:05] They. They were implementing those systems.

[07:07] Kristin Stutz: Okay.

[07:08] Tara Bansal: And I mean just you come in, you. We installed the software and we were helping train people. And I’ll never forget. Cause these people had worked in like DOS and we gave them mouses and they didn’t know how to double click.

[07:26] You know, it was like so different for, for them and it was just eye opening for me of like, how can you not know how to double click a mouse?

[07:37] Right.

[07:39] But they did it because they never had to. They were incredible. Yeah.

[07:44] Kristin Stutz: Yeah.

[07:45] Tara Bansal: And so that was a really good experience, I feel like,

[07:52] because the company had great training,

[07:56] really, they selected smart people who could communicate. I’m not communicating very well right now, but.

[08:05] And so I was there for a few years, and then I left to. Actually,

[08:11] I was studying for my cfp and I. I went to this law firm, financial planning firm in Atlanta,

[08:21] and I hated it. Like, I had to wear a skirt. I had to wear pantyhose.

[08:29] It was so stressful.

[08:32] So stressful.

[08:34] And I tried it. I’m trying to think how long I was there. I’m sure it wasn’t that long. But I did leave.

[08:43] And so then I went back to Anderson Consulting because they took me back.

[08:48] Kristin Stutz: Love it.

[08:49] Tara Bansal: And then we moved. My husband and I moved to Fort Worth, Texas.

[08:56] I got a job working for Texas Christian University as a people soft specialist. And I didn’t love that. I love the people once again.

[09:11] But you had to, like, clock in, clock out. I had never done that in all, you know. And what do you mean I can’t go to a doctor’s appointment?

[09:22] Like, I have to count my hours and count my time. So I was only there a year. I made some lifelong friends, though, in that year.

[09:33] And then I went back to Anderson Consulting again. So, like, you just keep coming back.

[09:42] And I worked remotely. They let me work remotely. My team was in Atlanta. I lived in Fort Worth, and my parents lived in Atlanta. So once a month, I would go be with the team in Atlanta.

[09:57] I feel like that my typing skills got a million times better because you were imming, you know, on your computer while you’re in meetings, the whole time, different things, because I was remote.

[10:10] And then my marriage fell apart. So we were married almost,

[10:18] I think, nine years and got divorced. It was really one of the hardest things I’ve been through.

[10:29] I lived with my parents for a while in Atlanta while working for IT then had become Accenture.

[10:39] I took a role where the client was out in San Francisco. And so I was commuting back and forth from Atlanta to San Francisco. And I loved San Francisco. I ended up moving there for a while.

[10:55] And I take. That was like my. I need to go be by myself and heal for a while.

[11:03] And I lived in San Francisco in the marina, in this awesome corner studio apartment that only cost $1,500 to visit Arrow. And it was a. It was a healing year, although I still had a lot of healing to go.

[11:24] Then I.

[11:27] I met friends. I have a really close group of high school friends. We met in Chicago,

[11:35] and I was just like, I want to be with my friends.

[11:40] And I also felt like I was missing.

[11:44] I was 34 at this point, and many of my siblings were having kids and I felt like I was missing out on them and their lives. I wasn’t sure I would be able to have kids and made the decision to move to Princeton, New Jersey,

[12:08] where I had several friends of these high school friends who were close by.

[12:16] And I actually started working at a financial planning firm, a fee only financial planning firm.

[12:26] And it was. I learned so much and. Yeah, go ahead.

[12:32] Kristin Stutz: Can I backtrack just for a second?

[12:34] Tara Bansal: Sure.

[12:36] Kristin Stutz: Tell me about the transition from consulting, well, engineering to consulting to finance,

[12:46] meaning financial planning. Yeah. Or just even you had mentioned that even in your MBA that, you know, you had a focus in finance.

[12:56] Tara Bansal: Finance, yeah.

[12:57] Kristin Stutz: So what was it about finance that kind of was a hook for you?

[13:01] Tara Bansal: I’ve always been,

[13:03] I guess, fascinated or just very interested in money. Like, how does it work? How can you be successful at it?

[13:19] So,

[13:21] yeah, I think even from the beginning there was some interest there.

[13:28] I forgot. A really important part was when I was in San Francisco, I went to life coaching school because that was what I thought I wanted to do.

[13:41] And so I went to life coaching school. And part of it was I read Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Successful People.

[13:51] And the whole time I was working,

[13:54] and even now I still say, like, I’m trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up.

[14:00] And reading Stephen Covey’s book, I was like, this is what I want to do. I really want to help people live the life they want.

[14:13] And so I went to life coaching school. It was like nine or I think it was nine months.

[14:22] And from that,

[14:25] the. The financial planner I ended up working with, she was like, life coaching,

[14:32] life planning, it’s kind of all the same. Money is the main obstacle for most people living the life they want. And you get to do life coaching if you are doing financial planning.

[14:44] And so that was the switch of, like going from consulting to life coaching school to trying financial planning.

[14:58] I did Brett Danko’s mod, like his fast track. So I took all of his classes and I took.

[15:10] When I was at that financial planning firm in Atlanta,

[15:15] I guess it was offered through the CFP board, I don’t know. But it was like, unbelievable, the amount of reading and the tests. And I loved Brett’s program. I mean, it had my name written all over it.

[15:31] And so I was not enjoying working at this firm in Princeton. And the plan was that I was going to be the succession plan,

[15:47] and she decided to sell it, and I quit.

[15:53] And another part of this is the group of, like, my close high school friends. One of them is now my husband. So he lived in Princeton, and we were hanging out.

[16:11] I mean, we.

[16:13] We each went to each other’s first wedding. So my first wedding was 65 people. I come from a family, you know,

[16:22] of nine.

[16:27] And he was there. So there was like six high school friends that were at my wedding, my first wedding, and we started hanging out, and we did get together and are now very happily married.

[16:43] I love many.

[16:45] Kristin Stutz: How many years have you been married to n?

[16:46] Tara Bansal: It’ll be 16 this year. But it took a while, like, going back from my divorce. It was almost four or five years before I felt ready to actually get married again.

[17:06] And he was patient.

[17:10] I hope he feels like it was worth it. But it was not. It was not without its ups and downs and breakups and things like that. So.

[17:21] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, how do you think that your divorce and kind of, you know, healing through that, your year of healing, which obviously took a little longer than that, right?

[17:35] Tara Bansal: Yes. And.

[17:37] Kristin Stutz: And just your ability to kind of reconcile that hurt and be able to, you know, obviously form a very healthy, wonderful, loving relationship. How do you feel like that’s shaped just your whole perspective of life and.

[17:52] And work and.

[17:57] Tara Bansal: Huh?

[17:59] I mean, one. I think.

[18:04] I think it can be hard getting married young. Maybe that’s just an excuse, But I think I still had a lot of growing to do and maturing and as a couple, not everybody grows and matures together.

[18:26] I think it’s.

[18:28] It helped make me maybe even more.

[18:41] I don’t know if it’s sympathetic or empathetic to just how hard things can be and to give each other grace.

[18:57] And it also,

[19:01] like, on the year I was in San Francisco, I had never been single,

[19:07] like, my whole, you know, life and being single and, like, waking up in the middle of the night and being able to turn on the light and read or do whatever I wanted was a whole new experience for me.

[19:25] And not having to worry about pleasing someone else. It sounds like not a big deal, but it really felt like a huge deal for me.

[19:36] And part of that, like, doing the life coach training at the same time was like, what do I want? And what does, like, that look like?

[19:50] And. And even that, I still feel like there’s layers, you know, that I made progress during that time,

[20:00] and yet I still feel like I’m getting to that. And I don’t know how much of that is a Female thing of us trying to take care of and please other people.

[20:11] But I do think that’s common of putting others before our own needs or, you know, taking care of ourselves. But when I was there, I had no one else to take care of except for me.

[20:26] Like, family wasn’t even nearby.

[20:30] And so it really was a different experience.

[20:35] Kristin Stutz: I’m curious if you could go back to that moment now. Two things. Is there anything you would do different?

[20:47] Tara Bansal: I don’t know.

[20:49] Probably one of the biggest things,

[20:53] like reading.

[20:56] Reading books now. I wish someone had set my expectations that it would take longer to heal from that divorce. Then I thought there was something wrong with me. Like, I thought in a year or even two, I should be fine.

[21:15] And I wasn’t. And like, to. I wish I had known that, to kind of give myself that more grace and space and time. I mean, I did see a therapist because that’s the first thing.

[21:32] Like, maybe I should have seen a therapist for longer. I did try multiple therapists. And like, there’s a part of me that, like, how could I have healed faster?

[21:44] But I don’t know that I could have.

[21:48] Kristin Stutz: Right. Yeah. Yeah. That. That’s really interesting perspective to think about. Is it. Is it the time that’s important or the depth of the healing?

[22:02] Tara Bansal: Yeah. I’m not sure. But for a while I contemplated and even started taking the tests to work with divorced women.

[22:14] Kristin Stutz: Okay.

[22:15] Tara Bansal: You know,

[22:17] as an advisor to focus on that.

[22:20] And I thought it was too hard for me, like, just emotionally. And I think most women going through it,

[22:32] it’s such a often traumatic time.

[22:38] And I just couldn’t do it. So I stopped.

[22:44] Kristin Stutz: Yep. I totally understand that. Yeah.

[22:48] Tara Bansal: I think it’s a great. For those who can do it. It’s a much needed service.

[22:55] And I will say I feel like too many women give up and give in for their fair share because they just want it over.

[23:07] And then years later they’ll be like, why did I do that? And they regret what they kind of settled for.

[23:16] Kristin Stutz: Yeah. And it’s an interesting perspective then that you can bring into the planning world.

[23:20] Tara Bansal: Yeah.

[23:21] Kristin Stutz: You know, to be able to recognize that. And again, you know, you talked about the empathy and the being more sympathetic even in your own relationship. What probably translates just in general to life and understand everybody’s on their own journey.

[23:36] Tara Bansal: Yeah. Which I do think is true.

[23:39] Kristin Stutz: Yeah. I love it. That’s really interesting. Okay. So you’re back in Princeton.

[23:44] Tara Bansal: I quit working at the one place I’m actually waitressing to make money.

[23:52] And. And Brett Danko was Like,

[23:58] do you want to start a firm together? And I was like, sure.

[24:05] I mean, I looked up to him and his knowledge. And I always say, like, he’s the greatest planner I know.

[24:13] And so, I mean,

[24:17] we sat at his dining room table and like, started talking about what do we need to do to start a firm?

[24:24] And it’s kind of funny because neither of us had assets, neither of us had any clients.

[24:31] And I mean, Brett tried to like, get me to help teach some classes and do different things. I. That was not what I was meant to do and that became obvious.

[24:46] Um,

[24:48] and so I helped like he’s. I was one of the founding partners of Main Street Financial Solutions, which still is in existence and a huge success today.

[25:00] And after I had my first son, So I was 41 when I had my first son, Nathan,

[25:13] and I only wanted to work part time. I knew that.

[25:18] And that was not ideal for where Main street was and what. So I gave up being a partner and went to another firm, a woman owned firm, and thought it was going to be, oh no, is that true?

[25:42] I’ve been it to so many firms, I won’t even bore you. But I tried a few other firms, each working part time,

[25:50] and it did not work.

[25:54] Just like they,

[25:56] they, they wanted you to work more than part time.

[26:01] And emergencies came up. You know, the client’s always first and,

[26:05] and I didn’t always feel like they were serving the clients the way I thought the clients should be served.

[26:14] So I was at a couple of different firms and then in 2017,

[26:22] I kind of quit and was like, I’m just going to do my own thing and do it my way.

[26:30] And also trying to do life coaching.

[26:37] I got some financial planning clients, but not a ton, to be totally honest.

[26:44] Kristin Stutz: So you had your own RIA at that point?

[26:45] Tara Bansal: I had my own RIA, okay. And then in 2019 of the fall,

[26:57] I got asked to work with this really big client. It was a woman who had recently got divorced and she got,

[27:10] I can’t even remember, hundreds of millions of dollars as part of the divorce settlement. And I was brought in to help through someone who knew me at one of the other firms as a planning specialist.

[27:28] And that is how I started working at Princeton Global, because they were with this client.

[27:36] Kristin Stutz: Can I ask a quick question? What do you think it was about you that made the other advisor recommend you to work with this client?

[27:50] Tara Bansal: I think I never really thought about that. I think they had confidence in my planning skills.

[28:02] They had seen my work. I had actually been, you know, trained by Them. I think part of it was being a woman. There’s not that many women planners around and at the firms that this,

[28:24] this client actually was kind of working with two firms and they were all men except for me and this one other. And I think the client wanted,

[28:37] or we thought she wanted a female.

[28:42] And she,

[28:44] she was just amazing. Like, I was just like, oh my gosh, she was so philanthropic into like wanting to help mothers and children and literacy and healthcare in Africa.

[29:01] And it just like I was inspired by her and she wasn’t comfortable because she had never like really had to deal with finances or financial planning but what she was doing with her life and like she knew she wanted to make a difference and she was having fun.

[29:25] Like she was really trying to do fun things that brought her joy. Like I think she created a cookbook and she did artwork and.

[29:36] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, how fun.

[29:39] Tara Bansal: Yeah. And she ended up not staying with us.

[29:43] But,

[29:44] but that introduced me to Princeton Global and they have been great. Like they, I have been working part time for them since 2019 and they’ve made it work. I mean I have to say kudos to them that they are respectful and it’s been good.

[30:08] Kristin Stutz: So tell us a little bit about your role at Princeton Global and what, what you do there.

[30:15] Tara Bansal: I am, well, they call me the chief people officer, which I think is kind of funny but so fitting.

[30:28] They’re.

[30:29] I think I help with the softer skills. I am the financial planning expert, so I get to swoop in and out with the advisors.

[30:39] If they have a planning question and, or want to do a plan, I will sit in with them. I feel like the clients they usually pull me in are the higher net worth.

[30:53] So 5 million and up to be make it worth my precious part time and,

[31:03] and also just like trying to help the advisors like build their practice and what things actions they can take or things for them to think about.

[31:18] I think of myself. It’s not like I have as part of the leadership team. I mean I meet with the president fairly regularly and yeah, I, they, they want me to work more and, and have asked if I would and I have said no, thank you.

[31:43] And they just hired a new CEO who’s coming in and that’s going to be exciting to see what changes. I feel like they’ve grown a lot.

[31:56] But to go to the next level they need to,

[32:01] you know, make some changes and create more systems and I think they can, but it’ll be some changes, I think.

[32:13] Kristin Stutz: So what holds you back from wanting to be there full time?

[32:17] Tara Bansal: I,

[32:19] I want to be able to spend time with my kids when they come home from school.

[32:26] And over the past few years,

[32:31] it’s become more and more evident to me. I don’t really love planning, like creating the financial plans. This goes. I’m good at it,

[32:45] but yet I don’t get excited. What I get excited for are the client meetings, like,

[32:53] sitting down and getting that information and really connecting with the people and even with the advisors. That’s what I love, and that’s what I want to spend more time on is.

[33:10] I call it life coaching,

[33:12] because I think, and that’s part of what this podcast is, is trying to help women advisors in particular, like,

[33:23] that you can do it your way and not. And try to help them figure that out.

[33:30] Kristin Stutz: Absolutely, absolutely. So I. I just have something that kind of hit me intuitively when you were talking about, you know, you love the people. I just think it’s ironic that really your first career was so centered around something called PeopleSoft.

[33:48] Tara Bansal: I know.

[33:49] I never even thought about that, but it, like, maybe that set the stage. And the fact that they call me this chief People Officer, like, I laugh at it every single time.

[33:59] I mean, I think a little bit, like, they don’t have an HR person, and I don’t really feel like I do hr, but I bring in the, like,

[34:08] kind of softer skills that so many of these male advisors, and in particular, like Princeton Global,

[34:19] started as just asset management only investments. And so I feel like, I mean, they were starting to, but because of me, they’ve been, I think, doing more and more planning as part of that.

[34:34] Kristin Stutz: Yeah. So it sounds like your. Your deep passion, obviously, is helping people in one way, shape or form. Right?

[34:42] Tara Bansal: Yeah.

[34:42] Kristin Stutz: But I know you have this really deep passion for helping female advisors,

[34:51] and I know that you feel like there is a different way that female advisors can be successful in the world. Different than what you were talking about with the, you know, skirt and the pantyhose.

[35:04] And, you know, I always get the picture in my mind, which I am the exact opposite of, of, you know, having to wear the suit and the pearls and. And, yeah.

[35:16] And yet I know so many of us female advisors who don’t fit that role. So tell me, tell me about this, this passion that you have for female advisors.

[35:27] Tara Bansal: Well, one, I.

[35:29] I think in general, women are.

[35:33] I hesitate to say this, but I, I do believe most of us are better at being financial advisors than the men because we,

[35:47] I think we think bigger picture of their whole life’s, you know, lives and view them as whole people and are Willing to ask the questions. One, because we’re curious.

[36:09] Two, because, like,

[36:12] I don’t know, I,

[36:15] I just think, I don’t know how much of it is cultural versus genetic versus whatever, but I just think women really. Not that men don’t care,

[36:29] but I think we can, can do this job well.

[36:36] And it’s not all about the numbers. It’s not, you know, money is an emotional topic.

[36:45] And that’s, I think that’s part of why I went into it also was I didn’t want to be dependent on someone financially and I wanted to feel comfortable,

[37:05] you know, understanding how to manage money or take care of money. On the personal finance side.

[37:13] Kristin Stutz: Yeah.

[37:14] Tara Bansal: And I feel like I had learned from a young age, if you start investing and you do it for the long term, you’re going to be okay.

[37:23] So that’s, you know, like, it’s, it’s almost as simple as that. If you, you know, spend less than you make and you can invest some, the rest is all details like, yeah, you can optimize, but you’re going to be all right.

[37:37] Kristin Stutz: You said something earlier on that I took a note on because I thought it was really interesting when I asked you, you know, why finance? And you kind. And you know, you had this, it.

[37:47] It always interested. You were, and you were always fascinated by it and you wanted to understand,

[37:54] and I put this in quotes, how to be successful at it. So what does be successful at money mean to you?

[38:02] Tara Bansal: It means feeling comfortable and confident in your financial situation.

[38:15] That’s what it means to me, that it’s more a feeling than anything else.

[38:26] Like I, I say I always want my clients and people to feel empowered by their financial situation instead of like, overwhelmed or scared or whatever. Like,

[38:43] I truly believe money is a tool to be used for what you most want.

[38:53] And does that make sense?

[38:55] Kristin Stutz: Absolutely. Yeah, it makes a lot of sense.

[38:57] And so, you know, going back to the. Being passionate about helping women, how do you see that in where you’re, you’re moving to now in your work?

[39:10] Tara Bansal: Well, going back to. I didn’t. I mean, one, I think women are better at this and I really, it is a great career for women because you can have a lot of flexibility and freedom and make good money if you’re kind of willing to take those risks.

[39:41] And I think that’s true of most entrepreneurial positions.

[39:49] Not that it’s easy, but I just think women care. They, I think they can think long term and yeah, just like, serve their clients well. And that’s, I think, part of, part of My podcast is a common issue with women is we almost take too good care of those around us and lose ourselves,

[40:24] lose our, like, the peace that we want to have in our lives because we’re juggling our family, we’re juggling our work, we’re juggling, you know, all the different roles.

[40:41] And I believe that in this,

[40:46] being a female financial advisor, you can design it to really live a life that feels enjoyable. And I want to help women do that.

[41:01] Kristin Stutz: Yeah. Yeah. So how do you see that, you know, kind of wanting to serve everyone? How do you see that impacting advisors, female advisors lives currently?

[41:21] Tara Bansal: I just think many are too stressed, too overwhelmed, feeling like.

[41:31] I mean,

[41:34] when. When I quit at one of the planning firms, like, my day was scheduled down to the minute, right. And I always felt like I had to be doing something.

[41:47] And I don’t really think we’re designed to live that way. Like, I mean, so much of my more recent work is you can get more ideas and better ideas if you have downtime or doing creative things or doing the things that give you joy can help make you more efficient.

[42:13] I’ll admit, like, part of this is I’m mirroring myself, right? Like, I want my life to feel simpler and more time for the things I want.

[42:27] And yet I also do want to make a difference and help other people. And so how. How to figure that out and how to find that balance and listen to ourselves,

[42:39] keep better boundaries. You know, I don’t know. It’s. It’s a whole many different things,

[42:45] but. So I just went through Martha Beck’s life coach training,

[42:51] and part of that was to build my confidence in coaching.

[42:58] I truly believe each of us knows what’s right for us. If we can get quiet enough or brave enough to listen to it.

[43:10] Kristin Stutz: I think, you know, you know, I have been one of the lucky ones who has been able to be coached by you, and it is just an amazing experience.

[43:21] You are such a great coach. And I think.

[43:25] I think that the industry has a lot of great. I’m going to say consultants, right?

[43:33] Where there’s a lot of people that tell you how to do things.

[43:38] And I don’t think that there are a lot of true coaches who help you look. Help the advisor look internally. And I agree with you 110%. We know what the answers are.

[43:50] And I feel like that’s the reason why you’ll see a lot of advisors jump from program to program to program to program because they know the answers that they need to get out of themselves.

[44:02] Instead of trying to you know, incorporate someone else’s entire program and entire plan. And I think it’s a real.

[44:12] It’s a very important space in the industry where women really need that. We just do. We need. We need help uncovering our own blind spots.

[44:24] Tara Bansal: Mm. Yes, I agree. And I really.

[44:30] I don’t love the term coaching. I don’t have a better term, so I will go with that. But,

[44:37] I mean,

[44:39] in an ideal world, I feel like everyone should have a coach to help us. And sometimes friends help play that role, sometimes, you know, a mentor. There’s different facets of it, but to have someone who gives you their undivided attention and asks the questions to help you figure it out.

[45:03] And I mean, yeah, I mean, Kristin’s been. We’ve been coaching each other, so I consider Kristin a amazing coach, too. And that’s. I just think it can make such a difference.

[45:17] And I also don’t think people know what it is or what it can do until they actually experience it.

[45:26] And I’m not saying that to, you know, like, it. It’s just hard. But you.

[45:33] You have to be willing to be vulnerable and look at yourself and, you know, answer some hard questions.

[45:40] Kristin Stutz: Yeah. Yeah. The coaching experience is entirely dependent on the person being coachable.

[45:48] And I, you know, I will say frequently about this industry and. And I think it’s just true of entrepreneurship in general, but I feel like in the advisory space, it’s one of the greatest personal development industries because we’re the only ones in our own way.

[46:07] You know, that there’s just. There’s so many ways to do this business well that there’s nothing stopping people from doing things the way that they want to do them truly, and being good at it and building the practice that they want.

[46:23] Tara Bansal: And so that’s part of what I want, is to help show people the truth to that statement is,

[46:33] you know,

[46:35] almost the sky’s the limit if you’re willing to get aligned with what your strengths are and what you really want,

[46:45] it is.

[46:46] Kristin Stutz: And I just think what a beautiful gift you are to the industry. And female financial advisors are going to be really lucky to have the opportunity to spend some time working with you.

[46:59] And.

[47:02] Tara Bansal: But I’m doing the podcast right now. Cause it’s fun. Like, my thing for this year is I.

[47:09] I love,

[47:11] like I said, like, sitting in a meeting with clients and talking to them and asking them questions and getting to know them.

[47:19] I. I love asking people questions. I love learning about them. I love. And so doing this podcast is like, yeah, I get to talk to Incredible, fascinating women and hear their stories of, like,

[47:37] how they got here and what they want and even sometimes, like, what’s getting in the way or what they’ve learned and to be able to share that.

[47:47] So it feels fun to me. You know, if it stops being fun, then it won’t keep going. But right now, every single conversation I’ve had,

[47:57] because I’ve recorded a few at this point, but I just, I look forward to it. And I think that’s part of the test is like, when you’re not looking forward to your day,

[48:09] can you look at what part of the day are you not looking forward to or what are the parts that feel fun or you want more of?

[48:18] Kristin Stutz: Yeah.

[48:19] Tara Bansal: And that’s what this is for me.

[48:21] Kristin Stutz: Yeah. Yeah, definitely. And I think there’s so many facets to,

[48:26] to all of it in, in figuring out, you know, what’s next for, for growth, perspective and everything else. And just like you said, the opportunity to spend time with other brilliant advisors, other brilliant women and develop those relationships and pick their brain through the podcast and, and shouldn’t life be everything that you do should just be fun?

[48:48] Just like, I just love that you’re enjoying the podcast and the opportunity to serve the advisory community in this way. It’s awesome.

[48:57] Tara Bansal: And I hope to build a community of like, women who, you know, agree and think like that and want to learn and support each other.

[49:10] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, I’m, I’m curious. Just a couple of questions here just to wrap up. How do you define happiness and have you found it?

[49:28] Tara Bansal: Hmm.

[49:30] Well, I can tell you I am so much happier than I was in my younger days. Like, I,

[49:42] I had a lot of mental health issues. Like I would say I was depressed, I was suicidal at different times. And,

[49:52] and so part of this is like, I feel like I’ve worked really hard because I, I, I read a book that like 50% of your,

[50:04] you know, happiness slash, well, being you have control over.

[50:09] And that motivated me to really start working hard at it. And, and sometimes I feel this is a long winded answer, but, like, why do I have to work so hard at it?

[50:25] Like, I journal, I meditate, I work out, I like, but I feel like I have to do that to almost like keep myself in a good place. And not that I always am in a good place for sure.

[50:45] I mean,

[50:49] I don’t think anyone going to that how to define happiness.

[50:57] Nobody’s going to be happy all the time.

[51:00] And so even that term I’m not sure I love.

[51:05] Kristin Stutz: Yeah.

[51:09] Tara Bansal: But it comes to feeling connected and feeling loved and feeling a little bit like enough. And that I think is with some age of like I.

[51:37] I’m gonna get teary. But like I truly believe that God loves all of us. And like when I end my journal page, it’s always I am love. I am loved and I am enough.

[51:59] Kristin Stutz: Absolutely. I feel like that’s a perfect place to end because you are love, you are loved and you are so much more than you are.

[52:14] Tara Bansal: Thank you. That was great. Kristin.

[52:17] Kristin Stutz: Thank you.

[52:20] Tara Bansal: First off, a huge, huge thank you to Kristin Stutz for interviewing me.

[52:25] She did a great job and asked me some tough questions. After the interview I felt like I had a vulnerability hangover. Did I say or share too much? Is what I said.

[52:37] Okay. I definitely was a little long winded and talked way more than I’m used to. I like being the one to ask the questions.

[52:45] My intention for this first episode was for listeners to get to know me, where I come from, my background, what I care about and why I’m doing this podcast. I hope it accomplished that.

[52:58] I truly believe that each of us knows what’s right for us and if we can get quiet enough or brave enough to listen to will help us live a better, more joyful and meaningful life.

[53:11] Thank you for listening to her life, her practice, her way. A podcast for and about female Financial advisors. I truly hope you have enjoyed this podcast and got some value from it.

[53:24] If so, I would love to ask a favor of you. Please go to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and rate and review my podcast. This will help me get the word out to other amazing like minded female financial advisors.

[53:39] You can also send it to a friend or two who you think would gain something from listening to it. Until next time, I’m wishing you the very best.

Kristin Stutz, CFP®

Stephanie Bogan’s Limitless Advisor Program

Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Brett Danko, LLC

Main Street Financial Solutions, LLC

Princeton Global

Martha Beck’s Wayfinder Life Coaching Program

Tara Conti Bansal, CFP®

As a certified life coach and financial planner, my ultimate goal is to work with you to find fulfillment in your life. And while money is a part of that, I believe that getting there is not just about your finances. It’s about making the most of all your assets—including your talents, gifts, skills, and time.

I love working with people and getting to know them in a deep way. My strength is asking the questions that get my clients thinking about what really matters to them. And my passion is helping people become empowered to make confident, rewarding decisions about their own future.

• Former Partner, Main Street Financial Solutions
• CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP^®) and Life Coach
• Virginia Tech, M.S. Chemical Engineering & M.B.A.
• Lafayette College, B.S.

[00:00] Tara Bansal: welcome to Her Life, Her Practice, Her Way A podcast for and about Female Financial Advisors Tara I’m Tara Conti Bansal and I’ve been a financial planner and life coach for over 20 years.

[00:32] I want this show to share other women financial advisors journeys, struggles and triumphs. I want to highlight the unique and similar ways to enjoying our life and our practice on our own terms.

[00:46] I hope to build a community of like minded, deeply caring and exceptional female advisors who want to help our clients and ourselves live a life that we love. One that is filled with love, learning, connection, meaning and joy.

[01:04] Hello. Hello, this is Tara Conti Bansal and I am here with Kristin Stutz. This is the very first episode of my new podcast,

[01:16] Her Life, Her Practice, Her Way. And I thought it would be a good idea to start off with myself and letting people get to know me.

[01:26] I asked Kristin to interview me.

[01:30] I trust her, I know her and she knows this business. So I thought she was a great one to ask and she graciously accepted.

[01:39] And so here we go.

[01:43] I’m going to start with the same question just that I ask everyone of what is my story?

[01:51] And Kristin, jump in like if you have questions. But a big part of my story is that I’m one of seven children.

[02:00] It goes four girls and then three boys in 14 years.

[02:05] My parents moved almost every four years.

[02:11] So when people ask me where I’m from, I always say I hate that question. Just because we moved around so, so much. I think we had each other. Moving was hard,

[02:22] especially as we got older,

[02:25] and yet it taught us to experience that, of meeting,

[02:33] settling in. And I know from experience that takes about two years.

[02:38] So for any of you going through a big move or a big, you know, give yourself two years before you even. At least for me, I started to feel comfortable.

[02:48] I have always been really into sports.

[02:53] I was a swimmer and a gymnast.

[02:56] I ran track and cross country.

[03:00] Not an incredible athlete, but just my whole family has always been into athletics and into sports.

[03:08] I love learning. I was a huge reader growing up and I always did well in math and science.

[03:19] And so I went into that in college.

[03:25] I thought I wanted to be a chemistry professor, like at a small school.

[03:33] I did so well in physics my freshman year of college. I went to Lafayette College that I don’t even know who planted the idea in my head, but they were like, if you’re good at physics, you should be an engineer.

[03:48] So I switched to chemical engineering. Not sure that was really what I should have done,

[03:56] but stayed in the. Stayed in Chemical engineering. I graduated,

[04:03] went to graduate school at Virginia Tech in chemical engineering.

[04:10] Ends up I really did not like research. And if I like in hindsight, I never loved engineering. Like, I don’t know, it was just one of those, like, if you’re good at it.

[04:23] And I could have made good money. It sounded good,

[04:28] but that’s not. I don’t know, I should have gone into psychology or positive psychology. Looking back now, no regrets, but went to graduate school after.

[04:44] I don’t know. One of my biggest. I failed my qualifiers the first time and that was like, I’d never really failed at anything before.

[04:55] I did retake them. I always laugh because I’m not sure I really passed. They just like allowed me to pass is what I think happened. But that’s okay. I never did get my PhD.

[05:08] I just got my Master’s and then. Say that again. Just. Well, compared to a Ph.D. it definitely.

[05:18] And I got married in graduate school to someone I was dating. And actually I changed graduate schools because of him.

[05:30] So we got married young. We were 24.

[05:34] I just got my master’s in chemical engineering and then I got my MBA with a, I guess concentration in finance. And part of it was it was just so much easier chemical engineering for me from there.

[05:54] I got a job at Anderson Consulting in Atlanta and my husband stayed at Virginia Tech, finishing. He did get his PhD.

[06:07] I, I really liked consulting and the people I met there and what I was doing. But like quality of life was not that great. You were traveling and people worked a lot of hours.

[06:22] I loved the people I worked with, so it was fun.

[06:26] Kristin Stutz: Um, I’m curious, what, what exactly did you do in consulting?

[06:31] Tara Bansal: I did IT consulting and I ended up being a PeopleSoft specialist,

[06:39] which was a software package.

[06:43] I don’t know, I mean it was popular obviously in the mid-90s. It has got bought by Oracle,

[06:52] so it no longer exists in the form it was. But that was what I did. And we, I mean some of my first clients were like Alamo Rent a Car and National Rent A Car.

[07:05] They. They were implementing those systems.

[07:07] Kristin Stutz: Okay.

[07:08] Tara Bansal: And I mean just you come in, you. We installed the software and we were helping train people. And I’ll never forget. Cause these people had worked in like DOS and we gave them mouses and they didn’t know how to double click.

[07:26] You know, it was like so different for, for them and it was just eye opening for me of like, how can you not know how to double click a mouse?

[07:37] Right.

[07:39] But they did it because they never had to. They were incredible. Yeah.

[07:44] Kristin Stutz: Yeah.

[07:45] Tara Bansal: And so that was a really good experience, I feel like,

[07:52] because the company had great training,

[07:56] really, they selected smart people who could communicate. I’m not communicating very well right now, but.

[08:05] And so I was there for a few years, and then I left to. Actually,

[08:11] I was studying for my cfp and I. I went to this law firm, financial planning firm in Atlanta,

[08:21] and I hated it. Like, I had to wear a skirt. I had to wear pantyhose.

[08:29] It was so stressful.

[08:32] So stressful.

[08:34] And I tried it. I’m trying to think how long I was there. I’m sure it wasn’t that long. But I did leave.

[08:43] And so then I went back to Anderson Consulting because they took me back.

[08:48] Kristin Stutz: Love it.

[08:49] Tara Bansal: And then we moved. My husband and I moved to Fort Worth, Texas.

[08:56] I got a job working for Texas Christian University as a people soft specialist. And I didn’t love that. I love the people once again.

[09:11] But you had to, like, clock in, clock out. I had never done that in all, you know. And what do you mean I can’t go to a doctor’s appointment?

[09:22] Like, I have to count my hours and count my time. So I was only there a year. I made some lifelong friends, though, in that year.

[09:33] And then I went back to Anderson Consulting again. So, like, you just keep coming back.

[09:42] And I worked remotely. They let me work remotely. My team was in Atlanta. I lived in Fort Worth, and my parents lived in Atlanta. So once a month, I would go be with the team in Atlanta.

[09:57] I feel like that my typing skills got a million times better because you were imming, you know, on your computer while you’re in meetings, the whole time, different things, because I was remote.

[10:10] And then my marriage fell apart. So we were married almost,

[10:18] I think, nine years and got divorced. It was really one of the hardest things I’ve been through.

[10:29] I lived with my parents for a while in Atlanta while working for IT then had become Accenture.

[10:39] I took a role where the client was out in San Francisco. And so I was commuting back and forth from Atlanta to San Francisco. And I loved San Francisco. I ended up moving there for a while.

[10:55] And I take. That was like my. I need to go be by myself and heal for a while.

[11:03] And I lived in San Francisco in the marina, in this awesome corner studio apartment that only cost $1,500 to visit Arrow. And it was a. It was a healing year, although I still had a lot of healing to go.

[11:24] Then I.

[11:27] I met friends. I have a really close group of high school friends. We met in Chicago,

[11:35] and I was just like, I want to be with my friends.

[11:40] And I also felt like I was missing.

[11:44] I was 34 at this point, and many of my siblings were having kids and I felt like I was missing out on them and their lives. I wasn’t sure I would be able to have kids and made the decision to move to Princeton, New Jersey,

[12:08] where I had several friends of these high school friends who were close by.

[12:16] And I actually started working at a financial planning firm, a fee only financial planning firm.

[12:26] And it was. I learned so much and. Yeah, go ahead.

[12:32] Kristin Stutz: Can I backtrack just for a second?

[12:34] Tara Bansal: Sure.

[12:36] Kristin Stutz: Tell me about the transition from consulting, well, engineering to consulting to finance,

[12:46] meaning financial planning. Yeah. Or just even you had mentioned that even in your MBA that, you know, you had a focus in finance.

[12:56] Tara Bansal: Finance, yeah.

[12:57] Kristin Stutz: So what was it about finance that kind of was a hook for you?

[13:01] Tara Bansal: I’ve always been,

[13:03] I guess, fascinated or just very interested in money. Like, how does it work? How can you be successful at it?

[13:19] So,

[13:21] yeah, I think even from the beginning there was some interest there.

[13:28] I forgot. A really important part was when I was in San Francisco, I went to life coaching school because that was what I thought I wanted to do.

[13:41] And so I went to life coaching school. And part of it was I read Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Successful People.

[13:51] And the whole time I was working,

[13:54] and even now I still say, like, I’m trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up.

[14:00] And reading Stephen Covey’s book, I was like, this is what I want to do. I really want to help people live the life they want.

[14:13] And so I went to life coaching school. It was like nine or I think it was nine months.

[14:22] And from that,

[14:25] the. The financial planner I ended up working with, she was like, life coaching,

[14:32] life planning, it’s kind of all the same. Money is the main obstacle for most people living the life they want. And you get to do life coaching if you are doing financial planning.

[14:44] And so that was the switch of, like going from consulting to life coaching school to trying financial planning.

[14:58] I did Brett Danko’s mod, like his fast track. So I took all of his classes and I took.

[15:10] When I was at that financial planning firm in Atlanta,

[15:15] I guess it was offered through the CFP board, I don’t know. But it was like, unbelievable, the amount of reading and the tests. And I loved Brett’s program. I mean, it had my name written all over it.

[15:31] And so I was not enjoying working at this firm in Princeton. And the plan was that I was going to be the succession plan,

[15:47] and she decided to sell it, and I quit.

[15:53] And another part of this is the group of, like, my close high school friends. One of them is now my husband. So he lived in Princeton, and we were hanging out.

[16:11] I mean, we.

[16:13] We each went to each other’s first wedding. So my first wedding was 65 people. I come from a family, you know,

[16:22] of nine.

[16:27] And he was there. So there was like six high school friends that were at my wedding, my first wedding, and we started hanging out, and we did get together and are now very happily married.

[16:43] I love many.

[16:45] Kristin Stutz: How many years have you been married to n?

[16:46] Tara Bansal: It’ll be 16 this year. But it took a while, like, going back from my divorce. It was almost four or five years before I felt ready to actually get married again.

[17:06] And he was patient.

[17:10] I hope he feels like it was worth it. But it was not. It was not without its ups and downs and breakups and things like that. So.

[17:21] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, how do you think that your divorce and kind of, you know, healing through that, your year of healing, which obviously took a little longer than that, right?

[17:35] Tara Bansal: Yes. And.

[17:37] Kristin Stutz: And just your ability to kind of reconcile that hurt and be able to, you know, obviously form a very healthy, wonderful, loving relationship. How do you feel like that’s shaped just your whole perspective of life and.

[17:52] And work and.

[17:57] Tara Bansal: Huh?

[17:59] I mean, one. I think.

[18:04] I think it can be hard getting married young. Maybe that’s just an excuse, But I think I still had a lot of growing to do and maturing and as a couple, not everybody grows and matures together.

[18:26] I think it’s.

[18:28] It helped make me maybe even more.

[18:41] I don’t know if it’s sympathetic or empathetic to just how hard things can be and to give each other grace.

[18:57] And it also,

[19:01] like, on the year I was in San Francisco, I had never been single,

[19:07] like, my whole, you know, life and being single and, like, waking up in the middle of the night and being able to turn on the light and read or do whatever I wanted was a whole new experience for me.

[19:25] And not having to worry about pleasing someone else. It sounds like not a big deal, but it really felt like a huge deal for me.

[19:36] And part of that, like, doing the life coach training at the same time was like, what do I want? And what does, like, that look like?

[19:50] And. And even that, I still feel like there’s layers, you know, that I made progress during that time,

[20:00] and yet I still feel like I’m getting to that. And I don’t know how much of that is a Female thing of us trying to take care of and please other people.

[20:11] But I do think that’s common of putting others before our own needs or, you know, taking care of ourselves. But when I was there, I had no one else to take care of except for me.

[20:26] Like, family wasn’t even nearby.

[20:30] And so it really was a different experience.

[20:35] Kristin Stutz: I’m curious if you could go back to that moment now. Two things. Is there anything you would do different?

[20:47] Tara Bansal: I don’t know.

[20:49] Probably one of the biggest things,

[20:53] like reading.

[20:56] Reading books now. I wish someone had set my expectations that it would take longer to heal from that divorce. Then I thought there was something wrong with me. Like, I thought in a year or even two, I should be fine.

[21:15] And I wasn’t. And like, to. I wish I had known that, to kind of give myself that more grace and space and time. I mean, I did see a therapist because that’s the first thing.

[21:32] Like, maybe I should have seen a therapist for longer. I did try multiple therapists. And like, there’s a part of me that, like, how could I have healed faster?

[21:44] But I don’t know that I could have.

[21:48] Kristin Stutz: Right. Yeah. Yeah. That. That’s really interesting perspective to think about. Is it. Is it the time that’s important or the depth of the healing?

[22:02] Tara Bansal: Yeah. I’m not sure. But for a while I contemplated and even started taking the tests to work with divorced women.

[22:14] Kristin Stutz: Okay.

[22:15] Tara Bansal: You know,

[22:17] as an advisor to focus on that.

[22:20] And I thought it was too hard for me, like, just emotionally. And I think most women going through it,

[22:32] it’s such a often traumatic time.

[22:38] And I just couldn’t do it. So I stopped.

[22:44] Kristin Stutz: Yep. I totally understand that. Yeah.

[22:48] Tara Bansal: I think it’s a great. For those who can do it. It’s a much needed service.

[22:55] And I will say I feel like too many women give up and give in for their fair share because they just want it over.

[23:07] And then years later they’ll be like, why did I do that? And they regret what they kind of settled for.

[23:16] Kristin Stutz: Yeah. And it’s an interesting perspective then that you can bring into the planning world.

[23:20] Tara Bansal: Yeah.

[23:21] Kristin Stutz: You know, to be able to recognize that. And again, you know, you talked about the empathy and the being more sympathetic even in your own relationship. What probably translates just in general to life and understand everybody’s on their own journey.

[23:36] Tara Bansal: Yeah. Which I do think is true.

[23:39] Kristin Stutz: Yeah. I love it. That’s really interesting. Okay. So you’re back in Princeton.

[23:44] Tara Bansal: I quit working at the one place I’m actually waitressing to make money.

[23:52] And. And Brett Danko was Like,

[23:58] do you want to start a firm together? And I was like, sure.

[24:05] I mean, I looked up to him and his knowledge. And I always say, like, he’s the greatest planner I know.

[24:13] And so, I mean,

[24:17] we sat at his dining room table and like, started talking about what do we need to do to start a firm?

[24:24] And it’s kind of funny because neither of us had assets, neither of us had any clients.

[24:31] And I mean, Brett tried to like, get me to help teach some classes and do different things. I. That was not what I was meant to do and that became obvious.

[24:46] Um,

[24:48] and so I helped like he’s. I was one of the founding partners of Main Street Financial Solutions, which still is in existence and a huge success today.

[25:00] And after I had my first son, So I was 41 when I had my first son, Nathan,

[25:13] and I only wanted to work part time. I knew that.

[25:18] And that was not ideal for where Main street was and what. So I gave up being a partner and went to another firm, a woman owned firm, and thought it was going to be, oh no, is that true?

[25:42] I’ve been it to so many firms, I won’t even bore you. But I tried a few other firms, each working part time,

[25:50] and it did not work.

[25:54] Just like they,

[25:56] they, they wanted you to work more than part time.

[26:01] And emergencies came up. You know, the client’s always first and,

[26:05] and I didn’t always feel like they were serving the clients the way I thought the clients should be served.

[26:14] So I was at a couple of different firms and then in 2017,

[26:22] I kind of quit and was like, I’m just going to do my own thing and do it my way.

[26:30] And also trying to do life coaching.

[26:37] I got some financial planning clients, but not a ton, to be totally honest.

[26:44] Kristin Stutz: So you had your own RIA at that point?

[26:45] Tara Bansal: I had my own RIA, okay. And then in 2019 of the fall,

[26:57] I got asked to work with this really big client. It was a woman who had recently got divorced and she got,

[27:10] I can’t even remember, hundreds of millions of dollars as part of the divorce settlement. And I was brought in to help through someone who knew me at one of the other firms as a planning specialist.

[27:28] And that is how I started working at Princeton Global, because they were with this client.

[27:36] Kristin Stutz: Can I ask a quick question? What do you think it was about you that made the other advisor recommend you to work with this client?

[27:50] Tara Bansal: I think I never really thought about that. I think they had confidence in my planning skills.

[28:02] They had seen my work. I had actually been, you know, trained by Them. I think part of it was being a woman. There’s not that many women planners around and at the firms that this,

[28:24] this client actually was kind of working with two firms and they were all men except for me and this one other. And I think the client wanted,

[28:37] or we thought she wanted a female.

[28:42] And she,

[28:44] she was just amazing. Like, I was just like, oh my gosh, she was so philanthropic into like wanting to help mothers and children and literacy and healthcare in Africa.

[29:01] And it just like I was inspired by her and she wasn’t comfortable because she had never like really had to deal with finances or financial planning but what she was doing with her life and like she knew she wanted to make a difference and she was having fun.

[29:25] Like she was really trying to do fun things that brought her joy. Like I think she created a cookbook and she did artwork and.

[29:36] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, how fun.

[29:39] Tara Bansal: Yeah. And she ended up not staying with us.

[29:43] But,

[29:44] but that introduced me to Princeton Global and they have been great. Like they, I have been working part time for them since 2019 and they’ve made it work. I mean I have to say kudos to them that they are respectful and it’s been good.

[30:08] Kristin Stutz: So tell us a little bit about your role at Princeton Global and what, what you do there.

[30:15] Tara Bansal: I am, well, they call me the chief people officer, which I think is kind of funny but so fitting.

[30:28] They’re.

[30:29] I think I help with the softer skills. I am the financial planning expert, so I get to swoop in and out with the advisors.

[30:39] If they have a planning question and, or want to do a plan, I will sit in with them. I feel like the clients they usually pull me in are the higher net worth.

[30:53] So 5 million and up to be make it worth my precious part time and,

[31:03] and also just like trying to help the advisors like build their practice and what things actions they can take or things for them to think about.

[31:18] I think of myself. It’s not like I have as part of the leadership team. I mean I meet with the president fairly regularly and yeah, I, they, they want me to work more and, and have asked if I would and I have said no, thank you.

[31:43] And they just hired a new CEO who’s coming in and that’s going to be exciting to see what changes. I feel like they’ve grown a lot.

[31:56] But to go to the next level they need to,

[32:01] you know, make some changes and create more systems and I think they can, but it’ll be some changes, I think.

[32:13] Kristin Stutz: So what holds you back from wanting to be there full time?

[32:17] Tara Bansal: I,

[32:19] I want to be able to spend time with my kids when they come home from school.

[32:26] And over the past few years,

[32:31] it’s become more and more evident to me. I don’t really love planning, like creating the financial plans. This goes. I’m good at it,

[32:45] but yet I don’t get excited. What I get excited for are the client meetings, like,

[32:53] sitting down and getting that information and really connecting with the people and even with the advisors. That’s what I love, and that’s what I want to spend more time on is.

[33:10] I call it life coaching,

[33:12] because I think, and that’s part of what this podcast is, is trying to help women advisors in particular, like,

[33:23] that you can do it your way and not. And try to help them figure that out.

[33:30] Kristin Stutz: Absolutely, absolutely. So I. I just have something that kind of hit me intuitively when you were talking about, you know, you love the people. I just think it’s ironic that really your first career was so centered around something called PeopleSoft.

[33:48] Tara Bansal: I know.

[33:49] I never even thought about that, but it, like, maybe that set the stage. And the fact that they call me this chief People Officer, like, I laugh at it every single time.

[33:59] I mean, I think a little bit, like, they don’t have an HR person, and I don’t really feel like I do hr, but I bring in the, like,

[34:08] kind of softer skills that so many of these male advisors, and in particular, like Princeton Global,

[34:19] started as just asset management only investments. And so I feel like, I mean, they were starting to, but because of me, they’ve been, I think, doing more and more planning as part of that.

[34:34] Kristin Stutz: Yeah. So it sounds like your. Your deep passion, obviously, is helping people in one way, shape or form. Right?

[34:42] Tara Bansal: Yeah.

[34:42] Kristin Stutz: But I know you have this really deep passion for helping female advisors,

[34:51] and I know that you feel like there is a different way that female advisors can be successful in the world. Different than what you were talking about with the, you know, skirt and the pantyhose.

[35:04] And, you know, I always get the picture in my mind, which I am the exact opposite of, of, you know, having to wear the suit and the pearls and. And, yeah.

[35:16] And yet I know so many of us female advisors who don’t fit that role. So tell me, tell me about this, this passion that you have for female advisors.

[35:27] Tara Bansal: Well, one, I.

[35:29] I think in general, women are.

[35:33] I hesitate to say this, but I, I do believe most of us are better at being financial advisors than the men because we,

[35:47] I think we think bigger picture of their whole life’s, you know, lives and view them as whole people and are Willing to ask the questions. One, because we’re curious.

[36:09] Two, because, like,

[36:12] I don’t know, I,

[36:15] I just think, I don’t know how much of it is cultural versus genetic versus whatever, but I just think women really. Not that men don’t care,

[36:29] but I think we can, can do this job well.

[36:36] And it’s not all about the numbers. It’s not, you know, money is an emotional topic.

[36:45] And that’s, I think that’s part of why I went into it also was I didn’t want to be dependent on someone financially and I wanted to feel comfortable,

[37:05] you know, understanding how to manage money or take care of money. On the personal finance side.

[37:13] Kristin Stutz: Yeah.

[37:14] Tara Bansal: And I feel like I had learned from a young age, if you start investing and you do it for the long term, you’re going to be okay.

[37:23] So that’s, you know, like, it’s, it’s almost as simple as that. If you, you know, spend less than you make and you can invest some, the rest is all details like, yeah, you can optimize, but you’re going to be all right.

[37:37] Kristin Stutz: You said something earlier on that I took a note on because I thought it was really interesting when I asked you, you know, why finance? And you kind. And you know, you had this, it.

[37:47] It always interested. You were, and you were always fascinated by it and you wanted to understand,

[37:54] and I put this in quotes, how to be successful at it. So what does be successful at money mean to you?

[38:02] Tara Bansal: It means feeling comfortable and confident in your financial situation.

[38:15] That’s what it means to me, that it’s more a feeling than anything else.

[38:26] Like I, I say I always want my clients and people to feel empowered by their financial situation instead of like, overwhelmed or scared or whatever. Like,

[38:43] I truly believe money is a tool to be used for what you most want.

[38:53] And does that make sense?

[38:55] Kristin Stutz: Absolutely. Yeah, it makes a lot of sense.

[38:57] And so, you know, going back to the. Being passionate about helping women, how do you see that in where you’re, you’re moving to now in your work?

[39:10] Tara Bansal: Well, going back to. I didn’t. I mean, one, I think women are better at this and I really, it is a great career for women because you can have a lot of flexibility and freedom and make good money if you’re kind of willing to take those risks.

[39:41] And I think that’s true of most entrepreneurial positions.

[39:49] Not that it’s easy, but I just think women care. They, I think they can think long term and yeah, just like, serve their clients well. And that’s, I think, part of, part of My podcast is a common issue with women is we almost take too good care of those around us and lose ourselves,

[40:24] lose our, like, the peace that we want to have in our lives because we’re juggling our family, we’re juggling our work, we’re juggling, you know, all the different roles.

[40:41] And I believe that in this,

[40:46] being a female financial advisor, you can design it to really live a life that feels enjoyable. And I want to help women do that.

[41:01] Kristin Stutz: Yeah. Yeah. So how do you see that, you know, kind of wanting to serve everyone? How do you see that impacting advisors, female advisors lives currently?

[41:21] Tara Bansal: I just think many are too stressed, too overwhelmed, feeling like.

[41:31] I mean,

[41:34] when. When I quit at one of the planning firms, like, my day was scheduled down to the minute, right. And I always felt like I had to be doing something.

[41:47] And I don’t really think we’re designed to live that way. Like, I mean, so much of my more recent work is you can get more ideas and better ideas if you have downtime or doing creative things or doing the things that give you joy can help make you more efficient.

[42:13] I’ll admit, like, part of this is I’m mirroring myself, right? Like, I want my life to feel simpler and more time for the things I want.

[42:27] And yet I also do want to make a difference and help other people. And so how. How to figure that out and how to find that balance and listen to ourselves,

[42:39] keep better boundaries. You know, I don’t know. It’s. It’s a whole many different things,

[42:45] but. So I just went through Martha Beck’s life coach training,

[42:51] and part of that was to build my confidence in coaching.

[42:58] I truly believe each of us knows what’s right for us. If we can get quiet enough or brave enough to listen to it.

[43:10] Kristin Stutz: I think, you know, you know, I have been one of the lucky ones who has been able to be coached by you, and it is just an amazing experience.

[43:21] You are such a great coach. And I think.

[43:25] I think that the industry has a lot of great. I’m going to say consultants, right?

[43:33] Where there’s a lot of people that tell you how to do things.

[43:38] And I don’t think that there are a lot of true coaches who help you look. Help the advisor look internally. And I agree with you 110%. We know what the answers are.

[43:50] And I feel like that’s the reason why you’ll see a lot of advisors jump from program to program to program to program because they know the answers that they need to get out of themselves.

[44:02] Instead of trying to you know, incorporate someone else’s entire program and entire plan. And I think it’s a real.

[44:12] It’s a very important space in the industry where women really need that. We just do. We need. We need help uncovering our own blind spots.

[44:24] Tara Bansal: Mm. Yes, I agree. And I really.

[44:30] I don’t love the term coaching. I don’t have a better term, so I will go with that. But,

[44:37] I mean,

[44:39] in an ideal world, I feel like everyone should have a coach to help us. And sometimes friends help play that role, sometimes, you know, a mentor. There’s different facets of it, but to have someone who gives you their undivided attention and asks the questions to help you figure it out.

[45:03] And I mean, yeah, I mean, Kristin’s been. We’ve been coaching each other, so I consider Kristin a amazing coach, too. And that’s. I just think it can make such a difference.

[45:17] And I also don’t think people know what it is or what it can do until they actually experience it.

[45:26] And I’m not saying that to, you know, like, it. It’s just hard. But you.

[45:33] You have to be willing to be vulnerable and look at yourself and, you know, answer some hard questions.

[45:40] Kristin Stutz: Yeah. Yeah. The coaching experience is entirely dependent on the person being coachable.

[45:48] And I, you know, I will say frequently about this industry and. And I think it’s just true of entrepreneurship in general, but I feel like in the advisory space, it’s one of the greatest personal development industries because we’re the only ones in our own way.

[46:07] You know, that there’s just. There’s so many ways to do this business well that there’s nothing stopping people from doing things the way that they want to do them truly, and being good at it and building the practice that they want.

[46:23] Tara Bansal: And so that’s part of what I want, is to help show people the truth to that statement is,

[46:33] you know,

[46:35] almost the sky’s the limit if you’re willing to get aligned with what your strengths are and what you really want,

[46:45] it is.

[46:46] Kristin Stutz: And I just think what a beautiful gift you are to the industry. And female financial advisors are going to be really lucky to have the opportunity to spend some time working with you.

[46:59] And.

[47:02] Tara Bansal: But I’m doing the podcast right now. Cause it’s fun. Like, my thing for this year is I.

[47:09] I love,

[47:11] like I said, like, sitting in a meeting with clients and talking to them and asking them questions and getting to know them.

[47:19] I. I love asking people questions. I love learning about them. I love. And so doing this podcast is like, yeah, I get to talk to Incredible, fascinating women and hear their stories of, like,

[47:37] how they got here and what they want and even sometimes, like, what’s getting in the way or what they’ve learned and to be able to share that.

[47:47] So it feels fun to me. You know, if it stops being fun, then it won’t keep going. But right now, every single conversation I’ve had,

[47:57] because I’ve recorded a few at this point, but I just, I look forward to it. And I think that’s part of the test is like, when you’re not looking forward to your day,

[48:09] can you look at what part of the day are you not looking forward to or what are the parts that feel fun or you want more of?

[48:18] Kristin Stutz: Yeah.

[48:19] Tara Bansal: And that’s what this is for me.

[48:21] Kristin Stutz: Yeah. Yeah, definitely. And I think there’s so many facets to,

[48:26] to all of it in, in figuring out, you know, what’s next for, for growth, perspective and everything else. And just like you said, the opportunity to spend time with other brilliant advisors, other brilliant women and develop those relationships and pick their brain through the podcast and, and shouldn’t life be everything that you do should just be fun?

[48:48] Just like, I just love that you’re enjoying the podcast and the opportunity to serve the advisory community in this way. It’s awesome.

[48:57] Tara Bansal: And I hope to build a community of like, women who, you know, agree and think like that and want to learn and support each other.

[49:10] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, I’m, I’m curious. Just a couple of questions here just to wrap up. How do you define happiness and have you found it?

[49:28] Tara Bansal: Hmm.

[49:30] Well, I can tell you I am so much happier than I was in my younger days. Like, I,

[49:42] I had a lot of mental health issues. Like I would say I was depressed, I was suicidal at different times. And,

[49:52] and so part of this is like, I feel like I’ve worked really hard because I, I, I read a book that like 50% of your,

[50:04] you know, happiness slash, well, being you have control over.

[50:09] And that motivated me to really start working hard at it. And, and sometimes I feel this is a long winded answer, but, like, why do I have to work so hard at it?

[50:25] Like, I journal, I meditate, I work out, I like, but I feel like I have to do that to almost like keep myself in a good place. And not that I always am in a good place for sure.

[50:45] I mean,

[50:49] I don’t think anyone going to that how to define happiness.

[50:57] Nobody’s going to be happy all the time.

[51:00] And so even that term I’m not sure I love.

[51:05] Kristin Stutz: Yeah.

[51:09] Tara Bansal: But it comes to feeling connected and feeling loved and feeling a little bit like enough. And that I think is with some age of like I.

[51:37] I’m gonna get teary. But like I truly believe that God loves all of us. And like when I end my journal page, it’s always I am love. I am loved and I am enough.

[51:59] Kristin Stutz: Absolutely. I feel like that’s a perfect place to end because you are love, you are loved and you are so much more than you are.

[52:14] Tara Bansal: Thank you. That was great. Kristin.

[52:17] Kristin Stutz: Thank you.

[52:20] Tara Bansal: First off, a huge, huge thank you to Kristin Stutz for interviewing me.

[52:25] She did a great job and asked me some tough questions. After the interview I felt like I had a vulnerability hangover. Did I say or share too much? Is what I said.

[52:37] Okay. I definitely was a little long winded and talked way more than I’m used to. I like being the one to ask the questions.

[52:45] My intention for this first episode was for listeners to get to know me, where I come from, my background, what I care about and why I’m doing this podcast. I hope it accomplished that.

[52:58] I truly believe that each of us knows what’s right for us and if we can get quiet enough or brave enough to listen to will help us live a better, more joyful and meaningful life.

[53:11] Thank you for listening to her life, her practice, her way. A podcast for and about female Financial advisors. I truly hope you have enjoyed this podcast and got some value from it.

[53:24] If so, I would love to ask a favor of you. Please go to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and rate and review my podcast. This will help me get the word out to other amazing like minded female financial advisors.

[53:39] You can also send it to a friend or two who you think would gain something from listening to it. Until next time, I’m wishing you the very best.

Kristin Stutz, CFP®

Stephanie Bogan’s Limitless Advisor Program

Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Brett Danko, LLC

Main Street Financial Solutions, LLC

Princeton Global

Martha Beck’s Wayfinder Life Coaching Program

Tara Conti Bansal, CFP®

As a certified life coach and financial planner, my ultimate goal is to work with you to find fulfillment in your life. And while money is a part of that, I believe that getting there is not just about your finances. It’s about making the most of all your assets—including your talents, gifts, skills, and time.

I love working with people and getting to know them in a deep way. My strength is asking the questions that get my clients thinking about what really matters to them. And my passion is helping people become empowered to make confident, rewarding decisions about their own future.

• Former Partner, Main Street Financial Solutions
• CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP^®) and Life Coach
• Virginia Tech, M.S. Chemical Engineering & M.B.A.
• Lafayette College, B.S.