About Me
The “no nonsense” version of what I do?
Hi, I’m Sara.
I’m a marketing consultant who helps financial advisors fight the tendency to barf meaningless cliché on their prospects. Prior to launching my own firm, I was a financial advisor and worked at Lehman Brothers. I collected a bunch of credentials (Harvard, NYU, CFA® designation) that look good on paper but have questionable relevance.
You’ll find the content on this site was written for the most part in my raw, “no nonsense” style. Here’s a guide to which type may be best for you.
Enjoy!
-Sara
I am Sara Grillo, CFA, financial advisor marketing consultant and financial services keynote speaker. I specialize in LinkedIn lead generation strategies for wealth management, investment management, financial planning, and RIA firms. A professional code of ethics governs all actions I take.
Prior to this, I was a financial advisor and worked at Lehman Brothers. I graduated from Harvard University and pursued my Masters at NYU Stern School of Business before going on to obtain my CFA designation.
I am well known due to my outspoken and disruptive perspective on the unethical BS and nonsense that prevails in the private wealth industry.
I help ethical financial advisors get wealthy clients in a transparent way. My financial advisor marketing strategies are geared towards helping financial advisors promote themselves with simplicity, honesty, empathy, and a high ethics rather than BS methods. That is how I help financial advisors and private wealth managers with marketing, branding and generating leads.
My areas of expertise:
- Marketing Consultant
- Financial Author
- Podcast Host
- Keynote Speaker
- Copyrighter/Ghostwriter
- Lead Generation Expert
Financial Advisor Marketing Badass
Who I Really Am
I’m originally from a small town outside Boston, MA. My mother was a chemistry teacher and my dad was in the Air Force. He eventually ended up working for what became Constant Contact.
I am an autism advocate, a supporter of the US military, and an astronomy lover. My kids and I rescue abandoned cats.
Over a span of five and a half years, Antonio and I had four kids.
Boom, boom, boom, and boom.
After my second baby was born, I quit my job as a financial advisor. I was decent at it, but my heart wasn’t really into it. I felt that I was being called to something else.
There I was sitting on my couch with no income and two babies saying to myself, “Well, this stinks.” So I started making selfie videos and uploading them to YouTube. I didn’t really have any other options. I literally just started recording with my webcam while my babies were taking their naps.
I made one video about how to pass the CFA exam, and it got something like 20k hits. The next thing I know, equity research analysts and financial advisors start asking me to write things for them. The first month I must have made about $48. But the jobs kept coming, the videos kept getting more views.
On a constant basis I hear from people who read my blogs or see my videos and tell me that I’ve changed their lives.
Whose life are you meant to change?
-Sara
