The Secret to Scaling Without Losing Your Soul

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Episode 102: On this week’s episode of Next Mile, I speak with Carrie Delgott, President, COO, and CCO at Wescott Financial Advisory Group. With over 25 years in financial services—including two decades at Vanguard—Carrie brings deep expertise to the evolving RIA landscape.

We discuss how values and vision can power meaningful scale. Our conversation explores Wescott’s journey as a B Corp, their involvement in the Net Positive Consortium, and how their Life-Minded Wealth philosophy puts people—not just portfolios—at the center of everything. Carrie shares lessons from integrating a billion-dollar acquisition, insights on the future of the industry, and why technology, culture, and intentionality are key to building a standout firm in a crowded market.

Key Takeaways

Growth is about absorption, not just acquisition. Successfully integrating people and culture is just as important as the deal itself. Without alignment, you lose the opportunity for true scale.

Values attract top talent. Wescott’s B Corp status and purpose-driven approach resonate deeply with next-gen advisors who want to do meaningful work.

Scale is relative—and evolving. As the industry shifts, even mid-sized firms must rethink what growth looks like and how to build infrastructure that supports it.

Quotes

“We’re not looking to have technology replace that human interaction, but we certainly are looking for it to make us more and more efficient.” ~ Carrie Delgott

“Acquisitions are not for the faint of heart. Just because you can afford a practice doesn’t mean you can absorb a practice.” ~ Carrie Delgott

“If you’re not going to integrate and you’re not going to come to some best practices for how you’re going to work on behalf of our clients going forward, then you just lost all of the scale and efficiency opportunities.” ~ Carrie Delgott

Links 

Carrie Delgott on LinkedIn

Wescott Financial Advisory Group

Vanguard

Grant Rawdin

Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take

Life-Minded Wealth

Salesforce

The Psychology of Money

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Kyle on LinkedIn

Jud on LinkedIn

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Kyle Van Pelt