Building Wealth for the LGBTQ+ Community with Laura J. LaTourette

Brian Thompson chats with Laura J. LaTourette, CFP, the founder of Family Wealth Management Group. As a self-made entrepreneur, Laura has prioritized building her fee-only financial planning firm while living fully as her authentic self. Her comprehensive planning and wealth management approach demands the same kind of determination, self-reflection, and bold spirit from clients.

On the episode, Laura shares strategies she’s used to build her successful, long-standing firm and the lessons she wishes she had learned a little sooner in her entrepreneurial journey. She also discusses why now is the time to build wealth for the LGBTQ+ community and how being vocal and visible can inspire compassion.

Episode Highlights

Mission-driven businesses come from the heart.

Laura defines a mission-driven business as one that comes from your heart and reflects who you are authentically as a person. Although she didn’t define her financial planning firm as a mission-driven business at first, when she came out as a lesbian in 1994, Laura knew she wanted to help people like her.

“I worked with women in transition -- women through divorce or being widowed,” Laura said. “Then I also found my LGBTQ community needed help with understanding the language of financial planning, so I just kind of took off from there on an organic basis.”

Keep a firm line between advising and therapy.

One of the benefits of being an entrepreneurial financial planner is the ability to show up authentically, which helps Laura build trust with clients and form real relationships. Laura is clear that working with her means a long-term commitment.

“It’s a long-term relationship,” she said. “It’s not a transactional situation.”

Having that type of client relationship requires both Laura and her clients to be vulnerable, and Laura will share part of her story to help her connect with clients. However, she is careful to make sure an appointment does not turn into a therapy session.

“If they go so far that it seems like they’re really giving me too much information, I do talk to them about financial therapists,” she said.

It’s time to build wealth for the LGBTQ+ community.

As a new wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation sweeps through the country, stoking fears that marriage equality might be the next right overruled by the Supreme Court, it’s now a priority to create a “rainbow network” that builds wealth and provides financial education for the LGBTQ+ community.

“We’ve got trans kids dying, and we’ve got LGBT elders not able to find a safe place to live during their ending days, so we’ve got trouble on both ends,” Laura said.

Laura called on the LGBTQ+ community and allies to become visible, vocal advocates on business boards and in places of power. Laura lives this advice by serving as an ambassador in the financial services industry and by sharing her perspective with clients who sometimes find it uncomfortable when she mentions her wife.

“The more you make them uncomfortable, at some point, then they start getting comfortable,” Laura said. “They may not be able to advocate for me yet, but I can at least bridge an opening of their heart.”

Resources + Links

• Family Wealth Management Group
• Laura’s financial industry leadership: CFP Board Ambassadors, FPA PridePlanners
• Laura’s Social Media: Twitter, LinkedIn
• Brian’s Social Media: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook 

About Brian and the Mission Driven Business Podcast

Brian Thompson, JD/CFP, is a tax attorney and certified financial planner who specializes in providing comprehensive financial planning to LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs who run mission-driven businesses. The Mission Driven Business podcast was born out of his passion for helping social entrepreneurs create businesses with purpose and profit.

On the podcast, Brian talks with diverse entrepreneurs and the people who support them. Listeners hear stories of experiences, strength, and hope and get practical advice to help them build businesses that might just change the world, too.