
Rewind^3: Forget goal-setting and focus on purpose: a mindset conversation with Stephanie Bogan
20/20 MONEY: The Business of OptometryShow Notes
Welcome to this episode rewind of 20/20 Money! In keeping with tradition of years past, I'm bringing back this episode yet again.
If you are a long-time listener of the show, I still think it's worth listening to these episodes and other repeat episodes, whether it's on my podcast or other podcasts, for two reasons. Number one, the host of the show valued the episode and thought it to be worthy enough for a repeat listen. Second, you are not the same person that you are when you first listen to the episode. It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from the philosopher Heraclitus, who said "No person stands in the same stream twice, for they are not the same person and the stream is not the same." The same thing can be said for podcast episodes, books that we read or listen to, coaching programs that we're involved in, or any other content we're consuming with the goal of personal and/or professional improvement. If it was valuable at some point in the past, there's a good chance that it will be valuable in the future. Listening to things again at a different place in your life can allow you to pick up different pearls of knowledge from the same lesson.
Given the time of year, this is usually when we are thinking about goal setting, and everyone's schedule is anything but normal around this time. I wanted to bring back the conversation that I had with my friend, business collaborator, and advisor coach Stephanie Bogan from early 2022. I'll share some info about Steph here shortly in the intro and then close out this introduction with some personal thoughts and reflections.
While Stephanie has built and sold a number of businesses in her career, most recently she is the founder of Limitless Adviser, a coaching program where she empowers financial advisors to create and build wildly successful practices and a life that they love. This was a special conversation for me when I originally had it as I've been privileged to be involved in that program in a couple of different ways—first as an advisor that was being coached by Stephanie (from 2018-2020) and then serving as an advisor coach, where I help coach and empower other advisors to work intentionally on their practices by applying the mindset and methods that Stephanie teaches in the curriculum and that I've learned over the years as well. I exited that coaching business at the end of 2024 and I'd be lying if there was a part of me that doesn't miss what I was doing in that program, but my other businesses were asking a bit more of me and it was time to pass the torch to another group of advisors.
In this conversation we talk about something that tends to be popular around this time of year: goal setting. However, we talk about it from a bit of a different angle, which is first spending time focusing on your purpose and intention for building what you're building and how money plays a role in that plan. We talk about it from two angles: the first being the practice owner that's at the tail end of their career and facing an inevitable transition from their practice and also from the lens of a younger practice owner that has many years in front of them.
Now hundreds of episodes into 20/20 Money, this show has continued to grow and develop into something bigger than I thought it would have and I'm eternally grateful for everyone that's been involved in the show. To all my guests that have given their time to come on the show and share their perspective, experience, and expertise—thank you. To my producer Kyle— yet another thank you for all your help with the show. From getting it initially set up in 2018 to handling everything with the show after I've finished recording an episode…I appreciate all that you do for the show. And lastly, to you, the listener of the show. Whether this is your first episode, or you've listened to dozens (or even hundreds!) of them, I'm sincerely grateful for the intimate, albeit asynchronous relationship that we've been able to have. My goal
More from 20/20 MONEY: The Business of Optometry
In this episode of 20/20 Money: The Business of Optometry, I'm joined by Nathan Hayes of Books & Benchmarks to go over their recently updated benchmarks analysis and unpack what the latest optometry practice data says about growth, overhead, and profitability. We discuss why a benchmark is a starting point, not a verdict on your practice, and why rising expense ratios may call for a closer look at revenue rather than an immediate round of cuts.
The most expensive professional service may not be the one with the highest price—it may be the one you mistakenly thought was a great deal.
What does it really take to build and lead a successful multi-location optometry practice? In this episode of 20/20 Money, I'm joined by Dr. Andy Yaryan, Dr. Jeni Kohn, and Dr. Patrick Curran, three experienced practice owners who offer an honest look at what is happening beneath the surface of a growing practice. We discuss the challenges that remain even after achieving visible success, including rising expenses, staffing and culture, shrinking margins, associate recruitment, and the danger of becoming complacent.
The most expensive mistake in your practice might be solving a problem you never proved existed.
The investments you own may be perfectly reasonable—and still be completely wrong for you.