We were lucky to catch up with Amy Colton recently and have shared our conversation below.

Amy, appreciate you joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Amy Colton is a Wealth Advisor and Partner at Forefront Wealth Partners where she provides advice with regards to financial, tax and legal strategies. She is also the founder Your Divorce Made Simple LLC, where she combines the role of Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA®) and Family Law Mediator helping couples and individuals achieve win-win outcomes during the divorce process.

She comes to the financial planning industry after a successful career of more than 40 years in sales, management and business development in the technology and pharmaceutical industries. During that time she spent more than 20 years at International Business Machines (IBM) as an executive in sales and management.

Her own journey began when she entered the corporate world with IBM, where she spent 20 years. During that time, she experienced 2 careers changes, 3 marriages, 3 divorces and 4 geographic moves. Her life was a series of transitions.

After losing her job in the corporate world in 2008 she decided to embark on her 4th career which led her on the path to becoming an entrepreneur. Today she runs 2 businesses and has devoted her practice to educating and supporting women, especially ones that are going through major life transitions.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

One of the biggest transitions that her clients face is divorce. When one is going through a divorce they need to consider the legal, emotional financial aspects of their divorce. Unfortunately most people only consider the legal aspects. They tend to rely on their lawyers to help with financial and tax issues that may arise and they are not financial professionals.

For over seven years she has been working with individuals and couples going through divorce to help them negotiate the division of assets, child considerations, as well as financial and tax planning needs both during and after the divorce. By creating a financial divorce plan prior to hiring an attorney the can save money and time as well as create a more amicable environment.

She has created a unique process for helping people navigate divorce by combining the skills of a Certified Divorce Specialist, Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA®) and Family Law Mediator. This process is called “The Kitchen Table” divorce. It is a new way to approach divorce which saves time, saves money and allows for win-win outcomes.

Having had three divorces of her own and the additional experience of guiding many couples through their divorce, she is able to educate her clients on how to navigate this extremely emotional time.

She and her team have worked with divorcing individuals and couples guiding them through the divorce process with civility and saving them thousands of dollars.

By getting educated on the different options available, likely outcomes and knowledge about the divorce process, she can inspire couples to move forward with confidence.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

As a young girl I couldn’t wait to get my first job so the minute I turned 16 I entered the workforce and immediately started saving my money. Even at this early age, I realized quickly the importance of saving money and the freedom it gave me to do the things I wanted. By the time I finished graduate school I had financed two trips to Europe and paid cash for my first car. While my savings provided many wonderful opportunities, I didn’t really understand how my understanding of money and my ability to save and invest would have such a tremendous impact on my life until life didn’t quite go as I planned.

In 2008 I lost my corporate position and was unemployed for 2 years. It seemed my life was a series of transitions.

Because I understood finances and how to manage money I was able to manage life altering events with confidence. I realized that most all of my friends were experiencing life transitions as well and while we had that in common I was surprised to learn how uncomfortable they were about money and investing. This lack of understanding made their life changing events even more challenging.

That’s when I realized my true path in life was to become a financial advisor for women. To create an environment that encouraged every woman to get her financial house in order so they could make decisions from an area of strength and not fear. I want women to feel they can move forward with confidence in a more optimistic and positive way so that they can chose their own destiny. I wanted to help women make smart decisions and have financial independence. Becoming a financial advisor helped me to take charge of my life again and in the process, help other women.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy for growing clientele has been the activities that I must do every week.

I start with looking at the big picture for the year and put together a yearly goal. This includes financial and non-financial goals. Then I break it down into quarterly goals. I use the EOS model and the Vision/Traction Organizer. This comes from the book Traction by Gino Wickman.
I also use the self journal which helps track my progress. It is a blank journal that I use each quarter. I look at my weekly activity and track it in the journal. I also use the journal to plan my daily activities as well.

By knowing my metrics and tracking them weekly, it helps me stay on track for my goals. I have determined that each week I need to set six appointments with either a client, prospect or strategic partner. In order to find these people I must attend two networking meeting a week.

I have been doing these activities every week for over ten years and it has helped me stay focused on my goals.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.yourdivorcemadesimple.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourdivorcemadesimple/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amy.colton.77/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-colton-mba-cdfa-30094b158/