Meet Santiago

I've been in the business of financial advice for almost twenty-one years, with ten of those as the owner of my own firm. In May 2015, I launched my firm RL Wealth Management—named after our two sons at the time, Roman and Leo. To be honest, I never loved the name of my firm. While I absolutely loved what it represented, RL Wealth Management as a brand wasn't exciting.

At the time, I needed a name to move the business forward. It was the best I could think of, and I wouldn't change that original choice.

When Silas was born, I rebranded to include him in the company name, and RL Wealth Management became RLS Wealth. I still didn't love the name—though I was glad to drop "Management"—but I loved who and what it represented. During the rebrand, I worked with an amazing designer to develop a brand ethos for RLS Wealth. She created the "36 Circle," which I named for its thirty-six small lines. At the time, I thought it was simply a great brand logo, but I didn't realize it carried a deeper meaning that would reveal itself later and align with the person and advisor I would become. I then collaborated with a friend, another talented designer, to build the RLS Wealth website, which I still love today.

It's remarkable to look at the RLS Wealth rebrand because so much of our work foreshadowed my path as a financial advisor. I mentioned the designer choosing thirty-six lines for the company logo; you can read the significance of that number and logo in a Daily Note I wrote a while back. The website copy made sense then but resonates even more now—it could have been used for the Santiago website with just a few tweaks to colors and copy, plus the new logo. Phrases like "champion for life's pursuits", "Money isn't evil. Money isn't the answer. Money is a tool.", and "We're at the messy intersection of life and money creating alignment in the lives of dreamers like you" are examples of copy that applies to Santiago just as much as, if not more than, it did to RLS Wealth.

I view the synchronicity between RLS Wealth then and Santiago now as a sign that I was meant to make this evolution.

As I've evolved from a financial advisor to a transformational guide who happens to have expertise in finance, I felt it was important to have a brand that reflected who I've become, where I want my business to go, and the impact I will have on my clients.

RLS Wealth could have worked.

But it doesn't signal the shift in how I serve clients.

It also doesn't speak to the spiritual connection to money I've discovered and want to incorporate in my work with clients.

And it doesn't tell the story that clients who choose to work with me are pursuing.

Santiago does.

Well, it does to me.

And it will to the world in time.

Santiago

You might be wondering why Santiago?

Santiago is the main character in my favorite book, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. If you haven't read The Alchemist, I highly recommend it—it's played an important role in my journey, well beyond providing the new name for my firm.

Without spoiling the story, in The Alchemist, Santiago goes on a journey to find his Personal Legend—a pursuit of his Authentic Life. I have a cool story about when I first purchased the book years before it became important to me, forgetting about it, being told I remind someone of Santiago, and then rediscovering it as I was aligning my spirit, mind, and body and discovering my authentic Self—ask me about it the next time we chat.

The lessons Santiago learns on his journey, his spiritual connection with his Higher Power, the Alchemist who guides him to his Personal Legend, and Santiago's ambition, confidence, and trust in himself all speak to the journey that AlignedLife+ was created to help clients pursue.

At Santiago, I help clients embrace their inner Santiago and pursue their Personal Legend, or Authentic Life as I like to call it. I'm not sure if I play the role of The Alchemist or some other character, but it doesn't matter because it's not about me—it's about YOU. It's about my clients.

I didn't rename the firm Alchemist—it's Santiago because you are here to move closer to your authentic Self and life.

The End of One Chapter And The Beginning Of Another

I've written how our lives are a series of chapters. It's normal and healthy to bring one chapter to an end to start a new one. I've found many of us are afraid to end a story, which keeps us pursuing a path that no longer serves us. I believe ending a chapter in life should be celebrated, not feared or mourned.

The rebrand to Santiago is a celebration of what RLS Wealth has been these past ten years. It still lives on within Santiago with the clients I've worked with for years, and the orange in the Santiago branding is a nod to RLS Wealth—without RLS Wealth, there would be no Santiago.

In this next chapter, I'll continue as a financial advisor while also serving as a life planner and guide (some might say coach, but I don't like that title) for clients. I'm excited to bring my vision for AlignedLife+ to reality—I've built it and I know they will come. I'm also eager to incorporate spirituality, mindfulness, and health into the planning process. I'll lean more into my "woo" side and help clients include their intuition in their planning process. I'll even incorporate manifestation into plans, but not in the way that has been glamorized—you can read more about what I mean here. For some reason, and it's all in my head, RLS Wealth didn't allow me to explore these non-traditional areas of finance.

Santiago does.

Santiago gives me permission to share even more of my authentic Self in my work and with my clients, which will only increase the impact I can have.

So welcome to Santiago.

RLS Wealth, thank you for an amazing ten years. You'll always be a part of Santiago's DNA, and I'll never forget you. But it's time to end our chapter and begin writing the next one.

Keep pursuing,

Justin