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In this episode of Financial Behavior Thought Leaders, host Dr. Mary Bell Carlson sits down with Laura Garfield, co-founder of Idea Decanter and a trailblazing voice in video marketing for financial professionals. Laura isn’t just an expert behind the camera. Her journey from TV newsrooms to the keynote stage and founder of a successful video marketing firm offers a rich, authentic perspective on why finfluence—using video to grow authority and business—is the new imperative for today’s financial advisors.
Mary and Laura dive deep into the evolution of Laura’s career, from the challenges and triumphs of her early reporting days (including a memorable “flop” on live TV) to her emergence as a sought-after keynote speaker. Laura shares candid stories of overcoming fear and failure, building empathy for others with camera shyness, and reveals what it really takes to help financial advisors carve out a credible, compelling presence in the noisy world of social media finance content.
Throughout the episode, Laura explains why video is quickly becoming one of the most powerful tools in an advisor’s toolkit—both for client prospecting and nurturing established relationships. The conversation takes listeners behind the scenes of Laura’s signature keynote, “Find Your Finfluence,” and includes lively, actionable anecdotes about advisors who have successfully harnessed video to build trust, streamline communication, and spark significant business growth.
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Laura started her career in broadcast journalism learning how to ask the right questions to get to the heart of the story. In 2014, she co-founded Idea Decanter to help advisors use content to build authority and grow their businesses. The company’s work has been named as a finalist for 4 Wealthies Awards and a Luminaries. As host of The Real #Finfluencers, Laura puts her reporter skills to work digging up top performing advisors’ secrets to video marketing success.
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Laura breaks down the term “finfluence”—the new intersection of finance and influence—and reassures advisors that video content isn’t just for the young or tech-savvy. With the right mindset and a willingness to be authentic, any advisor can use video to educate, connect, and cut through the noise of bad financial advice proliferating on social media.
Research shows that video triggers a sense of personal connection far better than email or written communication. Laura explains how advisors can use short videos not just to prospect, but also to serve and nurture current clients—making them feel seen and valued, and turning them into powerful referral sources.
Replacing cold-calling hours with regular video creation builds momentum over time, even if immediate results aren’t obvious. Laura shares the story of an advisor who persisted through months of slow progress to ultimately win dozens of new “right-fit” clients. Consistency—not viral hits—is what unlocks compounding returns.
5. Be Personal to Stand Out:
Adding personal stories, quirks, and even pets into your content draws people in and sets you apart in a crowded field. Laura candidly discusses her own experiments incorporating personal anecdotes (including “never washing her hair!”) and featuring her rescue pets, which consistently lead to higher engagement. Authenticity and humanity resonate far more than polished, impersonal advice.
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Thanks for joining us on this episode of Financial Behavior Thought Leaders. Join us next time for more insightful discussions with the voices influencing the financial industry.
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Join the Real #Finfluencers community.
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Mary Bell Carlson [00:00:11]:
Hi, welcome to Financial Behavior Thought Leaders. I’m Mary and this podcast takes you behind the scenes with top speakers and financial services. So whether you’re a financial advisor booking client or an event planner looking for the perfect keynote or a professional wanting to learn from industry thought leaders in the right place, Today we’re featuring Laura Garfield, one of our Financial Behavior keynote group’s exclusive speakers. Laura is the co founder of Idea Decanter, a trailblazing video marketing firm helping financial professionals turn their ideas into high impact video content. In this episode, we’ll explore her signature keynote. Find your finfluence using video to build authority and grow your business. We’ll learn why video is one of the most powerful tools in today’s advisors toolkit and she’ll even share some of her top strategies advisors are using right now to extend their reach and their revenue. Thanks, Laura for joining us.
Laura Garfield [00:01:06]:
Thanks for having me, Mary.
Mary Bell Carlson [00:01:08]:
So I have to ask Laura, what let’s go back for a little bit. What in the world started you on your speaking journey? How did you get started in this career?
Laura Garfield [00:01:20]:
It’s a great question. I set the intention in January 2020 that it was going to be my year of public speaking. I joined a speaker training group. I was raring to go. And we all know what happened Covid. And so I got trained up during the pandemic and did a bunch of virtual events. But 2020 did not end up being the year that I struck out on stage. And to step it back a little, I had a lot of on cam experience, not a lot of onstage experience, but a lot of on cam because I had spent a decade in TV news before founding Idea Decanter.
Laura Garfield [00:02:12]:
So I was very familiar with holding a mic and standing, stepping in front of a camera, doing a live shot, you know, for hundreds of thousands, millions of people. But for me, making that leap, that transition to stepping on stage where you can look into the faces of that audience, it was a whole different game.
Mary Bell Carlson [00:02:35]:
Totally. Well, and I want to go back because you have a very interesting background. So I want to take it back just a little more. Let’s dig into what that past looked like. Tell us more about that.
Laura Garfield [00:02:46]:
Well, I was in TV news. I started out in tiny Hastings, Nebraska, moved up through Omaha to New Orleans. I happened to be living and working in TV news there during Hurricane Katrina. So a lot of interesting stories, but one of my favorites happened in between those two stops at a TV station in Omaha, Nebraska. And because Omaha is right on the border of Nebraska and Iowa and the during presidential Campaigns, all of the candidates come through Iowa and stump. I had had the chance to interview a lot of the presidential candidates, which was a big deal to someone who was, I think at the time, 23 or 24. And so when it came time for the inauguration, it had given me kind of the confidence to go to my news director and say, hey, you know, I’ve only reported here in Nebraska, but put me on a plane and send me to Washington D.C. i would like to cover the inauguration.
Laura Garfield [00:03:48]:
And I remember my news director sizing up the idea and saying, laura, you can only go if you deliver this fantastic live shot. And I thought, no problem, like I’ve got this. So I attended the inauguration. I got to go to the Texas Inaugural Ball. And then I went to CBS News Washington bureau. And I remember it was, I was doing the 10 o’ clock news in Omaha, so it was pretty late at night. And I took the elevator up to the seventh floor to the newsroom. And I remember those doors opening and the kind of butterflies in my stomach, like this was it, like this was my Katie Couric moment.
Laura Garfield [00:04:28]:
This was going to make my reporter reel. I was going to go to the national news level straight away, like this was it. And when I got into the newsroom, I realized that there were reporters like me from all over the country doing live shots for their local stations. And so they put me at the end of the line. So the camera was here, the reporter with the mic is standing in front of the camera, the backdrop of the Capitol. And I had to wait and listen to people go and people go and people go. And I got a little more nervous as the minutes ticked away. And finally it was my turn.
Laura Garfield [00:05:04]:
And the reporter in front of me handed me the mic. I stepped in front, put in my earpiece, and I opened my mouth and I started my report. And I nailed it. Uh huh. Not even close. Oh. Three words into my report, what I was saying began to repeat back in my ear in this like delayed echo chamber. And I was totally thrown.
Laura Garfield [00:05:31]:
I stumbled, I stammered. It was the longest 90 seconds of my life. I somehow got through it. I don’t think I made any sense. And finally the camera guy, I pitched it back to Omaha and the camera guy said, laura, you’re clear. And he had this look on his face like, you probably should have stayed back in Omaha. But he said to me, laura, next time that happens, pull out your earpiece. Your director forgot to put your audio in mix minus.
Laura Garfield [00:06:02]:
And I stepped away. I remember taking the elevator back down to this deserted lobby, finding a chair in a corner, I sat down and I cried because I had completely blown it. Like, this was my shot and I had thrown it away and all I had to do was pull out my earpiece. It was so simple. But what that gave me was empathy for everyone who has fear, who has trepidation about stepping in front of the camera and looking stupid. Because I have been there and I have done it. And I thought that was going to end my career. But luckily my future news directors didn’t see it that way.
Laura Garfield [00:06:40]:
And I did move on to New Orleans, and then I worked at CBS News in New York and then CNN and Atlanta. And it wasn’t the end of the line, but it did change my perspective because I have really screwed up and it didn’t end me well.
Mary Bell Carlson [00:06:56]:
And I feel like that’s such a relatable story. Not that we’re all in front of news cameras on cbs, but like the fact that you’ve stood up in an audience before, you stood up on a stage and you’ve just flopped it. And just learning, I think part of that is also learning the experience. Right? I’m being better prepared for that next opportunity that comes, which leads into what you teach advisors, is the training behind that, all the work that goes into it before you go in front of the camera. So tell us a little bit more about how the business works and how advisors can improve their own finfluence.
Laura Garfield [00:07:37]:
Well, the word finfluence is fairly new and sometimes I get blank stares when I say, do you want to find your finfluence? It is a word that I think showed up in 2024, sort of that combination of influence and finance because our world is truly turning to video. More than 80% of web traffic last year was people watching videos. And something in the neighborhood of 82% of people between the ages of 18 and 41 report that they got financial advice off of social media. And what I can tell you for certain is that much of that advice that they’re getting isn’t sound. It’s not what a fiduciary would share. And one of the the best parts of the beginning of my find you’d finfluence speech is this clip I show from this guy on TikTok who’s saying 401ks are the worst investment that you could possibly have. Clear out your 401k, throw it all into real estate, and every advisor sitting in the room, their jaw drops. And then I ask, you know, who has seen some bad financial advice online and every hand in the room goes up because there is so much of it out there.
Laura Garfield [00:09:13]:
And really the idea behind finding your finfluence is putting aside your fears of stepping in front of the camera and finding that voice because you know what the best advice is. But finding that voice and getting inspired to add some reason to all of the noise that’s out there.
Mary Bell Carlson [00:09:37]:
So I can see that especially in prospecting, right? Like reaching out and getting new. What about for those clients who have been around for a while and say, look, I’ve got my clientele. Why do I need to do videos for them?
Laura Garfield [00:09:49]:
Sometimes video marketing can make the biggest difference when you already have this well established book of business, even if you’re thinking, I don’t need any more clients. Because what video does is it puts you in front of them in a way that 10x is 100x’s, 200x is your time. Because with a video, you only have to record it once and then you can share it with many. And the best part is that they can consume it, they can watch it on demand. So there’s kind of a psychological trick that comes with watching a video, and it’s that if you watch a video of someone, you feel like you’ve had a conversation with them or you’ve spent time with them. And that’s a really great way to make all of your clients feel by just recording something and sharing it with them. What we’ve also seen is that it then turns your clients into a referral flywheel. So the more video you put in front of them in a consistent way, the easier it is for them to tell other people about you.
Laura Garfield [00:11:04]:
So if you are in growth mode, like many advisors looking to add more right fit clients to your book of business, adding video to your strategy can be effective. And a great example is an advisor we work with named Dave. And he recorded a video. It was his why story. And he talked about some simple things. Like he still remembered all of the license plates from his family’s cars while he was growing up. And all of his childhood friends phone numbers back when we had to memorize those, all of his high school wrestling stats. He has this weird mind for numbers.
Laura Garfield [00:11:41]:
He puts it to use for his clients. And then the video went on to talk about that. And when he was done, he sent it out to his 46 AAA clients with a message just like, hey, first video. Love to hear what you think. If there’s someone in your life with a financial question, don’t hesitate to forward this on. And when he did. He got 10 new meetings booked within two weeks and six of those became new clients, bringing in millions of dollars in assets. And it was really just all Dave talking about his weird mind for numbers.
Mary Bell Carlson [00:12:14]:
I love it. And it makes it so authentic. You know, as you were even saying that, one of the thoughts went to just this morning, I had worked with a student via email multiple times on a specific project that that student continued to get confused on. And so without even thinking twice, I made a video for the student and shot it right over. And it’s a two minute video, right? And it’s not necessarily going to be shared with the world, but what it’s helped do is, is answer those questions in a very time efficient manner, but also, like you were saying, make that connection to where that person feels heard and understood. Whereas I could have probably sent 10 more emails and still ended up with the same confused student at the beginning. Whereas video really does. And I have learned to use it not just with clients, but even internally with my own staff where I’m able to share something that I’m working on or what I’m doing so they can redo that process more multiple times over.
Laura Garfield [00:13:13]:
The great thing about video over an email is that statistically I think like 95% of emails are read with a negative tone. So whatever you’re sending, and however carefully you couched it when you were crafting that message, someone’s reading it negatively. And it’s much harder to do that with video. You get something like 60,000 times the amount of information in one second of video, as in one second of reading text, because you get the tone of voice, you get the facial expressions, and it’s much harder to misconstrue what someone means when you send them a video. It also helps build trust, which I think is huge. And especially in the financial services industry where you want to establish trust from the get go. And the sooner that a prospect trusts you, the better chance you have of, you know, working with them in the long run. So video can certainly help you get there more quickly.
Mary Bell Carlson [00:14:17]:
I love it. So let’s dig into your keynote, find your finfluence. I want to know really what’s the core message that you want advisors to walk away with? What do you want attendees to hear?
Laura Garfield [00:14:28]:
It’s an inspirational message. You know, my company, Idea Decanter, has been at it for over a decade creating video content for financial advisors. But when I started to conceptualize this keynote, I thought, well, it would be really cool to interview a bunch of financial advisors who have gone out there and really killed it with video on their own and see what connections I could draw. What is the anatomy that makes up the advisor who can do this, who can not only add a voice of reason to all the noise, but also successfully grow their business while they’re doing it. And so I started this interview series and then I based the keynote on the anatomy those, those connector points that I found with the real finfluencers. And the idea is to give this information to financial advisors so they see this isn’t just aspirational, this is attainable. They did it and I can do it. And I show video clips.
Laura Garfield [00:15:41]:
There’s a story I tell about an advisor named Mike who used to be a software engineer before he became a financial advisor. And today his target audience is software engineers and those that get equity comp from their companies. And back in 2020, Mike recorded this video about RSUs that literally any advisor could have recorded. He did it with his webcam. I think he had a light. I’m not sure he had a mic. It wasn’t anything special, high production quality. But he posted it on YouTube and today it has over 100,000 views.
Laura Garfield [00:16:23]:
And the idea is you just have to start. If you’re waiting for an invitation, this is it.
Mary Bell Carlson [00:16:32]:
That is such a good invitation one. And reminder two, I really want to hone in on the third aspect and that is how easy it can be. I think many of us, myself included, are very fearful of being in front of a camera and worried about how we look or authenticity. Can you talk a little bit more about how small easy steps can lead to big profits?
Laura Garfield [00:16:59]:
Step number one, this very first stop in the anatomy of a finfluencer is the gear and the finfluencer that talks about it. His name is Derek and he calls it infrastructure, which cracks me up. But Derek was a financial advisor and he went on to start a fintech. But the story I love about Derek is that he found first got on LinkedIn in 2008 and he would read his feed and occasionally he’d hit a like button and he spent years doing that. And every once in a while he’d stop and wonder. Like I hear other people saying, LinkedIn’s a great platform for growth, but I’m just not seeing it. And finally after a decade in 2018 he changed his approach and became a creator. So he started posting content to his LinkedIn account and he started said it changed everything for his business.
Laura Garfield [00:17:53]:
He went from what he called his creeper era to his creator Era. Derek today is one of LinkedIn’s top voices. He I wrote a book about finding your finfluence. And I was going back and forth recently with Derek about, yeah, I want to make sure all of this is right. You’re one of LinkedIn’s top voices in finance. He said, no, I’m one of LinkedIn’s top voices globally, which makes him the top 1% of the top 1% of people posting on LinkedIn. And for 10 years he did nothing. And then he decided, hey, now’s my time.
Mary Bell Carlson [00:18:30]:
Well, and let’s just go back. 2018 wasn’t even that long ago, right? I mean, when you were talking about getting on a stage in 2020, these things don’t take long. But I think I hear you say something. One, you have to start. And two, consistency. Can you talk to that?
Laura Garfield [00:18:47]:
Yes. There’s a finflancer I interviewed named Mondo Salavanti and he is my most inspirational when it comes to being consistent. Because, you know, I’m a creator, I put out a lot of content and I run into the roadblock like, is this worth it? Am I making a difference? But Mondo’s story is that when he started in the industry, he did four hours a day of cold calling. And at some point he was like, holy cow, there has got to be a better way. And so in 2023, he decided he was going to transition from those four hours cold calling to those four hours a day creating content and having conversations with people on LinkedIn. He targeted that platform because Mondo’s ideal client is a high performing sales executive who has variable compensation. So some months are huge and some months are not so huge. He creates a lot of content around that.
Laura Garfield [00:19:49]:
And he, he put all of this time into it. And six months in he said he looked at it and he didn’t feel like he was moving the needle at all, but he stuck with it. And he said by the end of the first year he had nine new clients. There started to be this moment somewhere after that six month mark where the wheels really started turning. And so after a year of it, he did have new clients. And he didn’t abandon, he just stuck with it. I mean, he found ways to optimize what he was doing, but he stayed consistent. And in that second year, he got 34 new right fit clients.
Laura Garfield [00:20:30]:
And he’s still doing it. He’s in his third year and the last I heard from him, his goal was to double that 34 to 68. And he was well on track to doing it, he was having to hire team members, growing the business by leaps and bounds. And it’s just such an inspirational story about sticking to your guns.
Mary Bell Carlson [00:20:50]:
Well, and I think it’s an inspirational story for all of us who have put content out there and dribbled it in. You know, I have to admit, one of my favorite things about following you on LinkedIn is the personal side that you bring up. So would you talk a little bit about adding in a personal component? Because I think we feel very comfortable telling people what to do, but when it comes to sharing ourselves, that’s a little scarier.
Laura Garfield [00:21:13]:
Yeah. How much information is too much information? I have a funny, very personal story. I had this opinion epiphany the other day. My hair had been looking awful lately. I live in Seattle. It’s like humid. Sometimes it dries, sometimes my hair was just a big frizz ball. And I thought, well, I need to probably start spending the time every day to blow out my hair, make it smooth, make it pretty.
Laura Garfield [00:21:37]:
I do a lot of on camera stuff. Went to my stylist just like feeling really heavy hearted about all of this time investment I was going to have to make in like looking decent. And she said, how often are you washing your hair? And I said, like every day or maybe every other day. And she said, oh, that’s way too much. Like stop washing your hair so much, go to like every five days and use some leave in conditioner. She’s like, you don’t need to blow out your hair, you just need to treat it differently because you’re washing it too often. And I thought to myself, like, wow, like that’s game changing and it’s something like video. Like you can think this content plan is going to take so much of my time.
Laura Garfield [00:22:28]:
It’s going to be so heavy on my heart. Like I can see it, but I, I don’t know if I can get there and it doesn’t have to be that hard. And the reason I shared that story is because just the other day I was recording, recording a video of myself in my bathroom mirror, spraying some water on my hair and spraying some leave in conditioner because it’s the personal piece of that story that will help catch attention, make people feel connected, and then let me drive the message home that while you may be making video out to be this big heavy thing in your head, it doesn’t have to be.
Mary Bell Carlson [00:23:08]:
Well, and those often are the ones that resonate the most with people, right? Because it’s that human connection of, oh, she washes or doesn’t wash her hair. Just like me.
Laura Garfield [00:23:16]:
Never wash my hair.
Mary Bell Carlson [00:23:20]:
Laura, I, well, one, I feel inspired to go make a video right after we get off this video because I feel like there’s, it’s so easy after listening to you. And so thank you for that pep talk. Now here’s my final question for you as we come to wrap. Now, we know about your hair, so they can’t share that. But tell us, what’s something most people don’t know about?
Laura Garfield [00:23:41]:
Laura? Well, some people are beginning to find out that we have a whole bunch of rescued pets at my house. We have two Holland Lop rabbits and an amstaff and two Frenchies. And the reason why it’s probably not the best kept secret is that I have started putting them into my videos and I will hold one of them up to the camera and have them, you know, mouth, mouth over for them asking a question that we hear a lot about video. And then I’ll answer the question and that content, because they’re, they’re cute, little fuzzy faces are in the camera at the beginning. Performs on YouTube, will perform 10 times better than anything else I post. So my husband’s always asking me, you know, when are the pets going to start getting their residuals?
Mary Bell Carlson [00:24:32]:
Yeah, well, and I feel like for me, it’s probably better than my kids, right? Like pulling them in. I’d feel more comfortable with the pet. I don’t know if I can get my fish to talk. That might be a little tricky. So we may have to work on the pet side first. Well, now I feel inspired to both get a pet and make a video all at the same time.
Laura Garfield [00:24:50]:
Borrow a pet. It would be easy.
Mary Bell Carlson [00:24:51]:
Borrow. There we go. Thank you, Laura. And if you’re looking for a speaker who brings energy, practical insight and real transformation in the way you show up online, especially through video, you have found the right person. Book laura@financial behaviorthoughtleaders.com and thank you for joining us. We’ll be back soon with more conversations that bring you closer to the leading voices in financial services. Thanks, everyone.
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