Michelle Poston is in the business of relational services. While her title is CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER (or CFP®), her passion is for building relationships—and helping people change their mindsets, define their ambitions, and reach their goals.
With 15 years in the industry and more than 11 with Infinitas, a comprehensive financial planning firm, Michelle helps her clients set financial priorities and make decisions to help them meet their goals. That includes everything from college savings and tax planning to retirement funding and investment management.
The Importance of Relationships
When Michelle was beginning her financial planning career, it was a commission-based industry and planners found themselves in an aggressive space vying for clients. She spent eight of her 11 years with the Carpenter team leading operations and providing financial planning for clients. She learned a lot while managing a team and experienced tremendous growth. But she realized that focusing on client relationships and the planning process is what she’s really passionate about.
Today, the industry is more planning-based—and more aligned with her own values—and she’s back to working with clients long-term. Supporting clients who are committed to reaching their financial goals means Michelle gets to build deeper relationships with them. She offers services that help them not only get to retirement but through retirement. It can be a huge mindset shift, she says, when you reach that age, because now you have a spending mentality instead of a saving mentality. That’s very emotional for many people, and Michelle is passionate about supporting them at every step of the way.
Words of Wisdom
If there were one thing Michelle could tell her younger self, if would be to give herself more grace. As we’ve all found from time to time, it can be easy to beat yourself up over a misstep and hard to stop dwelling on mistakes. This can be especially true when we feel committed to success and driven toward certain outcomes; that ambition can help us meet our goals, but it can also take a toll on our mindset and our sense of happiness.
Being a little kinder to ourselves can go a long way toward maintaining our mental health. It can also help us recover more quickly when we face obstacles along the way, making sure we’re back on our feet and trying again instead of feeling stuck on what happened in the past.
Why Central Exchange
At Central Exchange, Michelle has enjoyed a wide variety of programming. When she first joined about two years ago, she made it a priority to try everything at least once—something she recommends for any new member or anyone who’s seeking a new perspective. She says it’s the relationship and connection piece that she values the most: there are so many opportunities to gather wisdom from others and you never know when you might hear something that you just needed to hear in that moment, like a phrase or idea that can help motivate (or remotivate) you.
Michelle is also particularly grateful for the sense of accountability that being part of the CX community provides, both through formal programming and through casual conversation.
“Having those impromptu conversations can act like a mirror for ourselves and each other,” she says, recalling a time when she had a professional decision to make and couldn’t quite take action. It was after a CX event that she was chatting with another member, shared her predicament, and realized she knew exactly what she needed to do. Having that conversation was a chance to come to a final decision—and create some accountability for her follow-through before the next meeting.
“Find those moments to support each other!”
A big thank you to Michelle for being part of the Central Exchange community. We hope you will join us in connecting the Kansas City community through networking and friendship. There is something here for everyone, and we invite you to be our guest (virtually or in person) at one of Central Exchange’s many upcoming programs and events.
