What if the biggest breakthrough in your advice practice didn’t come from the numbers, but from asking better questions?

In this episode of Beyond the Numbers, I sit down with Simonne Gnessen, financial coach, pioneer of the UK’s coaching movement, and co-author of Sheconomics. We explore how advisers can deepen their impact by shifting from ‘advice-giving’ to ‘life-guiding’. Simonne shares powerful insights on how early money experiences shape our financial behaviour, why clients often “have enough but don’t feel it,” and how advisers can create space for deeper, more transformative conversations. We unpack what it means to “coach the client, not just the topic,” and why your ability to listen, challenge assumptions, and hold space may be the most valuable thing you offer.

Top 10 Takeaways 

Coach the client, not just the topic: Financial behaviours are often driven by emotion, not logic. Advisers can unlock breakthroughs by understanding the person behind the plan.

Early experiences shape money beliefs: Clients often carry unconscious financial scripts from childhood – what Simonne calls “glass walls” they don’t know exist until they hit them.

Clients may have enough… But not feel it: Technical projections mean little if emotional needs are not addressed. Security is a feeling, not a spreadsheet!

Set the tone with ‘Contracting’: Begin meetings by setting expectations and getting permission to go deeper. “What would make this conversation meaningful for you?”

Send questions in advance: Giving clients time to reflect before meetings increases insight and creates space for more productive conversations.

You’re not a Therapist – and that’s OK: Coaching can be therapeutic, but the goal is to hold space for reflection, not to diagnose.

Ask without assumptions: Coaching means asking questions you don’t know the answer to. Your curiosity can be more powerful than your expertise.

Shift the ‘Ladder of Success’: Help clients assess not just how high they are climbing, but whether their ladder is leaning against the right wall.

Make space for both voices in couples: Financial conversations often centre around the louder partner. Invite the quieter one in first, to create balance.

AI can’t replace empathy: As automation handles technical work, your value will lie in emotional intelligence, insight, and human connection.

Great Phrases

• “Clients often have enough, but don’t feel it. Financial wellbeing is emotional wellbeing.”
• “Advice is about the numbers. Coaching is about what the numbers mean.”
• “When you coach the client, you give them space to think, not just space to be told.”
• “You don’t need to have the answers. You need to ask the questions that help clients find theirs.”
• “When you ask someone, ‘What does money mean to you?’ – you invite a different kind of conversation.”

 Resources

• Simonne’s training hub: https://tinyurl.com/mwwk7yv4 and coaching practice: https://tinyurl.com/57u66m4m
• Sheconomics: 7 laws for financial empowerment: https://tinyurl.com/mu453f35

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.