Meet Steve

Steve Manuel, CFP®, RICP®

Steve has coached hundreds of financial advisors, advisor teams, and firm leaders on how to grow, run, retain, and transition their businesses. He is the author of the national bestseller The Game-Changing Advisor.

With more than two decades of active involvement in the Financial Planning Association (FPA), including nearly seven years of board service, Steve has spent years inside one of the profession's most important communities for CFP® professionals, financial planners, firm owners, and industry leaders. This volunteer service continues to provide a front-row view into how advisors actually grow, serve clients, manage teams, respond to industry change, and build practices that last.

This matters because Steve's coaching is not built from generic corporate theory. It is shaped by repeated exposure to the real challenges advisors face across solo practices, high-performing teams, and growing firms. He helps advisors build stronger client relationships, improve business development, align growth strategies with their individual strengths, and scale durable highly valuable practices.

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Background

Steve's perspective is grounded in over four decades of direct financial services experience, beginning in the late 1970s in San Francisco as a stockbroker during the birth of Silicon Valley. Witnessing early market cycles taught him that product-pushing fails over time, but character, trust, and client-first alignment endure.

Prompted by a commitment to true advice over transactions, Steve earned his CFP® designation in 1986. Leadership history includes SAFECO and USAA. He also serves as a performance coach with Oechsli.

Beyond the practice

Outside of coaching, Steve loves traveling and exploring the outdoors. He is an accomplished long-distance backpacker who has completed scenic treks, including the John Muir Trail.

He cherishes time with family, friends, and dogs (in varying order depending on the day). Steve considers his 45-year marriage to be his most meaningful and audacious investment, one that continues to require the daily habit of intentional engagement.