I teach financial advisors how to talk to clients through loss and life transitions so they can protect and grow their practice.

Grief-informed communication consulting
for financial firms & advisors

KATHI BALASEK

$84 trillion will transfer to the next generation over the coming two decades …

and clients losing a spouse are first in line.

~ Widows change advisors: 70 -80% of widows leave current advisor within the first year. Fidelity Investments

~ 60–70% of women switch advisors after inheriting wealth. UBS / McKinsey

~ 70% of sandwich generation caregivers report caregiving has significantly disrupted their retirement plans. Allianz Center for the Future of Retirement Study

Silence is the single most expensive mistake you can make in your practice.

Let's address the Elephant in the Room

Beyond “I’m sorry,” you don’t know what else to say in difficult moments.

No matter how compassionate you may be, you need a communication strategy when you’re on the front lines of bad news.

When tears bubble up, the awkwardness that mounts in conversations with a grieving person can leave you afraid to say or do something that makes things worse.

Knowing you care doesn't give you the skills to navigate the first meeting after a client’s spouse dies or what to put in a condolence note so it doesn't read like a form letter.

That's a skill. And it's teachable

Learn to show up for the moments your financial degree didn’t cover.

Choose the path that's right for your practice.

Custom Grief Communication Architecture

Four-week process includes:

Audit of current practices and messaging
Executive Leadership Strategy Session with Kathi
Custom curated best-practices playbook to navigate seasons of grief: including widowhood, caregiving, divorce, and major life transitions.
In-person or virtual half-day learning session for your full advisory team
Post-session implementation guide so the learning doesn't stop when the day ends

Best for: Firms who want a scalable, repeatable framework their entire team can deploy with confidence.

Investment begins at 15,000

Equip your Entire Team

The Grief-Ready Communication Framework

Three-week process includes:

Executive Leadership Discovery Questionnaire
Grief-Ready Communication Guide for widowhood, caregiving, divorce, and major life transitions
In-person or virtual half-day learning session for your full advisory team
Ready-to-personalize client communication templates for loss and transition conversations
Team readiness self-assessment that helps advisors identify their own communication gaps before the session begins

Best for: For firms ready to equip their team with a proven framework without the full audit.

Investment begins at $10,000

Get Your Firm Grief-Ready

1:1 Grief-Ready Advisory Executive Coaching with Kathi

Ninety-day coaching includes:

Ten 60-minute private coaching sessions with Kathi over three months
Audit of current practices, messaging and marketing
Personalized Grief-Ready Communication Plan built from your intake session
Custom resource toolkit: condolence language, client check-in scripts, first-meeting protocols, and transition conversation guides tailored to your practice
Direct email access to Kathi between sessions

Best for: For the advisor or firm leader who wants a curated, private engagement built entirely around their practice.

Investment is $12,000

A Conversation with Kathi

Hi, I’m Kathi Balasek.

I teach this because I lived it.

At 39 I lost my husband, left to raise 5 children and navigate all of my financial decisions alone.

That experience didn't make me a grief therapist. It gave me a problem worth solving. I left a 25-year career in academia and built what the financial industry has never had: a structured, repeatable grief-informed communication framework.

I teach language, strategy, and practical frameworks for the moments that most advisors currently white-knuckle their way through—or avoid entirely.

I built this from both sides of the table—as the educator who knows how adults learn, and as the widow who knows what it feels like when professionals get it wrong.

"Kathi Balasek is hands down the best at helping advisors work with clients experiencing grief. Her knowledge, ability to teach, and deep care for women experiencing grief is evident after your first interaction with her. Her class is not just theory but is full of real world tips and advice that I found useful and now use almost daily. I would recommend her class to anyone. She is AWESOME and I am fortunate to have taken her class."

~ Tim Hudson

CFP, Partner at Voyage Financial Partners

~ Stacy Francis

CFP, CDFA, CES; Owner and CEO Francis Financial

"Kathi did a fantastic training for our team of financial advisors on working with clients who are going through grief. We work mainly with widows and women going through divorce, so this was really apropos for us! Kathi was the best presenter I have ever heard on this subject, and she helped us to understand what these clients need and what they don’t need, how to effectively communicate with them in a compassionate and empathetic way, and why all of that is important for us in this industry. Kathi’s talk was highly informative, clarifying, and empowering!"

"After almost 30 years in financial services working with advisors focused on retirement income planning, I have seen that the most successful advisors are those that build strong client relationships. There is no one better to help advisors develop these skills than Kathi Balasek. Her personal experience of losing her husband and working with her advisor through this difficult period gives her a unique perspective, and her expertise as a professional educator and speaker gives her the ability to communicate these complex issues with a level of clarity and compassion that is rarely found in this industry."

~ Sheryl O'Connor

CEO & Founder, IncomeConductor