Tag: Podcast

Why Top Colleges Are Rejecting ‘Perfect’ Students with Kate Stone (Ep. 104)

Why Top Colleges Are Rejecting ‘Perfect’ Students with Kate Stone (Ep. 104)

What if everything you think you know about college admissions is wrong?

In this electrifying episode, Iván Watanabe and Evan Wohl sit down with Kate Stone, founder of Kate Stone Prep, to unpack why getting into college and building a meaningful life takes more than grades and a good essay. Drawing from her roots in acting, global teaching experience, and years of mentoring students through transformative projects, Kate explains how real-world skills, big goals, and personal authenticity are redefining the college prep game.

She doesn’t just coach students to write their best essays; she coaches them to live their best stories.

What to expect in this episode:

  • Why AP classes and volunteer hours are no longer enough
  • How “special projects” and mentorship open doors beyond academics
  • The shocking truth about how few students are prepared for real life
  • A behind-the-scenes look at building college essays that stand out
  • And so much more!

Connect with Iván Watanabe:

Connect with Evan Wohl:

Connect with Kate Stone:

About Our Guest:

Kate Stone is an Experienced College Admissions Consultant and College Essay Coach. Kate received her B.S. in Education and a minor in Creative Writing. She continued on as a teaching fellow in Asia. Kate transformed her passion for storytelling into actionable strategies for the college admissions process, essays, and the application as a whole. Her program coaches students to develop and strategize their most powerful narratives based on their individual ideas and achievements.

Some of Kate’s strategies include: Creating a Balanced College List, How to Choose an Essay Topic, College Essay Format: Narrative Structure vs. Montage Structure, How to Approach the Additional Information Section and Why it’s Important, Tackling the ‘Why Us’ Essays. Kate’s students have been accepted to Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Stanford, University of Chicago, NYU, Brown, Berkeley, UPenn, USC, UCLA, The New School, Northwestern, Duke, Emory, and American University of Paris.

Bitcoin Breakdown: Benefits, Risks, and Common Misconceptions

Bitcoin Breakdown: Benefits, Risks, and Common Misconceptions

Curious about Bitcoin but overwhelmed by the noise? Get ready to unravel the complexities of the world’s most talked-about cryptocurrency.

Evan Wohl and Iván Watanabe invite Chet Schwartz, RICP®, a financial advisor at Strategies for Wealth, to demystify Bitcoin. Chet explains how cryptocurrency works, how it differs from traditional fiat currencies, and key benefits and risks that crypto investors should know about.

Watch this episode on our YouTube channel!

Iván, Evan, and Chet discuss:

  • Common terminology related to Bitcoin and blockchain technology
  • What it means to have a decentralized, permissionless network
  • How Bitcoin’s finite supply can potentially contribute to an anti-inflationary environment
  • Cryptocurrency as an asset class in a diversified portfolio
  • Future outlook for Bitcoin’s global adoption
  • And more

Connect with Chet Schwartz:

Connect with Iván Watanabe:

Connect with Evan Wohl:

About Chet Schwartz

Chet’s purpose is to transform and evolve the conversations people have about their personal finances so he can help them achieve financial balance. By making complex topics understandable and creating a safe, judgment-free forum for his clients to ask questions, Chet helps close the gaps in financial knowledge, serves as an informed sounding board, and uncovers any blind spots that may impact their present and future security. Chet has a “Protection First” philosophy, which means that before he looks at any risk-based investment options, protecting and securing his client’s assets and income is the highest priority. Recognizing that each client’s financial picture is different, it is his responsibility to create a broad, goals-based planning experience tailored to meet the unique needs of each individual or business.

Chet is extremely proud of the difference he has made in his clients’ lives, including business owners, Institutional Wall Street professionals, partners of law firms, and C-level executives. His special areas of expertise include estate planning for high-net-worth individuals and business continuity planning.

How to Make Tomorrow Better Today with Hal Hershfield

How to Make Tomorrow Better Today with Hal Hershfield

Do you recognize yourself when you imagine who you’ll be in the future?

Or does it feel like you’re looking at a stranger?

In this episode of WealthStyle, Evan Wohl speaks with Hal Hershfield, professor of psychology, marketing, and behavioral decision-making at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management on why it is so hard for most people to envision their future selves.

Listen in as Hal reveals the psychology behind this common mindset and what we can do to alter how we perceive ourselves presently and in the future.

Engage in a few “ah-ha” moments as Hal explains:

  • Why it’s a struggle to achieve goals, even if they are well planned
  • How envisioning and connecting with your future self can increase asset accumulation
  • The power of auto-enrollment for 401k contributions
  • Why we tend to live in a state of “status quo” versus looking ahead to the future
  • And more

Resources: 

Connect with Evan Wohl:

Connect with Hal Hershfield:

About Our Guest:

Hal Hershfield is a Marketing, Behavioral Decision Making, and Psychology Professor at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management and holds the UCLA Anderson Board of Advisors Term Chair in Management. His research, which sits at the intersection of psychology and economics, examines how we can improve our long-term decisions. He earned his Ph.D. in psychology from Stanford University.

How to Stay on Top of Your Fitness Goals with Gideon Akande

How to Stay on Top of Your Fitness Goals with Gideon Akande

Everyone wants to be healthy and exercise, but it’s a chore to find time and energy to complete the list of activities at the gym. How can you maintain consistency when it comes to reaching health goals?

In this episode, Iván Watanabe and Evan Wohl interview Gideon Akande, an elite fitness coach and consultant, about creating personal health and wellness consistency. He shares tips to transform exercise and healthy eating from a chore to something enjoyable and ways to trick yourself into being healthy without thinking about it.

Gideon discusses:

  • How he started his health journey and commits to 15-minutes of movement every day
  • Ways to transform exercise into something you want to do, and will keep doing
  • Why and how external pressure is an excellent motivator for reaching your goals
  • How a professional can help with health the same way advisors help with money
  • And more

Connect with Iván Watanabe:

Connect with Evan Wohl:

Connect with Gideon Akande:

 

An Eye on Investments with Russ Carpentieri

An Eye on Investments with Russ Carpentieri

What goes into a successful investment deal? Money? Time? Information?

Find out how you can invest with confidence in this episode of WealthStyle where Iván Watanabe and Evan Wohl sit down with Russ Carpentieri, Managing Director at OPUS Private Client, LLC to explore their personal insights, practical tips and real-life examples of how you can make profitable investment decisions.

Listen in as Iván, Evan, and Russ discuss:

  • How their relationship with money impacts their investment decisions
  • What questions to consider when assessing several deals
  • How a loss in investments isn’t a loss in the portfolio
  • Why you should spend time getting familiar with your investments
  • And more

Connect with Iván Watanabe:

Connect with Evan Wohl:

Connect with Russ Carpentieri:

Teaching Gratitude and Generosity in an Affluent Home

Teaching Gratitude and Generosity in an Affluent Home

How can you help your child(ren) be responsible, humble, and respectful?

What are the necessary skills required to teach life-long behaviors?

In today’s episode of WealthStyle, Iván Watanabe and Evan Wohl learn a few parenting tactics that helped their fellow colleague Russ Carpentieri raise well-rounded, independent children.

Listen in as Russ shares his experience as a father and highlights the following:

  • The influence that your circle of friends can have on your level of parenting
  • How to teach gratitude and empathy through daily reminders and acts of kindness
  • The importance of instilling accountability and consequences
  • Useful takeaways to help reduce entitlement when raising affluent children 
  • And more

Resources:

Connect with Iván Watanabe:

Connect with Evan Wohl:

Connect with Russ Carpentieri:

 

When Is the Right Time to Buy a House?

When Is the Right Time to Buy a House?

Buying a home may seem like the right thing to do, but is it?

There are many factors to consider before you purchase a home, and the most obvious is, can you afford the mortgage payments? Then on top of that, there are annual property taxes and monthly utilities like gas and electricity. And don’t forget about the less obvious expenses like furniture and decor, and unexpected repairs or upgrades.

The reality is, it requires a lot of financial planning before you put an offer on a house.

In this episode of WealthStyle, Iván Watanabe and Evan Wohl explore the different reasons why their clients want to buy houses, how the costs associated with owning a home factor into financial and retirement planning, and how much the housing market has changed post-pandemic.

Iván and Evan discuss:

  • The financial costs of owning a house after the initial purchase
  • How your financial plans will shift when planning to buy a house
  • The role of mortgage and interest rates and how they are constantly changing
  • The emotional effects of buying a home 
  • And more

Connect with Iván Watanabe:

Connect with Evan Wohl: