Jennifer Goldsworthy's vision for advice is unmistakably her own

When Jennifer Goldsworthy first walked into her parents’ financial planning business as a 17-year-old, she wasn’t there because she’d found her dream career. She was there because of a deal with her father.

“If you want to go to Schoolies, you can fund it by doing two weeks’ unpaid work experience,” he told her.

It seemed like a fair trade. What Jennifer didn’t realise was that those two weeks would shape the next two decades of her life.

Sitting quietly in every client meeting, taking handwritten file notes long before AI existed, she finally understood what her father actually did for a living.

“I realised it was about helping people,” she reflects. “I’d always known Dad loved what he did and that his clients loved him, but I’d never really understood why. Sitting in those meetings, everything clicked.”

Today, more than 20 years later, Jennifer is the third-generation owner of Goldsworthy Private Wealth, having purchased the family business in 2022. She has since been recognised on Financial Standard’s FSPower50 list of Australia’s most influential advisers.

But while the name above the door remains the same, her vision for advice is unmistakably her own.

Building credibility from day one

Entering the profession as a young woman wasn’t without its challenges. “When I first attended industry events, there were a lot of older male advisers. It almost felt like everyone wore the same uniform,” she laughs.

Rather than seeing that as a barrier, Jennifer saw it as motivation. “I wanted to make sure I knew exactly what I was talking about.”

She chose to complete a Bachelor of Business specialising in Financial Planning while working in the practice, describing it as completing “three professional years” before the profession formally required one.

The combination of academic study and daily exposure to clients gave her a confidence that has remained central to her advice philosophy.

Her advice to graduates entering the profession today is refreshingly simple. “You learn the most in front of clients.”

Technical knowledge matters, she says, but so does learning how to translate complex legislation into conversations people genuinely understand.

“You don’t have to know everything. It’s okay to tell a client you’ll confirm something and come back to them. The Professional Year should be about learning how to listen, communicate and understand what really matters to people.”

Respecting the past while redesigning the financial planning business

Buying the family business wasn’t simply a succession plan. It was an opportunity to reimagine it.

Following years of industry disruption, from the Royal Commission and education reforms to valuation changes and COVID, Jennifer saw an opportunity to build something different. “I wanted to start from a clean slate,” she says.

While her father had built the business through growth and acquisition, Jennifer’s focus became culture, connection and client experience. The most visible difference is the brand itself.

Pink features prominently. The language is warm rather than corporate. The office feels welcoming instead of clinical.

“We leaned into the fact that we’re women,” she explains. “We communicate differently. We wanted clients to feel warmth. We didn’t want to be the business you see once a year and never hear from again.”

Yet behind the softer branding sits an unwavering commitment to continuity. For clients who had trusted the Goldsworthy family for decades, preserving those relationships mattered just as much as modernising the business.

Knowing who you’re meant to serve

One of Jennifer’s strongest leadership lessons is surprisingly counterintuitive. Not every client should remain your client. “The world is made up of different personalities,” she says. “You’re not going to be the right adviser for everyone, and that’s okay.”

As she gradually inherited clients from her father over a five-year transition, some relationships naturally evolved while others didn’t continue. Rather than viewing that as failure, Jennifer sees it as healthy. “You have the opportunity to curate your client base.”

She believes advisers need the courage to let go of relationships that no longer align with their values.

“If someone doesn’t treat you or your staff well, or they aren’t aligned with your ethics, you have to be brave enough to say no.”

That courage, she believes, ultimately creates space for clients who genuinely value the relationship.

Advice is psychology before strategy

Ask Jennifer what fascinates her most after nearly two decades in advice and she doesn’t mention investments, tax or superannuation. She talks about psychology.

“Everybody makes money decisions differently.” Whether clients manage five carefully labelled offset accounts or one highly disciplined credit card strategy, the financial outcome may be identical.

The difference lies in how their brains process money.

“Your role isn’t to make everyone fit one system,” she explains. “It’s to understand how they think and build a strategy that gives them the greatest chance of success.” That understanding extends well beyond numbers; Family dynamics, Risk tolerance, Childhood experiences, Decision-making styles.

“Sometimes I think advisers almost need a psychology background.” It is this blend of technical expertise and emotional intelligence that Jennifer believes defines exceptional advice.

Balancing business, motherhood and leadership

Jennifer’s life extends well beyond the advice office. She’s a business owner, mother of two and leader navigating the continual demands of running a growing practice. Her solution isn’t striving for perfect balance, it’s ruthless clarity.

On her desk sits a simple reminder containing just three priorities: family, business and health.

“Every decision has to come back to those three things,” she says. When opportunities arise, as they inevitably do, she asks a simple question. “Does this align?” If not, she politely declines.

It’s advice many advisers could benefit from hearing.

Technology won’t replace trust

Jennifer is optimistic about the future of financial advice. Not despite artificial intelligence, but because of it. “AI is a tool to help us become more efficient,” she says. “It’s not designed to replace the relationship we have with clients.”

She believes reducing administration through technology gives advisers something increasingly valuable: time. Time to listen, time to understand, time to be present.

At the same time, she hopes more young people choose financial advice as a profession. “We’ve bottomed out,” she says. “People need advice. We need more advisers.” As chair of The Advisers Association, Jennifer is working to champion exactly that cause, supporting advisers and clients across the country.

Her advice on social media carries the same authenticity that underpins her business. Don’t try to become someone else. “Put enough of yourself out there that people know you’re a real person.”

And perhaps her most important reminder is one every adviser scrolling LinkedIn should hear.

“Don’t compare yourself with other people. Just be yourself. My clients like me for me, and that’s enough.”

In a profession often consumed by regulation, technology and technical change, Jennifer Goldsworthy offers something both simple and powerful: advice remains, at its heart, a people business.

The tools will evolve, legislation will change and financial planning businesses will transition from one generation to the next, but trust, empathy and authentic relationships remain the foundations on which enduring advice practices are built.

Jennifer will join the conversation as a panellist at the Inside Network’s Investment Leaders Forum in New Zealand.