Why Estate Planning Can’t Wait And How Women Are Changing It with Renee Fry

Welcome to the Wisdom of Women Show.

We are dedicated to amplifying the voice of women in business.

A new model of leadership is emerging and we are here to amplify the voices leading the way.

I am your host Coco Salman, five time founder, impact Investor and creator of the Force for Good System.

Thank you for joining us today as we illuminate the path to unlocking opportunities and and prosperity for women led enterprises by amplifying the voice and wisdom of women.

Today we have a revolutionary estate building innovator in our midst.

Renee Fry is the CEO and co founder of Gentrio, a pioneering online estate planning platform that makes protecting what matters most simple, affordable and accessible.

With a career spanning public policy, entrepreneurship and leadership in high growth ventures, Renee has helped lead GT Solar's IPO and served in Governor Mitt Romney's cabinet before launching her own company.

A graduate of Penn State and Harvard Business School, she has guided Gentrio and in partnerships with more than 100 credit unions, banks and organizations nationwide.

Her vision is to transform estate planning from a daunting, expensive task into an empowering experience for every family.

Featured in outlets like Forbes and Kiplinger's, Renee is a glass breaking leader committed to changing how America plans for for the future, one family at a time.

Renee, welcome.

Thank you Google.

It's so nice to be here.

I'm excited to talk with all of your listeners.

Thank you.

Oh thanks for being here.

We always start with a book written by a woman that has significantly influenced your life.

Rising Tall.

I don't know if books have heard about it, but Rising Tall Adventures of the Champ Riser by For Khemi Nassian.

As an entrepreneur, so many of us get beat down.

People think this must be easy and see all these great stories.

No, no, life is not easy.

You, it's sitting on crossing the table where maybe you used to be in charge and now you're this entrepreneur and you are going to go through a lot and it's just as women, there's so much that we have to go through this book.

This woman from Nigeria had to go through so much to get to where she is today and what that woman had to go through.

Many of us think we're unique in what we're going through but reading her story and knowing that there is power there and she talks about Jesus and God which is important to us too, but she talks about all that you have to go through to get to where you are.

It's an eyeball thing.

That's what I would recommend.

It's Called Rising Tall.

Rising Tall by Dr. Nelson.

Kemi Nelson.

K E M I. I might not be saying that right, but Dr. Kemi Nelson.

It just came out in paperback earlier this year in the first quarter.

It was really neat because when you read it, you realize, wow, we're all going to go through stuff and rise above it.

We all have incredible stories to tell when you need to know that other people have done this and you can do it too.

I really was inspired.

I love that Rising Tall.

I'll pick it up.

I don't know this book and it sounds like it's right up my alley.

And certainly our listeners will enjoy it too because, you know, overcoming is what we do, right?

In business, in life, and it's the sweet juice of life, right?

So we'd really love to hear more about the significant moments in your life.

Pick three moments that shaped who you are as a human being.

It could be from early in life, later in life, anytime, business related, personal, whatever you want to share with us.

We just want to know you and the moments that have shaped the person you are.

Sure.

So, first one.

We grew up in the cornfields of Illinois and we had our own little bean walking business where you pull the weeds out of the fields.

My dream was to go to Harvard Business School.

I remember one time I was at Penn State and our parents said, you guys can go to Penn State or the University of Illinois.

They've gone to Penn State and we get more scholarships.

Ta da.

That's where you're going.

So we got to Penn State, which is an amazing experience.

We had so much fun.

But I met a professor there and I said, well, I'm going to go to Harvard Business School.

And she said, well, not coming from here.

And I said, wait, what?

And she said, no, people from here don't get to go there.

And I was like, okay.

So when I got accepted, I sent her my acceptance letter and said, please don't ever tell anyone else that because they may believe you.

They may believe that you can't do that.

I said, you know, I worked really hard and it was amazing.

I played on the last round, I got in and just last year I got to be the opening speaker for the new dean.

Introducing that, talking about the panels, they celebrate Gentrio.

And I helped get some of my friends in.

That was a big moment because I was like, don't tell people that they can't do things because if they believe you, you've just changed their life.

But not in a good way.

So that would be one the second one was when I was 37 years old.

I just met the man of my dreams, who is now my husband.

So very lucky on that.

But I had a seizure, woke up and they said, you have a brain tumor the size of a racquetball.

No symptoms.

I'd had one headache like two weeks before.

No symptoms.

37, great career, doing all this stuff.

And all of a sudden my life changed in an instant.

Thank God it wasn't cancer.

It wasn't cancer, but I had to have it removed, had to learn to walk again.

I had PTSD and so I had to rebuild things.

But this is where so many friends came out and said, hey, we're going to get you back to work.

We're going to get you to the things you love.

And so my family, my husband, my sister, you know, even as I was afraid, they're like, get out there, walk around that block.

You can do this.

And so that was this life changing thing where it was something that was just horrible, unexpected.

But so many people came together for me to help me be able to really grow as a person.

And that's where you'll see a lot through Gentrio, how we think about who needs to be there for others.

As you go through these life moments and it's those things that define you as a person, how you react to some of those things.

And so I always try to help people whenever I can because you never know what they're going through, right?

You just don't know right now.

My sister Julie is endometrial cancer.

She's one of our co founders of Gentrio.

If you ever want to see grace in action and all those wonderful things, that is Julie.

She works 12 hour days.

She's unstoppable.

She's been on a study through Mass General Brigham here in Boston and it's been three and a half years now.

The cancer's in check.

She defines courage and grace and what she has to go through.

When we talk about estate planning and doing things like healthcare, proxies, powers of attorney, dealing with, she's living it every day.

And so getting to watch her really gives me the perspective I need to lead and why we are out to do really hopefully good.

So not just running a fantastic business and helping families across the U.S. but in those moments that matter most.

That's why we do life milestones that has driven so much about how we see life.

Because it's those times that can define so much about you, your family and who you are, who those around you you want to help them be.

And so I think those three moments kind of encapsulate so many things that may not have been the most positive experiences, but they're things that you can turn into positive experiences and say, that was a lesson that I needed to learn.

This is how I can go out and have an impact.

Wow.

These are three great stories.

I love that.

You start with a story about a teacher telling me, harvard is not open to you.

You do not belong.

And you just.

Right on highway.

Right.

It was an invitation to step in some.

Yep, that's right.

Amazing.

And that's, I think, for all of us.

It's just a good reminder.

Nobody can tell us.

We can't.

Right.

I mean, they can, but we don't have to register it.

I have to listen.

To go through a time in your life in your mid-30s, when you're falling in love and probably thinking about having children and having marriage, all these things, and suddenly you have a major health crisis.

Yeah.

I mean, to think about what it's like to not be able to walk, I mean, that's big.

That's not a small hurdle.

One good thing, though, is after they took the brain tumor out, the hormones fixed everything.

My husband and I had a baby at 39, and it only took, like, not too many tries, because somehow it fixed everything that had ever been off.

It was hard to see the miracle at the time I was going through it, but now every time I see my son, I'm like, so you never know.

You just never know.

I have a mentor who always said, life is either happening to you or for you.

And you're so an example of.

That's a good mentor, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's.

Carolyn Buckluce is one of my mentors.

She has a great book called Epic.

She talks about.

About how when we can rise above.

You've taken this hard experience and taught yourself that you can do anything, even when it's really hard.

Even when it's hard.

Yeah.

And you have to believe in yourself.

My parents get a lot of credit for doing that.

Right.

You have to say, okay, can do this.

Then you go out and you meet the right people, the people that can help you, that can get there.

You have to be a good, genuine, kind, nice person.

I found that.

And then people do want to help you if you open yourself up to that.

But let them know, like, this is how I need help to get where I'm going.

Many people will help you, but again, you have to have the resolve and the wherewithal It's a challenge.

Yeah.

And I imagine that your sister's endometrial cancer.

I mean, that's a. I'm imagining how that's transforming both of your lives.

Right.

Because you're working together and you're continuing to forge forward, and you're getting to wear the other shoe now and support her.

Oh, and that's so true, because when I got sick, she actually had to fly out from Illinois and move in with my husband and I, and she would have to drive me to work because I couldn't drive.

And so now it is really going the other way, where family and support and being there for each other has been so instrumental in making us who we are.

But as Gentrio, too, it really drives how we see the world and the company and who we want to be and how we approach the problems we want to help solve.

I love that.

And we're going to move into now.

I really want to unpack Gentrio because I think it's such an important company, and what you're doing is so important for all of us and myself included.

I have a strong belief that scaling a company is.

I'm not going to say it's easier, but we find deeper pockets of resolve when we have a higher purpose and.

Right.

And I feel like you are.

And Gentrio is such a powerful example of that.

And it's just like to all founders, I always hope that there's something as deep as what's driving you.

So tell us about Gentrio and what it is, who it's for, and how it is radically different than everything else I've seen.

Thank you.

A lot is derived from our experience, because when our parents were thinking about doing estate planning, Alzheimer's ran in our dad's family.

So my parents said, we want to make sure you guys are all protected, everything's taken care of.

My dad always wanted to make sure my mom was really taken care of.

And they went and they had to pay $10,000.

That was a shock.

My sister and I walked out, and we're like, okay, everybody needs this.

We didn't know all about this stuff.

And this is where, even after I'd been through the brain tumor and things like that, it was like, gee, I was 37, and horrible things just happened.

I should have had all this.

When we learned about the price tag, we were like, someone should create an app for that.

And then we're like, okay, we should do that.

Because my sister has a background from the national association of Home Care and Hospice and watched so many people go through so many things.

And then my background having do startups and.

And then we met our lawyer through my son's school.

And she's like, okay, I'll do this.

We're like, oh, we were just asking if you knew a lawyer who might want to work with us.

And she's like, no, we need to do this.

Because she works in courts and she still does some court cases to stay relevant.

She had the saddest stories.

And she's like, every family has a story.

Just go ask people.

They didn't do a will.

They didn't think they needed it, they couldn't afford it.

And she's like, I'm in.

Okay.

This meant to be.

We talked to a gentleman who worked with companies over 20 years.

I said, okay, I'm in.

My grandmother had about a $5,000 estate.

She didn't have anything, but when she passed away, she didn't have a will.

All these people started calling, chasing down, scaring his mother.

So sad.

Like, I just spent $10,000 to close all this stuff on a $5,000 estate.

If we can make this affordable for people and help them check that box.

I'm in.

And so then what we're able to do is all come together.

Dad then developed Alzheimer's.

It was so sad.

And we didn't know things.

Like, every two years, healthcare practices need to be updated.

You need to not carry around a post it note in your purse.

Mom.

It was my dad's medication list, everything.

And she was always in tears.

I was always sad.

And so we started doing customer testing and realizing that so many people are going through this as well, that it isn't a one and done thing where you get a special folder and stick it in a filing case.

Like, this is life.

This is these crazy times when you need to put all the stuff together.

So that's where we help with the estate planning we do with the digital vaults.

Everything's just a few clicks away.

And then you share it with your friends and family, whatever you choose.

That way, when my mom has something happen, even though I'm in Boston and she's in Illinois, I now have her doctor's information, her medical information.

I have her healthcare proxy.

I have all that information there.

Because we learned from when our dad had all this happen, no one knew where anything was.

Everything was all over.

We couldn't.

We were saying it was words and stuff.

Right.

Like the digital estate planning stuff.

We helped.

Yeah.

So that's where we decided, okay, we need to be the practical people out there that are going to help people.

Because once you've lived it, you know, it's a different experience than just getting online and being like, ta da done.

That's not how life works.

Oh, yeah.

I think it was Gita who introduced me to you.

Is that right?

It was Gita.

I think it was through how women lead.

When I checked out what you were up to, Renee, my jaw dropped because I did a will about 10 years ago that it needs to be, really needs terribly to be revised.

And it cost us $10,000 as well.

And, you know, I was expecting.

We've been talking about how my husband and I really need to do one because our lives have changed so much in 10 years and our assets have changed and all the things, right.

And we have a special needs adult and, you know, like, all the things.

And when I saw that people could get online and do some of this stuff for as little as $150, I just couldn't believe it.

Right.

And so tell us about this and what you're offering.

It's a lot like TurboTax.

People ask, how can you do it so affordably?

But it's softer.

And the reason we can do it so affordably is that if you create the software, it makes it super affordable for everyone to be able to do this.

And then what we've done is we help people answer the questions that are specific to their lives because we each have different things.

The number one thing is we need to know what state you are in because the laws of estate planning are dictated by whatever state you live in.

And so for anyone out there that's thinking about doing estate planning and looking online, there have been things that have popped up.

Whether it's free, this or that.

You need stuff created by lawyers, which we did, and you need it to be state and document specific.

Because what's interesting is that you can say a lot of stuff, but if it's not done correctly, it won't count.

And so this is where we've spent so much.

It took us two years to build everything out.

Now people are like, oh, I'm going to go on ChatGPT and use AI.

And we're like, no, you are not.

Because we've tested things and it makes stuff up because it wants to sound good and it sounds like it knows what it's doing, right?

And people are like, ta da, I've got this.

And we're like, no, not ta da.

Ta da means that your family's going to be left in a lurch when things happen and things aren't there.

So number one, you have to spend a ton of time getting things right and putting it into the construct that people can use that's specific to them, their situations and their state.

And that's something really we've worked hard on and is unique to.

All done.

It's huge.

And those rules change too, right?

Part of your role and the work that you must do is be out there in all the states figuring out what's changing and updating yourself.

18 I think it was New York.

They changed their trust laws like two or three times in 18 months just because this looks good, this looks good, we'll change this.

And it's always I let people know probably their documents are grandfathered in.

But you do want to know about some of those changes because they might benefit and you might want to keep things updated.

And so that's where again you are spot on that things do change.

And you can't assume that something you did 10 years ago or even one thing too that people don't think is that you can do a will in maybe Virginia and then you move to Nebraska and it might still be good but you should probably think about it because Nebraska may has different laws.

And so this is the people.

It's not one and done.

It really is something that needs to stay with you across your lives.

The story we hear a lot is oh, I created my will when my children were born, but this, they're 26 now, they're 27.

We're like, okay, they're adults now.

Well, it's great you don't still need the guardianship protection and things like that because your aunt's really not going to need to adopt you as a 28 year old.

And so it's making those type of life inflection points that we built in Gentrio that help us be unique and meeting people where they're at and kind of where they want to get to.

Like we put in things about caring for aging parents because we have no idea what to do.

Like my dad, all of a sudden he was a middle of America hometown banker, knew all this stuff.

And then all of a sudden we were the caregivers.

And what do you need to know when you turn 65?

Medicare comes into play.

We try to help people with all those big life inflection points around what are the things they need to do and we help them get to some of our partners that help during those life inflection points because that's where people need to take action and do stuff.

Totally.

Oh, my gosh.

And what I love is that you've made it so easy for people to just do it rather than look for that estate attorney and have sticker shock and all the things.

One of the things I'd love to learn about is.

So I read that you have already created all of these partnerships.

What has been your approach to growth?

When did you start Gentrio?

It took a while before you could.

When we first started, we did some more B2C, like going direct to consumers.

But we quickly realized that the B2B partnership opportunities were much stronger.

When you said earlier, we work with a hundred credit unions.

They've been an amazing source of telling people, like, we've selected Gentrio.

This is a tool you should use.

And we don't have any setup costs for them.

Now we've made estate planning super affordable to their members.

For some of our competitors are like, will you pay us and you don't get the money back?

Like, no.

Look, we're going to just get out there and we want to educate your members because sometimes this takes a while before you can convince people and kick them in the seat of the pants to get going on this stuff.

But we want to help people and we want to be there across their lives for them.

So this is where the B2 B2C model works really well for us because they can influence their customers and say, okay, we vetted Gentrio.

Let's go do this.

That's amazing.

And that's the philosophy.

That's the growth strategy.

We work with fantastic partners across there.

And this is where employer benefit providers and across the US we have fantastic partners.

And it's kind of interesting where sometimes people come out, you don't understand.

It's something that touches so many lives in different places.

Some of our partners will come and say, I'm doing Medicare planning or working with my seniors.

Can I come do this?

Yep.

And then another room will be like, I'm working with parents that are about to be new parents.

Yes, you need to do this.

And so that's where those life moments come in.

We found really cool partners to work through those life moments.

The credit unions have done a fantastic job of introducing new digital tools for folks because maybe people aren't coming in to visit, but they now need these tools to be able to engage with their members, wherever their members might be.

That's where we've grown a bunch through that.

I just love it.

It's like there's a problem that's so deeply needed and you solve it and you make it affordable for people to get in.

So tell us about what you're proud of.

Tell us what success has looked like for you.

Brag a little.

Tell us about.

I know it's fine.

Is that when we're always bad at bragging, because the first thing I'm.

I know I can tell you all the things that I still worry about.

I'll ask you about that too, but I want you to brag.

I want to hear those, like, what have you.

My favorite thing right now is actually credit unions call us and they say, we heard about Gentrio.

That is my favorite thing.

Where instead of us having to beat down doors and people say, wow, we can do this and get this out to our members and it becomes a new revenue stream, but it doesn't cost us.

And you're doing a lot of good for these people.

We love that.

And then we love that we're going to do some things around adding some things around Medicare and then even funeral planning and insurance, because these are parts of the world that people never think of.

Right.

But they can be so wildly complicated.

And so when we about what is Gentry and what we're about, it's about making people be able to do the things they need to do to protect all day long.

So we get excited about our partners.

Because if you could check that box, because we get those questions and they don't know who to trust or where to go to.

We know that if you guys at Gentrio have put this together, we can trust that.

And then we know our members can do that.

Check the box.

We're all good to go.

Those are some of the things that we're really excited about right now, are how we grow and how we're there for people in those life milestones, making sure that people don't have to go Google random things.

They don't have to go ask ChatGPT for crazy advice.

There's a place now that gives you trusted help when you're going through those life milestones.

So cool.

Are you able to operate in all states in the US right now?

Yes.

All 50.

Because you can't.

Because the minute you think that you can, just when we got started, right, like, we're like, well, maybe we'll go live.

And of course, then you meet the first person from North Dakota, you're like whole.

Okay, so yes, all 50 states.

You have to be there.

Yeah, no, it's true.

That's a huge accomplishment to be able to cover the whole states and have your technology compliant and know the rules.

It's really a big deal.

So tell us about where you're going in the Next, let's say 18 to 24 months.

What are your horizon points?

So lots of growth.

We are doing some cool things with AI.

We're doing some neat stuff with our digital vault.

And so what we do with those life inflection points, we identify opportunities where people might be missing some things and they need help giving people more resources around.

Oh, notice you don't have this.

What else can we help you with?

And really being that resource for people, that is their life path, they're growing.

Where do they need to get to next and how can we help them do that?

Some cool stuff there.

I get to teach at MIT a couple times a year with former mentor of mine Bob Posen, who's there and he ran Fidelity.

I get to do the AI portions on productivity and things, but I get to meet some of the neatest young people out there and see some of the coolest technologies we've spent a lot of time on working with.

Okay, how do you make that something people can use?

Because there's a lot of cool stuff out there, but it's got to be that's practical that people are going to use and so spend a lot of time working on how can we do that?

Instead of a lot of folks are just burning through cash right now and not seeing the effectiveness.

So we spend time with our members saying, okay, if we could help you with this.

And when you talk to people, you realize where they're really stuck and they're having interesting issues that they're like, I've never been able to solve this and so learned a lot from the people we work with and so hopefully putting out some really cool new things too, using the new technology of how.

And do you think you'll stay mostly in your space or will you move into other related.

Or are you going to work with.

Partners or you don't know yet?

No, no, we work with partners, so we really focus on being the life milestone company, using the estate planning documents as the foundation and that helps you understand what are your assets, what are your relationships and then grow from there.

And so really using that as the foundation then to help other people get into things like now Medicare planning and helping people with funeral planning.

Getting into those worlds that people are missing today.

But when you live through it, you need that help.

And especially with our aging population, so many people, they get excited about younger age groups, which is fantastic.

You love it.

But so much of the wealth is concentrated in our older adults.

And we've talked about this great wealth transfer for so long and what's going to happen.

People don't understand.

Like some of them may skip a generation.

There's interesting dynamics that are coming to play where some people are just spending down all their wealth, but being able to give them the foundation around whatever estate you build.

People always think, oh, I must have to be rich to do this stuff.

No, even a car, like all these types of things.

And so it's how do we be there for people where they are and then where they're going and then thinking about the generations and what they want to do and what they want to be known for and putting all that together so it becomes a more holistic picture.

And so that's where we're aiming to get to instead of just saying, ah, did a will checked my box?

Because that's just not how life works.

No, not at all.

And you're absolutely right.

I've been in home health myself, as you mentioned, your sister has been.

And you know, when these things creep up, when something happens, you need something like gentrio in place and hard, right?

Oh, gosh, it's incredibly hard.

And you know, Alzheimer's is one of those terrible examples.

But really, any circumstance where, you know, if we're lucky enough to age and accumulate any assets, it's a fortunate thing.

But it means that we might be bedridden at some point.

It means that our families are going to have to deal with our well being and the well being of our property and assets or the things that we haven't taken care of because we forgot to or know.

Right.

And then a daughter or son is spending years in some cases and thousands of dollars trying to, oh, and they.

Don'T know your choices like the one you give.

We are so grateful.

Our dad, when he did have Alzheimer's, he, he'd set up his healthcare proxy and we knew his tuitions.

So instead of us having to feel the weight and the burden of saying, well, do we give him the artificial nutrition?

Do we do this?

He made his choices known and he said, nope, I don't want any of that.

And so we knew that we were doing what he wanted and the weight that was lifted off us was amazing.

And we were like, okay, we're honoring what our dad wanted.

Instead of like, my gosh, I just.

Which are those discussions you have.

And people always think it's like, pretty easy.

And it's like, those are tough times.

And we also encourage people, do you make your decisions while you're healthy and you know what you want to make?

Because we meet so many people in crisis situations, because then the families get torn apart, arguments abound.

It becomes this just really sad situation.

So that's where when we tell people what we do, I would think nine out of 10 people have a story for us.

And.

And they're not ghost stories.

They're not.

It's better where I can say I was really sad and our dad was passing away, but we knew what he wanted and he takes such a burden off us.

So have that story instead of the ones where my neighbor screeching her car up saying it was that.

And all these things were.

Because everybody.

Well, I was walking the dog and she started.

I just met her and heard what we did.

Yep.

That you've made the decisions about how that's going to be told how it's going to be.

Yeah.

So one of the questions that I know founders are wondering about is you were developing for two years, so I'm curious to know, how did you fund and how are you funding the growth of Gentry?

And so for people my age, we have an advantage.

Right.

Because we got started when we were older, so we had some savings that we could live on.

Whereas some of the younger folks, because I work with entrepreneurs starting out of Harvard Business School, and they're all in their apartments and dorms living on nothing, getting started, which is great.

The fortune that we had was having good careers over, was we could take that time and be thoughtful about how we can build the product and build the right product and get the right partners.

But it was a conscious decision because you have to make sure that if you have a partner or spouse, that that partner or spouse is bought in.

Because if you go from where I was making very nice money, and then you're going to say, okay, I'm not making that money anymore, and it's going to take a while before you see this.

That has to be a conscious decision, and not just one that you spring on someone and say, okay, ta da, I'm going to go do this.

So that's one piece of advice I can definitely give you.

And then we had.

We've raised money from not necessarily sources that we would have guessed, but like, we got into the Morgan Stanley multicultural inclusion program, and that was $250,000 and they helped us build the business, grow the business.

We also met some fantastic female VCs, angel investors through different pitch contests and networking.

It's a lot of networking and being part of organizations that can help you tell your story while you're growing.

We have four founders so we've had to be.

We were very conservative in the amount of money that we wanted to raise because when you raise more money you dilute your equity.

And so I've met a lot of people that they don't understand that.

And then all of a sudden they are running this huge company even though they've spent their entire last 10 years of their life not sleeping, taking phone calls at 10am and they lost their that much thinking they were building, they ended up giving it away.

And that's a choice.

So think being a little bit older, more conscious about the choices we were making.

And so we're going to go out and raise our next round soon.

But we really now have got the foundation set around who the partners are, who we work for.

We have the story set and so we can tell I think what's a really strong story around why we're raising that next round, what we're doing, that money and we understand why we think that give this part down because we're going to grow it to this much for everyone.

So really conscious decisions.

And I will mention that I think the bias against women is there.

I unfortunately think that is real.

Sometimes we competed against some men doing something in a similar space and they're like, they were just so fantastic, they were just great.

Their products, half of what we do.

But somehow they were the shiny penny, you know, 28 year old guy telling the story for women.

You have to find the right people that are willing to hear the story.

They want to invest in you and they want to help you grow.

You can spend a lot of time educating a lot of fantastic people but they aren't going to be the right people for you.

And some things in the estate planning space when we got started, if you're Talking to a 24 year old, they've never dealt with any of this.

They're not going to be the right person for you.

So you can have that conversation but probably not a good use of your time other than some practice.

You have to meet the people that are going to get what you do.

If you're a woman entrepreneur, see if they've invested in other women led companies.

It's a good indicator if they're open to doing this.

Get a great network form Other partnerships.

This is where we encourage everyone and we always try to be really helpful to women entrepreneurs.

Because I always thought it didn't matter when I was younger, I was like, look, it's a great business.

And then as you get older, you're like, there really does matter.

And so this is why we've learned a lot over the past seven years.

What are the signs?

Who are the right people to talk to you?

And where do we say, nice meeting you.

Maybe sometime in the future we can do something, but it's not going to be the right fit right now.

And so I encourage everyone to say, no, they're not the right people for you.

And then also be careful when people are phishing because we get a lot of calls and we can tell someone else in our area is raising money or something.

You want to.

Just want to make sure you're finding people who want to be there to support and help you grow your business and are not just helping you educate them and fishing for competitive information.

Yeah, it's a big thing.

So are you going to raise money again soon or.

We are starting to raise our next round of Series A and got invited to Finovate in New York.

They gave us a free opportunity to pitch there.

It's a big place with all the banks and credit unions.

We're really excited because, like, oh, we work with you.

We work with you.

We get to see that.

And so we get to announce Raising Series A.

A lot of so many cool things too, where people get the story that we're telling and how we're unique.

So it's a great time for us and we've been very thoughtful in how we've done things.

Yeah, we're really excited.

This is where you finally get to the good parts.

People don't understand.

It's a long slog.

It's slog, right?

You just gotta figure out sometimes I've met some entrepreneurs where it's not the right thing for them or they couldn't keep it going, or it wasn't the right time or the model for us, like we've been excited about, is that timing really did work out.

And some things had to evolve over the time.

Like three years ago, credit unions and things were a little reticent, but now they're like, we need this and now the next person needs this.

So much of timing is going to matter.

And I've met women who are like, Maybe in about 10 years from now, I think you're onto something.

And so maybe they can get it done now.

But Sometimes if people just aren't ready, it's not gonna work.

And that's something where I meet really great entrepreneurs.

But I'm like, oh, you might be a little early, or sometimes people are six months late because someone got out in front of them.

Timing for all entrepreneurs is something you need to factor in.

So I'm curious, as someone who is focused on protecting families for generations, what legacy do you most want to leave as a founder, both through your company and through your example as a leader?

Thank you.

I like that question.

My son is 14 and he is so funny.

He's a very well spoken individual.

I can tell you this story.

I got invited to be the speaker for the new dean of Harvard Business School and do this panel of successful entrepreneurs.

My child was in seventh grade at the time and he goes to school in Boston.

He said, I think other kids would be inspired to hear you speak.

So I went to the business school club and invited them to come hear you speak.

And I just said, you did what?

All right.

So then I had to go back to the Harvard Business School folks and say, okay, my child would like to.

And I thought, they're the other kids in his seventh, eighth grade.

No, he'd invited the juniors and seniors of the business school club.

And then I said, well, what are they, like 15, 20?

And he's like, no 200 child can do quite a bit.

It was really interesting how we had to go.

He got bring 15 or 20 kids.

And they.

It was incredible because some of these kids and my child, they didn't think they could do anything like this, ever get to Harvard Business School.

And so this was so funny because my child stood in front of this very large group of.

It was all.

He goes to an all voiceful young man and said, guys, I just want to tell you, this is my mom.

If my mom can do this and get here, so can any of you.

And I was like, child, that is.

A crazy backhanded compliment, but okay, thank you.

I was like, you know, buddy, I did work really hard.

One of the kids came up to me afterward and said, ma', am, I just want to let you know that I never thought I could do anything like this, but I've always thought about trying to start businesses.

And I've always thought about maybe I wanted to learn how to really take my ideas and make them real.

And you, I think, just changed my life today.

And I was so touched.

And so when people think about the questions you're asking, who do you want to be and all that, that Kind of summed up.

I was like, wow, we just got to influence that next generation to know that.

And it goes back to when you said about the three instances when people tell you you can't do something helping other people know that story as well, whether it is a woman building a venture backed business, things like that, you can do that.

It takes a lot of help along the way.

You have to ask for that help.

But it also helps when people can tell you, hey, this is something you can do.

One child there getting to see that.

I just, I got to film with my son and be like, I'm so proud of you.

I didn't even know what an impact we could all have.

But wow, that was really cool.

And he's like, okay, thanks.

He thought it was next day, right?

So blue.

Lucky young man.

Really fortunate young man to have such a wise and humble mother like you.

I'm sure that he is so proud of you.

I can only imagine how proud he is of his mama.

Oh, well, thank you.

Most of the time.

Sometimes he likes to give me, of course.

Thank.

Thank you.

Because he's 14, right?

So he has to do that.

All right, Fast fire Round five questions and I invite you to answer in less than five words.

Just whatever.

What is the first word that comes to mind when you think of legacy?

Exceptional.

Just exceptional.

Try to be exceptional.

Whatever that is for you.

What inspires you most about the families you serve?

Their stories.

And everyone's unique comes down to their stories.

And that's what we work all the time to do, is how can we make you be able to tell your story?

One thing you do every day to stay grounded.

I say my prayers and say thank you.

Because if you can't say thank you, you need to say thank you.

A myth about estate planning you're on a mission to break.

The answer is yes, it is.

When Gentrio changes the world the way you envision, what will people say 50 years from now?

Thank goodness I met Gentrio and used it because we're going to help them throughout their lives.

How can our listeners take advantage and get ourselves squeaky clean and all buttoned up with our estate planning and our medical proxies and all that good stuff.

How can we do that?

Okay, you're amazing.

We don't nickel and dime people.

So anything from if you need a living trust and a pour over will, or if you want just a will, a healthcare proxy, all that's included because we don't nickel undime.

We want to be with you throughout your life.

And so that makes it only $100.

And you can create all those documents.

We have a 92% retention rate because we help people create all their documents.

But then when things happen, everything is there for you.

You can hit the instant access button.

But even if you want to just create them and go, great, you have things now because so many people we've met, those people who screech up in the car next to you telling you the story of all the horrible things that happened, don't be that person, right?

And this is where everyone needs their own estate plan.

You can do it affordably and easily.

And that's really where Gentrio that's going on a mission to do is make sure that everybody can afford and be able to do these things.

If you can get this stuff done, life gets a lot easier and you save a lot of money.

And instead of paying lawyers in the state all kinds of crazy stuff, the money stays in your pocket and you make the decisions.

So if you want to control your decisions in the Future, you know, call.

2025 gentrio.com listener go straight to gentrio g e n t r e o dot com and when you go to get started and you'll be able to start creating your plan when you go to buy it, it's usually $150, which I have to tell you is nothing.

So now it's just a hundred dollars.

I mean, even if you have NSD all figured out, I still think you should do it because there's going to be stuff in there that you're going to learn and think new and different about.

And you're doing it for your family, right?

You're doing it for the people who need to take care of you and the people who if something happens to you, will need to take care of the people and the things you care about.

So I am just so happy we got to be together today, Renee.

And I hope it's the first of many times because you are total world transformer and good person doing really good things in the world.

You are a total force for good.

Thank you for being on the show.

Thank you for having me.

I really appreciate it.

And for all of you listeners, be sure to follow like or share the wisdom of women.

Show on your favorite listening platform.

And remember, infuse more wisdom into to your business.

Take the Growth Readiness quiz at a ForceForGood biz quiz and find out where your insight is needed most.

The world is made better by women led business.

Let's all go make the world a better place.