In this episode of The Advisor Growth Lab, Dustin Taylor shares the full story behind how he built a career helping financial advisors grow through technology, visibility, and modern marketing.

From graduating during the 2008 financial crisis to living and working overseas, Dustin explains how a chance encounter with a financial advisor led him into one of the most regulated — and misunderstood — industries in business. Along the way, he built VOOV Advisor Consulting, helped launch books, podcasts, websites, and campaigns for advisors across the U.S., and learned firsthand how compliance, technology, and trust shape the way advisory firms grow.

This episode explores why so many great advisors struggle to be visible online, why generic marketing doesn’t work, and why better systems — not more hustle — are the key to sustainable growth in today’s world.

If you’ve ever wondered how technology, branding, and communication fit into the future of financial advice, this episode sets the foundation for everything that follows.

Welcome to Advisor Growth Lab, the podcast built for financial advisors who know they’re great at what they do — but feel like their online presence doesn’t reflect it yet.

In this first episode, host Dustin Taylor lays the foundation for what this show is really about. The way advisors grow today looks nothing like it did even ten years ago. Before a referral ever calls you, they Google you. Before a prospect ever replies to your email, they check out your website. And before anyone books a meeting, they’ve already formed an opinion of you based on what they see online.

That digital first impression — your website, your LinkedIn profile, your content, your search presence — has quietly become one of the most important parts of your business. Yet most advisors were never taught how to think about visibility, branding, or digital systems. They were trained to be great planners, investors, and stewards of client money, which still matters deeply. But today, that’s only half the equation.

This episode introduces the core mission of Advisor Growth Lab: helping you build a digital presence and a set of systems that actually support the business you’re trying to grow instead of getting in the way of it. You’ll hear how branding, online visibility, software, CRM, AI, and automation all fit together — not from a hype perspective, but from a practical one designed for real advisory firms.

If your website feels generic, your content feels scattered, or your online presence doesn’t match the quality of work you deliver to clients, you’re not alone. This show is here to help you close that gap in a way that feels natural, strategic, and sustainable — not salesy or overwhelming.

If you want to grow in a world where your prospects live online before they ever reach out, you’re in the right place.