"This isn’t just another industry talk—it’s an opportunity to challenge conventional thinking, refine how advisors communicate, and inspire more impactful client relationships through the power of visual storytelling and behavioral insight."
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Carl Richards, creator of The Sketch Guy column in The New York Times, has spent years using a Sharpie to translate complex financial concepts into simple, visual insights. Sketches that help advisors connect with their clients about what really matters. But what happens when conversations get hard, values get lost in the shuffle, and when your plans meet real life with all its uncertainty? That’s where Carl challenges the conventional approach to navigating these tensions.
True to form, he’s showing up to XYPN LIVE with his signature mix of humor and perspective to answer one big question: What if the money’s not the point?
This keynote isn’t about finding a silver bullet.
It’s about reframing how we view wealth building and exploring the messy, real, and deeply meaningful tensions advisors face every day. Carl will bring his signature sketches to the main stage to challenge the way we show up for the people who trust us with their lives and their money.
And here’s the twist—this isn’t just any keynote. It’s also the live launch of Carl’s newest book, Your Money: Reimagining Wealth Through Simple Sketches, a book that’s unlike anything seen in the personal finance section. Carl is giving away exclusive copies to all XYPN LIVE attendees—a full month before it hits shelves—and the chance to have it signed during Exhibit Hall Day.
It’s a fresh perspective on how we align our resources with what truly matters and how to build the client relationships that make that possible. Together, you’ll reimagine how you lead client conversations and walk away with a new lens on your work.
Carl Richards started The Sketch Guy column in The New York Times from the hills of Utah, crafting clear, relatable insights about money with just card stock and a Sharpie. The column ran weekly for a decade. This journey began when Carl applied for what he thought was a job as a “security guard,” only to find out the ad actually said “securities.” That slight misstep sparked a lifelong dedication to reshaping how we think about money.
Since then, Carl has become a Certified Financial Planner™, built and sold a successful investment firm, and spoken at financial and investment events worldwide—from Australia to South Africa, the UK, and major economic centers across Europe, Canada, and the United States. His bestsellers, The Behavior Gap and The One-Page Financial Plan, have been translated into over ten languages and continue to resonate globally.
Through his daily podcast, Behavior Gap Radio, which now has over 1,000 episodes and over one million downloads, Carl shares new perspectives on aligning our resources with what truly matters. His latest audio project, 50 Fires, backed by executive producers Chip and Joanna Gaines, explores the intersections of money and meaning with guests like Pete Holmes, David Whyte, Krista Tippett, and his favorite guest by far, his wife, Cori.
Carl founded The Society of Advice, a community of financial planners dedicated to the craft of advice. They gather for a monthly online workshop and frequent retreats in Park City, Utah.
In 2025, Carl will release a new book that, true to form, will be unlike anything seen in the personal finance section—and you better believe there will be sketches (97 of them, to be exact).
When he’s not exploring ideas about money, Carl, a Wilderness First Responder, can be found navigating Utah’s high mountain ridges on foot, skis, or bike. Married to Cori since 1995, they have four kids, whom they consider their best friends.
Carl Richards, CFP® | Author, Behavior Gap |
Take a break from working IN your business to work ON your business.
Over the past 15 years, Jessica has become a trusted advisor to executives in broker-dealers, RIAs, and FinTech firms through her work with the Financial Planning Association and FP Transitions. She serves on The American College NextGen in 10 Leadership Advisory Committee that was instrumental in funding and launching numerous industry events—including the fan-favorite FPA Externship. And she’s also a ghost-writer and outsourced CCO and CMO for some of the most respected names in the wealth industry, and a regular contributor in trade publications. If that’s not enough to make your head spin in admiration, tack on her passion for bringing the needs of female advisors to the table within FP Transitions and you’ve got yourself a winning Keynote.
Michael Kitces is a co-founder of the XY Planning Network, AdvicePay, New Planner Recruiting, fpPathfinder, and XY Bean Counters, the former Practitioner Editor of the Journal of Financial Planning, the host of the Financial Advisor Success podcast, and the publisher of the popular financial planning industry blog Nerd’s Eye View through his website Kitces.com, dedicated to advancing knowledge in financial planning. In 2010, Michael was recognized with one of the FPA’s “Heart of Financial Planning” awards for his dedication and work in advancing the profession.
Jonathan Sprinkles is the author of 13 books (including two international bestsellers), a TV personality, celebrity business coach, and award-winning keynote speaker. He is the founder of The Connection Lab, an award-winning company that is on a mission to help people live bigger and lead better through the power of human connection. Jonathan gets it.
He knows the difference between what looks good on paper and what really works in the real world. He brings best practices from his career as a tech salesman and his 20 years of leadership experience as an entrepreneur. Jonathan has a gift for connecting with any audience, relating to them on a personal level, and inspiring them to bring out the best in themselves and the people around them.
Carl Richards is a Certified Financial Planner™ and creator of the (highly-acclaimed) "Sketch Guy" column that appeared weekly in The New York Times from 2010 to 2020. Along the way, he founded the Behavior Gap newsletter and podcast and is the author of two books.
Through his simple sketches, Carl makes complex financial concepts easy to understand. He believes in delivering financial advice differently to be more accessible, informed, and impactful for all.
Simidele Adeagbo is a trailblazing Olympian, passionate advocate and inspirational speaker focused on building a better world through sport. Simidele made Olympic history at the 2018 Winter Games, becoming the first Nigerian Winter Olympian and the first African and Black woman to compete in Skeleton at the Olympics. She relentlessly uses her platform to inspire others and empower women and youth.
A seasoned storyteller, Simidele led innovative marketing campaigns over a 15+ year career at Nike Inc., always pushing to elevate the voice of female athletes. Simidele now aims to use sport as a tool to create social empowerment, impact policy, increase economic prosperity and overall health and wellness. As a respected athlete, business leader and visionary, Simidele speaks on stages around the world on topics centered around personal transformation, leadership, innovation, high performance, diversity and representation, the power of sport and women’s empowerment.
Sarah Newcomb, Ph.D. is a behavioral economist who serves as the Director of Financial Psychology at Morningstar and authors a new weekly column, Human Capital: Exploring the Intersection of Psychology and Finance. An interdisciplinary scholar, Sarah has expertise in consumer psychology, economic decision-making, personal money management, and cognitive and social psychology.
Sarah is driven by a desire to help others to tap into an empowering mindset, dream big, and then employ their resources in pursuit of a life they will love. She became a financial psychologist after discovering that her own issues with money had nothing to do with numbers and everything to do with the attitudes and beliefs she held about money itself. Now, her goal is to teach people how to use money well so they can live their best life—even well before they reach their long-term financial goals.