Hello to our wonderful clients!
I’m reaching out today with our annual client letter with both firm and personal updates. Hope you enjoy it! ;)
We had the pleasure of working with 32 new clients in 2025, most of whom were referrals from you, our clients. I just can’t tell you how grateful we are that you trust us with your people. This business wouldn’t exist without your generosity in spreading the word about what we do and who we help. Truly, thank you. We thought we had space for 24 new clients last year, but with Miranda expanding our capacity even further than we anticipated and y’all sending so many wonderful people our way, we were able to take 32 new clients! For 2026, we have room for 32 new clients with 11 spots already taken.
A couple of team updates…
I’m so excited to share that Miranda is now officially a Lead Planner with The Goodland Group! Miranda is truly one of the most thoughtful, thorough and savvy financial planners I’ve ever known. She thinks around corners, connects the big picture and the details seamlessly, and processes information super quickly and accurately. My standards for our client experience, depth of analysis, quality of advice, and caring approach are (ridiculously) high, and I wouldn’t put a Lead Planner out into the world representing this firm unless I was super confident in them. And I’m delighted to say that I have the utmost confidence in Miranda.
And that brings me to my next update which is that Elissa Nelson (soon to be Elissa Epoch as she recently got married) joined our team in December as a paraplanner supporting Cyndi’s clients. We are stoked to have Elissa on the team!
On a personal note…
From Cyndi: “There was never a dull moment in our household last year! We signed up for nearly every extracurricular activity imaginable—our kids participated in track, swimming, piano, drama, gymnastics, and volleyball. My husband, James, coached high school varsity basketball and led summer basketball camps, and I joined a music team as a vocalist. It was also a travel-packed year, from my kids’ first international trip to Canada to my brother’s tropical destination wedding, creating so many unforgettable memories along the way. In what little spare time remained, I tackled our kitchen remodel—the most ambitious home improvement project I’ve ever taken on. My favorite moment was hosting my extended family for Thanksgiving dinner in our beautiful new space!”
From Miranda: “After lots of travel the first half of the year, one of my highlights was a quieter summer and fall hanging around home. Seattle summers are hard to beat, and we made the most of it by spending many afternoons and evenings out paddleboarding. Traveling less meant having space for another highlight of 2025, training for my second road marathon. I tend to go back and forth between preferring road vs trail running, but at the moment I am firmly in the road runner camp with another marathon on the books for April 2026.”
From Elissa: “2025 was a really big year for my husband, Michael, and me. Besides our usual long walks with the dogs, trips visiting friends and family, and camping and backpacking trips, we had two major life changes. The first was that we bought our first home in April! This was a huge goal of ours and we are having a ton of fun decorating and slowly tackling remodeling projects. The other big life change was that we got married in August! We had a small ceremony at Michael's grandparent's farm in Sequim, WA and it will forever be one of my favorite days. Heading into 2026, we are looking forward to a family trip to Croatia in May, taking the dogs back to our favorite camp spots, attempting our first garden in our new backyard!”
And as for me, Wally (11) is keeping us busy with math club, chess club, student council and ALL THE SPORTS. Charlie (13) is now taller than me and looking forward to starting high school in the fall. He got his first job last year as a flag football referee and hearing his stories about his “work colleagues” after his Friday night shifts delighted me to no end. Most days there are neighborhood boys ringing our doorbell as soon as Charlie and Wally get home from school, and I send them all home when it’s too dark to catch a pass. Although it’s noisy, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Last year also brought the reality of supporting my aging parents into focus. My parents moved out of my childhood home which was quite an ordeal. My Dad’s cancer has returned (again) and we are hoping that treatment will buy him more time, but also accepting the reality that our time together is limited. (It always was, of course, but now we really feel it.)
Although 2026 might already feel like it’s been a long year, I’d like to wish you health and peace in 2026. Amidst all that is happening in our country and our world, there is much to hope for. May we hold that hope with one another, and for one another this year.
Best, Natalie