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Have you ever faced a family crisis only to realize that financial instability adds an overwhelming weight to an already heavy moment? Or maybe you’ve felt isolated as the “first” in your family to reach new professional heights, only to discover no one handed you a playbook for building true generational wealth. Financial challenges don’t just shake our wallets—they can ripple through our relationships, legacies, and even our sense of security and belonging.

In this episode, listeners are invited to think beyond individual wealth and step into a bold new perspective: managing your family like a thriving enterprise. You’ll discover why taking the role of “Family CEO” is not only possible but essential if you want to break cycles of financial insecurity and create a blueprint for lasting abundance. Through candid conversation and practical examples, this episode explores how intentional leadership, open communication, and collaborative vision-setting can empower you and those you love to build a family legacy that lasts.

LaVaisha Davis is a wealth manager and advisor at Ell Wess Advisors, a firm offering family office solutions to founders, executives, and investors. She specializes in wealth-building, legacy planning, and asset protection—empowering clients to build financial independence and generational wealth. With a no-nonsense yet engaging style, she breaks down complex strategies like becoming your own bank. Her mission: to show people their family is their first enterprise—and should be managed like a business to build lasting wealth.

Episode Highlights

05:42 Lavisha Davis recalls how family tragedy became a turning point for financial awareness.

08:53 How pain and loss inspired leadership and deeper financial responsibility.

12:03 What it means to be the family CEO: Mindset and misconceptions.

14:49 The challenges and opportunities of being the first financial trailblazer.

17:24 Crafting a shared family vision and values around wealth.

20:57 Running the family like a corporation: Structure, roles, and the family bank.

29:42 Understanding the risks and the need for transparency.

31:33 The cost of poor planning, including inheritance, probate, and lost wealth.

37:13 Turning family strengths and structure into lasting wealth.

42:30 How to get started: Practical support and CEO training resources.

Your Checklist of Actions to Take

• Clarify your wealth vision by choosing whether to focus on personal financial security or building generational wealth.
• Adopt the Family CEO mindset and lead your household with intentional financial goals and strategies.
• Establish a family bank to manage shared resources as if you were running a business account.
• Have open money conversations to build trust, clarify roles, and reinforce shared commitments.
• Identify and leverage family strengths by assigning financial roles that align with each person’s skills.
• Provide financial education for yourself and your family to make informed decisions and prepare future generations.
• Create a governance system with clear values, rules, and processes for collective decision-making.
• Take consistent action by turning plans into progress through small but steady financial steps.

Mentioned

Income to Wealth Masterclass (webinar registration link)

Evolve in Love – Next level – Book Your Discovery Call

Connect with Lavaisha Davis

Websites: lavaishadavis.com

Facebook: facebook.com/lavaisha.davis

Instagram: instagram.com/lavaishadavis

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lavaisha-davis-27094b208

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Twitter: @DrJessHiggins 

Website: drjessicahiggins.com  

Email: [email protected]

If you have a topic you would like it to be discussed, please contact us by clicking on the “Ask Dr. Jessica Higgins” button here. 

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Episode Transcript

Lavesa, thank you for joining us. I'm excited about our conversation and happy to have you here.

I'm happy to be here. Jessica, thank you for having me.

Yes. And you do so much to support people in the financial space, looking at families and couples, and how to think beyond just the individual wealth-building mindset. I love that approach. And one of the topics we're going to talk about is the Family CEO Mindset. And before we get started on that, talk to us a little bit about how this area or your field became of interest to you.

Well, I sure will share that. First, I want to share with everyone. I'm currently the lead wealth advisor at LWITS Advisors. It's a firm that I am also a founder of, which provides wealth management services. But it was there through a detour. I actually was striving to go to medical school when I was in college, but my husband had a, he kind of got bit by the entrepreneur bug and getting bit by the entrepreneur bug in college when you're a broke college student, you know, I've never quite grasped that but it, it was his choice and in support of that kind of embarked on that journey with him. So, through entrepreneurship, we found quite a few challenges. And keep in mind, this was a time before it was trendy, you know, before there were resources and direct support that you could just reach out and get.

We're talking 2009, 2010. So it was quite a bumpy journey. But we had realized that what was the biggest bump was the financial aspect, really not knowing just how to manage finances. As a new business owner, it reflected everywhere. We just couldn't manage cash flow properly, you know, how to manage growth, how to scale, how to do those things, how to even read financial statements, how to separate our business and personal finances. It was all a blur. So in order to get some clarity there, I kind of just dived deep into that aspect of the business. Like, okay, we have to learn the money side.

Fast forward to an effort to learn that for ourselves. Tragedy struck my family, and I lost my brother, who was a victim of violence at the time, and my mother's only son. Now, that moment was just like a white Oakhamer because it was a direct reflection of where my family stood, and probably the biggest tragedy that can occur, which is death. We didn't have the resources to bury my brother properly and not just individually, but even collectively. We couldn't even collaboratively put the things together necessary to give him a proper homegoing.

And his daughter was 10 years old at the time. My niece still needed financial support. And it just was, again, an eye opener that let me know that, okay, we're not only in individual financial strengths. We collaboratively and as a group could not support one another. And it just was like, okay, we have to make some changes. And those

So I intentionally pursued licenses and financial education that could represent my family on a bigger scale. Like, now we're talking about how to set everybody up financially, and from there, just kind of grew within the financial service industry and started to do the same for other families.

Wow. Well, first of all, I am so sorry for the loss. I know it's been several years, but I know it's never. That absence is always with us. And I appreciate your willingness to share that openly, and I imagine still tender to some respect. And also, just when you're speaking about what you and your husband are now. Husband, it sounded like you were referring to him.

Yes. 

Okay. I mean, I'm just struck by the ambition and what you both were able to cultivate. I mean, first of all, like, he had a vision. It sounds like he sold you on some level, like, and you were really resonating with it. Also, looking back, like, how that actually made logistical sense, being, you know, he was in college, or maybe you were both in college, and like, how you were able to test the model. 

Right.

And then also being really confronted with this huge tragedy and how that was also asking for how we continue to have this level of strength financially and as a family, just seeing, again, where there was weakness in showing up the way we want to show up for our family. And even when there's something really horrific that happens, that's how we can handle it. Like, it's not just like it's been tested. It sounds like. 

Absolutely. And it's one of those, like, unfortunately for me and for probably many listeners, it usually takes tragedy to trigger change. 

Oh, my gosh, yes. Fear is the biggest motivator. 

It is when that fear makes itself present. Like I said, losing a family member is probably one of the biggest devastations that a family can go through. And depending on what they're in on, how deep that devastation can go, it can create debt, as we said. And that did happen to cover the expenses that come with losing someone. I don't think people understand, or if you do from experience, the expenses that come with that have to be paid up front. There is no delay, or there is no payment plan. There isn't anything like that. So that now debt has been added to the already financial stress. And then, when you couple that with like my mother's situation, not only did she lose a child and didn't have the financial resources at that time, her retirement was non-existent. And that was. 

That all came to the forefront after this moment. Like, okay, so we don't have anything that we can pull from, which means that you don't have anything for your future in place anyway. And it was just all of those light bulbs going off at once. Like, no, we have to do something to change this. 

Yes. Like all those signals, like an alarm. I want to correct myself. Pain is the biggest motivator. Right. Like I said, fear, but. But I was like, wait a second, it's pain. Cause it's like, yeah, we all have fear, but. And sometimes it can be more pronounced. But when we feel that level of pain. And so this was super confronting. And you sound like we're in a place of willingness to take some leadership and be honest, and look at, I mean, sometimes being awake, it's like the whole ignorance is bliss. Like sometimes tragedy forces us to do it, but being willing to look at it head-on, that's not easy to do. 

Leadership is the keyword that you mentioned. There is what goes right into the Family CEO Mindset because it's typically just the person deciding not to leave the outcome of their family's lifestyle, retirement, or financial stability to change. You're kind of taking the horn by the reins and deciding that I am going to be intentional in the guidance that I provide, and how far you want to go with that Family CEO Mindset is what I think we're going to get into today. Because mindset is one, action is another, and there are so many things in between. 

Yes. I love that we're vibing off each other. So I think it's take the horse by the reins and the bull by the horns. Regardless, we got the point. Thank you. 

We're in this together. They're coming. They're coming. 

Yes, yes. Okay, let's pivot towards the Family CEO Mindset. I would love to hear a little bit about how you see that sounds like leadership's a really big component of that, and one of the things I'm hearing you, in family dynamics or in life, we tend to do what we know, and sometimes there are intergenerational relationships we have with money or relationship stories we have with money. So in leadership, we have an opportunity to be intentional. You use that word already, and maybe look at, okay, this is how we've done things up until now. How do we really want to do things? But tell me, how do you see the Family CEO Mindset? 

You just described it in that last statement. This is how we've been doing things thus far, but now we are going to do things differently. Oftentimes, I think the misconception about financial stability, and I use that interchangeably with will, because well has a variety of definitions, that's, you know, what it means to you. And financial stability, whether we can self-sustain, can fall into one of those definitions. But I'll use those terms interchangeably. But most people can see financial stability as a result of luck, intelligence, or fate. Like if they don't have one of those three things that they cannot create this family wealth, when in actuality, it isn't any of those things that produce it. 

It's the leadership, the intention behind the leadership, the vision and the clarity, the strategy, the structure, the system that is what creates the opportunity for families to break some of those, like you said, those intergenerational relationships with money and give a kind of a blueprint, a reference point or a benchmark

And the family CEO just decides to step into that leadership role and be intentional about filling any other necessary roles to bring wealth or make their wealth a reality. That's exactly it. 

Now, of course, like you said, there are going to be nuances in between there, education and experience. You're going to have to gain. But the first thing is declaring yourself as your family's CEO. 

I'm so struck by what I could call or project of courage. But I'm like, the feeling I'm getting is like, you're not afraid. Like I mentioned, the word fear earlier, and as you just named so succinctly, what can be involved in this approach? It sounds values-based. Like, sometimes people associate money with this very practical, like kind of mechanical thing that doesn't necessarily, I don't feel me in it, right? Like what? 

As the highest value. 

Or you have people who want to feel freedom or people who want to feel secure, like you have different opposing needs and values. But how you just laid this out feels like a lot, but also feels really clear and aligned. 

It does feel like a lot. 

I mean, you're saying this is doable, this isn't something to shy away from. This is. And even if you need to bridge the gap and get some education and get some support, this is doable. 

Absolutely. That's exactly it. And recognizing that if you need that support, it can be found, you don't have to suffer in silence. That's a common struggle. Especially if you are the first in your family to have certain achievements, whether that is, maybe you're the first entrepreneur, maybe you're the first person to earn over six figures, maybe you're the first person to go to college and have a career, whatever that is. If you are a first timer, it can have a very isolated feeling. And it, like I said, makes you struggle in silence to make you think, oh, I'm the first person in my family to do all these things. 

So they already have expectations that I know this stuff, that I know what it takes, that I am already educated in that area, when there might be some areas that you don't know much about when it comes time to building wealth for your family. And that is. Okay. That's the part that I think is also hard for people to take on that family CEO role because they feel like they need to know it all right out of the gate. And that is. That's not the case at all. Wow. 

I mean, for one, that's a first timer. Sometimes we don't know what we don't know. So, as we have a vision, take some leadership; sometimes it requires learning. And also, I can appreciate that if I don't know, help me if this is part of what you're mentioning here, that if we don't have elders or generational wealth that can put people in this place of have or have nots. Right. I do think that mentoring and being exposed to what is possible, whether or not it's in business, entrepreneurship, education, like, I do think that is real and significant. I do think there are ways that we can curate that when we don't actually have it in our family. And also, you're saying this is still possible. 

Yes. I agree with everything you just said. Absolutely. 

So, can you give us an example you named? I mean, you did it so beautifully. I can't remember exactly how to reflect it in precision. And maybe you want to do it again, around what all you recommend that's a part of this system, as far as being a CEO. The values, the vision, the strategy, and how to implement it. Can you give us an example, just for people who are getting their mind around how it might be different than what we might just habitually do? I mean, you said sometimes we might ignore or not really be that connected to our money. But how does this look in full? Like, can you give us an example when one is in the CEO mindset? Yes. 

You know, in fact, I always encourage people to ask themselves this one question, like, hey, do I just want to build financial security for myself? You know, am I where I have sufficient retirement, I won't be a burden on my loved ones? The lifestyle I want to live, I'm able to financially support that. Is that what's important to me? Or am I seeking to build financial security not only for myself, but for the next generation to continue with? Do I want to leave them resources they can build upon? Those are two different paths. And once you answer that question, then it's clear whether you need to take on that CEO role or not. Because discipline can produce sufficient retirement. You know, as long as you are saving. 

I know these are some basics, although they're basic, there are still some hardships to obtain them, but there are some basic ways of saving and compounding and being consistent that can help you set yourself up individually. But now if you are concerned about the people you haven't seen yet, like grandchildren or your children, and the resources that you give them, and having a sound set of financial values, if that's important to you, then the CEO is the mindset or the role that we need to take on. Now, once you decide that, once we get into the system, if you're a CEO, that means you're a CEO of a corporation. And you now have to not just see your family as the people that you love, but now you have to see your family for the corporation that it is. 

And understand now it's time to structure and manage my family like a business, like how a business would, because we have some of the same characteristics. Corporations have revenue. Families have revenue. Our income, our bonuses, tax refunds these are all sources of revenue. Corporations have expenses. Families have expenses. Corporations have shareholders. Families have shareholders. Those people that you live with are those people that you love. And when you start to see it that way, now you start to think of how I can grow this like a business? How can I protect it like a business? I'm in charge, I'm the CEO. I have to create the vision, the mission, the goals, and what we're trying to achieve. So it's a mindset shift that has to happen first. And then you start to put the system in place. 

And the very first step, I always encourage someone who decides to become the Family CEO Mindset is to start the family bank, that needs time. So the sooner you say, Hey, I'm going to be the CEO and you start the family bank, and then you start pursuing education, experience, now you're filling certain roles in your family corporation, like your advisors. Now you're building it out. And you build it out slowly over time while you're building your family bank. So when it's time for this corporation to go to the next level, or AKA transfer to the next generation, it has a system that you just hand over. And the next generation gets to just add their flair because flair happens. As we can see. Children have their own paths that they're able to take that can contribute to the family wealth or the family corporation. 

They have their own ways, but they need the resources and the system to do it. So that's like the first mindset to choose. Are we building generational wealth? Once we do that, we have to change our perspective. We see our family like a business. And just like when you start that LLC or that business, you start the bank account, you go start your family bank, 1, 2, and 3, and we build from there. choice

That's so helpful, thank you. And I have a follow-up question, but first, I want to just acknowledge the interconnectedness. Like, even if one is in pursuit of more of the individual mindset, or even maybe someone isn't partnered, doesn't have children, right? Like that just circumstantially makes sense. And, also, there is a way in which we are still interconnected, even if we don't have this sense of so-called traditional family structure, and that to potentially contemplate how to build wealth from this more collective, as you said, way, because we are interconnected. And when one is partnered or has children or has a family, right. A niece, even a people don't have children, there may maybe other people that they really deem as the family network. 

That connection, that interconnectedness, and the wealth and the strength in that's a, like you said, it's a paradigm shift. And there's so much value in that. 

You know, when we say family, whether it is blood relation or just direct affinity, you get to define what that family construct is to you, because you know who you have love for, who you care about. And that can come in different forms. It may be your best friend that you've had for 20, 30 years, or it may even be the organization you've been serving and giving time to. Because you, if you are an individual who's single and doesn't have children or is not partnered, you may have more time to make an impact through your charitable outreach. And they can still be a form of who you are, building wealth for, because again,

There's legacy in that. So if you choose to leave it to the church that you've been a member of, if you choose to transfer it to your alma mater, if you choose to transfer it, your nieces, your nephews, your God, children, whatever, it still has to have instruction and a system behind it so they know what to do with it. That's how wealth is typically lost by the second generation. I believe over 70% of it is lost. And not just because of, like, dad investments and things like that. It's really because of a lack of leadership and instruction. They didn't know what to do with it, so they just had fun. That same instruction can be given to someone outside of a family. 

And your legacy could still live on if that is your answer to that question of individual financial security or some form of generational will. 

And also, I'm wondering, when you first started talking, I was like, oh, can you have several CEOs, like, people who just approach this from this place? But then, as you were talking, it sounded like, no, it might be helpful to have one CEO that everybody is in cooperation with. But I can appreciate. Well, I think if you have two parents in this kind of traditional structure that we often think of, then the partners can choose or self-identify. And then the other person is like, Yes, you are better served and I very much welcome you to take that role. And then the children are in a position where they are going to obviously follow what the parents are giving structure to. But if it's a bigger constellation, I imagine that does need some consent. Or talk to me about, like, how you're viewing this. 

Cause if everybody's cooperating for a family bank, or there's one person that's the CEO, is there? Are you suggesting people make that explicit and have visibility, and people are? Because if there are shared bonuses and it's all like, it does make sense that there's someone in leadership, but then you want to have people who are okay with that. 

Yes, visibility and buy-in are necessary. 

Got it. 

That's what I think I mentioned briefly about secrecy, is we tend to want to withhold and keep information to ourselves. But

Like, it does have to be a buy-in for that. What I usually share in this notion reminds me of the advice we used to receive about the right hand shouldn't know what the left hand is doing. It's this form of secrecy. Like you keep they, everyone should know everything. And I understand where that comes from. But then it questions if your goal is multi-generational wealth, you're usually looking to give them a boost. Hey, here is capital. 

So here is a boost for your generation to go, you know, and add more value to that. So I relate that to when I was coming up, and there was a store near my house. But we could never get the biggest bang for our buck at our store. Like, you know, we mainly had like 2 or $3, like $2 tops. Like that was a lot of money at times. But when we would go to that store, we couldn't get as much. But someone had told us, Hey, there's another store across the field that has penny candy. To get there, it had a big, tall iron gate across the whole field to get there, like the opening was all the way down on the other side of the field. 

It was an effort. 

Yeah. Like it was like, oh, but the penny candy was over there. And just like anybody who's building generational wealth, there are going to be obstacles that you have to overcome. So what we did to overcome it was we would go get the neighborhood big brothers, where we would call it like, Hey, walk with us to go to the other store. And when we got to the gates, like, hey, can you boost us up with his gate so we don't have to walk to the other end to get to it. And the way he would give us a boost, he would take his fingers and he would lock them and we would step into his hand and he would boost us over the gate. So I think of that with that advice that the right hand shouldn't know what the left hand is doing. 

But if it doesn't, how can it ever lock fingers? Totally. To give it the boost, open communication is necessary to instruct the next generation on what to do to avoid the wealth that you work so hard to build being lost. So I said that to say these are meetings, conversations, plans, and ideas that are discussed openly. Everyone has their, you know, you can build out your own governance system when you reach that level of your education, when you know that you have to do that. But everybody has a little bit of say, so they all should be involved. In order to grow a company, don't you have to build a team? It's the same thing. And the team has to be bought into the vision and the goal. So I just want people to have that same perspective for their families. 

I appreciate that. Thank you for sharing a little bit more. Because even as you're describing this, with these meetings and everyone feeling bought in and their values are included, that does build trust, right? Because I was thinking like, ooh, like if people don't have trust, like, that's hard. And yet, through practice and part of leadership, when I think it works really well, is the person in the role of leadership who is serving. It's for the good of all. It's not just for the self's good and say intention that you're saying, like the collective. And so that's demonstrated, and with the visibility, there can be a real trust that's earned. And also what you're speaking to, if I'm hearing you correctly, is that we can be stronger together. it

We can give each other the support and the assistance that helps us achieve more goals, overcome obstacles. It's not a win-lose. There can be a win in it, or people feel a level of trust in that as it's being demonstrated. 

Yes, there is a level of trust that is built with this because, you know, trust is directly correlated with the structure. When you feel like there is, it's almost like that trust fall. Like, you know, when there is structure there. When you're building this for the first time, or even having these conversations for the first time, you want to introduce it with some structure so people can feel confident in it. You know, when you can't see it's like, what are we talking about here? So the trust is a reflection of what structure you present. Because without structure, it's. Everything you're doing is like water, you know, it's just kind of spilling through cracks. Nobody can see it. It's like, what are we doing here? When I say structure, like that family bank, that's something tangible. Oh, I get that. I can see that. 

I understand that. And then you tell everybody how it's going to benefit them. Now they feel involved; that's another trust. You didn't forget about me. Okay. You know, so the development of trust happens over time, but it comes with that structure. That's what I would definitely encourage. 

Well, and the other thing I was thinking too is that this speaks to the teaching. Right. That you had talked about how people can learn through, perhaps they don't, maybe even know that they're learning, but having exposure to this process, the structure, and having that experience allows them to learn and be able to then be elevated in that and then be able to implement it or take it, like you said, a new flare. So I think that's essential because I'm sure you see this all the time. But I've had so many clients who, with their parents, their end-of-life phase, they're like, I didn't even know they had that, or I didn't even know that this was happening. And it's just like that's not passed down because it was invisible, or it's this, as you said, so separate all. 

The time, those surprises. It's one end of the spectrum, death without financial setup like life insurance, or you know, different ways to support that type of devastation. On the other hand, you could have a lot of things. And now someone who didn't even know you had a valuable estate has to step in and figure out what to do. They had all these things. I didn't even know they had all these things. So now you have an ill-equipped CEO. Which corporation do you know will bring in an inexperienced CEO to take over? Right, yes. Like, it doesn't make sense. And when you see yourself as a business, like because a business can have a longer lifespan than you, like we have expiration dates. A business doesn't have to have an expiration date. 

That's why you want to start to see it that way, so you can see the longevity, and you start to realize, oh, somebody's going to have to take over this seat. And I don't come in here messing everything up. So training and development, and education have now become the priority. Don't want this. I don't want to be taken by supply. That's too risky. 

Yes. Gosh. It brings up a personal story. So it's my husband's friend and she recently lost her father and then not that long, maybe six months, lost her mother anyway, went into probate and then her mother like she, the amount of not being prepared A for this, B, her personal investment to try to negotiate and navigate this landscape because I don't think perhaps set up for easy Transfer. And then her mother, like, had a property with her brother that she didn't know about. And then now talk about trust or distrust. And then he's not wanting to be as cooperative as she would have hoped. And it just seems unnecessarily stressful and burdensome. Like, this has been so overwhelming. I have a client who's actually going through his own kind of estate process with his father. 

But it's just, I feel like there's such wisdom in what you're describing and helping people understand what's available and a different mindset around this. Because again, we affect each other, we are interconnected. And to think that it is individual, I think it is actually not true. 

It's not true at all. And that is an experience we come across quite often, of a dump on the lap. I inherited a business. I don't even know how it operates, how it makes money, who's in charge, what does what, or who goes where. It just fell on my lap. And now you are at risk of losing 50% of that value through the estate or the probate process. So now we've lost significant value just because we didn't set it up to transfer over properly. That's 50% of it, potentially. And now I have to manage what's left. And because learning curves can be expensive, learning how to navigate, like you said, through the complexities of it, now the value is going down even more. I just have to learn along the way. 

Like lost time. Because we don't know how to step in. 

Yeah, that's where that second-generation depletion comes from. It wasn't depleted because we spent it all intentionally. We had a probate. We didn't know what we were doing. We didn't know how to invest it. All we knew was to pay our bills with it. We didn't have a system. It was just a domino effect. And that's why those clients that is experiencing this hands-on, that you just spoke of, their children may not get to know what work their grandparents actually put in and what value they created. They may not even get the chance to. To know that it's preserving. Exactly. In preservation. 

Yes, yes, yes. Okay. So I write, I'm looking at that time. Oh my gosh, Bri, I could ask you so many questions. I wanted to ask, as you shared openly about recognizing when your brother passed and your mother's financial scenario or situation around retirement, was she open to you helping, or like getting involved? Because I'm thinking people can be in their individual mindsets, do you have any input or recommendations around how to approach this? If people are hesitant or feel so private that it can feel a little scary. And then also maybe for the one that recognizes the adult child, that recognizes, oh, my parent who's aging, to have some conversations, or maybe it would be helpful to really look at this as a family. And I'm overwhelmed by that. Like, you seemed very willing to engage and felt like you had enough to. Sounds like you were already educating yourself and already investing in this world. And then you were recognizing just how tremendous this was. But said yes, you leaned in where some people might want to lean out. Like, no, I'll just let that be what it is, and I'll deal with it whenever, or it's not my thing, or maybe they're resistant, and that's a good reason to not press. Can you speak to either of those? 

I'm going to answer both of those. I'm going to answer what my mother's answer was. But I also want to speak to those who tend to lean back, that there's still a process in place. That's why LS Advisors was created, because I understand that it can be a very challenging role to take on for the first time out of nowhere. Like, you know, especially in the midst of tragedy, if that happened during a devastating moment. So it can be outsourced. That CEO role can be outsourced, but in conjunction and in partnership, like now, you have like a co-CEO, like, hey, I am not fully equipped, and I already have my own way of making money. I work full-time, or I'm a mother and father, parent and sibling. 

I already have a full-time activity that prevents me from giving the energy I need to become the CEO and hold. So I need to outsource that. That is a possibility. So, keeping that in mind. But my mother's answer. No, she did not. It was a no at first. And that's why I tried to explain the structure. Let me tell you why her answer was no at first. As I hinted to we had already been entrepreneurs for quite a few years when my brother passed away, and we too weren't in a position to help. That would scare someone off. 

She didn't want to be a burden. 

Yeah, she was just like. Exactly. She saw it as more of a burden. And the buy-in didn't happen immediately for my mother or any other members of my family. It had to be the structure. They had to see it like, oh, okay. Now that I see the fruits of your labor of entrepreneurship before we had the real traction, you know, it was Mac and cheese cups, filet mignon, Mac and cheese cups, filet mignon. Like that's the roller coaster ride. So when they witnessed that, it's kind of scary. So we had to go and create the structure that they could buy into. And by that I mean like an entity that they could participate in, so that they could have visibility into. 
So it was not at first until we created that structure, gave them that visibility, showed them how they work, showed them how they could fit in, and gave everyone their particular roles based on their strengths. And then it was like, okay, now I will. So it wasn't an immediate buy-in, even from my own mother, even in her experience. So it has to have some level of consistency from the person who was going to declare themselves as the CEO. It's not going to be easy. It's like a startup. It's like a startup, you know, like people aren't always going to see the vision, and you have very few resources to be able to bring it to life. That's why I always encourage think of your family like a business. If it doesn't have any traction yet, that means you're in the startup phase and treat it just like that. 

Got it. One other question, it's even just God, I'm so steeped in Western culture. Even as you were talking, I was like, Oh, okay, how did that work? So I was thinking, CEO, like an interim CEO for your mother. But I'm like, no, you were including your family with your family, like you and your husband and your mother and whoever. So was your husband okay? Like, is there different buckets or is it all one bucket? Like, was your husband okay with bringing her mother? And like it is all connected, however you define it or not define it. But I'm just curious, in practice, like how does that work with a spa? 

That is a great question. And it ignited an entirely different topic. Like the conversation of values between your potential partner is so important as early as possible. So we had already had a shared value system that later I coined, but that our family is our God given team to build wealth. That's the first enterprise we're entrusted with. These are the first resources and assets we are expected to be good stewards of and take care of. So, because we already had that shared value, it was a no-brainer as we started to build out the structure. There was no convincing in that part. So even in your pursuit of your dating journey. You guys have to have that value conversation as early as possible to make sure that's not going to come up later. 

But there was no pushback or anything from my husband, not just my family. It's my husband's family as well, but his is smaller than mine, so we have more people. But what it is in practice is about strengths. I can't express that enough because I think when we talk about this concept, people think, I'm the CEO of an operating business. I'm going to start a business, and everybody has to work for me. It's not what it is. It's really just about finding everyone's strengths, which is going to help the business grow in value. You are just in the business of growing in value. That's it. It's not about a product or a service. It's about assets, investments, growing them, and being able to provide stability and income for people. That's a different type of business model, but it's about the strength. What I want to know is what my mother's strength was? Because she didn't have a retirement plan and we had to figure it out. We weren't going to be able to just create one and get it funded enough to the point where she could retire in a reasonable amount of time. My mother has been a caregiver for over 30 years, probably over 40 at this point. And I am a mother of four children myself. I come from four. I'm the youngest of four, but I have four children myself. And as any other mom out there knows, when you start to pursue your goals, you have this little mommy guilt on the inside. You know, my kids still need certain nurturing, and I need to make sure I'm available for that. 

But when you're in the building phases of it, you know, it's like, I'm going to miss something. These things are going to happen. So my children were still going to need care. I was still going to have to pay for that. And my mother's been a caregiver for over 30 years. You know what, Mom? I'll just pay you the money I was already paying. This is how you fit into the family system. Now we know that our children are going to get proper care. We know they're going to get the legacy to stay alive. We know that the wisdom is going to be passed down because they're sharing time with you all the time. And that's where she fits. 

We didn't try to put her in something that she didn't know how to do, or that she had to learn all over, or that she couldn't understand. Providing care was like the back of her hand. In practice, evaluating your family for where they fit. They don't all have to work in the same business. We just have to be in the business of working together. 

I love that. What's so empowering, as you said, like the strengths-based based and just when people can feel that they're a part of something, and they can contribute, and it can have multiplying benefits, like it can compound. It just seems so empowering and so motivating and inspiring. So I love that. I still have questions around, like do people like the shares, the stakeholders? That's something that I mean we get to. 

Yeah, yeah, I would love that. That has to be part two. There's an invitation that has to come back. I love it. I love it. There is a governance setup that goes with it. You are absolutely right. I hope we have the opportunity to have a conversation about that part. 

I love it. Wonderful. Well, would you be willing to share how people can get connected to what you're doing, what you're offering, and how to learn more? 

Absolutely. So I would first encourage everyone to utilize my social media handles, which, for simplicity, are just my name. So it's just Vasya Davis on every platform, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, LinkedIn, and they all have a link in the bio that can support wherever you are in the journey if you're ready to start your own family wealth system. My family bank, I want to step into the role of the CEO, and I'm ready to become trained in that area. We do family CEO training. We can also aid in starting the family bank and building your family wealth system out from there. So when you utilize those social media handles and click those links, you can click wherever you are on your journey. And so I encourage it. The best thing you can do is take action. 

The way to get information from your head to your heart is through your hands. So making sure we take that action can be the decision that changes the trajectory of your family for sure. 

And you also mentioned a firm. Is there a website you want to also mention? 

Yes. So, lwestadvisors.com is the firm that provides the actual wealth management, the co CEO role that we discussed, and this is a door that we can open for our next conversation if we are fortunate to have that. Now we're talking about setting up your family office, and the family office is the wealth management of that system that you created. Because it's going to grow. And 

Now we have to manage taxes. Now we have to manage investments. Now we have to manage asset protection. Now we have to manage that wealth transfer so it doesn't get easier. I want to share that disclaimer. So the family office is a wealth management structure that supports that, and that's what we do at LF Advisors. 

Wonderful. I'll make sure to have the link on today's show notes as well as your social media handles. Thank you. LaVaisha. It's been so lovely to spend time with you. 

Jessica. It has been absolutely amazing. Thank you again.