Hartford Business Journal

12 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JUNE 15, 2026 SPONSORED CONTENT F or many business owners, growth eventually creates a familiar tension. The business is successful, but complexity increases faster than clarity, and leadership demands often overtake the long-term planning needed to translate business success into personal financial outcomes. It is a challenge Kelly McDaniel of DeLisaGroup has seen repeatedly, and one that exposed a gap in how business owners are typically advised. For years, her work focused on organizational structure, leadership alignment, and strategic clarity inside the business. But over time, a consistent pattern emerged: the most important decisions inside a company were being made without the understanding that they directly determine the owner's personal financial life. That realization deepened through her work with Connecticut Wealth Management (CTWM). Business decisions and personal financial outcomes are not separate. They are continuously shaping each other in real time. It became clear that an opportunity existed not to just coordinate two areas of advice, but to address them as one. For business owners, every decision is simultaneously a decision about their long-term financial security. A CAREER BUILT ON MENTORSHIP Kelly has spent more than 25 years working with business owners at DeLisaGroup, which she acquired in 2013 from its founder Bob DeLisa. "Bob was a true entrepreneur's entrepreneur," she says. "He saw something in me and gave me my career. Bob was a mentor and friend who challenged me to grow." Alongside that experience, she credits other mentors throughout her career who reinforced a consistent theme: effective advising requires understanding both the human and structural sides of a business. A PHILOSOPHY OF PERSONALIZED PLANNING Kelly's philosophy centers on one principle: services must reflect the actual condition of the business, not a predefined model. "It's never more or less than what the client needs. It's exactly what they need," she explains. Her work focuses on identifying misalignment between leadership, talent, and ownership objectives, then designing engagements that support both current performance and long- term ownership goals. WHY INTEGRATION WITH CTWM MADE SENSE The decision to integrate DeLisaGroup with CTWM was not made in a single moment. It first started with culture. "You're one of us now," Kelly recalls hearing early in her interactions with the firm, a simple phrase that carried unexpected weight for someone who had spent years as a sole proprietor. "I didn't realize how much I missed that sense of collaboration until I felt it again." What began as cultural alignment quickly revealed a deeper strategic fit. CTWM's planning-centric approach focuses on translating business wealth into personal financial goals, while Kelly's work addresses the organizational and leadership dynamics that determine how that wealth is created and sustained inside the business. After decades working in organizational development, Kelly describes feeling both confident in her craft and energized by the opportunity to collaborate with a team she respects deeply. As the conversations continued, it became clear that combining these capabilities under one organization would allow for a more integrated approach. "Everything is interconnected," she says. "For owners, the business isn't separate from their personal finances. It is their personal financial life." BUILDING A MORE HOLISTIC APPROACH FOR BUSINESS OWNERS By merging with CTWM, Kelly saw an opportunity to extend the reach of her work— connecting business strategy directly with personal financial planning so decisions are made with a clear understanding of their impact on long-term financial goals. With this alignment, decisions about growth, hiring and succession are no longer made in isolation. Each is evaluated through the lens of how it supports the owner's long-term financial objectives when they are ready to exit. Business success and personal financial outcomes are inseparable. When alignment exists, the value created in the business does not remain on paper. It translates into the owner's personal financial future, creating clarity and confidence to pursue their life's aspirations. Connecticut Wealth Management is a registered investment adviser. Registration with the SEC does not imply a certain level of skill or training. WHERE BUSINESS STRATEGY DRIVES PERSONAL FINANCIAL STRATEGY Kelly McDaniel, Director of Business Owner Services at Connecticut Wealth Management (CTWM) Business owners participate in a workshop led by McDaniel during CTWM's In Good Company event series, which brings together leaders to discuss the opportunities and challenges of business ownership.

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