THE FAMILY WEALTH EDGE
Episode 13
Vincent
Welcome back to The Family Wealth Edge. Kristin, how are you doing?
Kristen Heaney
I'm great, you're in a new spot.
Vincent
I am, and Matt our producer was teasing me about the shadow that's looming on half my face, but we'll work with it today as I get settled. Thank you. And we're joined—
Kristen Heaney
Well, I know you've moved. Moving is no fun, so that's rough.
Vincent
Well, I thank you for your support over text messages the last few weeks, because it's not fun, especially with two little boys. And we have a special guest today, Kristin—your colleague and friend, Rebecca Brown.
Kristen Heaney
Yes, we're so excited to have you. If you would just kick us off by sharing a little bit about your background. You have such a varied and impressive background, so I think it'll be hard to actually narrow down. But if you could just give us some sense of where you've come from and how you ended up at the place where you find yourself on The Family Wealth Edge today.
Vincent
Yeah.
Rebecca Brown
My pleasure. Well, Kristen and Vincent, it's so great to be here with you. Thank you for having me. So my background started in finance. I was working at Goldman Sachs in New York City, really enjoying that career, and ended up going to Columbia Business School, where I got very into entrepreneurship and started multiple businesses. One of them took on a life of its own.
I went back to Goldman and continued to work on that business until I got to the point where I thought I had to give it 100% of my energy. So I left and started the brand Soulmates, a shoe and foot care brand for women. I invented a product because I was tired of having my high heels sink into grass at outdoor weddings and nothing existed to solve it—so I created one. I knew nothing about patents or inventing products. I had only ever worked in finance, so it was very new territory.
But like any true entrepreneur, you aren’t phased by that lack of knowledge. You just dive in and learn because you’re passionate about your idea. So that’s what I did—started the business around that first product, then expanded into shoe accessories and shoe care. I went on Shark Tank, which was an amazing, surreal experience, and built the business organically, raised capital, expanded internationally, even had Oprah as a customer.
Along the way, I started a second business, Core Satellite Partners, because people kept asking me for help—how to start a business, invent a product, go from step one to step ten. So I created a consulting and advisory boutique, which I’ve now run for about ten years. In recent years, I’ve focused on supporting rising-gen or next-gen entrepreneurship. Working with family offices, I realized entrepreneurship could be a powerful vehicle for education and leadership development.
Kristen and I connected through the family office community a few years ago and instantly hit it off around our shared passion to support next-gen leaders.
Vincent
We see this a lot in our work with families—the entrepreneurial bug, the added pressure of growing up in successful entrepreneurial families. I’m curious where you got the spark to be both an entrepreneur and inventor—and when did you decide you were never sinking your heels in grass again?
Kristen Heaney
Yes, and when I got to know Rebecca, I said, my gosh, we need to turn this into a peer group. There’s so much interest in this topic, and it’s not always easy—even if you have entrepreneurial parents, they aren’t always the best mentors for your own path. There are complexities when you have family capital available. Bringing people together who share that experience of being rising gens is going to be really powerful.
Vincent
Tell us more, Rebecca, about your experience in the family office space and what you’re seeing with young entrepreneurs.
Rebecca Brown
It’s a pivotal time. We’re going through the greatest wealth transfer in history, and that makes it crucial for families to ensure the next generation has leadership skills. Learning what it takes to build a business from scratch is an incredible way to gain that. Working with the family or building something new fosters confidence, identity, and connection to the legacy. It’s a bridge between generations and a meaningful way to tie back to the original entrepreneur of the family.
Vincent
And it helps them find their own identity. Often rising gens get pulled into mom or dad’s vision and lose themselves in it. What a great idea. I’d love to hear more about the course structure—where do you start?
Rebecca Brown
That’s an important point—the struggles. Within Three Generations, we’ve built a framework to help people understand what to do next. You have an idea—what’s step one? Our seven-course curriculum walks through each stage, giving practical knowledge to assess whether the business is viable. It’s one thing to have an idea; it’s another to execute. We’re focused on giving participants the practical foundation to make real decisions.
Kristen Heaney
And how often does it happen that a family, with the best intentions, gives a child $300,000 to start something—but without the knowledge to handle the challenges? We want to help them anticipate obstacles, leverage intellectual capital, and set themselves up for success.
Rebecca Brown
Exactly. Starting a company can be lonely. One of the key benefits of our program is the community of trust and support. It’s hard to go to mom or dad or the family office without a structure in place, so we’re building that confidence, those core skills, and a peer group to lean on.
Vincent
Fascinating.
Kristen Heaney
And it gives them a chance to practice pitching and get feedback from peers before facing their family.
Rebecca Brown
Yes.
Vincent
It’s a great addition to the N3GEN groups. Kristen and I have spent years cultivating confidence in a nonjudgmental space, and I’m excited to see how this can impact rising gens. Rebecca, where do you see them getting stuck most?
Rebecca Brown
Taking action. It’s scary, especially if there’s no culture of entrepreneurship in the family. You can feel like an outlier. It takes confidence and conviction, and that fear can stop progress—whether it’s presenting the idea, incorporating, or finding a co-founder. The early steps require courage, and that’s often where people freeze.
Kristen Heaney
I also think mindsets play a big role. When I wrote my first book, I had that voice saying, “Who am I to do this?”—the imposter syndrome. For rising gens, that voice can be even louder: “Who am I to try to step into my grandmother’s shoes?” Do you see that in your coaching?
Rebecca Brown
Absolutely. We all fall back on habits and comfort zones. Doing something new feels uncomfortable, so it’s easy to delay. That’s why I started coaching—to give rising gens the confidence to step into their identity, connect to their family’s legacy, and learn the practical skills to build something real. When they present a well-thought-out plan and it’s received positively, it’s incredibly validating. That confidence compounds—it propels them forward.
Vincent
What a well-thought-out idea. Family-owned companies drive much of global GDP. Yet many heirs feel obligated to join the family business rather than forge their own path. When families encourage new ventures, everyone wins. Rebecca, where does your passion for this come from?
Rebecca Brown
I’ve felt that satisfaction myself from building something and want to nurture it in others. Yes, technology helps, but in the end, it’s about human belief and execution. You can’t automate conviction. My passion comes from seeing transformation—when a rising gen completes the process, they emerge more confident and grounded, whether they pursue their business or join the family enterprise.
Kristen Heaney
And even if the business doesn’t work out, they gain valuable skills—how to read financials, how to think strategically—and bring that back to the family enterprise. It’s still a huge win.
Rebecca Brown
Completely. It also strengthens the family’s story and identity. Entrepreneurship connects generations and reinforces the origin story that can otherwise fade with time.
Vincent
Yes, and it creates the next generation of entrepreneurs. There’s a great quote from Tom Deans: “Don’t gift your kids the business; gift them the gift of entrepreneurialism.” I love that. Rebecca, could you leave us with a couple of takeaways for rising gens and tell us where to find you and more about the upcoming cohort?
Rebecca Brown
Absolutely. First, if you’re passionate about an idea, write it down. Keep coming back to it—that persistence is a good signal. Second, believe in yourself. Whether it becomes a business or not, the act of starting is transformative.
Our collaboration with Three Generations launches in January. It’s a seven-session series for anyone with an early-stage idea or even just curiosity. Participants will leave with tangible skills and materials to present to their family or family office. It’s practical, focused, and deeply rewarding.
Vincent
Thanks.
Kristen Heaney
And by the time this episode airs, we’ll be taking registrations. I might even invite one of my own entrepreneurial sons to join—if he’ll take me up on it!
Vincent
We’ll have to do a follow-up episode about what it’s like being in a cohort with your mom. Rebecca, thank you for joining us—amazing idea, great work. Kristen, as always, a pleasure. Another episode of The Family Wealth Edge.
Kristen Heaney
Thanks to you both.
Rebecca Brown
Thank you.
