For more than two decades, Deanna LaRue built her reputation inside one of the financial industry’s most structured environments. As a Certified Financial Planner and founder of Boujee Boss Lady, she advised clients through widowhood, business sales, generational wealth transfers, and retirement transitions that often carried as much emotional weight as financial complexity.
Now, she is stepping away from the traditional broker dealer model entirely.
The move marks a notable shift in how financial education is being delivered to affluent women. Rather than focusing exclusively on investment performance or technical planning strategies, LaRue’s new platform centers on financial confidence itself. That includes organization, longevity planning, mindset, lifestyle design, and the emotional realities that frequently shape financial decision making behind closed doors.
The timing feels especially relevant. Social media has flooded consumers with financial advice, yet much of it comes from personalities with little experience managing significant wealth or navigating complex family dynamics. At the same time, traditional wealth management still tends to speak in language many clients quietly find intimidating.
LaRue saw the disconnect firsthand.
From Top Producer to Industry Disruptor
One of the defining moments in LaRue’s career came when she earned Top Producer recognition within her independent broker dealer, a distinction awarded to only 75 advisors out of roughly 4,000 nationwide. She remembers entering the private reception at the firm’s national conference and realizing only a handful of women were in the room.
Instead of discouraging her, the experience sharpened her focus. She maintained Top Producer status for more than a decade while building TimeWise Financial into a respected advisory practice rooted less in sales culture and more in long term relationships.
That philosophy traces back to advice from her father. “You can train skill, but you can’t train loyalty,” he often told her. LaRue carried that belief into every stage of building her firm, prioritizing emotional intelligence and trust alongside technical expertise.
Still, the deeper inspiration for her latest venture emerged during a far more personal season.
The Conversations Successful Women Were Afraid to Have
In 2022, while balancing aging parents, two pre teen children, multiple businesses, and demanding client responsibilities, LaRue began noticing a recurring pattern among highly accomplished women. Many had built extraordinary careers and wealth, yet privately felt overwhelmed managing their own financial lives.
Curious whether the experience was isolated, she started conducting candid interviews with female executives and entrepreneurs across the country.
The stories were strikingly consistent.
Women spoke about feeling guilty for spending money on private education for their children. Others admitted discomfort celebrating bonuses or promotions. Some struggled with earning more than their spouses. Nearly all described pressure to soften their ambition to make other people comfortable.
Those conversations eventually inspired LaRue to host an all expenses paid professional photoshoot experience for a small group of women. What emerged was something closer to a private reckoning than a networking event. Participants openly discussed money, identity, fear, and success in ways many admitted they never had before.
For LaRue, the experience clarified the real issue. Access to wealth was rarely the problem. Isolation was.
“Successful women don’t need more pressure to perform,” LaRue says. “They need a safe, sophisticated space to finally understand their wealth, organize their lives, and celebrate the success they’ve worked so hard to build.”
Expanding the Financial Planning Conversation
LaRue’s work now extends well beyond traditional portfolio discussions. She has researched the intersection of aging, health, and wealth planning through interviews with long term care providers, families navigating later life transitions, and innovation initiatives at MIT AgeLab.
The focus reflects a larger shift happening across the wealth industry as women increasingly become primary wealth creators, caregivers, and decision makers during longer retirements.
Through educational programs, speaking engagements, and curated experiences, Boujee Boss Lady is positioning itself less as a conventional finance brand and more as a modern platform for financial leadership.
Learn More
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