Ashley Micciche is the CEO of True North Retirement Advisors, an independent financial advisory firm managing $230 million in client assets, and located just outside of Portland, Oregon. It’s a family business, that she owns with her father. Ashley specializes in helping small business owners exit their business & retire with financial security by crafting and implementing a custom-designed exit plan. She is on a mission to transition 300 small business owners successfully into retirement in the next 10 years. Key Takeaways: [0:18] Today’s episode of Franchise Euphoria is brought to you by IndyFranchiseLaw.com, a leading resource in the franchise space. Head over to IndyFranchiseLaw.com learn more! [1:00] Josh introduces today’s guest, Ashley Micciche the CEO of Truth North Retirement Advisors located near Portland, OR. True North specializes in helping small businesses exit their business and retire with financial security. [1:52] Josh welcomes Ashley to Franchise Euphoria. [2:32] Ashley gives an overview of her background and what led her to launch her own firm. [4:55] For Ashley, launching her firm wouldn’t have been possible without the support of her family. [6:35] Josh reflects on starting his own firm and shares how it feels once you get to the other side of the initial challenges. [7:38] An analogy Ashley shares is that starting your own business is like a runaway train; you find a way to get the train out of the station but then you don’t know how to get off the train. [9:24] Ashley offers a way to look at retirement planning in the sense that it is working on the business rather than in the business. [11:10] With technology, it has become much simpler to get an accurate value for your business without having to pay an exorbitant amount of money and time. [13:51] If you plan to sell your business to a third-party, keep in mind that while you should get a valuation for your business, your business is actually worth what someone will pay for it, which is oftentimes much more its true value. [14:44] True North offers a 5-step exit path plan, the first of which is valuing your business. [16:22] Ashley started off her career in the 401K consulting world, but she realized that many businesses she was working with didn’t have a retirement plan in place and even experienced some unexpected situations that totally ruined her clients’ financial stability. [18:09] True North sets itself apart by way of their exit planning focus and also by being registered investment advisors. [20:07] Ashley hosts a daily podcast called the One Minute Retirement Tip which is on Alexa, YouTube, iTunes, and more. [21:51] Although True North is based in Portland, Oregon, they work with clients all over the country. [23:44] If you want to use True North’s free valuation tool, you can head to truenorthretirementadvisors.com/valuemybusiness. [24:48] Thanks for listening, and please, reach out to Josh anytime through email at josh@franchiseeuphoria.com. If you enjoyed this interview, please leave us a review on iTunes.   Mentioned in This Episode: josh@franchiseeuphoria.com www.franchiseeuphoria.com www.indyfranchiselaw.com Free Checklist & Unlimited Access To Our Business Valuation Tool True North Retirement Advisors Blog