Financial Literacy for women. And how to make a graceful exit with Jodi Miller-Hammes

Braless Entrepreneur Podcast: Financial Literacy for Women with Jodi Miller-Hammes

Guest: Jodi Miller-Hammes, CEO and Founder of Continuum Financial Group, Rochester, MN

Jodi's Background and Journey into Finance

Jodi grew up the oldest of three daughters on a farm in New Richland, MN. Her father started teaching her about investing at 13-14 years old, taking every dollar she earned from odd jobs (babysitting, bailing hay, walking beans) and putting it into mutual funds. He made her track her ticker symbols in the newspaper and prepare her own taxes as a teenager. This hands-on experience showed her the power of compounding interest and capital gains, and she built her college fund through it.

After college, she found herself naturally coaching coworkers in their 40s about their 401(k)s. She made a T-chart of what she wanted in a career, which pointed her toward entrepreneurship and financial advising. She started at IDS in 1994 — the same firm that managed her first mutual funds, now Ameriprise, which she still holds her franchise with.

Her career path included advisor, training manager, associate district manager, and VP at Ameriprise — but she kept returning to private practice because she "was a great employee, but a miserable employee" working toward someone else's goals. She restarted her current practice in 2013 and has grown it to 18 team members.

Key Learnings and Points

On women and money mindset:

Women often take a back seat to men in financial decision-making within relationships, but many end up on their own at some point and lack the skills or knowledge to navigate finances.
88% of women-owned businesses make less than $100K/year. A significant part of this is self-inflicted: women frequently undervalue their work and undercharge for their services.
Women also over-deliver after raising prices — giving things away through excess service because they feel guilty charging more. This still amounts to undercharging and burns you out.
When your product or service makes the world a better place, it should make the world a better place for you too. You deserve to be paid what your work is worth.

On building a successful business:

Her core mantra: "Do the right thing every single time and everything else will fall into place." Her business growth was a result of serving clients exceptionally well, not chasing a revenue target.
She credits Vistage (CEO peer group) and EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) as major contributors to her growth — for leadership structure, personal coaching, accountability, and clarity of vision.
Investing in yourself, mentorship, and strategy organizations matters. Women entrepreneurs often don't because resources are finite and it feels safer to take the paycheck instead.

On business valuation and exit planning:

Only roughly 13% of businesses ever sell. Most owners pour everything into a business and can't extract value on the other side.
Jodi earned her CEPA (Certified Exit Planning Advisor) designation about 2.5 years ago. She now helps business owners prepare for an eventual exit.
Following the Exit Planning Institute's process, every year a business owner should ask: "Do I want to stay or do I want to sell?" You build toward marketability continuously, not just at the end.
The components that make a business valuable are the same components that make it successful: clean books, customer diversity, strong leadership infrastructure, and reduced owner-centricity.
When Jodi applied this framework to her own practice, her business grew from $2M to $7M and ultimately $16M last year.
The "4 Ds" can force an unplanned exit: Divorce, Death, Disability, Disagreement. Having an exit plan in place protects you from these.

On who she works with now:

Any business owner, any industry, anywhere in the nation, who may one day want to explore an exit and wants to prepare for it now.
She also works with business owners interested in philanthropy, as large business sales carry tax implications where charitable giving can create both legacy and tax advantages.

June 25 Women's Empowerment Event

What: Free women's financial empowerment event
When: June 25, 2026 — morning (so you still have your afternoon free)
Where: International Event Center, Rochester, MN
Topics covered: Cash flow and budgeting, debt management, investing, tax-saving strategies, estate planning, and insurance
Purpose: A safe, non-salesy space for women to ask questions, learn, and leave feeling more empowered about their finances
Keynote speaker: Eve (host of the Braless Entrepreneur Podcast)
Register: https://www.ameripriseadvisors.com/team/continuum-financial-group/events/

Contact Jodi

Company: Continuum Financial Group
Website: https://www.ameripriseadvisors.com/team/continuum-financial-group/contact/

Why reach out to Jodi:
If you are a business owner who may someday want to sell your business — or who simply wants to build a more valuable, sustainable company — Jodi is the person to talk to. As a CEPA (Certified Exit Planning Advisor) with 32 years in financial advising, she helps business owners build their companies in a way that makes them attractive to buyers, protects them against forced exits, and sets them up for a financially strong transition. She works with any industry, anywhere in the country, and also helps owners explore the philanthropy angle of a business sale.