We sat down with architect Caroline Short for a conversation that covered far more ground than we expected.

Caroline shares her journey from early entrepreneurial experiences to building her own practice, Barc Architects, and the work she now does designing beautifully considered homes for her clients. We also touched on her love of Italy, including the appeal of trulli in Puglia, something that sits more in the realm of future dreams than current projects.

Along the way, we explored how those design decisions often sit alongside much bigger questions. How far to push things. How to balance ambition with reality. And how emotion can influence some of the biggest financial decisions people make.

As someone who works closely with clients at that point, Caroline brings a thoughtful and grounded perspective to what can otherwise feel like overwhelming choices.

As always, the conversation unfolds over food, moving naturally between business, money and life.

• Caroline's early entrepreneurial experiences
• Building and growing an architecture practice
• Designing homes and working closely with clients
• The appeal of property abroad, including Puglia
• The role property plays within a wider financial plan
• Balancing ambition with financial reality
• How emotion influences major financial decisions
• What "enough" really looks like

At the table

• Gazpacho with sourdough croutons
• Pasta Alfredo with seared ribeye steak
• A delicious chilled Mersault

Caroline Short is an architect and founder of Barc Architects, working with clients to design and deliver thoughtfully considered homes. Her work combines creativity with a practical understanding of how people want to live, helping clients navigate both the exciting and more complex aspects of building their ideal space.

Host: Dennis Hall

Host: Sarah Steele

Contact us: ask@yellowtail.co.uk

ABOUT YELLOWTAIL

Founded by Dennis Hall, Yellowtail are the trusted financial planners who advise individuals & families across the UK. Yellowtail's experts provide the clarity, control and confidence to guide you through financial planning, estate planning, pension transfers and investment management directing your journey towards a prosperous retirement and financial peace of mind.

In this episode of A Taste of Financial Planning, we're joined by Mike Hesketh.

Mike's career has taken an unusual path, from training as a dentist and serving in the Royal Navy alongside the Royal Marines, through to building and selling a successful dental practice, and now working with practice owners through Hesketh Healthcare.

But this conversation goes far beyond career milestones.

We explore how early experiences shape our attitudes towards money, how different types of pressure influence decision-making, and what financial independence really means when it stops being theoretical and becomes real.

Mike reflects on his time in the military, including deployment to Afghanistan, and how those experiences changed his perspective on risk, responsibility and leadership. That perspective carries through into his approach to business, growth, and ultimately the decisions we all face when success arrives.

We also discuss:

• the reality of building and scaling a business
• why standards, not shortcuts, drive long-term growth
• the emotional and practical challenges of selling a business
• and what happens when you reach a financial milestone and need to decide what comes next

At the Table
Fish broth with a light Japanese influence
Raviolo with salmon mousse and a soft egg yolk
Rib of Aberdeen beef with new potatoes and asparagus

A conversation that moves from North Wales to the Royal Navy, from Afghanistan to business ownership, and into the realities of money, pressure and what comes next.

Host: Dennis Hall

Host: Sarah Steele

Contact us: ask@yellowtail.co.uk

ABOUT YELLOWTAIL

Founded by Dennis Hall, Yellowtail are the trusted financial planners who advise individuals & families across the UK. Yellowtail's experts provide the clarity, control and confidence to guide you through financial planning, estate planning, pension transfers and investment management directing your journey towards a prosperous retirement and financial peace of mind.

We're joined at the table by Abraham Okusanya.

Abraham grew up in Nigeria before getting a scholarship to study in the UK, a turning point that changed the course of his life.

Today, he runs a business responsible for managing over £13bn of client assets.

But this conversation doesn't follow a straight line from A to B.

We start much earlier.

With childhood memories of money, sitting around the table with family, sometimes not quite enough to go round, and what that teaches you about earning, spending and valuing it.

From there, the conversation moves through very different moments in life.

Pitching to investors while his wife was in hospital.
Being told no, more than once.
And continuing anyway.

What comes through is not a neat story about success, but something much more recognisable.

A conversation about uncertainty, resilience, and how our early experiences with money continue to shape the way we think and behave, even when life looks very different years later.

• Twice baked soufflé to start
• Sole with sauce Veronique and pave potatoes
• A conversation that moves from Nigeria to London, from early money memories to building something from scratch

Abraham Okusanya is the founder and CEO of Timeline, a financial planning and investment technology business used by advisers across the UK.

He is also the creator of Advisor 3.0, a leading conference for financial planners, and has been a prominent voice in shaping the profession over the last decade.

• Growing up in Nigeria and early experiences of money
• The impact of family and shared meals
• Getting a scholarship to study in the UK
• Building a business step by step
• Dealing with rejection and uncertainty
• How early money experiences shape decisions later in life
• Raising children in a very different financial world

Host: Dennis Hall

Host: Sarah Steele

Contact us: ask@yellowtail.co.uk

ABOUT YELLOWTAIL

Founded by Dennis Hall, Yellowtail are the trusted financial planners who advise individuals & families across the UK. Yellowtail's experts provide the clarity, control and confidence to guide you through financial planning, estate planning, pension transfers and investment management directing your journey towards a prosperous retirement and financial peace of mind.