I'm not building a coaching practice. I'm building a hundred-year firm.
And a firm meant to outlast its founder has to be more than one person. Here's who does the work — and why most of them share my name.
I ask every principal I work with the same thing: build something that doesn't depend on you. It would be dishonest to sell that and be a solo act myself. So over the years, I built a firm — my wife, my children, and the next generation — each credentialed in the same methodology, each carrying a piece of the work. This is it.
Two ways to work with us — and who you get in each.
If you work with me one-to-one, you get me — and Kate as your second chair, so nothing about your engagement ever depends on a single calendar.
If you bring us your whole firm through Elevate, I lead it, Michael coaches your advisors directly, and Marisa builds your team's communication and gets the right people in the right seats.
Either way, the same standard runs through all of it — because everyone here was trained to it.
Coach Joe Lukacs
Founder · Lead Coach
I coach the principals directly — the ten-year game, the decisions only they can make, and the work of becoming the leader the next decade requires. I also personally lead Elevate. Thirty-two years coaching financial advisors, and only financial advisors: 2,500+ practice leaders, $50B in additional AUM, $4.5B in additional enterprise value. Named by Registered Rep one of the top four coaches in financial services (2012) and a top industry troubleshooter (2000) — the only coach on both lists.
Marisa Lukacs
COO / CFO · Team & Talent · My wife, and my partner in building all of this
Marisa runs the firm — and she's a practitioner, not just an operator. Robbins-Madanes-trained and TTI TriMetrix-certified, she leads our team-building and communication coaching and helps clients get the right person in the right seat. When we say we'll optimize your team and your hiring, Marisa is the one who does it. She's also been my business and life partner for thirty years — the firm started with the two of us.
Kate Lukacs
Personal Coach · Second Chair · My daughter
Kate is my second chair on personal-client engagements — which means when you work with me, you get continuity and depth, not a single point of failure. She's a Certified High Performance Coach™, Robbins-Madanes-trained in Strategic Intervention, TTI TriMetrix-certified, and she's completing her Master's in Leadership & Organizational Psychology at Penn State. She also delivers the behavioral assessments behind our talent work.
Michael Lukacs
Elevate Lead Coach · My son
Michael is the personal coach for most of our Elevate members — the one who works directly with your advisors, week in and week out, developing them toward the vision you've set. A Certified High Performance Coach™, he also leads our Magellan Network community, which means he coaches advisors at every stage every day. Your bench is in the hands of someone who does this constantly, not occasionally.
Jordan (JoJo) handles scheduling, billing, and client experience across the firm — which is why working with us feels effortless from day one.
Ali leads our communications — the reason the thinking behind this firm reaches the people who need it.
Why do most of us share a name?
I could have hired strangers. I built a firm with my family instead — deliberately.
A hundred-year firm is one that doesn't depend on its founder. That's exactly what I help my clients build, and I wasn't willing to sell it without having done it myself. My children didn't inherit their seats; they earned their credentials the same way anyone does — through the High Performance Institute, through Robbins-Madanes, through the same training I'd require of anyone. What they inherited is the standard.
That's what a hundred-year firm looks like from the inside. It's also the best answer I can give to the question I ask every principal: What are you building that outlasts you?
