From Stuck to Significance: How to 3x Growth Without Burning Out with Triad Members Dana & Tyler Dunkelberger

Can you scale your business at breakneck speed without sacrificing the service you provide or your quality of life?

Meet Triad members Dana Dunkelberger and Tyler Dunkelberger from Reliance Financial Partners, who have proven it’s possible.

Their story is one many advisors will find relatable. Starting as a small team of six, they wore many hats and achieved impressive results, averaging $30M in new assets annually. But with growth came mounting stress, and they eventually hit a plateau. Fast forward to November 2024 and they’re on pace for $90M in new assets.

It wasn’t always smooth sailing. Like many advisors, they found themselves stretched thin—caught in the grind of endless seminars and meetings while struggling to scale sustainably. They were on the verge of total burnout and realized they’d become their own worst enemies.

Their solution? A radical shift in mindset that prioritized leadership, strategic hiring, and streamlined processes. The result: 3x growth, happier clients and families, and a thriving business that allows them to truly Do Business. Do Life.

Three Insights From This Week's Episode

• Unlock Growth through Strategic Hiring: Learn how hiring new staff and growing their team has led to Dana and Tyler nearly TRIPLING their growth.
• The Secret to Scaling without Burnout: Learn how redefining roles and implementing smarter systems helped them achieve exponential growth while preserving their time and energy.
• Process Over Product: See how shifting their focus to holistic planning boosted client outcomes and increased their average case size by 4x.

“I think the one thing that makes it fun again is that we have bandwidth back. Like, in the past, we weren't able to do anything and you're constantly working in the business and you have no opportunity to work on the business.”  – Tyler Dunkelberger

More on Doing Business and Doing Life.

“When Roy helped me back there, I was all alone and in this business. Roy had no connection with this business at all… Roy, not knowing the business, he didn’t know what we were in. But Roy had faith in me...”   – Walt Disney

In this week's episode, we discuss one of the most fascinating origin stories I’ve encountered in this business: two brothers who began as professional water-skiers at SeaWorld before making a successful transition into the world of finance.

It reminded me of another famous story about two brothers who also started in the theme park world and went on to build a business together—Walt and Roy Disney. While mixing business and family can be challenging, one of the things I’ve appreciated over the last two decades in this industry is seeing how many families have chosen to build financial services practices together.

This week, Dana and Tyler shared their incredible journey from water-ski partners to business partners, creating a business that tripled this year as they unlocked a formula to scale and build something of significance—something bigger than either of them individually. I thought it would be fitting to also share lessons from Walt and Roy Disney’s remarkable partnership.

Here is a rare audio clip of Walt Disney describing his brother, Roy, and the impact of their partnership. The Disney we know today wouldn’t exist without Roy’s work behind the scenes, securing funding for Disneyland and many of Walt’s “crazy ideas,” that required real-world business acumen to bring to life.

Many of you are also familiar with the “Founders” podcast, one of my favorites online. Here’s a breakdown of several episodes that explore the formula Walt and Roy used to build a business that outlived them both and continues to create magical experiences for millions worldwide.

• Episode #310: Walt Disney and Picasso
• Episode #346: How Walt Disney Built Himself
• Episode #347: How Walt Disney Built His Greatest Creation: Disneyland