At the Helm 2025: Navigating Wealth, the Entrepreneurial Journey, and Legacy Building

Personal Success: An Active Approach to Pursuing Wealth and Well-being

Speakers shared holistic perspectives around success, emphasizing personal fulfillment, relationships, resilience, and a balanced mindset in addition to the traditional financial definition of wealth.

Design your schedule with intentionality. Mindy Kaling, Emmy-nominated writer, producer, and actor, discussed her strategy for being present in both her professional and personal life. She notes, "I really keep a ruthless schedule. And I try to keep my mind where my feet are. Sometimes the show wins, sometimes the kids win, but I don’t let one side dominate the other. I step in when things are about to become a disaster, and I don’t let lingering guilt affect me." 

Align your actions with your personal definition of success. Best-selling author Sahil Bloom shared his perspective on building a truly fulfilling life by focusing on time, social, mental, physical, and financial wealth. Bloom emphasized the impact of taking even just small steps: "If you were the main character in a movie of your life, what would the audience be screaming at you to do right now? That one tiny action could fundamentally change the trajectory of your life."

Develop a mindset that supports high performance. Harry Wilson, a dual-sport Division 1 athlete with over a decade in biotech and life sciences, translated the mental conditioning and grit-building exercises from elite athletics into the corporate world. If we can help the greatest athletes in the world not just chase positivity, but understand the power of negativity—and give them a framework to overcome it—that’s how we win. It's no different for the 'corporate athlete.' "

Dr. Varun Soni, the first and only Hindu to serve as a chief spiritual leader of a U.S. college or university, reinforced the significant impact of our ability to cope with challenges on our ability to perform. "Your mindset is more important than your skill set."

Entrepreneurial Insights: Innovating for Growth and the Power of Authenticity

Founders shared key learnings from their own entrepreneurial journeys, highlighting the strategies and challenges involved in building, scaling, and strategically exiting ventures.

Build your brand through innovation. Tommy Mello, the founder of A1 Garage Door Service, shared how he grew a simple idea into a thriving business through grit and determination. "Innovation is not just about creating new products; it's about solving real problems for your customers in a meaningful way." 

Catherine and Chrystle Cu, co-founders and co-CEOs of Cocolab, found success by leveraging their combined expertise in finance and preventative dentistry. Reinforcing the importance of ongoing innovation, Catherine notes, "Innovation isn't luck, it's built.” Chrystle echoes the sentiment, "For people to remain in love with your brand, you have to keep innovating."

Maintain authenticity as your brand grows. Ben Gorham, founder of Byredo, spoke about the value of staying true to your brand identity while scaling your business. "Authenticity is one of the most important ingredients for success—especially in today's world with more brands than ever. Everybody is a brand. Everybody has a brand."

Wealth and Legacy: Planning with Purpose

Speakers explored the intricate aspects of preserving and growing wealth across generations, emphasizing strategic planning, governance, succession planning, and philanthropy. They outlined strategies for managing the "family ecosystem" to optimize performance and mitigate risk.

Let shared principles guide your approach. Keating Crown, managing principle at Sterling Bay, shared invaluable perspectives on the impact of family enterprises on communities, grounded in the Crown family's deep connection with Aspen. His grandfather’s philosophy of treating this investment as "a responsibility more than a place" has guided the family’s approach and significantly shaped both the town and its ski areas over generations. 

Have intentional conversations. Carra Cote-Ackah, head of Philanthropy Engagement & Legacy Planning, Goldman Sachs Family Office, underscored the significant wealth transfer that is underway and highlighted the importance of developing a shared family purpose and thoughtful approach: “this is an opportunity to lean in to a more intentional design, to get a better outcome, and to make better decisions.”

Plan with efficiency in mind. Syida Long, managing director, Goldman Sachs Family Office, reinforced the necessity of purposeful, tax-efficient planning, especially when it comes to your family's long-term strategies. “We always say -- it's not what you make, it's what you keep.”