What happens when you walk away from a successful career and start again in mid-life?

In this episode of A Taste of Financial Planning, Dennis cooks a Turkish feast while we sit down with marketing leader and entrepreneur Paul Mills.

After years in senior corporate marketing roles, Paul chose to leave the security of employment and build his own business, working with companies as a fractional marketing leader and strategic adviser.

Over dinner we talk about the realities of that transition, including:

• the mindset shift from employee to entrepreneur
• the financial realities of building a business later in life
• how your relationship with money changes in your 50s
• why many founders quietly see their business as part of their long-term financial plan

It's an honest conversation about reinvention, risk and what it really takes to start again.

Along the way Dennis prepares a Turkish meze feast, proving once again that some of the best financial conversations happen around a table.

Paul Mills is a fractional CMO and marketing adviser who works with organisations looking for experienced strategic marketing leadership without the need for a full-time hire. After many years in senior corporate roles, he founded his own advisory practice and now helps leadership teams bring clarity and commercial focus to their marketing.

You can find Paul at:

https://www.vcmo.uk/

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.

What happens when the person who planned everything for you dies at 38?

In this episode of A Taste of Financial Planning, we sit down with Emma Gray, founder of Rainbow Hunting, former wills and probate solicitor, and widow.

Over Dennis's Japanese black cod with miso, we talk about grief, preparation, and the emotional handrails that matter when life changes overnight.

We explore:

• What grief really feels like, physically as well as emotionally

• The "sadmin" no one prepares you for

• Why powers of attorney are not just for later life

• The balance between living fully now and planning responsibly for the future

• How financial planning can protect the people you love from chaos

Emma brings both professional expertise and lived experience to a conversation that is honest, practical and deeply human.

Because financial planning is never just about numbers. It is about people.

Emma Gray is the founder of Rainbow Hunting, a therapeutic coaching practice supporting people through grief and major life transitions. A former wills and probate solicitor, Emma combines legal knowledge, counselling training and lived experience to help clients navigate both the emotional and administrative challenges that follow loss.

You can find Emma at:
www.rainbowhunting.co.uk

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 the first episode of A Taste of Financial Planning, hosts Dennis Hall and Sarah Steele sit down for lunch with former Royal Marine, world record-breaking ocean rower and author, Lee Spencer.

Over a Caribbean-inspired lunch and a bold glass of Syrah, Lee shares the remarkable story of how he became The Rowing Marine. From a life-changing injury to crossing the Atlantic solo, climbing Kilimanjaro with his daughter, and even testing kit for NASA.

The conversation moves between resilience, purpose, loss and of course, money. Lee talks candidly about growing up in Dagenham, his family's financial struggles, and how those experiences shaped his views on security, success and satisfaction.

There's honesty, humour and debate as Dennis and Lee discuss what money is really for: chasing wild dreams, building a legacy, or simply feeling free.

Dennis served a Caribbean-inspired menu, starting with a rum-based cocktail. The main course featured beef short rib cooked sous vide for 40 hours, glazed with rum, sugar, soy and lime zest, and served with coconut plantain purée, sweet potato and steamed broccoli.

Dessert: Rum, coconut and lime posset with toasted coconut flakes
Wine pairing: Porseleinberg Syrah 2023 — rich, spicy and a perfect match for the bold flavours

• Growing up with money worries and how early habits form

• Camaraderie and discipline in the Royal Marines

• Record-breaking adventures and learning from adversity

• Whether money is for living or leaving a legacy

• How planning for the future helps you live more fully in the present

• Debt, lessons from parents, and generational attitudes to money

• Happiness, purpose, and the things money can't buy

Lee's book: https://amzn.eu/d/0ebu7dHU

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.