Meet our team

As a wealth advisor, Susan’s expertise is building deep, meaningful connections with clients. That’s at the core of The Susan O’Brien Group Wealth Advisory practice and guides the strategic direction. It’s a skill set she’s built upon over the past 23 years in the industry. 

Prior to becoming a wealth advisor, Susan worked in the tax world both for the Canada Revenue Agency and in the private sector. She started a successful tax consulting firm but found the missing element was building meaningful connections with people and helping them connect with their wealth. In 1998, she started The Susan O’Brien Group Wealth Advisory.

Over the past 23 years, Susan’s innovative and collaborative approach to wealth management has become nationally recognized making her a sought-after speaker, facilitator, and planner working with C-suite executives and wealthy families. In 2021, she brought her practice to Richardson Wealth to broaden her ability to offer independent advice and services. 

Susan has a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Finance and Economics from the University of Toronto and her credentials include the Chartered Investment Manager (CIM®) and the Fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute (FCSI®) designations among others. 

In addition to being a published author, Susan has been featured in the Globe and Mail, on CTV News and Global News and several podcasts. She was a 2018 finalist in the Women in Wealth Management Awards in the categories of “Women-Led Advisory Team of the Year” and “Excellence in Philanthropy and CSR.” In 2019, she was a finalist in the Wealth Professional Awards for Excellence in Philanthropy and Community Service. Always guided by helping others and giving back to her community, she sits on advisory boards for the Calgary Foundation and United Way. She is also a member of the Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO), a global organization of top women entrepreneurs, where she offers peer-to-peer mentoring. 

Most recently, Susan has been nominated as one of Canada’s Top Wealth Advisors.

Susan lives with her family in Calgary, Alberta. She enjoys spending time with her family, being active by either golfing, skiing or cycling and travelling. She’s also a great lover of books.

Blair excels at the creation, implementation and ongoing monitoring of personalized wealth management plans for our clients. His love of the industry stems from his passion for the long-term aspect of planning and nurturing relationships with clients as their lives evolve. 

Blair’s interest in financial planning was sparked by a course he took while getting his Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Alberta. He worked as a tax and estate planning consultant at a major life insurance company and gained expertise as an independent advisor at a global bank. Drawn to Susan’s high sense of integrity and family-focused practice, Blair joined the team in 2010. 

In addition to his B.Comm, Blair carries an extensive number of designations including the Certified Financial Planner (CFP®), Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU®) and Chartered Investment Manager (CIM®).

Blair lives with his wife Laura and their daughter, Nyah. Beyond his family and working with clients, he’s passionate about golf which is one of his favourite ways to reset his focus. 

A tireless advocate for financial and investment literacy and empowerment, Jodi’s expertise surrounding wealth planning, particularly amongst millennials, is an asset to The Susan O’Brien Group Wealth Advisory’s approach to multigenerational family wealth planning. Through her educative approach, she helps instill confidence in clients while ensuring every aspect of wealth is factored into the client’s plan. 

Jodi has a Bachelor of Commerce with Distinction from the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary where she was also the recipient of the Silver Medallion, an achievement awarded to the top-performing student in each major. While completing her degree, she was asked to tutor personal financial management at both the undergraduate and MBA levels at the University of Calgary, igniting her passion for advancing the financial education and well-being of others. Jodi honed her wealth planning and investment expertise at a major financial institution for over a decade before joining the team in 2020. 

Jodi holds the Chartered Investment Manager (CIM®) and Personal Financial Planner (PFP®) designations and is in constant pursuit of expanding her knowledge, reading anything that’s put in front of her (besides pop culture) and devouring podcasts.  

Jodi lives with her husband Christopher and their two cats. When she’s not reading, she enjoys travelling and biking.

Karen has been working in private wealth management for seven years, beginning as a Sales Assistant in 2015 and progressing to Associate Investment Advisor in 2020.  With a background running a small dayhome business requiring a high degree of organization and efficiency, Karen honed valuable skills and insight for working in the dynamic financial industry. 

Simplifying the lives of clients by addressing the interconnected components of wealth management led Karen to the Susan O’Brien Group where the focus is on managing all aspects of wealth.  The unmatched high standards, philosophy and Net Worth Thinking approach of the team is a perfect match for Karen’s own values and aspirations for serving clients.

With a strong operations background, Karen will partner with Kathy on processes and procedures in addition to expanding our service offering by planning fun, and educational client events. Karen will also be developing her financial planning capabilities and will be meeting with clients in a relationship role.  It is Karen’s professional ambition to bring families together by helping those she works with to find their mission and plan their legacies through a customized, family-focused approach to wealth management.

When Karen isn’t working or furthering her financial education, she can be found dirt biking, camping, or spending time with her family consisting of two children, three cats, and two dogs. Karen is also an avid reader who enjoys good food and even better wine.

Kathy is the force that keeps The Susan O’Brien Group Wealth Advisory’s operations running smoothly by handling administrative matters and ensuring each client request is addressed promptly and efficiently. Drawn to the flow and structure of the operations side,  Kathy is a key architect of the client experience. 

Kathy found her way into the industry in 1987 through a temp placement and after falling in love with the atmosphere of the financial services sphere, she turned it into a career. She joined The Susan O’Brien Group Wealth Advisory in 2008, quickly becoming a vital part of the team.  

Kathy lives with her husband Peter, their two children Joel and Erica, and their yellow lab Teaka. She enjoys reading, camping, hiking and is an avid Toronto Blue Jays fan.