Business owners are risk-takers by nature. It takes a lot to put yourself out there and launch a business. It can impact your financial situation, family life, self-esteem, and, not to mention, the lives of your employees and those in your community.
For this reason, among others, Joe Seetoo, the Exit Planning Institute’s® (EPI) 2025 Peter Christman Exit Planner of the Year, sees business owners as American heroes.
“Small and mid-sized business owners create most of the jobs in this country. They drive innovation and opportunity. Many face setbacks—fires, market downturns, personal hardships—but they keep going. To me, they’re heroes because they embody resilience and courage. And as advisors, we get to help carry them across the finish line of a marathon they’ve been running for years.”
It’s for this reason Joe and Morton Wealth launched The Strategist Transition Toolkit, a digital magazine billed as “the business owner’s transition toolkit.”
The Strategist Transition Toolkit features tips from 18 exit planning professionals, including Joe himself. The toolkit is divided into three sections, starting with preparing the owner for the sale and continuing through their life after exiting their business.
“We started with valuation—what drives it, why it matters. Then we covered personal planning topics like estate planning, tax strategies, and income replacement,” he says. “On the business side, we looked at financials, culture, and employee engagement. Finally, we addressed the transaction itself—deal structure, due diligence, ESOPs, family succession, and more.”
Among the topics covered in The Strategist Transition Toolkit are the role of legal strategy in an exit plan, how the four intangible capitals (Human, Social, Structural, and Customer) can make or break a sale, employee ownership, and more.
The final piece of the toolkit was the psychological aspect of an exit. To address this, Joe included an article from David Dressler, co-founder of California-based restaurant Tender Greens, about the identity shift that owners face after exiting their business.
For Joe, this toolkit presented an excellent opportunity to showcase Morton Wealth’s network of advisors while also providing valuable insights for business owners. The reception, so far, has been great, he says.
“It strengthened relationships with the professionals we featured, some of whom we now collaborate with directly,” Joe adds. “We also built live events around it—small panels with 20–30 attendees, half owners and half advisors. Those have already generated leads for exit planning services.”
These events expand on the topics Joe and his collaborators discuss in the toolkit, including how owners can make informed decisions that align with their financial, business, and personal goals, maximize the proceeds of the sale by mitigating taxes, and more.
Advisors can also use the toolkit as a conversation starter, similar to how they might use Walking to Destiny, to introduce their clients to the Value Acceleration Methodology™.
As our 2025 Exit Planner of the Year, Joe will serve as co-emcee of the 2026 Exit Planning Summit in Nashville, including helping to lead the Excellence in Exit Planning Awards Lunch alongside EPI Chairman Christopher Snider and President Scott Snider.
At this lunch, EPI will recognize our 2026 Exit Planner of the Year, Member of the Year, and Thought Leader of the Year. To view previous winners of these awards, click here.
Looking for more insights from Joe on how to position yourself as your clients’ most-trusted advisor? Download his top five tips, including helping your clients navigate an unsolicited offer, get clarity on their Wealth Gap, find their why, and more.
The Exit Planning Summit is the premier exit planning event, spanning over the course of three days. It provides attendees the opportunity to experience hands-on education, make new connections with like-minded individuals, and spark innovation in the profession. It is the annual, global gathering for exit planning professionals committed to expanding their offerings to clients and becoming value-driven.