Joe Seetoo would not have believed you if you had told him seven years ago he’d be in the exit planning space, writing about owner readiness, or helping lead a magazine project. After spending most of his career in the financial advisory space at Morton Wealth, an investment advisory firm based in Calabasas, California, Joe became a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA®) in 2018.
As a partner and financial advisor at Morton Wealth, Joe understood the importance of exit planning as a good business strategy. He says that the combination of helping others, being intellectually challenged, and applying it to his own life drew him toward earning his CEPA designation.
Check out our introductory blog to learn more about Joe’s journey toward becoming a CEPA and our Exit Planner of the Year.
In this second part of a three-part series, Joe shares how redefining success shaped his approach to helping business owners plan their transitions, and why celebrating progress along the way matters as much as the outcome.
What does success mean to the 2025 Peter Christman Exit Planner of the Year? For Joe, it’s a constantly evolving answer that centers around always moving forward to reach your goals, while also stopping to appreciate the work you’ve done. Success, he says, “is more about who I’m becoming in the process, not just the outcome.”
Joe says he’s learned throughout that process that you cannot try to force outcomes in a business owner’s exit planning journey. Instead, you have to show up, do the work, and trust that things will happen when they’re supposed to.
“That balance, between effort and trust, has been a big personal lesson for me,” he adds.
A CEPA can wear many hats while helping a business owner plan their exit. Whether you’re a financial advisor, wealth advisor, or any of the dozens of other advisor types a CEPA can be, there’s one key title you should wear proudly — exit planning quarterback.
To Joe, a CEPA should not be a dictator; instead, they should be the guiding force that helps business owners find their best exit plan.
“I’m working with an owner right now who has gone back and forth on selling,” he says. “We explored multiple options, from third-party sale to internal succession. Ultimately, he’s transitioning leadership to his number two. It’s not about forcing the outcome, it’s about supporting the journey and moving at the owner’s pace.”
According to Joe, a successful CEPA provides an outside perspective of a business through constructive criticism combined with positive feedback. The best CEPAs understand the unique emotions and struggles of business owners and provide a steady hand and voice of reason when needed. Joe adds that a CEPA should make sure that an owner understands that “they aren’t rowing alone,” and that having the outline of a process and a strong team around them makes all the difference.
Crucially, he says, it is vital to know when to walk away from a client who is not truly ready to make their exit.
That’s not to say that you need to cut all ties with a business owner who isn't ready to start their exit planning journey, but, as Joe says, “Sometimes engagements pause and then restart later, and that’s okay. Flexibility is critical. Exit planning in practice is messy, nuanced, and rarely linear. Be resilient and adaptable.”
So, you’ve helped a business owner complete a successful exit. While that relationship might continue on further past the exit, it can be easy to just hop right into the next project and keep chasing that feeling of helping your client reach their goals.
But, as the saying goes, sometimes you have to stop and smell the roses. That’s true in exit planning as well.
Sometimes, stopping to celebrate can be as simple as reconnecting with a business owner whom you’ve helped in the past. Joe points out a recent experience with a small business owner with whom he partnered after the owner failed to sell his business previously.
Implementing the Value Acceleration Methodology™ and other lessons learned throughout his career as a CEPA, Joe helped this owner strengthen his management team, build a strong advisor team, and finally exit his business.
“The most meaningful part wasn’t the transaction itself — it was receiving a note from his wife, who had been sick. She thanked us for helping him close that chapter so they could spend more quality time together. That’s the kind of impact that sticks with you,” he says.
Celebrating success can also happen internally within a company. Joe and his team at Morton Wealth celebrate their successes with monthly team lunches and an annual leadership retreat. Something unique to Morton Wealth is its sabbatical program for long-term employees.
“After 10 years, and then every five years after that, team members get a one-month sabbatical that doesn’t cut into vacation time,” Joe explains. “Next summer, I’ll be taking mine when I turn 50. It’s a way for us to make space for rest and renewal, not just hard work.”
Keep an eye on the exit planning blog for more from Joe, including the ideas behind his Exit Planning Toolkit for business owners looking to exit.
A Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA®) is a professional credential for advisors who wish to engage with business owner clients through the exit planning process using the Value Acceleration Methodology™. Through the CEPA credential, advisors can provide new offerings for clients and stand out from their non-CEPA peers, all while gaining access to education, resources, and a vast network of like-minded professionals.