Jambalaya Group

What Jambalaya Group does

Jambalaya Group is a privately-held professional services firm headquartered in Edina, Minnesota that provides consulting, coaching, and human capital services to financial advisory practices, with a primary concentration in the Ameriprise Financial ecosystem. The company was founded by Bernie DeLaRosa and his wife Cate DeLaRosa and, following the founder's passing in December 2023, now operates under CEO Traci Williams and COO Jasen Braun. Its stated purpose is to help successful financial advisors transition into effective business owners by addressing practice management, team development, HR, succession planning, and mergers and acquisitions — service areas delivered through bundled support relationships plus a-la-carte engagements.

Name

Jambalaya Group

Legal name

Jambalaya Group

Website

https://jambalayagroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Jambalaya Group is a privately-held Edina, Minnesota consulting firm that delivers coaching, practice management, human capital, and M&A advisory services primarily to Ameriprise Financial advisors and other U.S. financial advisory practices.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Financial Advisory Consulting

NAICS

Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services (541611), Human Resources Consulting Services (541612)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Strategy & Corporate Development Consulting (BPAHACAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Performance Management & Productivity Consulting (BPAHAGAL), Strategic Partnerships, Alliances & JVs Advisory (BPAHADAI)

Keywords

• Financial advisory consulting
• Practice management coaching
• Human capital consulting
• Wealth management training
• Advisor business coaching

Headquarters

HQ city

Edina

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Consulting and Coaching Services: Ongoing support relationship and project implementation services for financial advisory practices, including practice management, coaching and training, human capital management, and business management services. Services are offered as bundled packages or a-la-carte.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Jambalaya Group provides consulting, coaching, and human capital services to financial advisory practices, helping financial advisors transition from successful practitioners into successful business owners. Core service lines include Practice Management, Coaching & Training, Human Capital Management, Business Management, and a multi-month Practice Assessment, offered as bundled ongoing support relationships or a-la-carte project engagements.

Product overview

Jambalaya Group is a financial advisor coaching and consulting firm offering a portfolio of bundled and a-la-carte services. The core offerings include Support Relationship & Project Implementation (foundational ongoing relationship), Practice Management, Coaching & Training, Human Capital Management, Business Management, and Practice Assessment. These services are delivered through various programs including the C-Suite Leadership Institute, Emerging Leader Institute, Advisor Learning Institute, and Jambalaya Learning Institute. The company also hosts annual Advisor and Operations Leader Conferences, and provides group training programs including Staff Webinar Series and Client Seminar Series. Practices can access services through bundled packages combining support relationship with project implementation, or select individual services as needed.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Support Relationship & Project Implementation Ongoing support relationship that gives financial advisory practices access to Jambalaya Group's expert consulting team and structured project implementation, helping them adopt new procedures and execute strategic decisions. Sold as bundled packages or a-la-carte engagements.
• Practice Management Consulting service focused on implementing operational efficiencies and enhancements so financial advisory practices can run as professional businesses and achieve operational excellence.
• Coaching & Training Training and coaching programs delivered via one-on-one sessions, group training events, and staff development curricula that build the knowledge, skills, and competencies of advisory practice team members.
• Human Capital Management Consulting and operational support that helps financial advisory practices define organizational needs, run hiring processes, manage employee relations, and build durable HR capabilities.
• Business Management Consulting offering covering practice valuation, succession planning, practice acquisitions and sales, entity implementation, and other ownership-transition work for financial advisory practices.
• Practice Assessment A 2-3 month structured assessment process that delivers detailed observations and recommendations to help financial advisory practices accomplish their business ownership goals.
• C-Suite Leadership Institute A small business executive leadership program delivered through peer collaboration, teaching frameworks, tools, and skills to solve business challenges and grow into leadership roles for advisory practice owners.
• Emerging Leader Institute A six-month cohort-based coaching program that builds leadership and business ownership skills for the next generation of financial advisory practice owners.
• Advisor Learning Institute A six-month program with bi-weekly webinars for small cohort groups of advisors that develops the mindsets and core skills needed to service clients and deepen relationships.
• Jambalaya Learning Institute Group training umbrella covering Financial Planning Development Group for Paraplanners and AFAs, NaviPlan Group Training, and Technology Tools Group Training for advisory practice staff.
• Advisor Conference An annual conference for practice owners and advisors featuring industry updates, technology updates, soft-skills training, and resources to help financial advisors become better business owners.
• Operations Leader Conference An annual conference for operational leaders of financial advisory practices focused on developing leadership skillsets and operational efficiencies, with peer networking opportunities.
• Practice Pre-Assessment Questionnaire A free pre-fillable questionnaire that helps prospective clients identify their financial advisory practice needs and the areas where Jambalaya Group support could be useful.
• Staff Webinar Series A monthly webinar series available to advisory practice staff focused on technology and process improvement, providing best-practice sharing opportunities.
• Client Seminar Series A turn-key webinar series that financial advisory practices can offer to their own clients, with topics selected through partnerships with wholesalers (Ameriprise-only access noted).

Quantifiable outcome

• First merger/acquisition can be completed within scheduled timeline with Jambalaya support vs. potentially twice as long without
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Kaplan Financial and Think2PerformcoreTechnology or IntegrationPartnership to deliver the BFA (Behavioral Financial Advisor) designation program. The program is divided into two parts delivered through video content, written materials, interactive quizzes, and includes access to the book Financial Intelligence, Values Cards, and EQ-i Assessment.
• Ritz CarltonminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJambalaya Group has developed the Ritz Carlton Experience Translated program, adapting The Ritz Carlton's client service training concepts for the financial planning industry. They offer advisory services based on Ritz Carlton's leadership training.
• Ameriprise FinancialcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAmeriprise Financial is the primary ecosystem within which Jambalaya Group operates. Most of their client practices are Ameriprise advisors and practices. Services are specifically designed for Ameriprise practices, including Client Seminar Series (Ameriprise-only), AFA compensation implementation, and various Ameriprise-specific tools and processes.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Pinnacle Business Guides: Provides consulting and coaching specifically for financial advisors on practice management, team development, and growth — overlapping with Jambalaya's practice management, coaching, and human capital offerings for similar advisor customers.
• FP Transitions: Specializes in M&A advisory, practice valuations, and succession planning for financial advisors — a direct peer in the Business Management service line, particularly the M&A and succession offerings.
• The Oechsli Institute: Provides coaching, consulting, and research for financial advisors and their teams — closely aligned with Jambalaya's coaching and training programs, leadership development focus, and advisor practice owner customer base.
• CEG Worldwide: Coaching and consulting firm specializing in financial advisor practice management and business building — directly comparable in target customer (independent/affiliated advisors), service mix (practice management, coaching, M&A support), and human-services delivery model.
• The Ensemble Practice: Consulting firm focused on helping financial advisors build and scale ensemble practices — directly comparable given Jambalaya's stated sweet spot in 'working with teams' from solo to large ensemble practices.

Others

• LPL Financial: Largest independent broker-dealer in the US, offering its own practice management, consulting, and transitions support programs to affiliated advisors — ecosystem-adjacent peer that both competes for advisory consulting spend and represents a potential expansion channel.
• Advisor Group: Large wealth management conglomerate that provides practice management and consulting support to its network of affiliated advisors — adjacent ecosystem that overlaps with Ameriprise-style broker-dealer advisory support services.
• Cambridge Investment Research: Independent broker-dealer providing practice management support, consulting, and growth resources to its affiliated advisors — adjacent rather than competing directly, but a potential client ecosystem for Jambalaya to expand into.

Broad incumbents

• Hightower Advisors: Large wealth management firm that provides internal practice management consulting, transitions support, and HR services to its advisor network — broader in scope than Jambalaya but offers overlapping capabilities within a single organization.
• Mariner Wealth Advisors: National RIA with substantial practice management and consulting infrastructure for affiliated advisors — broader portfolio firm but directly competes with Jambalaya for advisor mindshare on practice transformation services.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

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Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Jambalaya Group