Tammy Trenta-Knowlton

Highlights 

• Family Office Advisory
• Tax Strategy & Planning
• Wealth Accumulation & Preservation 
• Generational Legacy Planning 

Family Financial is a multidisciplinary wealth advisory firm built on the family office model—designed for business owners and successful families who want a holistic, integrated approach to their financial lives. Founder and CEO Tammy Trenta-Knowlton and her team provide comprehensive services, including investment planning, advanced tax strategies, estate guidance and more under one roof. 

Describe what inspired your business journey.

I didn’t grow up with financial security. I grew up watching my family try to maintain an image of wealth while quietly drowning in debt. When the early ’90s recession hit, it all came crashing down. That experience shaped me. Later I found myself in survival mode in college—paying for school, working nights, accumulating debt and just trying to keep my head above water. I didn’t plan on becoming a financial advisor, but I knew I needed to learn how money worked. That curiosity turned into passion, and that passion turned into purpose. Family Financial was born from that purpose: to give people what my family didn’t have—clarity, guidance and a trusted partner in building wealth.

How did your background shape your professional journey?

My career was built one milestone at a time. I’ve worked through every season of life—struggle, survival, growth and now leadership. Early on, I noticed that clients were looking for more than investment advice; they needed emotional clarity, support and education. That’s when I started serving as a sort of financial therapist. We all carry money beliefs, usually from childhood, and many of them don’t serve us anymore. My background helps me understand that on a deeper level. I know what it feels like to live with uncertainty, and that’s why I built a firm that empowers people with confidence.

What keeps you going when things fall apart?

Life experience. Every challenge I’ve faced—personally or professionally—has been part of my growth. I’ve learned to see failure not as something to fear but as feedback. As a mom, I don’t want my son to go through the same hardships I did, but I also know that shielding him from failure isn’t the answer. Struggle isn’t something we should feel forced to recreate, but resilience is something he needs to build. So I’m intentional about letting him face consequences, solve problems and develop confidence in his own decisions. Financial literacy is a big part of that. It’s not just about money—it’s about mindset. And that’s what will carry him through life.

Tell us about an unconventional approach you tried that actually worked.

Offering family office-level service to people who didn’t fit the old mold of the ultrawealthy was seen as unrealistic. But I knew business owners, successful families and high-income professionals needed the same level of integration—tax, investment, estate, insurance—and they weren’t getting it anywhere else. We designed our model around that need, and it’s what sets us apart today. It’s not just about managing wealth; it’s about managing the whole person. That approach has resonated in ways I couldn’t have imagined.

Describe a business decision that made no sense on paper but turned out brilliantly.

Very early in my career, I realized that I couldn’t truly serve people while being incentivized to sell to them. I decided to walk away from commissions and operate on a fiduciary model long before it became standard. Transparency has always been nonnegotiable for me—because that’s how trust is built, and trust is everything. But the challenge wasn’t with clients. It was within the industry itself. I worked at firms where the incentives encouraged the opposite. I had to decide: Do I do what’s most profitable, or do I do what’s right? Choosing a fiduciary standard may have been less common at the time, but it became the foundation of everything Family Financial stands for today.

Any new projects on the horizon?

My book, Wisdom to Be Wealthy, is a project very close to my heart. It’s more than just financial strategies; it’s about reframing our relationship with money and building true freedom for ourselves and our families. Writing it has given me a platform to make a difference in a world that is sorely lacking in financial literacy, and I’m excited to keep expanding that impact through new conversations and opportunities. It is available on Amazon in book and audio formats.

Photographed by Shane O’Donnell