We started Colonest because both of us learned our biggest financial lessons the hard way. Ethan watched his parents struggle with retirement planning, while I saw friends make the same investment mistakes repeatedly.
So we asked ourselves: what if people could learn these things before they needed to, through experience-based education instead of just theory?
Co-Founder
Spent twelve years helping Canadian families restructure debt before realizing most problems could have been avoided with better education early on. My background's in financial counseling, but honestly, teaching people to think about money differently is what gets me out of bed.
Co-Founder
Started as a portfolio analyst in Toronto, then moved into education because watching people panic during market downturns felt preventable. I believe understanding why you're investing matters more than chasing returns. Most of my work focuses on demystifying things that sound complicated but really aren't.
We don't sell investment products. We don't manage portfolios. What we do is help people develop the thinking patterns that lead to sustainable financial decisions.
Our programs run over months, not weeks, because changing how you relate to money takes time. You'll work through real scenarios, make mistakes in a safe environment, and gradually build confidence in your judgment.
We focus on Canadians specifically because tax implications, retirement accounts, and market access all differ here. Generic advice from American sources misses critical details that affect your actual outcomes.
These aren't corporate values we put on the wall. They're the principles that shape every program decision we make.
You'll spend more time working through scenarios and analyzing decisions than listening to us talk. We structure learning around doing, because that's how habits form.
Most financial education focuses on quick wins or immediate tactics. We're interested in helping you develop judgment that serves you for decades, even as markets and circumstances change.
We'll tell you when something's outside our expertise. We'll acknowledge uncertainty instead of pretending we have all the answers. Financial education should build your independent thinking, not create dependency.
Your financial decisions depend on your life situation, risk tolerance, and goals. We avoid one-size-fits-all advice and instead help you develop frameworks for making choices that fit your circumstances.
Technical knowledge matters, but most financial mistakes come from emotional reactions and cognitive biases. We spend significant time on the psychology of decision-making under uncertainty.
We start with fundamental concepts and gradually introduce more sophisticated thinking. You'll never feel lost, but you also won't get stuck in oversimplified explanations that don't reflect real-world complexity.
We've been refining our approach since 2018, learning what actually helps people change their financial behavior versus what just sounds good on paper.
Our next program cohort starts September 2025. Limited to twenty participants so we can provide meaningful individual guidance throughout the six-month curriculum.