About Carolyn Cole

Carolyn Cole established Cole & Associates after a twenty-plus year career in the financial services sector which spanned three prominent Canadian financial institutions and a global accounting firm. Having worked most of her life with Canadian entrepreneurs in multiple capacities, as well as raising “gen four” of a significant family enterprise, she organically became proficient in both the technical and family dynamic skills that led her to become a thought and practice leader in the family office space. Her firm has three areas of focus: Family Office Strategy and Design, Customized Education for Inheritors, and Communication through Kolbe. Carolyn ardently believes in results of genuine teamwork. She thinks that the only way efficient progress be made toward a family’s intentions, is by bringing experienced, knowledgeable, and collaboratively minded advisors together. Her philosophy is that many professionals who have the best interests of their client-families in mind, face constraints by their firms’ existing programs or their own personal specializations. The traditional advisory environment inhibits advisors and families from making efficient progress toward defined objectives. Like any entrepreneur, she identified a need and innovatively built an impartial and “non-sales” platform to fill the gap in serving families. Due to her focus on education and communication, all family members are welcomed and can become vested in their family’s journey. Whether she is providing leadership within a family office team, or playing a supportive role, Carolyn enjoys strategically integrating stakeholders and bringing clarity and alignment to all who are involved. Carolyn graduated with distinction from the University of British Columbia (UBC) with a Bachelor of Business Administration and has completed her Family Enterprise Advisors designation. Carolyn achieved a diploma in Marketing from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. She attained her Certified Financial Planner designation, her Personal Financial Planner designation and completed the Canadian Securities Course. Most recently Carolyn achieved her Kolbe Certification. She regularly contributes to media regarding the family office sector and is co-authoring a book on the subject.