This week we spoke to India Wooldridge, founder of Catalyst, a boutique advisory that helps family offices embed brand as a strategic asset to align family values, strengthen governance and shape long-term legacy.

Wooldridge began by drawing a sharp distinction between brand and branding: too often, branding is reduced to logos and promotion. Yet in reality, a strong brand is the articulation of who you are, what you stand for and the impact you seek to make. 

And while defining a shared vision and purpose is widely acknowledged as the starting point for a new family office, it’s surprisingly uncommon. 

The JP Morgan 2026 Global Family Office Report released earlier this week stated that only 26% of those surveyed have a defined mission statement, and the consequences of that gap are tangible.

Just a few days ago, we sat with a family office executive who told the familiar tale of the principal’s unsuccessful efforts to include his children in managing the family wealth. While based on good intentions, all the efforts were aligned to his values, not those of his children.

Wooldridge’s background is in global cultural research. She previously led international consumer intelligence at a major advertising network, studying how individuals, families and communities form identity, shape values and make decisions. 

It’s this perspective that has found her unexpectedly working with family offices to help navigate the challenges of transition, family complexity and long-term stewardship.

“I came to the space serendipitously, with two family offices referred to me at the same time. It quickly became clear that an acute understanding of human behaviour was uniquely powerful in the context of family dynamics.”

She also learned fast that the family office industry looks at branding as a dirty word.

“A common misconception is that building a brand means overt promotion or sacrificing privacy. In reality, it is about control. Every family has a brand and a reputation, whether they actively manage it or not. It shows up in the people they hire, the investments they make, the partners they choose and how they engage publicly and privately.”

Wooldridge is emphatic that intentionally crafting a values-driven brand allows families to shape how they are understood in the circles that matter to them, and is a strategic necessity.

“The greatest impact occurs through the collaborative process of defining identity and values. It brings different parts of the family and the office into the same conversation, often for the first time.”

“That shared work breaks down silos and creates genuine alignment, which shows up in how decisions are made around governance, succession, leadership transitions and the allocation of capital. Many families are surprised by how quickly clarity emerges once those conversations are properly structured.”

Her work is built around the Values-in-Action System, an insights-driven approach that surfaces beliefs, motivations and dynamics that shape a family across generations. 

It then translates them into clear values and an aligned mission to help guide governance, long-term strategic direction and key moments of change.

“Multi-generational families or their offices typically come to us when priorities have become fragmented, or when decisions around succession, governance or capital keep resurfacing without resolution. These challenges arise when values, intent and execution are not aligned.”

“For individuals establishing offices, our work focuses on defining purpose and the impact they want their wealth and legacy to have, both now and over time. I often say it is better to align the family before aligning the structures.”

Wooldridge notes that while family offices are as influenced by family dynamics as much as financial decisions, values are still widely treated as soft or symbolic, sitting alongside governance and investment decisions rather than shaping them.

“New technologies and platforms are clearly transforming the financial side of wealth, but we have yet to see comparable progress in its non-financial dimensions. As the demographic of wealth owners shifts, with more women and rising generations taking on leadership, this gap is becoming increasingly visible.”

It’s one thing to surface insights and agree on shared values, but to ensure they consistently shape decisions over time is an entirely separate challenge. 

“The real shift is from implicit assumptions to explicit shared direction, and from reactive decisions to intentional, values-led ones. When that shift occurs, brand becomes a force multiplier, strengthening decision-making, reducing friction and aligning the family and the office around a clear strategic direction that compounds impact and legacy.” 

As a result, much of Wooldridge’s work goes beyond the initial strategy to support families through periods of transition and decision-making.

Work wWork we anticipate will only grow in demand as generational wealth transfers accelerate and more family offices confront the reality that values, not capital alone, determine whether a legacy endures or fragments.

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