Tricia boasts an illustrious career spanning decades in the realm of accounting, marked by her tenure as a CPA and proprietor of her esteemed CPA firm for over 23 years. Armed with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and a coveted CPA license, her professional repertoire extends further as she holds licensure as a Certified Management Accountant (CMA) and is accredited by the Internal Revenue Service as an Enrolled Agent.

Throughout her journey, Tricia has remained steadfast in her commitment to mastery, staying abreast of the dynamic landscape of regulatory shifts and legal nuances. Her forte lies in tax preparation, where her expertise shines brightly, illuminating pathways through the intricate maze of fiscal obligations.

Yet, Tricia's zeal transcends mere number crunching; it embodies a profound dedication to empowering business owners. With a fervent passion for fostering growth, facilitating acquisitions, and orchestrating seamless transitions, she emerges as a beacon of guidance. Her approach transcends the conventional, viewing clients not merely as financial entities but as individuals with aspirations and dreams.

Eric brings his diverse experience as a business owner and entrepreneur together with a deep knowledge of the financial markets, wealth management, tax planning, financial and estate planning using a team-based approach with Legal Services, Tax Planning, Business Advisory, Risk Management and Wealth Management professionals working together to meet his client’s needs. His clients get a concierge level service and access to a Virtual Family Office including the best of breed specialists from around the country. Eric is proactive in bringing time tested and innovative solutions and advice. He works extremely hard to ensure his clients are always ahead of the curve in all areas of their financial lives. Eric lives in Fair Oaks, California, with his wife of 16 years, Alexandra, and their 5 kids, Jeremy, James, Isobel, Theodore, and Eli. He enjoys reading, traveling, hiking, golfing, snowboarding, and watching his kids do just about anything they love to do.

Rick Kleban is the founder and president of Sycamore Growth Group, a Dublin, Ohio-based firm that specializes in helping small- and medium-sized businesses attain and substantiate government economic incentives. These include R&D tax credits, Cost Segregation analyses, Fuel Tax Credit studies, energy studies for deductions and credits, training grants, as well as other specialty federal and state incentives. His talented team of CPAs, tax attorneys, analysts, and technical writers ensure that Sycamore’s clients maximize the benefits of government incentives while maintaining strict compliance with all rules and regulations. Sycamore stands behind its work and enjoys a good relationship with the IRS—the product of building in advance the written substantiation necessary to support each claim.

Experienced Insurance Agent/Account Executive with a proven track record of excellence in delivering comprehensive insurance solutions tailored to meet the unique needs of each client. With a robust background in the insurance industry, I bring to the table a wealth of expertise in assessing risk, providing strategic advice, and securing optimal coverage for businesses of all sizes

Throughout my career, I have honed my expertise in various facets of business insurance, including property and casualty, liability, workers' compensation, and specialized coverage options. By leveraging my in-depth knowledge and understanding of industry regulations, I ensure that clients receive comprehensive protection against potential risks and liabilities, thereby safeguarding their financial interests and promoting business continuity.

I am a results-driven insurance professional who is passionate about empowering businesses to thrive by providing them with tailored insurance solutions that offer peace of mind and protection against unforeseen challenges. With a steadfast commitment to excellence and client satisfaction, I am poised to continue making meaningful contributions to the success of businesses through innovative insurance strategies and unparalleled service delivery.

Leah Fritz Johnson, LACP, CLTC, stands as a beacon of innovation and dedication in the financial industry, inspired by its complexities and opportunities from a young age. With a career rich in passion and a voracious appetite for learning, Leah has seamlessly navigated through diverse sectors within finance—banking, accounting, insurance, and financial planning—to forge impactful financial strategies and business plans focused on growth. Her holistic approach, combining insights from various backgrounds, enables her to craft tailored solutions that drive success and sustainability for her clients. In 2016, Leah channeled her extensive knowledge and unique vision into establishing Transcend Financial Group, LLC, marking the inception of a firm that prioritizes a people-first approach over traditional financial planning paradigms. This venture embodies her commitment to revolutionizing wealth strategy through a lens of empathy and client empowerment.

Recognized for her relentless pursuit of excellence and innovation, Leah is constantly refining her skills to provide clients with cutting-edge resources and tools that pave the way for their financial success. Her philosophy is grounded in the principles of integrity, mutual accountability, and empowerment, fostering client relationships that transcend transactional interactions to become lasting partnerships. As an award-winning planner, her achievements are a testament to her expertise and the high regard in which she is held by both peers and clients. Looking ahead, Leah is excited about pioneering projects for her company and clients, especially the development of a new wealth-building platform. This initiative promises to revolutionize the client-advisor experience with integrated technology, further solidifying her role as a visionary in the financial sector. Leah Fritz Johnson invites you to join her on this journey, promising collaboration, innovation, and a shared path to success.

As a 35-year veteran of the financial services industry, Bill’s career has evolved from a generalist to specialist. Having starting on the insurance & investment side, Bill then became a CFP®, AIF®, ChFC,and CPFA, with a thriving financial planning practice. This grew into his current practice as a highly sought after tax strategist where he has supported clients and advisers over the last decade. Within the tax arena, Bill has long had a knack for identifying or creating tax planning opportunities to mitigate tax erosion on his client’s income, capital transactions, and estates.

To that end, six years ago, a small change in the tax code opened the door to a new opportunity that could reduce all the aforementioned taxes. It occurred to Bill if he harnessed the change in TCJA, and combined it with another tax strategy, he could create a solution that lowered capital gains and income taxes, created tax free cash flow, and supported charities as well. Thus was born The Charitable Payraise®, now known as The P3 Method. The method was then embedded in an app, patented, attained a ‘Should’ tax opinion, and has been used in a multitude of situations to improve the economic outcomes.

Bill practices what he preaches. His own P3 has supported Safe Spot for endangered youth, Toys for Tots, and the Central Union Mission meals initiative. He has served on the Colgate planned giving committee for over 20 years, is a Eucharistic Visitor at his church, and donates financial planning for divorcees. He also prevailed as an SEC Whistleblower against a Fortune 100 Company protecting billions of privately invested assets. Bill resides in Vienna, Virginia just outside the Capital.

Chase Ravsten is a Regional Vice President at Vistia Capital. He is a FINRA Registered Representative in 50 states. In his role, he oversees capital raising, business development and providing alternative investments and opportunities for his clients. Having worked in the financial services industry since 2007, Chase started his career with a focus on putting together retirement plans, Insurance products and later pursued licensing with FINRA to further provide value to his clients by offering alternative investment products in the private market. Chase brings investors a personalized approach through his understanding of investment products and strategic planning. Chase works to provide his clients with the necessary information and resources to make investment decisions. He believes that building long-term relationships with clients is the way to help them reach their goals no matter what stage of life they are in.

Chase holds FINRA series 7 and 63 licenses. He has a bachelor’s degree in Entrepreneurship, with minors in Spanish, and Financial Planning from Utah State University.

Darren Sugiyama was born and raised in Long Beach, California and received a Bachelor’s Degree from Loyola Marymount University where he was also the team captain and 2nd Team All-Conference baseball player. He continued his education and earned a Master’s Degree in Multicultural Education from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

After starting his career as a counselor in a gang prevention program in his hometown of Long Beach, California, worked as a teacher in the public school system in Honolulu, Hawaii, and as a counselor in Halawa Prison and the Honolulu Detention Home.

Darren decided to follow his entrepreneurial dreams and started his own employee benefits firm in 2003 called Apex. During his first year in the insurance business, his personal income for the year was only $277 (he proudly displays his personal tax return on the wall of his office). But just seven years later, Apex was producing over $37 million in annual sales and was the #1 producing firm in the country for three different insurance carriers concurrently.

Since then, Darren expanded his insurance business portfolio, building a life insurance agency called DaVinci, which was responsible for 25% of all the life insurance policies sold for Pacific Life in Orange County, California in 2017. In 2018, DaVinci was responsible for 29% of the all the life insurance policies sold for Penn Mutual in Orange County, and in 2019, over 38%.

In addition, Darren founded Lionsmark Capital in 2016 which is now one of the most dominant premium financing intermediary firms in the life insurance industry.

Darren is also an internationally acclaimed 12-time author with published works being distributed in 14 countries in addition to the United States of America. As a nationally acclaimed motivational speaker, business coach, and mentor, Darren does both live and virtual motivational speaking events, as well as private coaching sessions, teaching others how he built his businesses using extremely unorthodox methods.

Deborah Snyder has enjoyed a more than 20-year career in sales, marketing, membership development, online education initiatives and strategic partner engagement. Deborah served as the VP of Membership and Community outreach for NAWBO (National Association Women Business Owners) and found her passion to help women business owners.

Today, Deborah is the Director of Partnerships with Cultivate Advisors. In addition to building strategic partnerships, she also partners with committed entrepreneurs to propel their business beyond expectations. Cultivate provides the opportunity for business owners to gain prospective of their business with a complimentary growth assessment. This provides a road map of where the owner can focus and gain the most traction for growth.

Deborah believes that combining passion and purpose provides the opportunity to impact and help business owners to connect, learn, and grow their businesses and impact the global economy.

Deborah has been married for 34 years and she and her husband have two children together—a 30-year-old daughter just recently married and 27-year-old son. They also love to rescue dogs and have three furry children, who Deborah says she loves “almost as much as my kids!” Additionally, she is a competitive tennis player, ran the L.A. Marathon twice and loves relaxing at the beach—any beach, whenever possible!

As a partner at WealthPoint, Frank Caputo provides ESOP Sell Side Advisory Services on a national level, working with middle market businesses. His expertise lies in value creation strategies and tactics to structure, negotiate and implement business ESOP Sell Side transactional solutions.

Frank is a former business owner with over 30 years’ experience in business ownership, business development, strategic planning, operations, and tactical execution within multiple industries. He has been through each phase of the business life cycle, from start up to growth and the successful sale of multiple business operating companies to strategic buyers.

Jay Frank is the President for Cantor Fitzgerald Asset Management. Cantor Fitzgerald Asset Management is a part of Cantor Fitzgerald, an 80 year old investment grade rated financial services firm with over 14,000 employees across affiliates.

Jay has been with Cantor for 10 years and spent the last 20 years of his career focused on private markets including real estate, energy, infrastructure, and credit.

Julian Movsesian is the President and Founder of Capital Management Strategies, Inc. (CMS Inc.) and CEO of Succession Capital Alliance™ (SCA). In 1985, Julian began his life insurance career when he joined Connecticut Mutual Life, which later merged with MassMutual Life. From that very first year in the life business, he was consistently ranked as one of the top national producers in the company.

In 1996, Julian introduced his most exciting idea yet: the creation of the premium financing concept for life insurance, which was later coined the Capital Maximization Strategy (CMS). Over the years, the CMS has been recognized and endorsed by the top life insurance carriers across the nation as the largest and longest running premium finance program in the industry. For close to three decades, the CMS has served high net worth clients, businesses and families.

Emerging from a strategic partnership between CMS Inc. and a Fortune 20 company, Succession Capital Alliance™ (SCA) was formed in 2004 to address a void in the understanding of advanced life insurance sales within the industry. Today, Advisors and Financial Professionals throughout the country utilize SCA for their high-net-worth clients in the areas of estate and succession planning purposes. This collaboration has resulted in the placement of more than $58 billion of life insurance coverage, with a financed premium portfolio that now exceeds $5.7 billion.

Julian’s skills as an innovator in the insurance industry are recognized nationally. He is invited frequently to be a keynote speaker at national conferences and has received numerous awards and honors from our carrier partners. Julian and Succession Capital were presented the Reinventing Company of the Year award from Associated Corporate Growth (ACG) for having reshaped the landscape of the life insurance industry in how the affluent purchase life insurance policies for estate, business, and retirement planning purposes. Recently, Julian made the Orange County Business Journal's OC 500 list, which highlights Orange County's most influential individuals,

As a philanthropist, Julian and Succession Capital Alliance Foundation give back to the community through various charitable organizations that support children through education and Julian was recently honored by Childhelp with their Philanthropic Award and by Big Brothers Big Sisters with their Man of the Year award.

Julio Gonzalez is the CEO and Founder of Engineered Tax Services Inc. He founded the Gonzalez Family Office and is the CEO and Founder of Engineered Tax Services, Inc. (ETS). ETS is the country’s largest specialty tax engineering firm which specializes in the preservation of wealth and United States’ job creation through IRS engineering-based services to include research and development manufacturing tax credit and grant studies, energy tax incentives studies, cost segregation depreciation studies for buildings, Opportunity Zone studies, real estate state and local incentive studies and alternative tax optimization studies.

Keith Conway is the President & COO of The Fortez Group.

Keith’s primary responsibilities are managing relationships with clients, advisory professionals, and overseeing client delivery.

Prior to TFG, Keith was management consultant with McKinsey & Co. for 3 years, focused on Financial Services & Technology. Before joining McKinsey & Co., he spent 6 years with Goldman Sachs, most recently as a Vice President in their Global Markets business. Keith started his career as an Analyst with Goldman Sachs Asset Management in their fundraising unit.
Originally from Long Island, NY, Keith graduated Cum Laude from the University of Dayton, with a double major in Entrepreneurship & Marketing, with a Sales Management emphasis.

Marie Askew has a proven track record in SBA lending, she brings extensive experience, drive, and enthusiasm to Live Oak Bank. By cultivating strong relationships with her clients and network, she supports owner-occupied real estate, ground up construction, mergers, and acquisitions, working capital and commercial real estate for small and lower middle-market businesses. Through the course of her career, Marie has successfully navigated complex loans to successful close and has been responsible for increasing SBA production in California and nationwide. Marie’s contribution and ambition for helping businesses grow successfully earned her the top producer award in both 2008 and 2011, as well as recognition in the Circle of Excellence. She was nationally recognized as Business Development Officer in 2019 by Coleman and a Top Producer in 2022 at Live Oak Bank. Through the course of her career, Marie has origination volume exceeding $500,000,000 while maintaining an impressive portfolio performance with a default rate of less than 1%. She is a long-standing and active participant and a member of several real estate and merger and acquisition professional groups. Through a passion for learning new environments and exploring diverse cultures, Marie spent eight years abroad where she became fluent in Spanish and earned her BA in Global Studies. A desire to broaden her knowledge and skills as a business professional led her to complete an MBA at Benedictine. Marie currently resides in Northern California and proudly serves businesses across the country.

Mark is a managing member of Life Insurance Settlements Inc. which is the nation's most experienced life settlement brokerage. Our sole focus is in representing our clients to obtain the highest market price possible for the sale of the client’s life insurance policy in the secondary marketplace.

Mark began his career with LIS in 2001 and has consistently remained in the top 1% of sales in the nation. His specialty is in working with and educating senior clients, estate planners, insurance advisors, attorneys, and other financial professionals about the benefits of the Life Settlement industry.

He has presented to groups such as NAIFA, Top of the Table, InsMark, Society for Financial Service Professionals, National Association of Philanthropic Planners, local estate planning councils, various Broker Dealers, Insurance carriers and professional groups about Life Settlements.

Mark has a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Nebraska and is a member of the Life Insurance Settlement Association. He met his wife Deborah while working in Australia and they have two sons Jack & Sam.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Patrick brings over 20 years of experience in capital markets and a passion for building innovative ventures. Patrick's background includes senior roles at top-tier financial institutions in the industry.At Griffin Capital Securities, he transformed a struggling territory into a top-five performer nationwide, earning multiple sales awards during his tenure. He also made his mark at firms like J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Nationwide Financial,and Lincoln Financial Distributors, consistently exceeding expectations and building strong, lasting relationships in the independent financial advisor space.His ability to merge strategic thinking with execution has made him a go-to expert in his field. Today, Patrick serves as President of Capital Markets at both Access Capital Group, where he leads national distribution efforts across a diverse range of sectors. He’s raised over $2 billion throughout his career and takes pride in building lasting relationships along the way. Patrick is known for his deep expertise in fundraising, fund structuring, and navigating complex capital markets. Now based in Scottsdale, Arizona, with deep roots in California, Patrick continues to channel his entrepreneurial energy into exciting new ventures.Patrick earned his Bachelor of Science in Management Science and Economics from the University of California, San Diego

Ted Jenkin is a serial entrepreneur. He was the co-founder of oXYGen Financial (a fully exited 2.2 billion dollar AUM firm) and President of Exit Stage Left Advisors, a sell side M&A firm. Ted is a national television expert and one of the opinion editorial writers for Fox News regularly appearing on Varney & Co. He also appears on News Nation, CNBC, and The Wall Street Journal. Ted has a nationally syndicated entrepreneur television show called The Roadmap on America’s Small Business Network. He is an Amazon best-selling author and has six advanced designations from the College for Financial Planning (CFP®, CRPC®, CRPS®, AWMA®, AAMS®, CMFC®). Today, Ted owns more than 10 companies and is the proud graduate of The Leadership Atlanta class of 2023.

Van Carlson is the Founder & CEO at SRA and has over twenty five years of experience within the risk management industry. Van began his career with Farmers Insurance Group as an agent; eventually growing his book to be among the largest in his home state of Idaho. Van’s primary goal is to continue the upward growth of SRA and continue to develop new products to bring to market.

Wilton White, the Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Diversified Robotic Inc., is a visionary leader in driving innovation and technological excellence at the company. Based in Houston, Texas, Wilton brings a deep well of experience from his previous engineering roles at AT&T and other prestigious organizations. Spending nearly 10 of those years working on international projects throughout Europe and Asia. Wilton is well regarded for his strategic vision and expertise as a solution provider.

Wilton's leadership is marked by his commitment to advancing AI and technological solutions.

As the chief engineer and a key figure at Diversified Robotic Inc., Wilton is dedicated to building robust and scalable solutions that drive business growth and digital transformation. His leadership and technical acumen make him a pivotal force in the company's ongoing success and future endeavors.

Tricia boasts an illustrious career spanning decades in the realm of accounting, marked by her tenure as a CPA and proprietor of her esteemed CPA firm for over 23 years. Armed with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and a coveted CPA license, her professional repertoire extends further as she holds licensure as a Certified Management Accountant (CMA) and is accredited by the Internal Revenue Service as an Enrolled Agent.

Throughout her journey, Tricia has remained steadfast in her commitment to mastery, staying abreast of the dynamic landscape of regulatory shifts and legal nuances. Her forte lies in tax preparation, where her expertise shines brightly, illuminating pathways through the intricate maze of fiscal obligations.

Yet, Tricia's zeal transcends mere number crunching; it embodies a profound dedication to empowering business owners. With a fervent passion for fostering growth, facilitating acquisitions, and orchestrating seamless transitions, she emerges as a beacon of guidance. Her approach transcends the conventional, viewing clients not merely as financial entities but as individuals with aspirations and dreams.

Ashley Lupiani began her career in 2006 working at MetLife. In 2007, furthering her insurance career, she made the cross-country move from Connecticut to sunny San Diego, California.
She spent nine years at LPL Financial, mainly focusing on Underwriting and Sales as an Advanced Case Consultant.

Ashley joined Elite Assurance Team in 2016 and is currently the in-house Life Insurance Specialist. Outside work, she enjoys spending time with her husband, Tony, and German Shepherd, Maverick, traveling, cycling, wine tasting, and cheering on her beloved New England Patriots.

Ashley’s focus within Elite Assurance Team is with regard to life insurance consulting, case management, and agent contracting.

Boris Piskun is the Managing Principal of both Greenday Finance and GreenPACE Capital. Boris started GDF in 2016. GDF is a commercial solar developer and Power Purchase Agreement (“PPA”) provider throughout the US. GDF offers commercial & non-profit property owners a long-term solution to convert to solar energy with its proprietary commercial PPA. GDF has developed and manages over 700 projects since inception

GreenPACE Capital LLC (“GPC”) provides C-PACE financing to commercial & non-profit property owners. The Company originated and C-PACE bonds in excess of $50 million.

Prior to starting GDF & GPC, Boris ran several private equity firms in NYC, targeting the commercial real estate sector and acquired more than $1 billion in commercial assets during my tenure.

He holds a Bachelor of Art degree at Columbia University and played professional basketball in Europe prior to starting his business career.

Josh Yager is a recognized professional on the management and oversight of trust assets. He lectures and writes extensively on the policies, procedures, and practices for the prudent administration of trusts. He has been invited to speak to various Bar associations, CPA chapters, estate planning councils, Professional Fiduciary Association forums and AICPA national events. Josh has testified as an expert witness within the California courts on matters around trustee duties and prudence. Josh has led governance consulting engagements for the boards of public pension funds responsible for assets more than $30b, foundation and endowment boards with assets in excess of $250m and for individual trustees with modestly funded trusts.


Credentials/Licenses:
CalBar licensed attorney – Active
CFP
ChFC
CLU

Michael holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and accounting from the University of Minnesota – Carlson School of Management. He started his career at KPMG working in International Tax Consulting as part of the Transactions & Cross Border Services division (M&A, International Tax, and Transfer Pricing) where he earned his CPA credential. Michael started Apex Business Partners in late 2020 with a focus on tax and business advisory for startups and got into cryptocurrencies as a niche practice area in 2021. Michael has advised on over $100,000,000 in cryptocurrency transaction volume for his business and individual clients since.

Mitch Nelson has assisted advisors in the design and placement of insurance solutions since 2004. He specialized in working with financial advisors and their clients to review, consult and secure personal disability insurance solutions. He has served on the Minnesota Financial Planning Association Next Gen Committee and has been published in the NAPFA Advisors Magazine and The Journal of Financial Services Professionals. He provides educational presentations to financial advisors across the country.

Reid Limpert founded JRL Premier Wealth Planning in 2011 after establishing his financial advisory career with two worldwide financial firms. In his time with the second firm, he was tasked with gathering high-end specialty planning strategies to integrate with the firm’s investment and insurance divisions. Since then he’s been providing successful clients across the country with the best planning strategies that legally mitigate taxes and risks.

Steve DeTray started his career in 2004 in wealth management, helping business owners plan for the sale and exit of their business. Steve’s main focus was on income and estate planning that came after the sale of the business. He also helped with the transition to retirement and the challenges of this new unknown season of life ahead. As a lifelong learner and reader, Steve was ideally suited to remain current with the quickly changing, emotional, and complicated environment in which the business owner had to navigate to be successful.

In 2019, Steve sold his successful wealth management practice for below the industry average. He learned from this experience and became very motivated to help others sell their businesses for significantly above the industry averages, and at high multiples. Now as a certified Value Builder Advisor, Steve focuses on building value and developing a plan for a successful exit using Value Builder’s systematic approach to measure and grow the value of a business. Steve adds extra value by helping businesses take advantage of specialized tax credits and find many types of cost savings. This “hidden money” has provided an average savings of $200,000 for his clients. More than that, he is a skilled facilitator who helps enable businesses to thrive without their owners, thus enabling them to gain back control of their lives or exit their business.

Tim Goering is currently the President of MakingLuck Inc.,. At BNY Mellon, Wealth Management, Tim was Managing Director of Sales for the State of Florida. Nationally, they had over $190 Billion in private client assets and nearly two centuries of experience and perspective. From 2010 – 2014 his Florida team was able to double the assets under management from $2.5 Billion to over $5 Billion.

Tim joined BNY Mellon, the oldest private bank in the country, from what was the newest private bank in the country. As the President of Seaside National Bank & Trust, South Florida Region, his team was able to build 5 branches, hire over 30 people and raise the balance sheet to over $100 million in assets all during the worst banking crisis in recent time. Prior to joining Seaside, Tim worked for GenSpring Family Offices, coordinating new relationships with ultra high net worth families seeking guidance and advice relating to investment management, estate and tax planning and multi-generational wealth planning. During his tenure Tim was instrumental in branding and growing the firm to over 10 times its original size as 1 of 10 sales professionals.

His initial training in Wealth Management came as a Financial Advisor with Bernstein Investment Research and Management, where he developed new high net worth client relationships. Tim also worked in sales with Cordis, Johnson & Johnson selling coronary heart stents.

After earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Oceanography from the United States Naval Academy, Tim began his professional life as an aviator in the U.S. Marine Corps attaining the rank of Major before beginning his civilian career.

Tim is the proud father of two young professionals and the husband of one terrific lady.

Meet Tracy Armstrong, a beacon of light in the complex world of college planning, whose journey from the classrooms of Detroit to the forefront of college funding is nothing short of inspiring. She obtained her undergraduate degree from Michigan State University and her MA from the University of Phoenix. With over 25 years of dedication as a Michigan Professional Certified teacher, Tracy has not only imparted lessons but has also guided her students through the pivotal chapters of their lives, helping them navigate their futures with care and precision.

However, through her intimate involvement in her students' college planning journeys, Tracy uncovered a recurring and distressing challenge: the daunting financial burden of college education. Time and again, she witnessed families from middle to upper income brackets grappling with the reality that their financial aid options were limited. The stark reality hit hard—these families often had no choice but to deplete their savings and retirement funds, sometimes to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars, to afford their children's college education. This financial strain not only jeopardized their immediate financial security but also cast long shadows over their retirement plans, potentially derailing decades of careful financial planning.

Driven by a desire to make a tangible difference, Tracy gained her Life Insurance License in 2013 and later embarked on a journey to master the intricacies of college funding. Joining the Association of Certified College Funding Specialists, she earned her certification as a CCFS, a testament to her commitment and expertise in navigating the financial hurdles of higher education. This was more than an academic pursuit; it was Tracy's way of arming herself with the knowledge to fight a systemic issue head-on.

With this new expertise, Tracy's conversations with families took on a new depth. She could now offer insights into navigating the financial aid system, employing tax-efficient savings strategies, and understanding the role of assets in the college funding equation. In addition, she focused on guiding students to select colleges that best fit them socially, academically, and financially. The outcome of working with Tracy is presenting families with viable options to protect their savings and retirement plans while investing in their children's futures.

Founder of Blue Star College Planning.

Aleksander stands out in the financial landscape for his deep experience in complex Qualified Plan models and innovative Financed Charitable Gifting techniques. Catering to a sophisticated clientele of business leaders, high-wage earners and high-net-worth individuals, Aleksander has masterfully orchestrated tax savings exceeding $60 million.

With a career spanning over a decade as a wealth creation strategist, Aleksander is on a mission to empower his clients to safeguard and enhance their wealth using Advanced Pension Plans and Charitable Gift Financing strategies. As a dynamic serial entrepreneur, seasoned venture investor, and dedicated advisor, Aleksander applies his extensive firsthand experience to offer practical, impactful wealth-building strategies.

Aleksander is the mastermind behind the Pre-Tax Wealth Creation Blueprint—a comprehensive, step-by-step framework designed to significantly boost tax savings, reinforce asset protection, and accelerate personal wealth growth.

His fluency in English, Russian, and Korean allows him to serve a diverse range of clients effectively. Aleksander is known for his straightforward personality, results-driven focus, and out-of-the-box thinking. These qualities have cemented his reputation as a “financial surgeon” of creative solutions for wealth creation, making him a sought-after strategist in the financial domain.

Ami Kassar, is the founder and CEO of MultiFunding LLC, and author of The Growth Dilemma. He is a nationally renowned expert on access to capital for entrepreneurs. He’s committed to ensuring that business owners have the best possible access to the capital structures to help grow and manage their businesses. Kassar is regularly featured in the national press and writes a regular column for Inc.com. He has advised the White House, the Federal Reserve Bank and The Treasury Department on the business credit markets. In addition, Kassar is a regular speaker at universities and business events across the country on topics including entrepreneurship and access to capital.

Ami is the 2015, 2014, and 2013 recipient of the Small Business Influencer Award as well as the 2012 Small Business Advocate Award. Kassar earned his MBA from the University of Southern California and graduated with a B.A. in American Studies from Brandeis University.

Andrew Lassise (pronounced La-Cease) is a serial entrepreneur and has helped build and scale several 6, 7, and 8 figure IT businesses. He is the CEO (aka chief dorkestrator) of Tech4Accountants, an IT company that specializes in tech and cyber security for accountants. In 2020 & 2021were listed as an Accounting Today Top 100 VARS, The Manifest's Top 100 Cyber Security Companies, and have technicians that all hold certifications with the AICPA in cyber security.
When he's not saving the world from hackers & malware, he enjoys traveling, cooking, and spending time with his wife and two sons.

Andy Ruhland has 15+ years in benefits and Human Capital sales, service, and innovation with a focus on helping small- and medium-sized businesses run better and reduce costs. Andy educates clients on complex healthcare, administration and service options, then customize solutions that streamline processes and stop excess spending. Ask about his 360-degree integrated Human Capital Management platform and consulting services, which improve every aspect of how your company does business. Or just rest easy knowing you’ve controlled healthcare costs without eroding benefits to your employees. Andy started at NationalHR in 2001, working from Account Executive to Principal. In that time, the company tripled its bottom line and rolled out forward-thinking benefits buying solutions as well as an innovative Human Capital Management platform - all in response to client needs. Andy is a married father of three, he truly loves his job, and relishes the chance to work at the forefront of industry change, educating consumers and undoing broker stereotypes one thriving client at a time.

Bruce Gendein - A sought-after speaker on the topic of Qualified Retirement Plans, Bruce spends much of his time touring the country to share his insights with financial services professionals—financial advisors, brokers, CPAs, insurance agents, and attorneys. He has addressed MDRT’s Top of the Table, LIMRA’s Advanced Sales Forum, the Arizona Institute, and NAIFA and SFSP chapter meetings, as well as corporate educational symposiums nationwide.

A financial services industry veteran, Bruce has been in the business for more than 30 years, helping successful individuals and advisors tackle complex financial and retirement planning challenges. As president and co-founder of The Senex Group, Bruce works with advisors nationwide to deliver seamless solutions that enable them to provide complete, end-to-end qualified retirement plans to their clients and generate a significant new revenue stream.

Prior to founding The Senex Group, Bruce built a successful financial and retirement planning firm that served more than 850 clients from three offices in the Midwest. As a financial advisor, he started a third-party pension administration firm, was named “rookie of the year” for a major mutual life insurance company, and qualified for MDRT in his first year in the life insurance business. He has held Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) and Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) designations for more than three decades and remains committed to advancing the knowledge and capabilities of fellow advisors to help them better serve their clients.

Christi Horan began her career in 2009 after graduating from San Diego State University with a degree in Economics.

She previously worked for firms such as Mass Mutual and LPL Financial in the Annuity Consulting and Sales department before joining Elite Assurance Team in 2018.

Christi leads the Annuity Consulting and Case Management Team with over ten years of Annuity sales experience.

Christi was born and raised in San Diego, CA, and enjoys traveling with her husband, spending time with her dogs, and all things beach related!

Christi’s focus within Elite Assurance Team is with regard to annuity consulting and case management.

I am a proven certified Business Coach that helps business owners make more money and work less. I do this by asking the right questions, leading you to think differently and inspire action that generates desired results. I will help you with improving sales, implementing effective marketing and advertising, manage cash flow, team and leadership training

Darren Sugiyama was born and raised in Long Beach, California and received a Bachelor’s Degree from Loyola Marymount University where he was also the team captain and 2nd Team All-Conference baseball player. He continued his education and earned a Master’s Degree in Multicultural Education from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

After starting his career as a counselor in a gang prevention program in his hometown of Long Beach, California, worked as a teacher in the public school system in Honolulu, Hawaii, and as a counselor in Halawa Prison and the Honolulu Detention Home.

Darren decided to follow his entrepreneurial dreams and started his own employee benefits firm in 2003 called Apex. During his first year in the insurance business, his personal income for the year was only $277 (he proudly displays his personal tax return on the wall of his office). But just seven years later, Apex was producing over $37 million in annual sales and was the #1 producing firm in the country for three different insurance carriers concurrently.

Since then, Darren expanded his insurance business portfolio, building a life insurance agency called DaVinci, which was responsible for 25% of all the life insurance policies sold for Pacific Life in Orange County, California in 2017. In 2018, DaVinci was responsible for 29% of the all the life insurance policies sold for Penn Mutual in Orange County, and in 2019, over 38%.

In addition, Darren founded Lionsmark Capital in 2016 which is now one of the most dominant premium financing intermediary firms in the life insurance industry, and in 2020, he co-founded the revolutionary fintech firm Breadbox which offers proprietary solutions to investment advisors and life insurance advisors across the country.

Darren is also an internationally acclaimed 8-time author with published works being distributed in over 15 countries. As a nationally acclaimed motivational speaker, business coach, and mentor, Darren does both live and virtual motivational speaking events, as well as private coaching sessions, teaching others how he built his businesses using extremely unorthodox methods.

Derek Spitzer began his career at a global tax consulting firm based in Dallas, Texas. As a consultant in the transaction tax practice, Derek worked directly with several Fortune 500 companies in the retail, healthcare, storage, and manufacturing industries.

Derek joined Captive Insurance Group, LLC in March 2014 as Director of Operations and helped grow the firm until it was acquired by Higginbotham Insurance Agency in February 2020. Higginbotham is the largest independent insurance broker in Texas, and a top 15 insurance broker in the United States. Derek as a Managing Director, along with former management continue to run the captive insurance operations.

Derek graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Finance from Brigham Young University. He is married with three children and lives in Colleyville, Texas.

Donald S. Feldman, CExP™, CPA, CVA, MBA founded Keystone Business Transitions, LLC in 2009, a firm based in Lancaster, PA devoted to exit and succession planning for business owners. He has been a CPA for 30 years and a valuation professional for 25 years. For the last 20 years, Don’s practice has focused exclusively on succession and exit planning for business owners, including transfers of business interests to family members and key employees, as well as sales to outsiders. KBT also provides Business Valuation services in connection with Exit Planning transactions. Don has been awarded the designation Certified Exit Planner™ by the Business Enterprise Institute and is a member of the CExP™ Board of Standards. Don holds a joint M.S. in Accounting / M.B.A. degree from Northeastern University. He has been a regular columnist for Business2Business Magazine (Central PA) and is a frequent speaker for trade associations and continuing education programs for accountants, attorneys and financial advisors.

James M. Duggan is a founding principal of DUGGAN BERTSCH, LLC, a Chicago-based business, tax, estate and wealth planning firm comprised of attorneys and accountants. Jim’s practice has concentrated principally on business and corporate law, and estate and wealth planning, primarily as they relate to closely held business interests and high net worth families. Jim’s experience in the structuring and implementation of Family Offices, sophisticated tax planning, and asset protection planning strategies is nationally recognized, as is his role in the firm’s development of a leading multidisciplinary planning protocol. In addition to giving frequent lectures and authoring articles in his areas of concentration, Jim also serves as a director on numerous for-profit and not-for-profit organizations.

Jim’s educational background includes attaining a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from the College of Commerce and Business Administration at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Magna Cum Laude), a Masters in Business Administration in Finance from the DePaul University Graduate School of Business (Summa Cum Laude), and a Juris Doctor from the DePaul University College of Law, where he was awarded positions on both the DePaul Law Review and DePaul Business Law Journal.

Jeffrey Deckman is a consultant, thought leader, and an international award-winning author on the new leadership mindsets, models and methods being demanded by the modern economy.

His recent book: “Developing the Conscious Leadership Mindset for the 21st Century” won 2 international and 2 national Stevie Awards® from the International Business Awards and the American Business Awards respectively. It is also an Amazon Best Seller in the Occupational and Organizational Psychology category.

He is a serial entrepreneur who founded and built two multi-million dollar firms in the technology sector and was a partner in a think tank where he focused on developing new 21st century leadership and business models.

In 2005 he founded Capability Accelerators; a consultancy firm specializing in helping business owners and executives transform their leadership teams, cultures and organizations to compete and thrive in the highly complex, rapidly changing modern business world.

Jeff Stolper started on Wall Street 30 years ago in 1993 and by 1995 was the top producer/Stockbroker at his firm.

By 1996 he was recruited to run a Wall Street firm and by 1997 he had transitioned to co-owning a NYSE Franchise brokerage firm.

After 10 years on Wall Street and 6 financial licenses, Jeff pivoted and started his own innovative advertising firm called NBP (Neighborhood Business Partnership) which had accrued over 700 Business Owners in NYC within its first 3 years alone.

By the end of 2005, early 2006 Jeff had gotten involved in a Health & Wellness direct selling company called Isagenix and became the 68th Millionaire/Legacy Member in that company as well with over 30,000 members in his organization worldwide.

But in early July of 2013 he had created the best business idea of his career!

Creating & successfully pioneering the Bill Reduction/Bill Negotiation Industry.

Jeff is well regarding for being the best bill negotiator in the world and his company iDeal Advocates by being the Premier Bill Negotiation Company in the industry.

Some of Jeff’s other accolades include:

Founder/Chairman of the Edgewater NJ Chamber of Commerce

Former Board Member of the Morristown Chamber of Commerce

Former Field Advisory Member of Savings Highway Global

Graduate of the prestigious LaGuardia High School of Music and the Arts in NYC- Vocal Major
(Fame School)

Graduate of Tony Robbins Mastery University Programs

Graduate of Peak Potentials Quantum Leap Programs

Among his many, many accomplishments which are too many to list here, he is most proud of being a dedicated husband to his wife April and to his two children Mika and Jax

Rob Kelly is the Manager of Client Relations at Inception Financial, where he supports clients, family offices, and strategic partners across a broad range of financial initiatives. He brings a relationship-driven approach and a proven ability to engage stakeholders at every level—from individual investors to institutional leadership.

Before joining Inception Financial, Rob built a successful career in defense business development, collaborating with government agencies, operational commands, and technology providers to deliver mission-critical solutions. He supported national security priorities by helping bridge capability gaps across warfare domains and led the implementation of Tier One human performance optimization programs for elite military units. Rob’s experience engaging both senior military leadership—including Flag Officers—and corporate executives made him a trusted partner in aligning strategic goals with operational outcomes.

This followed an 11-year career as a Surface Warfare Officer in the United States Navy, where he served aboard six warships during multiple overseas deployments. His leadership spanned high-tempo operations and complex maritime missions, shaping his ability to build cohesive teams, manage risk, and lead through uncertainty.

Rob is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and holds a Master of Business for Veterans (MBV) from the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business.

Mr. Grushkin is the Regional Director of Cost Segregation Initiatives (CSI). He brings forty plus years of executive experience to the CSI organization. Over the last nine years Joel has directed cost segregation studies for developers, investors and owner/ users of properties that cover the gamut of property types and vertical markets. Property types run from million-dollar owner user office condominiums, to $500,000,000 in Senior Living Facilities, fast food franchise locations, hotels, high-end restaurants, manufacturing facilities, medical office buildings, shopping centers, multi-family housing, auto dealerships, and vacation villas. His background includes founding and chairing the private equity, venture capital and real estate practice groups of DHR International, the 5th largest executive search firm in the United States, eleven years with Arthur Young & Company (now Ernst & Young) as a Principal and director of the firm’s Management Consulting Practice. He was also a member of AY’s Real Estate Industry Specialty Practice Group.

Joel was also Chief Operating Officer of Edward Carpenter & Associates, a group of five consulting companies specializing in the start-up and on-going consultation to financial institutions in the areas of economic feasibility, capital formation, governance, mergers and acquisitions, business and regulatory affairs, and real estate. In addition to his executive search and consulting experience, Joel has also held positions of CEO, COO, and Vice President Corporate Development at either the holding company or operating company levels in conglomerates with holdings in real estate development, home building, financial services, mortgage banking, retail/entertainment, and automotive.

He has been a guest lecturer at San Diego State University and University of California-Berkeley, Orange County Corporate Directors Forum, and the San Diego Venture Group. He is a past member of the Board of Directors of DHR International, the San Diego Venture Group, and Compliance Coach recently sold to FIS. He is currently on the Advisory Board’s of Soteria Intelligence, and Aerovu Technologies.

John Frazier is a native Texan who spent several years in Northern Virginia before moving to Nashville. John has over 10 years experience as a top producer in the financial services industry and has earned numerous awards. Coupled with his strong desire to help the less fortunate and support worthy causes, he is a perfect fit for the charitable planning industry, bringing both knowledge and heart to the organization.

As an advocate for research, treatment and prevention of childhood cancer, John volunteers for the Live 4 Tay Foundation and Hope Nation Radio. Over the past 25 years he has also been involved with numerous other charities including the Nashville Humane Society and March of Dimes.

Jon Randall is a Certified Master Coach® and Premier Franchise Consultant who hit #1 in GDC Growth on the FC Scorecard for the advisors he works with all over the country. He was named Franchise Consultant of the Year in 2015 at his broker-dealer. With more than 15 years experience as a practicing advisor, he knows how to help financial advisors get to where they want to go with their life and practice.

Jon works with some of the top financial professionals in the industry – the average GDC for the advisors he coaches is more than $1.2 MM. He is a national presenter at financial service industry conventions and workshops around the country. Financial advisors coached by Jon consistently grow at a significantly higher rate than the average advisor.
His specialties in consulting include marketing, investments, financial planning and practice management.
Jon is also a published author – his book Attract More Clients, Better Clients is on sale now. Jon has a master’s degree in Psychology and Coaching and is working on his doctorate degree in Performance Psychology.

Jon and his wife, Kathleen, live in Winterville, North Carolina, with their two boys, James and William

Josh is a CPA and CMI with specialist knowledge as state tax specialist who has significant experience with delivering cost reduction opportunities in the areas of real and personal property tax reviews, compliance, and economic incentives.

He brings extensive experience in real and personal property tax appeal advocacy, real estate appraisal and testimony, economic incentive procurement and audits, property tax compliance planning and delivery.

Ken Smith began his career in 1993 with Lincoln National. He graduated from Tampa College with a degree in Management and Marketing.

After starting his financial advisory firm in 1994, his focus shifted to financial planning with a tax mitigation emphasis. In 2003, he developed expertise in tax-efficient retirement planning, which allowed him to maintain his position in the top 1% of all financial professionals. He qualified in the top 1% for 18 straight years of his career.

In 2010 he accepted that there was a dramatic change going on in the financial planning arena and began working with CPAs. In 2014, he co-founded Elite Resource Team and Elite Assurance Team to provide advisors with training, systems, and products to develop profitable CPA partnerships.

He currently resides in Tampa, FL, with his wife. Outside work, he enjoys family, church activities and working out.

Ken’s focus within Elite Assurance Team is with regard to agent development and internal operations.

Loren’s passion is facilitating the success of others. He has enjoyed nearly two decades of success coaching and advising business owners and executives on how to increase profitability – through improving operational efficiencies, marketing campaigns, organizational development, and relationship building – and then growing and preserving those profits from unnecessary risk and taxation through sound investment strategies. Due to his financial experience, he has been a popular keynote speaker/presenter at numerous financial seminars and conferences; he also provides volunteer tutoring for high school and college students in math, finance, engineering, English, and political science courses.

Mark Goodman has consulted for Carlyle Group and investment banking firms of Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, J.P. Morgan, and many others building premium financing models for the past 25 years.

A featured speaker and author of numerous published articles on advanced estate planning and tax reduction, he has co-authored the book Estate Planning for the 21st Century. Mark is a lifetime member of the Million Dollar Round Table and a lifetime member of Top of the Table, a distinction earned only by the top 450 financial planners in the world. In addition, he is a member of both the National Council of Certified Estate Planners and the International Association of Financial Planners.

Mark is the Principal of National Wealth Advisors and the Founder of National Financial Partners, a formerly publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange, now owned by Madison Dearborn. These companies provide a broad array of services including wealth preservation strategies, estate planning, executive benefit planning, insurance, and investment management. Together, these offices are staffed by over 100 Principals supported by over 400 professional specialists with expertise in their fields. Their client base included some of America’s wealthiest families, Fortune 500 companies, privately held corporations, and charitable foundations.

Mark and his wife Dustin reside in Naples, Florida with their children Jamie and Emma.

Matt Miller is an international tax specialist, specializing in the U.S. taxation of foreign source income, as well as planning and reporting for businesses and individuals with cross-border transactions. A graduate of the Master of Science in Taxation, with a post-graduate Certificate Degree in International Taxation from Golden Gate University, Matt has worked with hundreds of IC-DISC’s since 2012 and has managed the IC-DISC practices of two of the largest service providers in the U.S. Additional areas of U.S. international tax specialization include tax incentives on foreign sales available to C-Corporations (known as Foreign Derived Intangible Income (“FDII”)), Global Intangible Low-Taxable Income (“GILTI”), Subpart F Income, and Transfer Pricing.

Michael Sir, President of OneProtection has been an industry leader in the disability insurance arena for 35 years, spending the last 23 years with Principal Financial Group as a DI RVP prior to his change of direction in 2020 when he formed OneProtection with Jim Leary.

Mike’s career has been focused on educating and training advisors about disability insurance and how to better protect their client's income.

Founded on the principles of honesty, integrity, and outstanding service. Card Group International is able to offer merchants the ability to process credit cards safely and securely, meeting all PCI-DSS & EMV-Chip industry standards.

Card Group International delivers their customers overall savings, and virtually unlimited solution options without compromising the highest quality service your business deserves.

They have strategically aligned themselves with industry leaders by partnering with a variety of top-notch companies such as CardConnect, NPC, Elavon, Chase Paymentech, First Data, Global Payments, and WorldPay to provide excellent service and individualized products. These alliances allow impact to customize front end, and back end solutions for each customer’s unique needs allowing them to process on any processing platform, in the US and Canada. Their merchants do not have to settle for meeting half their service needs.

Mr. Fox is a wealth strategist, philanthropic estate planner, educator and speaker. He has dedicated his career to helping individuals, professional advisors, charitable institutions and planned giving organizations, “do well while doing good.” Randy has authored hundreds of articles and presentations for attorneys, financial advisors, CPAs and HNW families. He is currently the Editor in Chief of Planned Giving Design Center, a national newsletter and website for philanthropic advisors, and has the following designations: CFP® and AEP®.

As the Founder of SDP Personalized Planning, Scott loves helping people live their dreams by putting together a plan, implementing and monitoring the plan, and seeing the plan come to fruition. In addition to his Financial Planning businesses, Scott served as a compliance officer doing due diligence for past Oil & Gas drilling programs and his been using Oil & Gas investment strategies for over 30 years. He enjoys using these experiences to find ways to use Oil & Gas opportunities to reduce his clients’ tax bills and provide his clients’ additional income.

Scott has also been a developer, owner, and operator of restaurants and convenience stores. He understands what it takes to operate successful businesses through many business cycles and changing market conditions. Throughout his career, Scott has worked nationally and internationally with individuals, executives, business owners and professional athletes.

Scott graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a composite minor in economics, accounting and statistics. He went on to complete executive money management training at Wharton School of Business. In addition, Scott has also earned the following designations: CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, Chartered Life Underwriter® and Chartered Financial Consultant®.

Sean Rogers launched Digital Financial Officers in February 2022. Previously, Sean spent 7 years in the wealth management space providing family office accounting services to top clients and businesses as well as handling the internal finances of the wealth management business.

Mr. Landgraf is an experienced global leader empowering, motivating, and producing lasting change for individuals and organizations. His international experience empowering and changing the lives of many executives, leaders, and organizations in more than 150 nations has increased profits, improved capital, and reduced costs in the tens of billions of dollars with sustainable outcomes.

Mr. Landgraf is a committed and an initiative-taking executive with more than 30 years of global Business, Training, Strategic, Procurement, Finance / Funding, and Leadership experience in many different industries, from minor to Fortune MNCs.