Brendon Winkler

Michelle Vargas, Certified Financial Planner™ is the President of Waymaker Financial Planning, a Fee-Only firm that provides transparent and accessible financial guidance. She enjoys helping clients navigate and plan all aspects of their financial life so that they will worry less about their future and free up more time to spend doing what they love. After earning a degree in Finance from the University of Southwestern Louisiana in 1990, she moved to Florida and started her career with Harcourt Brace Publishing. Her journey into personal finance began when she signed up for her 401K and wanted to learn about additional options to plan for retirement. This eventually led to working as a financial advisor and completing the extensive education requirements for becoming a CFP® in 1998. She believes her experience as a young professional searching for unbiased advice enables her to better serve Gen XY professionals because she remembers what it was like being in their shoes. As a former homeschool parent and the wife of a federal employee, she is passionate about helping women, homeschool families, and federal workers plan wisely for a comfortable financial future. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking in Colorado, barbecuing with family, and working in her garden.

Lacy Rogers is a CFP® professional with 11 years of industry experience currently serving as the sole advisor at The Dedicated Dollar in Fort Worth, TX. Her prior roles include positions at Hilltop Securities Inc. and Morgan Stanley. The Dedicated Dollar provides investment management and financial planning services to individual and high-net-worth clients, including business owners. The firm utilizes a Modern Portfolio Theory-based approach with primarily passive portfolios and automated model platforms, offering project-based, hourly, and ongoing comprehensive planning engagements.

Ryan Mc Lin is a CFP® and holds a Series 66 license with six years of industry experience. He is currently the sole advisor at Impact Wealth Group and has prior experience with Ameriprise Financial Services, Clearfork Wealth Management, and Lincoln Financial Advisors. Mc Lin serves as an unpaid board member for HopeKids, a nonprofit focused on fundraising and event coordination. Impact Wealth Group provides portfolio management and financial planning services to individual clients and facilitates employer-sponsored retirement plans through a third-party manager. The firm employs a combination of fundamental, technical, quantitative, and charting analysis with a long-term trading approach tailored to client goals and risk tolerance.

Travis Soppe is a CFP® professional with 16 years of industry experience, currently serving at Cumbie Advisory Services, Inc. in Fort Worth, TX. He has been with Cumbie Advisory Services and Rhodes Securities since 2012. Cumbie Advisory Services, Inc. provides financial planning and investment management consulting to individuals, high-net-worth clients, retirement plans, trusts, and other entities. The firm operates as a non-discretionary investment consultant, focusing on diversified, low-cost portfolios and research-based approaches while assisting clients in selecting and monitoring independent money managers.

Edward Whelan is the principal of EMW Capital Advisors, LLC, an independent firm based in Fort Worth, TX. He holds a Series 65 designation and has 20 years of industry experience. In addition to his advisory role, Whelan serves as Chief Financial Officer of Bobby Cox Companies, Inc., a holding company with operations in restaurants, real estate, and ranching, and as Treasurer for CNR, Inc., a holding company with interests in chemical manufacturing and distribution. EMW Capital Advisors serves individual and trust clients through separately managed accounts and acts as adviser and general partner to a pooled private fund, also accepting corporate clients. The firm employs a value-oriented equity approach combining fundamental company analysis with a macroeconomic overlay and a proprietary ranking framework, implementing both long and short positions in portfolios tailored to client objectives.

Robert Helm is the sole advisor at Helm Investment, an independent firm based in Fort Worth, TX. He holds Series 63 and Series 66 licenses and has 21 years of industry experience, with prior roles at Securities America Advisors, Securities America, Inc., and LPL Financial. He is also an independently licensed insurance agent specializing in life insurance. Helm Investment provides discretionary asset management primarily to individual and high-net-worth clients as well as select business entities. The firm employs a combination of fundamental and technical analysis with tailored strategies and manages both separately managed accounts and a private pooled vehicle that includes cryptocurrency-focused investments.