Jacob Blayne Barnhart

Based in Olympia, Washington. Serving clients statewide. Seth Deal is a CPA and fee-only fiduciary financial advisor who helps Washington State public employees retire with confidence. He holds the PFS credential, the financial planning designation built for CPAs. That makes him a tax expert first, with full financial planning on top. In retirement, where every pension and Social Security choice carries a tax bill, that order matters. Seth understands public sector retirement because he lived it. He worked in municipal finance with the City of Olympia before serving public employees as a CPA since 2018. He joined LifeFocus as an advisor in July 2024, working alongside his father and firm founder, Bob Deal, CPA/PFS. They keep the practice small and high-touch.

John Zerba is a Certified Public Accountant and financial advisor with 15 years of experience at 5 Star Investing, an independent registered investment adviser based in Milton Freewater, Oregon. He has maintained a parallel public accounting practice providing accounting, bookkeeping, and income tax preparation services. 5 Star Investing offers discretionary portfolio management, investment advice, and financial planning to individuals, corporate pension and profit-sharing plans, trusts, estates, and charitable organizations. The firm employs an actively managed approach that combines concentrated stock positions with broader market diversification, utilizing fundamental and technical analysis with a value-oriented, multi-cap focus across equities and fixed income.

Joseph Fondahn is the principal of Fondahn Financial in Walla Walla, WA, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses with one year of industry experience. He has worked at Advantus Group, LLC dba Fondahn CPA since 2016 and previously at Baker Boyer National Bank from 2013 to 2016. In addition to financial advising, he owns and operates a public accounting practice through Advantus Group, LLC. Fondahn Financial provides investment management and comprehensive financial planning services to individuals, families, and small businesses. The firm’s investment approach is based on Modern Portfolio Theory, emphasizing diversification, asset allocation, and tax-efficient strategies, while financial planning includes retirement, estate, tax, insurance, and education-funding planning.

Robert Deal is a financial advisor at LifeFocus Financial Advisors, LLC with 26 years of industry experience. He has been with LifeFocus since 2005 and holds a Series 63 designation. In addition to his advisory role, Mr. Deal is a CPA and dedicates a significant portion of his time to tax and accounting work within the firm. LifeFocus Financial Advisors serves individuals, small businesses, trusts, estates, and charities by providing asset management, financial planning, and retirement-plan services. The firm employs a combination of fundamental, technical, and quantitative analysis within a modern portfolio theory framework, integrating tax-reduction and estate-preservation strategies alongside investment advice.

Brian Bruggeman is a CFP® professional with five years of industry experience, currently with Walla Walla Wealth Advisors. He previously worked at Baker Boyer Bank for eight years and is a partner at Block Maughan & Associates, PLLC, an accounting firm where he focuses on tax preparation and planning. Walla Walla Wealth Advisors is a fee-only registered investment adviser serving individuals, high-net-worth clients, and employer-sponsored plans. The firm combines fundamental and technical analysis with Modern Portfolio Theory to create tailored portfolios that may include passive and active funds, ETFs, and individual securities, and offers socially responsible investing upon request.

Andrew Block is a managing partner at Walla Walla Wealth Advisors and holds a Series 65 designation. He has been a managing partner at Block Maughan & Associates, PLLC, an accounting firm, since 2010. Block has been with Walla Walla Wealth Advisors since its founding in 2025. Walla Walla Wealth Advisors is a fee-only registered investment adviser serving individuals, high-net-worth clients, and employer-sponsored plans. The firm provides wealth management, financial planning, and retirement plan management using a combination of fundamental and technical analysis alongside Modern Portfolio Theory.