Michael W Smith

Joshua Brooks, CFP®, is the founder of Exponential Advisors, a fee-only fiduciary financial planning firm serving military leaders, veterans, and their families. With more than two decades of military service and current service as an Army Reserve chaplain, Joshua understands that leaving the military is more than a career change. Decisions involving the Survivor Benefit Plan, Thrift Savings Plan, VA benefits, insurance, taxes, civilian compensation, and family priorities often arrive at the same time. He founded Exponential Advisors to help military families coordinate these decisions through a disciplined planning approach called Operational Wealth Stewardship. Joshua advises clients on retirement income, TSP and employer retirement plans, survivor planning, investment management, tax-aware planning, insurance, charitable giving, estate coordination, and the responsible role digital assets may play within a diversified financial plan. His experience as an enlisted Infantryman, officer, combat veteran, chaplain, husband, and father shapes the way he works: listen carefully, clarify what matters most, explain the tradeoffs in plain language, and develop a practical course of action. His objective is not to predict markets or chase financial trends, but to help clients coordinate their resources with greater clarity, discipline, and purpose.

David Morales is a financial advisor at First Command Advisory Services with Series 6, 63, and Series 65 licenses and one year of industry experience. Prior to joining First Command, he served in the U.S. Navy from 2015 to 2019 and received his bachelor’s degree in Finance at the University of San Diego. First Command Advisory Services serves a diverse client base including individuals, high-net-worth clients, corporations, and charities through a multi-service platform offering financial planning, discretionary asset management, brokerage, insurance, and banking products. The firm emphasizes advisor-led financial coaching and provides tailored professional services through structured engagement cycles.

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.

Matthew Beeby is a financial advisor at Harvest Capital Management in Aledo, TX, with 19 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and previously worked at Stephens from 2014 to 2018. Outside of advisory work, he owns and manages residential real estate investments through MHB Real Estate Investments, LLC. Harvest Capital Management provides investment advisory and planning services to individuals, high-net-worth clients, and pension and profit-sharing plans. The firm employs a long-term, modern portfolio theory approach with fundamental analysis, offering services such as portfolio management, financial planning, and pension consulting.

Chukwudi Uraih is a financial advisor at Lampados Financial Group, LLC with five years of industry experience. He holds a Series 65 designation and has previously worked at Booz Allen Hamilton. Uraih serves in the United States Army Reserve. Outside of financial advising, he is the owner and CEO of Lampados Realty Group TX, LLC, which focuses on acquiring real estate for rental purposes. Lampados Financial Group provides fee-only financial planning and investment advisory services to individuals, families, professionals, and investors in firm-managed investment funds. The firm employs a proprietary methodology combining fundamental analysis and algorithmic cash-flow modeling to evaluate financial scenarios and emphasizes diversified, long-term, risk-aware strategies for individual accounts, alongside real-asset acquisition for its funds.

Brian Phillips is a financial advisor with Phillips Ray Capital Management, Inc. in Fort Worth, Texas. He holds a Series 63 designation and has 29 years of industry experience, including 24 years with his current firm. Phillips Ray Capital Management provides investment advisory services to individuals, including high-net-worth clients, pension and profit-sharing plans, trusts, charitable organizations, and corporations. The firm offers both discretionary and non-discretionary portfolio management, using customized investment policies and a range of instruments tailored to client objectives and risk tolerance.