Patrick Martinez

Dieter Scherer is a CFP® with 13 years of experience in the financial services industry. He is the sole advisor at Adaptive Wealth, LLC, an independent registered investment adviser based in Charleston, SC, where he has worked since 2013. Adaptive Wealth provides discretionary asset management and financial planning services to individuals, trusts, estates, and other client entities. The firm employs a formulaic, quantitative investment approach using proprietary algorithms and tactical asset-allocation models, combining technical, fundamental, and macroeconomic analysis with risk controls.

Inspired Financial Planners is a virtual, fee-only financial planning firm in Gulfport, MS and Flat Rock, NC. We serve clients from Gen Z all the way through retirees. While we have clients in any stage of life, Tricia specializes in working with professionals with families, advising employer-sponsored retirement plans, and individuals that have inherited wealth. Tricia earned her chops as an intern at a large brokerage firm, mutual funds specialist, paraplanner, portfolio manager, and retirement plan consultant, before partnering with Germaine Weldon in 2019 to co-found Inspired Financial Planners. She is a Certified Financial Planner™ practitioner, a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Student Loan Professional, and a Ramsey Solutions Master Financial Coach. Her greatest passion is helping young families advance toward financial independence and meeting their life goals. On the personal front, Tricia and her husband Nick find life balance by hiking, running, scuba diving, and chasing their toddlers. They welcomed their third daughter to the world in 2021.

James Dupuis is a financial advisor at Summit Financial Wealth Advisors with 25 years of industry experience. He previously worked at LPL Financial for 16 years and spent 40 years at Wright, Moore DeHart, Dupuis & Hutchinson, CPA. Outside of his advisory role, Dupuis manages several investment-related LLCs that hold securities and industrial real estate properties. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors serves individuals, retirement plans, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, and business entities, offering discretionary portfolio management, pension consulting, and related advisory services. The firm provides tailored advisory relationships, acts as an ERISA fiduciary, and offers non-investment services such as business management and divorce financial consulting.

Savannah Cooper is a CFP® certificant with eight years of experience in financial advising. She has worked at CogentBlue Wealth Advisors since 2025 and previously held roles at Morris Financial Concepts, Bank of America, and D.A. Davidson & Co. before that. CogentBlue Wealth Advisors, LLC provides discretionary portfolio management and financial planning to individuals, high-net-worth clients, charitable organizations, and businesses. The firm employs a modern portfolio theory-based approach tailored to each client’s investment policy statement and integrates third-party managers and technology solutions to support portfolio management.

Natalie Smith is a financial advisor with PNC Wealth Management and holds a Series 66 designation. She has been with PNC Investments LLC since 2025 and has a decade of experience at PNC Bank. Prior to joining PNC, she worked at WRNO from 2011 to 2016. PNC Wealth Management provides retail brokerage and advisory services through model-based programs, including an employee-only digital offering that uses algorithmic risk assessments to recommend investment strategies implemented via mutual funds and ETFs.

Thomas Schmidt Sr. is a CFP® and PFS™ credentialed advisor with 25 years of industry experience. He is currently with Stratos Wealth Partners, Ltd., where he has worked since 2022. His prior experience includes roles at Avl/Wealthcare, LLC, Lan Holdings LLC dba Heritage Financial Group, and his own tax preparation and consulting business. Schmidt also operates Velocity Business Advisors, a business consulting firm. Stratos Wealth Partners provides advisory services to a diverse client base, including individual investors, trusts, charitable organizations, corporations, and retirement plans. The firm offers an open-architecture Strategic Wealth Management platform that supports both advisor-managed and model-based portfolios across multiple custodians and uses affiliated and third-party sub-advisors.