Elmer Wessel is the principal advisor at Wessel Investment Counsel, L.L.C. in Asheville, NC, holding CFP®, CFA®, and Series 63 designations with 22 years of industry experience. He has been with Wessel Investment Counsel since 2003. Wessel Investment Counsel provides personalized asset management and financial planning services to both high-net-worth and non-HNW individual clients. The firm uses a combination of fundamental, technical, and cyclical analysis supported by third-party research, offering discretionary and non-discretionary portfolio management alongside financial planning tailored to client needs.

Jacques Fogel is the principal of Fogel Investment Advisory Group, Inc. in Fletcher, NC, holding Series 63, 65, and 66 licenses with 27 years of industry experience. He has been with Fogel Investment Advisory Group since 2007 and also has a concurrent affiliation with Purshe Kaplan Sterling Investments. Fogel Investment Advisory Group provides investment management and retirement services to individual clients, including high-net-worth individuals, and sponsors of employer-sponsored retirement plans. The firm emphasizes customized, long-term diversified portfolios with a predominantly non-discretionary asset base and offers participant education and workshop-style services for retirement plans.

Daryl Shankland is a financial advisor at Shankland Financial Advisors, LLC with 28 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has been with Shankland Financial Advisors in various capacities since 2006. In addition to his advisory role, he is a licensed insurance agent involved in the sale of life insurance and annuities. Shankland Financial Advisors provides financial and retirement planning, consulting, and discretionary investment management to individuals, families, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, and business entities. The firm serves both high-net-worth and non-HNW clients, employing a combination of fundamental and technical analysis with a long-term investment approach that includes tactical flexibility and periodic rebalancing.

John Coleman is a CFP® and ChFC® with 15 years of experience in financial advising. He is the principal of Coleman Advisory, LLC, an independent firm he founded in 2016 after a brief tenure at Questar Asset Management. Coleman is also a licensed insurance agent, providing life, long-term care, and annuity products alongside his advisory services. Coleman Advisory, LLC offers financial planning and portfolio management to individuals, trusts, estates, small businesses, and corporate pension and profit-sharing plans. The firm employs a tax-aware, diversified investment approach, utilizing third-party managers and both discretionary and non-discretionary account management, while also integrating insurance products as part of its service model.

I founded Carrington Financial Planning, LLC, for the single purpose of helping my clients achieve financial success.  I feel a deep sense of responsibility when entrusted with this important aspect of people’s lives.  I also believe that good financial planning must be collaborative in order to be successful.  I work with clients through every step of the process on the way to achieving financial peace of mind.  As a fiduciary advisor, I always put the interests of my clients first and ensure that I meet their needs in a holistic fashion.  That means that I view investment portfolios as just one component of a client’s financial picture.  Good comprehensive financial planning should bring together all aspects of your financial life.  With a well-constructed financial plan, composed of clearly defined goals, combined with a solid investment strategy, we will work together to put you on the pathway to financial success.

Steven Pollock is a CFP® professional with 13 years of industry experience. He has been the sole advisor at Pollock Planning Associates Inc. since 2001, operating an independent advisory firm based in Asheville, NC. Pollock Planning Associates, Inc. is an SEC-registered independent advisory firm serving primarily high-net-worth individuals, trusts, and estates. The firm offers discretionary investment management and financial planning services, utilizing a diversified asset allocation approach that includes mutual funds, ETFs, individual equities, and fixed income, with an emphasis on periodic portfolio reviews and consolidated reporting.

David Wells is a CFP®-certified financial advisor with 32 years of industry experience. He has led Wells Financial Management, LLC since 2011. The firm serves individual and high-net-worth clients as well as entities such as corporations, trusts, estates, and charitable organizations, providing discretionary investment portfolio management and financial planning. Wells Financial Management emphasizes diversified, asset-allocation strategies tailored to client-specific goals and incorporates macro risk assessment, quantitative and qualitative screening, and may include ESG considerations and alternative strategies when appropriate.

Justinn Steffe is a CFP® professional with four years of industry experience, currently serving as the sole advisor at Veyla Financial in Asheville, NC. He has been affiliated with Warren Wilson College and the North Carolina Outward Bound School for over a decade each. Treo Financial, LLC is a fee-only, holistic financial planning firm that offers personalized education and planning services to individuals and businesses, particularly educators, nonprofit staff, entrepreneurs, and contract workers. The firm emphasizes financial education through one-on-one advice and group training, using a long-term, low-cost investment approach based on Modern Portfolio Theory.

Matthew Burril is the sole advisor at Brick Street Equity Management, LLC, an independent registered investment adviser based in Fletcher, NC. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 designations and has 22 years of industry experience. Mr. Burril has led Brick Street Equity Management since 2003. Outside of his advisory work, he serves as president of Cane Creek Aviation, LLC, a company established to own and maintain an aircraft. Brick Street Equity Management provides discretionary portfolio management services to individuals, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, and business entities. The firm manages approximately $28 million across about 15 client relationships, using a combination of fundamental and technical analysis and employing both long- and short-term trading strategies, including the use of margin and short sales when appropriate.

Jack Steinhilber is a financial advisor at Agile Investments in Asheville, NC, with 22 years of industry experience. He holds a Series 66 designation and previously operated Steinhilber Enterprises for 17 years before founding Agile Enterprises, LLC. He also manages the Agile Income Fund, LLC, a private real estate lending fund. Agile Investments provides individualized portfolio management to high-net-worth individuals and trusts, utilizing a primarily active, tactical investment approach based on fundamental economic and asset class analysis. The firm employs exchange-traded funds and no-load mutual funds, with the flexibility to include individual securities when appropriate.

Emil Gonsalvez is the principal of EMGO Capital, LLC, an investment manager based in Arden, NC, with one year of industry experience. He holds a Series 65 designation and has prior work experience at Pine Gate Renewables, HCM Staffing Services, Express Employment Professionals, and Wells Fargo Bank. Outside of his advisory role, he also works full time as an accountant for another firm. EMGO Capital provides financial planning and consulting services to individuals, corporations, LLCs, and small businesses, focusing on investment, retirement, education, and tax planning as well as corporate-structure and real estate analysis. The firm emphasizes a tailored Investment Policy and a Fundamental Asset Forecast approach aimed at capital preservation and long-term growth, operating on a fixed monthly fee model without managing client assets directly.

Lenward Jones III is a ChFC® credentialed financial advisor with three years of experience at Envision Planning, LLC. He also operates Wesley Jones CPA PLLC, a tax preparation and consulting firm he founded in 1998. Envision Planning, LLC is a state-registered investment adviser that provides discretionary portfolio management and financial planning to individuals, including smaller, non-high-net-worth clients, as well as select institutional clients. The firm employs a primarily long-term, fundamentally driven investment approach using diversified mutual funds and ETFs, integrating financial planning and educational services into its advisory work.

Paul Mayes is a financial advisor with Veritas Investment Advisory Group LLC in Hendersonville, NC. He holds a Series 65 credential and has five years of industry experience. Prior to founding Veritas, he worked at Shankland Financial Advisors, LLC and BorgWarner Turbo Systems LLC. Mayes is also a licensed insurance agent operating Mayes Financial & Insurance Solutions LLC. Veritas Investment Advisory Group LLC serves individuals, families, charitable organizations, corporations, and other business entities. The firm offers financial and retirement planning, discretionary portfolio management, third-party money manager selection, and educational seminars, combining fundamental and technical analysis with tactical strategies and tax-aware rebalancing.

Christopher Church is a financial advisor with C2 Financial Planning LLC in Mills River, NC. He holds a Series 66 designation and has two years of industry experience. His prior work includes roles at Guardian Life Insurance Company and Park Avenue Securities. C2 Financial Planning LLC, founded in 2025, provides discretionary asset management and comprehensive financial planning primarily for individual clients. The firm uses functional and cyclical analysis to align portfolios with client objectives and offers ongoing reviews covering a broad range of financial planning topics.

Laura Mccue is a financial advisor with White Oak Financial Management, Inc. in Asheville, NC, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and having 21 years of industry experience. She has been with White Oak Financial Management since 2003. In addition to her advisory role, she is also an independent insurance agent offering life insurance, fixed annuities, and long-term care insurance. White Oak Financial Management provides personalized financial strategies and investment management to individuals, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, and small businesses. The firm emphasizes risk management and capital preservation through a combination of strategic and tactical asset allocation, utilizing a range of investment vehicles and employing both quantitative and qualitative analysis in portfolio management.

Sage Barfield is a financial advisor at Shining Rock Advisors LLC in Asheville, NC, holding a Series 65 designation with five years of industry experience. She has worked at Shining Rock Advisors since 2020 and has held roles at several related entities since 2019. Outside of advisory work, she provides bookkeeping services to non-advisory clients. Shining Rock Advisors manages approximately $154 million in client assets across 25 relationships, serving individual investors, business entities, trusts, estates, and charitable organizations. The firm offers discretionary portfolio management for publicly traded assets and advisory access to private Rule 506 offerings, tailoring investment programs to client objectives with a focus on both public and private investments.

David Hunter is a CFP® professional with 21 years of industry experience, currently serving as an advisor at Horizons Wealth Management since 2007. He holds a Series 65 license and is based in Asheville, NC. Horizons Wealth Management provides financial planning, wealth management, investment advisory, and retirement plan consulting to individuals, business owners, and charitable organizations. The firm emphasizes strategic asset allocation primarily through ETFs, customizes portfolios according to client Investment Policy Statements, and offers both full wealth-management and lower-touch managed-portfolio services.

Brent Ford is a CFP® and holds a Series 66 license with 19 years of industry experience. He has been with White Oak Financial Management, Inc. since 2015. White Oak Financial Management provides personalized financial strategies and investment management to individuals, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, and small businesses. The firm emphasizes risk management and capital preservation through strategic and tactical asset allocation, utilizing a range of investment vehicles and periodic portfolio rebalancing.

Kenneth Downer is a CFP® with 18 years of industry experience, currently serving at Kenneth Frenke & Co since 2007. He holds the Series 65 license and is based in Arden, NC. Kenneth Frenke & Co. provides fee-only financial planning and discretionary portfolio management to individuals, high-net-worth clients, trusts, and estates. The firm integrates financial counsel from a Biblical perspective and employs methods such as fundamental analysis and modern portfolio theory to develop individualized Investment Policy Statements.

Germaine brings to the Inspired Financial mix her considerable experience as a financial planner, investment advisor and wealth manager — along with a keen sense of humor, honed by her life’s rich experience. Germaine has ridden out not just one hurricane, but two. In 1969 she lost her childhood Pass Christian home to Hurricane Camille then Hurricane Katrina destroyed their Ocean Springs home in 2005! Hurricane forces are nothing compared to Germaine’s. Having “flunked Retirement 101” (her words) she leaped at the opportunity to co-found Inspired Financial Planners with Tricia Kollath, CFP(r), CPA, in 2019. Their combined talents pair well with their shared passion for helping people navigate a complex financial world. Germaine has a master’s degree from the University of Southern Mississippi, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Mississippi. She is a CPA with a Personal Financial Specialist™ credential (MS certificate 5504 and NC certificate 43722), as well as a Certified Financial Planner™ practitioner. Germaine founded and continues to chair the North Carolina CPA Association’s Financial Planning Networking Group to help her fellow CPAs understand the complex financial planning issues their clients face. Outside of her career, Germaine is an enthusiastic advocate for the arts. She is a life member of the Walter Anderson Museum of Art, having served various roles including its board since the early 1990s. She and her husband John (a physician) stay young by hiking the Blue Ridge Mountains that surround their North Carolina home. These days, Germaine and John divide their time between western North Carolina and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where Germaine enjoys kayaking … when the waters are calm.