Independent financial advisors working with career changers

Samuel Smith is a Financial Advisor with The Avagian Smith Group at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. He holds the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER (CFP) designation and the Personal Investment Advisor (PIA) credential. Samuel works with successful individuals, families, business owners, and corporate executives to help them make informed financial decisions throughout different life stages. Samuel's areas of expertise include retirement planning, investment management, tax-efficient strategies, estate and legacy planning services, business succession planning, concentrated stock and stock compensation planning, and wealth transfer strategies. He and his team focus on coordinating key aspects of their clients' financial lives to provide a disciplined framework for making confident decisions. Samuel is a member of the Estate Planning Council of Indianapolis and holds a Bachelor's Degree from Indiana State University. Outside of his professional work, Samuel enjoys baseball, basketball, football, spending time with his family, and watching movies.

Jesse Zora is a CFP® with 14 years of industry experience and has been with Zora Financial since 2014. He serves on the board of directors for Seabed, Inc., a closely held family farm in Marion Junction, AL. Zora Financial serves individual households—including both high-net-worth and non-HNW clients—and sponsors of employer retirement plans. The firm employs a long-term, buy-and-hold investment approach grounded in Modern Portfolio Theory, supplemented by fundamental, technical, and cyclical analysis, and offers a range of planning and advisory services.

Laura I. Rotter, CFA, CFP is the founder of True Abundance Advisors, a fee-only financial life planning firm. Laura runs a unique firm built on the belief that true abundance comes when we create meaning with our money. Her meetings are a safe space for her clients to explore what they value and what gives them a sense of meaning and purpose. Together, they develop and implement a plan that broadens the concept of “investing” beyond financial assets to another scarce resource: time. Laura had a successful career on Wall Street, managing money for institutional investors, including Citicorp and Para Advisors. Her definition of abundance shifted, and she realized that she was using her life to make money, rather than using her money to make a life. She is drawn to work with others navigating a big life transition, and who are seeking purpose in their lives.

Avery Krasnow is an Investment Consultant at Fidelity Investments, a role held since 2025. They work directly with clients to develop personalized financial strategies that align with their individual goals, using Fidelity's planning tools. Avery's professional background includes experience as a Relationship Manager at Fidelity Investments from 2024 to 2025 and as a Financial Representative from 2023 to 2024. This progression demonstrates a focus on client relationships and financial planning within the firm. Outside of work, Avery has personal interests in board games, cooking and baking, exploring food, caring for pets, pilates, and puzzles.

Lelamarie Kelly is a financial advisor at Life UnLocked Partners LLC with a Series 65 credential and two years of industry experience. She has a background in legal services, owning LSK Legal, a professional law corporation, and serves as principal and general counsel for Tennenbaum & Kelly, Inc., which manages privately held investments. Outside her advisory role, she holds CFO and general counsel positions at both MailRoute, Inc., an email security company, and SCBI Online Store, LLC, a skincare business. Life UnLocked Partners provides financial planning, investment monitoring, and recommendation services to individuals, high-net-worth clients, families, trusts, estates, and other business entities. The firm’s investment approach centers on a value/dividend strategy designed for income replacement around career changes, transitioning to longer-term appreciation vehicles, and also includes sub-advisory arrangements.

Jared Fruth is a financial advisor at Northwest Asset Management with four years of industry experience. He holds a Series 65 designation and previously worked at Securities America, Inc., KMS Financial Services, Inc., Oppenheimer Funds, and John Paul Mitchell Systems. Northwest Asset Management is a registered investment adviser managing approximately $3.6 billion for nearly 3,000 clients, including individuals, pension and profit-sharing plans, charities, and corporations. The firm employs a customized, fiduciary approach using Modern Portfolio Theory and strategic asset allocation, combining fundamental and technical analysis to build diversified portfolios with periodic rebalancing.

Edwina Martin is a Series 65 licensed financial advisor with two years of industry experience, currently with Waverly Advisors, LLC. She previously worked at 9258 Wealth Management for five years and was employed at Teradata Corp for eleven years. Martin also serves as assistant director of tax planning at 9258 Tax and Planning, a non-investment related business. Waverly Advisors is a multi-team registered investment adviser managing portfolios for individuals, retirement plans, and pooled investment vehicles. The firm combines traditional equity and fixed-income strategies with alternative and private-market allocations, offering a range of investment management and financial planning services.

Craig Mcdaniel Jr. is a financial advisor with Capital Investment Advisory Services, LLC in Columbia, SC. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has 13 years of industry experience. He has been with Capital Investment Group, Inc. and The McDaniel Corporation since 2012. Outside of his advisory role, he is involved in life insurance sales and serves as an independent agent for annuities and related products. Capital Investment Advisory Services, LLC provides investment advisory and supervisory services to individuals, retirement plans, corporations, trusts, estates, and charitable organizations. The firm offers customized investment management through discretionary mandates, third-party managers, and private-label model portfolios, using a blend of analytical methods with ongoing portfolio monitoring.

David Hart is a financial advisor with Martin Wealth Management, LLC in Irvine, CA. He holds a Series 65 credential and has 15 years of industry experience. Hart previously worked with Safeguard Investment Advisory Group and LifePro Asset Management. He is also a Certified Financial Fiduciary and volunteers as an instructor with the Foundation for Fiduciary Education, providing unbiased fiduciary financial education to the public. Martin Wealth Management offers investment advisory services primarily to individuals and high-net-worth clients by co-advising and directing accounts to a third-party money manager, Matson Money. The firm focuses on client onboarding, documentation, and ongoing review of third-party manager accounts rather than direct asset management.

Sarah Currier Barrella is a CFP® professional with 26 years of experience in financial advisory services. She currently works at Santander Securities LLC and Santander Bank, NA, having previously held positions at TD Bank and Citizens Securities, Inc. Barrella is based in Boston, MA. Santander Securities LLC serves a broad retail client base with approximately $3.14 billion in regulatory assets under management across 10,800 client relationships. The firm offers investment advisory services, portfolio management through wrap-fee programs, and financial planning, operating both as a registered investment adviser and a FINRA-registered broker-dealer.