Elected to serve as the Chair of the 33rd Annual Conference of the Employee Benefits Institute in 2017, serving as the President and Chairman of the Board during the 2018-2019 term and presiding over the Annual Conference in the spring of 2019. The 33rd Annual Conference is still the largest in attendance in the history of the Employee Benefits Institute. During the 2018-2019 term, responsible for completely re-organizing the membership and the membership structure, organizing the association around (3) distinct "colleges": the "Legal College," the "Consultant College," and the "Plan Sponsor College." Also responsible for expanding the geographic footprint of the Employee Benefits Institute to include representation on the Board from Oklahoma and Arkansas.

As a Plan Health Consultant I'm able to focus on Plan Health Design, Financial Wellness, and Retirement Wellness, engaging my passion for Behavioral Finance with my desire to serve others and help Americans retire better. I am an independent, fee-ONLY plan fiduciary consultant specializing in plan health design, focusing on Retirement Readiness and plan compliance, the measurements of healthy plans and healthy outcomes. As a Certified Plan Fiduciary Advisor (CPFA®) through the National Association of Plan Advisors, my designation allows me to specialize in serving the needs of retirement plan fiduciaries, serving employers who sponsor 401(k), governmental 457, and 403(b) plans, particularly non-ERISA "church plans."We help employees retire better and we help employers sleep better.The American worker wants to retire on their own terms. Our firm takes responsibility for helping employees close the Retirement Gap. We believe that there is an ROI to Retirement Readiness, a positive "Return on the Investment" for companies that are helping equip employees with enough money to retire on time. We recognize that there is a significant cost to business owners when employees delay retirement, a cost in increased medical premiums and worker's comp claims and possibly the cost of lost productivity. Business owners expect accountability for positive outcomes in the retirement plan that they sponsor, but they also want real services that mitigate their fiduciary liability and provide guidance and confidence in the ever-increasing world of compliance. Brian Johnston of Jackson Lewis is a strategic partner with PHD. Retirement Consultants and oversees the Fiduciary Fitness program for our firm.A common fallacy is that the purpose of retirement plans is to attract and retain great employees. The purpose of any retirement plan should be to attract, retain and RETIRE great employees, because if it's not built to maintain healthy retirement outcomes the plan has failed.

The Retirement Advisor Council consists of elite retirement plan advisors from throughout the industry, dedicated retirement plan specialists with representation from all 50 states. The organization exists to raise the bar for the corporate retirement plan industry, share best practices, and advocate for successful qualified plan and participant retirement outcomes through the collaborative efforts of experienced qualified retirement plan advisors, investment firms and asset managers, and defined contribution plan service providers. The Council has provided valuable research and tools for others in the industry, including the 'Value of a Professional Retirement Plan Advisor' and a standardized RFP for advisor searches. Membership in the Advisor College is by merit. The application review process takes multiple factors into consideration, including size of the Advisor’s practice, the Advisor’s dedication to the retirement plans business, and contribution to thought leadership in the industry.

Received the honor of the invitation to join the Retirement Advisor Council in 2012, and selected by other member advisors as the President Elect in 2018. Joined the Board in 2018 and became only the second President of the Council in 2019 at the Semi-Annual Meeting in Houston. Managed the organization through (2) terms during the Covid-19 pandemic, and stepped down in January of 2022 at the Semi-Annual Meeting in Tampa. To be selected to this invitation-only gathering of the leaders in the retirement plan industry was an extreme honor. And it was both honoring and humbling to then be elected President by my peers, other advisors who are friends and competitors.

As the retirement plan practice leader for Bearence Management Group, I served as the Director of Retirement Plans for the entire firm, overseeing production and operations for offices from Minneapolis to Des Moines to Kansas City. As a Retirement Plan Consultant I helped plan participants close the retirement gap and I helped plan sponsors sleep better at night. I was responsible for all sales and operations of the Retirement Plan Practice for Bearence Management Group, and provided all Trustee and Fiduciary services. I also provided the retirement education for each client and then insurance agents from Bearence provided the one-on-one assistance with financial planning. ACCOMPLISHMENTS:• Building a retirement plan markets business from 17 clients to 87 in 3 years. • Developing the "Health & Wellness System for Your Retirement Plan" used with each client to build a Defensible Due Diligence Process.• Developing a proprietary Education Policy Statement to assure that advisors in the Break Room are not serving as fiduciaries or selling insurance products or annuities when we served as the fiduciary of the plan.• Developing a proprietary Disclosure Policy Statement to assure compliance with ERISA 408(b)2.

I was responsible for brokering, winning and crafting qualified retirement plans, serving an existing client base of employer-sponsored retirement plans, offering retirement education to the participants, serving plan sponsors in day-to-day operations of the plan, monitoring fund investments within the plan, and preparing & delivering quarterly plan reviews to trustees and company officers.ACCOMPLISHMENTS:• Building a retirement plan markets business from 5 clients to 25 in 6 months. • Developing and directing a portfolio with more than $20 million in AUM.

I worked in Retirement Education, enrolling participants and assisting them in making educated investment choices. I also helped to pioneer the Managed Accounts Program. ACCOMPLISHMENTS:• Developed the new Managed Accounts program as one of the first RIA’s with Retirement Plan Services. • Built a clientele base with more than $10 million in AUM in less than 3 months, growing the business through client retention.• Responsible for training new investment advisors.