FPA NexGen Gathering 2022 Cohort Leaders

Dr. Preston D. Cherry, CFT-I™, CFP®
Concurrent Financial Planning & UW - Green Bay
Founder & Head of PFP Program

Dr. Cherry is the Founder & President of Concurrent Financial Planning and Head of the Financial Planning Program at the UW – Green Bay. Preston specializes in empowering individuals to share stories that inform their financial resources and life’s design to achieve financial wellness. Preston has over 15 years of financial services and academic experience, including financial planning, investment management, published research in top journals, and extensive leadership in the planning profession. He is an Investopedia 100 Top Financial Advisor and currently serves as President of the Financial Therapy Association, and practitioner editor of the award-winning Journal of Financial Planning.

As a cohort leader, what are a few things you're hoping attendees will learn from you as a mentor? A few takeaways are career directions, life aspirations, education pathways, connecting with their financial wellness journeys, finding their authenticity, transferring their stories to communicate value add to others, connecting stories to the numbers, the numbers matter, what matters to the people you serve, what the journey to success will entail, what are the different ways to perform in the profession.
 

Kacy Gott, CFP®
Meritas Wealth Management, LLC
Lead Advisor, Principal

Kacy Gott is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) and has been a financial advisor since 1995. He has a passion for comprehensive financial planning services and strives to create a unique and inspiring decision-making environment for each client. 

Kacy is active in the profession and as an educator, having served on the national Board of Directors of the Financial Planning Association (FPA). He also served on and chaired the Board of Trustees of the Foundation for Financial Planning and the Council of Education of the Certified Financial Planning Board. Kacy has taught financial planning at UC Berkeley Extension and Golden Gate University and has mentored new professionals in the FPA Residency program. He is a national recipient of the Heart of Financial Planning award.

Kacy and his wife live in Sonoma Valley and can often be found exploring wine country in the Russian River or Dry Creek Valleys, or Itlay, or New Zealand. Kacy is passionate about wine and has built an extensive collection which he loves to share with family and friends.

As a cohort leader, what are a few things you're hoping attendees will learn from you as a mentor? I've worked in small firms and a larger firm and helped grow a firm from 7 people to 140 people and I've worked in many different environments so I can empathize with many different positions. I've also made many mistakes in my career with clients and with my colleagues. I'm hoping to share some of those experiences so that others can avoid them. I had the chance to meet Cal Ripken, Jr (legendary professional baseball player). Among the words of wisdom he shared was the comment "Always be coachable." The corollary to that is to seek out great coaches.
 

Brandon Ratzlaff CFP®
Cypress Point Wealth Management
Director, Wealth Planning

Brandon Ratzlaff, CFP®, is Partner and Director of Wealth Planning at Cypress Point Wealth Management, a fee-only RIA with offices in Dallas and Austin. He serves on the advisory boards of the Texas Tech PFP Alumni Advisory Board, Communities Foundation of Texas, KEY Outreach and the investment committee of Partners for Sacred Places. Previously, Brandon was President of the Dallas/Fort Worth FPA and has served on the board of numerous nonprofits. He is currently working on his Ph.D. in Personal Financial Planning at Kansas State University and teaches financial planning at Texas Tech University and Southern Methodist University.

As a cohort leader, what are a few things you're hoping attendees will learn from you as a mentor? I hope they can learn from my experiences (good and bad) to be better planners and leaders. I hope they will walk away with a better appreciation for patience, perseverance, grace, and stewardship.
 

Yesenia Realejo, CFP®
Tobias Financial Advisors
Wealth Advisor

Yesenia Realejo, CFP® graduated from Duke University and subsequently worked for Teach for America. She transitioned to finance when she worked at Merrill Lynch. As Yesenia learned more of the industry, she gravitated towards fee-only firms and began as an Associate Advisor at Tobias Financial Advisors in 2017. Since then, she has obtained her CFP designation and grown into her current role as Wealth Advisor. Yesenia serves on the Philanthropic Advisory Council of the Community Foundation of Palm Beach and Martin Counties. She also serves as the Treasurer and a Mentor of Take Stock in Children of Broward Country.

As a cohort leader, what are a few things you're hoping attendees will learn from you as a mentor? I hope that attendees can benefit from hearing about my path by being exposed to an experience that one does not typically hear, particularly in the financial services industry. As young advisors grow in this industry, they will undoubtedly come across people from increasingly diverse backgrounds. It is important to be open to learning about different experiences as they seek to forge long-lasting relationships with people who may come from a wide range of backgrounds.
 

Diana G. Yáñez, CFP®, RLP®
All the Colors
Founder

Diana Yáñez, CFP®, RLP® is a financial empowerment coach. At All the Colors, Diana facilitates group coaching to help individuals underserved by the financial services industry build confidence in their money decisions. All the Colors focuses on financial capability to support participants as they implement decisions to reach their goals. By providing this in a group setting participants get to learn from other’s experience in a supportive environment. Before financial planning, Diana worked as a business analyst, demographer, and in social work. She is an active member of her Quaker meeting and enjoys traveling, reading, and dancing bachata.

As a cohort leader, what are a few things you're hoping attendees will learn from you as a mentor? There are so many ways that people can thrive in financial planning, beyond working with high net worth individuals in RIAs. Whatever their interests this profession is wide enough to welcome them. There are huge wealth transfers coming as well as major population shifts and as the next generation of wealth management we can have a lot of impact. Growing in a career is a lot about networking, giving back to others, and experimenting to find what works best for us. I'm really excited to serve as a mentor and reflect back to participants what they're dreaming of.