Personal

I grew up in Roxbury NJ with my parents and younger sister. As I was growing up I was always involved in sports; paintball, football, and lacrosse. After high school I attended William Paterson University where I double majored in Financial Planning and Professional Sales. Soon after graduating college in 2013 I met Kathryn, my wife, by sitting down next to her on a train ride home one evening. On our adventure, before getting married in the spring of 2018, we rescued the first member of our family, Harley. Harley is a black lab mix we rescued from a local shelter near our home. As 2020 was underway we welcomed our first child to the world, Cooper.  Cooper was born in the beginning of May and we have been enjoying every part of parenthood on these new adventures. Our family continued to grow with twins!  August of 2023 we completed our family by welcoming Cole and Callie.  As a family we enjoy our time at Lake George, weekend trips  to our winery, long weekends at Great Wolf Lodge, and relaxing  in our own oasis of a backyard.

Lending a hand in my community.

As part of Northwestern Mutual, I'm proud to help accelerate the search for better childhood cancer treatments while supporting families undergoing treatment, and survivors from late effects. Here are some of the organizations we partner with:

Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer (ALSF)

ALSF funds cancer research, raises awareness, and supports the families of children with cancer. Since 2012, Northwestern Mutual, its employees, and financial professionals like me have donated more than $20 million to support ALSF and fund over 400,000 research hours.

Visit partner website

Alex's Lemonade Stand logo

Beads of Courage

Beads of Courage is an art-in-medicine program that helps kids with cancer tell their unique treatment story through colorful beads that are symbols of their courage.

Visit partner website

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF)

JDRF provides research to understand Type 1 Diabetes and what causes this autoimmune disease.

Professional

I joined Northwestern Mutual in January of 2013 as an intern and now have over 10 years of experience in the financial planning industry as a financial advisor.  I began my career in financial planning the semester before graduation with a Bachelor's degree in Financial Planning and Professional Sales from the AACSB accredited Cotsakos College of Business at William Paterson University.  In 2014, I decided to take a step into Northwestern Mutual's leadership team where I became a College Unit Director, then Field Director, now a Growth and Development Director.  The level of care and impact my leadership team provided me, I wanted to do the same to help new advisors to insure they get off to a quick start on the right path.  I have continued my studies and expertise by obtaining my CFP® certification, ChFC®, and CLTC® designations.

Licenses and Designations

Currently, I hold my series 6, 63, and 7 securities registrations, along with life, accident, and health insurance licenses. I have my CFP® certification, ChFC® and CLTC® designations.

Years of Experience

Representing Northwestern Mutual since 2013.

Education

William Paterson University - Wayne N.J., Financial Planning (Bachelor of Science)
William Paterson University - Wayne N.J., Professional Sales (Bachelor of Science)

Here are my areas of expertise

Financial Planning

Life Insurance Strategies

Retirement Planning & Income Strategies

Education Planning & Funding

Disability Planning

Multigenerational Planning

Tax-Efficient Strategies

Advisory Services

How Northwestern Mutual helps you live the life you want.

When people feel better about their money, good things happen—they become more confident and feel more secure. For more than 160 years, Northwestern Mutual has helped people achieve the financial flexibility they need to live more and worry less.

Being a mutual company means Northwestern Mutual reports to its clients, not Wall Street. They don't believe in chasing fads or taking undue risk for short-term gains. Instead, they take a long-term approach—both in the way we help people plan to reach their goals, and in the way they do business. This has served their clients (and mine) well through all kinds of economic ups and downs, including wars, recessions, even the recent pandemic.

It's why I'm happy to be part of a company that's in it for the long-haul and prioritizes clients over profit.

Northwestern Mutual buildings and column architecture

Planning and Investment Support to keep the Business Running

Our team partners with a Financial Planning Business Consultant from the Home Office to ensure that we have more time to spend helping our clients. Our dedicated consultant works as a member of our team to continue strengthening our relationship with collaborative planning and investment analysis, allowing us to stay in front of you.

Financial Planning Services Team

Photo of Assistant Director, Financial Planning Services Erika Lenart

Erika Lenart

CLU®, ChFC®, RICP®, CLTC®

Assistant Director, Financial Planning Services

Erika is an Assistant Director on the Financial Planning Services Team. She oversees a team of Financial Planning Associates and Business Consultants, focusing on their growth and development as effective consultants for our field. Erika worked in the field as an Associate Financial Representative for 5 years before joining the Home Office in July of 2015 as a Financial Planning Consultant. Erika recently joined the Financial Planning Services Team in October of 2024. Erika earned her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She holds the CLU, ChFC, RICP and CLTC designations, FINRA licenses 7, 6 and 63 and the Wisconsin Life, Accident and Health Licenses. Erika lives in Caledonia, WI with her husband Steve and 2 boys, James and Luke. They spend as much time outdoors as possible, hiking, fishing and camping
Photo of Financial Planning Business Consultant Yvette Brown

Yvette Brown

Financial Planning Business Consultant

Yvette joined Northwestern Mutual and the Full Support team in December 2021. Prior to her role as a Financial Planning Business Consultant, she was a Financial Advisor at UBS and a Senior Financial Planner at Ernst & Young. Yvette has obtained a BS degree in business management from Thomas Edison State University, a Certificate in Financial Planning from Florida State University, and an MBA - Finance at UNC. She has also passed the CFP® exam as of July 2024. She holds her FINRA SIE, Series 7, 65, 63, and 24 securities registrations.
Photo of Financial Planning Business Consultant Faith Clark

Faith Clark

Financial Planning Business Consultant

Faith began her career with Northwestern Mutual in 2008, spending the majority of her early NM career in the field. During that time, Faith worked with the FR internship program; full-time training, development and coaching; district office administration; the network office CRC program; direct advisor support contracting, licensing & registration; and was an advisor herself. Faith holds her FINRA Series 6, 63, and 7 securities registrations. She maintains the CLU® designation.
Photo of Financial Planning Business Lead Erik Daniels

Erik Daniels

Financial Planning Business Lead

Erik comes to Northwestern Mutual from a local financial advisory firm where he was the financial planner for two Wealth Management Advisors. Immediately prior, he was the director of a local Northwestern Mutual CFS team with a majority of advisors in the office subscribing to the service. In addition to working with advisors as a financial planner, investment educator and overseeing practice management, he also shared in the responsibilities of compliance oversight. Erik holds Series 7, 66, 9, and 10 licenses, as well as Life/Health and Property & Casualty. Erik is a graduate of UW Whitewater with a major in Finance and a minor in Financial Planning.
Photo of Financial Planning Business Consultant Beth Mayer

Beth Mayer

CFP®

Financial Planning Business Consultant

Beth joined the Northwestern Mutual Full Support Team in July of 2022, from Robert W. Baird where she was the financial planner supporting a group of Financial Advisors in the high-net-worth space. Prior to that, she worked as an accounting professional for more than six years. Beth is a graduate of Drury University, holding a BS in Accounting. She holds her FINRA Series 7 and 66 securities registrations and CFP® designation.
Photo of Financial Planning Business Consultant Sarah Mayet

Sarah Mayet

CFP®

Financial Planning Business Consultant

Sarah joined Northwestern Mutual and the Full Support team in 2024. Prior to her role as a Financial Planning Business Consultant, she was a Financial Planning Specialist at New York Life. Sarah has obtained a BS degree in entrepreneurship at University of Illinois Chicago, a Certificate in Financial Planning from Northwestern University and is currently working toward an MBA- Finance & Investment Management at University of Iowa. She holds her FINRA Series 7 & 66 securities registrations and CFP® designation.
Photo of Financial Planning Business Lead David Mulder

David Mulder

ChSNC®, FSCP®

Financial Planning Business Lead

David came to Northwestern Mutual in 2016 with an established background in insurance, investments, and financial planning going back to 2004. His experience includes financial advisor, lead planner, educational speaker, business management and compliance. He also has experience with various planning and investment systems including eMoney, Naviplan (PPA) and PX. He holds the series 6, 7, 63, 65 and Life/Health licenses, and has earned the Financial Services Certified Professional (FSCP®) and Chartered Special Needs Consultant (ChSNC®) designations. David has a master's degree from Central Baptist Theological Seminary and a bachelor's degree from Northland International University.
Photo of Financial Planning Business Lead Frederick J Pilipuf

Frederick J Pilipuf

CLU®, ChFC®

Financial Planning Business Lead

Freddie joined the team in August 2022, bringing with him 22 years of financial services experience, including 19 years at NM. He has served in roles within several NM departments, including financial planning sales support, information technology, and enterprise compliance. As a significant contributor in the company's estate and business planning space, the business planning analysis software, and our underwriting process involving key employee and business valuation, he brings a wealth of knowledge to his current role. He has provided many years of consultation as a deep subject matter expert, best practice thought-leader, traveling field trainer, and phone support resource for personal planning (PPA/PX), estate and business planning (EBPS, BPA), and business retirement markets (401k, SEP, SIMPLE, cash balance plans, etc.). Prior to NM, he served as a securities principal, branch manager for Raymond James. He holds FINRA Series 7, 66, 9, and 10, as well as the CLU® and ChFC®.
Photo of Financial Planning Business Consultant Brian Spaulding

Brian Spaulding

Financial Planning Business Consultant

Brian has been working in the finance industry for more than twelve years and joined the FPS - Full Support team in 2021. Over the past six years he has held multiple field-facing positions at Northwestern Mutual, including CRC Director, Assistant Director of Network Office Supervision, and Technology Productivity Consultant. Brian currently holds the FINRA Series 7, 66, 9, and 10 licenses. Before coming to Northwestern Mutual, Brian was an Investment Consultant with Scottrade as well as a personal banker with Chase Bank. He has spent more than a decade educating clients how to achieve their financial goals and create stable financial futures. Brian holds a bachelor's degree in Economics and a Master's Degree in Business Administration.
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Center for Financial Planning, Inc. owns and licenses the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER®, and CFP® (with plaque design) in the United States to Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., which authorizes individuals who successfully complete the organization's initial and ongoing certification requirements to use the certification marks.