“How We Do What We Do”: Taking Charge of Your Career

Stephanie is the owner and founder of Golden Goose Wealth Planning in Grand Rapids Michigan. Stephanie is a CFP® professional who believes finances don't have to be complicated. She is passionate about helping clients achieve their financial goals. Stephanie is a board member of the Financial Planning Association (FPA) of Michigan.  During her time on the board, she has sat on the education, NexGen, mentorship, and symposium committee. Stephanie is also the current FPA of Michigan's President-Elect. Stephanie has a huge passion for helping university students and career changers enter the financial planning profession.

Kay is a pioneering millennial who learned quickly in life about the fearsome force that money can create for families ambitious about creating and preserving meaningful legacies. At 18, Kay unburied a less-than-favorable family legacy when she went to apply for her first credit card (be sure to ask her the story). It was at that time that she switched her baccalaureate major from Psychology to Financial Planning. By age 23, Kay earned the CFP® certification. Kay is the youngest of three siblings, and proudly touts herself at the “financial guru” and “dilemma doctor” of the family.

Kay Pfleghardt is a 1st generation wealth advisor acting in a 3nd generation role within the company, local speaker and coach for families serious about avoiding becoming the 90% of family businesses that fail beyond the 2nd generation. She is the co-creator of several unique processes and tools designed to help the rising generation in families deal with the unique challenges that growing up with wealth brings. Kay helps design strategies for complex estate plans, tax reduction methods, investment planning bottlenecks, and business transition plans that are unique to large, multi-generational family businesses. Kay has helped advise families of affluence across the United States since her start in the industry by exposing them to a different way to think about their wealth.

Kay holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Financial Planning and an Associate’s Degree in Accounting. She is also a board member of both the Rochester Financial Planning Association and the Alfred State Financial Planning Program.

Christopher Stroup, MBA works as an advisor for Abacus Wealth Partners, a fee-only, independent firm that is a change-maker in the financial planning world with a focus on impact and socially responsible investing, diversity and inclusion, and making financial planning accessible. Having previously worked as a Petroleum Engineer in the oil and gas industry, Christopher used his MBA from Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to pivot into wealth management. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community that is passionate about the intersection of startups, entrepreneurship and wealth management, Christopher focuses much of his work serving the needs of LGBTQ+ members of senior leadership across emerging and Fortune 500 companies.