With mixed emotions I am announcing the departure of two of our team members, Mindy Muzzarelli and Lindsay Zentner, in June. As we all know, the last two years have encouraged many of us to be self-reflective and to consider what the next phase of our lives will be. Mindy has decided to become a schoolteacher, which will allow her to spend more time with her children and to follow her dream to teach. Lindsay will take a few months off to travel with her new husband and to find her next position in asset management.
Mindy joined the firm in 2019 and instantly became a beloved member of the team. As Office Manager and Executive Assistant, she wears many hats and is our go-to team member if anything unexpected comes up. She has been responsible for onboarding new team members and setting the tone for the seriousness of our work and the importance of supporting each other as a team. As we transitioned to a Work From Home environment in 2020, Mindy was the glue that held us together. Not only did she come into the office to execute necessary functions, but she also took charge of “Wacky Wednesday” – a weekly event when we gather by Zoom to do something fun or funny together. That tradition lives on even now. An avid traveler and dedicated mom, Mindy brings a spirit of joy to her work and life that has been a gift to the team.
Lindsay joined us in 2015 on our Client Services team. She spent her first few years learning the foundation of what it means to truly serve clients in a financial services firm like ours: listening to their needs, providing answers tailored to them, and celebrating their wins as they achieve goals. With that strong foundation, she chose to pursue the CFA designation to expand her knowledge of investments and achieved her goal in a remarkable 18 months. Lindsay was our first Portfolio Analyst and has been instrumental in building out processes and procedures to support our growing investment portfolio and offerings. Also an avid traveler, Lindsay – a native of Canada - has brought an international point of view to our team that has helped to keep our focus sufficiently broad.
After running my practice and growing a team for over 20 years, I know that every departure provides an opportunity to build on the strengths of the last team member and to reimagine the possibilities for the future. We are in the final stages of choosing a new Executive Assistant who will function as a Chief of Staff as we continue to grow the team. We are also redesigning the Investment Team and will add both a Managing Director of Investments and Portfolio Analyst. We look forward to introducing these new team members once they are settled into the firm.
We will miss these two very capable women on our team. They both embody our values: empathy, integrity, authenticity, future focus, and independence. It is these lived values that I believe led them to their decisions about their paths in life. We also look forward to watching them shine in their next roles - to hearing about Lindsay’s success on her new team, and of course how the kids love “Ms. Muzzarelli.”
Sincerely,
Debra
Debra Brennan Tagg is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professional and the creator of the DBT360 Financial Plan, a proprietary program that helps her clients prioritize their goals, leverage their resources, and address their risks. She is the president of BFS Advisory Group and teaches the public and the financial services industry about the importance of values-based financial planning and investor education.