Hi, I’m Meg. I’m the founder and lead planner at Flow Financial Planning. We are dedicated to women in their early-to-mid career in the tech industry, specializing in the IPO journey: pre-IPO, going through the IPO, and managing the wealth—and attendant opportunities—that come out of it. Do you: • Want to achieve some level of financial independence? • Wish you felt more confident in your financial choices, because you understood how they fit into the larger strategy? • Make more money than you expected to? Are you anxious that you’re not doing the right thing with it? • Have no one in your life you can talk to about your money? • Have more money than you need right now, and you don’t want to waste this opportunity? • Receive company stock but are unsure how to use it? • Dream about leaving the tech industry, but wonder how you could walk away? Together we can work through it all. Get more clarity on what you want in life. Identify specific tasks you can do to organize, simplify, and strengthen your finances, so you can create that life for yourself. My credentials and education: • Certified Financial Planner® professional • Retirement Income Certified Professional® • Registered Life Planner® • Masters of Science in Financial Planning, Golden Gate University • Bachelor of Arts in Economics, Wellesley College Prior to becoming a financial planner, I worked as a technical writer for 10 years in the San Francisco Bay Area, mostly in the software-security sector. After San Francisco and two cross-country moves, my family settled in Bellingham, WA. (I can see Canada from my front porch!) So many of my interests—hiking, biking, cooking, yoga, never-ending kale—are part of the fabric of life here. If you’d like to get some financial clarity, please set up a short, free call. If nothing else, check out our blog. Twice a month I write about issues pertinent to women in tech. You don’t want to miss the Adventures of Block Woman, do you?

Meet Eric Smith, CFP®, MEd, MBA I started Ridge Falls Financial Planning because I love helping people gain clarity and confidence in their financial lives. While I have a background in supporting service-oriented professionals, my practice is specifically designed for aspiring DIY Investors and Validators—those who manage their own finances but want a professional "second set of eyes" to ensure they are on track for retirement. A Collaborative, Advice-Only Approach: The inspiration for my firm came from my own life. At various points in our careers, my wife and I wanted to meet with a financial planner on an hourly basis to ensure we were on the right path. We wanted a fiduciary to take a comprehensive look at everything—from long-range cash flow and insurance to investments and estate planning. However, we wanted that advice without the requirement of asset management. Today, I provide that exact service: holistic, pre-retirement financial reviews on an hourly, Advice-Only basis. Financial Expertise: I spent 12 years in the financial services industry, serving as a branch manager, community banker, and business lender. I also served as a SCORE Business Mentor, helping entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. An Educator’s Perspective: I have over 15 years of experience as an educator. My background includes teaching at Western Washington University (WWU) and serving in the U.S. Peace Corps in Mongolia. I use this experience to make complex financial concepts easy to understand. Academic Foundation: I hold a degree in Cultural Anthropology (Psychology emphasis), a Master of Education, and a Master of Business Administration, all from WWU. Life in the Pacific Northwest: I have called Bellingham, WA home for over 25 years and am an active member of our outdoor community. A great day includes mountain biking the Ridge Trail on Galbraith and a family walk in Whatcom Falls Park with our dog, Zuzu. These two local trail systems inspired the name of my business: Ridge Falls Financial Planning.

Richard Joines is a financial advisor at FSR Wealth Management, LLC with 24 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 designations and has been with FSR Wealth Management since 2014. Joines is licensed to sell life, disability, and variable insurance products in Washington State. FSR Wealth Management is an independent registered investment adviser that serves individuals, high-net-worth clients, trusts, charitable organizations, business owners, and pension/profit-sharing plans. The firm provides portfolio management, financial planning, pension consulting, and insurance-related advice, often managing accounts on a discretionary basis using a combination of fundamental and technical analysis with a long-term orientation.

Howard Eriksen is the principal of Eriksen Capital Management with 19 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 designations and has served as CEO of Solitron Devices Inc., a semiconductor and electronics company, on a part-time basis for the past 10 years. Eriksen Capital Management provides discretionary portfolio management primarily to individual clients through separately managed accounts and operates a private pooled vehicle, Cedar Creek Partners LLC. The firm employs a bottom-up fundamental value investment approach and manages approximately $43.8 million in assets with a limited client roster.

Adam Van Ness is a financial advisor at NW Straits Financial Services with 15 years of industry experience. He holds Series 65 and Series 66 licenses and previously worked at Frank Russell Securities for 11 years. Outside of his advisory role, he teaches community-based continuing education classes on personal finance and serves on the board of a local nonprofit healthcare provider. NW Straits Financial Services is an independent, fee-only investment adviser serving individual and high-net-worth clients. The firm employs a “Keep it Simple” approach, focusing on passive index funds and ETFs with fixed asset allocations, periodic rebalancing, and personalized risk assessment before withdrawals.

Matthew Goodrich is the principal of Goodrich & Associates, LLC in Bellingham, WA, with 27 years of experience in the financial services industry. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has worked at Raymond James Financial Services since 1998. Goodrich serves as executor of an estate, handling associated responsibilities. Goodrich & Associates provides fee-based personal financial planning and investment advice primarily to individuals, families, small businesses, trusts, and estates. The firm focuses on financial planning and consulting, using fundamental analysis and strategic asset allocation without managing client assets or offering discretionary investment services.

Roger Scott is a CFP® professional with 15 years of industry experience, operating Scott Value Investing, an independent advisory firm based in Bellingham, WA. He has managed Scott Value Investing since 2000 and also provides tax preparation services through Scott Value Tax Services. Scott Value Investing serves individual, long-term investors, offering discretionary portfolio management and financial planning with a value-investing approach focused on companies with strong fundamentals and pricing below intrinsic value. The firm combines personalized portfolio management with ancillary tax-preparation services and utilizes a digital custodian platform for model portfolios and tax tools.

Timothy Vail is a financial advisor at Vail Ridge Capital, LLC in Bellingham, WA, with 16 years of industry experience. He holds a Series 66 designation and has led Vail Ridge Capital since 2014. Outside of his advisory role, he coaches high school girls golf for the Bellingham School District and serves as an arbitrator for FINRA. Vail Ridge Capital provides investment management and financial planning services to individuals, high-net-worth clients, personal trusts, corporations, and retirement plan sponsors. The firm uses a core–satellite portfolio approach tailored to each client, combining fundamental and technical analysis, and offers retirement-plan participant education and advisory services to plan sponsors.

Kelly Brown is a CFP® and holds a Series 66 license with 13 years of industry experience. She has worked at Brighton Jones, LLC for nine years and at KELCE Advisors, LLC since 2021. Brown is the sole advisor at Brown PCFO, an independent firm based in Bellingham, WA. Brown PCFO provides portfolio management and financial planning services to individual clients, including retail and high-net-worth individuals. The firm uses a combination of cyclical, fundamental, and technical analysis alongside modern portfolio theory, offering both discretionary and non-discretionary management while focusing on a limited range of common investment instruments.

Tor Benson is a CFP® and holds a Series 65 license with two years of experience in financial advising. He is the sole advisor at Streamline Advisory LLC, a firm he joined in 2025 after working at Financial Plan, Inc. and other firms. Outside of advising, Benson owns a commercial fishing permit and maintains this activity alongside his advisory work. Streamline Advisory LLC is a fee-only investment adviser serving individuals and high-net-worth clients. The firm uses a modern portfolio theory-based approach with a focus on passive investment vehicles and offers discretionary account management, financial planning, and educational seminars.

James Hallett is a financial advisor at Hallett Advisors with 27 years of industry experience. He holds a Series 63 designation and has worked at Hallett Advisors since 2019, following 15 years at Hallett & Associates. Outside of advising, he serves as a board member of the Olympic Youth Center and has experience as a freelance writer for Olympic Publishing. Hallett Advisors provides investment advisory and financial planning services to individuals, retirement plans, trusts, charitable organizations, and businesses. The firm offers tailored portfolio management and consulting, utilizing both fundamental and technical analysis, and manages approximately $145 million in discretionary client assets across five offices.

Melvin Danson is a financial advisor at Baring Financial LLC with 14 years of industry experience. He holds the Series 63, 65, and 66 designations and has worked at Baring Financial since 2016. In addition to his advisory role, he is the owner of Logan Danson LLC and serves as a trustee, managing trust affairs. Baring Financial LLC provides discretionary investment management to individuals, pension and profit-sharing plans, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, and small businesses. The firm employs a strategic asset-allocation approach using passively managed index funds and ETFs as the core, complemented by actively managed funds, and offers globally diversified portfolios tailored to each client’s Investment Policy Statement.

Marvin Tjoelker is a CFP® professional with one year of experience at LG Financial Services, LLC. He is also the owner and a board member of Larson Gross PLLC, a public accounting and consulting firm where he provides tax planning, consulting, and financial planning services. LG Financial Services is a referral-focused investment advisory firm that assists individuals, trusts, businesses, nonprofits, and retirement plan trustees in selecting third-party investment managers. The firm conducts due diligence on these managers and maintains ongoing client contact, while the third-party advisers retain investment discretion and reporting responsibilities.

Tyler Ryan is a financial advisor at Capstone RIA with 17 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has worked at firms including Cetera Advisors LLC and Capstone Wealth Advisors. Outside of his advisory work, he owns a rental property in Bellingham, Washington. Capstone RIA provides investment advisory, financial planning, and retirement-plan consulting to individuals, high-net-worth clients, families, business owners, and corporations. The firm offers tailored, discretionary portfolios based on a long-term, diversified framework and utilizes third-party platforms such as Pontera and Black Diamond to support client reporting and held-away assets.

Elizabeth Snyder is a financial advisor at Trail Financial Planning LLC with eight years of industry experience. She holds the Series 65 designation and has worked at Trail Financial Planning since 2017, following a prior independent advisory practice from 2002 to 2025. Outside of her advisory work, she is a partner in a rental property management business. Trail Financial Planning LLC is a fee-only firm serving individual and high-net-worth clients with comprehensive financial planning and discretionary investment management. The firm uses a blend of passive and active strategies informed by Modern Portfolio Theory and emphasizes tax efficiency and regular account reviews.

Matthew Atkins is a financial advisor at Clearbrook Investment Management, LLC with 16 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has been with Clearbrook since 2015. Outside of his advisory role, Atkins serves as an associate pastor at Mosaic Church in Bellingham, where he has been active since 2006, and he is involved in teaching and speaking engagements with various educational and religious organizations. Clearbrook Investment Management is a state-registered advisory firm serving individual and high-net-worth clients with discretionary portfolio management and financial planning. The firm employs a combination of fundamental and technical analysis alongside quantitatively driven investment models across various risk profiles and asset types.

Timothy Brockman is a financial advisor at Stock Pro with 12 years of industry experience. He holds a Series 66 designation and previously worked at Edward Jones and Independent Financial Group before founding Brockman Capital Management, LLC. Outside of advising, he teaches business courses at Whatcom Community College and Bellingham Technical College. Stock Pro provides discretionary portfolio management and model-portfolio services primarily to individual and high-net-worth investors, as well as certain pension and profit-sharing plans. The firm offers both strategic asset allocation through diversified index funds and an active Pro Account that uses a proprietary machine-learning system for portfolio decisions.

Elise Williams is a financial advisor at Baring Financial LLC with three years of industry experience. She holds the Series 65 designation and also works full-time as a tax accountant with Logan Danson LLC, a sister company to Baring Financial. Baring Financial LLC provides discretionary investment management to individuals, pension and profit-sharing plans, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, and small businesses. The firm employs a strategic asset-allocation approach using passive index funds and ETFs combined with actively managed funds, offering globally diversified portfolios tailored to each client’s Investment Policy Statement.

Luther Hodges is a financial advisor at Waycross Investment Management Co with 13 years of industry experience. He holds a Series 65 designation and has been with Waycross since 2011. In addition to his advisory role, Hodges has served as an associate professor at Western Washington University since 2000, a position unrelated to his investment work. Waycross Investment Management Co provides discretionary investment management and financial planning services primarily to individual and high-net-worth clients, including 401(k) advisory services. The firm employs a fundamental analysis approach with diversified allocations and manages portfolios within target ranges while considering tax implications.

My path to financial planning has been sinuous, varied, adventuresome. The way I work with people and their financial lives can be understood through my journey Trailo today. Thus, I will start my story at the beginning. I grew up in Corvallis, Oregon - elementary school, kid soccer, high school, first kiss, Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering - the whole bit. I was fortunate to have two loving parents. My mom was the financial stability in the family - she worked at a steady job with the university, helping scientists with their writing. She is now known as the “Grammar Grandma” in our family. She taught me to love words, but also gave me a chronic case of the worries. My dad was more of a maverick, boldly lunging from one line business venture to another. He valued people and life experiences over career. He taught me to love the world and its inhabitants, but also stuck me with a “grass is greener” mentality. After finishing university in 1994, I longed to expand my world. I bounced around Oregon, then moved to Montana to work as a wilderness therapist. I spent week-long shifts as a guide/therapist with groups of juvenile delinquents who were working through the consequences of their actions. We explored the wilds of nature and the wilds of the human spirit. There, I met a girl who captured my heart - Amy. Amy was a free spirit, but also highly practical. She was, and is, very careful with her money; she embraces frugality. She continues to teach me to love a life we are living rather than long for a life we are not. I enjoyed working with teens but yearned for more academic work, so I went back to school to become a high school teacher. I earned a Masters of Science in Physics and a teaching certificate. After graduation, but before starting a family, Amy and I wanted to explore. We found jobs working as educators at an international school in South Africa. We got married, and four days later moved to Johannesburg. We lived there for two years, where we were blessed to forge deep friendships with people around the world. We also were earning our first real paychecks and found ourselves with extra money. I realized that despite earning heavily math-based degrees, I did not understand the math of money whatsoever. I needed a new education. So I began a path of self-study, reading every book and website I could about investing and personal finance. Our daughter, Mia, was born in South Africa, and we wanted to move back to the US, to be closer to family. We decided on Bellingham, WA. It is a quiet, livable city, with easy access to the trails of North Cascades and Chuckanut's. Perfect. I found a job teaching high school science and math, but in my off hours, I continued to learn and experiment with financial matters. Our son, Porter, was born two years later. With two young kids, money grew tight. But, we managed to buy a house and still save some of our earnings for the future. I started trying to get friends to participate more directly in their own financial lives. We started an investing club called “Stocks and Suds.” I’d bring spreadsheets, they would bring beer. Mostly, we just enjoyed the suds. A few friends started asking if I’d manage their money for them. So, in 2012 I started a solo investment advisory business. I focused on helping people set up little “hobby” investment accounts, like Roth IRAs, in addition to their work-based retirement plans. Within a few years though, people started asking me to help them with more of their financial lives. I became aware that there was much more to finance than just investments. One of my wife’s therapist colleagues, Liz, started talking to me about my business. Liz was also interested in helping people with their financial lives. We discussed going into business together, with a broader focus on financial planning rather than just investments. I could see a transition coming up, so I took a half-year off from teaching. My family spent four months traveling through Southeast Asia. Our trip was a microcosm for sound financial planning - set a goal, create a budget, save for it (we’d been saving for several years), then adventure! We learned to blog together, to rejoice together, to gag together, and to exist together in tight quarters. Our trip was called “Cheeseburgers in Asia.” Our blog can still be found with a simple Google search. When I returned from our travels, Liz and I began building the business in earnest. We launched “Trail Financial Planning” in June 2017. Our business is doing well. I can feel the windswept adventure of starting a business from scratch. But my knees are scratched and banged up from the missteps I’ve made. My dad would be proud of the journey. I get to work with people, to help them alleviate fears and worries. My mom approves. I help people care for their pennies. My wife is satisfied. Most of all, I am content. I get to work with people in an ongoing act of stewardship - while we care for their finances, we are really caring for their futures, their loved ones, their dreams, and their missions.