Test Events

Michelle Fucella

Growing up, my favorite subject in school was math, and I loved all things numbers. As I was entering college, I knew I wanted to continue learning about my passion for numbers, and I majored in business.

During college breaks, I would work in a local doctor’s office to make a little extra money for myself. Working there, I learned so much, and it influenced me to change my major to psychology and pre-health science-related courses. Upon graduation, I entered into the healthcare field as an eye technician and continued to do that for six years. After working in the healthcare field for six years, I was yearning for something more to allow me to have a greater impact on people. The most rewarding part of my job was caring for patients and building those trusting relationships with them, and I knew that I wanted to continue doing that.

The opportunity of becoming a financial advisor with New York Life presented itself in the summer of 2018. I instantly fell in love with the work that I was doing and the help I was providing for my clients. I knew that after every meeting, I was leaving the client in a better position than I found them in when I met them.

My passion is to empower women on their path to becoming financially independent. So often, I have seen women confused about their finances after a major life change like divorce, the death of a spouse, a change in career, a major illness, etc. I watched my mother struggle to successfully navigate finances after her separation and health challenges. I have been blessed with strong female mentors that instilled in me the importance of becoming financially independent. As a result, I learned how to manage my own finances from a very young age. I made a promise to myself that I would do that. I would learn everything I needed to know to set myself up for a life of financial independence and as I eared to share my knowledge and practical insights with women that I come across in both my personal and professional life.

Jennifer Varteressian

For as long as I can remember, even in the depths of my adolescence, an impactful life was of the utmost importance to me. I didn’t know how I was going to accomplish this back then, but I knew that I would do whatever it took to do so. If you ask my mother, I always chose the most difficult road to accomplish my goals rather than the path of least resistance. I now know that every decision I’ve made and hardship I’ve navigated has led me to where I am today.

Perseverance and resilience are two values that I embody in everything I do. I’m not always the smartest person in the room, but I sure am the hardest worker. I played softball my whole life, through college, and once I accomplished that goal, I was forced to set my sights on the next mountain that I would climb. I saw how hard my parents worked to provide for us and wanted to do whatever it took to ensure I would not have to struggle to do the same for myself. I decided to take my LSAT and accepted a scholarship to attend the University of Tulsa College of Law.

Upon graduation, I wanted to move back to Texas, and I worked judiciously to find a job where I could begin my journey. The economy was not great at the time, but I found my diamond in the rough, working for a national R&D tax firm with no prior tax experience. I spent several years here and was ultimately able to make a move back to my hometown Austin, Tx, working for a small boutique firm in the R&D space. From here, I was recruited to be an equity partner at a firm in California, only to realize months later that they were low on capital and could not fund the department any longer.

I found myself at a crossroads, I was about six years into my career and an expert in the tax credit space, but I had failed, for all intents and purposes, while trying to level up. This was a defining moment in my life where I truly had to dig deep to determine my next steps. They say entrepreneurship is about taking risks, and that’s exactly what I did. I started my own business leveraging the relationships I had fostered over the years and was able to marry my expertise with these relationships to deliver amazing results. I have since partnered with the amazing people at Forefront to create a department where we can deliver comprehensive value to our clients.

I am passionate about what I do because I am able to deliver monetary value to people who want to make the world better by taking risks and starting companies. I am extremely passionate about entrepreneurship and giving individuals, especially women, the leg up they need to take that leap. It’s always worth it; you never fail, and you always learn.

Chad Rixse

Growing up, I never thought I’d find a career helping people with their money, let alone define it as a calling or higher-purpose in my life. I always leaned towards medicine as a kid and I told anyone who would listen that I wanted to be a doctor when I grew up. But, life had other plans for me.

I almost ended up here by accident, believe it or not. After I graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle, I was lost. I had no idea what I wanted to do or which direction to head in. I just knew two things: 1. I needed to make money and, 2. I wanted to help people.

At that point in my life, my mom had already been a financial advisor with the same company for almost twenty years. She had encouraged me many times in the years leading up to that to consider the financial services industry as a profession. She always told me that I’d make a great financial advisor because I had the right heart and personality for it, but I never paid much attention to it because I wanted to be a doctor!

But after college, I already had more than $50,000 in student loan debt and medical school felt too far out of reach for me. So, when the opportunity came around to apprentice under my mom, I said “why not?”

That was more than six years ago now. After three years working with my mom, I caught the entrepreneurial bug and decided to venture out on my own. Since 2017, I successfully launched two independently-owned financial planning firms in both Seattle, WA and Anchorage, AK.

In April 2019, I was given a wonderful opportunity to partner with Eric Negron and Amy Colton here at Forefront Wealth Partners and to build what we have established today: a firm focused on positively impacting people’s lives and providing them the confidence and clarity they need to navigate life’s major decisions.

Today, I have an immense amount of gratitude in my heart to be in a profession of which I am head-over-heels in love with. I am also tremendously grateful to be constantly surrounded by so many wonderful, inspiring, and uplifting people.

My burning desire in life is to positively impact peoples’ lives and leave this world a better place than I found it.

Eric Negron

Everything you need to know about me you would have learned in kindergarten… I like to color outside the lines. I was born in Germany, as my dad was stationed there as an officer in the Army. I grew up in a great and loving family that instilled discipline, hard work, commitment, insatiable curiosity, laughter, and a lot of love.

I came to the Wealth Management industry after I completed a rigorous training program inside of a bank’s management trainee program. At the time, I wanted to wear nice suits every day to work, have a flexible work schedule, and build a relationship with clients that would span multiple generations. I always tell people I grew up in the business because I started at such a young age. The ability to serve our clients and their families while building a lifetime bond has been one of the greatest surprises and life-fulfilling elements that financial advising has provided.

Over the years, I have had many titles, from Vice President to President’s club member. Prior to starting Forefront, I was the President of a billion-dollar bank’s wealth management group. In 2016, we launched Forefront Wealth Partners with a passion to provide exceptional and personalized advice to our family members (most folks refer to them as “Clients”). It was paramount to build an environment where every team member was a good human being first and foremost and they just so happen to also be brilliant and passionate professionals.

My number one life goal is to leave the world better off than the way I found it. I propose to do this through our work at Forefront, but also in every interaction I have whether it be an email, or phone call, a prospective client meeting, a meaningful life conversation with a team member, a handwritten thank you note, or any interaction I am a part of.

Amy Colton

As a financial advisor, Amy desires to create an environment that encourages every woman to get their financial “house” in order. She wants women to be able to make decisions from a place of strength and not fear. In serving her clients, Amy helps them to advance with confidence and optimism while also empowering them to choose their destinies and not be a victim of circumstance.

For more than 10 years, Amy has mentored women going through major life transitions such as divorce, death of a loved one, and sudden inheritance. She provides her clients with knowledge in areas they may not have access to and ensures they are on a positive financial path for their next chapter in life.

As a Financial Advisor, Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA®), and Family Law Mediator, Amy guides individuals or couples through the divorce process as well as the necessary tax and financial planning which is critical after the divorce is final. Through this experience, she founded Your Divorce Made Simple in 2020 to work with couples and individuals – both during and after the divorce process – to negotiate the division of assets, child considerations, and financial planning needs. By giving them knowledge on the different options available during the divorce process, Amy and her team inspire couples toward win-win outcomes.

Amy is a graduate of the Michigan State University (MBA), and the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (BA). She had a successful career of more than 40 years in sales, management, and business development in the technology and pharmaceutical industries, including over 20 years at IBM as an executive in sales and management. In 2011, Amy joined New York Life as a Financial Services Professional, and in 2013, she joined Forefront Wealth Partners as a Wealth Advisor. She co-founded Your Divorce Made Simple with business partner Eric Negron. Amy released one book in 2022, including Have We Really Come Along Way, Baby?, which chronicles her journey through IBM from 1976 to 1996 and is available on Amazon.com. Her second book titled Kitchen Table Divorces will discuss her unique process for helping people going through a divorce. Amy’s next book will be released in 2023.