Our Team
Chris is a Florida native and he’s been a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional since 2004. With a background in banking and finance, he’s been a statistician for several large Jacksonville corporations, a college instructor, and a business owner and investor since 1996.
Chris served in the US Army from 1987 to 1991, including combat service in Operation Desert Storm, after which he returned to complete his university education. He holds a liberal arts degree from the University of Central Florida, graduate degrees in education and in business from the University of Florida, and a certificate in financial planning from FSCJ.
Chris is conversant in most all areas of financial planning, with special interests in tax planning, cash flow management, and investing. Chris owns several rental properties, and he helps his wife in her management of a small-town medical practice.
Chris is a NAPFA-certified advisor and he’s a money coach for Compass-Finances God’s Way and for the US Department of Defense. He and his wife have hiked long sections of the Appalachian Trail and made numerous mission trips to Cuba with teams from their church. Chris is an avid reader, with interests ranging from theology to carpentry to finance to philosophy. He’s also a cat lover, and he’s been TV-free for 15+ years. He spends lots of his free time in his backyard workshop and he sometimes leads groups of volunteers doing out-of-state disaster relief work.
In 2009, after a successful career in finance, Brett Freese stepped down as Vice President of Finance at a major securities firm to join TrustWell. What began as a long-standing goal of becoming a financial advisor became a calling to serve individuals and families as a fiduciary, guided by experience, wisdom, and integrity. Brett holds an MBA in Finance from Rutgers University, is a CFP® professional, a NAPFA-certified advisor, and a Certified Kingdom Advisor®. Brett has a heart for guiding clients through life’s financial decisions, helping them achieve their goals and dreams with clarity and confidence.
He has been married to Susan for more than 30 years, and together they have two sons, Drew and Devin. He serves on his church’s pastoral advisory team and partners with Susan at All In Ministries International, a nonprofit ministry that equips under-resourced women in unreached people groups to become disciple makers.
In his free time, Brett enjoys traveling, golfing, hiking, and beach walks. A lifelong New York Giants and Mets fan, he has celebrated four Super Bowl victories and one World Series championship—and remains hopeful each season
Tanner was born and raised in Jacksonville. He and his wife Lindsey got married and started their family early in life. Tanner has a bachelor’s degree in finance and started his professional career as a financial advisor at Merrill Lynch. After three years at Merrill, Tanner and Brett decided to team up at TrustWell. He really enjoys his role of helping people and using his love of math on strategies like Roth conversions. Tanner is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and a Certified Kingdom Advisor®.
Outside of TrustWell, he loves spending time with his family and being active outside. For many years, he has coached his kids at soccer and flag football, recently making it to the NFL Flag National championships. Aside from being a big Jaguars and Lakers fan, Tanner likes all things minty, a classic burger & fries combo, or a coconut Bai drink.
Bradley was born and raised in Jacksonville. He joined TrustWell after spending 10+ years in the financial services industry, bringing along expertise in both investment management and financial planning. Bradley has a BBA degree in finance from the University of North Florida, is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, a Certified Kingdom Advisor® and has spent time with NAPFA. Bradley and his wife, Sarah, enjoy spending time with friends and family including his two sons Hank and Freddie, and they actively attend The Church of Eleven22.
Outside of the office, you can find Bradley cheering on the Jacksonville Jaguars and Atlanta Braves. His two boys keep him and his wife busy; you may see him biking down Gate Parkway with the boys from time to time!
Tina has lived in Jacksonville her entire life. She has spent her career as an administrator and small business owner. She joined the TrustWell team in 2018 and enjoys interacting with our clients and providing high quality service. In her spare time, Tina enjoys spending time with her family and friends, gardening, kayaking, and working on embroidery projects.
Payton has lived in the Jacksonville area her entire life. She is a current student at The University of North Florida, where she is studying Finance and Economics. Payton is a member of many clubs and organizations at UNF and enjoys being involved in her local school and community.
Gary founded TrustWell Financial Advisors in 1987 in Gainesville, Florida and moved his practice to Jacksonville in 1990. He earned his BA from the University of Florida and has been a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional since 1987. He spent 15 years running a family business before opening his own financial planning firm.
Gary often shares the path that brought him into this business. While in the family business, Gary engaged a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional to help his family. The holistic advice was really helpful, but the advisor was dishonest and failed to disclose conflicts of interest. It was at that point that Gary decided there was a market for an honest CFP® and hung out his shingle.
Gary has served on many professional and non-profit boards. He feels that the greatest joys in his life are his wife, family, children, grandchildren and his faith.