Advisory Council

Luke Acree, President of ReminderMedia, is a sales fanatic, a marketing evangelist, and an expert team builder. Luke has worked with tens of thousands of business professionals over the years, helping them understand how to connect with their client database in a way that generates leads, secures repeat clients, and captures referrals. In 2003, ReminderMedia launched American Lifestyle magazine, a one-of-a-kind, customizable marketing tool. Since then, Luke has led ReminderMedia to over 30,000 clients and has expanded the product line to include turnkey social media management, digital magazines, e-mail marketing, and analytics. Along his path from software engineer to leader of a multimillion-dollar company, Luke has shown an uncanny ability to analyze tough problems, deliver solutions that drive revenue, and foster success for the business.

Lara Galloway is a dynamic business leader with 25+ years of experience in various industries including financial services, technology, and entrepreneurship. With a background in Business Development, Marketing, Product and Strategic Partnerships, she has a well-rounded skill set that she brings to her role as SVP of Channel Management at White Glove, a financial services marketing company offering lead-generating workshops and nurturing programs that keep advisors in front of their clients and prospects. Her expertise in these areas has been instrumental in helping growth-minded financial advisors offer educational workshops to highly-qualified prospects. She is also the host of White Glove’s The FAST Podcast (Financial Advisor Strategy Talks), where she invites industry leaders to share success hacks for advisors.

In addition to her corporate achievements, Lara is also an accomplished entrepreneur and business coach. She spent 12 years running her own coaching and consulting firm, where she worked with entrepreneurs and small business owners, offering advice and guidance on how to improve their businesses. She shares her coaching expertise with White Glove’s employees and clients, helping them improve as speakers and salespeople while also offering insights on practice management.

Outside of work, Lara enjoys spending time with her family and friends, baking, cooking, and trying new craft beers. She also has a passion for fitness and spends her free time hiking in the woods or on long walks around the neighborhood with her dog, Tuck.

lara.galloway@whiteglove.com

insurance@sma.org

800-423-4992

Blake Gillies is the President of The DI Concierge & Brokerage Director for Acacia Financial Group. Both are New Orleans based affiliates of United Wealth Advisors Group, LLC. He formerly held the title of Brokerage Manager for The DI Center from 2011-2018, serving predominately the Louisiana & Mississippi markets.

Blake is a 2010 graduate of Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama with a B.S. in Business Administration. During his college tenure at both Huntingdon College and Enterprise-Ozark Community College, Blake was a five-time baseball Letterman.

Blake is an involved member of the National Association of Insurance & Financial Advisors, serving at the Local, State and National levels. He is the 2020 NAIFA Louisiana President-elect, a NAIFA & NAIFA National YAT Committee Chairperson. He has been acknowledged for this service to NAIFA by being honored in 2016 as the New Member of the Year for NAIFA Greater New Orleans & Louisiana. Blake is also involved in the New Orleans Miracle League, with the K’s for Kids Foundation.

Blake married Brooke Schaffer in January 2018. They reside in Ponchatoula, Louisiana. His hobbies include hunting, fishing & spending time with their ever-growing number of pets.

jhimmelberger@customersbank.com

Pennsylvania and New Jersey

Customers Bank

tromig@customersbank.com