What Families Say About Us
“I was skeptical at first of MTM360. After my second or third 30-minute consult, you can see the power and benefit of the process. The digital piece makes it really convenient and I see how these 30-minute meetings prepare us for a successful family meeting. The family meetings are amazing.”
“Love what MTM360 has done for our family. Much more connected as a unit, but it also allows Gen 2 to help ease the load on Gen 1. It’s really cool to have all our ‘MTM’ stuff in one technology.”
“Extremely educational. Opened the doors of communication within the family and helped us focus on the big picture.”
“I had no idea what this process was when we started. After the first family meeting, it all came together for us as a group. Excited to see what comes next and to keep this ball rolling.”
“When I first started MTM360, I was blown away. Working together so closely with the entire family has been incredible. Engaging in this process has been a privilege.”
“Learned a lot. Has increased the communication and connection within the family. MTM360 gave us the structure to gets this all going and continues to help us improve as a family.”
“I saw the vision right away, but did not know ‘how to’ fulfill this vision. Now, we know how to do it and are well on our way.”
Our team of advisors include:
About Shawn T. Barberis, J.D.
For over two decades, Shawn has engagedmultiple generations of successful families in preparing for, and participating in, impactful family meetings focused on the foundational pillars of multi-generational success: communication, core values, family legacy, gratitude, financial education and governance.
Our proprietary technology, More Than Money® 360 (MTM360℠), is designed to prepare and empower families for their family meetings. Shawn’s success is built on the simplest of principles: if you are attending an important meeting, you prepare. This preparation is hosted in the MTM360℠ technology and supports geographically (or physically) distanced families.
Over the years, Shawn has guided numerous families to improve meaningful communication, develop shared stewardship and philanthropy while strengthening family unity.
Since 2007, MTM360℠ is the first, and currently the only, technology to prepare heirs, align core values and spark meaningful communication.
Shawn maintains the clients’ best interests under a business model of full-disclosure, transparency, and adherence to a fiduciary model.
Since 2012, Shawn has enjoyed a 100% client retention rate.
Shawn has written several articles for industry magazines, is an active public speaker with over one hundred presentations to his credit, and in 2020 released his first book, “The Endangered Family: How to defeat the greatest single risk confronting your family – your money.”
Law Career
Shawn attained his law degree from the University of Baltimore. While there, he joined a downtown law firm, and upon passing the Maryland Bar Exam in 2000, Shawn opened a private firm of his own serving successful families and businesses. During this time, he began drafting sophisticated business and estate documents.
Entrepreneur
Shawn expanded his offerings and co-founded Premier Planning Group in 2002. With several offices on the East Coast, the independent financial advisory firm grew to 76 registered representatives from Naples, FL to Baltimore, MD with over 200 insurance brokers. In 2007, Shawn divested his interest in Premier Planning Group.
MTM360℠
Equipped as an experienced entrepreneur, Shawn founded Aspida360® in 2007, naming this firm in honor of his Spartan-born grandfather. “Aspida” is the Greek word for “shield”, which the Spartan warriors deemed their most valuable weapon. Why? It protected them to fight for their family another day just as Aspida360® protects our clients to fight for, and thrive, another generation
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About Roey Diefendorf
A 50 year veteran, Roey is also the 4th generation of his family in the business and is currently the CEO of MTM360™.
Following his graduation from Deerfield Academy, Roey received a BA in Psychology from Bucknell University. He went on to obtain a Master’s Degree in Insurance from Georgia State University, with a major in Estate Planning and a minor in Pension Planning. In 1976 and 1983, he received the designations of Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) and Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC), respectively, from the American College, Bryn Mawr, PA. In 1992, the designation of Certified Financial Planner (CFP) was granted from the College of Financial Planners in Denver, CO. In addition, Roey has been admitted as a “CFP Practitioner”. In March 2001, he was awarded the designation of Registered Financial Consultant (RFC). In 2003, he attended the Wharton School of Business and successfully attained the Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA) designation. After many years of insurance and investment advisory, Roey turned his focus on the “3 Dimensional Wealth” of his clients.
He has written over a dozen books, including “3 Dimensional Wealth: A Radically Sane Perspective On Wealth Management and “A Better Way: Using Purposeful Trusts To Preserve Values & Valuables In Perpetuity.” As an adjunct professor at the University of Illinois – Urbana, in 2020 Roey taught a 13 week long semester course on “More Than Money” Wealth Management, the first of its kind in America.
Roey has spoken at many venues on wealth management and philanthropy, including the Main Platform at the Million Dollar Round Table. He has won numerous awards including:
Finalist in The Fleet Bank Small Business Award for Substantial Revenue Growth, semi-finalist in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, the finalist in the NY Enterprise Small Business Award for Leadership, the LI Business News “50 Around 50” Award for Philanthropy, and the Gold Medal finalist in the Gartner & 1to1 Media CRM Excellence Award in Efficiency for North, Central and South Americas. The International Association of Registered Financial Consultant (IARFC) named Roey the 2021 recipient of the Loren Dunton Lifetime Achievement Award as an industry visionary and leader over the past 50 years.
Roey is a man on a mission. A mission that embraces family values and philanthropy for the betterment of the giver and family, as well as the receiver.
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About Jennie Donovan
Jennie comes from family that embraces family values and has been personally part of annual family forums for over a decade. Her background in psychology from University of Virginia, coupled with Masters Degrees in Education from both Boston University and Cambridge College are the tools that she uses as a professional counselor. Having participated in the MTM360 process, Jennie is uniquely qualified to guide your younger rising generation members.
In addition to her 18 year professional background, Jennie has a broad scope of experiences from her travels to over 70 countries. This unique facet of her life helps her relate to many differing individuals and cultures. She loves singing and founded the women’s acapella group, “Hoo’s In Treble” at the University of Virginia. She was named the female acapella vocalist of the year during her senior year at UVA after performing at Carnegie Hall.
Jennie is married and has three children. She knows adversity, as her son was born with a degenerative heart condition and has had three major heart surgeries since birth. Yet, she remains grounded in her faith and optimism for the future. Gratitude is at the roots of Jennie’s existence. This daily focus on gratitude is what keeps her “centered” and effective in working with client’s family members.
Jennie also formed Donovan Strategic Learning, LLC to work with students to improve their effectiveness and efficiency in learning. She has a developed a unique analytic learning assessment to identify a student’s learning pattern using her Five-Step Learning Process model. Jennie specializes in working with students with disabilities, including ADHD, learning disabilities (including dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia), anxiety, Autism Spectrum Disorder and concussions.
Jennie loves working with families and thrives on seeing the results that occur when individuals go from working independently to interdependently. Her goal; to help family members understand how their motivations and actions can create pathways to strategic change and growth.
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About Alan Kendall
Alan Kendall graduated from Baylor University in the mid-80’s with a BBA degree in Finance and Financial Planning. During the first 10 years of his practice, he focused on comprehensive financial planning, asset management and estate planning for high net worth clients.
However, following the early passing of his father in 1994 when Alan was only 30 years old, he began to recalibrate his life and practice to begin focusing on the non-financial and three-dimensional aspects of family wealth. Specifically, he shifted his practice to assisting families in passing on meaningful legacies to future generations. Alan was one of the earliest adopters and pioneers in the new (at that time) and growing field of “legacy planning.”
Alan ultimately sold his traditional asset and financial advisory practice and has been exclusively involved in the non-financial, legacy planning industry now for over 24 years. He has worked in a variety of capacities with both advisors and clients in helping to synchronize and integrate a family’s personal wealth of values with their social wealth of philanthropic passions and their financial wealth of assets in order to achieve a maximum family legacy impact. His specialty has been in strategic planned giving design and in facilitating active, “hands-on”, experiential philanthropy. Over the last two decades, he has counseled hundreds of families in area of perpetuating their own legacy.
As Chief Engagement Officer for MoreThanMoney360, Alan is now working with financial advisors and legacy consultants around the country empowering them with the language, tools and techniques necessary to integrate and enhance the non-financial aspects of a family’s wealth and legacy.
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About Ryan Zeeb
Ryan has consulted with families, individuals, and professionals around the world for over fifteen years. He has experience in wealth transfer, risk management, financial and estate planning, heir preparation, and investment management. His previous clients include entrepreneurs, family businesses, professional athletes, beneficiaries, and executives.
He also speaks and consults on Heritage Planning, Building Professional Collaborative Teams, Practice Development, Business Growth, and Exit Strategies. As President of The Heritage Institute, Ryan helped position them as the leader in the wealth consulting and wealth transfer industry, and he led the development of the Heritage Design professional designation.
As a MTM Navigator, Ryan is a valuable resource for the rising generations within the families. As a second generation practitioner with his father, Rod, he understands the unique dynamics that exist when discussions commence around wealth transfer. His experience is far beyond his years.
Ryan graduated with his B.A. in Business Administration from Taylor University, where he played baseball and later served as an Assistant Baseball Coach. He enjoys spending time with his three children, outdoor activities and is active in his local church.
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About Steve Legler
Steve Legler is a Family Legacy Advisor in Montreal, Canada. He grew up in a business family, destined to take over the company his father had founded before he was born.
After an unexpected liquidity event that occurred while he was still in his 20’s, he ended up managing their family office instead. He also married into a business family, where he’s witnessed a number of other complex issues.
Early in Steve’s Family Office experience, he was managing financial assets owned by his family, so he obtained the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 2002. In 2013 he stumbled upon the Family Enterprise Advisor (FEA) program in Canada, which turned into a career-changing calling for him. Since then, he’s been working with other business families as they face the challenges surrounding their intergenerational transitions. To do this, he launched himself into new areas of training, on the “softer side” of things, in the “family circle”. This included Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), and the Third Party Neutral (TPN) certificate from the Canadian Institute for Conflict Resolution (CICR).
Courses from the Coach Training Institute (CTI) eventually lead to his Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC) designation in 2019.
Family Systems Theory was also part of Steve’s training, including two years in the postgraduate program at the Bowen Center at Georgetown, studying Bowen Family Systems Theory (BFST), resulting in Steve’s second book.
He works with family clients as a facilitator and a mediator. He also does individual coaching with family members and loves to coach sibling groups. He recognizes how complex the world of family wealth transitions can be.
He’s the author of SHIFT your Family Business (2014) and Interdependent Wealth: How Family Systems Theory Illuminates Successful Intergenerational Wealth Transitions (2019)
Steve loves working with families who realize that with great wealth comes great responsibility, and that means being proactive and intentional. Engaging an objective outside expert also goes a long way to any family staying on track and achieving its goals.
Once a family has begun their MTM work, they’re well on their way to success, and he’s passionate about being a valuable resource to these families as they progress through the various steps together.
He’s active in many associations for professionals who work with families; a member of the FEA Council of the Family Enterprise eXchange (FEX); a member of the Wisdom Expedition of the Purposeful Planning Institute (PPI); and a member of the faculty of the Family Firm Institute (FFI) global education network (GEN) program.
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About Lori Coonen
Lori has been working together with families for over 25 years. She enjoys serving individuals and families who desire to keep their families strong and in harmony. With MTM360, Lori helps connect generations, enhance communication within the family, develop leadership skills, and identify the family’s common purposes and values. This builds a solid foundation for creating systematic traditions for successful family wealth transitions.
Lori is the co-author of the book, unPrepared: Heirs at Risk along with several white papers including: The 3rd Component of Successful Multi-Generational Planning, Building Resilience in Your Children & Grandchildren, and Thriving Families.
Devoted to continuing to develop her skills to best serve her clients, she received her Heritage Design Professional certification through The Heritage Institute, along with completing the Facilitating Effective Communication & Dynamics Program. And most recently, she is enjoying the study of Bowen Systems Theory.
In her free time, Lori enjoys playing sports, reading, watching her favorite NFL team – the Green Bay Packers, driving and riding Harley Davidson. Lori is involved in her church and several other community and national organizations.
Lori loves working with families, and it makes her heart smile seeing them thrive when going from good to GREAT and achieving what they set out to do together!
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About Rodney Zeeb
Rod has over three decades of experience in estate planning, charitable planning, and multi-generational heritage design and is recognized internationally for his speaking and contributions to the field of multi-generational planning and design.
Rod is the Co-Founder and CEO of The Heritage Institute, and co-developer of The Heritage Process™. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from Willamette College of Law in 1986, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Willamette Law Review and is the author or co-author of several books including Beating the Midas Curse, the novel What Matters, and Family Stewardship: Biblical Wisdom to Help Your Family Thrive for Generations.
Based on his multi-generational research, Rod crafted “The Elements of Heritage Design: Sustaining Family Wealth & Unity Across Generations” and “Guidelines for Effective Family Governance.” His Heritage Institute has trained over 2,000 professionals how to help their client’s families create an interdependent culture and prepare each generation for the inheritances they will receive. Although training professionals to help their client families helps more families than Rod could help on his own, his passion has always been working directly with families. As a result, Rod continues to work directly with families with MTM360℠.
Rod has spoken on family heritage/legacy topics nationally and internationally at professional and public events and conferences. He has been quoted in numerous financial publications including The Wall Street Journal, The Christian Science Monitor, Dow Jones News, Macleans Magazine (including international editions), Financial Advisor Magazine, and many other print and online publications.
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About Ella Chase Hyland
Ella Chase Hyland is the co-founder of Wellth Works, which cultivates and develops authentic feminine leaders, showing women that they create success while integrating balance and fun. Ella is a dynamic and innovative speaker, facilitator, and mentor. She is a recognized authority on the psychology of leadership, negotiations, and organizational turnaround.
Before launching Wellth Works, Ella spent a decade in sales consulting Fortune 200 companies and private enterprises on disaster recovery and business continuity strategy via emerging technology platforms (think about the “cloud” before it was commonplace), closing over $1 Billion in sales.
Ella is a certified CTI professional coach, and is a Northeastern University alumnus, having graduated summa cum laude with dual bachelor’s degrees. You can find Ella traveling the globe, exploring new cultures and adventures, especially those that involve being in, or on, water.
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About Michelle Langdon
Michelle Langdon is the co-founder of Wellth Works – a leading provider of coaching and consulting supporting female leaders to grow their confidence, executive presence, and communication skills to help launch a world where women are equally represented.
She is a trained professional coach, international economist, and a former advisor to governments around the world. She comes from a big, entrepreneurial family and is passionate about bridging the generational divide and empowering women in businesses.
Michelle holds a Bachelor’s degree from Boston University and a Master’s in International Economics and Development from Johns Hopkins University. You can find Michelle teaching and practicing yoga, traveling, and stepping out of her comfort zone in her spare time.
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About Steve Alms
Steve Alms has years of experience in the financial industry. He managed a specialty finance company that develops, implements, and manages collateral loan portfolios and equity ownership in sole-purpose LLCs formed as part of an overall financing structure for an Index Universal Life policy.
Steve has also served as the managing director of a single-family office enterprise that developed, implemented, and managed the family’s investments. Projects included infrastructure loans for Government contracts in Mexico, coal-operated power plants in Texas, oil and gas assets in Texas, and numerous private operating businesses.
He also served as the managing director for a multi-family office practice. He developed strategic initiatives and goals, managed projects, and oversaw the balance sheet of multiple families through strategic partnerships with industry-leading organizations and experts. Steve has been a Baltimore, MD, resident for 58 years and is married with seven children. He received his undergraduate, law, and business (MBA) degrees from the University of Baltimore.
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About Mary Ann Grisham
Mary Ann is a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach who is passionately committed to helping others tap into their potential. Whether partnering with executives and managers, enabling them to get the most out of their team’s talents, working with individuals helping them discover their strength potential, or helping a family discover the beauty of their differences, her enthusiasm and passion for strengths brings energy and new perspective to every situation. The ultimate product is building a transformative culture of honor, productivity and growth.
As a MTM Navigator, she regularly contributes to the coaching community by conducting individual coaching sessions and family forums. By living from a “strengths perspective,” a person can be more effective and productive in not only their family but in all walks of life.
Deeply touched by the difference a “strengths perspective” made in her own life, the life of her family and her community, she devoted herself to making a difference in the world through Gallup Strengths Finder coaching.
Her dominant themes: Strategic, Woo, Communication, Activator, Positivity, Input, Includer, Significance and Futuristic.
Mary Ann understands the true meaning of “active philanthropy” as she and her whole family have been working with orphans through community development.
She is a resident of Oklahoma, but through our “FAMtec” program is available “virtually” anywhere in the world.
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About Michael Webster
Michael was born in Brooklyn, New York to a Jamaican father and a Polish Jewish Mother. Growing up in such a multicultural environment allowed Michael to grow up as a naturally curious individual. Seeking to understand those around him, their own unique backgrounds, and how those factors impact who they are today.
He graduated with his BA in Mathematics with a minor in Philosophy. A seemingly disparate pairing that in reality fits very well together. Michael then completed his Masters of Science in Education at The University of Pennsylvania where he learned more deeply how to ask more profound and informational questions.
Professionally, Michael began his career in a 9-12th grade boarding school where he was a Mathematics teacher, a coach, a dorm parent, an advisor, surrogate parent and many more unofficially tasked titles. Interacting with students from across the country and around the globe helped continue to fuel the fire of Michael’s curiosity.
That desire to understand others and the world around him led Michael to accept a teaching position in the Dominican Republic. During the height of the Covid-19 Pandemic, Michael accepted a job resulting in moving his family of four to an entirely different country.
Michael’s desire to learn, grow, and ask questions makes him uniquely qualified to work with you and your family. By seeking to understand rather than be understood allows Michael to be a positive guide towards a potentially challenging process. He is ecstatic to help you and your family on this journey and grow in the process as well.
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About Veronica Yepez
Originally from Mexico City, Veronica has lived, studied and worked around the world in places such as Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Guatemala, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, the Netherlands and the U.S. Her exposure to these different lands and cultures expanded her perspective and developed her thirst for knowledge – that only few possess.
Veronica’s education includes a JD from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM) an MBA (International Business) from Thunderbird School of International Management and has a certification as a Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP).
For nearly 20 years, Veronica has worked with individuals in both a legal and a financial capacity. Throughout this journey, she has become an expert on the needs of ultra-high net worth families and is able to share their unique perspective – but more importantly she learned how the power of the family’s story can inspire its members.
As a MTM Navigator, Veronica has a gift for taking the passions and purposes of a family and providing them with the perspective necessary to inspire action and preserve their “total” wealth. Veronica has a unique ability to learn and understand all the elements of a situation and put them together so that others can easily understand the big picture. Her passion is to protect the family’s interests and support them in navigating the challenges inherent to succession, ownership change, wealth accumulation and its management.
Veronica is co-founder of the World Wide Women’s Council (W3) whose purpose is to serve female inheritors on the rise of seeking solution driven dialogue to address personal and professional issues under the unique lens of the responsibilities and impact resulting from family wealth.
Veronica lives and works with a simple philosophy of “Work. Play. Do Good.” This is embodied through a dedication to exceeding expectations, experiencing the world with openness and eagerness, and empowering others for the greater good of the community. She lives in San Diego with her husband and sons.
