Beyond the Balance

This month, we're talking to a Raleigh native who turned a basketball career cut short into a 13-year run leading one of the area's top consulting and staffing offices. Josh Haymond is a CPA, a former Millbrook High School and Elon basketball player, the leader of Vaco's Raleigh office, and the founder of Beyond Basketball, a nonprofit that prepares young players for life after the game.

Host Ralston Turner sits down with Josh to talk about growing up in North Raleigh with a basketball always in his hands, and how injuries ended his playing days after his freshman year of college. Josh opens up about how hard that transition was, and how accounting, a CPA license and early years at KPMG and PwC gave him a new path. He also shares what that path taught him about leadership, from giving clear, honest feedback to knowing when to step back and let his team grow.

They also get into how Josh set firm boundaries at work once he became a dad, why he started Beyond Basketball in 2020, and how a Sunday pickup game with his son got him back on the court in a 35-and-up league. Because Beyond the Balance isn't just about the numbers.

Topics covered:

• Growing up in Raleigh and finding identity through basketball
• The hard, rarely discussed transition when your playing days end
• From KPMG and PwC to 13 years at Vaco and a billion-dollar firm
• Leading without micromanaging, and why clear feedback beats surprises
• Setting boundaries as a parent and being intentional with your time
• Beyond Basketball and preparing young athletes for life after the game

TradeWinds LLC is an investment advisor registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. The information presented is general in nature and is not designed to address your investment objectives, financial situation, or particular needs. Prior to making any investment decision, you should assess or seek advice from a professional regarding whether any particular transaction is relevant or appropriate to your individual circumstances. Although taken from reliable sources, TradeWinds cannot guarantee the accuracy of information received from third parties. The opinions expressed are those of TradeWinds and may not come to pass.

This month, we're talking to a guest who's helped families collectively earn more than $80 million in scholarships and get thousands of students into some of the most selective schools in the country. Shellee Howard is the founder and CEO of CollegeReady, a 2026 Global Educational Consultant of the Year, a two-time bestselling author, and host of the podcast Parents, Is Your Teen College Ready?

Host Mike Manganillo sits down with Shellee, a serial entrepreneur who started her first business at 12 and has since built seven of them, to talk through how a scramble to help her own eighth-grader turned into a 19-year company, why the "cheaper in-state school" belief most families hold is actually a myth, and what colleges are really looking for beyond grades and test scores. Shellee shares the three questions that matter more than any extracurricular checklist, how AI is already reshaping which college majors — and careers — will exist by the time today's students graduate, and why she built a nonprofit mentoring teenagers to find clarity long before senior year.

They also get into how AI is showing up inside the admissions process itself — watermarked essays, new "AI majors," and what College Ready 2.0 looks like as Shellee builds tools to give students that clarity years earlier than they'd otherwise get it. Because Beyond the Balance isn't just about the numbers.

Topics covered:
-Building seven businesses, starting with one at age 12
-The expensive myth behind "cheaper" in-state schools
-What colleges actually look for beyond grades and test scores
-How AI is reshaping college majors, careers, and the admissions process
-Helping students find clarity earlier with "See Your Future Now"

TradeWinds LLC is an investment advisor registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. The information presented is general in nature and is not designed to address your investment objectives, financial situation, or particular needs. Prior to making any investment decision, you should assess or seek advice from a professional regarding whether any particular transaction is relevant or appropriate to your individual circumstances. Although taken from reliable sources, TradeWinds cannot guarantee the accuracy of information received from third parties. The opinions expressed are those of TradeWinds and may not come to pass.

Learn more from Shellee:
-Free 30-minute clarity call: collegereadyplan.info
-Books: How to Send Your Student to College Without Losing Your Mind or Your Money and The College Admissions Plan Simplified (on Amazon)
-Student Aid Index calculator: collegereadyplan.com

This month, we're talking to a guest who's built not one but two businesses before turning 25 and figured out how to make them work together. Mary Esposito is the founder of Purple Pear, a crochet brand she started as a teenager, and the creator of Money with Mary, a personal finance platform built around bringing more young women into investing and money conversations.

Host Mike Manganillo sits down with Mary, a recent UNC Chapel Hill grad, to talk through how she turned a childhood hobby into a full-time business, why she opened a custodial investment account as a teenager, and what it actually looks like to run two brands — and two revenue models — at once. Mary shares the moment she realized there weren't enough people like her in the personal finance space, the investing move she's most proud of (an early bet on Nvidia), and a crypto lesson that cost her real money.

They also get into the economics of being a content creator — brand deals, affiliate revenue, and why YouTube pays differently than Instagram — plus what's next for Mary as she goes full-time on both brands and heads to Bali for a stretch of remote work. Because Beyond the Balance isn't just about the numbers.

Topics covered:
-Turning a teenage hobby into two businesses
-Opening a custodial investment account as a minor
-Early investing lessons (and a crypto mistake)
-How creators actually monetize across platforms
-Closing the financial literacy gap for young women

TradeWinds LLC is an investment advisor registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. The information presented is general in nature and is not designed to address your investment objectives, financial situation, or particular needs. Prior to making any investment decision, you should assess or seek advice from a professional regarding whether any particular transaction is relevant or appropriate to your individual circumstances. Although taken from reliable sources, TradeWinds cannot guarantee the accuracy of information received from third parties. The opinions expressed are those of TradeWinds and may not come to pass.

Follow Mary:

-LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryevaesposito/

-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@moneywithmary1

-Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moneywithmary1/

This month's theme is back to school, so we flipped the script and put a high schooler in the guest chair. Jack Adkins just wrapped up his summer internship at TradeWinds, and before that, he was figuring out money the same way most students do: mostly on his own.

Host Mike Manganillo sits down with Jack, an incoming senior at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh, to talk through how a teenager actually thinks about budgeting, saving, and the financial decisions ahead. Jack shares how he opened a Roth IRA at 16, why he'd call himself more of a spender than a saver (but is working on it), the one impulse golf-club purchase he regrets, and what a summer of building AI-powered financial tools with Claude taught him about the industry's future.

They also get into golf, travel plans, and Jack's goal of breaking 30 on nine holes because Beyond the Balance isn't just about the numbers.

Topics covered:

-Starting a Roth IRA in high school

-Budgeting on a teenager's paycheck

-Using AI tools for real financial projects,

-What schools do (and don't) teach about money

-Why starting early is the biggest advantage anyone can have.

TradeWinds LLC is an investment advisor registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. The information presented is general in nature and is not designed to address your investment objectives, financial situation, or particular needs. Prior to making any investment decision, you should assess or seek advice from a professional regarding whether any particular transaction is relevant or appropriate to your individual circumstances. Although taken from reliable sources, TradeWinds cannot guarantee the accuracy of information received from third parties. The opinions expressed are those of TradeWinds and may not come to pass.

In this episode of Beyond the Balance, Mike Manganillo sits down with Tim Whitney, founder and CEO of TradeWinds to explore what it really takes to bet everything on independence.

Tim shares his path from junior advisor working under his father and mentor to founder of his own firm, the slow burn of frustrations that led him to leave a major wirehouse, the risk he and his wife Kate took on together, and the "build the plane as you're flying it" mentality that got TradeWinds off the ground.

They discuss what he learned watching two very different leadership styles collide, the humbling process of putting a real team structure behind a growing business, and why he believes wealth has nothing to do with looking successful.

From Moneyball-obsessed finance student to NC State's Assistant General Manager, Patrick Stacy's path into college basketball is anything but traditional. In this episode of Beyond the Balance, host Ralston Turner sits down with Patrick, a 40 Under 40 honoree in college basketball, to trace the journey from building baseball models in his Loyola dorm room to running roster analytics for the Wolfpack.

Patrick opens up about starting Jam Basketball as a college student, landing a cold-email breakthrough with Kansas during COVID, and the six factors he uses to evaluate talent and build championship-caliber rosters in the transfer portal era. The conversation digs into usage rates, revenue share and NIL, what parents should actually be asking during recruiting, and why analytics is a tool for decision-making, not a replacement for feel and intuition.

The episode closes on a personal note: Patrick on fatherhood, becoming a girl dad, and how having his daughter reshaped his "why."

Topics covered:

• From baseball analytics to a Final Four run at Loyola Chicago
• Building Jam Basketball and landing D1 clients during COVID
• The six factors behind building a championship roster
• Usage rates, NIL, and evaluating talent versus fit
• What parents should ask during the recruiting process
• Fatherhood, balance, and becoming a girl dad

Beyond the Balance is brought to you by TradeWinds.

What does it take to walk away from a CEO title and leap into something entirely different? In this episode of Beyond the Balance, host Mike Manganillo sits down with Abha Bowers: 20-year marketing veteran, former CEO of Walk West, certified nutrition coach and personal trainer, and now Head of Strategic Partnerships at CED (Council for Entrepreneurial Development) in the Triangle.

Abha's story is one of intentional reinvention — from Rochester to Raleigh, from rejected job applicant to corner office, from corporate leader to wellness coach running a literal double life. She talks candidly about building a career around her "Four Fs" (Family, Food, Fitness & Fun), the courage it took to bet on herself, and the one question that changed everything: What if I just asked?

The conversation covers leading through COVID's chaos, the power of the Triangle's startup ecosystem, why the black-and-white thinking about careers is officially dead, and what it means to finally say "I don't know what's next" — and be totally at peace with it.

Tim Humphrey went from 200 rejection letters and a $13.50/hr IBM co-op to Chief Analytics Officer and then walked away from it all to become a Provost at Wake Tech. In this episode, the NC State alum and 30-year tech veteran joins host Ralston Turner to talk leadership through crisis, the real relationship between data and human intuition, and what it feels like to finally trade a career for a calling.

What does it take to walk away from your dream job and discover a better one on the other side?

In this episode of Beyond the Balance, host Ralston sits down with Marc Campbell, a former UNC Tar Heel and national champion, professional player overseas, longtime NBA shooting coach, and now a rising Raleigh real estate agent for a candid conversation about identity, reinvention, and the kind of balance that only shows up after you get your priorities straight.

Marc opens up about:

• Growing up in Raleigh and playing for legends Kevin Billerman at Ravenscroft and Roy Williams at UNC
• Winning a national championship and what "sacrifice for the team" actually looks like at the highest level
• Playing pro basketball overseas in Estonia and beyond
• Nearly a decade coaching NBA shooters and the moment his wife asked the question that changed everything: "Do you want your dream job or a chance at our dream life?"
• The hardest part of pivoting from elite athlete to new-career rookie and the mentor advice that unlocked it
• Why fatherhood made him a better operator, not a busier one
• His real, no-fluff take on whether work-life balance actually exists
• Practical advice for buyers and sellers heading into summer's home-buying season

Whether you're an athlete navigating life after the game, a parent rethinking your priorities, or anyone facing a major career pivot, Marc's story is a masterclass in compounding small wins, sacrificing ego, and building a life that's bigger than you.

Host Mike Manganillo welcomes Bill Coppel, Chief Client Growth Officer at Trade PMR, for a candid conversation about what really drives meaningful growth in wealth management.

With over three decades in the industry and a background as a former nationally ranked triathlete, Bill shares why most firms get growth wrong, how AI is reshaping the role of the human advisor, and his philosophy that advisors should help clients curate wellbeing across three dimensions: financial resources, wellness, and human connection.

He also opens up about the personal experiences including losing both parents to cancer , that shaped his belief in living an optimal life. A thoughtful discussion on growth, resilience, and the human side of advice.