John Tripoli and Brett Smith cofounded Upstate Legacy Planning Group in 2019. Today, they are building one of the fastest growing ensemble practices in the country. John specializes in assisting families with tax-efficient, multi-generational wealth planning.

John is also the Managing Director of the three Northwestern Mutual Upstate SC offices. John and his family moved to Greenville, SC by choice in 2004, and he built his practice from the ground up in a new community. John was recognized as the “2005 New Advisor of the Year” for the Northwestern Mutual Charlotte network office and is a lifetime member of MDRT (Million Dollar Round Table) The Premier Association of Financial Professionals®.

John served as the 2018-2019 Northwestern Mutual Managing Director Association President, while simultaneously leading his office group to be the #1 District Office in Lives and New Clients in 2019. He has helped more than 120 new advisors get started in the financial industry, many of whom he personally recruited. In 2014, he won the Northwestern Mutual Foundation’s Community Service Award for Greenville’s Center for Development Services. John is a frequently requested speaker across Northwestern Mutual and industry platforms.

John is a proud Jayhawk/University of Kansas graduate with a degree in Journalism and University of Phoenix graduate where he earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA). He has earned his Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) and Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU®) designations.

Prior to working in the financial industry, John was a director of business development for a technology company in Southern CA where he assisted with their IPO and multiple acquisitions. He also worked for DuPont across multiple states in various business development roles.

John is married to his wife Kelli, and they have two children.

Associations and Memberships

• Northwestern Mutual Managing Director Association (President 2018 - 2019 and Current Member)
• Greenville Estate Planning Council (President 2017 and Current Member)
• United Way of Greenville County (Board of Directors 2017 - 2022)
• United Way of Greenville County Tocqueville Society (Chair 2016)
• American Heart Association Upstate Heart Ball (Executive Committee 2015 - 2017)
• Center for Development Services (Board Member 2012 - 2015)
• Greenville Chamber Leadership Greenville (Class #36 graduate)

Brett Smith MBA, CFP© is one of Northwestern Mutual’s experienced advisors and is a Co-Founder and Private Wealth Advisor of Upstate Legacy Planning Group. As a Business and Estate Planning Specialist, Top 50 Northwestern Mutual Fee-Based Planner, and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER ™ professional, Brett predominantly works with high-income/net-worth individuals and business owners desiring comprehensive financial planning and advisory services to grow/steward assets for themselves and/or future generations. Since 2012, Brett has been helping professionals and families realize their dreams by helping them make great decisions with their resources. In addition to his MBA and CFP©, Brett also holds his FINRA Series 7 and 66 registrations. He is the recipient of the 2016 and 2017 Million Dollar Roundtable, 2008 V-Twin Industry Leader of the Year, 2007 Powersports Business Industry Leader, and 2004 La Crosse Area Development Corporation President’s Award.

Brett is a 1994 West Point graduate and served in the XVIII ABN Corps at Fort Bragg, NC where he increased productivity by more than 80 percent and realized savings over 72 percent as the manager of a condemned building demolition program and earned recognition from Forces Command as the most efficient of all United States Army bases. He received his masters from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business MBA Program with concentrations in Finance and Strategic Management. During his time as President of his family-owned company, S&S Cycle, Brett grew the business from 40M in revenue to 90M in revenue and was an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2005. His experience regarding the challenges of owning/leading a closely-held family business prompted him to pursue this career to help others in similar situations.

Brett enjoys spending time with his wife Robin and their four children. They attend Grace Church in Anderson, SC and Brett continues to serve his alma mater as a member of the West Point society of the Upstate and as a Field Force Team Member for the United States Military Academy. He is also a member of the National Association of Insurance & Financial Advisors and the Experimental Aircraft Association. He and his family are avid supporters of Greenville Drive baseball, and the Clemson Tigers and West Point athletic teams.

Originally from Chicago, Illinois, Tony relocated to the Upstate of South Carolina 10 years ago. He and his wife, Courtney, have 4 children and enjoy going on trips together to the mountains and beaches nearby and watching Chicago Bears football as often as humanly possible, Bear Down.

When he's not hanging with family, he enjoys running half marathons and playing golf. In addition to building his financial planning practice, he gets to seek out and recruit top professionals to join our all-star team in the upstate of South Carolina. He also serves in a leadership role where he has the opportunity to select, mentor and train new financial representatives who are interested in the business by teaching them how to run a business, be professional, and reach for their dreams! Since joining Northwestern Mutual, he has developed a specialty working with physicians, dentists, business owners, and High Net Worth families.

Todd grew up as an Army brat which saw him live in multiple states and two foreign nations before high school.  He attended N.C. State University and double majored in Biochemistry and Chemistry with the plan of joining the military upon graduation.  The Army however had other plans, so he went to work in Environmental Engineering for the next 5 years managing large Government projects on military bases overseas.  Later, he worked at both IBM and Internet Security Systems with a Government vertical focus.

He later went to work in a family owned manufacturing business as an operations director where he was able to increase bottom line profitability by implementing Lean Manufacturing methodologies.  This was in large part due to his having earned his Six Sigma Black Belt from the Fisher College of Business at Ohio State.  Five years later, he relocated to Greenville and has been with Northwestern Mutual since 2009.

The experiences and insights gleaned from work in multiple industries has benefited his clients by the varying professional experiences he brings to the table. By helping people properly align their resources with their goals, Todd has helped countless clients develop and implement a personalized roadmap to achieving financial security.  In his free time, Todd enjoys being a husband and father and being outside as much as possible…. preferably fly fishing or on a mountain bike.