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CEO, Chief Strategist

Wendy Whitehurst

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.​”

Our Founder

As the Founder and Chief Strategist of Next Level Advisor, Wendy brings nearly three decades of experience in marketing and business growth.

A seasoned professional, she has worked with national financial services companies like AAA, Aetna, AMEX, Discover Card, GM MasterCard, Raymond James Financial, and LPL Financial, with 25+ years as a marketing consultant through her firm. Since 2007, after serving as the Independent Publisher of Business Leader Magazine, she developed a niche working with wealth management firms and their centers of influence.

Wendy was VP of Advisor Solutions with a fast-growing RIA and was instrumental in their growth from inception in 2014 to late 2017. In less than 3 years, 51 IARs joined the RIA, 38 firms, and AUM soared from $0 in 2014 to over $1.25 billion as of Q417. She has worked with more than 100 advisors and more than 75 firms to help launch their business.

In early 2019, Wendy collaborated with LPL Financial to help launch their Strategic Wealth Services division in April 2020. She had a vital role with Strategic Wealth Services (SWS) in building the marketing infrastructure needed for incoming advisors that leave the employee or wirehouse model to form their firm with LPL’s elite SWS division.

Once LPL SWS was up and running, Wendy pivoted to Asset Management and contracted as the first marketing executive for Adhesion Wealth Advisor Solutions—an award-winning Unified Managed Account platform. Adhesion was purchased by AssetMark, the largest TAMP in the US, in late 2022. Wendy currently consults with Adhesion and AssetMark.

Wendy is a native of Charlotte, NC, and received a BA in Economics from UNC Chapel Hill and an MBA from Queens University in Charlotte. She was named one of Mecklenburg County’s 50 Most Influential Women in 2012 and 2018. In 2013, her company received an award for Small Businesses Making a Difference in the Community.

She has been involved with charitable events, including the Curry Celebrity Golf Classic launch with Dell and Stephen Curry, benefitting the Ada Jenkins Center, Save A Life Golf Classic benefitting LifeShare and over a decade as the co-chair of the Wine Spectacular benefitting the Lake Norman Community Clinic, JDRF and the Hope House. Wendy had her own fundraising organization, Not Just Shopping, for eight years.

Wendy is passionate about connecting people and helping them realize their dreams—always finding the silver lining. Her two daughters and two granddaughters make the world go round. When not visiting with family, she enjoys tennis, running – well, let’s be honest – walk-running and is dipping her toe into pickleball. She loves trying new restaurants and enjoying live music.

What Our Clients Have to Say

Client Testimonials

"Wendy is not only a pleasure to work with, but she is also very thorough and results driven. From having an eye for how to put the right furniture in the right places to helping us trademark a logo, and everything in between, she helped to make our transition to LPL a successful one. She was a tremendous asset to us on so many fronts and we are very thankful everything that she has done."
Michael K. Ashworth
Managing Director, Ashworth Financial Group
"The research and effort you put into helping us come up with an identifiable name for our market will be invaluable as we continue to brand our image. Obviously, your work didn’t stop there. We are very pleased with the branding of our logo, stationery design and web site creation. The initial feedback from clients we are bring into our new firm has been enormously positive. Thank you for hard work, dedication and being a part of our team."
Tad M. Wilson
Managing Partner, North Bend Wealth Management
"Wendy is a proven leader in assisting advisors, business owners and entrepreneurs in crafting and execution of enterprise marketing strategy. She has a deep understanding of what it takes to build out a firms brand design, organizational value and ultimately drive visibility to the business. I have the benefit of working with Wendy and have experienced her consultative approach first hand. She does great work!"
Scott Smith
VP, Strategic Business Development, LPL Financial
“Working with Wendy was a pleasure. When dealing with all the things necessary to start your own business, it is hard to juggle all the different tasks. Wendy was creative and supportive in weaving in the branding and marketing piece so that when it was time to pull the curtain back we were ready on day one.”
Anthony Frigoletto
Managing Partner, River’s Edge Wealth Partners
"Wendy has been a stellar part of the marketing team here at JHG Financial! She's not only easy to work with but if given a task or event it will get done flawlessly. She has gone above and beyond in assisting me outside of regular hours on more than one occasion and I can't say enough of how much we've benefited from her expertise and help. Thanks Wendy you are the BEST!"
Judson Gee
Founder, Managing Partner
"Wendy is a tireless leader and in my years of PR it is rare to come across a marketing consultant who is so passionate and committed to see the success of her client, as well as innovative in ideas and always pushing forward. I highly recommend Wendy, not only is she a talented professional she is a pleasure to work with."
Amy Cunha
Big Picture PR