The Team
Where the Passion Begins
Chief Executive Officer
As founder and CEO of Red Rock Strategic Partners, Matt has a passion for helping advisors, teams, leaders and firms reach their greatest potential.
Matt began his career at the age of 23 consulting exclusively to the retail brokerage industry. Matt sought to help brokers, managers and teams grow their practices and add more value to clients.
In 1998, Matt joined Smith Barney and held senior level roles in professional development, business development, marketing, national sales, fee based asset management and wealth management.
Matt also served as the Director of Business Development for Regions Financial / Morgan Keegan before launching Red Rock Strategic Partners.
Matt has been quoted in industry publications such as Registered Rep and Research Magazine and has spoken at industry conferences such as the Banking, Insurance and Securities Association (BISA) and Investment Management Consultants Association (IMCA).
With more than 40 years of investment banking and brokerage experience, John Rhett provides Red Rock's clients with insight to deliver results-oriented success.
Prior to joining Red Rock, John served as the Chairman and CEO of SunTrust Investment Services. John also launched Alexander Key Investments, a subsidiary of SunTrust Capital Markets and held roles at Robinson Humphrey and Merrill Lynch.
He is a past president of the Atlanta Municipal Bond Club, and a past member and co-chairman of the Smith Barney Branch Manager Council. He also recently served on the District 7 FINRA Board of Directors. Currently, he is a guest lecturer for undergraduate and graduate studies with the Georgia Tech College of Management.
John T. Rhett, III
Chairman, Senior Managing Director
Lori Hardwick
CEO, Wealth Tech
Lori is a 25-year veteran of the wealth tech industry and known for her intense passion for continuous improvement on behalf of financial advisors and the firms that serve them.
In 2017, Lori co-founded Advisor Innovation Labs (AI Labs), where she and her colleagues build intuitive ‘systems of engagement’ between advisors and their clients, creating a more meaningful relationship, via a digital interaction layer. Prior to founding AI Labs, Lori served as Chief Operating Officer for Pershing, a BNY Mellon company, sharing leadership responsibility with the CEO for managing the Pershing family of companies. Previously, Lori was Group President of Advisory Services for Envestnet. She had been with Envestnet since its founding in 2000.
Lori has been recognized by many industry publications; “Winner in Wealthtech” by Wealth Management Today, A “Woman to Watch” by InvestmentNews, and was included in the Investment Advisor’s list of “The 25 Most Influential People in the Financial Industry”.
Lori currently serves on several boards including the corporate Board of Directors for Riskalyze, Vestwell’s Advisory Board, Ben Franklin’s Tech Partners External Review Committee in Philadelphia, MMI’s Women in Wealth Management Co-Chair and the Executive Committee for the Envestnet Institute on Campus.
Katie is a financial services leader with nearly 25 years of executive and consulting experience focused on strategic planning, customer experience, and large transformational change in banks, insurance and investment firms. She is a senior advisor to Red Rock, helping clients develop successful strategies for growth and adaptation.
She began her career at McKinsey & Company in the firm’s Financial Services Practice. Following McKinsey, Katie held SVP roles at National City Bank and led various insurance product lines at Genworth Financial. She then moved to Nationwide Insurance as Chief Strategy Officer and SVP of Property & Casualty Transformation, heading the transformation of Nationwide’s largest business unit.
Subsequently, Katie served as Managing Director and Head of Strategy in Consumer Banking for JPMorgan Chase & Co. She then served as Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Customer Experience Officer for Fifth Third Bank where she led customer experience strategy across multiple lines of business.
Katie founded CustomStrat Advisory in 2019 to help financial services companies define winning growth strategies and drive tangible change, while incorporating a customer focus.
Katie holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia, with Highest Distinction.
Katie Liebel
Senior Advisor
Chris works closely with clients to define implementation strategies that drive execution and growth in their business.
Prior to joining Red Rock, Chris spent the first 11 years of his career in a variety of roles at Hartford Annuities and Hartford Funds. He began as an internal sales rep before eventually transitioning into the role of Senior Strategic Relationship Manager.
Partner, Senior Relationship Management Executive
Since joining the Red Rock team, Jessica has played a crucial role in the continued success of the business. Her exceptional skill set, true passion and creativity helps ensure that clients' needs are being met and that each engagement is a success.
Associate
Perry L. Chesney is a Consultant with Red Rock Strategic Partners and a veteran of over 30 years in the financial services industry. Perry understands the needs and challenges facing the industry and brings insight and experience to every engagement to deliver meaningful impact.
Prior to joining Red Rock, Perry was the Senior Managing Director of Wealthcare Capital Management’s® Global Client Group and a member of its Executive Committee. He also held roles as an advisor and manager at SunTrust.
Perry Chesney
Consultant
Jeff is a Managing Director of RPO Wealth Partners. He has over 35 years of experience working in financial services industry – providing tax and financial planning advice to clients. Prior to forming RPO Wealth Partners, Jeff designed, built and led the financial planning offering for Private Bank of Fifth Third Bank NA. He also helped to design, build and lead the financial planning services for Private Bank at Wells Fargo and predecessor banks. While his primary work has been in strategy and leadership, he has always felt it important to continue to work with individual client relationships.
He is a graduate of Northern Illinois University in Accounting and he successfully passed the Certified Public Accounting exam. He is also a graduate of DePaul University College of Law. He successfully passed the Illinois Bar Exam.
Jeff is the father of four daughters. He is an avid sports fan. He enjoys walking, (after multiple knee surgeries after running several marathons), skiing and yoga.
Jeff Martin
Consultant
Dr. Kent J. Wessinger is Head of Millennial Research at Red Rock Strategic Partners and developer of one of the most comprehensive research projects on millennials in the world. Dr. Wessinger's research is securing growth and fortifying profit throughout the financial services sector.
Kent Wessinger
Head of Millennial Research