Navigators of Change.
Igniters of Inspiration.
Agents of Progress.

Gary Shamis

Chief Executive Officer

Gary Shamis assumed responsibility for his father’s accounting firm in 1981. Over the thirty-five years that followed, he took revenues from $225,000 to approaching $100 million and employees from a dozen to 600. He built the 37th largest independent accounting and consulting firm in the nation, before combining SS&G, Inc. with BDO USA, LLP in 2014.

Today, as principal of Winding River Consulting, a business advisory services company, Gary is a highly sought after speaker, facilitator, and consultant.

In its inaugural list of Managing Partner Elite in Accounting in 2012, Accounting Today identified Shamis as one of only ten people recognized for qualities required of a person in a firm’s leadership role.

He is the “very model of the modern managing partner, and this list is more or less unimaginable without him,” it stated, adding “he invented, codified, or popularized most of the strategies and best practices that are now taken for granted.”

David M. Toth

Chief Growth Officer

David Toth is a distinguished consultant recognized for his strategic expertise in fostering growth and enhancing practice management within the accounting and advisory sectors. With almost two decades of leadership experience, he has become a vital strategic partner to numerous firms, specializing in digital transformation and strategic growth, leadership development, management consulting and strategic facilitation.

Recognized as one of the youngest and most forward-thinking advisors to managing partners and niche/office/practice leaders, David has earned a reputation for being a candid, dynamic strategist. His ability to bridge the gap between the broader business world and the accounting profession has led to the creation of impactful programs that set firms apart from the competition.

In his pivotal role with Winding River Consulting’s premier program, MPB | Leadership Accelerated, David enhances communication and collaboration among firm leadership, partners, and growth teams, ensuring alignment and fostering an environment conducive to shared success. Furthermore, he is the founder of the Digital Deep Dive Summit, an influential annual seminar that has successfully convened leaders from over 50 firms in the past three years to advance digital strategy through robust peer-to-peer engagement.

David’s contributions to the field have earned him numerous accolades, including being named one of CPA Practice Advisor's '20 under 40 Top Influencers' in 2022 and a 'Notable Leader in Accounting & Consulting' in 2023 by Crain's Cleveland Business.

Brandon Ferris

Director of Marketing & Events

Meet Brandon Ferris – an accomplished digital marketing leader who leaves no stone unturned when it comes to filling the growth pipeline and delighting prospects throughout their customer journey.

Brandon got his start as a jack-of-all-trades marketer working for the Top 100 Firm* Skoda Minotti, supporting its growth up to and through its acquisition by Marcum LLP. At Marcum, he redefined digital strategy, helped harness the power of CX throughout the firm, and crafted revenue-generating strategic plans for a variety of industry verticals. In his tenure, he developed deep marketing experience in the areas of real estate, construction, exit planning, transaction advisory, insurance, wealth management, valuation, litigation, emerging companies, and life sciences accounting.

At Winding River, Brandon specializes in growing regional and national-enterprise firms. Driven by his passion for creating positive customer experiences (CX) with results at their core, Brandon meticulously curates every touchpoint, ensuring that each step, from the initial interaction to the final conversion, is seamless and impactful for targeted audiences. Working closely with high-growth firms and thriving on collaboration, he leverages his expertise to help firms make the biggest impact with their marketing dollars, while effectively connecting inbound efforts to revenue generation. Brandon's expertise lies in developing tailor-made inbound strategies and brand experiences that leave a lasting impact on clients for accounting firms of all shapes and sizes.

Brandon firmly believes that the pursuit of excellence, coupled with a results-oriented, people-first approach to digital marketing, is the force behind firm success, propelling businesses forward into a future filled with boundless opportunities.

Nicole Shirey

Operations Administrator

Nicole Shirey plays a pivotal role in managing a wide array of responsibilities at Winding River Consulting. She oversees the day-to-day operations of the office, ensuring smooth workflow and efficient resource management. She leverages her diverse experience to enhance organizational effectiveness in supporting the executive team. Nicole assists with the company's social media marketing efforts and enhances the company's online presence to ensure effective engagement with clients and stakeholders.

She oversees client relations, communication, and service. With many projects and events, Nicole is responsible for coordination, promotion, and management, as well as related schedules and budgets. She supervises internal protocols assuring consistency, functionality, and accuracy, maintaining uniformity in our complex, multi-layered structure.

Nicole’s dedication to both personal and professional growth is reflected in her proactive approach to problem-solving and continuous improvement initiatives within the organization. Her focus is team-based, promoting innovative ideas, fostering culture, improving outcomes, and ensuring the collaboration and communication that are so critical to our successes.

Nicole enjoys quality time with her husband and children and maintains a deep-rooted passion for researching local history and family ancestry.

Scott J. Allen, Ph.D.

Leadership Management Consultant

Scott J. Allen, Ph.D., is an award-winning educator passionate about working with people at all levels and across industries. He serves as an instructor in SMU’s Cox School of Business Executive Education and spent more than 18 years as a professor of management. His areas of expertise include leader development, the future of work, and executive communication.

Scott has published more than 60 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. He’s the co-author of several books, including The Little Book of Leadership Development: 50 Ways to Bring Out the Leader in Every Employee; Emotionally Intelligent Leadership: A Guide for College Students; Discovering Leadership: Designing Your Success; and Captovation: Online Presentations by Design. Scott hosts Phronesis: Practical Wisdom for Leaders, ranked among the world's top 2.5% of podcasts. Along with the podcast, he publishes a weekly newsletter.

Scott frequently serves as a keynote speaker. In addition, he consults, facilitates workshops, and leads retreats across industries. Recent engagements include Catholic Charities, Cleveland Leadership Center, Key Bank, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Progressive, Nestle, EY, Siegfried Group, GGI Global Alliance, Family Office Exchange, Dallas Area Rapid Transit, Sherwin Williams, Whiting-Turner, Vocon, Toyota Motor North America, Lexus, Gee Automotive, Crestron, NASA-Glenn, Elbit America, Oatey, Lubrizol, Enbridge (Dominion), Endeavor Energy Resources, TransAlta, Endeavor Energy Resources FedEx Custom Critical, Thompson Hine LLP, Nordson, MetroHealth, and Cleveland Clinic.

Scott served on the board of the International Leadership Association, Association of Leadership Educators, and Management and Organizational Behavior Teaching Society. He was named an ILA Fellow by the International Leadership Association in 2021.

Teri Schaffer, CPA

Leadership Consultant & Executive Coach

Teri Schaffer knows that a title doesn’t make a person a leader. And she understands why. While the profession is quick to promote people into leadership roles, accountants don’t always receive the mentoring, information, and education they require to lead with confidence and impact. 

With more than three decades of public accounting experience, she has an innate understanding of the importance of professional and leadership development and has made it a priority in her career. She is committed to evolving professionals into the best versions of themselves by amplifying the importance of managing professionals as individuals, not as a collective. Yet she also recognizes how critical it is to balance both partner and team development.

Teri was most recently the Assurance Office Managing Partner for the Northeast Ohio offices of BDO for five years, and 20 years with SS&G/BDO USA, LLP, one of the nation’s leading professional services firms. Before that, she spent almost a decade at a Big 4, where she led her firm’s healthcare industry expansion team; several years as the controller of a $400 million managed care organization, including operational oversight and budget management.

She is recognized for having improved practice performance, both during and after the pandemic, through a combination of intentional staff development, client retention, and recognition of the quality and value of services produced and delivered by her team.

Miami University, B.S. Business, Accounting

Alex Drost

Growth Consultant

Alex Drost is a growth-minded consultant with a proven track record of success in driving innovation, leading strategic initiatives, and championing tactical execution. He has nearly two decades of entrepreneurial experience and continually demonstrates his ability to navigate dynamic business environments. He is adept at managing complex projects, simplifying core objectives, and motivating teams to achieve their best work.

Beginning his career in financial services, Alex most recently served as Vice President of Middle-Market Investment Banking with Cascade Partners. With 10+ years of M&A and private capital markets experience, he has successfully led capital raise, buy-side, and sell-side transactions in various industries, including consumer-facing healthcare, multi-site retail, manufacturing, and professional services.

As the Managing Principal of Connection Builders, Alex consults with middle-market advisory services firms on setting and attaining strategic initiatives to unlock growth potential and maximize value creation opportunities. His work includes strategic planning, retreat facilitation, and growth enablement services.

As a recognized middle-market expert, Alex has served as a Board Member and Strategic Advisor for the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) and an Executive Committee Member for the Great Lakes Capital Connection (GLCC). He is also an Association for Accounting Marketing (AAM) Business Development Advisory Board member.

Alex earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Northwood University, concentrating in accounting and finance. He also holds an M.S.F. from Walsh College, with an emphasis on corporate finance, and is a registered CPA in the State of Michigan.

Ilana Isakov Katz

Marketing Strategist

As a marketing strategist, Ilana Isakov Katz relishes the opportunity to combine the art and science of marketing to create integrated marketing communications solutions. Drawing on her experience with Fortune 500 company clients, Ilana designs, implements, and measures performance-driven and results-oriented plans and programs to support dynamic objectives.

She is an award-winning marketing communications professional with extensive involvement in marketing, branding, and advertising. Ilana develops creative and design direction for successful corporate identity and brand building campaigns. She is a speechwriter, ghostwriter, business writer, and copywriter. She is an ardent follower of AP Style standards and an Oxford comma enthusiast.

With comprehensive experience in community, employee, media, and public relations, she has worked alongside CEOs to compose messaging platforms and content that support corporate positioning. Ilana has served as national media spokesperson for purposes of general corporate representation and in times of crisis.

Ilana spent more than a decade as director of marketing for SS&G, Inc. (now BDO) where she oversaw the advertising, PR, website and social media, and events, as well as business development engagement and client service delivery.

• BA, Advertising and Public Relations, Simmons College
• MBA, Global Marketing, John Carroll University
• Accredited in Public Relations, Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)
• Certificate in Reputation Management, PRSA

Trisha Daho

Culture and DEI Consultant

With a law degree from Case Western Reserve University and a business degree from Miami University, Trisha brings practical results-driven insights as well as leadership acumen. She regularly writes and speaks on a variety of topics, including authenticity in leadership, high impact teams, creating growth cultures, diversity and inclusion, and many more.

Trisha is married to a Frenchman named Bachir, whom she met while on vacation in Paris. They plan to travel the world together as soon as he is permanently stateside. In her spare time, Trisha fosters Labrador Retrievers, travels to faraway places, and watches lots of foreign films.

Matt Terlop

MPB Trainer

• BA, Communications, John Carroll University
• Former Member, U.S. Martial Arts Team
• United States Federal Law Enforcement Academy (FLETC)
• Certified, International Sports Science Association (ISSA)

Joy Youell

Content Marketing, AI & SEO Consultant

Joy Youell is a content strategist who helps companies understand that their content is more than just words on a page: it is a powerful tool that magnetizes a brand, providing essential differentiation in crowded markets. Her academic background in philosophy and psychology equipped her with a deep understanding of human behavior. She spent many years as the Chief Editor of an education franchising company, which gave her a taste for the winning power of marketing copy and its ability to transform the trajectory of businesses of all sizes.

Joy now provides both consultation and content production services for Winding River Consulting clients. She works closely with the digital marketing team to conceive and execute on creative strategies. 

Joy is also the founder of Hire a Writer, a copywriting agency and training ground for copywriters worldwide. She is an avid student of human communication, a leading expert in on-page SEO, and a capable leader and instructor.

Bruce Hennes

Crisis Communication & PR Consultant

Bruce Hennes is chief executive officer of Hennes Communications, one of the few firms in North America focused exclusively on crisis communications and crisis management.

With a client list that includes Goodyear, NASA, Avery Dennison and Kent State University, Hennes Communications serves over 180 clients a year in virtually every market sector – including scores of government agencies, municipalities, nursing homes, nonprofits, school districts, accounting firms, law firms -- and their clients that are “on trial in the Court of Public Opinion.”

A former keynoter at LeadingEdge and American Bar Association conferences, Bruce currently serves on the executive committee of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association. In 2023, he was appointed Assistant Professor at Ohio University’s Scripps School of Communication.  Bruces also serves as an adjunct professor at Cleveland State University’s College of Urban Affairs and, for the last four years, he has served on the faculty of the Ohio State Bar Association’s Leadership Academy.

Bruce was named a “Go-To Thought Leader” by the National Law Review for columns he contributed to one of the most widely read business law websites in the U.S.  And for five consecutive years, he has been named to the Lawdragon 100 Leading Consultants and Strategists, the definitive guide to the financiers, recruiters, marketing and communication gurus on whom the legal profession relies. According to Lawdragon, "These are 100 of the most trusted advisors to the legal profession."

Ross Henderson

Head of Content Operations

Ross Henderson is a content marketing leader focused on helping firms build deeper connections with their prospective clients. With a decade of experience spanning CPG, tech, and consulting, Ross brings a rich perspective to every engagement, taking a strategic approach that helps firms articulate their unique values.

Ross provides a variety of content marketing solutions to Winding River Consulting clients, partnering closely with leaders and marketers to create winning strategies that deliver real business impacts. He helps firms define their target audience, shape their message, and tell their stories in new and compelling ways.

Ross is also Head of Operations at Hire a Writer, a boutique copywriting and consulting agency, and leads courses on SEO and other digital marketing topics. He has served in fractional marketing leadership positions at several technology companies and is passionate about creating and refining growth strategies. 

Originally hailing from Scotland, Ross holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Strathclyde and earned his master’s degree from the University of Southern California. He now resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.  

Wayne Larson

Demand Gen & RevOps Consultant