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 built his marketing expertise around a strong digital comprehension. Understanding the importance of data, he reasoned, should guide each step of the process, using informed decision making to adapt when and where necessary. Armed with the evidence, David challenges the status quo to drive results.

He is a strategic-thinker and believes the path to successful outcomes includes integrating technology with tried-and-true practices. As David sees it, when it comes to digital transformation there will always be new dots to connect. The challenge is having the discipline to make the connections that close the gap between marketing dollars and sales revenue.

David has served as an outsourced CMO, agency executive, and change agent for organizations in sectors from fast-growing start-ups to well established Fortune 500 companies. He has a knack for building meaningful relationships. David has found that while each business and industry is unique, the foundation to success is always the same — know your audience.

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.

Stephanie Schneider

Executive Office and Client Experience Manager

A lot goes on behind the scenes at Winding River Consulting. And behind it all, is Stephanie Schneider.

In addition to her responsibility for firm operations, Steph oversees all of our client communication, team organization, and event coordination, promotion, and management. With a strict project schedule, she keeps us on task, on time, and on budget. She’s at the helm of WRC corporate and event marketing management supervising our internal protocols and programs assuring consistency, functionality, and accuracy.

Stephanie is at the hub of our many seminars and conferences, notably MPB, Digital Deep Dive, and Winning Ways. Through consistent communication, extraordinary client service, responsiveness, and business acumen, she maintains uniformity in our complex, multi-layered structure.

Her focus is team-based, promoting innovative ideas, fostering culture, improving outcomes, and ensuring the collaboration and communication that are so critical to our success.

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 Telop

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.