Team Citrine

Ryan S. Cole, CFPManaging DirectorRyan began investing at the age of 18 while earning his degree in business and management of technology at Clarkson University. Through his studies and over 20 years of investment experience, Ryan became a firm believer in tax-efficient investing and low-cost portfolio management. His financial know-how eventually led him to be a resource for friends and family, and he quickly discovered his passion for helping others with financial planning and investing.Previously, Ryan worked as a financial planner at Ameritas Investment Corporation where he earned his series 65 license. In 2014, he left Ameritas to found Cole Wealth Advisors, which evolved into Citrine Capital when Jirayr joined in 2016.Ryan is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional with a specialty in equity compensation and taxation, financial independence, and blockchain and digital assets (cryptocurrencies). He currently serves as the CEO of Citrine Capital.Born and raised in Philadelphia, Ryan has the pragmatism and objectivity of an East Coaster balanced by an easygoing, holistic attitude adopted from twelve years in the San Francisco Bay Area. Outside of work, he enjoys goofing around with his wife and three daughters, ice hockey, cycling, great food, craft beer, and lots of espresso. — **Ryan S. Cole, CFP®**
**Founder, Chairman**
Ryan began investing at the age of 18 while earning his degree in business and management of technology at Clarkson University. Through his studies and over 20 years of investment experience, Ryan became a firm believer in tax-efficient investing and low-cost portfolio management. His financial know-how eventually led him to be a resource for friends and family, and he quickly discovered his passion for helping others with financial planning and investing.
Previously, Ryan worked as a financial planner at Ameritas Investment Corporation where he earned his series 65 license. In 2014, he left Ameritas to found Cole Wealth Advisors, which evolved into Citrine Capital when Jirayr joined in 2016.
Ryan is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional with a specialty in equity compensation. taxation, and financial independence. He currently serves as the Managing Director of Citrine Capital.
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Ryan has the pragmatism and objectivity of an East Coaster balanced by an easygoing, holistic attitude adopted from twelve years in the San Francisco Bay Area. Outside of work, he enjoys goofing around with his wife and three daughters, ice hockey, cycling, great food, craft beer, and lots of espresso.

Todd Barman, CPA

Director of Tax

Todd lives in Columbia South Carolina with his wife Pam and their two children Connor and Sophia. The children love the outdoors and Todd and Pam do their best to accommodate them with frequent camping and beach trips.

Todd’s background is public accounting and his areas of focus include tax preparation, forward looking tax planning, tax research and resolving complex income tax issues with the IRS and state taxing authorities.

Todd is a member of the South Carolina Association of CPAs, the American Institute of CPAs. He has a Master of Accountancy – Tax and a Bachelor of Science in business economics from the University of South Carolina’s Moore School of Business.

Jirayr R. Kembikian, CFP®Chief Compliance Officer, Lead Wealth AdvisorJirayr started his career with one of the nation's largest banks, where he repeatedly witnessed the enduring impact of a solid financial plan on clients’ success. This led him to pursue a career as a financial planner with a mission to provide all clients with a financial roadmap and professional guidance in order to help them reach their full potential.Prior to joining Citrine Capital, Jirayr was a financial planner at Ameritas Investment Corporation where he helped hundreds of individuals, families, and small businesses develop a financial plan and work towards their financial goals.Today, Jirayr is a managing partner and wealth advisor at Citrine Capital, where he serves as an Investment Advisor Representative (IAR) and a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional.Jirayr holds a degree in finance from San Francisco State University. Born and raised in Marin County, he is an active community and board member in local service organizations. He is passionate about his active lifestyle including sports, mountain biking, hiking, photography and international travel. — **Jirayr R. Kembikian, CFP®**
**Co-Founder, Managing Director**
Jirayr started his career with one of the nation's largest banks, where he repeatedly witnessed the enduring impact of a solid financial plan on clients’ success. This led him to pursue a career as a financial planner with a mission to provide all clients with a financial roadmap and professional guidance in order to help them reach their full potential.
Today, Jirayr is a managing partner and wealth advisor at Citrine Capital, where he serves as an Investment Advisor Representative (IAR) and a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional.Prior to joining Citrine Capital, Jirayr was a financial planner at Ameritas Investment Corporation where he helped hundreds of individuals, families, and small businesses develop a financial plan and work towards their financial goals.
Jirayr holds a degree in finance from San Francisco State University. Born and raised in Marin County, he is an active community and board member in local service organizations. He is passionate about his active lifestyle including sports, mountain biking, hiking, photography and international travel.

**Samantha Mockford, CFP®, AFC®**
**Paraplanner (she/her)**
Sam studied economics at the University of California, Davis, then spent 14 years mentoring college students, spending 8 of those years overseas. Since joining Citrine, Sam has achieved the ACCREDITED FINANCIAL COUNSELOR® and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certifications.
She’s developed a reputation as a friendly nerd who will cheerfully help anyone make a budget based on their values. Sometimes reality can be scary, but she believes a good financial planner should allay anxieties and get people excited about the future.
Sam lives with her husband and two sons in Sacramento, where she skis, swims on the local masters team, and finagles space on their small kitchen table for tabletop games and copious homemade baked sweets. Her happy place is her backyard, where she gardens and swings around on their ninja course.

Kiersten PeshekAssociate Wealth AdvisorKiersten began her financial planning journey by pursuing the Financial Planning Certificate from DePaul University. During her schooling, to share her knowledge and passion for the subject, she created and presented Personal Finance workshops for several teams and the Women’s Unity Employee Resource group at PayPal. In November of 2020 she passed the CFP® exam and is a candidate for CFP® Certification. After passing the CFP® exam, Kiersten worked as a Paraplanner for a small financial planning firm to get a jumpstart on the CFP experience requirement. She comes to Citrine Capital with valuable experience in building financial plans, investment research, and providing back office support. Born and raised in Illinois, Kiersten is currently located in Chicago with her fiance and their very cute black cat named Pounce. She spends her free time practicing yoga, baking, reading as many books as she can get her hands on, spending time with family, and helping her friends and family with their personal finance questions. — **Kiersten Peshek, CFP® (they/she)**
**Lead Wealth Advisor**
Kiersten started their journey towards a financial planning career in 2018 after learning about the basics of personal finance and how that knowledge can be used to help folks flourish personally and financially. Having always wanted a career helping others, this sparked a passion to become a fee-only financial planner to provide their clients with the guidance and advice needed to reach personal and financial goals.
Prior to joining Citrine Capital, as a career changer, Kiersten had varied job experience in mortgage servicing, real estate appraisals, and as a tech professional.
Today, Kiersten is a Lead Wealth Advisor with Citrine Capital, where they serve as a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) and Investment Advisor Representative (IAR) specializing in company equity, LGBTQ+ planning, and FIRE planning.
As someone with a passion for helping others, Kiersten also volunteers as a Financial Coach with Habitat for Humanity Atlanta and is on the FPA of Georgia’s DEI Committee for 2024 whose goal is to bring more diverse people into the financial planning profession by doing outreach on college campuses around Georgia.
Kiersten holds a degree in English and Spanish from Illinois State University as well as a Financial Planning Certificate from DePaul University. Born and raised in Illinois, Kiersten now lives in Columbus, Georgia with their husband and cute, black cat named Pounce. Kiersten is passionate about reading, yoga, baking, travel, supporting the LGBTQ+ community, and all things Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE).
Favorite books: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Sister Outsider, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, Work Optional, the Heartstopper series, and Laziness Does Not Exist.

Melanie Askey

Client Service Associate

Melanie’s passion for business strategy started while she was in high school, as a member of various clubs and organizations. She is constantly thinking of strategic improvements in all areas of an organization, to find more streamlined, automated and consistent processes. Her analytical mind, coupled with her person-first outlook, offers a unique skillset in all her personal and professional interactions.

Melanie has always been extremely competitive, both on and off the field. While playing collegiate soccer at University of Lynchburg in Virginia, she was repeatedly named as a member of the Lynchburg athletic honor society as well as the athletic conference’s academic team. Twice during her 4-year tenure, the team won the conference championship and went on to compete in the NCAA Tournament. Off the field, Melanie was an active member of Delta Sigma Pi (co-ed professional business fraternity), earned Dean’s List honors all four years, received the Stephen W. Streep Award for Excellence in the School of Business and Economics, and was named as a finalist for the Richard Clark Sommerville Scholarship (the highest academic honor at Lynchburg).

Melanie has a continued thirst for learning and professional development, which led her to pursue a Master’s in Business Administration from Loyola University in Maryland. She enjoys traveling to new locations and while at Loyola, she went to Chile as part of an international study tour.

Prior to joining Citrine, Melanie spent 10 years working for BGE HOME and concluded her tenure there as the Marketing Manager, where she led a team responsible developing and executing integrated marketing plans and strategy support. Always viewed as a leader, she was selected into Exelon’s (Constellation’s parent company) Emerging Leaders Program. After resigning from BGE HOME, Melanie began her next professional chapter as the Principal/Founder of Askey Consulting, where she specialized in the development, execution and management of business and marketing plans.

A healthy and active lifestyle is very important to Melanie and her family. She spends her free time working out to her favorite playlist, podcast or audible and finding new recipes to cook for her family. On the weekends, you can find her on the sidelines cheering for her two sons in soccer, lacrosse and basketball or for her daughter in gymnastics. As a Maryland girl, Melanie enjoys all four seasons and especially looks forward to pumpkin and apple picking in fall with her family, cutting down a Christmas tree together for the holidays, and playing with her kids and golden retriever in the snow outside in the winter.