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by Rob DiFranco on April 19, 2026
Every year, Exit Planning Institute® (EPI) recognizes individuals in the community who have become leaders in the profession across three categories. These are:
- The Peter Christman Exit Planner of the Year: This prestigious award, named after EPI's co-founder, recognizes outstanding excellence within the exit planning field. Presented to a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA®), the award honors those who actively engage in exit planning, lead planning initiatives, educate both business owners and advisors, or offer innovative exit planning tools that transform outcomes for business owners and their advisors. The recipient must have made significant contributions to the industry, embodying EPI’s core values and the principles of the CEPA credential, and have positively affected the broader exit planning community, whether locally, regionally, nationally, or internationally.
- Member of the Year: This award recognizes a CEPA for their substantial contributions to the EPI community of advisors and the broader exit planning profession. This individual is a prominent leader and authority in their local or regional markets, spearheading exit-planning education and enhancing market awareness.
- Thought Leader of the Year: The Thought Leader of the Year Award honors a CEPA who has pioneered a unique project, initiative, or practice that significantly benefits the exit planning profession and the wider community. This advisor is recognized as a thought leader—an individual with established expertise in a specific niche, someone who creates, innovates, and influences while demonstrating strong collaborative qualities.
Exit Planner of the Year
Renee Russo is the founder and CEO of Rise Up Business Coaching, the creator of the Ready to Rise Energy Management System, and the founder of Exit Mentor. In her work with business owners and advisors, Renee utilizes her experience as a former business owner and EOS Implementer to develop leaders, optimize performance, and create enterprise value.
Renee is a former winner of the Thought Leader of the Year Award and a member of the EPI Thought Leadership Council, where she serves to further the profession and the Value Acceleration Methodology™ for the next generation of business owners and CEPAs.
“Exit planning and entrepreneurship are human journeys. Exit planning is really just human evolution. To achieve great outcomes, we need to focus on that, less on the numbers and mechanics, and more on showing up for a real human being on their journey toward their destiny,” she says.
Renee achieved her CEPA in 2022.
Thought Leader of the Year
Todd Yeiter has helped business owners for nearly thirty years, including more than 20 years at Thrivent Financial, where he is the Director of Life Insurance and Annuity Wholesaling. In this role, Todd works with financial advisors and leaders to understand, choose, and effectively position life insurance and annuity solutions as part of comprehensive advice.
As a thought leader in the CEPA community, Todd understands that a successful exit planning process starts with listening and understanding the business owner's goals. Todd is a proponent of building a diversified exit planning team to ensure owners receive the best possible advice across all aspects of their transition or sale.
“With roughly $14 trillion business value expected to change hands in the coming years, getting this right matters. Excellence helps owners protect and grow what they’ve built so their legacy strengthens their family and supports continued prosperity in their community,” he says.
Todd achieved his CEPA in 2024.
*Thrivent is a Fortune 500 financial services company that helps build, grow and protect financial well-being through purpose-driven advice, investments, insurance, banking and generosity programs. Thrivent serves more than 2.4 million clients through thousands of financial advisors across the country and has more than $193 billion in assets under management/advisement (as of 12/31/24). Thrivent carries superior financial ratings from independent rating agencies, which demonstrate the company’s financial strength and stability. This includes an A++ rating from AM Best, an Aa2 rating from Moody's Investors Service, and an AA+ rating from S&P Global Ratings. For more information about Thrivent, visit Thrivent.com or find us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Thrivent is the marketing name for Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. Insurance products issued by Thrivent. Not available in all states. Securities and investment advisory services offered through Thrivent Investment Management Inc., a registered investment adviser, member FINRA and SIPC, and a subsidiary of Thrivent. Licensed agent/producer of Thrivent. Registered representative of Thrivent Investment Management Inc. Thrivent.com/disclosures.
Thrivent provides advice and guidance through its Financial Planning Framework that generally includes a review and analysis of a client’s financial situation. A client may choose to further their planning engagement with Thrivent through its Dedicated Planning Services (an investment advisory service) that results in written recommendations for a fee.
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Member of the Year
Wally Waldron is the founder of Exitology, a value-acceleration firm that helps business owners achieve positive outcomes. Wally also hosts leaders in the Value Acceleration and Exit Planning field on his Exitology Podcast.
Wally is an active member in the CEPA community, serving as the President of EPI’s Denver Chapter since 2024, where he leads a group of advisors to collaborate and promote best practices across the state. In a December 2025 blog, Wally shared insights into why being involved in the broader CEPA community is so important.
“Our commitment to the client is that at one of those hard decisions along the way, we will be able to bring at least three proven and vetted professionals to help through the process,” he says. “That’s one of the ways that we are able to create a network that is actually valuable in a very tangible fashion.”
Wally achieved his CEPA in 2022.
Continued Commitment to Excellence
Achieving excellence in exit planning is possible for all exit planners, and the profession can only evolve through a continuous commitment to being best-in-class. EPI expresses gratitude to this year's winners for their contributions to the profession and their role as an inspiration for advisor peers to keep striving for excellence.
Read our blogs below to learn more about the 2026 Excellence in Exit Planning nominees and winners.
About the Exit Planning Summit
The Exit Planning Summit is the premier exit planning event, spanning over the course of three days. It provides attendees the opportunity to experience hands-on education, make new connections with like-minded individuals, and spark innovation in the profession. It is the annual, global gathering for exit planning professionals committed to expanding their offerings to clients and becoming value-driven.