Expert Teams

After receiving his business degree from Furman University, John began his career on the retail brokerage side of the securities industry, specializing in Client Service and Sales Support.  John joined Trust Company of the South in 2013 as a Client Services Officer in the Charlotte office.  John is responsible for overseeing the administration of client relationships, including assistance with trading, tax returns, distributions, and asset management.

A native of Charlotte, John enjoys exercise and playing golf.

Lou’s career spans forty years in the banking industry, with a background in client service, management and compliance. She joined Trust Company in March 2017 as the Client Services Manager for the Greensboro, Raleigh, and Charlotte offices, and is based out of the Greensboro office. Lou’s responsibilities include managing the client services team, daily account administration, and assisting clients with various transactions.

Lou and her husband, Benjie, have one daughter and two cats.  Lou enjoys family time and travel, and as an advocate for animals, supports “Adopt, don’t shop”.

Shelly joined Trust Company in 2017 as a Client Services Officer in the Charlotte office. She has responsibilities in client services and wealth management, including assistance with account administration, asset management, distributions and tax returns.

A native of Raleigh, Shelly moved to Charlotte to attend Queens University to pursue a degree in Business Administration.

She enjoys cooking and running in her spare time.

Leslie has spent the majority of her career in Business Administration and Human Resources.  In 2010, Leslie joined Trust Company as a Client Services Officer.  She currently works in our Greensboro office, and her responsibilities include new client account setup; assisting clients with distributions, deposits, charitable gifting, and account transfers; and routine account administration.

Leslie and her husband, Mike, live in Cedar Grove, NC with their two sons.  Leslie enjoys playing an active role in her sons’ school’s athletic programs, and is a huge fan of baseball and basketball at all levels.

After graduating from UNC-Greensboro with a business degree, Gail worked as a flight attendant for Piedmont and US Air.  She later spent several years as Financial Assistant at a private Christian school in Greensboro and joined the Client Services team in our Greensboro office in 2015.  Gail’s responsibilities include account administration and assisting clients with distributions and charitable gifts.

Gail has a son and a daughter who attend NC State University.  She enjoys community service and mission work through her church and other local organizations, as well as music and art events, entertaining family and friends, and traveling.

In her role as Administrative Manager, Anna Kate is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of our Greensboro office and supporting our Principals.

Anna Kate joined the Trust Company in December of 2017 after six years in grocery retail marketing. She graduated from Western Carolina University in 2009 with a B.S. in Communication Sciences and Disorders.

Anna Kate and her husband, Matthew, live in Greensboro with their dog Luna. In her free time she enjoys yoga, reading, and spending time outdoors.

In her role as Administrative Manager, Mary is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of our Raleigh office and supporting our Principals.

Mary received her B.S. in business administration with a minor in accounting from Hilbert College. She received her MBA with a concentration in strategic leadership from Saint Bonaventure University. Prior to joining Trust Company in 2018, Mary worked in the finance department for an aerospace and transportation corporation located in Buffalo, NY.

Mary grew up in upstate New York and enjoys traveling, golf, and the outdoors.

In his role as Director of Client Development, Bill is responsible for the cultivation of new clients and ongoing relationship building of our existing clients. Bill is an Accredited Investment Fiduciary® with over thirty-two years of experience in the financial services and wealth management industry. He currently works with clients from all over the state out of our Raleigh office location. Prior to joining Trust Company over twenty years ago, Bill worked with Centura Banks, Inc. and Trident Financial Corporation as an officer and (series 7, 63 and 24) NASD registered securities principal.

A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1984) and The Southeastern Trust School of Campbell University (2000), Bill recently served as Chairman of the North Carolina Awards Committee. He has also been an active member or has served on the board of several professional and charitable organizations including The First Tee of the Triangle, Nash Community College Foundation, Eastern Carolina Estate Planning Council, and the Cub Scouts of America.

Bill loves music and golf and he and his wife, Terry, and their three adult children enjoy spending time together at the beach.

Dan works in the Raleigh office and is responsible for developing investment strategy and managing client portfolios. Prior to joining Trust Company of the South in 2008, Dan was a vice president at Smith Breeden Associates in Chapel Hill. His focus was on performance measurement and, earlier, performed analyses for the firm’s Financial Institutions Consulting Group. His career began as a financial analyst in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) unit of PriceWaterhouseCoopers, LLP. Dan, a finance major with a secondary concentration in accounting, graduated magna cum laude from Saint Bonaventure University in 2001. He earned his CFA charter in 2007.

Dan and his wife, Kim, both grew up in central New York. They live in Durham with their two sons and Jack Russell terrier, Milo. Dan enjoys college basketball and, specifically, watching his alma mater and the Duke Blue Devils.

As Fiduciary Counsel, Westray oversees the firm’s legal matters, including its trust activities.  Westray also serves as a resource to the firm’s individual clients with regard to their estate planning matters and to our nonprofit clients with regard to compliance issues.

Prior to joining Trust Company of the South, Westray practiced law with Poyner Spruill LLP in their trusts and estates group. She has over fifteen years of experience advising clients in the areas of estate, generation-skipping transfer and gift tax planning, business succession planning, asset protection and estate and trust administration. Westray has been recognized in Business North Carolina Magazine’s “Legal Elite” for Tax and Estate Planning.

Westray graduated with honors from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.A. in psychology (1990). She received her Juris Doctor degree from Wake Forest University as a member of the Law Review.

Westray and her husband, Glenn, have two sons and live in Raleigh. She volunteers at her sons’ school, is an avid sports fan and participant, and enjoys spending time with her family at the beach.

In her role as Chief Financial Officer, Wallace is responsible for the financial planning and reporting of the Company.  She also oversees the Human Resources function.  She is located in the Greensboro office.

Wallace is a Certified Public Accountant, and joined Trust Company in 2004 after an eight year career in public accounting with Arthur Andersen, and several years as a controller in a not-for-profit organization. She graduated with High Distinction from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in Economics in 1987. She received a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Accounting from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1990, and received an Elijah Watt Sells certificate in recognition of outstanding performance on the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination that same year.

Wallace and her husband, Greg, have two children.  In her spare time she is a voracious reader and an avid runner.

In his role as Operations Manager, Will is responsible for handling the daily settlement and reconciliation of DTC trades and positions, posting DTC income and corporate actions, coordinating transfers for the operations department, coordinating month end processing, and monitoring the work flow for the operations department.  He is located in the Greensboro Office.

Will joined Trust Company in June 2001 after graduating from Wofford College with a degree in Business Economics.  Will lives in Greensboro and in his free time enjoys traveling, exercising, and volunteering in the Greensboro community including serving on the Tournament Committee for the Wyndham Championship.

Cathy has spent the majority of her career in patient and client services.  She joined Trust Company in 2013 as a Client Services Officer, and now serves as an Operations Officer in our Greensboro office.   Her major responsibilities include the daily settlement and reconciliation of mutual fund trades and positions, posting mutual fund income and the handling of cash disbursements and deposits.

Cathy and her husband, Rodney, live in Elon.  She enjoys being outdoors and spending time with family.

Brad joined Trust Company in 2000 upon graduating from UNC-Charlotte with a B.S. in Business Administration. As Director of Operations, his responsibilities include strategic development, management and oversight of all areas of the operations department, including serving as the liaison with the Company’s primary service providers. In addition, Brad also oversees and manages Trust Company’s correspondent banking relationships, in which Trust Company provides operations support to third party banks.  Brad is located in the Greensboro office.

Brad is an active member of the Innotrust Users Group, an organization of financial professionals using the Innotrust trust accounting platform provided by Innovest Systems, having previously served in the roles of president and treasurer of this organization. He has completed the Cannon Financial Institute Securities Operations I & II courses.

Brad enjoys spending time with family, cooking, and playing golf.  Brad and his wife, Elizabeth, have three children.

Mr. Beischer is President of Garden View Realty, Inc., a real estate development and property management firm in Durham, NC.  Garden View Realty is the master developer of the 1,100 acre Croasdaile Farm residential development in Durham which features both single-family and multi-family luxury homes and a one hundred acre continuing care retirement community, Croasdaile Village.   Mr. Beischer is also the Executive Director and a board member of the Fox Family Foundation which provides philanthropic support to the Triangle nonprofit community.  Mr. Beischer is a graduate of Williams College and the Wake Forest University School of Law.

Mr. Petty has been the Chief Financial Officer of Carolina Hosiery Mills, Inc. since June 1977, and also serves as a Director of Live Oak Bancshares, Inc.   He has held an active CPA license from the State of North Carolina for forty years, starting his career with a CPA firm in Burlington.  He is Treasurer of The Educational Foundation, Inc. in Chapel Hill, NC.   Mr. Petty graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1973.

A Burlington native, Dr. Powell founded Biomedical Reference Laboratories, now known as Laboratory Corporation of America.  He has served as director on numerous boards including FirstSouth Bank as well as the North Carolina Trust Company, Duke University Medical Center, Elon University and the Alamance Foundation.  Dr. Powell was educated at Virginia Military Institute and Duke University Medical School.

Mr. Smith has served since 1980 as president of Villane, Inc., a firm specializing in real estate and early-stage equity and debt investments. More recently, he has been the general manager of Blue Chip Furniture, a North Carolina based upholstery furniture manufacturer. Mr. Smith earned a Master of Science degree in Finance from the University of Arizona in 1980 following the completion of his undergraduate education in 1978 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. He has had scholarly articles published in “The Journal of Portfolio Management” and “Business Economics”.

In her role as Chief Financial Officer, Wallace is responsible for the financial planning and reporting of the Company.  She also oversees the Human Resources function.  She is located in the Greensboro office.

Wallace is a Certified Public Accountant, and joined Trust Company in 2004 after an eight year career in public accounting with Arthur Andersen, and several years as a controller in a not-for-profit organization. She graduated with High Distinction from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in Economics in 1987. She received a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Accounting from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1990, and received an Elijah Watt Sells certificate in recognition of outstanding performance on the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination that same year.

Wallace and her husband, Greg, have two children.  In her spare time she is a voracious reader and an avid runner.