Jill Gianola









Jill Gianola, MS, MBA, CFP®, Gianola Financial Planning

In addition to running a successful financial planning practice, Jill finds time to be a writer, speaker, and college instructor. She learned about ACP after meeting Bert Whitehead at the 1995 NAPFA National Conference. At the time Jill wanted to become a successful financial planner and was intrigued by the ACP System™. In 1996, after a year of consideration and watching other advisors in her area sign on, namely Kathleen Rehl and Jo Anne Paynter, Jill joined ACP. She states that joining the organization has truly changed her life—all for the good.

Jill has taken on leadership roles in both ACP and NAPFA. She served as President of the Board of Directors for ACP. 

While the ACP System™ has been fine-tuned over the years to provide new members the necessary resources to successfully launch and build their practices, Jill realizes that more attention needs to be directed to seasoned ACP members. She would like to see more tracks for the experienced advisors at the ACP Annual Conference. Jill would like to create paths to allow more efficient and cost-effective access to resources and expertise for planners with more mature practices.

Aside from her passion for providing top-notch financial planning advice to her clients, Jill loves to teach and educate and has done so in a variety of arenas. Currently she teaches Economics at Wittenburg University in Springfield, Ohio. She also has taught CFP® certification classes at Ohio State University; personal financial planning classes at business and community colleges in Columbus, Ohio; and basic training classes at NAPFA.

In addition to her many other accomplishments, Jill is the author of The Young Couple’s Guide to Growing Rich Together published by McGraw Hill. Her book follows the experiences of a typical couple to offer commonsense guidance on both the financial and non-financial aspects of a special and still-developing relationship. Interestingly, she was approached to write the book after an editor read several of her articles on iVillage.com.

Jill has solid advice for those just starting their careers using the ACP system™—"get attention for yourself and get your name out there." She built her practice largely through speaking and writing engagements before she started to receive referrals through her client base. She’s quick to point out that you have to plant many seeds and be patient. Building a practice takes concentrated and consistent effort, and the rewards may not be reaped immediately, but this effort will pay off in the long run.