Chance D. Potts

Samantha is a natural leader and organizer. She not only keeps the team moving forward at the office, she is a busy mom who juggles the activities of her husband and two children with her pursuit of a bachelor's degree. She loves her small-town community of Fair Grove and the opportunities it provides to her family. Samantha is always a champion of fairness and doing the right thing.

Samantha is currently finishing her degree in Human Resource Management. Her most recent professional experience includes office management and human resource assistance before joining the EBD team. As a self-starter, Samantha loves to learn new things and quickly earned her insurance license. Samantha has become an integral part of EBD.

Samantha is passionate about helping others, especially children. Active with a local domestic violence shelter, Samantha volunteers her time to help those impacted by abuse. She is a fierce advocate for children.

Clarissa, along with her husband, Tutt, and black lab, Pawley, moved to the Springfield area from Middle Tennessee, where she and her husband both grew up and attended the same high school. As true Southerners, Clarissa and her husband believe strongly in faith, family and SEC football, Clarissa having received her undergraduate degree from The University of Alabama (Roll Tide Roll). Their black lab Pawley is the mascot of the family; showing unconditional love to all, always eager for an impulsive car ride and obsessive regarding anything and everything dealing with water/swimming.

Clarissa has her health and life insurance license, and in addition to her time with EBD, has 6 years’ experience in account management. Clarissa is also a licensed attorney (TN) and, through her experience in the legal fields of commercial, bankruptcy and probate law, she provides unique outlooks in assisting with various legal aspects of the employee benefit industry.

Clarissa is accomplished and passionate in the Employee Benefits Industry, having strong inter-personal, presentation and issue resolving skills. Clarissa is a problem solver and strives to help others create positive outcomes. Clarissa is confident in the orchestration and maintenance of communication, services and expectations between carriers, providers and clients to produce efficient, productive and successful outcomes for all parties.

Torrey is married to his lovely bride of 26 years, Shelley, and they have three boys, Lincoln 21, Shepard 18, and Gentry 14. Having been a transplant from Indiana, the family loves basketball, outdoor activities, and camping on the lake. Torrey coach’s varsity boys’ basketball and is passionate about helping boys grow through faith, not only through their athletic skills, but personally and relationally. Torrey lives by the model, ‘honor God, edify others, finish strong’.

Torrey specializes in specialty employee benefits, having spent 16 years on the carrier side and the last 9 years in-house with EBD. Torrey is very knowledgeable in all types of employer paid and voluntary plans, as well as services and tools that meet the needs of businesses and employees. Torrey’s focus is to provide excellent communication, education, and service for these necessary and valuable employee benefit solutions.

Torrey is heavily involved in various aspects of the industry, including past president of National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA), 417 Professionals and currently serves on the board of Springfield Area Human Resources Managers (SAHRA) and Grace Classical Academy.

Although Marc grew up in central Illinois, Southwest Missouri has been home for over 30 years. His wife Ami is a nursing instructor at Missouri State and together they have raised four boys, which has kept them very busy for the better part of the last 25 years. Both enjoy snow skiing, going to the lake, and musical events with friends. Marc also enjoys golfing and rooting for the Chicago Bears. He attended Missouri State University on a football scholarship and graduated in 1992 with a degree in Human Resources Management.

Marc has 24 years of experience helping companies understand and enhance their qualified retirement plan offerings. Prior work with both a well-known retirement plan provider and a large consulting firm has given him a thorough understanding of critical, and often unknown, areas for improvement. Through his affiliation with Global Retirement Partners he can assist plan sponsors with fee-based, independent advisory services. This would include co-fiduciary investment selection and monitoring, vendor searches and benchmarking, participant education and enrollment assistance, as well as financial wellness programs for employees. He holds his series 65 investment advisory license with Global Retirement Partners, LLC and the FINRA series 7 license with LPL Financial. He has been a member of ASPPA (American Society for Pension Professionals and Actuaries) since 2003 and holds their QPA (Qualified Pension Administrator) designation.

Securities offered through LPL Financial (LPL), member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Global Retirement Partners, LLC. (GRP), a registered investment advisor. Employee Benefit Design, GRP and LPL Financial are separate, unaffiliated entities.

Wally lives in Nixa and has two beautiful daughters that keep him active with their school activities, soccer, volleyball and basketball. He travels around to their tournaments and games and enjoys every minute of the process. Sports have always been a part of his life, as he loved playing and watching since he was a little kid. When he is not chasing his kids to their games Wally enjoys getting out on the golf course and spending time with family and friends.

Wally is a Medicare Specialist and an Individual Health Advisor. For 13 years he has been a multi-line insurance Broker, but within the last 6 years he has developed a passion for educating clients about the ever-complicated Medicare Process. He is fully licensed and certified to sell Medicare products and has extensive knowledge about the intricate details of Medicare Enrollment.

Education is the key to empowering clients with the necessary information to make a sound, informed decision when selecting the plan to fit their needs. He dedicates a significant amount of time to each client to ensure that they are satisfied with the initial choices and then provides them ongoing personal service throughout the year assisting with claims, billing and the Annual Enrollment Period. Wally conducts Educational Medicare Seminars for Mercy Health System and for local employers. He represents many of the top rated insurance carriers to ensure that we always have the best coverage and price both at the initial enrollment and at the annual enrollment.

Wally believes in building strong relationships with his clients that will last a lifetime. He considers every client a friend. With each client comes a story and those stories help us develop a relationship that will last forever. Wally has supported several charities that have impacted his clients over the years - St. Jude, Boys and Girls Club, and Harmony House just to name a few.

Ryan, a Joplin resident, is very outgoing and is an active networker. Ryan loves making connections and meeting new people, which drives him to connect and partner with business owners. Ryan thrives on a busy lifestyle: from volunteering in community services; to helping raise a young nephew and niece; to volunteering through his fraternity, Phi Kappa Psi; and still managing to find time to be an avid fan of Ole Miss football and play an occasional round of golf (just don’t ask him his score). Ryan is very involved in the civic efforts of his hometown, Joplin, and always looks for avenues in which to give back to his community. You can always expect Ryan to be outspoken.

Ryan’s path into the career of employee benefits has been somewhat unconventional. Ryan graduated from the University of Mississippi with a BBA in international business and marketing. He began his formal career working in a family business in the industry of construction and transportation. Ryan has learned that small business owners often wear several different hats. Those experiences give an insight to understanding the painstaking process a business owner faces with employee benefit decisions. Making new connections and constantly learning about business and entrepreneurship is what Ryan enjoys most when partnering with a company and helping them navigate the world of health insurance and benefits.

At the end of the day, Ryan’s love for his family is his biggest driving force. Being a reliable son, brother, uncle, and friend is Ryan’s main purpose. He strives daily to live up the Phi Kappa Psi mantra: “the great joy of serving others”.

Chance D. Potts – Founder, Partner and Coach. Chance is married to Sherry of 26 years raising four boys in the Nixa, Missouri community. His family lives very active with sports, many outdoor activities with a strong passion for travel and making memories with family and friends. Three words that best describe him are, grateful, growing, and giving. He is continually working to help others know they are worth it have what it takes.

Chance is involved in the strategic planning for Nixa Public Schools, as well as coaching youth football there for 22 years. Fitness in all areas (Spiritual, Mental, Physical, Relational, Financial) of life are very important. In the area of physical fitness Chance has been a Crossfit coach at Crossfit-Springfield for over 10 years. He received his B.S. in Education with a focus in Exercise Physiology from MO State University 1992.

Chance decided to move from working in health care to working in the employee benefit industry in 1995. Co-founded EBD in Springfield, Missouri 1997. His focus in benefits is to help people and companies continually grow and contribute at a higher level. He has served on national and regional advisory groups during his career, including becoming a principle in the leading national benefits firm United Benefit Advisors in 2005, and board member 2008-2013.

Chance is a life-time learner and consistent in his faith. His favorite quote is, “While we cannot go back and begin again. We can always begin a brand new end.” John C. Maxwell.