OLV Team
Our Advisory Team, Service Team, and Support Team are committed to serving our clients. Our goal is to service our client’s individual needs, as we uphold OLV’s core values of GRACE, GROWTH, GRIT, and GENEROSITY.
Leah Baragar
Executive Administrative Assistant
Leah Baragar is always up for a challenge. She takes every opportunity to learn and grow, and she brings that can-do attitude to her role as Executive Administrative Assistant. Leah appreciates working for a company that embodies grace, hard work and excellence while serving others.
Leah joined the OLV Investment Group team in 2021. Along with her extensive administrative experience, she is a Certified Human Behavior Consultant with Personality Insights, Inc. A teacher at heart, Leah is passionate about teaching and helping others learn, understand, and apply their learning to all areas of life.
The mother of three adult children, Leah lives in Grand Blanc, Michigan, where she relocated after living in Fenton, Michigan for 18 years. Away from work, she loves reading, learning new things, traveling, going for walks, and participating in various activities with family and friends. She is also a talented gluten-free baker and loves creating gluten-free recipes with great taste and texture.
Julie Bowers
Marketing and Advertising Director
With her artistic skill and eye for color, you’ll see Julie Bower’s design talents on display in all sorts of OLV Investment Group communications, mailings, gifts, events and anywhere else she can add her creative touch!
Julie graduated from Central Michigan University in 1988 with a double Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design and Interior Design. From there she worked at a graphic design company, and then went on to the news advertising world before joining LaGore Wealth Management in 2009. When OLV Investment Group was formed in 2012, it was obvious that Julie’s talents could help the new team! So, she came aboard, and has been involved in driving the company forward ever since.
Julie and her husband have two young-adult children: a daughter and a son. In addition to spending time with her family, she enjoys being the secretary and event organizer at Flushing Point Church of Christ. She also helped start the first Plant-Based Nutrient Support Group (PBNSG) small group in Genesee County and continues to be a hostess for this organization. When she’s not keeping busy in the Flint and Genesee County area, her wanderlust guides her to the great outdoors and around the globe.
Holly Casady
Client Service Associate
Holly Casady isn’t afraid of a new challenge! As Client Service Associate, she is responsible for keeping clients’ paperwork prepared and processed as well as managing various other tasks to assist the financial advisors.
Holly’s experiences range from clerking to corporate managing to software developing and computer programming. In 2019 Holly joined the OLV Investment Group team, bringing with her organizational abilities, an aptitude for technology, a detail-oriented mindset and the knack to quickly learn new skills.
With the sun setting on the beautiful Fiji ocean waters, Holly’s 2019 beach wedding could easily be a scene in a romantic movie! But her husband isn’t her only love – she also has a brown tabby named Sadie II and red-nosed pit-bull named Ares. Her hobbies and interests clearly display that she has a love for learning new things! She enjoys: tooling around on her motorcycle, singing (she sat on the Board of Directors for a 501c3 a cappella choir), reading (she’s part of a neighborhood book club), hand quilting, cross stitching, gardening, walking, watching movies, playing cards and board games, American Sign Language and, as if the other hobbies weren’t varied enough, she also enjoys assembling furniture.
Madison Freeman
Client and Culture Assistant
Madison has always sought to serve others and was drawn to our firm after experiencing its atmosphere of generosity and closeness. Madison is a great fit as she exhibits these qualities with everyone she encounters. She believes the financial industry will be the perfect outlet for her desire to help others.
Madison has joined OLV as Client and Culture Assistant. She helps fill the gaps in many areas of design, mailing, writing, and social media. She just completed her degree in accounting from The University of Michigan-Flint in December 2021. In recognition of her many attributes, The Kiwanis Club awarded her the prestigious A+B=C award (Attitude + Basic Values = Character).
Born and raised in Davison, Michigan, Madison loves spending time with her friends, parents and sister. She also has a bit of green thumb as her plant count crosses over 20. She enjoys lake days, longboarding and being a follower of Jesus. Most Sundays, you can find her with her family attending Richfield Church of the Nazarene.
Wendy Freeman
Compliance Assistant
Wendy’s love for detail and structure provided a natural transition into the world of Compliance, after 5 years of experience as a Client Service Associate. Her work in Compliance for OLV Investment Group is essential, as she takes care to make sure that we are always functioning within appropriate guidelines and structures.
Wendy studied at Schoolcraft College and Lansing Community College. From there she worked in retail management and then was a pharmaceutical technician before joining the OLV team in 2017.
Wendy and her husband are the proud parents of two children, a son and a daughter. She enjoys attending the kids’ sports events and other various activities. She uses her sweet personality at Flushing Community Church where she serves at the Welcome Desk. Her hobbies include reading, shopping and golfing with her husband.
Chloe Guingrich
Client and Culture Assistant
As a confident and personable member of the OLV team, Chloe is passionate about bringing people together. Connecting well with the team, her enthusiasm is evident and shines throughout the office. Chloe is a valuable member of our team, and her easygoing personality and ability to foster community within the office make her a great fit for the role of CCA. As Culture and Communications Assistant, she engages with clients and ensures that client services are excellent.
Chloe joined the firm in 2022. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a minor in sociology from Oakland University in Oakland County, Michigan.
As a new resident of Detroit, Chloe loves exploring her new hometown. When she is not assisting her team, she loves to be with friends. A frequent camper and hiking enthusiast, Chloe enjoys spending time outdoors.
Kelsey Hare
Client Relations Assistant
Kelsey’s constant quest for knowledge has been the motivating factor in her pursuing a career in the finance industry. Kelsey received her Bachelor of Finance from York College of Pennsylvania. She then went on to earn her MBA in Finance from Keller School of Management, while also being a busy mom, showing the tremendous grit with which she pursues life. She also received DeVry’s Certificate of Academic Achievement during all three years.
Before joining OLV Investment Group, Kelsey’s career in the financial service industry had been mainly working in the banking sector helping her customers pair their complex financial needs with solutions that she could bring to the table. In her current role at OLV Investment Group, Kelsey assists with data entry, attends client strategy reviews, and tends to clients with online access and service calls.
Kelsey and her family live in Genesee County, Michigan, where their children are involved in an array of sports and extracurricular activities. Kelsey’s hard-earned skill set makes her an excellent addition to the OLV team.
Ammar Muhammad
Research Analyst
Ammar’s tenacity and focus to accomplish what he has set his mind to is inspiring! He is incredibly adaptable and a quick learner which makes him the perfect complement to the OLV team and a great fit in the role of Paraplanner.
Born in Dubai, Ammar moved to the States to continue his studies at the University of Michigan where he completed his bachelor’s degree in Business Finance and Economics and then went on to pursue his master’s degree in Finance from the University of Missouri. His capacity for research and knowledge brings immense value to OLV. He also loves people and has a charming way of engaging people of all ages.
Ammar is married to his beautiful bride, Areen. They are the proud parents of a beautiful baby girl, Irha-which in Arabic means, “God’s gift”. She is a wonderful addition to their family! They also just moved back to Michigan from Texas, where they started their married life together. In his free time, Ammar spends every waking moment with his wife and daughter as they seek to build a new life here.
Hanni Oliver
Client Service Associate
Hanni’s love for people is contagious! Her bright, fun-loving disposition makes her the perfect complement to our OLV team! Her people-skills, along with her hard-working nature, allow her to excel at her role as Client Service Associate. She is often the first voice you hear when you call and the first face to greet you upon arrival in the Flint office. She serves our clients and staff with the utmost care and seeks to brighten everyone’s day.
Hanni went to work in 2002 for her parents, Dean and Zan Oliver (founders of OLV), where she began learning the documentation side of the financial industry. She worked for them on-and-off for a total of five years as she began growing her family. Before that, she had attended high school with Sonya LaGore, Jesse and Libby VanValin. So, the OLV Investment Group “family” naturally became a welcome place for her when she returned to the industry in 2019.
Hanni is a busy mom of three high-energy boys. She spends much of her time outdoors with her kids, biking, swimming, sledding, hiking and more. In addition to bringing up her boys, Hanni is also an active member of Bethany Baptist Church in Grand Blanc.
Bernadette Rainear
Lead Client Service Associate
Bernadette Rainear’s straightforward, systematic and results-oriented work ethic gives her the ability to make the paperwork process as smooth as possible for OLV clients. Her history as a school teacher makes her the perfect fit for the role of Client Service Associate (CSA) Supervisor in which she trains new Client Service Associates and educates the staff when operational processes and procedures are updated. Additionally, as “Transitions Specialist” Bernadette manages the process of transferring client accounts and relationships to OLV Investment Group when a new financial advisor is hired.
Bernadette earned a Bachelor’s and Masters degree in education and has a lengthy teaching history of 12 years, but she took a slight detour 10 years ago when she was hired to work “part-time” for Dean Oliver. Little did she know this would launch her career in the financial industry. She is an integral part of the OLV staff and leads with passion and conviction.
Bernadette and her husband have been married since 1993. They are the proud parents of their son, who is a Midshipman at the United States Naval Academy (USNA), and they count down the days until their next visit with him. They have also been blessed and gifted with their daughter, who is an active high school student. When not attending her daughter’s volleyball and soccer games or horse shows, she enjoys exercising. She has Kettlebell certifications, attends yoga weekly and likes to walk and run. She’s also involved in Mayfair Bible Church, where she is part of a small group.
