Staff

President & CEO

Kelly Musico Gay, AIF^®

As founder, President, CEO, and the “M” in MVP, Kelly is dedicated to leading and implementing business development, sales, and compliance strategies. Before MVP, Kelly led several practices in mergers and acquisitions, new business development, and a team of administrators. Kelly is an advocate and volunteer with several local non-profit organizations and foundations. Her commitment to veteran causes, her community, and volunteering influence and reflect her work at MVP. Kelly dreams of traveling to Bora Bora and having an entertaining dinner with the rambunctious Gordon Ramsey. You may find her searching for the next delicious hamburger, watching Pride and Prejudice, or escaping to the beach.

Vice President & CFO

Mark E. Vaughn

Mark plays a vital role as the “V” in MVP, founder, Vice President, and Chief Financial Officer. His responsibilities include initiating and executing all business development and sales strategies. Prior to his role at MVP, Mark focused his career on retirement plan compliance and recordkeeping and working within the Human Resources department for a large plan sponsor. Afterwards, he decided to consult for the benefit of plan sponsors. Mark received his degree in Accounting from Harding University. Mark spends most of his free time with his family, serving his community helping adults with financial and spiritual counseling, and daydreaming about exploring New Zealand. His favorite activities include traveling to the mountains, drinking craft beer, and watching the critically-acclaimed film, Citizen Kane.

COO

Michele (Powell) Tomlinson

As the “P” in MVP, founder, and Chief Operating Officer, Michele focuses on maintaining and implementing internal controls, procedures, and operations. Prior to serving as the COO, she worked extensively in the banking industry specifically in the retirement sector, leading a team of administrators with their continued education and managing services for the client experience. Outside of the office, Michele enjoys volunteering her time to support community causes, visiting the mountains, and treating herself to french fries and donuts. One day, she would like to swim with the sea turtles in the Galapagos Islands.

Firm Administrator

Kelly Little, PHR, SHRM-CP

As MVP’s Firm Administrator, Kelly is ready to take on any task to ensure we meet our highest quality standards and enable our company to run efficiently. As part of our Management Team, she is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of Accounts Payable/Receivable, Human Resources, and Information Technology. She is the best resource for any invoice or revenue sharing questions. When not at work, you can find Kelly supporting her alma mater, NC State University, in football and basketball. She dreams of traveling to Scotland with her husband and daughter, and she would love to have dinner with J.K. Rowling to pick her imaginative brain. A few of Kelly’s favorite things are indulging in brownies, watching Love Actually, and soaking up the sun at the beach.

CCO

Tanya Keister, CPC, QPA, QKA

Tanya is the longest serving non-owner of MVP. As our Chief Compliance Officer, she is focused on keeping plans in compliance with government regulations. Her responsibilities include drafting compliant plan documents while researching and consulting on complex issues by monitoring all of MVP’s internal workflows. Tanya is an active member of ASPPA, the premier national organization for retirement plan professionals in the industry, and has obtained her Certified Pension Consultant (CPC) credential. She is a cum laude graduate from the University of Pittsburgh where she began her career in the retirement planning industry. Outside of work you may find her cooking, exercising, cheering for the Steelers, watching her favorite film, Pulp Fiction, or eating anything chocolate related. Her greatest joy in life is spending time with her family.

Director of Recordkeeping

Sheri Medlin, QKA

Sheri is part of MVP’s Management Team as the Director of Recordkeeping. She ensures all our recordkeeping is running smoothly and is always developing new, innovative ways our systems can better support our clients. You can find her working on everything from our Participant and Plan Sponsor websites to creating participant statements and employer reporting to ensure every plan has been implemented and adjusted consistently. She obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Middle Tennessee State University. Sheri prefers beaches over mountains, being on the lake with her family, and competing in a multitude of races from 5ks to triathlons. When she’s not competing, Sheri is daydreaming about Australia, eating Bojangles or practicing some dance moves from Dirty Dancing. If she could pick anyone to have dinner with, she’d love to chat with George W. Bush over a few glasses of wine.

Director of Compliance

Bev Davis, QPA, QKA

Bev joined the MVP family in 2007 all the way from Maryland. She is in charge of our Compliance team, which executes all plan testing, employer contribution calculations, and analysis of plan design. Bev coordinates with other MVP teams and focuses on high-level plan design analyses. She has worked in the retirement plan industry for over 15 years, in both recordkeeping and third-party administration. Bev has been an active member of ASPPA since 2001 and has earned both Qualified 401(k) Administrator (QKA) and Qualified Pension Administrator (QPA) credentials. As a Maryland native, she is an avid supporter of the Ravens, Orioles, and Terps! Her long list of travel destinations includes Hawaii, Australia, and Ireland, and that’s just scratching the surface.

Distribution Specialist

Faith McGinnis

Faith has been part of the MVP family for ten years and serves as a Distribution Specialist. She collaborates with other MVP teams to ensure each and every distribution and loan is processed timely, accurately, and compliantly. Faith is happily married and the proud parent of four children who keep her quite busy! Aside from her family life, Faith is dedicated to serving her community. She balances volunteering with the NC Victims Assistance Network, Autism Speaks, and the Autism Society of NC. Faith is happiest with her family at the beach, so it is only natural she would like to travel anywhere that is a warm, tropical, and isolated with fruity drinks, crystal clear water, and delicious seafood. Quite the movie lover, her favorite films are Shaun of the Dead, Secretariat, Fool’s Gold, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Auntie Mame, and Dreamer.

Senior Relationship Manager

Jillian Britt, QKA

Jillian is a Relationship Manager at MVP, working directly with clients to answer questions, assist with plan audits, and communicate all information affecting their plan. She obtained her Business Administration degree from William Peace University and has been in the customer service industry for her entire professional career. She has obtained her certification as a Qualified 401(k) Administrator (QKA) through ASPPA. Jillian fills up her free time with travel and trying new foods from different countries. She would love to meet Anthony Bourdain because they share an appreciation for world travel, exotic foods, and good music. She is also involved with a volunteer-driven charity that focuses on funding research to find cures for children with cancer. One day she’d love to explore and experience Bali’s culture ... with Anthony Bourdain.  

Senior Compliance Analyst

Julie Anderson, QKA

Julie is a member of our Compliance team and is focused on compliance testing. Her critical thinking and attention-to-detail gives our clients the confidence and reassurance that nothing has been overlooked. She has had over 15 years of experience in the retirement plan industry and earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire. She is a member of ASPPA and has obtained her certification as a Qualified 401(k) Administrator (QKA). On the weekends she spends time with her family and friends while exploring the North Carolina coast. She enjoys only the cheesiest of pizzas and the classic movie, Sound of Music.

Recordkeeping Specialist

Brittany MacLaren

As MVP’s Recordkeeping Specialist, Brittany manages daily recordkeeping processes to ensure all plans are in balance and all automated processes are functioning accurately. She creates plans for our system, processes investment changes, and allocates plan fees. She obtained her Business Administration degree from Meredith College with a minor in Human Resource Management and Marketing. While attending Meredith, Brittany enjoyed being a student advisor, studying abroad in Italy and Switzerland, and performing at Cornhuskin’. If Brittany had to choose someone to have dinner with, it would be Candace Cameron Bure. She is inspired by her success as an actress, author, speaker, wife, and mother. She also loves dancing, traveling, her favorite movie How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days, and eating fresh bread and gnocchi.

Senior Relationship Manager

Patricia Lait, QKA

Patricia is part of MVP’s Relationship Manager Team where she utilizes her years of experience in retirement plan administration to complete plan balancing and reconciliations, employer contribution calculations, and helps clients with plan questions. As a native of North Carolina, Patricia attended Hardbarger Business College, but cheers on the NC State Wolfpack. When Patricia’s not at work, she manages the website and blog for her family farm. She shares recipes and encourages their readers to eat locally grown foods. A few of Patricia’s favorite things include chocolate and the classic movie, It’s a Wonderful Life.

Compliance Analyst

Elizabeth “Beth” Damiano

Beth utilizes her administrative and customer service background as MVP’s Compliance Analyst. Her responsibilities include reviewing and importing census data for testing, conducting basic compliance testing on year-end info, compiling valuation packages, and assisting the Compliance Team with special projects. Beth graduated from SUNY at New Paltz with a degree in Business Administration where she studied abroad in Stockholm, Sweden. To escape the cold winters of the Northeast, she moved to the Raleigh area in 2013. Beth has a passion for traveling, swimming, hiking, and will never be found sitting inside on a beautiful day! Guacamole is her food of choice, and she would love to visit Santorini, Greece next, along with a hundred other cities.

Relationship Manager

Jaleh Snell, QKA

Jaleh is an MVP Relationship Manager and helps answer client and advisor questions, manages plan administration, and coordinates with plan auditors to ensure a smooth and successful process. Before working with MVP, Jaleh administered 401(k) and welfare plans with a large accounting firm after receiving her Bachelor of Science degree from Radford University. She is an ASPPA certified Qualified 401(k) Administrator (QKA). If Jaleh could figure out just how to use floo powder, she would travel to Hogwarts. Either that or French Polynesia. One day she would like to meet Phoebe Buffay from the television series, Friends, and ask for the rights to her song, “Smelly Cat.”

Relationship Manager

Aubrey Fouts, QKA

Aubrey is a Relationship Manager specializing in balance-forward plans. Her ten years of experience in plan administration has helped her reconcile and assist plan sponsors/advisors with any plan questions. Aubrey has achieved her Qualified 401(k) Administrator (QKA) through ASPPA. Aubrey would pick the beach over mountains and watermelon over any food item. When not relaxing with a good book and her two dogs, Aubrey enjoys attending concerts with her husband.

Relationship Manager

Laura Retzer

As a Relationship Manager, Laura assists clients with plan audits, communicates important plan updates, and answers questions from plan sponsors and advisors. With over 20 years of experience, she utilizes her technical retirement plan skills as a client relationship manager and her unique perspective of a benefits plan administrator on a global manufacturer level. She is currently applying her expertise toward the ASPPA Qualified 401(k) Administrator (QKA) certification. In Laura’s free time, she is an active volunteer with the Humane Society, loves to be outdoors, and enjoys cake decorating. She would love to accompany Morgan Freeman to dinner and hear about his stories. She finds him incredibly interesting, intellectual, compassionate, and non-judgmental toward others.

Relationship Manager

Denise Gilbert, APA

Denise is an MVP Relationship Manager and has over 15 years of experience working as a retirement plan sponsor and in plan administration. She currently has her Accredited Pension Administrator (APA) credentials from NIPA and enjoys working with her clients/advisors to ensure every plan runs smoothly. She is an alumna of the University of Rhode Island and currently resides in New Hampshire where she supports the Red Sox, Patriots, and Bruins. Denise’s dream vacation has always been relaxing on a beach in Hawaii. If you ask her what’s her favorite food she might reply with, “Chocolate, what else?”

Relationship Manager

Debra Newsome

MVP is proud to announce Debra is in her new role as a Relationship Manager where she will help clients with their questions about the plans, handle year-end work, and coordinate all aspects of service for her caseload. Prior to this role, she trained MVP clients on uploading payroll to our secure site, reviewed and monitored submitted payrolls, and troubleshooted any issues. We believe her 9+ years in the retirement plan administration field will serve her well in this new position, and we look forward to great success for Debra with MVP. Debra prefers beach vacations that involve sushi-eating, loves the movie The Holiday, and would welcome the chance to pick Jackie Kennedy Onassis’s brain about being First Lady and a fashion icon during her time.

Relationship Manager

Karissa Moss

Karissa is serving the MVP Team as a Relationship Manager. In this position, she is handling retirement plan administration and studying to pass her QKA exams and earn her designation. While receiving her degree in Finance at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Karissa interned for a proactive wealth management firm; here she learned how to establish excellent customer relationships as she helped people prepare for retirement and other life changes. Karissa spends her free time cooking and creating innovative dishes, many times from her very own catch of the day. She also enjoys working out and visiting family. She dreams of catching grandeur blue marlin in Australia, trekking through Thailand, and eating her way through Italy.

Payroll Specialist

Michelle Hunzaker

As a Payroll Specialist, Michelle monitors submitted payrolls, troubleshoots issues, trains clients, and assists with questions. Having her Masters in Communications from NC State University, Michelle is now continuing her “retirement plan education” with taking her Retirement Plan Fundamentals exams in order to be even more helpful to clients. Michelle would love to meet Hayao Miyazaki and pick his brain about how his stories came to be. She would also like to travel to Scotland or Japan (during the Cherry Blossom Festival) and is a lover of chocolate, the beach, and the movie Remember the Titans.

Distribution Specialist

Emelie Nichols

Emelie joined our MVP family as a Distribution Specialist and works closely with teammate Faith McGinnis. As a team, they answer questions about rollovers, loans, distributions, and ensure every distribution is processed timely and accurately. A graduate from Rochester Institute of Technology in Communication, Emelie is putting her study skills to use as she is taking the Retirement Plan Fundamentals exams, allowing her to expand her knowledge and become more awesome for our clients. Even though she left the Northeast, Emelie loves to travel to Buffalo to see her little nephews and family whenever she can, and she hopes to make a trip to Africa soon. A perfect quiet day for her would be binge-watching all of the Harry Potter movies while indulging in pizza, wings & ice cream. Emelie also loves football, and, faithful to the end, she has been and will always be a Buffalo Bills fan.

Front Office Manager

Tara Tipton

As the Front Office Manager, Tara is first to greet callers and visitors to guide them to the answers they seek. Utilizing her almost 12 years’ of administrative experience, she helps the Firm Administrator run office operations so all MVPers can meet the high quality service standards we are proud to uphold. Tara loves spending time with her husband and fur-babies, and her ultimate travel destination would be Disneyland Paris; they LOVE Disney! Life would be meaningless without pickles for Tara, and in her free time, you might find Tara watching Hocus Pocus or The Matrix. If Tara had the chance to have dinner with anyone, she would choose Michael Scott from The Office because it would be hilariously fun!