Jason Miller joined Berman Hopkins in 2024 as the Director of Succession Planning, bringing more than 21 years of experience in banking and finance. In 2025, he became Partner of Succession Planning. He has worked with businesses of all sizes, from sole proprietors to publicly traded companies. Jason offers strategic guidance and tailored solutions to ensure ESOP companies have seamless leadership transitions, business continuity, and effective tax planning for owners and stakeholders throughout the succession process.

Since joining Berman Hopkins in 2024 as an Audit Manager, Makenzie Wirth has quickly proven herself as a valuable asset to the firm while making meaningful contributions to both the profession and her community. She now serves as a Senior Advisory and Succession Planning Manager. With over five years of public accounting experience, her natural talent for understanding and communicating complex financial information, coupled with her excellent client interactions, has resulted in successful advisory and succession planning engagements for the firm. 

Phillip Hayes’ career launched in the early ’90s in commercial banking with SunTrust Bank – (Now “Truist”) and then Huntington Bank, managing all aspects of underwriting and commercial lending. Working in multiple industries, he gained a solid understanding of finance as he transitioned into Berman Hopkins CPAs & Associates in 2000. After completing his Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA) designation, he merged his finance and succession work into the ESOP practice and has taken it to the national market. In 2020, he launched "The ESOP Guy" podcast (journeytoanesop.com), which explains the process of the ESOP transaction from a business owner’s perspective. The podcast aims to educate business owners and management team members expressing an interest in ESOPs as a growth strategy, succession strategy, and/or exit plan. Phillip illuminates the simplicity of ESOPs as he debunks common misconceptions.