Integrity is the Foundation of Who We Are

Marissa D. Nehlsen

Chief Executive Officer, Financial Professional

Nick Mock

Chief Operations Officer, Financial Professional

Nick Mock grew up in a family owned business, watching his dad and grandfather navigate generational leadership and legacy planning.

They taught him lessons about saving, investing and hard work. Nick was blessed to have two wonderful role models teach him about business and finance. He soon realized he had a real niche for finance and focused all of his education on it. After graduating high school in Minot, North Dakota, he attended the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, and graduated with a bachelors in finance. Shortly after graduating, in 2009 he returned to Minot to start his career. First, as an intern with Freedom Financial Group, and then working himself through the ranks in 2018 to his current role as chief operations officer and advanced planning team lead.

Today he is an essential member of the Freedom Financial Group team - a dependable and devoted sounding board for his clients as well as his fellow colleagues. He has drive to help impact those around him in every aspect of their financial planning. His common sense approach to designing your ideal plan and maximizing strategies for tax, legal, risk and wealth management have earned him the respect and gratitude from all who know him.

As a partner in Freedom Financial Group, Nick's professional and personal goals are the same… To build lasting relationships with his clients to educate, empower, and equip those around him.

Outside the walls of Freedom Financial Group, Nick is a devoted husband and father. As a dad, Nick enjoys coaching their sports teams and loves every minute of watching them grow and develop. Nick understands the beauty and hard work that comes with raising two young boys in a family owned business. Nick and his wife Ashley are modeling values based leadership in their community, businesses and home. Nick looks forward to getting to know you your goals and helping you build your freedom plan.

Troy Mantz

Financial Professional

Troy is a dedicated advisor that helps our clients not only achieve their financial goals, but also enjoy the ride while they plan for their financial future. Whether you have met with him before or not, he will have you leaving our office with a smile and a coordinated plan to tackle even the largest of obstacles.

Troy graduated from Minot State University with a Business Management degree in the mid-80s. Prior to joining our team in early 2015, Troy spent 28 years working as a sales representative in Minot. Troy holds his Securities Licenses (Series 63,65 and 7) along with his Insurance Producer Licenses. He is a vital part of our team and is always willing to lend a helping hand.

When Troy isn’t at work, he enjoys spending quality time with his wife Sue and two boys Garret and Clay. They often spend their weekends making memories traveling or at the lake riding jet-skis until they run out of gas.

Troy has always said that he would never recommend anything for clients that he would not do himself. While building a Comprehensive Retirement plan, he treats our clients as if they were his own family. You will see what makes us different in that we don’t take a Cookie cutter approach to our Planning and every clients plan is different and done so that is both understandable and attainable. Come on in and see what we have to offer.

Meggan Urban

Financial Professional

As a dedicated Advisor, with a fondness for building relationships with those she works with, Meggan works hard to make sure you feel heard. Through experience and growth, Meggan has become a passionate Financial Professional, who goes the extra mile making sure no stone gets left unturned when it comes to your financial planning process. Meggan strives to continue the relationship after the initial planning is complete. She calls these “warm fuzzy" relationships. As you go through changes in your life, you know that you have a qualified and reliable thinking partner on your side at whatever stage you are in.

From Minot, ND Meggan has always needed to understand the value of a dollar. Stepping into the financial planning world by chance, Meggan is constantly willing to learn more! You will work well with Meggan if you believe a penny saved is a penny earned, but a penny leveraged is a penny gained. Meggan joined the Freedom Financial Group team in 2014 as an intern through Minot State University and has had several roles throughout her time but feels most comfortable building financial confidence within families!

In her free time, Meggan enjoys getting her hands dirty in the garden. She’s an advocate for the benefits of a yoga practice but also encourages Pizza Friday.

Mandy Gartner

Office Administrator

Since 2021, Mandy has been an integral part of your Freedom Financial Group Team. She lightens office morale with pictures of her Boston Terrier, Huckleberry, Huck for short. Mandy is actively involved in creating innovative solutions for ever-changing challenges involved with financial planning. Mandy’s extensive knowledge of application types, complex annuity contracts, and lengthy insurance processes provides peace of mind when working through implementation with our team. Mandy works closely with each member of the FFG team, wealth strategies partners, our insurance brokerage house, and annuity companies to ensure that all I’s get dotted and T’s crossed. Mandy makes working with the Freedom Financial Group team a smooth and seamless process from start to finish. No transfers are complete, account established, or distribution finalized without going through Mandy’s department. Mandy enjoys Freedom Financial’s team approach for providing hope and creating strategies to accomplish client goals. The team values Mandy’s knowledge and integrity that she shows through her work. Everyone enjoys Mandy’s bakery-worthy treats that she brings to the office! Mandy makes a difference each day in the lives of our clients; she treats everyone with kindness and respect as we find solutions together.

Jay Caldwell

Financial Professional

An accomplished leader with 17 years of experience, Jay Caldwell is an award-winning financial advisor whose dedication and drive brings a unique perspective to help clients achieve their loftiest goals. Jay works with clients to create a comprehensive financial plan to better manage their money, making adjustments to bring optimal growth.

Operating as a “thinking partner”, Jay communicates every step of the process and is always a phone call away to address any questions clients may have. With his client-first mentality, Jay will always have your best interest at heart, working with you to build a better future.

Growing up, Jay was inspired to pursue a career in finance by his great-grandfather, who served on the Federal Reserve board, along with several relatives in financial services. Jay went on to graduate from DePauw University with degrees in both economics and communications. He currently holds his Series 7, Series 66, and Insurance Provider licenses. Post college, Jay held many successful positions working at Transamerica, Curian Capital, and later, at his own independent financial advising practice. In 2018, Jay joined the Freedom Financial Group team when, after years of doing things all on his own, he realized that it’s impossible to be all things to all people

and a team perspective is the most beneficial for clients.

When he’s not busy with work, Jay focuses on being a husband and a father. Jay and his wife, Alli, work as a team in raising their two young daughters, Reese & Piper. For fun, Jay enjoys exercising, golfing, and traveling with his family.

Adam Melom

Financial Professional

Arianne Ehlis

Administrative Assistant

“Throw kindness around like confetti!”



Upon entering Freedom Financial Group Bismarck, you’ll be greeted by the friendly face of Ari Ehlis. Known for her bubbly personality and strong work ethic, Ari is someone who enjoys getting clients the help they need. Working alongside our financial professionals, Ari assists in activities including (but not limited to) scheduling, data input, and helping prepare documents. A true people person, Ari is always there to provide a helping hand with anything clients may need.

Born and raised in North Dakota, Ari deeply loves her community. She is passionate about serving not only those who are involved with Freedom Financial Group but also those who need a helping hand.

Ari joined our Freedom Financial Group team in 2020 and continues to bring smiles and laughter to our FFG family daily. When she is not playing in her competitive Corn Hole League, you’ll find her and her husband, Adam, outside enjoying their two dogs – Thea and Reacher - or elbow-deep in their gardens!

Carl Wallin

Financial Professional

Carl Wallin began his journey of partnering with clients to help them set and achieve their goals back in 2013.

During these five years, he discovered some universal keys to achieving the results you want in your life. He consistently helped individuals find their way, overcome obstacles, setbacks and create adaptive plans. This helped ensure ongoing success with their life, health, and fitness goals.

His passion to serve clients evolved into financial planning in 2018. Carl knew he could help people create a holistic plan, so he joined Freedom Financial Group. He now helps take the complicated world of finance and make it simple for our clients.

By optimizing the Core Four for tax, legal, risk, and wealth Carl’s clients are able to prepare versus repair. He is passionate about helping families, business owners, and retirees create a plan of prosperity for them, and future generations.

Linda Panchot

Operations Manager

Linda Panchot is the voice often heard when calling Freedom Financial Group Jamestown, and she serves in a more behind-the-scenes role for our Bismarck office. She’s a caring and hard-working personality whose main goal is to serve clients and their unique situations. Finance can be confusing, so it’s her mission to make financial matters run as smoothly as possible for clients and our office. This may involve preparing documentation, conducting a call, or just listening to the client’s concerns. For her, every client is a top priority and is seen as a real person, not just a business opportunity.

Raised in Marion, ND on a small family farm, she was taught the importance and impact of hard work and helping others. After our Jamestown team joined Freedom Financial Group in 2019, she has come to truly appreciate the value of using a team to offer a holistic planning approach instead of narrowly focusing on a specific financial need.

A rural and family girl at heart, she loves spending her time with her husband and four growing

daughters on a little farm and enjoys gardening, cheering for local high school teams, connecting with

the community, and serving through church and Camp Good News.

Dave Falk

Financial Professional

David Falk has been serving clients from the Jamestown area and beyond since 1980. He thrives on building relationships and friendships with his clients and multiple generations of their families. If you need to know who is related to whom, he is your guy. Dave was an Equitable/AXA agent for 35 years before venturing into the world of being an independent financial professional – allowing him the opportunity to better customize products and services to meet his clients’ unique needs. He joined the Freedom Financial Group team in 2019 so he and his clients could benefit from a locally-based true team approach for their financial and family legacies. When Dave is not in the office, you’ll likely find his wife and him court or field side enjoying his grandchildren’s many sporting events.