Ryan Nelson is a next-generation advisor who chose to build rather than wait. Under 10 years into the profession, he left a large firm and, in five years, grew his own independent, fee-only RIA — Alchemy Wealth Management in Reno, Nevada — from zero to 218 clients, with revenue up over 13-fold since 2021 and growth driven almost entirely by client referrals. What makes him a rising star is how he got there. As a former mechanical engineer, he built an AI operating layer that clears the administrative load off a two-person firm, then poured the freed capacity into the planning work itself, including multi-year Roth strategies projected to save some clients six figures in lifetime tax. He's also an author and weekly podcast host who gives his financial education away free