Elijah Essa, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, joined the firm in 2017 after graduating from Western Kentucky University’s Personal Financial Planning program. He provides comprehensive financial advice for clients of all ages and is particularly inclined to advise young professionals like himself.
While at WKU, Elijah served as one of the financial counselors for the Center for Financial Success, a university resource dedicated to aiding the local community by providing peer-to-peer counseling and financial education. He graduated Summa Cum Laude and was named both Outstanding Graduating Senior and Outstanding Senior in Financial Planning by the Gordon Ford College of Business. After graduation, Elijah participated in the Disney College Program in Orlando, FL before moving back to his hometown of Louisville to work at Coats Financial Planning.
Elijah’s favorite part about being a financial planner is studying, distilling, and communicating complex planning topics to clients. He especially enjoys the teaching aspect of being a planner, particularly in a one-on-one environment. He values deep relationships with his clients, always willing to listen and learn. He believes exceptional client service is the cornerstone of financial planning. He is an advocate for fee-only planning and often takes the opportunity to explain how vastly different it is from the other side of the industry.
Elijah currently helps other young advisors get started in the profession by serving as the Membership Coordinator and Incoming Chair on the Genesis Leadership Committee for the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA). He also reviews scholarship applications for the CFP Board Center for Financial Planning, which provides assistance to qualified candidates for the CFP® exam.
Elijah was named a Rising Star by Financial Planning magazine as a part of their inaugural national list of ten planners in 2021. He graduated in December of 2022 with a master's degree in Personal Financial Planning from Kansas State University. In addition to his role at Coats Financial Planning, he currently teaches part time as an adjunct professor in Western Kentucky University's CFP® - registered program, and serves on the Board of Directors of the non-profit Washington Mutual Fire Insurance Association.
Elijah resides in Louisville with his wife, Sarah and dogs, Landon and Korra. Aside from financial planning, Elijah enjoys listening to and producing music, walking the dogs, traveling, playing video games, and spending time with friends and family.