Gabbi Cerezo is educating educators about financial empowerment

This profile highlights one of Financial Planning's 2026 Rising Stars honorees. See the profiles of all the winners here, and check out our award winners from 2025, 2024 and 2023.

Education and finance are two of Gabbi Cerezo's career cornerstones, and for good reason. The daughter of teacher parents with an interest in economics, she became a de facto financial sleuth at a young age after a product in her mother's 403(b) investment portfolio proved less than desirable.

"She was in this high fee, fixed index annuity, or something like that," said Cerezo. "It hadn't grown in years."

Cerezo said this realization evolved into something bigger.

"I was so angry on behalf of my mom that someone had gone into her school, signed her up for this investment and probably told her it was great," she said. "I started to feel like I could probably help people with this."

Career-wise, Cerezo didn't go straight into financial planning. Instead, she followed her parents' footsteps into education, where she taught at the middle school level. 

"My mom was really disappointed that I became a teacher because she knows it's a really hard job," she said. "You don't get paid enough, and it's a lot of stress."

READ MORE: See all of Financial Planning's 2026 Rising Stars

The idea of eventually pivoting to something more finance-related stuck with her until her circumstances changed. Her school experienced a decline in enrollment, which led to job insecurity. Around that same time, she was listening to the podcast "Teach and Retire Rich," which has a CFP co-host. Cerezo realized there was more to the financial advisor track than met the eye.

Getting certified to give quality financial advice appealed to her greatly, and after networking and doing some soul-searching, she decided to make the switch and become a financial advisor. 

Cerezo took her time, working at several firms before ultimately settling into her current role at Sustain Financial, which is run by former high school math teacher Lori DeFoor. After learning about Lori and the firm, "I emailed her once a year and [offered to work for free]," she said. DeFoor declined the offer of free labor, but in 2024, the firm had an opening, and Cerezo made for the perfect fit.

Her client base consists of educators and government employees whose investments and retirement plans tend to be more complex, she said. Demystifying how they work and what affects them lets Cerezo wear her teacher hat while helping clients see and understand their financial futures more clearly. 

"I think teachers are the best people to work with," she said. "They're so nice, and they always do their homework."

To broaden her horizons and reach, Cerezo also launched the TikTok account "Teachers Deserve Money" this past spring. There, she educates and entertains her target audience of teachers about financial concepts such as pensions and retirement. Never one to shy away from her teacher background, Cerezo demonstrates how finance works using analogies that incorporate students or classrooms. 

"It's been helpful to have a shortcut," she said. "I don't have to go into technical details; [clients] just need to know the big picture."

Jennifer Ponshock is a client who found Cerezo on TikTok. She finds Cerezo's in-depth understanding of teacher finance both helpful and refreshing. 

"It was like talking to my teacher bestie across the hall," Ponshock said of their time together.

And perhaps fittingly, Cerezo's most popular TikTok post to date, with nearly 100,000 views and counting, is about avoiding scams — a full-circle nod to what got her into the industry in the first place.