Michelle Winkles MBA

Partner and Chief Marketing Officer

Based in Santa Barbara, Michelle connects brand, digital strategy, business development, and authentic storytelling to help Mission Wealth build trust, expand nationally, and strengthen the experience before and throughout the client relationship.

Ways to Connect

In-person visits
Video Meetings
Phone Meetings

Request an introduction

How Michelle Sets Mission Wealth Apart

Connects brand, digital strategy, and business development
Builds trust through useful content and authentic storytelling
Uses data and technology to expand Mission Wealth’s reach
Aligns growth across client, advisor, and merger audiences

What Michelle is Proud to Help Build

A modern marketing and business-development ecosystem
Stronger national brand visibility
Greater advisor visibility and thought leadership
Growth that preserves Mission Wealth’s human culture

Michelle Winkles is an innovative marketing leader with more than 20 years of experience helping organizations grow through strategic marketing, brand development, digital transformation, and AI-forward innovation. As Partner and Chief Marketing Officer at Mission Wealth, she leads the firm’s enterprise marketing strategy, supporting both organic and integration-driven growth while expanding the company’s national reach.

Michelle is known for building modern marketing organizations that combine data-driven insights, emerging technologies, and authentic storytelling to create meaningful client experiences. She has developed a sophisticated marketing technology ecosystem that strengthens brand visibility, improves engagement, and helps transform prospects into long-term client relationships. Today, she is leading Mission Wealth’s AI-forward marketing initiatives, integrating artificial intelligence across content strategy, advisor enablement, digital experiences, and marketing operations to drive scalable growth while keeping the human connection at the center.

Passionate about advancing the marketing profession within wealth management, Michelle is the co-founder of the CMO Collective, the RIA industry’s first peer community dedicated to bringing marketing leaders together to share ideas, challenge one another, and elevate the profession. She also hosts a monthly virtual Marketing Leaders Meetup, where chief marketing officers and senior marketing executives from leading wealth management firms collaborate on emerging trends, best practices, and the industry’s future. In addition, she authors The State of Wealth Management Marketing, a thought leadership series highlighting the evolving strategies, technologies, and conversations shaping the next generation of marketing in the RIA space.

A respected voice in the industry, Michelle is frequently invited to speak at national conferences, participate in executive leadership panels, and join podcasts focused on AI, growth strategy, digital transformation, advisor enablement, and innovation in wealth management.

Michelle’s leadership has earned national recognition. She was named RIA Chief Marketing Officer of the Year at the WealthManagement.com Industry Awards and has been honored by the Pacific Coast Business Times as both a Top Woman in Business and a 40 Under 40 recipient.

She holds a Master of Business Administration degree in Entrepreneurship, Strategic Management, and Nonprofit Social Business from Antioch University, Santa Barbara.

Great marketing is not just about reaching people; it's about connecting with them, building trust, and creating opportunities that drive growth.

—Michelle Winkles, Partner and Chief Marketing Officer

Professional Background

Michelle Winkles has built her career by helping organizations grow through strategic marketing, innovation, and transformational leadership. Before joining Mission Wealth, she spent more than a decade leading marketing initiatives for a national real estate and property management software company, where she helped build and scale the organization’s marketing function while supporting product launches, customer engagement, and business growth. She later joined a fast-growing e-commerce shipping automation startup, where she contributed to product marketing and demand generation initiatives in a dynamic, high-growth environment.

These diverse experiences shaped Michelle’s approach to modern marketing—combining brand strategy, digital innovation, data-driven decision-making, and emerging technologies to accelerate growth. Today, she applies that perspective to the wealth management industry, leading enterprise marketing strategy, AI-forward initiatives, advisor enablement, and client acquisition programs that support Mission Wealth’s continued national expansion.

Michelle earned her Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She later completed the Marketing Professional Certificate program through UCSB Extension before earning her Master of Business Administration from Antioch University Santa Barbara, with concentrations in Entrepreneurship, Strategic Management, and Social Business. She graduated at the top of her class and received the university’s Certificate of Excellence.

Community Impact

Michelle believes that strong communities are built through service, mentorship, and investing in the next generation. She previously served for several years as a member of CALM (Child Abuse Listening Mediation), supporting the organization’s mission to prevent childhood trauma, strengthen families, and build resilient communities throughout Santa Barbara County.

Michelle is also passionate about creating community within the RIA marketing industry. She co-founded the CMO Collective with Intention.ly in 2024 to bring RIA marketing leaders together for deeper conversation, connection, and shared learning. Building on that work, in 2026 she started her own RIA Marketing Leader Meetup, an open forum for marketing leaders to discuss the complexities of RIA marketing, share what keeps them up at night, and explore the evolving state of marketing across the industry. She has also joined the JOLT Steering Committee for the 2027 JOLT Remix Marketing Conference, helping support meaningful conversations and education for RIA marketing professionals.

Locally, Michelle is passionate about supporting youth sports and education in her community. Outside of work, you’ll often find her on the football or baseball fields serving as a team mom, volunteering, and helping organize fundraising efforts for local schools and youth athletic programs. She believes these experiences help create opportunities for children to grow in confidence, teamwork, and leadership, both on and off the field.

Awards

Chief Marketing Officer of the Year Finalist

2026 ThinkAdvisor Luminaries Awards
Chief Marketing Officer of the Year

The Wealthmanagement.com Industry Awards (“The Wealthies”)
Top 50 Women in Business

The Pacific Coast Business Times
Top 40 Under 40

The Pacific Coast Business Times

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*for award disclosures and methodology, visit awards & rankings

Media & Speaking Engagements

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A diverse group of professionals poses together in a welcoming space with a "Pour your HEART out" sign in the background.

Group of seven friends pose in front of the reflective Cloud Gate sculpture in Chicago's Millennium Park.

A smiling woman in a blue dress holds an award at the 2025 Wealth Management Industry Awards event.

Family portrait of Michelle Winkles with her two children and husband, set against a scenic tree backdrop.

A woman in a floral dress and sunhat stands beside a colorful backdrop that reads "I AM AI READY."

Awards

Chief Marketing Officer of the Year Finalist

2026 ThinkAdvisor Luminaries Awards
Chief Marketing Officer of the Year

The Wealthmanagement.com Industry Awards (“The Wealthies”)
Top 50 Women in Business

The Pacific Coast Business Times
Top 40 Under 40

The Pacific Coast Business Times