A Steady Hand and a Little Magic
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: Premier Planning Group
Brion Harris has grown Premier Planning Group into a trusted, family-run financial firm, with a magician’s flair all his own.
When Brion Harris was asked to speak at career day at his daughter’s West Annapolis school, he was a little nervous. A financial advisor is not exactly a third grader’s idea of a hero, and the competition that morning was stiff: a police officer on horseback, a karate instructor breaking boards, a chef handing out treats. So Brion taught himself a few magic tricks, coin tricks and dollar-bill tricks, at least something that tied back to his line of work. When the kids picked their favorites, 18 of the 24 chose him.
That was the day he understood the quiet power of a little magic. That instinct, to be a bit more memorable than the job title suggests, runs through everything Brion does. He is the CEO and founder of Premier Planning Group, a financial advisor who manages money directly for clients and leads a team of 18 from an office with, by his own cheerful account, the best address in town.
“I sort of joke that I can’t fire anybody at Thanksgiving, or it would be awkward.”
A family business, second generation
Premier Planning Group is independently owned, family run, and now in its second generation. Brion’s father spent 44 years in the business before Brion took over the practice; Brion himself is 26 years in. Walk the halls and the family tree is hard to miss: his older brother is the CFO, his younger brother heads financial planning, his brother’s wife is the office manager, and his 84-year-old mother-in-law is the director of first impressions.
About half the team is family and half is not, and people tend to stay for the long haul; his longest-tenured colleague has been with him for 25 years. Under Brion’s watch the firm has grown to a billion dollars in assets under management and built and owns its own headquarters, a milestone his father never imagined. The culture, in his words, is simple: “Clients com first, work hard, play hard, and have fun.”
The mindset that changed everything
Ask Brion about his turning points and he comes back to the people who believe in him. His father set the tone early, raising his kids to think anything was possible. Later, an executive at one of his broker dealers saw something in him and offered to pay for a coaching program he was hesitating over. Brion joined Ron Carson’s program as roughly its 45th member and stayed for 20 years, surrounded by some of the highest- grossing advisors in the country. He credits it with accelerating his trajectory by a decade.
The through line is a belief he keeps close.
“Growth results from the willingness to go through periods of fear and discomfort and uncertainty to reach a higher level of normal.”
Left to their instincts, he says, most people seek safety over opportunity. Entrepreneurs are wired for the opposite, and being around them is what energizes him.
One family at a time
A few years ago, nudged by his wife’s observation that they weren’t giving enough, Brion started his own charity. Rather than send money into a large organization and wonder how much reached the people it was meant for, he kept it local and personal. Each year the charity finds a family on the verge of losing their home and pays their mortgage. The first year it was one family; the next, two; the year after, three. He takes nothing from it, so every dollar raised goes to the families, and when his clients heard about it, they wanted in. Five years running, it keeps getting bigger.
Bridge Over Troubled Water
Ask Brion what his business would be if it were a song, and he doesn’t hesitate: Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” In his work, he says, “It’s about staying steady. It’s about providing support, protection, reassurance,” especially when the markets, and clients’ nerves, get choppy. That steadiness pairs with a genuinely creative streak. Brion taught himself piano, plays guitar, sings, and rarely passes a public piano without sitting down; a habit that once drew a crowd of 20 phone-wielding strangers at an airport in the south of France. He is also quick to adopt new tools, leaning on AI every day to capture the details of client meetings so nothing slips through. The magic, the music, the technology: he treats it all as the same muscle.
The right-brain wiring, he believes, is exactly what sets his practice apart. “My true self is very, very creative,” he says, “and I think that’s what’s made my practice unique and special.” In an industry full of left-brain thinkers, that is a difference he is happy to lean into.
Find Premier Planning Group
Brion Harris, CEO & Founder • Financial Advisor
101 Annapolis Street, Annapolis, MD 21401 • Office hours Monday to Friday, 9 to 5
To reach Brion, ask for his executive assistant, Talia, who manages his calendar.
Learn more at www.premierplanninggroup.com
