Our People

Dharmesh Goel is the president and founder of Glen Oak Financial, Inc.  For nearly 15 years he has been a successful financial services professional with New York Life, one of the largest life insurers in the world and a company that consistently receives the highest ratings for financial strength from each of the four major ratings agencies^*.

Mr. Goel was born in India. He was raised in a typical middle class family that had enough money for basic necessities like food, clothing and education but not for many vacations, toys or parties.  As a young man he was taught the value of money by his grandfather, who felt the best way to learn anything was to do it yourself. So at the tender age of 15 his grandfather had Dharmesh manage his entire investment portfolio.

“He always taught me not to invest with the goal of making a quick return, but rather invest with discipline, patience and always plan for the long-term future,” said Goel.  In alignment with that philosophy, grandpa Vishnu purchased a lot of life insurance for all of his grandchildren to ensure that down the road they would all have guaranteed life coverage.

After working for companies in India including Hallmark and Unicef, in 2000 Mr. Goel moved to the United States with the goal of pursuing the American dream.  That journey began by earning his MBA from the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut, followed by spending three years in the finance department at the world headquarters for Pitney Bowes.

In 2003 Dharmesh’s life would be positively impacted forever.  That is when he met his beautiful wife, who is a high school English teacher. His new father-in-law, Amrit Mittal (who has been in the insurance, investments and finance industry for more than 45 years) convinced Dharmesh to leave Pitney Bowes, move to Chicago and re-engage his life-long passion of helping people with their financial planning and wealth management. 

“I feel extremely fortunate to work in the industry I have loved my entire life, and even more blessed to have the trust and confidence of clients who care about their family’s future and understand they can benefit from the guidance and planning of a professional”, said Goel.

Dharmesh’s parents always wanted him to become a doctor but he had a passion for business and finance.  Ironically, today Glen Oak Financial, Inc., specializes in two categories of clientele: Physicians and Business Owners.

*New York Life has received the highest financial strength ratings currently awarded to any life insurer by Standard & Poor’s (AA+); A.M. Best (A++); Moody’s (Aaa); and Fitch (AAA).  Source: Individual Third Party Ratings Reports as of 1/26/21.

Shannon has been with the Glen Oak team since 2019. She manages the day-to-day operations of the office and works with Dharmesh’s clients to provide their servicing needs in a timely manner.

Shannon has an associates degree from the College of DuPage and has several years of customer service and entrepreneurial experience. She previously ran her own website on the history of adornment as well as an Etsy shop with crafts and jewelry. She was also the director of a local hardwood flooring company before joining our team to help serve the needs of our clients.

In her free time, Shannon enjoys reading, diving into hobbies, hiking with her dog, camping, macro photography, self-teaching on the piano and ukulele, simply getting together with friends and family.