Our Team
Team Member Name
Team Title
404.555.1212
Amy Forrestal
Amy joined Brookwood in 2002. At Brookwood, she focuses on Mergers and Acquisitions as well as private capital raising for middle market consumer companies. Prior to joining Brookwood, Amy was a Managing Director in Banc of America Securities’ Mergers and Acquisitions group. Over her 15 years spent at Banc of America Securities and predecessor organizations including NationsBanc Montgomery Securities, she advised senior management teams, boards of directors and business owners in a variety of strategic and financial transactions including: acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, exclusive sales, divestitures, ESOPs, public equity and debt offerings and private equity and debt placements.
She has over 30 years of experience advising companies across a broad range of industries but primarily focuses on multi unit consumer facing businesses and franchise businesses. Over the past 25 years, she has developed specific expertise in the restaurant industry working with both restaurant concepts, franchisors and franchisees on numerous assignments. She was named one of 25 top women in Mid-Market M&A by Mergers and Acquisition magazine in 2015 and 2016.
She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude with a double major in mathematics and economics from Duke University.
She lives in Atlanta with her husband and has three grown children and two precious Labradoodles. She is also an active community volunteer and on the board of Sandy Springs Society, a group which raises money to improve the quality of life for the residents of Sandy Springs, GA. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, cooking, spending time at the lake, hiking, and following the Duke Blue Devils.
Anish Gandhi
Anish has over 20 years of experience providing financial and strategic advisory services to senior management teams, boards of directors and shareholders of public and private companies. These services include but are not limited to exclusive sale assignments, acquisitions, divestitures, public debt and equity offerings, private debt and equity placements, as well as various other strategic advisory engagements.
Since joining Brookwood in 2011, his specific focus and expertise lies in serving middle market companies in the Consumer & Retail sector, including the restaurant, retail, food and beverage, health & wellness and active living industries. Over the years, Anish has accumulated a great breadth of experience working with franchised companies (both franchisors and multi-unit franchisees).
He enjoys working with emerging and established companies in helping them think through a broad range of strategic alternatives and has developed a keen ability to communicate complex financial and legal terms and structures into simple business terms.
Prior to joining Brookwood, Anish served as a Vice President with Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York focusing on mergers and acquisitions and capital raising for large-cap public companies within the Global Metals & Mining industry. Additional industry experience includes energy, paper and packaging and industrial distribution and services.
He earned a Bachelors in Business Administration from Emory University where he concentrated in finance and international business. As a native to Atlanta, he enjoys living here with his wife and two children, ages 11 and 9. When not busy working or shuffling between activities, he loves to travel, explore new places and new cuisines.
Justin Geeza
Justin joined Brookwood in 2023 to focus on the Consumer, Hospitality & Retail sectors after spending the prior 6 years working with public and private companies, founders, and investors on domestic and international M&A in the middle market. His previous sector focus areas include Business Services, Consumer / Retail, FinTech, Security, SupplyTech, and Technology / SaaS.
He earned his bachelor’s degree from Rhodes College in 2017 with a double major in Economics and Business with a concentration in Finance. He is an Atlanta native and enjoys traveling, visiting new restaurants, and spending time outdoors.
Hampton Graham
Since joining Brookwood in 2014, Hampton has advised lower middle market family- and founder-owned and sponsor-backed companies with strategic and financial advisory services, including sell-side and buy-side M&A and private capital raises. Over his career, he has led deal execution on over 30 transactions totaling over $1.2 billion in transaction value. His specific sector focus includes industrial services, business services, distribution, and healthcare. He also has extensive experience advising international companies on U.S. buy-side acquisition strategies.
Prior to Brookwood, Hampton was an Analyst at Tobin & Company in the Charlotte office, where he focused on lower middle-market sell-side, buy-side, and financing engagements in a variety of industries.
He earned his Bachelors of Science degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from the College of Charleston.
He lives in Buckhead and is an active member of the Association for Corporate Growth, Southern Capital Forum, and Atlanta Alternative Investment Group. In his spare time, he enjoys exploring the food scene in Atlanta, playing golf, traveling, and spending time with friends and family.
Corey Hays
Corey joined Brookwood in 2022. Prior to Brookwood, he interned with the Audit team at Aprio.
He graduated from Georgia College & State University with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting.
Aleks Huryn
Aleks joined Brookwood Associates in 2022. Prior to Brookwood, he interned with the Asset Based Lending team at Truist Financial Corporation and with Heritage Growth Partners, an Atlanta-based family office.
He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a concentration in Finance.
Luke Miller
Luke joined Brookwood Associates in 2022. Prior to Brookwood, he interned with Bravaldo Capital Advisors, an Atlanta-based M&A advisory firm.
He graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a concentration in Finance.
Amy Rarick
Amy has been in the finance and non-profit industries for over 25 years. She has worked in both boutique and Fortune 200 companies utilizing administrative and detail coordinating skills.
She graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University with a degree in Public Administration and a concentration in Politics.
She lives in East Cobb with her husband and needy black lab, Riggs, and are the proud parents of two grown children. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling and spending time with her friends and family.
Amanda Spence
Amanda joined Brookwood as Controller in 2018. Previously, she worked as an auditor for Ernst & Young, a tax accountant for Gifford, Hillegass and Ingwersen and in both audit and tax for Arthur Andersen.
She earned a Masters of Accounting degree from Florida State University and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting degree magna cum laude from Florida State University.
She lives in Marietta with her husband and golden retriever and has three grown children. She enjoys spending time with family and friends and taking long walks.
Smith Wheeler
Smith joined Brookwood in 2023. Prior to Brookwood, he interned with Costal Wealth Management in their Charleston office.
He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Finance with a minor in Business Administration from the College of Charleston. He also serves as the President-Elect on Darlington School’s Young Alumni Council.
Robert Winborne
When Rob founded Brookwood, he saw an opportunity to address a market that was not adequately served by the major Wall Street firms – providing exceptional investment banking service to middle market companies. Prior to founding Brookwood, he was a Vice President in Goldman Sachs & Co.’s investment banking group in New York. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, he worked in the investment banking group at Kidder, Peabody & Co.
Rob serves as a trusted advisor to management teams, boards of directors and business owners on a variety of transactions, including exclusive sales, divestitures, acquisitions, recapitalizations, financings and bankruptcies. He also has experience in fairness opinions, in representing special committees dealing with complex corporate transactions, and in representing foreign buyers in making acquisitions in the U.S.
He is an active board of directors member for private companies and non-profits. Rob serves or has served as director of private companies such as: Vectorply Corporation, a manufacturer of highly-engineered composite products; Incident IQ, the leading provider of service management SaaS software to the K-12 school market); Crom Corporation, a specialty service provider to the water infrastructure industry; Atlantic Investment Company, a family-controlled investment firm; and a family office focused on real estate and natural resources investments. Rob also serves as a director of non-profits: Emory Saint Joseph’s Inc. (hospitals); and Saint Joseph’s Health System/Mercy Care (medical care for the poor and homeless); SteerSmart (safe driving education); and MARR (addiction recover services).
He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina and the Harvard Business School. Rob and his wife Lauren live in Atlanta and are the proud parents of six grown children.