John Burrell

For John Burrell, financial planning has a lot in common with coaching: understand where someone wants to go, develop a strategy to get there, and stay alongside them as circumstances change.

Before entering financial services, John spent more than two decades coaching college football, including ten years as a head coach. That experience shaped an approach he still brings to his work today—listen first, establish clear goals, build a thoughtful strategy, and help people follow through.

John entered the financial services profession in 2015 and founded Top Flight Financial and Insurance Services in 2024. Today, he works with individuals, families, and business owners to help them make confident, informed financial decisions. He believes good financial planning should meet clients where they are. Conversations should be comfortable and understandable, goals should be clearly defined, and financial strategies should be built around what matters most to each client.

John holds the Wealth Management Certified Professional® (WMCP®) and Financial Services Certified Professional® (FSCP®) designations and is a member of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA). He is also a qualifying member of the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT)*. In 2020, John was recognized as Agent of the Year for New York Life’s Maine General Office.

The name Top Flight carries special meaning for John. It comes from his family’s long history of entrepreneurship, beginning with Burrell Cutlery, founded in 1940 by his great-grandparents, Harold Burrell and Addie Case Burrell. Top Flight began as a product line within the family business, originally associated with straight razors. John chose the name for his own firm as a way to honor that legacy while carrying its values of craftsmanship, hard work, and service into a new generation.

John and his wife, Stefany, live in Gardiner, Maine, with their daughter, Samantha, and their dogs, Daisy and Honey. Away from the office, John enjoys coaching youth soccer, cooking, gardening, hunting, fishing, hiking, reading, and live music. He is also actively involved in his local community and believes that building a successful business includes giving back to the community it serves.

^{*MDRT is recognized throughout the industry as the standard of excellence in life insurance sales performance.}