In my childhood, both parents were relegated to working in low paying employment situations that were not fulfilling and struggled to pay the bills.  There was not any financial instruction for me or my two older sisters on saving, budgeting, let along things like investing, insurance and basic wills.   Looking back, they had few options since their educations were limited, my mom only finished High School and dad had an art degree but was trapped in a job he detested as a theater manager.  Without any funds for college, I joined the Army out of high school and was able to use the GI Bill to pay for undergraduate school and later for part of my MBA degree.   In addition, I started a small business to help pay for other expenses. 

After working in corporate America for Dow chemical and then in State Government, I felt stuck in roles that did not use my exceptional ability and I had to adhere to the status quo and mold my thinking and style to their culture and expectations.  Changing from two jobs in less than three years gave me a wake- up call that motivated me to do some serious soul searching and career research.   I ended up as one of the fortunate few who find a career that allows them to thrive in their exceptional ability.  But discovering this takes diligent research and analysis. This was a very difficult and introspective phase of my life that forced me to trust God and his sovereignty in all things and seek His will for my life.   It caused me to realize there just had to be something that would allow me to engage in a role that utilized my strengths and could give me more options and career potential.  I didn’t realize until then that my high achiever, deliberative and high responsibility focus (Strengths Finder book; Tom Rath) was geared more for an entrepreneurial pursuit.  While finishing grad school and still deliberating over a career path, I ran into discovered the field of holistic wealth management where I saw the future career that offered a balance of integrating people and analytical skills.   Being too naïve to know the odds were against me as most fail starting their own business, I survived some really lean years but refused to give up. 
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Over 28 years later, I derive great satisfaction from using my exceptional ability of making meaningful connections with others and creating strategies to inspire confidence and deliberate commitment to their future growth.   Helping our clients sort through the maze of financial complexities to help them create a sound financial future so they can focus on what’s important to them has been what keeps me loving my work.  Through applying our core values and personal abilities, we are making an enduring difference in the lives of our clients, team, and community.