I became a financial advisor by accident.

I attended Wake Forest on a baseball scholarship. I am the first person in my family to go to college and both of my parents were hard-working Indiana automotive factory workers. Needless to say, financial preparation and the stock market were not subjects often heard around the dinner table growing up.

The company I went to work for out of college shortly thereafter went bankrupt. I met two people at the gym that I admired, and they told me they were "stockbrokers." I didn't know what a stockbroker was, but after some research I decided to interview with a local company. The first question they asked me was, "Where is the Dow Jones?" My response was, "I have never heard of it?" I still got the job and spent day and night studying with a dictionary close by to look up words I had never heard before, like stock, bond, mutual fund and 401(k).

My mission is centered on teaching a complicated and intimidating subject to the people I partner with in their financial journey. Many of them feel overwhelmed, intimidated and don't know where to begin or how to tell if they are doing what is right for their specific situation. My goal is to make a complicated subject simple.

Traci, Catherine and I want to understand what is important to you. We use an established process and build personalized strategies to help you reach your goals. We will partner together throughout your life to define and achieve not only your goals but your families' goals.

Getting a scholarship to Wake Forest changed my life. I met my wife, Stephanie, there and we have been married for 25 years. Our oldest daughter, Madison, played volleyball at Gardner-Webb University and is an executive at Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Our youngest daughter, Murphy, attends the Air Force Academy, plays volleyball and plans to be a pilot.

Sports changed my life and I spend a lot of my free time giving back to the youth sports community by coaching and mentoring.