Why did you choose Marquette?
Growing up in Kiel, Wisconsin, I always envisioned staying in-state for college. For me, the choice ultimately came down to Marquette and UW-Madison.
My Catholic school background made Marquette a natural fit, and receiving merit aid helped make the financial side of the decision relatively even. Milwaukee was another major draw. Coming from a town of fewer than 3,000 people, the city felt full of opportunity while still being close to home.
Once I visited campus, the decision became easy. Marquette felt like the right fit from the start. I never even made the trip to Madison because I already knew where I wanted to be.
What did you study, and which experiences at Marquette had the greatest impact on your personal and professional development?
I majored in business with an emphasis in finance and minored in political science.
When I think about what had the greatest impact on me, it wasn’t necessarily a specific class or activity. It was the opportunity to become independent and take ownership of my future.
Coming from a graduating class of about 100 students, Marquette was a significant change. Suddenly there were more opportunities, more people and more decisions to make about how I wanted to spend my time. Marquette did a great job creating opportunities to connect with business leaders, get involved on campus and meet people from different backgrounds, but it was up to me to take advantage of them.
Looking back, one of the most valuable lessons I learned was that nobody was going to create my path for me. Marquette provided the resources and opportunities. It was my responsibility to decide how I would use them.
What led you to a career in financial planning, and how did that path evolve into building and growing your own advisory practice?
My interest in finance started in high school when an economics teacher introduced our class to investing through a stock market simulation. That experience sparked an interest in markets, and for a long time I thought I would end up on the investment or research side of the business.
After graduating from Marquette, I joined Northwestern Mutual as an investment specialist. My early role focused on helping advisors develop investment portfolios, but it didn’t take long for me to realize what I enjoyed most wasn’t studying investments. It was working directly with people.
I found myself becoming more interested in the questions behind the numbers. What was someone trying to accomplish? What challenges were they facing? How could I help them make confident decisions about their future?
That’s when financial planning became much more meaningful to me.
One Marquette concept that has stayed with me throughout my career is cura personalis, or care for the whole person. As I gained experience, I realized clients weren’t looking for help with just one piece of their financial lives. They were looking for someone who understood how all the pieces fit together. Whether it’s investments, taxes, workplace benefits, estate planning or family goals, every decision affects something else. The more I understood that, the more I was drawn to comprehensive financial planning.
What have you learned about earning trust and building meaningful relationships throughout your career?
Trust is critical in this business.
When clients meet with a financial advisor, they’re often sharing some of the most personal details of their lives and financial goals. If trust doesn’t exist, it’s very difficult to have meaningful conversations or provide meaningful guidance.
One thing I’ve learned is that trust takes time to build. It comes from listening well, understanding what’s important to someone and following through on what you say you’re going to do. It also comes from being willing to acknowledge when someone else may be better positioned to help and making that connection for the client.
I think the same principle applies to professional relationships. Networking is important, but there’s a difference between knowing someone’s name and having a relationship built on mutual respect and trust.
The strongest professional relationships I’ve had were developed over time. They’re built through shared experiences, honest conversations and finding ways to create value for one another.
Entrepreneurship often comes with challenges, setbacks and uncertainty. What have been the most valuable leadership and business lessons you’ve learned while growing your practice?
One of the most defining moments of my career came during the Great Recession.
At the time, we were growing the business and I had a small team in place. Market conditions were difficult, revenue was under pressure and there was a lot of uncertainty.
One of the people I worked closely with was no longer going to have support from the agency, and I had to decide whether I was willing to take on that responsibility myself.
Ultimately, I decided that keeping the team together was important. We borrowed money and invested in the business so we could continue moving forward.
Looking back, that’s probably the point where I realized I wasn’t just building a career anymore. I was building a business.
All of a sudden, I wasn’t responsible only for myself. I was responsible for employees, clients and a long-term vision for where we wanted to go. That changes how you make decisions. It forces you to think further ahead and become much more intentional.
The lesson I’ve carried forward is that meaningful growth often requires taking calculated risks. It rarely feels like the perfect time. The key is understanding the risk, having a plan and getting buy-in from the people around you.
If people understand where you’re trying to go and believe in what you’re building, it becomes much easier to navigate the challenges that inevitably come along the way.
Those same principles have guided our firm through significant growth and change over the years. We evolved from an ensemble practice to Amplify and later joined Socium Advisors, all within a relatively short period of time. Each transition created new opportunities, but it also required us to think carefully about culture, client relationships and the long-term direction of the business.
What I’ve learned is that growth isn’t really about organizational structures. It’s about people. As we expanded, attracted new talent and joined forces with other professionals who shared similar values, it became even more important to communicate a clear vision and ensure everyone understood where we were headed and why.
Today, I’m just as focused on that as I was during those early years. The decisions may be larger and the stakes may be higher, but the goal remains the same: build something that creates value for clients, provides opportunities for the people on our team and continues to grow for the long term.
Looking back on your Marquette experience and professional journey, what advice would you offer students considering careers in financial services, entrepreneurship or business leadership?
I’d encourage students to take advantage of every opportunity they have to connect with people who are further along in their careers.
Looking back, there were plenty of business forums, networking events and opportunities to meet professionals that I probably should have attended more often. At the time, I was focused on classes, grades and everything else that comes with being a student. Those things matter, but I underestimated how valuable those professional connections could be.
I did a good job connecting with my peers. What I wish I had done more of was building relationships with business leaders, alumni and professionals who had experiences different from my own.
My advice would be to show up, ask questions and be genuinely curious about other people’s experiences. Those conversations may not seem significant in the moment, but years later they can have a much greater impact than you realize.
Many of the opportunities that shaped my career can be traced back to a conversation, a relationship or someone who was willing to invest time in me. That’s something I understand much better today than I did as a student.
The connections you make now may create opportunities you can’t yet see, but they can have a lasting impact on where your career eventually takes you.
