There are many things that have shaped me in my life, but there are two things that I think are important for you to know about me.

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First, from an early age, I was involved in team sports. I loved working together with my cross-country, basketball, baseball, and track teammates to achieve our goals as we chased success together. I was also blessed to have amazing coaches who set challenging goals and helped me push past limits that I didn’t think were possible myself. Through great coaching and a lot of hard work, individual and team success was achieved and even some state championships were won.

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Moving on to college at the University of Michigan, I was yet again blessed to be able to continue my academic and running career. In this space, I was pushed to my limits each and every day while running with some of the finest middle-distance runners in the country, some of whom would go on to represent their countries in future Olympic Games. I also met my amazing wife, Nicole, here, and our UM athletic experiences taught us how important it is in life to always work hard, to give it your best, and that good coaching matters. I wasn’t the fastest runner, but by choosing to surround myself each day with the best, it pushed me to become better myself. I continue to live by these principles I learned in my college years.

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Second, in April 2005, my dad shared the earth-shattering news with me that he had terminal cancer and had little time to live. My dad was one of my heroes and had taught me all about the principles of money and how to manage it from a young age. I was already out of the house, but my mom and youngest brother were still at home. I remember asking my dad, “Are Mom and Doug going to be OK?” He assured me they would be because they had been executing a plan for years. He died later in 2005.

Through the grief of losing my father, I can relate to others who have experienced loss in their lives. Losing my dad at age 55 came with a lot of legal and financial challenges for our family, and I have a lot of empathy for others who have suffered loss and who must now try to revise their financial plans for a future that seems impossibly different than the one they envisioned. This life event led to a new-found passion for making a career of engaging with others around money topics. And since 2006, I have been engaged in the financial services and fundraising industries, helping others in these ways.

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Outside of work, you’ll find me and Nicole coaching cross-country and track in Saline, Michigan. Well past our prime, we are now in the role of being able to help young runners, including our own kids, set goals and find the joy of discovering that they indeed can reach those goals if they keep working hard. In addition to coaching, I invest time into college students, the future leaders of our country, by sitting on the board of the A2 Missionary Fund. The missionaries that this Fund supports help college students discover purpose and meaning in life, just as I did in my college years. Last, I have personally remained very active. At this stage in life, that is primarily on my bike. I love riding the hundreds of miles of dirt roads and trails in Washtenaw and the surrounding counties with others. It helps keep me mentally sharp with all of these other responsibilities I have in life!

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So now that you know some about me, I would love to learn more about you! How can our team here at Legacy Wealth help you? Let’s sit down together and talk.