What is the best way for people to put their wealth into perspective?
Wealth can be a blessing or a burden. It is the stewards who have the power to determine the direction through their actions. Often, parents feel uncomfortable discussing money and related matters with their children or grandchildren. Leaning into open and intentional conversations rooted in family values can have a profound impact when shaping a legacy. I enjoy empowering families and institutions to explore success beyond the numbers. As their navigator, I help them through this deep discovery process and charter new paths when they run aground. It is my hope that each family I work with will build the legacy they deem important, one viewed as a blessing rather than a burden.
What kind of experience do you offer your clients?
The experience I offer to clients can best be described as impactful and intimate. Clients share their most important values with us so we can do our job well, which is so much more than managing money. Intimacy is key to navigating an impactful life and legacy. It requires deep trust and confidence between advisor and client, and an advisor who has found a calling connecting with others and engaging with current and future generations. The experience for clients should be simple in concept, precisely executed and ultimately seismic in impact. As an advisor and leader, I strive to reinforce these principles among the Chicago team, so our clients feel a profound connection to the work we do with them.
If you didn’t work for Bernstein, what else would you be doing?
Being of service to others has always been a simple, but overwhelming, constant in my life. I have sought to lead and create an ecosystem centered around supporting and advocating for others whether in sports, the Marines, school or work. I was accepted into the CIA after the Marines, but family called, and I chose to pursue a different path. Perhaps I would have been an Operations Officer with the CIA or a Foreign Service Officer (State Department) serving our country overseas. I try to remain relevant in the realms of security and national defense through my nonprofit work. My Irish immigrant parents raised me to value giving back, and as a beneficiary of the American dream, I want to share the bounty of that dream with our community.
Someday, I hope to finish a book I have had in the works for 25 years—great topic, novel focus and potential movie. But I have two chapters done, so at this pace…