Our Team

My education at the U.S. Air Force Academy, and experience in the Air Force ingrained in me a sense of mission.  That background, as well as working for some excellent leaders and managers, had a deep impact on how I arrived at financial planning as a calling.

Following six years in the military, I went to graduate school for my MBA; after which I worked at several consulting firms and later at IBM.  I worked with some wonderful people, but I could not find the professional nirvana for which I hoped.

My wife, the brains in our relationship, commented, “will you figure out what you want to do when you grow up”.  Taking some time to reflect on the work I had done in the Air Force, I realized the drive and passion of working on something “bigger” was missing.  I kept coming back to the idea of teaching.  We did not have kids at that point so the thought of being in a classroom with 20 six-year olds who can smell fear was a little intimidating.  Another option I considered was teaching college, but looking into it further, it was going to be more about research and writing; wonderful work but it did not check off the boxes I wanted.

I kept coming back to the idea of a career in financial planning.  It still included elements of teaching along with the quantitative aspects I enjoy as a die-hard analytical type.  It was also consistent with the collaboration and involvement in something meaningful I had enjoyed from my Air Force days.

While I will never cure the common cold or help eliminate world hunger, I believe the work we are doing for our clients has a substantial impact on their financial and personal lives.  We get to know them, understand their priorities, and help them achieve their personal and professional goals.  While it took me a few years to find that something “bigger”, I consider myself very fortunate to do something that I truly love every day.

When not working with clients I love traveling and trying to figure out how this “empty nest” concept works.

As you might expect from the son of an accountant, I’ve always been pretty financially savvy.  Before I was even a teenager, I had my parents open a custodial investment account for me.  But I didn’t always know this was what I wanted to do for a career.  At Stonehill College I majored in English and minored in Political Science, two topics I’m still greatly interested in.  I briefly considered a career as a professor because I thought I would enjoy teaching at the college level.  But professors – yes, even English professors – are expected to publish original research.  And after a summer job assisting an English professor with their research, I didn’t love it enough to pursue graduate school.

It was only about a year before graduation that I decided I wanted to get into financial services.  As a recent college graduate with no industry experience, good jobs were not so plentiful.  I ended up at a big insurance company, where I learned I was a terrible salesman.  But the training was good, and I ended up attaining several insurance and securities licenses, which were necessary for the next step in my career.

That next step was Rope Financial, whose predecessor I joined in 2011.  At first, I handled a lot of back-office duties – operations, compliance, marketing, administrative work.  I eventually took on more client service responsibilities and found that I really enjoyed the client-facing side of this profession.  So, I began preparing for the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ exam.

Some might think of studying for that exam as a necessary box to check, but proud nerd that I am, I really enjoyed it.  The material is incredibly wide ranging, from investments and retirement to tax and estate planning.  I passed the exam, but more importantly, I learned a lot along the way.  In 2015, after completing the other requirements for education, experience, and ethics, I had earned my CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ mark.

So why do I do this?  I enjoy helping people to better understand and organize their finances.  How the decisions they make for one reason can have unintended consequences in another aspect of their financial life.  And how those decisions help them move closer to or further from their goals.  Personal finance is always interesting because no two families and situations are exactly alike.  I really enjoy understanding how each piece comes together to paint the entire picture.

I live in Medfield with my wife and young daughter.  Fatherhood has been a wonderful journey and turned me into something I thought I’d never be – a morning person.  When I’m not working, I enjoy reading, cooking and baking, and watching any Boston sports team.

I worked in the Finance industry for 20+ years at one of the largest mutual fund companies in the country where I held several different positions. When the company offered an early retirement package in 2021, I jumped at the chance.

I spent a year trying to figure out what my life would look like post corporate America.  I found myself somewhat in a daze at first, considering I went from working 40+ hours a week to 0 overnight. After floundering a bit, I decided to learn how to play pickleball and dedicate some time to volunteering at a dog shelter as well as the American Cancer Society.

I decided after a year that I would casually look for a part-time job.  After meeting the team and learning about the role, I knew that I would fit in well and the rest is history.  I started in November 2022, and I consider myself lucky to be part of such a great team.

When I am not in the office I enjoy traveling, pickleball, volunteering and spending time with my family.

I’ve always been interested in business and math, but after starting out as a business major at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I found that path a bit too rigid.  I wanted to be able to take more electives, so I switched to a liberal arts degree enabling me to study psychology, sociology, political science, and other fields in addition to my business courses. 

I spent my early career in recruiting and consulting services before transitioning to the software industry.  The “customer success” role was still in its infancy, and the goal was to ensure that clients renewed their annual subscriptions in this new Software-as-a-Service business model.  In practice, every day was comprised of a dynamic mix of sales & account management, training delivery, data analysis and problem-solving.  

While I loved the innovation and breakneck pace of working in fast-growing tech start-ups, I was ready for a new challenge. I had always had a passion for personal finance, and after taking a few CFP® education courses for fun, I decided to become more serious about a career change to financial planning.  I took a year off to finish the professional education program and study for the CFP® Exam.  Weeks after passing the exam, I was lucky enough to find an opportunity at Rope Financial.

After 20 years in San Francisco I recently moved back to the East Coast, and now live in Providence, RI with my husband.  When I’m not at work, I enjoy traveling, watching movies, reading books, cooking, wine-tasting, and planning my next Backroads cycling trip.