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.

My journey to financial planning started in 2013, when I graduated from Bentley University. Along with my degree, I got an unexpected gift: student loans. The word ‘gift’ is not a typo; having loans lead me to find my passion for finance. By working 3 jobs, I was able to pay off all my loans in 11 months. As I got further from graduation, I spent more and more time learning about personal finances.

While I had a fun and interesting career in marketing for 8 years, the pandemic made me take a step back and think about how I wanted to spend the rest of my career. I got to thinking of those long-gone student loans: of how interesting and exciting I found it to navigate that space, and to all the experiences since then that have made it clear that I was meant to work in financial planning.

I joined Rope Financial in 2021 and earned my CFP^® certification in 2023. I still can’t believe that every day I get to do something I am so passionate about. My goal is to make our clients feel heard, as everyone has different financial goals, and it’s important that we really understand them.

When I’m not working, you can find me chasing after my daughter, traveling the world, learning languages, or listening to podcasts while walking my 2 rescue dogs with my husband. 

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.