I was born and raised in Cookeville, TN, so after graduating from high school, it was an easy decision to pick Tennessee Tech University for my post-secondary education, particularly since my father was already a professor there, and I had been offered a golf scholarship. I had always been a good math student, and I enjoyed working with numbers, so it seemed an obvious decision to pursue a degree in accounting as well. Unfortunately, four years later when I completed my degree, I felt anything but thrilled about my future— I still loved numbers, but I did not love the daily tasks of an accountant and just could not see myself ever being fulfilled in that career. Determined to figure things out, I re-enrolled at TTU to pursue a master’s degree in business administration and find an alternate way of using my accounting degree.

Over the next couple of years, I talked with many friends and acquaintances about their jobs, while researching fields and their special requirements. I found myself returning again and again to financial advising, deciding that this was indeed the career I had been wanting, and that my father was actually the reason why it appealed to me. Growing up, I saw him constantly trying to get the most “bang for the buck,” whether it be looking for sales at the grocery store or comparison shopping for larger items. We lived frugally and saved for our family’s future and dreams.

While accountants do help people organize and track their finances, financial advisors educate people about investing their money; they help them set goals and grow their finances to reach them. It seems I inherited my father’s teaching gene, too, because that part of the job really appealed to me the most.

Now excited by a career, I started knocking on doors around Cookeville after completing my master’s degree, looking for a business to give me a start. I had known Bill Scruggs for years, having attended church with him, and Matt Brown and he welcomed me at Raymond James when I approached them and offered to work for free until I learned the ropes and got my license. Yes, I offered to work for free—that’s how committed I was to entering the field.

There is an old adage that the “apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Thankfully, the tree I came from imbued in me traits which led me to becoming a financial advisor, a career I can now say fulfills me in every way.