Your Valuable Team at the Helm

I’ve always been a Daddy's girl. My dad was a farmer in southern Idaho; he worked very long hours in every season but winter. I loved spending time with him, admiring his hard work and quiet generosity.  

In the winter when he wasn't so busy, Dad would turn on the news each morning and make me French toast for breakfast before I left for school. I learned from experience that I’d better be quiet when the financial news and the weather came on. For me, those mornings are a mix of the smell of maple syrup and coffee with the newscaster’s voice reporting “the Dow Jones today” and the “The Commodities Report.”

I overheard countless phone conversations with Dad talking about the futures markets and crop prices—especially the low wheat prices during the ‘90s. As an adult, I’ve come to understand why, as a farmer, he needed to know so much about finance. There are many risks you can't control when you farm: hail storms pale in comparison to the ups and downs of the stock market in terms of the farm’s wellbeing. In the face of this risk, your most powerful ally is knowledge.

My mom was the traditional hardworking farm wife who made our meals, cleaned our house, AND worked on the farm. She had so much on her plate she never had time to develop an interest in finance, and still finds it overwhelming and confusing.

Mom’s lucky to still have Dad to help her—and if something happens to him, she has me. But many of the people I've helped over the years weren’t so fortunate; they didn't have anyone they could trust to help them understand and manage their finances.

So how did I really get into financial advising? I started my career selling insurance in 1999. Sales was never my strength—I’m not a cold-calling kind of gal—but I found the investment world challenging and interesting.

When I realized that I could use the financial knowledge I’d absorbed on the farm to help clients manage their money, it didn’t take me long to make a change. By the next year, I’d shifted my focus to investment and retirement planning, and I’d found my happy place. While I treasure the chance to support people who remind me of my mom in their discomfort with finance, I'm also passionate about helping those who just aren’t interested in it—they'd rather focus on family, work, and hobbies.  

Some things never change. I still talk to my dad all the time about the Dow Jones and commodities. I still adore my mom. But I don’t eat much French toast. I still love it—but it has a way of going straight to my thighs.

In my free time I enjoy spending time with my husband and two boys.  Most of my free time is spent hiking with my two golden retrievers, volunteering with the Eagle-Garden City Rotary Club, or attending boot camp classes with my sons.  

Education & Background

• Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Idaho
• Life, health, disability, and property and casualty licenses
• Series 6, 7, 30, 31, 63, & 65
• CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™