I was born in Covina, CA and then we moved to Washington State when I was 2 years old. That's where I grew up (Vancouver). I left for college in Minnesota right after graduating, and it was that summer when I landed my first job in financial services, as a receptionist at a small broker/dealer. I had no plans to get into financial services, but ended up being fascinated with it and stuck with it. Within 5 years I got my Series 7, 63, 24, and Life Insurance licenses, and also moved back to Washington. Marriage and family ensued, along with a move back to the Midwest. 22 years of my career were spent in financial services doing everything from sales, marketing, advising, supervising, ...