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You used to work at Principal. Does that experience align well with your new position?

My focus over the years as an adviser has gone into the group world – businesses, business owners, working with business, succession strategies, exit planning – and that is basically all BSI has done for the past 25 years. So working in that field and then being able to come over and assist them on the financial side really was a good fit for me. And one of the individuals who has been here for 17 years, Rob Beeler, is a good friend of mine, and that is sort of how we got connected.

Your hometown is Des Moines. Have you ever lived outside of Iowa?

I did. I lived in Chicago for about three years. I was younger – about 24-25 – and just kind of spread my wings a little bit. I managed the Rock Bottom Brewery downtown. I was playing volleyball on the beach and managing the brewery at the same time. I was kind of footloose and fancy-free. I had a lot of fun. Then I was getting married and having kids, and so I figured Des Moines was better for that than Chicago.

What has occupied your time the most since you started at BSI in April?

Most of what we have done so far is to really develop a comprehensive service package for business owners. (Benefit Source Inc. Financial) has been a division of BSI probably for the last five years or so, and it has been kind of stagnant. So really our goal is to grow the division to be able to process anything that a business owner would like as far as medical, all the way to voluntary benefits, all the way to the financial side.

You have a degree in biology. How did you get into finance?

That’s a good question. I always truly wanted to be in the financial world, but my family background has always been in the medical field. And so when I had originally gone to Drake, I was going to be pre-med; I was going to be a doctor. My dad is a physician and my mom is a professor at Des Moines University, and so I always wanted to be a doctor or something in the medical field. Well, I got into organic chemistry and I said, “I am not going to be able to do this.” So I switched a little bit, took some financing classes, and kind of finished up with (financing) being a focus, but by no means a major.

What do you see in the next year for BSI Financial?

Our goal is to build this department so that we increase our staff by about five over the next two years. Right now we need that; we just haven’t had the ability to catch up with everything and get that because we’ve been running like crazy, especially right now in this environment. Most people are wondering what to do and really need some help, and so being supportive to those business owners is our No. 1 priority.

So is this a 9-to-5 job?

No, far from. A lot of times we are trying to accommodate the schedules of our clients, so we are having meetings after hours or early coffees or those types of things, and probably working close to 60-some hours a week trying to get everything accomplished.

Do you have a pretty good work-life balance?

Depends on whom you ask. I think I have a great work-life balance, but my wife would not agree with that. So I’d say yes, but that’s my opinion.

Where did you learn your work ethic?

Both of my parents. Between my parents they have nine educational degrees, so that is kind of where I learned my educational work ethic. They both worked very hard, and I admire them greatly.

Do you have a motto you live by?

My slogan my whole life has been to pack as much as you can into every day; that is one thing I have lived with all my life, just try to do as much as you possibly can – as much good as you can – for not only yourself but for others.