I am the Founder and CEO of Soaring Investment Management LLC, a Registered Investment Advisory firm based in Portland Oregon. In my 15 years of corporate and individual finance experience, I have managed portfolios from $250 million to over $1 billion. After graduating Oklahoma Christian University cum laude with a BS in Finance, I earned my CFA and have been a Charterholder since 1998, and I added the CFP® designation in 2022.

My salt-of-the-earth upbringing in North Texas has certainly influenced my drive to bring professional money management to individual investors in an accessible and affordable way. My childhood took me from the suburbs of Dallas to the small town of Sanger where I learned to appreciate the beauty of a cow pasture, the majesty of a thunderstorm and the fun of a good football game. I also learned that things aren’t always what they seem. Modest people might surreptitiously have substantial wealth, while flashy people might be “all hat and no horse.”

In addition to my upbringing, I have held a variety of positions that have helped shape me into the advocate for financial prudence that I am today. It began with my first job post high school at a law office. It’s there that I observed the ramifications of a national real estate collapse, the savings and loan crisis, an oil bust, and bankrupt partnerships. Vacant office space propagated the landscape throughout my college years imprinting caution and warning of boom and bust business cycles in my mind.

My long-time internship with Stifel, Nicholas brokerage firm during college introduced me to the workings of a broker/dealer, the investment banking side of municipal bonds and the training of advisors. I learned how big an impact a good advisor can have.

Upon graduation, the exemplary team at MidFirst Bank welcomed me into their Treasury Department. I am forever grateful for the disciplined approach they ingrained in me. I learned about benchmark rates of return, asset pricing, interest rate risk, corporate budgeting, and mortgage-backed securities. Eventually, I was appointed the lead analyst of the bank’s bond portfolio and maintained the Wall Street relationships there.

Arriving at Gap, Inc during a time of a fashion-miss and in the midst of the dot com boom, I kept busy securing funding in the bond market as part of their International Treasury Department. I saw up close the effects of the business cycle and strategic decisions on the shareholders and employees. I also learned, although fun at times, Corporate America was not where I wanted to be. I opt for something more personal and relational.

These business cycles and money decisions affect us all. My childhood roots coupled with valuable professional experiences helped spark my desire for families and communities to experience the blessings of financial prudence. I love being able to provide accessible and affordable professional money management through Soaring Investment Management.