A dear friend in San Diego told me about Michael three years ago. I was looking for a financial advisor but was anxious about paying the fees, wondering if using a wealth manager warranted the costs. In the very beginning, I openly shared my thoughts and fears in an email to Michael, putting it all out there. 

Michael wrote me a long, thoughtful email addressing each of my concerns. When I read his answers and realized he understood my fears, I relaxed and decided to go for it!

I haven’t regretted for one second turning my financial future over to Michael and his team. In fact, I enjoyed the process of opening up about my finances, which felt very personal. Instead of feeling vulnerable by disclosing such personal information, I felt lighter, heard, and supported. His team is young, talented, professional, and eager to learn from people outside of their cohort. Another promising sign to me that BW was the right choice. 

When I lost my job in 2019 through no fault of my own, Michael was the first person I called after telling my husband. First, I was shell-shocked and upset and knew Michael could think rationally about all the financial considerations of running my account without an immediate income. He did that, but he went beyond reassuring me about my financial plan by sharing some of his job history and disappointments, making sure I knew I’d get past the job loss and something much better would come along.

Well, Michael might be a psychic because I turned the job loss into a chance to start my own marketing consultancy. With my experience in corporate marketing for The Coca-Cola Company, Experian, and Nationwide Insurance, I had a lot to offer any business. Michael encouraged me to form an LLC so my company would be official and would attract the tight type of clients. He then set me up with a Solo(k) so I can continue to contribute to my retirement. 

The first client my new consultancy attracted was BW! Michael contracted with me to write marketing communications and coordinate BW’s marketing efforts. While I’ve taken on a few other clients since forming my own consultancy, Michael has been steadfast in his support of me over the last 18 months.

When Michael says his role as a wealth manager is more than managing wealth, he’s sincere. I’ve learned from Michael that money is a tool to be used to live our dream right now. Running my own company means I was able to spend time in my home state of Georgia caring for my mother until she passed away in May.

I bought an RV this summer while managing my mother’s estate in Georgia and renovated the rig, painting and wallpapering the interior. My retirement dream has always been to own a tiny house on wheels so I could move around and spend time with our children and grandchildren. 

That dream shifted to a Class C RV this year, to give us greater mobility, and now my husband and I have plans to spend time in Georgia each year with our grandkids and extended family. We also plan travel to other states… and all the while I’ll be working from the RV. 

I’m not sure I would have already launched my tiny house retirement dream without Michael in my life. And I sure wouldn’t have created a full-fledged company without his advice. Our relationship has been sympatico: I’m his client and he’s my client. We both respect and are grateful for our working relationship. 

Being his client has brought tremendous opportunity and having BW as a client means I get to work with his fabulous team, who are as kind and smart as you’ll find. 

A life event that took the wind out of my sails turned out to be the start of something much, much better. It turned out to be the start of living my dream life sooner than expected. Michael saw the possibilities immediately and encouraged me to keep going. 

He’s not kidding when he talks about each of us having our own definition of True Wealth, or about living life by our own design. I’m so glad my friend recommended Michael, and that I decided to become a BW client. 

I’m also glad he was the first person I called the day I lost my job. Michael knew just what to say and do to ease my transition from employee to business owner. At heart, Michael is a helper and always wants to be improving people’s lives, not just their finances.

Because of that, and so many other wonderful qualities, Michael makes a great wealth advisor… and a fine friend, too.