My grandfather was a Ukrainian immigrant that gained his U.S. citizenship because of his service in World War I. My father grew up dirt-poor in southern Oklahoma but worked tirelessly as an adult to provide a better life for my siblings and me. Those two men instilled in me an appreciation for the opportunities available when education is coupled with diligence.

I graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1985 with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering. Within five years, I had earned a Professional Engineer license, then spent many years as a consulting engineer and as an executive for several organizations. During that time, I furthered my education by attending night school to earn a Master in Business Administration from Oklahoma City University. Throughout the first 15 years of my career, I was fortunate enough to work for a Fortune 50 company and several smaller but excellent organizations. In 2001, using a business plan I crafted in MBA school, I founded my own firm. It successfully grew from a one-room startup to a multimillion dollar operation that today employs dozens of people in multiple cities. I sold that firm to my employees in 2012 using an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). The employees who helped me grow that firm are now its owners.

The sale of my company put me in a position to retire before I was 50 years old, but instead I felt called to embark on a second career as a financial advisor. I felt confident that my success as an entrepreneur coupled with my extensive academic training and wide-ranging business experience put me in a unique position to provide real-world insight to companies and individuals on the most productive methods to manage and grow their liquid and illiquid wealth.

So today I’m affiliated with Transcendent Capital Group, but as an advisor instead of a client. I get to serve as a trusted confidant to a group of clients who are also valued friends. At Transcendent Capital Group, we provide a wide array of services including portfolio development, business transition, corporate retirement plan management, education funding and personal retirement planning. My years of managerial experience allow me to clearly understand the concerns of a broad spectrum of hard-working American society.

My wife and I still make our home in the small suburb of Piedmont, and we’re blessed to have our children living nearby. She and I serve on multiple boards for worthwhile organizations. We also mentor youth and young couples who are trying to make their start in adult life. I hold Series 7 and Series 63 FINRA Registrations for securities. Even though I no longer design hospitals and laboratories, I still participate in enough continuing engineering education to sustain that original engineering license. My dad and granddad wouldn’t have wanted it, or anything else, to go to waste.