I feel it important that you know a little about those you do business with. Especially when it comes to as important a decision as your home loan. You need to know that you can trust the person that you give the key to your identity and the financial details of your life. While you might not agree with all of my beliefs, hopefully you will feel more comfortable with who I am.

I am a native Oregonian and have lived most of my life here. I grew up in Klamath Falls, went to college in Ashland and have lived in the Portland area for over 15 years. I’ve spent a little time in Eureka, CA and Seattle, WA, as well as a very short stint in Kansas City, MO. I’ve come to realize that I need to live within site of a snow covered volcano. After living elsewhere, I thank God that this is where I get to call home.  

I have a BS in Marketing (appropriate), too many funny letters after my name to remember from the insurance industry (FLMI, ACS, ALHC) and am one class short of an AA in Church Administration. I’ve completed my Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist (CMPS) designation in order to better serve my clients and business partners. I am also certified with United First Financial as an independent Money Merge Account agent.

After a successful career in corporate sales in the telecommunications industry in Northern California and Seattle Washington, I moved to Portland and made a career change to the insurance industry. After a brief stint as a Health, Life and Disability agent, I became a long term disability claims analyst. Basically I looked at medical records and either approved the disability claim or denied it.

During this time my life changed and I recommitted myself to following Jesus Christ. While I grew up in church, I didn’t know what it meant to be a follower of Jesus, or a friend of his. I had reached a point in life where things just didn’t make sense anymore and I needed answers. I cried out to God to show himself real in my life and he faithfully answered my prayers.

I developed a deepened sense of compassion as I worked with people whose life had been turned upside down due to disability. I was a good claims analyst, but didn’t always look out for the company’s bottom line. I usually errored on the side of mercy. I saw this as a ministry and treated people as I would have wanted to be treated. At the same time, I felt a desire to spend more time with God. I dropped out of the traditional workforce, started volunteering for my church and enrolled in Bible College. I owned a home and had roommates who paid my mortgage. God met my needs regularly.

After several years of working in ministry, I met my wife. She showed up early for an inner city outreach that we had scheduled for a youth ministry from the suburbs. One thing led to another and less then a year later we were married. Shortly after marriage (about 14 months) she gave birth to a beautiful little boy. This was a true blessing from the Lord as both my wife and I had pretty much resolved ourselves to the fact that we would never be married, let alone have a wonderful son.

This did however disrupt my plans for full time ministry. Shortly after enrolling in seminary it became evident that I needed to become the bread winner and trust God regarding ministry. After a meeting with our pastor (my boss) it was agreed that I should step down from staff, drop out of seminary and get a job.

I was sharing this with a friend who ran a drug and alcohol recovery center that I used to teach at. He was working part-time as a loan officer and encouraged me to come work with him. After prayer and discussion with my wife, and several staff members from church, I embarked on another journey.

It has been incredibly rewarding and a bit challenging. I have come to realize that I did not miss God’s voice when I felt called into ministry, I just didn’t understand the full scope of it. I was called into ministry, just not pulpit ministry. I’ve since learned that workplace ministry isn’t about trying to convert everyone. It is about bringing godly principles into the workplace and in how I conduct business and my life.

I needed to leave my former employment in the insurance industry for a number of reasons and I needed spiritual training. God took me through a rollercoaster ride in the 5 years that I was on staff at a large church in NE Portland. I worked with outreach to the poor, benevolence, single adults, men’s ministry among others. I learned that it’s not that hard to feed 200+ people if you have a little faith and help. Now when I feed 20 it’s a piece of cake. I also needed to be there to meet my wife. That alone would have been worth it.

My background in sales, claims management, customer service and ministry has made me a very well rounded mortgage consultant. I have learned what it means to trust God and love others. While money is important, it’s just a tool that God uses to further his plans. If only there were more in this industry who didn’t put their pocketbook above the needs of their clients….

The following is an exercise I did to help define my purpose as a person, a Christian and a businessman. This defines me at my core and drives me to help my clients and business partners.

 Core Values and Purpose