Founder’s Note
The extended family on both sides is from Oklahoma and has been for a couple of generations. Most of them still live in the small towns around Tulsa. I was born there though, while I was a toddler, Dad decided to go to seminary. That took us to northwest Missouri and then to pastorates in rural West Virginia and inner-city St. Louis. Last stop before returning to the Tulsa area in the summer of 1969 was Kansas City.
The entire growing up experience was defined by work, school, church, and family. Not a bad way to grow up except that being a PK is a little strange. One thing I learned is that being in church doesn’t make you a follower of Jesus any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.
Sports wasn’t really my thing. Books and music. Math and English. Enjoyed working on the yearbook, choir, hanging out with this cute girl I met in math class.
And work? Those small church pastors have never been overpaid. So if I wanted pocket money, I worked for it. Paper route starting at age 11, bucking bales at 13 then migrating to construction in my later teen years. For several years into my early 20’s, I worked as a trim carpenter and contractor, enjoying the process of building and the craftsmanship required of doing finish woodwork in custom homes.
The love of building, whether homes, businesses, or people, and the craftsmanship required, have stayed with me.
My early 20’s saw my first foray into financial services. Started with an insurance license and attempted to sell life insurance to college seniors and graduate students. Every one of which were ten feet tall and bulletproof. The education was valuable.
Just a few years later my uncle invited me to join his property and casualty agency, handling life insurance and group health for customers of his agency. Those two years gave me a solid foundation in building relationships, serving people, and learning to enjoy a family-run business. And by this time, Teresa (that cute girl from math class) and I were married and had two little ones.
Mixed into all these years were other adventures, including three years spent in Michigan where Teresa was girls’ dean at a Christian boarding high school.
Corporate kept calling so I spent most of the ‘80’s with Travelers and USF&G Insurance Companies, serving in a sales and technical support role. While there, I completed several professional designations and was able to learn about retirement plans from some of the old timers at Travelers who had helped craft some of the original ERISA legislation.
The transition to USF&G took us to Savannah, Georgia in 1986 and then to Atlanta in 1990. A corporate downsizing, or RIF, in January 1991 gave me the opportunity to start on my own, working with clients. By this time, I had all the licenses to sell all financial products. And along the way, had picked up several professional designations, including CLU and ChFC.
It was déjà vu all over again. I’ve always enjoyed working with clients but never cared for the relationship dynamics which required me to sell life insurance and mutual funds to clients. I discovered what clients were really looking for was advice, direction, assistance making good financial decisions, and help managing investments.
That led to the formation of a Registered Investment Advisory firm in 1993 and growing it through the ‘90’s and into the early part of the 2000s. In 2006, Charlie and I reorganized the company into Centurion Advisory Group, where we continue to focus on bringing calmness, clarity and confidence, through the lens of perspective, process, and purpose. Always with the goal of stewarding well the relationships, dollars, and time which have been left in our care.