Thea Westlake CFP®, AFC®

Why did you decide to become a financial advisor?

Being a financial advisor combines two of my deepest interests: talking with people about what matters to them, and fiddling with spreadsheets. I love how my workdays flow between deep conversations and research. Various events solidified my desire to become an advisor. When I worked as a barista, a regular and I would chat about our shared love of fiction and his career as a financial advisor. In college, I researched financial literacy programs for first-year college students and found myself very interested in the course material. In my early 20s I received an inheritance due to an unexpected loss, and gave myself a crash-course in personal finance while living through that grief. Whenever I’m working with a client and they say, “wow, this finally makes sense!” it reaffirms my love for this field. 

What are some of your favorite experiences working with clients?

I also find great meaning in working with folks who are going through life transitions. A few years ago, I started working with an elder who was experiencing the early stages of memory loss. He had many loose ends in his financial and personal life that he wanted to tie up while he still had capacity. Together, we talked with a few of his loved ones. He told them about his wishes, and gave them the opportunity to ask questions. We got these folks set up as his financial and medical powers of attorney. I continued to work with this person for years, and through the progression of his illness we were able to easily transition tasks he used to hold to the people who love and care for him. Although declining health is never easy or linear, I believe that our preemptive, collaborative work helped to create stability for him.