LINDSEY: Andrew - tell everyone a little about yourself.
ANDREW: I like people, I like numbers, and I like condensing the complex into the simple.
LINDSEY: Can you share a little about your family?
ANDREW: My parents were raised in Bellingham. While my father wanted his kids to grow up on a dairy farm as he had, that lifestyle didn’t particularly suit my mother, so instead us kids grew up in Bellevue. An older brother died of SIDS at 3 months which helped instill in us that life is not fair, every day is a gift, and friends, family, and community play a profound role when the going gets tough.
LINDSEY: What is something that would surprise us about you?
ANDREW: I’ve completed the Seattle-to-Portland bike ride twice, the Mercer Island half marathon twice, and didn’t train for either. (Would not recommend!) I enjoy hiking and climbing and am an all-around sucker for a good “suffer-fest”.
LINDSEY: What three words do you feel best describe you?
ANDREW: Driven, determined, optimist.
LINDSEY: Sticking with three, what are the top three highlights of your life?
ANDREW: Watching a meteor shower at about 9,000 feet up Mt. Adams, making Norwegian lefse at Christmas, and the day my partner and I picked up our dog from the rescue we volunteer at.
LINDSEY: Do you have a mantra or personal motto that you live by?
ANDREW: “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” Gandalf.
LINDSEY: Where was the best vacation you have ever had?
ANDREW: My partner and I went on a “hot spring” tour through Idaho and Montana a few years ago. There’s something special about driving along a stretch of road and pulling off to find a warm natural spring waiting for you, all thanks to the folks who opened up their land for its use to the public and the web sleuthing we did to find it.
LINDSEY: What would we find you doing outside of work?
ANDREW: In my yard as my partner and I try to turn our overgrown yard of non-native invasive plant species into our own little native plant oasis. That, or somewhere in the Cascade mountains with a too-heavy pack on and a smile in my heart – though possibly not on my face at every given moment!
LINDSEY: What is your favorite sport and favorite sports team?
ANDREW: Hockey! Favorite team would have to be specifically the 1995 Mariners.
LINDSEY: What is your favorite local thing to do?
ANDREW: Catch a sunset at Sunrise Visitor Center at Mount Rainier and watch the stars come out.
LINDSEY: Where is your favorite food to eat?
ANDREW: Tacos! Or a Seattle dog.
LINDSEY: If you were stuck on an island, what three would you want to have with you?
ANDREW: A genie lamp (with a genie inside), a phone, and cell reception.
LINDSEY: What is the best book you ever read?
ANDREW: The Hobbit – largely for sentimental reasons owing to where and when I read it.
LINDSEY: What is the one lesson you learned in life that really changed your perspective?
ANDREW: I had a fairly major surgery in 6th grade. Spending time at Children’s Hospital in Seattle gave me a profound appreciation for medical staff – from medical assistants to neurosurgeons – and also the battles that not only patients undergo but also their loved ones. Everyone is waging their own battles but the impact of a gentle, aiding hand or a kind word can ripple more than the one offering it could have imagined.
LINDSEY: Before working with MWM, what was the most unusual or interesting job you’ve ever had?
ANDREW: Coaching swim team and teaching adult swim lessons! Taking an adult who has never been in a pool before and jumping together into the deep end of a pool while ensuring they don’t drown or cheering on my swimmers until my voice went hoarse, water has an impressive ability to be a challenging obstacle to overcome or a healing avenue of growth. And oftentimes, both.
LINDSEY: What is the impact you believe you can have working with clients?
ANDREW: Listen intentionally, plan thoroughly, and present solutions with simplicity and clarity.
LINDSEY: Which of our core values most resonates with you?
ANDREW: Integrity and impact. Reputation takes 20 years to build but only 5 minutes to destroy. No client should care how much their planner knows until they know how much their planner cares.
LINDSEY: What are your hopes for our industry?
ANDREW: I want to see more from the financial services industry. An industry with higher standards of integrity, professionalism, and transparency. An industry that looks to see where the puck is going rather than where it is or was. An industry that is respected because it respects its clients and the impact it plays in the lives of its clients. An industry that facilitates and enables its clients to live meaningfully and in a way that is in line with their values and core beliefs. An industry that offers more.