My wife, Marchelle, and I were blessed with our first daughter in 2015. Knowing we wanted to have multiple children, we decided we would be open to having our children close in age. God blessed us quickly and our second daughter was born thirteen months later in 2016. We were adding babies & adding life insurance every single year for a while. This led to my wife's persistent questioning; "What do I do if you die. I'm grateful to know we have the insurance money, but who should I work with, where do I go, who can I really trust?"

These questions are inevitably in the back of the minds of many spouses, but to my surprise, I didn't have an answer for her which I was satisfied with. My advice to her was not to "go to Fidelity", even though I was currently part of their Private Client Group & also received the company's highest award, President's Circle, for my contributions to the company in 2016. I remember one day in 2017 the reality hit me like a ton of bricks, I was conflicted. I was currently providing advice to clients which was contrary to the advice I would provide to my widowed wife. I searched throughout 2017 for an investment firm which met my current standard of expectation. I evaluated the number of clients per advisor, the focus or limitation of services which they offered and I evaluated the fees for service, both the amount & the calculation method for determining the fee. As a top ranked advisor at Fidelity, I had many offers to select from that year & could have transitioned my career to a number of firms; but none met the standard I was expecting because I was selecting a firm for my wife & children to use.

What I found is that most investment firms over charge & under serve. They have too much salesmanship & not enough stewardship. Too much counting & not enough trust, too much management & not enough leadership. Far too much cost & not enough value.

At this point in mid-2017, I shifted my focus from finding a great investment firm to starting a great investment firm. I utilized a great securities law firm who advised me and a compliance organization established the firm Provident Financial Planning in December 2017. Finally, I was in a position to provide the exact same advice to clients which I would provide to my widowed wife.

The next piece in the story didn't happen for a few more years. As the firm continued to grow through word-of-mouth referrals, I was still faced with the reality that my widowed wife still wouldn't have an advisor to work with in my absence since Provident Financial Planning was a single-member LLC from 2017 - 2022 meaning it would dissolve upon my death. In 2020, I began discussions with a fellow CFP®, whom I had known through church since 2012. He was also a CPA. My objective in having a partner in the firm wouldn't be simply to duplicate myself, but I wanted to find a partner who compliments my skills yet adds additional value to my existing clients. Our conversations were productive, but as we began to ramp up our conversations, it became apparent that God was calling he & his family to relocate to Oklahoma City, closer to her family.

During the time that these conversations were ramping up, I was discussing the next phase of the business with a great friend and minister at our church. He turned to me and asked, "What if I could introduce you to someone who is not only a CPA, but also an attorney?" I wouldn't have imagined that a partnership with someone so credentialed would take place, due to their seemingly specialized career track, but I'm always one to enjoy meeting a brother-in-Christ for lunch. I met Zachary J. Montgomery, JD, CPA, CFE for lunch March 11, 2022, where we very simply met one another as two professionals. I spoke very briefly about my interest in expanding Provident Financial Planning with a partner, but the focus of our conversation was simply to meet. Over the next several months, we kept in contact and our conversations expanded. In July, I solicited my wife's opinion through dinner as couples and shortly after Zachary and I began meeting every Monday and Wednesday via Zoom to discuss details.

I'm extremely confident that this partnership will be a blessing for clients, the firm, and my own family for many decades ahead. We have entered into this partnership with the commitment to stand shoulder to shoulder, using our expertise to accomplish the needs of our clients. Our flat fee structure and wholistic planning approach ensures we maximize the value we deliver at a fair price. This is certainly not business growth for the sake of business growth or to maximize profits, but it all comes back to a husband providing for his wife and family in answering the question, "What do I do without you?"

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